Installation

Genesis Surface Shader installs as a standard Unity package. The whole process takes about two minutes: import the .unitypackage, let Unity compile shaders, then verify the new menu items and shader appear. This page covers the import itself — URP configuration is on the next page.

Requirements

Unity Version — 2021.3 LTS or newer (2022.3 LTS+ recommended).
Render Pipeline — Universal Render Pipeline (URP) 12.0+.
Shader Model — 4.5 minimum; 5.0 for advanced features (tessellation, MRT effects).
Color Space — Linear (Player Settings → Other Settings → Color Space).
Platform — Desktop, mobile, console, WebGL2, VR. See Platform Support.

Genesis assumes URP. Built-in Render Pipeline and HDRP are not supported. If your project is on Built-in, follow URP Setup before importing.

Steps

1. Create or open a URP project

If you are starting fresh, create a new 3D (URP) project from Unity Hub. Existing projects must have URP installed and active — see URP Setup.

2. Import the package

Double-click GenesisSurfaceShader_v2.5.0.unitypackage from the Asset Store download folder, or drag it into the Project window. Leave every checkbox enabled in the import dialog and click Import.

Screenshot

Unity's Import Unity Package dialog showing the Genesis Surface Shader contents with all checkboxes ticked and the Import button highlighted.

getting-started/installation/import-dialog.png

3. Wait for shader compilation

On first import, Unity compiles the Genesis shader variants. This can take 30–90 seconds on a modern desktop; longer on older laptops. The progress bar at the bottom right of the editor shows the status.

Subsequent re-imports are cached and finish in seconds.

A successful import adds three menu entries:

Tools > Genesis > Shader Tools Window
Assets > Create > Genesis > Material
Window > Genesis > Feature Configurator

Verifying

Create a new material via Assets > Create > Genesis > Material. The inspector should show the Genesis foldout layout — Surface, Lighting, Maps, Effects, Animation. If you see Unity’s default Lit inspector instead, the custom editor failed to register; restart Unity.

If shader compilation fails with red errors in the console, your Unity version is likely below 2021.3 LTS or URP is missing. Check the console for “Could not find shader Universal Render Pipeline/Lit” and resolve that first.

Next steps

URP Setup — configure the Universal Renderer.
Your First Material — build a Genesis material from scratch.
Quick Start Guide — five-minute toon material recipe.