SmartShader™

SmartShader™ technology incorporates major advances in the area of pixel shaders, which are small programs that execute on every pixel rendered to the display device. With support for up to six textures in a single rendering pass, the memory bandwidth constraints associated with multi-pass rendering can be greatly reduced, which translates into better rendering performance. By doubling the maximum allowable length of the shader programs, more complex effects can be created to accurately model the visual properties of materials and surfaces, including hair, skin, wood, and water.

What do you want to do?

Select a SmartShader™ effect

Expand 3D in Advanced View.

Click SmartShader™.

Select an effect from the drop-down menu.

Note: Effects in the list not supported by Direct 3D® are appended with "(OpenGL® only)".

Preview your changes

The preview image automatically displays your adjustments.

Optionally, double-click 3D Preview for a full-screen view of the adjustments you have made. To exit full-screen Preview, press the Esc key.

The Preview can be disabled by clicking the "X" button in the Preview pane. It can also be paused by clicking the "||" button in the Preview pane. Clicking the pause button again causes the preview to resume.

Apply your settings

Click Apply to save your changes and leave the Catalyst™ Control Center open.

Click OK to save your changes and exit the Catalyst™ Control Center.

Discard your settings

Click Discard to ignore any unsaved changes and restore the settings that existed when the Catalyst™ Control Center was opened or the last time Apply was used. Discard does not close the Catalyst™ Control Center.

Clicking Discard applies to all features of an aspect, not just the feature in the current view.

Restore default settings

Move the mouse to the bottom right-hand corner of the window.

Click Defaults.

Note: Clicking Defaults will restore the defaults for the current view only. Previous settings are not altered and will be saved once you click OK.