Shaders, Past The Node Graph
HLSL helps when you need to inspect shader code or express an operation that’s awkward in a node graph. This track starts with familiar material operations, then covers Unreal Custom nodes and debugging. You can compare the code with effects you already know.
HLSL From Zero (For Artists)
Floats, vectors, swizzles, UVs, lerp, and five commonly used material functions - taught through effects you already know from the graph.
-> S-02Unreal Custom Nodes & Material Functions
Where HLSL plugs into Unreal's material editor: the Custom node, material functions as a library, and ways to manage master materials and shader permutations.
-> S-03Debugging Shaders That Look Wrong
The field guide: output-the-suspect, isolate-by-bisection, the classic wrong-looks catalogue (NaNs, sRGB, tangent space), and the profiling views.
->How This Track Fits
Prerequisites: Materials 101 for the node-graph vocabulary, and nothing else - the HLSL page assumes zero code. Companions: the material performance guide for the budget side, the noise generator and channel packer for feeding your shaders, and the TA maths cheat sheet for the dot/cross/lerp family that shader work leans on daily. If this track clicks harder than anything else on the site, read the shader specialisation profile - it may be a useful area to explore further.