Shader collections and imports

MacLauncher runs shaders from ReShade, RetroArch, mpv, Magpie and other projects on macOS, side by side in the same chain. Shaders are small GPU programs that transform an image, and the communities around these projects have written thousands of them, from CRT simulations and anime upscalers to film grades, bloom and ambient occlusion. Shaders you already use elsewhere can often be used here too.

Formats

Format	Files	Where it comes from
ReShade FX	.fx	ReShade’s large library of post-processing effects for PC games. Techniques, includes, lookup textures and parameters all work.
RetroArch Slang	.slangp, .slang	RetroArch’s shader presets, run through librashader on Metal. Multi-pass presets keep their scaling and textures.
mpv / libplacebo	.glsl, .hook	Video-player shaders: upscalers like Anime4K and FSRCNNX, chroma reconstruction, debanding, grain.
LUT	.cube	Color grades from photo and video editors, as 1D, 3D or combined tables.
ISF	.fs, .isf	Interactive Shader Format effects from the VJ and video world.
MagpieFX	.hlsl	The effect format of Magpie, the Windows window upscaler, including its neural upscalers.

The shader library

All shaders live in one shared library: the effects included with MacLauncher, the ones from installed collections, and the files you import. Manage filters… in the inspector opens the library in Runtimes → Graphics → Shaders.

To add your own shader, use Import filter…, drop the file onto MacLauncher, or open it from Finder. Includes, preset passes and textures are read from their places next to the shader, so a shader folder works as it is. The library records where the file lives and never copies or changes it. An entry can be renamed for display without changing which file it uses, and imported shaders appear in the matching menus immediately.

For one-off use, Custom shader… on a chain row points that row directly at a file.

Parameters

Most shaders expose settings. Shader parameters… on a row lists them with their original names, defaults and ranges, and changes apply live. Each row keeps its own values, so the same shader can appear twice with different settings. Changing a compile-time setting recompiles the shader in the background while the game keeps running.

Shaders that read the game’s depth also get Depth input settings, for games that store depth reversed, logarithmically or with an unusual far plane. All of a game’s depth shaders share these settings.

Collections

Collections are curated sets of shaders from upstream projects. In Runtimes → Graphics → Shaders → Collections, Refresh lists a collection’s versions and Install downloads one from the original source. Each installed collection records its exact source version and keeps its license notices.

Collection	What’s inside
Anime4K	Anime upscaling, restoration, denoising and line thinning.
ArtCNN	Neural upscalers and restoration for anime and art.
CuNNy	Learned upscalers for text, line art and visual novels.
ACNet and ARNet	Neural upscaling with mild denoising and line restoration.
RAVU and NNEDI3	Classic high-quality video prescalers.
mpv shader collection	A popular mpv pack: FSRCNNX, FSR, CAS, NVIDIA Image Scaling, NNEDI3, chroma reconstruction and grain.
Chroma from Luma	Rebuilds color detail from brightness detail.
MagpieFX	Magpie’s filters and scaling shaders, including its neural networks.
libretro Slang	Pixel-art scalers such as xBRZ and SABR, dedithering, restoration filters and CRT halation.
Vidvox ISF	Image filters, analysis passes and procedural effects.
qUINT	Bloom, Lightroom-style grading, debanding and sharpening; MXAO, ADOF and SSR use game depth.
prod80	Film-style grading, curves, LUTs, exposure and grain.
CShade	Image-based optical flow, motion blur, auto exposure and filters.
FXShaders	NeoBloom, ArcaneBloom, grading and lens effects.
NiceGuy shaders	Screen-space lighting, reflections and depth fog.
Visibility bitmask lighting	SSRT3 indirect lighting from real depth, normals and lighting.
AstrayFX	RadiantGI indirect lighting, GloomAO ambient occlusion, anti-aliasing, Smart Sharp and Clarity sharpening, bloom, lens flare and image trails. Several effects use game depth. Its author permits only unmodified copies, so MacLauncher installs it exactly as published.
OtisFX	Cinematic depth of field, adaptive and height fog, depth haze, MultiLUT and PandaFX grading, and golden-ratio composition guides.

MacLauncher places a shader in the chain by what the shader declares about its output size and inputs, whatever its name. A shader that always doubles its input is an Upscale, one that keeps the size is an Image filter, and one that needs depth is marked as such and runs only in games that provide depth.

The graphics guide’s shader library section has the complete details for each format and collection. The shader integration reference describes how shaders are sized and which inputs they receive.