In deferred shading, the G-buffer (Geometry Buffer) plays a crucial role in the rendering pipeline. It is responsible for storing various attributes of the scene's geometry, which are necessary for shading calculations. The G-buffer typically contains several textures that hold information such as:

1. Position: The 3D coordinates of each pixel in the scene.
2. Normal: The normal vector at each pixel, which is essential for lighting calculations.
3. Albedo (Diffuse Color): The base color of the material at each pixel, devoid of any lighting effects.
4. Specular: Information about the material's specular reflectivity.
5. Depth: The distance from the camera to the object, which helps in determining visibility and occlusion.

During the first pass of the rendering process, the geometry of the scene is rendered into the G-buffer. This allows the second pass—where lighting calculations are performed—to be done using the data stored in the G-buffer. This approach is particularly efficient for scenes with a large number of light sources, as the lighting calculations can be done independently of the geometry rendering.

By decoupling geometry from lighting, deferred shading allows for more complex and dynamic lighting scenarios without the performance penalties associated with traditional forward rendering methods.

For further reading on deferred shading and G-buffers, you may refer to resources like the following:

• Deferred Shading: A Practical Framework
• Introduction to Deferred Shading

These resources provide a deeper insight into the concepts and implementations of deferred shading techniques.