The Shaders library

In HeavyM, Shaders offer exciting creative possibilities, whether you are simply looking for existing interactive visuals or you want to start creating your own. 

These objects can be used either as interactive textures or as filter effects and you'll find them all in the Shaders library, which is the focus of this article.

What Kind of Sorcery Is This?

Let's start with a small presentation of the concept of shaders. If you don't want to hear about it, you can skip directly to the Overview of the library below.
 

What's a shader?

Very basically, a shader is a small computer program that is commonly used to realistically simulate complex visual effects such as rain, fog, light, textures, etc. They are therefore widely used in video games or digital art for instance.

One advantage of shaders is that they create visuals that are not pre-rendered (like videos or images) so they can be manipulated in realtime, like when you change the color of your character in a video game for instance!

The beauty of it is that you don't need to understand all the tech stuff around this to start using all the built-in shaders in HeavyM, you can just enjoy the well-stocked library of interactive effects that it offers!

Note: although if you do want to know more about the technology behind it, feel free to read this article.
 

The 2 types: Generative and Post-Processing

You will find 2 types of interactive shaders in HeavyM*:

• Generative shaders: those generate a texture, kind of like an image or video, but interactive. They can be used as a Media in Sources.
• Post-Processing shaders: those are like filters, they affect existing content. They can be used as effects on Players, Groups, Sequences or as Masters.

*Note: technically I'm lying, there are interactive shaders everywhere in HeavyM. Group effects are shaders, transitions are shaders... But let's not complicate everything.

The Shaders library

Where can I find the Shaders library?

This is kind of a trick question, as there is more than one answer. As mentioned previously, shaders are used throughout the software. The Shaders library adapts to show you the relevant shaders according to where you are in the software.

Here's a rundown of the places you'll find it:

• As a media type in the Sources panel.
• As an Master effect on the whole project, in the Master Shaders panel.
• As an effect on a Sequence, in its Sequence Settings.
• As an effect on a Player, in its Properties in the Layers Panel.
• As an effect on a Group, in its Properties in the Layers Panel.

Overview of the library

1. Sort & Filter Bar: at the time of writing the library contains more than 100 Post-Processing and 100 Generative shaders, and it keeps growing! To not get lost and find the perfect shader for your project, you can use Favorites, Categories, or even custom Tags to filter the list of shaders.
   In addition, you can sort the list alphabetically or by date added.

   Note: the "Type" of shaders (Generative or Post-Processing) is set automatically, it depends on where you open the Library from.

2. Shader Previews: Hover on the thumbnails to get an animated snapshot of the shaders.

   But know that the preview is only one look of the shader! Depending on its settings, one single shader can have many different appearances or animations once you've twicked it. For post-processing shaders, they also greatly vary depending on what you apply them on.
   
   On hover, a heart icon also appears. It allows you to add the shader to your list of Favorites.

3. Toolbar: the toolbar lets you manage the selected shader(s). 

   Note: built-in shaders are protected which means that you can't remove them from the library, change their snapshot or show the location of the file on your computer.

Can I import my own shaders?

Yes! You can add your own shaders in your Library. There are a few tech limitations though:

• They must be ISF shaders (.fs). 
• Generative shaders cannot have any input image.
• Post-processing shaders can have a maximum of 1 input image.

From the Library, simply click on "Import Shader".

You can also directly put your shader files in the folder "Documents\HeavyM\ShadersLibrary" on your computer and the list will be updated next time you open HeavyM.

To find new shaders, you can look on websites like this one, by the creators of the ISF standard: editor.isf.video... Or learn how to code them yourself!

Note: when searching for shaders online, don't forget to check out which license the creator has chosen for his or her work, even if a lot of them are free to use.