Grok Shaders

Welcome to Grok Shaders, a collection of post-processing shaders for ReShade, designed to enhance visuals in games and applications. These shaders, built with HLSL and compatible with ReShade 6.4.0, offer a range of effects from color adjustments to zooming, all with intuitive UI controls and comprehensive documentation. Crafted as an experimental project to explore the capabilities of AI-assisted shader development, Grok Shaders aims to provide accessible, high-quality visual enhancements for enthusiasts, modders, and developers.

Features

• Modular Shaders: Each shader is a standalone .fx file, easy to install and combine.
• Intuitive UI: Sliders and toggles are organized under dedicated categories (e.g., Grok Exposure, Grok Zoom) in the ReShade UI.
• Comprehensive Annotations: Detailed comments in each shader explain purpose, logic, and usage, making them developer-friendly.
• Lightweight Performance: Optimized for real-time use with minimal overhead.
• Open Source: Licensed under MIT License, welcoming ideas and feedback.

Available Shaders

Shader	File	Description	UI Controls
ColorInversion	grok3_ColorInversion.fx	Inverts RGB colors for a negative film effect. Supports a debug mode (split-screen) when enabled.	Toggle: Enable Color Inversion (on/off)
Gamma	grok3_Gamma.fx	Adjusts image gamma for gamma correction, altering the non-linear brightness response. Supports a debug mode (visualization boxes).	Slider: Gamma (-1.0 to 1.0)
Exposure	grok3_Exposure.fx	Scales RGB values to simulate camera exposure, darkening or brightening the image.	Slider: Exposure (0.0 to 2.0)
SepiaTone	grok3_SepiaTone.fx	Applies a vintage sepia tone by blending original colors with a sepia matrix.	Slider: Sepia Intensity (0.0 to 1.0)
Zoom	grok3_Zoom.fx	Zooms the image in or out, centered at the screen’s middle.	Slider: Zoom Level (-0.75 to 10.0)

Installation

1. Install ReShade:

   • Download and install ReShade 6.4.0 for your game or application.
   • Follow ReShade’s setup instructions to inject it into your target executable.

2. Add Shaders:

   • Clone or download this repository: git clone https://github.com/unhappy-ending/grok-shaders.git.
   • Copy the .fx files (e.g., grok3_ColorInversion.fx) to ReShade’s shaders directory.

3. Enable Shaders in ReShade:

   • Launch your game/application with ReShade enabled.
   • Open the ReShade UI (default key: Home).
   • Ensure ReShade effects are enabled (check the toggle in the UI, often at the top).
   • Select the desired technique (e.g., grok3_Exposure) from the list to enable it.
   • Adjust settings under the shader’s UI category (e.g., Grok Zoom for ZoomLevel).

Usage

Each shader is controlled via the ReShade UI, with settings organized under a Grok category (e.g., Grok Exposure, Grok Sepia Tone). Below are brief usage tips:

• ColorInversion:
  • Toggle Enable Color Inversion to invert colors (on) or show the original image (off).
  • Enable ENABLE_DEBUG=1 via ReShade’s preprocessor to see a split-screen (left: inverted, right: original) when inversion is on.
• Gamma:
  • Adjust Gamma (-1.0 to 1.0) for gamma correction. Negative values darken, positive values brighten.
  • Use ENABLE_DEBUG=1 via preprocessor to see a rectangle with 11 discrete boxes to visualize the gamma effect.
• Exposure:
  • Set Exposure (0.0 to 2.0) to darken (e.g., 0.5) or brighten (e.g., 1.5) the image. 1.0 = original.
  • Beware of clipping at high values (e.g., 2.0).
• SepiaTone:
  • Adjust Sepia Intensity (0.0 to 1.0) for a vintage look. 0.0 = original, 1.0 = full sepia.
• Zoom:
  • Set Zoom Level (-0.75 to 10.0) to zoom out (negative), zoom in (positive), or no zoom (0.0).

Configuring Debug Modes

Some shaders (ColorInversion, Gamma) support a debug mode via the ENABLE_DEBUG preprocessor:

1. In the ReShade UI, double-click the ENABLE_DEBUG value at the bottom of the shader’s settings and set it to 1.
2. Reload the shader (ReShade UI: Home > Reload).
3. Debug mode for ColorInversion shows a split-screen comparing the effect (left) vs. original (right). For Gamma, it shows a rectangle with 11 discrete boxes to visualize the gamma effect.

Troubleshooting

If a shader or UI behaves unexpectedly:

1. Check ReShade Effects:

   • Ensure ReShade effects are not toggled off in the UI (check the effects toggle, often at the top).
   • If effects are disabled, enable them and reload the shaders.

2. Check Installation:

   • Verify .fx files are in ReShade’s shaders directory.
   • If missing, recopy the files and reload ReShade.

3. Verify UI:

   • Ensure sliders/toggles appear under their Grok category (e.g., Grok Zoom).
   • If missing, reload ReShade or verify installation.

4. Test Functionality:

   • ColorInversion: Toggle on/off, test debug split-screen with ENABLE_DEBUG=1.
   • Gamma: Adjust Gamma, verify darkening (e.g., -0.5) or brightening (e.g., 0.5).
   • Exposure: Test Exposure = 0.0 (black), 1.0 (original), 2.0 (bright).
   • SepiaTone: Test Sepia Intensity = 0.0 (original), 1.0 (sepia).
   • Zoom: Test Zoom Level = 0.0 (no zoom), -0.75 (zoom out), 1.0 (zoom in).

5. Check Compilation:

   • View ReShade’s log (Log tab) for errors loading .fx files.

6. ReShade Version:

   • Confirm ReShade 6.4.0. Other versions may affect UI or shader behavior.

7. Report Issues:

   • Open an issue on this repository with ReShade’s log or a description of the problem.

Ideas

We welcome ideas to enhance Grok Shaders! Feel free to suggest:

• New shaders (e.g., vignette, grayscale, bloom).
• Debug modes for additional shaders (e.g., Zoom, SepiaTone).
• Advanced features (e.g., per-channel controls, custom effects).
• UI enhancements or performance optimizations.
• Creative use cases for combining shaders.

Submit your ideas via a GitHub issue, and let’s discuss how to make Grok Shaders even better!

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. Feel free to use, modify, and distribute the shaders, provided the license terms are followed.

Acknowledgments

Grok Shaders is an experimental project to explore AI-assisted shader development, led by unhappy-ending, a non-coder passionate about pushing creative boundaries. This project tests what’s possible with AI tools like Grok 3, created by xAI, as a ReShade assistant. Special thanks to:

• unhappy-ending for envisioning and driving this project, proving that creativity and experimentation can yield powerful results without deep coding expertise.
• Grok, created by xAI, for authoring this README and assisting in shader development.
• The ReShade community for their powerful framework and documentation.
• The open-source community for inspiring accessible, high-quality tools.

Built with ❤️ as a testament to curiosity and collaboration.

Contact

Have questions, ideas, or issues? Open an issue on this repository or reach out via GitHub. Let’s make visuals epic together!

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Happy shading! 🎨