Shady Headstash

  2. Docs
    3. Installing the Plugin

Installing the Plugin

Shader Engine is a standard FFGL plugin. Installing it is the same as installing any other “extra effect” in Resolume: put the plugin file in Resolume’s plugin folder and restart.

Requirements

  • Resolume Avenue or Arena 7.4 or newer. Older versions use an FFGL runtime that Shader Engine doesn’t target.
  • Windows or macOS. Grab the build that matches your OS from the Shader Engine page. The macOS build is a universal binary (Apple Silicon and Intel).

Where the plugin goes

Unzip the download, then move the plugin into Resolume’s Extra Effects folder:

OS Plugin file Default folder
Windows ShaderEngine...dll Documents\Resolume Arena\Extra Effects\
macOS ShaderEngineEffect.bundle ~/Documents/Resolume Arena/Extra Effects/

If you run Avenue instead of Arena, substitute Resolume Avenue for Resolume Arena in those paths.

Not sure where your plugin folder is? In Resolume, open Preferences → Video and look at the plugin / sources & effects folders list. That’s the authoritative location Resolume scans — if you keep plugins somewhere custom, install there instead.

macOS: “cannot be opened” / Gatekeeper

If macOS blocks the bundle the first time, right-click the .bundle → Open, or clear the quarantine flag from Terminal:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Documents/Resolume\ Arena/Extra\ Effects/ShaderEngineEffect.bundle

Restart and confirm

  1. Quit and reopen Resolume so it rescans the plugin folder.
  2. Open the Effects panel and search for Shader Engine — you should see it listed. The Source variant appears in the Sources panel under the same name.
  3. Drag it onto a clip/layer. In its parameters you’ll see the Load group with Shader Path, Browse Library, and Status.

If it doesn’t show up, double-check the file is in the exact folder Resolume lists in Preferences, and that you fully restarted Resolume. More fixes in Troubleshooting.

Effect vs. Source — which do I use?

Both are installed; both are named Shader Engine.

  • Effect processes whatever is beneath it. Use it to run a shader over an existing clip or an entire layer/composition (great for feedback, distortion, and post effects).
  • Source generates visuals on its own. Drop it into an empty clip slot to use a shader as a standalone visual.

You can use both at once, in as many instances as your GPU can handle — see Parameters & Live Performance.

Updating

To update, replace the plugin file in the Extra Effects folder with the new one and restart Resolume. Your compositions keep working: they store shader paths and parameter values, not the plugin binary.

Next