A year ago today
Has it been a year already? I remember dragging myself out of bed, horribly sick, and clicking the button to launch Fragments early access. Then I went back to bed, wondering if anyone would actually show up.
Looking back now, there were only a handful of techniques, utilities, and shader breakdowns, so it was a bit of a leap of faith to ask people to come with me while I was still building things out. I'm so grateful to everyone who joined in that original group, and for the feedback that helped me shape the course.
It wasn't all smooth sailing - I certainly got plenty of strong feedback - but I'm really proud of what we built together.
What's in the course now
If you last looked during early access, it's a different course.
- Techniques covering noise, pixel sorting, mesh gradients, flow fields, interactivity, cellular automata, and more
- Fundamentals for TSL, debugging, runtime tweaking, animation, generative systems, and optimisation
- 40+ utilities you can drop into Three.js and TSL work
- 170+ shader breakdowns with commented source
Season 2 also rebuilt the technique pages so you can tweak examples while you read. That was the thing I wanted from day one, but it took a few months to get there.
Where Fragments fits
I still love making effects and watching them come to life. That's the part I care about.
What's changed is how cheap it is to skip the learning. You can ask an LLM to build the shader, get something that looks right, and never find out why. That's intoxicating. It's also a bit depressing, because knowing how things work is the reason I started Fragments.
So the course sits in a smaller niche than it did a year ago. Not because the work got easier, but because skipping it got cheaper. Learning how it works makes the things you generate better.
The community is amazing
Through Fragments, I've met and talked to so many amazing people. So far, 239 people have joined. Some have been here since the first week, and some have only just joined. Welcome! I'm so grateful for everyone who's here, and for the feedback and support you've all given me.
If you want the longer recap from the end of last year, this wrap-up is still a decent snapshot.
Celebrate with 33% off September 3-17
Fragments is built on Three.js, and next week it finally gets its first major conference: Paris, September 10-11. That's a big deal for the community. I wish I could be there in person, but having a small child and living in Australia means I'll be watching from afar. All the details are at threejs.paris.
To mark the anniversary, and to celebrate the conference, Fragments is 33% off from September 3 through 17. No code required. Just use the link below.
Both memberships stay one-time purchases:
- Fundamentals if you want the foundation at a lower price
- Pro if you want the full set of techniques, utilities, and breakdowns
If you need a student discount, email me.
If you're already a member, nothing changes for you. You already have everything.
Thanks for a year of this. I'm still making the thing I wished I had when I started.