The hottest Shaders Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways

GM Shaders: Noise 3

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 157 implied HN points • 13 Jan 24

Simplex noise is a noise algorithm that is cheaper in higher dimensions and produces fewer artifacts than Perlin noise.
Consider baking noise onto textures for optimization, especially in 2D for better performance.
To make noise tillable, stick with a square grid and use modulo tiling for seamless textures.

GM Shaders Mini: OkLab

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 235 implied HN points • 02 Dec 23

🕹 Technology Color Theory Perception Shaders

Color blending in OkLab offers a more natural transition compared to regular RGB blending
Understanding color spaces like sRGB and linear RGB is important for accurate color manipulation
OkLab is a color space that approximates human perception of lightness and chroma, offering perceptually consistent color balancing

GM Shaders: Mipmaps

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 117 implied HN points • 20 Jan 24

🕹 Technology Graphics Programming Game Development Shaders Performance

Mipmapping helps to downsample textures for improved visual quality and performance.
Enable mipmapping in GameMaker games to enhance texture filtering with different filter options.
Consider factors like memory usage, texture sizes, and avoiding seams when utilizing mipmapping in game development.

GM Shaders: MRT

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 98 implied HN points • 06 Jan 24

🕹 Technology Graphics Shaders Gaming Programming

By using gl_FragData[0-3], you can output 4 separate fragment colors to up to 4 surfaces with one draw call
Multiple Render Targets have various applications like deferred rendering, unique object IDs, and depth maps in 2D or 3D contexts
Consider limitations with MRTs, like compatibility with platforms, VRAM usage, and controlling fragment outputs independently

GM Shaders Guest: GI

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 137 implied HN points • 08 Dec 23

🕹 Technology Game Development Shaders

Global Illumination in 2D can be achieved using Radiosity based GI for real-time per-pixel lighting in video games.
Raymarching is a technique that accelerates scene rendering by approximating the distance to the nearest surface, often using Image-Based Distance Fields.
Using Blue Noise and implementing implicit ray bouncing can enhance the quality of Global Illumination in games by providing uniform noise and consistent lighting across frames.

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GM Shaders Mini: Tonemaps

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 98 implied HN points • 29 Oct 23

🕹 Technology Shaders

Understanding color values in shaders is crucial for avoiding washed out lights and ugly color banding.
Tonemapping can help smooth out brightness levels and maintain color accuracy in shaders.
HDR rendering can provide more accurate color representation beyond the standard 0 to 1 range.

GM Shaders Guest: Gaming Engineer

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 137 implied HN points • 18 Aug 23

🕹 Technology Gaming Graphics Game Development Shaders 3D Modeling

Noah Pauw discusses creating advanced 3D graphics in GameMaker using shaders for real-time lighting and PBR materials.
Game Maker is favored by Noah despite advice to switch to Unity or Unreal for photorealistic 3D games.
Noah shares insights on using Blender for 3D modeling, creating lighting shaders, implementing PBR materials, and drawing 3D environments in Game Maker.

GM Shaders Mini: CRT

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 98 implied HN points • 07 Aug 23

🕹 Technology Graphics Shaders Effects Tutorial Gaming

Emulating the retro CRT monitor look involves RGB color masking, pixelation, chromatic aberration, screen curvature, vignette, pulsing, scanlines, and bloom.
Creativity allows for creating variations using different effects like scanlines, chromatic aberration, vignette, or just the RGB mask and pixelation.
The tutorial provides insights on how to recreate the CRT effect for a game's visuals, providing a cozy and nostalgic feel.

GM Shaders Mini: Bloom

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 137 implied HN points • 28 Apr 23

🕹 Technology Graphics Effects Shaders Tutorial Game Development

Bloom effect makes elements appear brighter and richer.
Creating bloom involves stages of threshold selection, blurring, and layering.
Understanding distributions can help create more aesthetically pleasing glow effects.

GM Shaders Mini: Chromatic Aberration

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 58 implied HN points • 11 Jun 23

🕹 Technology Graphics Shaders Games

Chromatic aberration can enhance visual style in games when used tastefully
Color shift effects can be achieved by sampling textures and applying weights for blending
Exploring different blending techniques like linear, radial, and twist can create unique visual effects

GM Shaders Mini: Limits

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 19 implied HN points • 29 Sep 23

🕹 Technology Shaders Programming Hardware Mobile

Shaders have limitations: vertex shaders can move vertices, fragment shaders can set colors or discard themselves.
Consider resolution and texture samples for efficient shader performance.
GLSL 1.00 has limitations compared to newer versions, affecting features like operators, data types, and texture functions.

GM Shaders Guest: Bart

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 19 implied HN points • 27 Aug 23

🕹 Technology Gaming Programming Graphics Shaders Documentation

Using 'shader_enable_corner_id()' in vertex shaders for 3D particles allows identification and manipulation of vertices in GameMaker.
Understanding vertex buffers and formats in GameMaker is essential for drawing and manipulating shapes.
By manipulating corner IDs in shaders, it is possible to transform particles and sprites in GameMaker into 3D billboards.

Signed Distance Function (Field)

Hasen Judi • 2 HN points • 01 Jul 23

🕹 Technology Graphics Programming UI/UX Shaders Algorithms

Signed Distance Function calculates distance between a point and the nearest edge of a shape.
SDF allows for creative 2D shape manipulations like creating borders, shadows, and color compositing.
Using techniques like step and smooth step with SDF helps in creating smooth shapes and adding effects like drop shadows.

GM Shaders Mini: SDF Tricks

GM Shaders Mini Tuts • 0 implied HN points • 05 May 23

🕹 Technology Graphics Shaders

Signed Distance Functions (SDFs) are useful for creating shapes like circles and boxes in shaders.
SDFs allow for easy anti-aliasing and adding outlines to shapes in shaders.
SDFs are versatile and can be used for various effects like glows, shadows, and direct lighting in shaders.