Alan Liu
Technical Artist
Rendering Pipelines / Shaders / Tools Development
Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/alanliu0401
GitHub: https://github.com/Matrix150
About Me
Technical Artist focused on rendering, shader development, and tools.
I have experience with Unreal Engine and Unity, including shader development (HLSL), rendering pipelines, and tool development using C++ and Python.
I am currently seeking opportunities in Technical Art / Rendering where I can contribute to both visual quality and pipeline development.
Renderer
Unity Scriptable Render Pipeline
A custom Scriptable Render Pipeline implemented in Unity using C# and HLSL.
The pipeline covers core rendering stages including culling, command buffer management, lighting evaluation, and post-processing.
It features a BRDF-based lighting model with support for multiple lights and multi-camera rendering.
Offline Ray Tracing Renderer
A physically-based offline ray tracing renderer implemented in C++.
Supports core global illumination features including reflection, refraction, shadows, and indirect lighting.
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Physically-based lighting model
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Reflection, refraction, and shadow computation
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Global illumination (indirect lighting)
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XML-based scene description system
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Configurable ray count and bounce depth
OpenGL Renderer
A real-time renderer developed using OpenGL (GLFW + GLAD).
Supports loading and rendering of OBJ/MTL assets, with camera and lightingcontrol, including perspective and orthographic projection.
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OBJ / MTL model loading and rendering
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Perspective and orthographic projection
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Camera and lighting control
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Surface normal and lighting visualization (diffuse / specular)
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Skybox rendering using cubemaps
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Environment mapping for reflections
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Shadow mapping
Game Project
Akushukai! (Unity)
A handshake event-themed interactive game featuring a custom physical controller.
Players take on the role of an underground idol, responding to NPC requests such as handshakes, autographs, and exaggerated interactions within a limited time.
The game combines cute Japanese subculture aesthetics with exaggerated and unconventional interactions to create a unique and humorous player experience.
Game Page (itch.io):
Pop Buddies! – Card Shop Simulator (Unreal)
A stylized simulation game combining card collection and shop management, set in an alternate 90s-inspired Japanese environment.
Players explore the city, discover cute yokai-like creatures called "Buddies", and convert them into collectible cards to build and optimize their shop.
The game features a comic-inspired pop art style and blends exploration, resource management, and light interaction mechanics.
Game Page (itch.io):
Shader
Stylized Card Shader
A stylized card shader that simulates layered paper depth using height-based UV offset and parallax techniques.
Designed to enhance visual richness and thickness perception without relying on heavy geometry or tessellation.
The shader creates a print-like surface appearance with view-dependent depth, achieving a layered look while remaining lightweight and efficient.
NPR Halftone Shader
A stylized non-photorealistic (NPR) shader that simulates halftone shading based on lighting intensity.
The shader generates comic-style dot patterns and dynamically adjusts their density according to light and shadow, creating a print-like visual effect.
The approach combines lighting evaluation with procedural dot generation, allowing stylized shading without relying on textures.
Top-Down View Fog
A lightweight fog solution designed for top-down camera perspectives, focusing on performance and visual clarity.
It uses layered noise to create dynamic fog density, combined with depth-based attenuation for natural spatial blending.
The effect avoids costly volumetric calculations while still achieving stylized visuals, and can be integrated with particle systems for enhanced atmosphere.
Tools
Texture Similarity Analysis Tool
A texture comparison tool that integrates perceptual hashing (pHash, aHash, dHash) with feature-based matching (ORB, CNN) to efficiently identify similar images in large datasets.
The system uses a two-stage pipeline for fast screening and accurate matching, with adjustable thresholds and a PyQt-based interface for interactive analysis and visualization.
Assets Validation Plugin
An automated asset validation tool built as a custom Unreal Engine plugin.
It performs rule-based checks on textures, meshes, and actors, with DataTable-driven configurations for flexible pipeline integration.
Focused on usability, the tool enables fast issue detection, navigation, and fixing within the editor.