SDSL Shaders for vvvv gamma / Stride

What Is SDSL

SDSL (Stride Shading Language) is Stride's shader language — a superset of HLSL with four key additions: shader classes with inheritance, multiple inheritance (mixins), the streams system for automatic inter-stage data flow, and override for clean method replacement. Shaders are defined in .sdsl files.

Streams System

Streams replace manual VS_INPUT/VS_OUTPUT structs. Declare once, access everywhere:

stream float4 MyData : TEXCOORD5;      // Declare a custom stream variable

// In vertex shader:
streams.MyData = float4(1, 0, 0, 1);   // Write

// In pixel shader:
float4 d = streams.MyData;             // Read (auto-interpolated)

Key built-in streams:

streams.ShadingPosition (SV_Position) — clip-space position
streams.ColorTarget (SV_Target0) — pixel shader output
streams.Position (float4) — object-space position
streams.TexCoord (TEXCOORD0) — texture coordinates
streams.normalWS — world-space normal

Base Shader Hierarchy

Stride Core (available in both Stride and vvvv)

Shader	Provides
`ShaderBase`	VSMain/PSMain entry points
`Texturing`	Texture0-9, Sampler, PointSampler, LinearSampler, TexCoord
`Transformation`	World, View, Projection, WorldViewProjection matrices
`PositionStream4`	Position, PositionWS, DepthVS
`NormalStream`	meshNormal, normalWS, tangentToWorld
`ComputeShaderBase`	CSMain entry, Compute() hook, thread groups
`ComputeColor`	Interface returning float4 via Compute()
`ComputeVoid`	Interface returning void via Compute()
`Global`	Time, TimeStep (cbuffer PerFrame)

vvvv-Only (NOT available in plain Stride)

Shader	Inherits	Use For
`VS_PS_Base`	ShaderBase, PositionStream4, NormalStream, Transformation	DrawFX base
`FilterBase`	TextureFX	Pixel-processing texture effects
`MixerBase`	TextureFX	Blending textures
`TextureFX`	ImageEffectShader, Camera, ShaderUtils	Texture effect base

Important: VS_PS_Base already includes Transformation, NormalStream, and PositionStream4. Do NOT re-inherit them.

File Naming → Auto Node Generation

vvvv automatically creates nodes from shaders based on filename suffix:

Suffix	Node Type	Description
`_TextureFX.sdsl`	TextureFX	Image processing effects
`_DrawFX.sdsl`	DrawFX	Drawing/rendering shaders
`_ComputeFX.sdsl`	ComputeFX	Compute shaders
`_ShaderFX.sdsl`	ShaderFX	General shader effects

Example: MyBlur_TextureFX.sdsl automatically creates a "MyBlur" TextureFX node.

Basic TextureFX Structure

shader MyEffect_TextureFX : FilterBase
{
    float Intensity = 1.0;

    float4 Filter(float4 tex0col)
    {
        return tex0col * Intensity;
    }
};

Note the semicolon after the closing brace — this is required.

Syntax Rules

For critical SDSL syntax rules (static const scope, semicolons, override, variable initialization, common mistakes, branch divergence), see syntax-rules.md.

Keywords

Keyword	Purpose
`shader`	Defines a shader class
`override`	Required when overriding parent methods
`base`	Access parent implementation
`stage`	Ensures member defined once across compositions
`stream`	Member accessible at every shader stage
`static`	Static methods callable without inheritance
`compose`	Declare a composition slot for shader mixins
`clone`	Force separate instance of a composed shader
`abstract`	Method without body (child must implement)

Inheritance & Mixins

// Single inheritance
shader Child : Parent
{
    override float4 Filter(float4 tex0col)
    {
        return base.Filter(tex0col) * 0.5;
    }
};

// Multiple inheritance (mixins)
shader MyShader : FilterBase, ColorUtils, MathUtils
{
    float4 Filter(float4 tex0col)
    {
        float3 linear = ColorUtils.GammaToLinear(tex0col.rgb);
        return float4(linear, tex0col.a);
    }
};

// Static function calls (no inheritance needed)
float3 result = ColorUtils.LinearToGamma(col.rgb);

Enum Binding — C# Enum in Shaders

In the shader (.sdsl):

[EnumType("MyNamespace.BlendMode, MyAssembly")]
int Mode = 0;

In C# (.cs):

namespace MyNamespace;
public enum BlendMode
{
    Normal = 0,
    Add = 1,
    Multiply = 2,
    Screen = 3
}

Requirements:

The enum DLL must be pre-compiled (not from dynamic csproj)
Assembly name is the project name
vvvv must be restarted after enum DLL changes

GPU Best Practices

Protect Against Math Errors

float3 safeLog = log2(max(x, 1e-10));     // Avoid log2(0)
float3 safe = x / max(y, 0.0001);          // Avoid div by zero
float3 safePow = pow(max(x, 0.0), gamma);  // Avoid pow(negative)

Texture Sampling

// In TextureFX, tex0col is already sampled from Texture0
float4 Filter(float4 tex0col)
{
    // Sample additional textures:
    float4 tex1 = Texture1.Sample(Texturex1Sampler, streams.TexCoord);
    return lerp(tex0col, tex1, 0.5);
}

ShaderFX / ComputeColor Pattern

Composable shader nodes using compose keyword:

shader MyTonemap_ShaderFX : ComputeColor, TonemapOperators
{
    compose ComputeColor ColorIn;

    [EnumType("MyNamespace.TonemapOp, MyAssembly")]
    int Operator = 1;

    float Exposure = 0.0;

    override float4 Compute()
    {
        float4 color = ColorIn.Compute();
        color.rgb *= exp2(Exposure);
        color.rgb = ApplyTonemap(color.rgb, Operator);
        return color;
    }
};

In vvvv patching, connect a ShaderFX node to a TextureFX's compose input to chain processing.

Mixin Composition — Virtual Method Dispatch

Base shader with a virtual method, overridden by dynamically composed mixins:

// Base shader declares the virtual method
shader ColorProcessorBase
{
    float4 ProcessColor(float4 inPixel) { return inPixel; }
};

// Host shader uses composition
shader ColorTransform_TextureFX : TextureFX
{
    stage compose ColorProcessorBase Processor;

    stage override float4 Shading()
    {
        float4 col = Texture0.SampleLevel(PointSampler, streams.TexCoord, 0);
        return Processor.ProcessColor(col);
    }
};

Template / Generic Shaders

// Declaration with type parameter
shader ComputeColorWave<float Frequency> : ComputeColor, Texturing
{
    override float4 Compute()
    {
        return float4(sin(streams.TexCoord.x * Frequency), 0, 0, 1);
    }
};

// Instantiation via inheritance
shader MyEffect : ComputeColorWave<2.0f> { };

Supported template parameter types: float, int, float2, float3, float4, Texture2D, SamplerState.

Composition Arrays

Multiple composed shaders of the same type:

compose ComputeColor lights[];

override float4 Compute()
{
    float4 total = 0;
    foreach (var light in lights)
        total += light.Compute();
    return total;
}

Shared Struct Types Across Shaders

Define once, use in emit/simulate/draw pipeline:

shader ParticleTypes
{
    struct Particle { float3 Position; float3 Velocity; float Life; };
};

shader Emit_ComputeFX : ComputeShaderBase, ParticleTypes { /* fills buffer */ };
shader Simulate_ComputeFX : ComputeShaderBase, ParticleTypes { /* physics */ };
shader Draw_DrawFX : VS_PS_Base, ParticleTypes { /* renders */ };

For detailed SDSL syntax rules, see syntax-rules.md.

vvvv-shaders