Templates

This page goes over the built-in templates in ORL Shader Generator and the features they provide.

Docs for creating your own templates will be added at a later date.

What is a Template

A Template is an .orltemplate file which serves as a basis for the shader generator. Every single module in the system is eventually inserted into the base template at a hook-up point.

Template Hook Points

All of your Shader or Lighting Model blocks are inserted into the base template at a hook-up point.

For example, when you define a %Properties() block in your .orlshader file, it will be inserted into the base template at the %Properties hook point.

So when a shader file like this

// My.orlshader

%Properties()
{
    _Color("Color", Color) = (1,1,1,1)
}

Is being processed with a template like this

// MyTemplate.orltemplate

Properties
{
   %Properties
}

The resulting shader output will look like this

Properties
{
    _Color("Color", Color) = (1,1,1,1)
}

Since version 7.0.0, you can also define hook points within your function blocks, like %Vertex(), %Fragment() or even %FragmentBase(). The latter allows you to, for example, insert a call to a custom gi function into the base lighting calculation of the PBR lighting model via %CustomGI() block.

Check Optional Features section for more information.

Template Features

Parts of the template can be conditionally added or removed, which can be used to include whole passes.

A template feature is defined by adding a new TempalteFeature block inside a template.

// template code

%TemplateFeature("CustomPass")
{
    Pass
    {
        Name "CustomPass"
        Tags { "LightMode" = "ForwardBase" }
        Cull Front
        HLSLPROGRAM
        #include "CustomPass.hlsl"
        ENDHLSL
    }
}

// template code

To utilize this template feature in module or a shader, you only need to add a list of enabled template features like this

%TemplateFeatures("CustomPass")

This will enable the CustomPass template feature, which will add the CustomPass pass to the shader.

The docs for TemplateFeatures can be found here.

Built-in Templates

All built-in templates are located in Packages -> ORL Shader Generator -> Runtime -> Sources -> Templates.

But you can reference them via an @ shorthand via the %Template block.

%Template("@/Templates/PBR")

• PBR
  • Contains no shader features
• Toon
  • Contains the following shader features
    • PrePass: adds a configurable pre-pass. Useful for 2-pass transparency
      • Enabling this feature allows you to use the %PrePassModifiers block and the %PrePassColor function
• VFX
  • Contains no shader features
• UI
  • Contains no shader features