All our workflow explainers are waffle-free and work-tested. That’s the pixels.cool guarantee!
Adjust faces, edges and vertices to make unique 3d shapes
Overview
Name of explainer: Adjust faces, edges and vertices to make unique 3d shapes
Creative theme: Beginning 3D Modelling using UModeler
Software used (for this explainer): Unity Hub. Unity LTS. uModeler.
User level: BEGINNER
This is explainer 5 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?
Being able to move, rotate and scale objects helps to assemble a scene but to create truly unique 3d models it’s important to be able to manipulate their constituent parts. Every 3D object is made up of faces, edges and vertices, each of which can be manipulated as needed. We’ll start with uModeler’s ‘stair’ object and adjust it to make it difficult for a gaming character to climb!
Video Transcript (Click to expand)
Here is the full transcript for explainer five above:
00:00:15 – 00:00:15
Welcome to you.
00:00:15 – 00:00:20
This is explainer number five in the series beginning 3d modeling with uModeler.
00:00:20 – 00:00:29
In this explainer, I’ll overview the key components of 3d objects and look at how I can manipulate them to create unique shapes and forms.
00:00:30 – 00:00:32
I’ll start with a brand new Unity scene.
00:00:33 – 00:00:37
I’ll add a umodeler stairs object to my scene in the usual way.
00:00:38 – 00:00:42
I just want 3 or 4 distinct steps for these stairs for now.
00:00:43 – 00:00:46
Let’s make these stairs more interesting and difficult to climb.
00:00:46 – 00:00:49
I’ll start by scaling the stairs vertically.
00:00:50 – 00:00:56
So far we’ve only selected an entire object at a time to practice moving, rotating and scaling.
00:00:56 – 00:01:5
Every 3D shape including boxes and these stairs is made up of 3 types of component, each of which can be selected and manipulated individually.
00:01:5 – 00:01:10
First, ensure the entire stairs object is selected by clicking the object tool.
00:01:10 – 00:01:13
The icon to the immediate left is the polygon tool.
00:01:14 – 00:01:14
Click it now.
00:01:15 – 00:01:17
I refer to this as the face tool.
00:01:17 – 00:01:21
With this selected I can now select any individual face on my stairs.
00:01:23 – 00:01:27
I’ll use the move tool as before to pull out this bottom step.
00:01:31 – 00:01:36
I can also rotate just a single face to make a simple ramp like this.
00:01:36 – 00:01:40
Of course the scale tool could also be used but I don’t need it right now.
00:01:41 – 00:01:43
The next component to consider is edges.
00:01:44 – 00:01:45
Click the edge tool icon.
00:01:47 – 00:01:50
I can select any individual edge of the stairs by clicking on it.
00:01:51 – 00:01:55
Again, the same tools are available for moving, rotating and scaling.
00:01:55 – 00:01:59
I’ll make this step a little bit more wonky and more difficult to climb.
00:02:0 – 00:02:3
Finally, select the vertex tool.
00:02:3 – 00:02:6
Think of a vertex as a point where at least two edges meet.
00:02:8 – 00:02:12
I’ll move this vertex to make it all but impossible to reach the top of my stairs.
00:02:13 – 00:02:20
As a vertex is essentially just an intersection point, rotating or scaling it won’t have any visual effect.
00:02:21 – 00:02:22
Two tips for you…
00:02:22 – 00:02:29
You can select more than one face, edge, or vertex at a time by dragging your mouse across part of the object like this.
00:02:30 – 00:02:37
Or you can multi select individual components by holding down your shift key and clicking on each one individually.
00:02:38 – 00:02:46
Be aware there are additional more complex tools available over here to help you make accurate selections and build complex precise models.
00:02:46 – 00:02:50
I won’t be using these additional tools in this introductory series.
00:02:51 – 00:02:57
Remember that umodeler’s own help resources can be found by going to tools, umodeler, about.
00:02:58 – 00:02:59
Okay.
We’re ready to create our simple Canyonero car model.
00:03:2 – 00:03:9
Before continuing to the next explainer, practice manipulating the vertices, edges, and faces of primitive objects.
The main steps in this video:
- Start with a new Unity scene.
- Add a UModeler stairs object with three or four distinct steps.
- Modify the stairs by scaling them vertically.
- Introduce the three main components of 3D shapes: faces, edges, and vertices.
- Select and manipulate individual faces using the polygon (face) tool
- Use the edge tool to select and adjust individual edges
- Utilize the vertex tool to select and move vertices
- Tips for selecting multiple components:
- Drag the mouse across parts of the object.
- Hold the shift key and click on individual components.
- Note that advanced selection tools won’t be covered in this introductory series.
- Access UModeler’s help resources via “Tools” > “UModeler” > “About”.
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.
Good to know
As mentioned in the explainer, you can ‘marquee select’ lots of components at once (i.e. drag a box out over them). You can also hold down your shift key while clicking to select multiple components:
uModeler incorporates additional, powerful selection tools that we don’t need to use in this beginner’s series. You can find them in the uModeler panel. Roll your mouse over each icon in turn to find out more!
Where to next?
In the next explainer we’ll create our simple car model in the style of the Canyonero!
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 5 of 7 explainer videos in this series. Make sure you join us for the others!
