Vshade is a graphical user interface for constructing shaders. Shaders are small programs used by AIR to perform shading and lighting calculations. Traditionally a shader is created by writing a text file in a C-like programming language. With Vshade a Visual shader is built by the simple process of connecting blocks on the screen. If you can drag an object across the screen and connect two points with a line, you can build a shader with Vshade.
Component Library
Vshade comes with a collection of over 50 pre-designed components to use in constructing shaders. You can create your own components either by writing a function in the underlying shading language or by combining a group of existing components into a new function.
Tutorials
The best way to learn to construct shaders is to practice. Vshade includes 10 tutorials that cover the Vshade interface and common shader-building techniques. Each tutorial contains step-by-step instructions for building a particular shader, as well as suggestions for extending the shader beyond what is covered in the tutorial.
Shader Library
The AIR distribution includes more than 90 ready-to-use shaders. Most of the shaders were constructed in VShade, and source code for those shaders is included as well to serve as starting points for your own shaders.
VShade is a free tool included with the AIR distribution.
