Shader Pipeline Volition Inc Adam Pletcher Volition Inc

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Initial Goals • Awesome effects • Artist-driven • Familiar

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Step 1: Shader Creation • Volition’s shaders created by

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Step 2: . FX Parsing/Compiling • • Automatic process

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Step 3: Content Creation – 3 ds Max •

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Step 4: Export to Game • • • One-click

Slides: 6

Download presentation

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Adam Pletcher Volition, Inc. / THQ

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Initial Goals • Awesome effects • Artist-driven • Familiar interface, ease of use • Easy to manage, update

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Step 1: Shader Creation • Volition’s shaders created by Tech Artists • Initial authoring tool: RT/Shader Ginza Other examples: FX Composer, Render. Monkey, and 3 ds Max • 5% hand-coded, 95% visual • Output result is. FX file, HLSL language

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Step 2: . FX Parsing/Compiling • • Automatic process Divides. FX into lighting passes for game • Register compacting • • Fixes various “quirks” Output is one new. FX file per target platform, plus one for 3 ds Max

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Step 3: Content Creation – 3 ds Max • Max. Script Material – extends DX 9 Shader material. This allows: - Tailored interface - Error checking, validation - Extended features - Updating • Artists use Material Editor like usual • Viewport is exactly like game

Shader Pipeline – Volition, Inc. Step 4: Export to Game • • • One-click for artists Export process integrates shader parameters into game-side shaders Output is some pretty stuff Examples in 3 ds Max