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Cloud Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)

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Cyanilux

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Description

Cloud Shader Breakdown is a Cyanilux URP Shader Graph tutorial (2019, updated 2023) that builds animated clouds on a subdivided plane with vertex displacement instead of volumes. The shader is unlit and transparent, tuned for an above-the-clouds view.

Layered world-space Gradient and Simple Noise scroll at different speeds, offset Y in world space, and transform back to object space for the master node. Color lerps across noise height; Smoothstep controls cover. Scene Depth fading softens intersections when the URP depth texture is on.

For intermediate Unity artists used to transparent sorting and dense meshes. Graph lacks tessellation, so plane subdivision and optional disc layouts matter.

One annotated breakdown with depth-write sorting notes for URP versions and shadow alpha quirks. Free on cyanilux.com.

A common cheap-sky prototype recipe often linked in Unity shader communities.