Show HN: Shader Lab, like Photoshop but for shaders

(eng.basement.studio)

111 points | by ragojose 3 days ago

12 comments

  • onion2k 24 minutes ago
    A while ago (8 years in fact) I wanted to make something like this. I made a slightly half-assed React library that used twgl to overlay a shader on an element on a page (or a canvas for some effects). One thing I had was measuring where an element was on the page and then using absolute positioning to put a canvas over it so effects could expand beyond the confines of the element. I still think that has potential for some fun things but browsers aren't really fast enough to keep it in the right place with scrolling so it never works properly. https://react-neon.ooer.com/ + https://github.com/onion2k/react-neon

    These new libraries are much better than anything I came up with.

    • llbbdd 1 minute ago
      Can you elaborate on the scrolling issue?
  • glhast 15 minutes ago
    I started https://unicorn.studio (first of its kind for layer based shader composition) back in 2020! Thankful that I did because I actually had to learn GLSL the hard way. Not sure that I would have bothered if building it today.
  • felixthehat 4 hours ago
    looks like a slopfork of the fairly new https://shaders.com - frustrating for them!
    • virtualritz 1 hour ago
      There are dozens of DCCs where you have a UI where you stack things (over-compositing, bottom to top).

      And when you select one of these things you can change the parameters.

      If this is a 'slopfork' of shaders.com then the latter is a 'slopfork' of <insert any DCC that had this pattern and existed before and has whatever anyone may consider 'less sloppy'>.

      OTTOMH: AfterEffects, Cavalry, Substance Designer's Layer panel, Tixl's layered textures, ...

    • marchantweb 2 hours ago
      I'm the Founder at https://shaders.com. Not frustrating at all, and Basement is an excellent team. Shader Lab looks like a solid tool for exploration and and creating effects, nothing slop about it (although I love the word "slopfork", that's new).

      Our platform goes above and beyond that with a large collection of Pro presets and a unique capability in our component-based approach with reactive props, and of course broader framework support. All that, and our new MCP workflow for having your agent prompt effects, and we feel confident in our place in the market.

      Would recommend checking out both Shader Lab AND shaders.com to anyone interested in creative shader effects for the web.

      • felixthehat 2 hours ago
        Ah nice! I enjoyed trying out your product when it was launched which called this app to mind. Commendable attitude!
      • gavinray 2 hours ago
        I'm not your target audience, but why do you gate your playground?

        Went to try it and then gave up after it asked me to sign up/log in

        • marchantweb 2 hours ago
          Mostly due to account-tied permissions, such as asset uploads (images, video, etc) and for auto-saving/versioning.

          It's entirely free to try, build, etc with an account - you only need a paid license when you're ready to export/deploy

    • upmostly 1 hour ago
      Honest question: If my web browser struggles to even render the preview, why in god's name would I put any of these presets on a production webpage?
      • imcritic 15 minutes ago
        Please, don't. I don't want the same starting to happen on different sites...
    • KingOfCoders 3 hours ago
      They look nothing alike except they are both about shaders.

      Could you explain why you think this is a slopfork?

      • felixthehat 2 hours ago
        Did you try the shader.com shader editor where you stack shaders and effects in layers? V similar approach!
        • frabia 2 hours ago
          so does Photoshop and thousand other visual editing tools. Hardly a reason to claim it to be a copy. Also "slopfork" seems harsh considering it seems limited, but well designed imo.
          • felixthehat 2 hours ago
            Maybe a little harsh yes. But compare these screenshots of the two products/features

            https://imgur.com/a/41BybD1

            • cududa 54 minutes ago
              I see a deep tree and a shallow tree in the two screenshots, representative of entirely different approaches.
    • skrebbel 3 hours ago
      "slopfork" nice
    • doingitwell 4 hours ago
      Welcome to the world of zero cost software we were promised
      • nipponese 3 hours ago
        Indeed we prefer the world where only deep-pocketed entrenched monopolies can do this.
  • elliottcarlson 4 hours ago
    Nice interface -- I made something similar but for a specific game (Binding of Isaac) because it has a specific way of implementing shaders for mods. https://sublimnl.github.io/IsaacShaderStudio/
  • sph 6 hours ago
    Doesn't seem to load for me except the side windows. Firefox/Linux. HN hug of death?

    The design language screams vibe coded to me.

    • allan_s 4 hours ago
      As a ESL, what is unnatural in the language used ?
    • esafak 5 hours ago
      It works on MacOS Chrome.
  • sva_ 5 hours ago
    When I clicked Add Layer and then tried to select an image source, it managed to crash Firefox pretty consistently.

    Submitted a bug report.

  • mawadev 5 hours ago
    That is so laggy, but the UI looks really cool!
  • bobbies-treats 2 hours ago
    Tough for anyone to want to play around with until performance is improved. It's neat though.
  • ohyoutravel 5 hours ago
    Doesn’t work for me. Seems vibe coded.
  • realbigscrem 1 hour ago
    [dead]
  • aguacaterojo 5 hours ago
    V cool. Works in ff on mac for me. Maybe vibe coded but it's a spectrum. Probably in need of a bit of polish and a better performing example & maybe resolution switching. Basement Studio is legit I have bought their fonts in the past.

    Floating windows are a little pointless but aesthetic choice or a one shot ui. FPS would be nice, also distinction between canvas and void. Video export works great.