Table of Contents

Shader Explorer

"I need X. Which shader has it?"

This tool answers that question.

What It Does

Shader Explorer parses all SDSL files and shows you:

  • Every shader and its inheritance tree
  • All variables, methods, and streams
  • What each shader provides

Instead of guessing which shader to inherit, you search for what you need.

Installation

  1. Download from github.com/tebjan/Stride.ShaderExplorer/releases
  2. Extract and run the exe

Without Stride Installed

Shader Explorer normally requires Stride to be installed. If you only use vvvv and don't want to install Stride Studio (which is several gigabytes), you can install just the shader packages:

Step 1: Make sure this folder exists:

C:\Users\<yourusername>\.nuget\packages

Step 2: Open vvvv, then Quad menu > Manage Nugets > Commandline

Step 3: Navigate to the packages folder:

cd %userprofile%\.nuget\packages

Step 4: Install only the shader packages (no dependencies):

nuget install Stride.Rendering -Version 4.2.0.2188 -DependencyVersion ignore
nuget install Stride.Graphics -Version 4.2.0.2188 -DependencyVersion ignore

Replace the version number with your vvvv's Stride version (check Hamburger menu > About).

Step 5: Run Shader Explorer. It should now find the Stride shaders.

Credit: motzi's forum tutorial

Adding vvvv Shaders

By default, Shader Explorer only shows Stride's built-in shaders. To add vvvv shaders:

  1. Click the folder icon in the toolbar
  2. Navigate to: C:\Program Files\vvvv\vvvv_gamma_...\lib\packs\VL.Stride.Runtime...\stride\Assets\Effects
  3. Click Select Folder

Now you can search VS_PS_Base, TextureFX, FilterBase, ShaderUtils, and other vvvv-specific shaders.

Adding Your Own Shaders

Same process. Add any folder containing .sdsl files:

  1. Click the folder icon
  2. Navigate to your project's shaders folder
  3. Click Select Folder

Your custom shaders now appear alongside the built-in ones.

Finding What You Need

Workflow:

  1. Type what you need in the search box (e.g., "WorldViewProjection")
  2. Results show which shaders contain that term
  3. Click a shader to see its full definition
  4. Note the shader name and inherit from it

Example: You need transformation matrices.

  1. Search "WorldViewProjection"
  2. Find it in Transformation
  3. In your shader: shader MyShader : Transformation { }
  4. Now WorldViewProjection, World, View, Projection are all available

Reading the UI

The left panel shows the inheritance tree:

ShaderBaseStream
└── ShaderBase
    └── Texturing
        └── TextureFX
            └── FilterBase

Click any shader to see its code in the right panel.

The code panel shows:

  • Variables and their types
  • Stream declarations
  • Methods (with full signatures)
  • What this shader inherits from

Common Searches

I need Search Inherit
World/View/Projection matrices WorldViewProjection Transformation
Vertex position Position PositionStream4
Texture coordinates TexCoord Texturing
Normal vectors Normal NormalStream
Tangent vectors Tangent TangentStream
Vertex colors Color ColorStream
Instance ID InstanceID ShaderBaseStream
Time Time Global
SV_Position output ShadingPosition ShaderBaseStream
Pixel output ColorTarget ShaderBaseStream
Sampler Sampler Texturing
PI and math PI ShaderUtils (vvvv)
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