Pondot

Pondot / liquidDX11

Public

Native Windows glass overlay for Dear ImGui: real-time DXGI desktop capture, Direct3D 11/HLSL refraction, Dual Kawase blur, spring widgets, and optional MP4 recording.

www.youtube.comwatch?v=rWdHt9bqKjY cpp custom-widgets dear-imgui desktop-duplication desktop-overlay
24
1
89% credibility
Found Jun 02, 2026 at 24 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
C++
AI Summary

liquidDX11 is an open-source Windows demo that creates a real-time frosted-glass desktop overlay using Dear ImGui and DirectX 11. It captures the live desktop through DXGI Desktop Duplication, applies a Dual Kawase blur effect on the GPU, and renders refractive glass UI panels with custom HLSL shaders. Users can customize the visual appearance, explore demo widgets, use a command palette, and even record MP4 videos of their overlay. The project is MIT-licensed and runs entirely on the user's local machine.

How It Works

1
💻 Discover the project

Someone finds liquidDX11 while browsing GitHub and learns it creates beautiful frosted-glass overlays for Windows desktops using Dear ImGui and DirectX 11.

2
🔧 Set up the development environment

They download Visual Studio 2022 and the Windows SDK, following the clear build instructions in the README.

3
✨ Build and run the application

With one click, they compile the project and launch the liquidDX11 overlay, watching their desktop transform into a refractive glass canvas.

4
🎨 Customize the glass effect

They open the settings panel and tweak the blur, refraction strength, chromatic separation, and edge lighting until it looks perfect.

5
Choose their workflow
🖼️
Explore demo surfaces

Browse through showcase UI examples demonstrating various glass widgets and animations

⌨️
Use command palette

Press Ctrl+K to open a quick command search and execute actions instantly

6
🎬 Record a demonstration

They press F9 to start recording an MP4 video of their glass overlay in action, perfect for sharing with others.

🎉 Enjoy their glass desktop

They now have a stunning real-time frosted-glass overlay that captures their actual desktop background, complete with spring-animated widgets and beautiful visual effects.

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Star Growth

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AI-Generated Review

What is liquidDX11?

liquidDX11 is a C++ demo that transforms a borderless Dear ImGui window into a frosted-glass overlay using Direct3D 11 and custom HLSL shaders. It captures your live desktop through Windows DXGI, applies a dual Kawase blur chain, and renders refractive glass UI on top with adjustable parameters for refraction, chromatic separation, edge lighting, and shadows.

Why is it gaining traction?

This project stands out because it creates genuine Windows glass UI effects without Electron or WebGL. The actual desktop appears behind the overlay, not a snapshot, which makes it feel alive. Spring-animated widgets, a command palette, and built-in MP4 recording give it that "shipping product" feel you rarely see in open-source graphics demos.

Who should use this?

Game developers building overlay menus or HUDs will find the HLSL glass shader technique valuable. Desktop application developers curious about native Windows visual effects can learn from the DXGI capture and blur implementation. ImGui power users who want to extend their tooling with premium-feeling UI should explore the widget kit.

Verdict

At 24 stars with no packaged binaries, this is a "learn from the code" project, not a library you ship. The MIT license lets you fold techniques into commercial work, but you will need Visual Studio 2022, Windows 10 SDK, and x64 to build it. If you are researching desktop capture or glass rendering, the credibility score reflects its niche status but the implementation quality is solid.

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