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Create a UModeler object and explore the UModeler interface
Overview
Name of explainer: Create a UModeler object and explore the UModeler interface
Creative theme: Beginning 3D Modelling using UModeler
Software used (for this explainer): Unity Hub. Unity LTS. uModeler.
User level: BEGINNER
This is explainer 3 of 7 in this series
This series includes:
- Install the Unity Hub and Unity LTS
- Create a Unity project and install the Umodeler asset
- Create a UModeler object and explore the UModeler interface
- Navigate the scene and scale, rotate and move 3D objects
- Adjust faces, edges and vertices to make unique 3d shapes
- Create a simple car model based on the Simpsons Canyonero
- Apply materials and textures to the Canyonero and export the model
The Software
This series of explainers uses the Unity platform and the ‘UModeler’ Unity asset .
UNITY is a real-time 2D and 3D development platform. It’s a versatile environment used to create animations, 2D, 3D and VR games, as their recent showreel demonstrates!
You’ll recognise these popular games, all developed in Unity. Expand to view:
Beat Saber
New Star GP
Cuphead
With its full 3D feature set, Unity can also be used to create full animated films and cinematic sequences:
Short Movie: ADAM
Animated film: SONDER
To introduce 3d modelling we’re using the Unity 3d modelling asset UModeler:
UModeler is a PAID asset with a standard price of around £120 / $120. Once you’ve learnt the basics you may like to graduate to UModeler X, the professional-level modelling tool for Unity:
The 3D car model created in this series
To demonstrate basic UModeler modelling tools we’ll create a simple car based on the Canyonero as made famous in the Simpsons! Notice it’s made from a small number of polygons, has a ‘cut out’ interior and a nice shiny coat of paint!
Here’s how our Canyonero looks at the end of the initial explainers:
…and here’s how it looks after additional tweaking and accessorising:
The pre-requisities
This is a BEGINNER explainer series, but you’ll need to have a basic knowledge of using Windows, downloading and installing software to follow along. Unity is a complex application and is not recommended for new computer users. For introductory Unity courses and videos, have a look at their own learning platform, Unity Learn
Why would I do this?
The uModeler interface can be confusing at first. We’ll learn how to navigate the uModeler icons that will be useful in this beginner series.
uModeler includes various pre-built ready to use ‘primitive’ shapes. As in most 3D modelling software, these include boxes, spheres and cylinders.
To add simple shapes to a scene, we first need to create at least one uModeler object. This object is effectively a ‘container’ for any number of shapes we want to combine, move, rotate and scale as one.
Let’s do it!
Click the play icon to watch this explainer video. Subtitles are available – Click the settings cog at the bottom right for options. You can watch this video full-screen by clicking the full-screen icon at the bottom right.
Video Transcript (Click to expand)
Here is the full transcript for explainer three above.
00:00:14 – 00:00:15
Welcome to you.
00:00:15 – 00:00:20
This is explainer number 3 in the series beginning 3d modeling with uModeler.
00:00:20 – 00:00:28
In this explainer, I’ll explore the uModeler interface, create a new u Modeler object, and add a simple box to the scene.
00:00:28 – 00:00:41
If you’re new to Unity and your interface looks significantly different to this or you accidentally close a panel, you can reset to the default Unity layout by going to Window, Layouts, Default.
00:00:42 – 00:00:46
I’ll start by clicking the new U Modeler icon here.
00:00:46 – 00:00:49
A range of available U Modeler icons has expanded.
00:00:50 – 00:00:59
All the U Modeler tools are now showing in the Inspector Panel on the right and a new u Modeler object has been added to the Project hierarchy on the left.
00:01:0 – 00:01:5
At first this array of u Modeler tools can appear daunting, however they are actually grouped horizontally.
00:01:6 – 00:01:9
For example, click on the first icon on the top row.
00:01:10 – 00:01:13
These tools all relate to types of selection.
00:01:14 – 00:01:21
In the same way, the 3rd row is different primitive shapes we can add to a scene, and so on.
00:01:21 – 00:01:31
Be aware we’re not going to be using all these tools in this beginning series, but I will point out examples of additional tools you might like to practice with as we go along.
00:01:32 – 00:01:35
Let’s start by adding a box to our empty three d scene.
00:01:35 – 00:01:37
Click on the box tool.
00:01:38 – 00:01:47
As explained in the tool tip, to draw out a box in the viewport hold down your left mouse button and drag out a base shape for the box.
00:01:48 – 00:01:51
We can change anything later so don’t worry about being precise.
00:01:52 – 00:01:53
Let go of the left mouse button.
00:01:54 – 00:02:0
Next, move your mouse up to increase the vertical height of the box or down to decrease it.
00:02:0 – 00:02:3
The actual height won’t matter for this practice exercise.
00:02:4 – 00:02:9
Press space on your keyboard when you’re happy to confirm the drawing action is complete.
00:02:10 – 00:02:16
This visual method of drawing shapes is quite unique to u modeler and is brilliant for helping you get started quickly.
00:02:17 – 00:02:22
One tip, one unit inside unity corresponds to 1 meter in the real world.
00:02:23 – 00:02:31
The scaling won’t matter for this series, but be aware it will do if you plan to create models to use with VR or for exporting and using with other software.
00:02:32 – 00:02:37
If anything goes wrong, you can undo recent steps at any time by going to edit, undo.
00:02:40 – 00:02:45
Before moving on to the next explainer, practice adding additional primitive objects to the scene.
00:02:46 – 00:02:52
For example, spheres and perhaps some stairs.
00:02:56 – 00:03:0
One thing to note is we’ve only created a single UModeler object.
00:03:1 – 00:03:4
All these shapes we’ve added make up this single combined object.
00:03:5 – 00:03:16
We’ll look at this more closely in the next explainer and we’ll also learn how to navigate the 3d virtual scene and scale, rotate, and move objects around in this space.
The main steps in this video:
- An overview of the UModeler interface.
- How to reset to Unity’s default screen layout if needed.
- Click the UModeler icon to overview available tools.
- Overview UModeler’s tools as grouped by their function.
- Add a box to the scene:
- Select the box tool.
- Drag a base shape.
- Adjust the box height.
- Confirm the build with the spacebar.
- Overview Unity’s scale settings: One unit equals one meter.
- Practice adding other 3D objects such as spheres and stairs.
Good to know
Because uModeler works inside of Unity, it’s likely most users will be creating 3d assets to use in their games. For this reason, uModeler includes additional pre-built shapes including ‘room’ and ‘spiral staircase’ which are not found in other 3D modelling software. They’re a great way to get started quickly!
An instant spiral staircase to nowhere…
Where to next?
In the next explainer we’ll learn to navigate the virtual 3D scene and move, rotate and scale individual uModeler objects.
Remember, this is part of a series of explainers – Join us again for the other explainers in the series 🙂
Notes and updates
There are no notes or advisories at this time. This video explainer was last updated in October 2023. This page was last updated in November 2024
Disclaimer:
We are not responsible for the content of any external webpages or software downloaded from third party sites. Any links are included in good faith at the time of writing. All explainer content is compiled in good faith using processes and methods used by the Team. Modern software offers users many ways to accomplish a single task, and for reasons of clarity we choose not to refer to multiple options except where deemed helpful to do so. All computer users must run up to date virus / security software at all times to minimise the risk of data loss.
This is number 3 of 7 explainer videos in this series. Make sure you join us for the others!
