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Six Way shader graph reference for URP

Explore the properties and settings you can use to customize the default Six Way shader graph.
Read time 6 minutesLast updated a month ago
Explore the properties and settings you can use to customize the default Six Way shader graph in the Universal Render Pipeline (URP).
Use the Six Way shader graph to define materials that respond to light from six directions. This is useful for simulating realistic volumetric effects such as smoke, dust, and clouds in URP.

Contexts

The default Vertex and Fragment Contexts contain the following Blocks. Which Blocks display might change depending on the graph settings.

Vertex Context

Input

Type

Description

PositionVector3Sets the vertex position in object space.
NormalVector3Sets the normal of the vertex in object space.
TangentVector3Sets the tangent of the vertex in object space.

Fragment Context

Input

Type

Description

Base ColorVector3Sets the base color of the material. The default is 
Color.grey
.
Right Top BackVector3Sets the color applied to surfaces facing the positive x-axis (right), positive y-axis (top), and negative z-axis (back). The default is 
Color.grey
.
Left Bottom FrontVector3Sets the color applied to surfaces facing the negative x-axis (left), negative y-axis (bottom), and positive z-axis (front). The default is 
Color.grey
.
Color Absorption StrengthFloatControls how much the material absorbs light color as it passes through the object. Higher values increase the influence of the colors of the opposite face on the visible shading. The default is 0.5. This property is available only if you enable Use Color Absorption in the graph settings.
EmissionFloat3Sets the color the material emits as a light source. The default is black. For more information, refer to Add light emission to a material.
Ambient OcclusionFloatSets how much ambient light reaches the surface, rather than being occluded. The range is 0 to 1, where 0 means the fragment is completely occluded and 1 means the fragment isn't occluded at all so the ambient color doesn't change. The default is 1.
AlphaFloatSets the alpha of the material. The range is 0 to 1. The default is 1. This property is available only if you set Surface Type to Transparent or you enable Alpha Clipping in the graph settings.
Alpha Clip ThresholdFloatSets the minimum alpha value for a pixel to be visible. The range is 0 to 1. The default is 0.5. This property is available only if you enable Alpha Clipping in the graph settings.

Graph Settings

Explore the shader graph settings you can use to customize the Vertex and Fragment Contexts.
For more details about graph settings that are common to all shader graph shaders, refer to the Graph Settings tab.

Setting

Description

Allow Material OverrideEnables material instances to override properties exposed in the shader graph. When disabled, materials using this shader will always use the values defined in the shader asset.
Surface TypeDetermines if the material supports transparency. The options are:
  • Opaque: The material is fully opaque and doesn't use transparency blending.
  • Transparent: The material uses transparency blending based on the alpha channel. Unity adds the Alpha Block to the Fragment Context.
Blending ModeSets how the shader blends the color of a transparent material with the background. This property is available only when you set Surface Type to Transparent. The options are:
  • Alpha: Calculates transparency using the alpha value of the material.
  • Premultiply: Calculates transparency using the alpha value of the material, but multiplies the RGB values by the alpha value first.
  • Additive: Adds the color of the material to the background color.
  • Multiply: Multiplies the color of the material with the background color.
For more information about blending modes, refer to Blend modes.
Render FaceSpecifies which faces of the mesh the shader renders. The options are:
  • Front: Renders only front‑facing triangles. This is the default.
  • Back: Renders only back‑facing triangles.
  • Both: Renders both front and back faces.
Depth WriteDetermines whether the shader writes depth information to the depth buffer. The options are:
  • Auto: Sets opaque objects to write to the depth buffer, and transparent objects to not write to the depth buffer.
  • Force Enabled: Enables all objects writing to the depth buffer.
  • Force Disabled: Disables all objects from writing to the depth buffer.
Depth TestSpecifies the comparison function used to determine whether a pixel passes the depth test. The options are:
  • Never: The pixel never passes the depth test.
  • Less: Passes if the incoming depth value is less than the stored depth.
  • Equal: Passes if the incoming depth value equals the stored depth.
  • L Equal: Passes if the incoming depth value is less than or equal to the stored depth.
  • Greater: Passes if the incoming depth value is greater than the stored depth.
  • Not Equal: Passes if the incoming depth value isn't equal to the stored depth.
  • G Equal: Passes if the incoming depth value is greater than or equal to the stored depth.
  • Always: The pixel always passes the depth test.
Alpha ClippingDiscards pixels if their alpha value is lower than a threshold value. When you enable this setting, Unity adds the Alpha Clip Threshold Block to the Fragment context.
Cast ShadowsDetermines whether the material casts shadows onto other objects.
Supports LOD Cross FadeEnables support for Level of Detail (LOD) cross‑fading when used with a Mesh Renderer that has LOD Group cross‑fade enabled.
Additional Motion VectorsControls how Unity generates motion vectors for this material, for motion blur and temporal anti‑aliasing. The options are:
  • None: Generates no motion vectors.
  • Time Based: Computes motion vectors automatically from per‑frame transformations.
  • Custom: Enables you to manually provide motion vector data through the Motion Vector Block in the Vertex Context.
For more information, refer to Built-in shader support for motion vectors in URP.
Alembic Motion VectorsEnables motion vector support for meshes streamed through Alembic files. For more information, refer to Built-in shader support for motion vectors in URP.
Use Color AbsorptionEnables simulation of light passing through the object and picking up color from the opposite side. When you enable this setting, Unity adds the Color Absorption Strength Block to the Fragment context.
Custom Editor GUIRenders a custom editor GUI in the Inspector window of the material. Enter the name of the GUI class in the field. For more information, refer to Control material properties in the Inspector window.

Additional resources