Post 003 - Logo Dissolve: Shader Graph vs. Particle Effects

Quick process post on how I made the dissolve effect for the intro to FEEDBACKER.

I think when most UI/Special Effects artists hear “dissolve effect”, they think shaders. So I experimented with a few different iterations of a 2d custom shader using Shader Graph with Unity’s Lightweight/2d render pipeline. (Don’t forget to set a 2d light source or the 2d sprites will appear flat black!)

This was the first result:

dissolve_shader.gif

Here’s the graph I made with a vector variable slider in order to control the dissolve.

I like the end result, however I found it difficult to control and animate without using code (even with a Time node in Shader Graph). So I decided to try to get a similar effect but by using Unity’s Particle Effect system.

 
dissolve_pe.gif

By setting up a stack of particle systems, with the parent as a simple fade with the “Shape” set to a 2d sprite of the Logo, I just timed the effects to be in sync with each particle burst.

Combined with some post processing effects (mostly bloom), I was much more happy with this approach.

Which do you prefer?