v2.1 update notes:
- Preset count corrected 10 → 37 (with thumbnails).
- Module count 8 → 12 (ASCII, Pixelate, Color Correction were already shipping but weren't counted).
- Added Unity 6.4 + native URP 17 RenderGraph as a headline differentiator.
- Hero rewritten to lead with a single named promise + the cross-pipeline edge.
Turn any Unity scene into hand-drawn art — Built-In, URP, and HDRP from one package.
CelShaderFX Essentials is a complete non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) post-processing suite. Drop it on your camera and turn any 3D scene into anime, manga, comic-book, watercolor, ink, or painterly art — no shader code, no per-material setup. 12 stackable effect modules, 5 edge-detection methods, and 37 one-click presets (each with a rendered thumbnail) get you to a finished look in seconds, then let you tune every parameter.
One codebase. Three pipelines. Native Unity 6 support.
Unlike single-pipeline toon shaders, CelShaderFX runs on Built-In, URP, and HDRP from a single package — including the native URP 17 RenderGraph path on Unity 6.3+. Verified from Unity 2021.3 LTS through Unity 6.4.
Why CelShaderFX?
- All 3 pipelines, one package — Built-In, URP, and HDRP from a single codebase, including native URP 17 RenderGraph. Switch pipelines without losing your settings.
- Unity 2021.3 → Unity 6.4 — verified across a 5-version × 3-pipeline compile matrix. Stays current with the latest LTS.
- 37 presets, with thumbnails — Anime, Ghibli, Manga, Comic, Watercolor, Sumi-E, Cyberpunk, Risograph, and more. Browse by sight in the visual Preset Browser, apply in one click, tune to taste.
- Zero cost when disabled — modules you turn off consume no GPU time. No hidden overhead.
- Production-tested — stable across Unity LTS releases, no external dependencies.
12 Stackable Effect Modules
Cel Shading — Color-band quantization (2–16 bands), custom ramp textures, and palette quantization. The foundation of any NPR look.
Outlines — 5 Detection Methods
- Sobel — Classic, reliable edge detection for clean outlines.
- Roberts — Lightweight cross-gradient operator for stylized edges.
- Canny — Multi-stage detection with non-maximum suppression for refined lines.
- Difference of Gaussians (DoG) — Smooth, organic outlines with adjustable sigma.
- JFA Cinematic Outlines — Jump Flood Algorithm distance-field outlines up to 64 px wide, with soft falloff and customizable glow. Resolution-independent.
Kuwahara Filter — 4 variants (Basic, Generalized, Anisotropic, Polynomial) of the edge-preserving painterly filter. Turn renders into oil-painting abstraction.
XDoG Ink Stylization — Extended Difference of Gaussians for manga-style ink, with Tangent-Flow and Edge-Tangent-Flow modes for coherent, flowing line art. Resolution-independent.
Hatching — Procedural and TAM (Tonal Art Map) cross-hatch shading, plus geometry-anchored Triplanar Pattern mode. Simulate pen-and-ink illustration in screen or world space.
Halftone — Ben-Day dots, lines, and authentic CMYK plate separations with configurable screen angles. Comic-print and pop-art aesthetics.
Dithering — Bayer matrix, blue noise, and Spatiotemporal Blue Noise (STBN). Smooth banding with temporally stable noise.
Watercolor — Simulated paint bleeding, wet edges, granulation, and paper texture.
Painterly — Visible brush strokes, canvas texture, and impasto for the look of traditional paint.
ASCII Art — Cell-based luminance-to-character rendering with monochrome or colored modes and edge enhancement.
Pixelate — Early-chain UV snapping so every downstream effect renders into the pixel grid. Clean retro pixel-art.
Color Correction — 11 art-style grades (Comic, Manga, Anime, Watercolor, Noir, Pop Art, Vintage, Cyberpunk, Ghibli, Retro Game, Custom) with contrast, saturation, temperature, vibrance, split-tone tints, and LUT support.
Plus motion-vector temporal stabilization to keep dithering and hatching steady in motion.
What’s Included
- 12 post-process effect modules with full shader source
- 5 outline detection methods (Sobel, Roberts, Canny, DoG, JFA)
- 37 built-in presets, each with a rendered thumbnail in the Preset Browser
- Visual inspector with organized per-module foldouts
- Setup wizard, Preview window (split/compare), and GPU Cost Meter
- Texture generators for ramps, noise, and hatch patterns
- Layer-based, component-based, and stencil-mask object exclusion
- Sample scenes demonstrating each effect
- Quick Start, User Manual, Troubleshooting, and Preset catalog
Feature Comparison
[ E ] = Essentials | [ P ] = Pro | [ U ] = Ultimate
- 12 Post-Process Effect Modules ............................................ [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- 5 Outline Methods (incl. JFA) ................................................. [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Kuwahara Filter (4 variants) ................................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- XDoG Ink Stylization ................................................................ [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Hatching, Halftone, Dithering ................................................. [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Watercolor & Painterly ............................................................. [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Built-In / URP / HDRP(+ URP 17 RenderGraph)...................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- 37 Built-In Presets ................................................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Editor Tools & Setup Wizard ................................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Object Exclusion (Layer/Stencil) ........................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Full Source Code ...................................................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Sample Scenes & Docs ........................................................... [ E ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- ObjectCelShading Component (per-object) ........................ [ - ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- Per-Object Rim, MatCap, PBR ,Face SDF, Hair .................... [ - ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- GPU Instancing(MaterialPropertyBlock)................................ [ - ] | [ P ] | [ U ]
- CelShaderAPI Runtime Scripting .......................................... [ - ] | [ - ] | [ U ]
- Runtime Preset Crossfade (trigger / distance) .................. [ - ] | [ - ] | [ U ]
- Code Examples & API Reference .......................................... [ - ] | [ - ] | [ U ]
