Unity 5 Game Optimization

Materials and Shaders

Shaders are short programs which define how the GPU should render incoming vertex and pixel data. A Shader on its own does not have the necessary knowledge of state to accomplish anything of value. It requires inputs such as diffuse textures, normal maps, colors, and so on, and must decide what Render State variables are required in order to complete its intended task.

Unity's Material system is essential to providing this information to our Shaders. Ultimately, this just means a Shader is dependent upon a Material in order to be used to render an object. Every Shader needs a Material, and every Material must have a Shader. Even newly imported meshes that are introduced into the Scene without any assigned Materials are automatically ...