A silly diffuse shading model
- Auto-discovered
lisyarus
Visit resource ↗Description
A silly diffuse shading model is a December 2025 post on the lisyarus graphics blog about a one-liner alternative to classic Lambertian diffuse for tech demos and early prototypes.
It starts from max(0, L·N), notes that the clamped half goes flat black without ambient or textures, then remaps with (1 + L·N)/2 and squares that form. Plots compare both curves to true Lambert, and a Hermite argument shows the squared remap matches values and derivatives of max(0, x) at the endpoints. The author mentions using the same formula for clouds in a game.
It is for intermediate shader programmers who know basic directional lighting and want readable diffuse without full PBR or multi-light setups.
The post is a free single HTML article with formulas, plots, and screenshots.
It is useful when you need geometry-readable shading in a one-liner before investing in textures, ambient occlusion, or a full lighting stack.
Related resources
- 2D Water Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
A Shader Graph breakdown of stylized 2D water in Unity URP: sprite reflections via a second camera, scrolling noise distortion, fake highlights, and tilemap shoreline ripples for pixel art.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><screenshots><setups><shader> - Cloud Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Cyanilux Shader Graph tutorial for URP that builds animated cloud decks on a subdivided plane with layered world-space noise, vertex displacement, and depth-based fading at intersections.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><clouds><flat><free><full><game> - Crystal Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
A Cyanilux Shader Graph walkthrough for Unity URP that builds an unlit transparent crystal with object-space Y colour gradients, camera opaque-texture refraction, Fresnel opacity, and HDR glow for bloom.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><goes><post><screenshots> - Custom Renderer Features (Cyanilux)
Long-form Cyanilux guide to URP ScriptableRendererFeature and ScriptableRenderPass code: example effects, RTHandle setup, blit paths, and Unity 6 Render Graph notes.
100% match · <shaders><blog><free><full><goes><notes><one><programmers> - Dissolve Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
URP Shader Graph breakdown by Cyanilux on dissolve effects: Step and noise clip fragments with glowing edges, height-axis variants, and view-space UVs to reduce seam artifacts.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><post><screenshots><setups> - Fire/Flame Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Shader Graph breakdown of billboard fire on a quad: scrolling noise warps UVs for a flame texture or procedurally generated ellipse shapes, with per-instance randomization.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><geometry><screenshots><setups> - Fog Plane Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Shader Graph tutorial for unlit fog planes on quads that sample scene depth for vertical fog and doorway fades, with simple and accurate reconstruction paths in Unity URP.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><black><both><flat><free><full> - Forcefield Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Cyanilux URP Shader Graph forcefield: Fresnel edges, depth intersections, Scene Color refraction, noise distortion, and impact ripples via custom HLSL and C#.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><one><post><screenshots> - Forcefield Shader Breakdown (Simple) (Cyanilux)
Simplified URP Shader Graph forcefield: transparent unlit Fresnel rim glow, front-face alpha masking, and scene-depth intersection highlights without distortion or ripples.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><post><screenshots><setups> - Fractured Cube Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Step-by-step Cyanilux post on pivot baking: Blender Cell Fracture, UV-stored shard pivots, and URP Shader Graph vertex scale, rotation, and burst from a handle.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><compare><free><full><model><screenshots> - GPU Instanced Grass Breakdown (Cyanilux)
A Cyanilux URP breakdown on GPU-instanced grass: procedural draw APIs, structured buffers, Shader Graph instancing hooks, and optional indirect draws with compute frustum culling.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><goes><one><post> - Holofoil Card Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Unity URP Shader Graph breakdown of stylized holofoil trading cards: tangent-space view distortion, rainbow sampling, region masks, stencil portal windows, and bloom notes.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><screenshots><setups><shader> - Jellyfish Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Cyanilux URP Shader Graph jellyfish: sine vertex displacement, Y masking, Fresnel tint, and C# tentacle counter-rotation when the body turns.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><alternative><free><full><screenshots><setups> - Local UVs for Sprites in Sprite Sheet/Atlas (Cyanilux)
Unity shader techniques for per-sprite 0-1 UVs when sprites live in sheets or atlases: C# UV remap with Shader Graph/HLSL, plus URP object-space and renderer-bounds alternatives.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><post><screenshots><setups> - Polar Coordinates (Cyanilux)
Cyanilux's Polar Coordinates (May 2019, updated Dec 2023) is a Shader Graph article on converting Cartesian UVs to polar space with the Polar Coordinates node. It explains Center, Radial Scale, and Length Scale, quotes the generated Unity HLSL, and uses Split so R is distance from center and G is angle from the downward reference (with notes on negative preview values).
100% match · <shaders><blog><free><full><goes><post><screenshots><setups> - Shoreline Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Shoreline Shader Breakdown is a December 2024 Cyanilux post merging earlier shoreline water threads into one stylized coast tutorial for Unity URP Shader Graph. It compares depth-texture versus UV shoreline meshes, then walks approaching wave lines, synced swash motion, Voronoi on the swash, and wet-sand darkening via low-alpha blending.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><one><screenshots><setups> - Soft Foliage Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Soft Foliage Shader Breakdown is a March 2021 Cyanilux post documenting soft-shaded foliage for Unity URP Shader Graph, with full notes beyond the original Twitter demo. It cove
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><post><screenshots><setups> - Sun Beams / God Rays Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Sun Beams / God Rays Shader Breakdown is a May 2024 Cyanilux tutorial (updated August 2025) on stylized god rays in Unity URP Shader Graph.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><light><need><screenshots> - Swapping Colours (Cyanilux)
Swapping Colours is a February 2023 Cyanilux post on recolouring textures and procedural inputs in Unity Shader Graph for 3D, sprites, UI, or signed-distance shapes. Sections cover Tint, Lerp, channel-packed greys, mask textures, Replace Color, Blend modes, gradient ramps as textures, and palette index lookups.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><model><one><screenshots> - Sword Slash Shader Breakdown (Cyanilux)
Cyanilux's Sword Slash Shader Breakdown (Dec 2021) is a free Unity blog tutorial for an unlit URP Shader Graph effect on a ring mesh: panning a triangular slash mask and noise over time, like soulercoaster ribbon VFX used in spells. Setup covers ring UVs, textures, and optional downloads; the Graph builds Slash/Length UV animation, comparison masking, edge fades, scrolling noise, Lerp colors with Smoothstep, and optional vertex Scale.
100% match · <shaders><intermediate><blog><free><full><one><screenshots><setups>