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GLSL Sandbox VS ShaderLab

Compare GLSL Sandbox VS ShaderLab and see what are their differences

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GLSL Sandbox logo GLSL Sandbox

An online GSGL Shader Gallery and live development tool.

ShaderLab logo ShaderLab

WebGL2 GLSL Editor for the browser.
  • GLSL Sandbox Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-25
  • ShaderLab Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-27

We recommend LibHunt ShaderLab for discovery and comparisons of trending ShaderLab projects.

GLSL Sandbox features and specs

  • Interactive Learning
    GLSL Sandbox offers a real-time environment where users can instantly see the effects of their GLSL code, which is excellent for learning and experimenting.
  • Community-Sharing
    Users can share their shaders with the community, allowing for collaborative learning and inspiration from the works of others.
  • No Setup Required
    As a web-based tool, GLSL Sandbox eliminates the need for complex setups or installations, making it accessible from any browser.
  • Quick Prototyping
    The platform allows for rapid prototyping of shader ideas, letting users test and iterate their designs efficiently.
  • Simple Interface
    GLSL Sandbox features a straightforward and user-friendly interface, making it easy for people new to GLSL to start creating.

Possible disadvantages of GLSL Sandbox

  • Limited Features
    Compared to more sophisticated IDEs, GLSL Sandbox lacks advanced tools and features such as debugging support, version control, and project management.
  • Performance Constraints
    Being browser-based, it may not handle complex shaders or provide the performance needed for more demanding graphics work.
  • No Offline Access
    GLSL Sandbox requires an internet connection, which can be a limitation for users who need to work offline.
  • Less Control Over Environment
    Users cannot customize the development environment as much as standalone applications, potentially limiting specific workflow preferences.
  • Shader Compatibility
    Since it runs in a web environment, compatibility issues may arise depending on the browser being used and its support for WebGL.

ShaderLab features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    ShaderLab provides a simplistic and intuitive interface that makes it easier for users to create shaders without extensive programming knowledge.
  • Native Integration
    It integrates seamlessly with Unity, enabling users to take advantage of Unity's versatile graphics engine and asset pipeline.
  • Extensive Documentation
    The platform offers substantial documentation and tutorials, which greatly assist beginners in understanding and using ShaderLab effectively.
  • Real-time Editing
    ShaderLab allows for real-time shader editing and previewing, facilitating immediate visual feedback and iterative refinement.
  • Community Support
    There is a robust community of ShaderLab users who contribute to forums and shared resources, providing valuable support and knowledge exchange.

Possible disadvantages of ShaderLab

  • Limited Flexibility
    Compared to writing shaders directly in GLSL or HLSL, ShaderLab abstracts many details away, which might limit expert users seeking to implement advanced or non-standard techniques.
  • Performance Overheads
    The abstraction layer can sometimes introduce performance overheads, which may not be suitable for extremely performance-sensitive applications.
  • Learning Curve for Complex Shaders
    While ShaderLab simplifies basic shader creation, handling complex shaders might still require a deep understanding of graphics programming concepts.
  • Dependency on Unity
    ShaderLab is designed specifically for Unity, which makes it less useful for projects that aren't using this engine.
  • Version Compatibility
    Updates in Unity may sometimes result in compatibility issues with ShaderLab scripts, requiring modifications to existing shaders.

GLSL Sandbox videos

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fractal GLSL sandbox review metroid like

More videos:

  • Review - Importing GLSL sandbox shaders and rendering under macOS Metal.

ShaderLab videos

No ShaderLab videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GLSL Sandbox and ShaderLab)

GLSL Sandbox

ShaderLab

3D
70 70%
3D
30% 30
Interactive Exhibits
70 70%
Interactive Exhibits
30% 30
VJ
69 69%
VJ
31% 31
Prototyping Tools
50 50%
Prototyping Tools
50% 50

User comments

Share your experience with using GLSL Sandbox and ShaderLab. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GLSL Sandbox seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GLSL Sandbox mentions (7)

  • Show HN: Psychedelic animation generator; (p)art of your next trip
    Https://iquilezles.org/ is a legend, see the articles and video tutorials. Aside from shadertoy I use https://glslsandbox.com/ (for some reason it has https errors now). It's the same concept and it has a lot of submissions that are more basic than shardertoy where you can easily change lines and see what happens. My intuition for these kind of shaders: They are just pure functions mapping an x,y coordinate to a... - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • WebGL minigame on my new portfolio website
    I also found this website just recently: https://webgl2fundamentals.org/ and it's something I'm definitely gonna read through fully. You may also check https://thebookofshaders.com/ for shaders tutorials (they also have a pretty good editor), https://www.shadertoy.com/ and https://glslsandbox.com/ for some shader ideas. https://iquilezles.org/ and especially his SDF tutorials on YouTube.... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Why does it do those "chunks"
    I was messing around with this when I noticed those weird chunks. Source: over 2 years ago
  • pygame_shaders - a module to easily integrate shaders with Pygame
    (The example shader below wasn't written by me, it can be found here https://glslsandbox.com/). Source: over 2 years ago
  • Website created to host, share, run and display GLSL shader code - shadergrounds.com
    For folks looking for something considerably more casual than shadertoy, there's also https://glslsandbox.com/ , which makes it stupid easy to grab an existing shader there, tweak 2 lines and publish the result. You probably won't gain fame or glory there, but it's a rather convenient practice ground. Source: over 2 years ago
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ShaderLab mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of ShaderLab yet. Tracking of ShaderLab recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GLSL Sandbox and ShaderLab, you can also consider the following products

Shadertoy - Build shaders, share them, and learn from the best community.

SHADERed - Lightweight, full-featured desktop tool for creating and testing HLSL and GLSL shaders

The Book of Shaders - Extensive guide through fragment shaders with live coding examples

Shader Editor - Android app to create GLSL shaders and use them as live wallpaper

Shdr - Shdr is an online ESSL (GLSL) shader editor, viewer and validator powered by WebGL.

KodeLife - Real-time GPU shader editor, live-code performance tool and graphics prototyping sketchpad.

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