Generic Shader 3D is a template for quick shader development and tweaking in Fusion. We created it to avoid having to generate a full Visual C++ project for every random shader idea that we dream up. The tool provides the user with a large number of Fusion inputs that are passed as Cg parameters: booleans, floats, colors, materials, gradients, lights, and a transformation matrix. The user can also switch between the numbered shaders by adjusting a slider, which is implemented as a literal parameter so that only the selected code branch is compiled.

Once a shader proves to be useful and the required inputs are more or less locked-down, we typically convert it into a full-fledged 3D Fusion tool (expect more of these posted soon, by the way).

Download GenericShader3D 1.1

Some things to note:

• You must restart Fusion after changing the .cg shader file.
• Make sure to set FUSION_ENABLE_CG_DEBUG_OUTPUT=TRUE.  The line numbers won’t be correct, but it will provide some clues as to what is potentially wrong.
• User Controls can be used to customize the UI.
• Cg/OpenGL only.  Fails for Software (or other) renderers.
• Fragment shaders only.
• Nvidia’s Cg documentation
• Fusion 6.0/6.1 uses Cg 2.2.0010
• There will be a delay while the Cg compiles.  Depending on the number and types of shaders in your comp, and your computer, this may cause significant lag.
• It can be useful to put two variations of your shader into two different slots.  Makes it simple to compare the results side by side or do benchmarks, or to just keep a working backup while you mess around with a new idea.

Chad has put together a great example comp showing the Generic Shader in action (see below). Have fun with the tool and feel free to send in any delicious shaders you come up with while using it.

Download Generic Shader example comp B03