//baking the material into a texture format we can read... because we can't getpixel on render textures!
            //renderTexture = new RenderTexture(generatorSize, generatorSize, 24, RenderTextureFormat.BGRA32, 0);
            renderTexture = new RenderTexture(generatorSize, generatorSize, 32, RenderTextureFormat.ARGBFloat);
            renderTexture.Create();
            Graphics.Blit(null, renderTexture, generatorMat);

            //transfer image from rendertexture to texture
            mapTexture = new Texture2D(generatorSize, generatorSize, TextureFormat.RGBAFloat, false);
            RenderTexture.active = renderTexture;
            mapTexture.ReadPixels(new Rect(Vector2.zero, new Vector2(generatorSize, generatorSize)), 0, 0);
            mapTexture.Apply();
            Shader.SetGlobalTexture("MapTexture", mapTexture);
            shorelinemat.SetTexture("_MapTexture", mapTexture);
            Shader.SetGlobalFloat("MapSize", generatorSize);
            //clean up variables
            RenderTexture.active = null;
            //RenderTexture.ReleaseTemporary(renderTexture);