Shading

A shader is a tiny program that decides the color of every pixel of a widget, many times per second, on the graphics card. It is how Pyzed draws animated backgrounds, glowing effects, radar screens and game visuals without slowing your app down. If you have used Godot’s visual shaders or Unreal Engine’s material editor, Pyzed’s shader graphs will feel familiar.

Six node-made shaders running at once, from examples/showcase/shaders.

flowchart LR
    nodes["Nodes in the Shader view"] --> file[".pzshad file"]
    code["pyzed.shading in Python"] --> file
    file --> wgsl["WGSL"]
    hand["WGSL written by hand"] --> widget
    wgsl --> widget["pz.shader widget"] --> gpu["GPU"]

Start here

Start hereYour first shader→Build a glowing, pulsing circle with the mouse in ten minutes, then use it in an app. No math needed.DesignerThe Shader view→The node editor of Pyzed Design: tabs, gestures, the sidebar, variables and properties.10 recipesRecipes→Gradients, a neon glow, plasma, clouds, cells, a CRT screen, a spotlight, a spinner, fire and stripes.

Every node

The node catalog describes all the nodes of a graph, by category, with their ports, settings and an example each.

Inputs and constants→UV, pixel, size, time, mouse, variables and fixed values.Math→Arithmetic, sin and friends, mix, clamp, smoothstep, remap.Vectors and UV→Compose, distance, polar; tile, scroll, rotate, twirl, pixelate.Noise and patterns→Perlin, fractal, Voronoi; checker, stripes, grid, gradients, waves.Shapes→Circle, box, ring, polygon, star; union and subtract; fill, stroke, glow.Color and effects→Gradient, palette, hue, blend modes, layers, vignette, scanlines, textures.Logic and utility→Compare, select, named values, your own WGSL, shader functions, Output.

Three ways to make one

Way	For	Page
Nodes in the Shader view	Everyone: wire boxes with the mouse and see the result on every node.	The Shader view
pyzed.shading in Python	Generating or editing graphs from code, tests, tools.	Shader graphs
WGSL by hand	Full control, porting shaders from elsewhere.	WGSL shaders

All three end up as the same WGSL code on the GPU, so they are equally fast, and a .pzshad made with the mouse can be changed from Python (and the other way round).

The first way: drag nodes onto the graph and wire them; every node shows what it makes.

Shaders need a GPU

On a machine without a usable graphics card, a shader widget draws its fallback color or gradient instead. Give every shader a sensible fallback so your interface still reads well there.

See them in action

Shader gallery→Plasma, a mouse ripple, a tunnel and more, each with its code.The shader component→Options, sizes and examples of pz.shader in the component library.pyzed.shading API→Every class and function to load, build and edit graphs in code.

Status of this section

Shader graphs are new in Pyzed. Every page here describes what works today, and the node catalog is generated from the code, so it always matches your version, with a capture of every node. Most recipes show their graph in the Shader view; the rest can be built in a minute from their steps.