3D Modeling FoundationsUnderstanding Materials
12 / 15In progressIn progress

3D Modeling Foundations

Course progress0/15
1Introduction to 3D
  • What is 3D Modeling?
  • Real-World Applications
  • The Coordinate System
  • Your First 3D Object
2Navigating 3D Space
  • Viewport Navigation
  • Grid, Axes, and Helpers
  • Navigate and Position
3Basic Shapes
  • Primitive Shapes
  • Transforming Objects
  • Naming and Organizing
  • Build a Simple Object
4Materials & Lighting
  • Understanding Materials
  • Lighting Basics
  • Apply Materials
5Mini Project
  • Mini Project: Build a Desk Scene

3D Modeling Foundations

Course progress0/15
1Introduction to 3D
  • What is 3D Modeling?
  • Real-World Applications
  • The Coordinate System
  • Your First 3D Object
2Navigating 3D Space
  • Viewport Navigation
  • Grid, Axes, and Helpers
  • Navigate and Position
3Basic Shapes
  • Primitive Shapes
  • Transforming Objects
  • Naming and Organizing
  • Build a Simple Object
4Materials & Lighting
  • Understanding Materials
  • Lighting Basics
  • Apply Materials
5Mini Project
  • Mini Project: Build a Desk Scene

Understanding Materials

Textures and material samples
Materials give surfaces their unique look
Materials define how an object's surface looks and reacts to light.

Material Properties

Color

The base color of the surface.
  • Use the color picker in Properties panel
  • Can be any color (hex codes work too)

Roughness

How smooth or rough the surface appears.
  • 0 = Perfectly smooth (mirror-like)
  • 1 = Completely rough (matte)

Examples:

  • Polished metal: 0.1-0.2

  • Plastic: 0.3-0.5

  • Wood: 0.5-0.7

  • Concrete: 0.8-1.0

Metalness

How metallic the surface looks.
  • 0 = Non-metal (plastic, wood, skin)
  • 1 = Pure metal (gold, silver, chrome)
Info
Metals reflect their environment and tint reflections with their color. That's why gold looks gold and copper looks copper!

PBR Materials

Our editor uses PBR (Physically Based Rendering):

  • Realistic light behavior

  • Consistent under different lighting

  • Industry standard for games and web

Note
PBR was developed to make 3D graphics look realistic by simulating how light actually behaves in the real world.

Quick Recipes

MaterialColorRoughnessMetalness
Gold#FFD7000.31.0
Silver#C0C0C00.21.0
PlasticAny0.40.0
Rubber#3333330.90.0
Glass#FFFFFF0.00.0
Tip
When in doubt, keep metalness at 0 for most real-world objects. Only metals (gold, silver, chrome, copper) should have metalness = 1.