Custom Effects & Generators

In this article:

• File Structure
• Importing Effects into Creator
• Effect Errors
• Modifying existing effects
• Looping Effects
• Importing Effects from Shadertoy
• Generators vs. Effects

<aside> 📎 We do not recommend using Labs for installations or productions where dependability is required. These features are experimental and unsupported.

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Generative content is a vital part of the Lightform experience.

Your Lightform device and Lightform Creator software run this content as shaders - little pieces of code that run directly on a GPU and are optimized for parallel execution.

Shaders in Lightform Creator come in two flavors - effects and generators. Effects utilize the Lightform device's scan data (colors, disparity, normals, edges, and distance to edges) to create context-aware graphics. On the other hand, generators don't use any of the scan data and are purely procedurally generated. They'll be projected in the same way regardless of what the user is projecting onto. For simplicity in this documentation, we will refer to both as effects, as the development differs by minor details.

Lightform effects are based on a modified version of the Interactive Shader Format (ISF) specification, with extra features for accessing Lightform-specific features.

File Structure

An effect package contains three files that are loaded by Lightform Creator:

• [effect name].liteffect - Contains a metadata description of the effect inputs and controls.
• [effect name].fs - Shader code executed to generate the effect.