Looking to get into shader programming, but not sure where to start

[ferretzombie]

Hello,

 

I have been messing around the the UDK and have gotten somewhat familiar using the material editior, but i'm still clueless on how to create more advanced materials and shaders.

 

I'd like to learn, but i'm not quite sure where to start. I dont' have much of a programming background, so I don't know if I should familiarize myself with C++ first, or jump right into the specialized stuff for shader creation. Also, what language would i use to learn with? I've heard of hlsl and cg, and some other stuff.

 

If anyone has any suggestions of the direction i should take, or materials to use for learning I would greatly appreciate the help.

 

Thank you

[__Darknite]

I'd highly suggest that you get familiar and good at C++ BEFORE you jump into HLSL and shader programming.

 

Also a good grip on Matrix algebra would help a lot.

 

Don't try and run before you can walk

Edited June 29, 2012 by __Darknite

[ferretzombie]

Alright, thanks. I just wasn't too sure how important generalized programming knowledge would have been in working with shaders.