3D Artist Course

Lesson 1 • Navigating the 3D Software Interface

Covers viewport navigation, panel layouts, and toolbar customisation. Efficient interface use accelerates every subsequent workflow in the course.

Lesson 2 • Project Organisation and File Management

Teaches scene file structure, naming conventions, and asset linking. Proper organisation prevents data loss and supports team collaboration.

Lesson 3 • Core Object Types and Primitives

Introduces meshes, curves, lights, and cameras as fundamental scene objects. Students manipulate primitives to understand object hierarchies and transforms.

Lesson 1 • Topology Principles and Edge Flow

Teaches clean edge-loop routing, quad-dominant meshes, and avoiding n-gons. Good topology ensures correct deformation and subdivision behaviour.

Lesson 2 • Mesh Anatomy: Vertices, Edges, and Faces

Defines the three mesh components and their roles in defining shape. Understanding topology at this level is prerequisite for all modelling operations.

Lesson 3 • Essential Modelling Tools and Operations

Covers extrude, inset, loop cut, bevel, and bridge tools. These operations form the vocabulary for constructing any polygon model.

Lesson 4 • Box Modelling Workflow

Applies a start-from-primitive approach to build complex forms through iterative refinement. Students model a hard-surface prop from a single cube.

Lesson 1 • Subdivision Sculpting Workflow

Introduces multires sculpting for level-of-detail control without losing base mesh. Enables efficient iteration from rough block to fine detail.

Lesson 2 • Introduction to Digital Sculpting

Covers sculpting mode setup, brush types, and dynamic topology. Establishes how sculpting differs from polygon modelling in intent and workflow.

Lesson 3 • Essential Sculpting Brushes and Techniques

Explores clay, grab, smooth, crease, and inflate brushes in practical exercises. Brush mastery directly determines the quality of sculpted surfaces.

Lesson 4 • Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Forms

Teaches the three-level form hierarchy used by professional sculptors. Students block primary masses before adding secondary planes and surface detail.

Lesson 1 • Unwrapping Methods and Projections

Covers smart UV project, cube projection, cylindrical, and follow-active-quads methods. Choosing the right method per surface type reduces manual correction.

Lesson 2 • UV Layout Optimisation

Teaches packing islands efficiently, scaling by texel density, and eliminating wasted UV space. Optimised layouts maximise texture quality at any resolution.

Lesson 3 • UDIM Workflows for Complex Assets

Introduces multi-tile UV layouts used in film and high-end game pipelines. UDIM knowledge prepares students for professional asset delivery standards.

Lesson 1 • Substance-Style Layered Texturing

Applies a layer-based, mask-driven texturing approach for complex, realistic surfaces. This workflow mirrors industry tools used in game and film production.

Lesson 2 • Baking Texture Maps

Teaches baking ambient occlusion, normals, and curvature from high-poly to low-poly meshes. Baked maps transfer sculpt detail to game-ready assets.

Lesson 3 • PBR Material Theory

Explains albedo, roughness, metalness, and normal map channels in the PBR model. Understanding channel roles prevents common material errors in rendering.

Lesson 4 • Texture Painting Fundamentals

Covers brush-based painting directly on 3D surfaces for albedo and roughness maps. Direct painting gives artists intuitive control over surface variation.

Lesson 1 • Rig Controls and Custom Shapes

Builds animator-friendly control bones with custom display shapes and colour coding. Clean controls reduce animator error and improve rig usability.

Lesson 2 • Armature and Bone Fundamentals

Introduces armature objects, bone chains, and roll alignment for correct deformation. A well-structured skeleton is the prerequisite for all rigging work.

Lesson 3 • Skinning and Weight Painting

Covers automatic weights, manual weight painting, and weight normalisation for clean deformation. Accurate weights prevent mesh pinching and collapsing.

Lesson 4 • Forward and Inverse Kinematics

Explains FK chains and IK solvers with pole targets for limb control. IK rigs dramatically speed up posing and animation of limbs.

Lesson 1 • Node-Based Compositing

Assembles render passes using a node compositor to add colour grading, glare, and depth of field. Compositing elevates raw renders to final, deliverable images.

Lesson 2 • Camera Setup and Composition

Teaches focal length, depth of field, and rule-of-thirds framing for compelling renders. Camera settings directly influence the visual storytelling of a scene.

Lesson 3 • Render Engine Configuration

Configures path-tracing and real-time render engines for quality and performance balance. Engine settings determine render time, noise levels, and output fidelity.

Lesson 4 • Lighting Theory and Light Types

Covers three-point lighting, HDRI environment lighting, and area vs. point vs. spot lights. Lighting theory applies across all render engines and production contexts.

Lesson 1 • Optimising Assets for Real-Time Engines

Covers LOD creation, polycount budgets, and texture atlasing for game engine import. Real-time optimisation is a core skill for game industry employment.

Lesson 2 • Industry Pipeline Overview

Maps the full asset pipeline from concept to final delivery across game and film contexts. Understanding the pipeline helps artists position their work within a team.

Lesson 3 • Portfolio Curation and Case Studies

Guides selection, sequencing, and contextualising of portfolio pieces for target roles. A curated portfolio communicates specialisation and professional intent.

Lesson 4 • Turntable and Beauty Render Presentation

Teaches creating turntable animations and beauty renders that showcase asset quality. Strong presentation renders are the primary metric for portfolio evaluation.