shader-noise_skill

Overview

This skill provides a compact GLSL noise toolkit for procedural shaders, including Perlin/value, simplex (2D/3D), Worley (cellular), FBM, turbulence, ridged FBM, and domain warping patterns. It targets organic textures like terrain, clouds, water, fire, marble, and caustics, with ready-to-use functions and usage snippets for quick integration. The implementations balance quality and performance and include tips for animation and optimization.

How this skill works

The collection exposes coherent noise functions that map spatial coordinates (vec2/vec3) to smoothly varying values. Simplex serves as the recommended default for quality vs. speed, Worley produces cell-like features, and value noise is a fast, blockier option. FBM layers octaves of base noise (with configurable lacunarity and gain) to create multi-scale detail; domain warping distorts coordinates with noise to produce complex organic forms.

When to use it

• Generating terrain height maps and layered geological features
• Synthesizing volumetric cloud density or animated sky patterns
• Creating fire, smoke, and turbulent fluid details
• Producing water caustics, scales, or cracked/cellular surfaces
• Adding veins, marble, or stone patterns to materials
• Distorting UVs or geometry with domain-warped organic detail

Best practices

• Prefer 2D noise for screen-space effects; use 3D for volumetric or time-animated fields
• Use simplex for general use, value noise for cheap prototypes, and Worley for cellular patterns
• Reduce FBM octaves or bake static noise into textures for major performance gains
• Animate by sampling noise in an extra time dimension (vec3) or offsetting inputs
• Combine FBM, ridged FBM, and domain warps to vary scales and silhouette detail

Example use cases

• Terrain: base FBM for broad shape, ridged FBM for mountain ranges, small simplex for fine detail
• Clouds: moving FBM field with smoothstep to control density and edge softness
• Fire: upward-shifted UVs with turbulence to create flickering flames
• Water caustics: worley F2-F1 variant to emphasize veins and light patterns
• Marble: low-frequency FBM modulating a sine-based vein function for natural streaks