Join us this month as we create 3D objects using Tinkercad and Kenney Shape, then include them in a 3D Retro Cafe scene in Unity! Beginners are welcome, and you can follow just the Tinkercad or Kennery Shape explainers if you prefer! Here’s how your scene could look at the end of this series…
Why 3D modelling?
The ability to use 3D-capable creative software is central to digital creativity in 2025, and could even help you land the job of your dreams!
The more time you spend using 3d software, the more you’ll realise that it’s not about learning specific programs (though that will be part of your journey!), but about developing a transferable skillset. Your 3D skills can then be applied to:
- Social media and marketing
- Game development
- Architectural visualisation (ARCHVIZ). If you’re not sure what this is, have a look at How to make an interior in Blender and The future of architectural visualisation
- 3d modelling
- Animation
- Computer Aided Design (CAD)
- 3D printing
- Creating teaching and training resources
In this series of 8 explainers we’ll
- Get tooled up (Including creating accounts for Tinkercad , Kenney Shape and Unity)
- Learn to navigate in 3d and add 3d shapes to a Tinkercad scene
- Combine 3d shapes to create a coffee mug in Tinkercad
- Export the coffee mug as a 3D OBJ file
- Learn to use Kenney Shape and export a built-in 3d object
- Use Kenney Shape to ‘trace’ a Space Invader and build a 3d object
- Create a Unity project and import our 3d objects
- Import a free Unity coffee shop asset and add our 3D objects
Next month we’ll continue with the 3D theme as we hone our 3D modelling skills using uModeler, one of the most popular, low cost 3d modelling tools, which lets you model directly inside Unity:
Join us in a few days when we’ll introduce the applications we’re going to be using!
This series is suitable for beginners, though new Unity users may also consider referencing Unity’s own learning materials.
