This report covers the work of the author, Emil Persson, done during his time at ATI Technologies, Markham, Toronto, Canada, in the beginning of 2003. Topics in the field of high level shading languages are discussed. The languages themselves in terms of syntax and semantics are discussed as well as utilities and applications of high level shading languages and its relations to low level shading languages. Manual and automatic ports between different shading languages are also discussed. The report covers the theme mostly from a real-time rendering perspective. Research work for various usages in the fields of real-time rendering is also presented. A number of techniques for gaming, industrial and cinematic use were developed and implemented with the RenderMonkey prototype toolset. Moreover, a few simulations of the behavior of certain materials such as wood and glass were produced, as well as additional techniques for postprocessing images. The techniques are described and explained in detail as well as analyzed and compared in performance, quality and utility aspects.