"Shaders Plus" - Real-Time Caustics, Thin Film, Dispersion for Cycles & Eevee

Shaders Plus

The new Addon that allows you to achieve Real Time Caustics, Dispersion, and physically accurate Thin Film Interference Effects!

"Bringing the Industry Standard, to Blender!"

v3 - Modular Update  (07/06/2023)

We are proud to offer a powerful yet affordable solution that gives you access to features that were once exclusive to high-end render engines, such as Octane or Redshift!

With Shaders Plus, you can achieve Real Time Caustics, Dispersion, and Physically Accurate Thin-Film Interference Effects within Cycles and Eevee - without sacrificing quality or breaking the bank on monthly fees.

What really sets Shaders Plus apart is our commitment to making it accessible to everyone, regardless of their hardware. Whether you have the latest computer or the most basic setup, Shaders Plus will run smoothly and quickly, delivering stunning results such as Caustics, in just seconds, instead of hours.

We've worked hard to make Shaders Plus easy and intuitive to use, by building these features into the default shaders, so you can start creating right away without disrupting your existing workflows. And with 69 presets included, you'll have endless inspiration right at your fingertips! Nice!

We're committed to empowering our users to achieve their best work... Try it now and see the difference for yourself - your Blender rendering will never be the same again!

Carlos used Shaders Plus for the adorably unique slime creatures in his short film, 'Across Dimensions with Terry Benson'

Real-time Caustics

Really, real-time! Replicating how Shadow Caustics work, but through a shader, we're able to achieve real-time Caustics results within Cycles! Simply enable the shaders Caustics Strength slider, add a light, and voila!

In fact, these caustics actually tend to render faster than anything else in the scene! Even on the lowest end of hardware!

Scroll down for rendered caustics results.

1m45s per frame @4k, rendered on a single RTX 3080 - Project File Included

Physically Accurate Thin-Film Interference

(you won't find any rainbow gradients here!)

The Thin-Film effect in Shaders Plus is indeed Physically Accurate, thanks to the extensive formula developed by Robert Moerland PhD. It incorporates over 1,000 vector math nodes to cycle through the natural interference range of light seamlessly.

This means you have precise control over the thinness of the "film" as well as its index of refraction (IOR), similar to how you would in industry standard renderers like Octane, Redshift, or Arnold.

A glorious, abstract use of the Thin-Film effect, created by NotImportantStudio

Continuous Dispersion

Shaders Plus offers a highly realistic Dispersion option, with a multitude of settings that allows you to custom tailor your desired look!

What sets our dispersion apart from other options, is it does not use multiple shaders to create an RGB split, but instead, re-creating a physical prism effect inside the shader, that mimics physically accurate light biases.

Perfect for glass, liquid, lenses, or even chromatic aberration filters!

Over 69 Shader Presets

Shaders Plus comes with 69 standard Shaders Plus Presets, as well as 6 Modular Presets, giving you tons of options and freedoms to really nail the look of your scene!

These presets contain Shader-based presets, Feature-based presets, and Module-based Presets.

Feature-based Modular Node Groups

Shaders Plus v3 comes with an all new Modular Node Group system! These new feature modules allow you to incorporate the powerful features of Shaders Plus, into any existing shader setup, simply just by dragging and dropping them into their connections, making it a totally non-destructive process!

For example, if you already have a complex glass based setup and would like to add Real-Time Caustics to them, simply add the Caustics Module in front of the shader connection. Or would you like to control the Thin-Film output for using it in un-intended and inventive ways? Simply plug in the Thin Film Module into your desired socket! It's that easy! 

Real-Time Caustics Examples

Shaders Plus introduces a new, powerful, and efficient workflow for allowing artists to achieve simulated Caustics in Real Time! These Caustics are capable of producing stunning glass-like effects, and even volumetric underwater rays! Check out some examples of that below. Everything you see caustics-wise was made using a single Shaders Plus shader, a single light, and a single object to cast them.

These Caustics are generated by using manipulated shadow information, which allows them to be capable of running in real-time, even on low-end Graphics Cards! 

If you can render shadows, you can render these Caustics!

1m45s per frame @4k, rendered on a single RTX 3080 - Project File Included

45s per frame @1440p, rendered on a single 3080

27s per frame @1440p, rendered on a single RTX 3080 - Project File Included

13s per frame, @1080p, rendered on a single RTX 3080 - Project File Included

35s per frame, @4k, rendered on a single RTX 3080 (48 samples)

" We've worked hard to make Shaders Plus easy and intuitive to use, by building these features into the default shaders, so you can start creating right away without disrupting your existing workflows. And with 69 presets included, you'll have endless inspiration right at your fingertips! "

Installation

Edit > Preferences > Add-ons > Install > "Shaders Plus v3" > Enable > Save Preferences

Shader Editor > Add > Shaders Plus > Choose a Preset

Refund Policy:

Due to the nature of this product being a Digital Product, we're unfortunately unable to issue refunds. However, if you are having technical problems and would like troubleshooting support, please reach out to us via email, social media, or Discord, and we'll help walk you through every step of the way to resolve your problem.