# A Tool for the Procedural Generation of Shaders using Interactive Evolutionary Algorithms

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.17587 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.17587/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 2 of its 17 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 29 Dec 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Deep Shading: Convolutional Neural Networks for Screen-Space Shading](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1603.06078/) (2016)
- [Design and Implementation of a Procedural Content Generation Web Application for Vertex Shaders](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1608.05231/) (2016)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We present a tool for exploring the design space of shaders using an interactive evolutionary algorithm integrated with the Unity editor, a well-known commercial tool for video game development. Our framework leverages the underlying graph-based representation of recent shader editors and interactive evolution to allow designers to explore several visual options starting from an existing shader. Our framework encodes the graph representation of a current shader as a chromosome used to seed the evolution of a shader population. It applies graph-based recombination and mutation with a set of heuristics to create feasible shaders. The framework is an extension of the Unity editor; thus, designers with little knowledge of evolutionary computation (and shader programming) can interact with the underlying evolutionary engine using the same visual interface used for working on game scenes.