Pixel Shader Effect Examples

Question

I\'ve seen a number of pixel-shader effect examples, stuff like swirl on an image. But I\'m wondering if anyone knows of any examples or tutorials for more practical uses o

Answer 1

I've used pixel shaders in different contexts. Mostly to wow users.

Here are two examples from me. Genie effect in Silverlight/WPF: live demo

alt text http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/6074/genied.jpg

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Webcam support in Silverlight 4 gives you endless fun, when you combine it with shaders. I surprised a conference attendees with Bill Gates face, appearing on white surfaces. I set a flashlight next to webcam and...

alt text http://w2.com.ua/files/tinymce/images/Analytics/IT%20Jam%20/.thumbs/4bd67c03d4553251a72a01256fd9e61f_600_0_0.jpg

Web cam application is also availble here: live demo (you'll need Silverlight 4 runtime & web cam).

Wowing users is definitely not only way to use shaders. You could also do some costly calculus on GPU, but I can't find any good real-life example. And if you are a game developer (I'm not) you probably use shaders on a daily basis.

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As for practical uses explanation there is not much in the Net, specifically to WPF/Silverlight technologies. One should go through adjacent topics, starting from HLSL language specification and ending with flash pixel bender. Here are some good references to start:

• HLSL Introduction by Chang Li.
• Announcment of WPF Pixel Shader Effects Library contains some links at the bottom.
• Shader X2 Books on Gamedev.net. ShaderX2 book shows different shader applications. Many of them are not applicable to WPF, but they still may give reader good feeling of practical uses.

I also described in details how I created Genie effect, but explanation is available only in Russian.

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There are no build-in usage of shaders in WPF controls, as far as I know.

Hope this helps :). Cheers.

Answer 2

One practical thing that pixel shader effects enable ... are blend modes.

Check out Robby Ingebretsen's post on the matter (which discusses a useful way to take advantage of the linear burn blend mode). There is also a StackOverflow question on this subject as well.

In fact, I actually have written a blend mode library for WPF & Silverlight, and make it freely available at my blog. Following is a list of all my blend mode posts (all of which have source code and binaries attached):

• Blend Modes, Part I
• Blend Modes, Part II
• Blend Modes for Silverlight
• Blend Modes, Part III
• Blend Modes: Now Opacity Aware
• Blend Modes: Hue, Saturation, Color, and Luminosity with WPF 4.0

Hope this sparks your imagination ... and let me know if you toy around with the library!