CelShaderFX Documentation
CelShaderFX Trailer
CelShaderFX Tutorial
v2.1 update notes:
- Preset count corrected 10 → 37 (with thumbnails).
- Module count 8 → 12; surfaced Hair / Multi-Light / SSS / GI on the ObjectCelShading list (already shipping).
- Added Unity 6.4 + native URP 17 RenderGraph as a headline differentiator.
- Hero rewritten to lead with the per-object + cross-pipeline promise.
Scene-wide NPR meets per-object precision — across all three pipelines.
CelShaderFX Pro pairs the complete post-processing suite from Essentials with a dedicated per-object cel-shading system. Stylize your whole scene with 12 stackable effects, then take fine control of individual characters and hero meshes with the ObjectCelShading component — normal mapping, rim light, matcap, PBR specular, face SDF shadows, hair shading, and GPU instancing included.
One codebase. Three pipelines. Per-object control where it matters. Verified from Unity 2021.3 LTS through Unity 6.4, including the native URP 17 RenderGraph path.
Why CelShaderFX Pro?
- All 3 pipelines, one package — Built-In, URP, and HDRP, including native URP 17 RenderGraph. Switch pipelines without losing your settings.
- Unity 2021.3 → Unity 6.4 — verified across a 5-version × 3-pipeline compile matrix.
- 37 presets, with thumbnails — Anime, Ghibli, Manga, Comic, Watercolor, Sumi-E, Cyberpunk, Risograph, Ukiyo-e, and more. Browse by sight, apply in one click, tune to taste.
- Post-process and per-object — global scene stylization plus dedicated character control. Most assets do one or the other.
- GPU instanced — ObjectCelShading uses MaterialPropertyBlock for efficient per-instance variation. Hundreds of stylized characters, no material duplication.
- Near-zero overhead when disabled — turned-off modules don't render.
ObjectCelShading — Per-Object Control (Pro & Ultimate)
Add the ObjectCelShading component to any renderer for dedicated, per-mesh stylization that goes beyond what post-processing can reach — independent of the global stack.
- Normal Mapping — tangent-space normal maps for detailed stylized characters.
- Rim Lighting — configurable Fresnel rim for silhouette emphasis and dramatic backlighting.
- MatCap Support — material-capture textures for quick, artist-friendly looks without complex light rigs.
- PBR Specular — physically-based highlights blended with cel bands for hybrid realism.
- Face SDF Shadow — signed-distance-field face shadows for anime-accurate facial shading that tracks light direction without artifacts.
- Hair Shading — Kajiya-Kay dual-lobe anisotropic highlights with flow-map support and a hair preset library.
- Multi-Light, SSS & GI — up to 4 additional lights per object, subsurface scattering, and baked lightmap / light-probe GI.
- Per-Object Hatching, Pixelation & Stencil Outlines — independent per-mesh control, including true stencil-masked outlines.
- GPU Instancing — MaterialPropertyBlock for per-instance variation; style hundreds of NPCs without duplicating materials.
12 Stackable Effect Modules
- Cel Shading — Color-band quantization (2–16 bands), custom ramps, palette quantization.
- Outlines (5 methods) — Sobel, Roberts, Canny, Difference-of-Gaussians, and JFA cinematic outlines up to 64 px with glow and soft falloff. Resolution-independent.
- Kuwahara Filter — 4 variants (Basic, Generalized, Anisotropic, Polynomial) for painterly, edge-preserving abstraction.
- XDoG Ink — manga-style ink with Tangent-Flow and Edge-Tangent-Flow for coherent line art.
- Hatching — procedural, TAM, and geometry-anchored triplanar pattern cross-hatching.
- Halftone — Ben-Day dots, lines, and authentic CMYK plate separations.
- Dithering — Bayer, blue noise, and Spatiotemporal Blue Noise (STBN).
- Watercolor — paint bleeding, wet edges, granulation, paper texture.
- Painterly — visible brush strokes, canvas texture, impasto.
- ASCII Art — luminance-to-character rendering, mono or colored.
- Pixelate — early-chain UV snapping for clean retro pixel-art.
- Color Correction — 11 art-style grades (Comic, Manga, Anime, Watercolor, Noir, Pop Art, Vintage, Cyberpunk, Ghibli, Retro Game, Custom) + LUT support.
Plus motion-vector temporal stabilization to keep dithering and hatching steady in motion.
What's Included
Post-Processing Suite (from Essentials)
- 12 effect modules with full shader source · 5 outline methods
- 37 built-in presets with rendered thumbnails · visual inspector
- Setup wizard, Preview window, GPU Cost Meter, texture generators
- Layer / component / stencil object exclusion
Per-Object System (Pro)
- ObjectCelShading component with custom inspector
- Normal mapping, rim, matcap, PBR specular, face SDF, hair, multi-light, SSS, GI
- Per-object hatching, pixelation, and stencil outlines
- GPU instancing via MaterialPropertyBlock
- Per-object shaders across all 3 pipelines
Documentation & Samples
- Sample scenes for post-process and per-object workflows
- Quick Start, User Manual, Troubleshooting, Preset catalog, Face SDF guide
Feature Comparison
[ E ] = Essentials | [ P ] = Pro | [ U ] = Ultimate
- 12 Post-Process Effect Modules ............................................ [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- 5 Outline Methods (incl. JFA) ................................................. [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Kuwahara Filter (4 variants) ................................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- XDoG Ink Stylization ................................................................ [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Hatching, Halftone, Dithering ................................................. [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Watercolor & Painterly ............................................................. [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Built-In / URP / HDRP(+ URP 17 RenderGraph)...................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- 37 Built-In Presets ................................................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Editor Tools & Setup Wizard ................................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Object Exclusion (Layer/Stencil) ........................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Full Source Code ...................................................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Sample Scenes & Docs ........................................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- ObjectCelShading Component (per-object) ........................ [ - ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Per-Object Rim, MatCap, PBR ,Face SDF, Hair .................... [ - ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- GPU Instancing(MaterialPropertyBlock)................................ [ - ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- CelShaderAPI Runtime Scripting .......................................... [ - ] | [ - ] | [ U ]
- Runtime Preset Crossfade (trigger / distance) .................. [ - ] | [ - ] | [ U ]
- Code Examples & API Reference .......................................... [ - ] | [ - ] | [ U ]
