Dark Bit Factory & Gravity

PROGRAMMING => General coding questions => Topic started by: Raizor on October 05, 2011

Title: Best app for developing GLSL shaders
Post by: Raizor on October 05, 2011

I'm starting to get my head into shaders and have been using RenderMonkey as an aid. Is this the best program for such things or are there better alternatives?

Thanks

Title: Re: Best app for developing GLSL shaders
Post by: hellfire on October 05, 2011

Well, I've always been using my own little "framework".
It just draws a test mesh and reloads the shader- and texture-files so I can see immediate results when editing the shader-code or saving a texture in photoshop.
That's not particularly amazing but I never really needed more.
I also find it rather convenient to be able to quickly hack some very custom vertex data setup code when optimizing the fragment shader.
But I must admit I usually prefer to work the oldschoolish way :)

Title: Re: Best app for developing GLSL shaders
Post by: LittleWhite on October 05, 2011

Now you can use the shaderToy, since it's a GLSL editor in browser.
Even better (same creator, I guess) -> the newly released GLSL Live Editor (http://pouet.net/prod.php?which=57828)

And, I am using ShaderMaker -> http://cg.in.tu-clausthal.de/publications.shtml#shader_maker

(RenderMonkey is nice, but never used it)

Title: Re: Best app for developing GLSL shaders
Post by: Raizor on October 05, 2011

Thanks LittleWhite, I will have a good look at those.

Thanks Hellfire, that might work well once I have a bit more experience but I'll play with the tools a bit while I'm starting out, just to keep the fear factor to a minimum :)

Title: Re: Best app for developing GLSL shaders
Post by: ferris on October 05, 2011

Rendermonkey, while a bit dated by now, is wonderful. A great tool if you know how to use it! Unfortunately, I don't :) . So I'm in the bare-metal boat with Hellfire... though I wish I knew Rendermonkey a bit better.

Title: Re: Best app for developing GLSL shaders
Post by: Raizor on October 05, 2011

Quote from: Ferris on October 05, 2011

Rendermonkey, while a bit dated by now, is wonderful. A great tool if you know how to use it! Unfortunately, I don't :) . So I'm in the bare-metal boat with Hellfire... though I wish I knew Rendermonkey a bit better.

Yeah, RenderMoney seems pretty nice, but there are some annoyances with the interfaces due to the MDI windows, which sucks when you have dual screens available.  I'm still a bit confused by some of the features, but it's sinking in slowly.  I'll presevere for a while longer and hopefully it will come together :)

thanks Ferris

Title: Re: Best app for developing GLSL shaders
Post by: ttemper on December 19, 2011

had a quick read of this... not sure if i should be bumping up an old thread or not... but....

http://www.geeks3d.com/20111129/live-code-your-shaders-with-glsl-sandbox-webgl/ (http://www.geeks3d.com/20111129/live-code-your-shaders-with-glsl-sandbox-webgl/)
and
http://www.geeks3d.com/20111025/geexlab-0-3-0-released-geometry-and-tessellation-shaders-live-coding/ (http://www.geeks3d.com/20111025/geexlab-0-3-0-released-geometry-and-tessellation-shaders-live-coding/)

may be of interest to you?

Title: Re: Best app for developing GLSL shaders
Post by: Raizor on December 19, 2011

Thanks ttemper.

I ended up writing a little C# skeleton app to handle it in the end. Nothing fancy, but it lets me reload shaders with a keypress which is pretty much all I need atm. I will check out geexlab though, I've keep coming across people mentioning that and I'm pretty curious about it.

I don't see a problem with bumping old threads personally, I know some forums frown upon it but it seems like a sensible thing most of the time :)