Night Vision Image Effect Post-processing Tutorial for Unity

In this tutorial, I will be showing how to create a night vision effect in Unity.

Night vision is an image effect that enhances visibility in low-light settings. The effect is often used in video games to mimic real-life night vision goggles.

For demonstration purposes, I will be using the Small Cave Kit from the Asset Store.

Small Cave Kit

To make a night vision effect in Unity we'll be using a special Shader and a post-processing script.

Step 1: Create The Image Effect Shader

The image effect itself is done with the help of a custom Shader.

Create a new Shader (Create -> Shader -> Image Effect Shader) and name it "NightVisionShader"

Remove everything inside it then paste the code below:

NightVisionShader.shader

Shader "Hidden/Night Vision" {
 
	Properties {
		_MainTex ("Base (RGB)", RECT) = "white" {}
	}
 
	SubShader {
		Pass {
			ZTest Always Cull Off ZWrite Off
			Fog { Mode off }
 
			CGPROGRAM
				#pragma vertex vert_img
				#pragma fragment frag
				#pragma fragmentoption ARB_precision_hint_fastest 
				#include "UnityCG.cginc"
 
				// frag shaders data
				uniform sampler2D _MainTex;
				uniform float4 _Luminance;
				uniform float _LensRadius;
 
				// frag shader
				float4 frag (v2f_img i) : COLOR
				{	
 
					float4 col = tex2D(_MainTex, i.uv);
 
					//obtain luminance value
					col = dot(col, _Luminance);
 
					//add lens circle effect
					//(could be optimised by using texture)
					float dist = distance(i.uv, float2(0.5, 0.5));
					col *= smoothstep( _LensRadius,  _LensRadius - 0.34, dist);
 
					//add rb to the brightest pixels
					col.r = max (col.r - 0.75, 0) * 4;
 
					// return col pixel	
					return col;
				}
			ENDCG
 
		}
	}
 
	Fallback off
}

Step 2: Create The Post-Processing Script

The post-processing script will use Unity's OnRenderImage function to get the RenderTexture of the Screen, then feed it into material that will use a NightVision Shader.

Create a new script and name it "NightVisionImageEffect"
Paste the code below inside it:

NightVisionImageEffect.cs

using UnityEngine;

[RequireComponent(typeof(Camera))]
[ExecuteInEditMode]

public class NightVisionImageEffect : MonoBehaviour
{
    // Public data
    public Shader shader;
    [Range(0f, 1f)]
    public float luminance = 0.44f;
    [Range(0.5f, 1f)]
    public float lensRadius = 0.84f;
    // Private data
    Material material;

    // Called by Camera to apply image effect
    void OnRenderImage(RenderTexture source, RenderTexture destination)
    {
        if (shader != null)
        {
            if (!material)
            {
                material = new Material(shader);
            }
            material.SetVector("_Luminance", new Vector4(luminance, luminance, luminance, luminance));
            material.SetFloat("_LensRadius", lensRadius);
            Graphics.Blit(source, destination, material);
        }
        else
        {
            Graphics.Blit(source, destination);
        }
    }
}