Unit 1 - Overview

Lesson 1.1 - Getting Started with Unity

Lesson 1.2 - Creating Your First Project

Watch an overview of Unit 1 to learn how to download Unity and prepare for the course.

Set up your tools by installing Unity Hub and the Unity Editor, creating a Unity ID, and starting a URP project.

Create a new project with the Universal Render Pipeline and configure it for use in the next unit.

In Unit 1, we’ll go over downloading and installing the Unity Hub, the Unity Editor, and creating a Unity ID. We’ll also cover creating a new project in Unity’s Universal Render Pipeline (URP). 

Unit 1 - Getting Started

2019.4

Unit 2 - Overview

Lesson 2.1 - Arranging the Editor Layout to Suit Your Needs

Lesson 2.2 - Creating Primitive Objects and Arranging Them 

Lesson 2.3 - Adding ProBuilder Shapes to the Set

Lesson 2.4 - Creating and Altering Materials to Establish a Look

Lesson 2.5 - Adjusting the Directional Light

Unit 2 - Creative Challenge

Unit 3 - Overview

Lesson 3.1 - Assembling the Set 

Lesson 3.2 - Creating Props with ProBuilder

Lesson 3.3 - Adding Basic Lighting to a Set

Lesson 3.4 - Exploring Emissive Materials

Unit 3 - Creative Challenge

Unit 4 - Overview

Lesson 4.1 - Creating a Timeline and Adding Keyframed Animation Tracks

Lesson 4.2 - Configure Generic Rigs and Add Animation Clips

Lesson 4.3 - Configure Humanoid Rigs and Add Animation Clips

Lesson 4.4 - Creating Dailies

Unit 4 - Creative Challenge

Unit 5 - Overview

Lesson 5.1 - Framing Shots with the Main Camera

Lesson 5.2 - Getting Started with Cinemachine

Lesson 5.3 - Using Cinemachine to Create Multi-Camera Shots

Unit 5 - Creative Challenge

Unit 6 - Overview

Lesson 6.1 - Adding Lighting to the Set 

Lesson 6.2 - Additional Lighting Techniques

Lesson 6.3 - Apply Post-Processing Effects to the Scene

Lesson 6.4 - Adding Post Processing Effects per Camera Shot

Unit 6 - Creative Challenge

2020.2

2020.1

2019.3

Unit 7 - Overview 

2019.2

2019.1

2018.4

2018.3

2018.2

2018.1

2017.4

2017.3

2017.2

2017.1

Lesson 7.1 - Creating Visual Effects 

Lesson 7.2 - Working with Audio

Lesson 7.3 - Titles

Lesson 7.4 - Final Render 

Unit 7 - Creative Challenge

Course Introduction

Final Project

Unit 2 - Quiz

Unit 3 - Quiz

Unit 4 - Quiz

Unit 5 - Quiz

Unit 6 - Quiz

Unit 7 - Quiz

Watch a brief video overview that introduces the goals and structure of the course.

Get an overview of Unit 2, covering environment design, 3D modeling, and set dressing concepts.

Arrange Unity Editor windows to prototype a previs scene quickly and iterate on sets, lighting, cameras, and effects.

Start from a 2D sketch to block out a 3D city Scene with primitives that establish depth, scale, and layout.

Build more detailed cityscapes by shaping complex geometry with ProBuilder beyond basic primitives.

Practice creating basic materials, organizing the Hierarchy window, and applying materials to GameObjects in your scene.

Adjust the Directional Light to shift your Scene’s lighting and mood between times of day.

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In this unit, you’ll learn about previsualization in Unity by modeling a city based on a reference sketch. In the process you’ll learn about configuring the look of the Editor, working with Primitives, Probuilder shapes, creating Materials and adjusting lighting.  

Previsualization (pre-vis), is an invaluable process in the cinematic pipeline that allows you to quickly see how a 3D Scene will look before animation, filming, or asset production begins. A strong previsualization process gives a creative director the freedom to rapidly iterate ideas without reshoots or re-developing assets once a project enters production.

Unit 2 - Real-time Previsualization

Get an overview of Unit 3, covering environment creation, 3D modeling, and set dressing concepts.

In this lesson, you start building a city set from refined previs, learning how modeling assets and dressing them define the scene.

Use ProBuilder to model a detailed traffic cone, practicing shape creation, extrusion, edge loops, and Materials directly in Unity.

Learn to place and configure lights on scene props so they appear to emit cohesive, visually appealing illumination.

Explore how emissive materials work in Unity and how to adjust their color to make objects appear self-illuminated.

This quiz checks your understanding of Unit 3 topics, including building an environment and basic modeling skills.

Unit3_StarterFiles_2019.4.zip

In Unit 3, we’ll fast-forward to a more visually developed Scene in which you’ll learn to assemble an environment using more refined art assets provided by your creative team. You’ll model a new prop for the set directly inside Unity. You’ll add ambiance to your set with lighting and emissive Materials. Finally, in the Creative Challenge, you’ll use the provided props and new props you create to set-dress a new area of the Scene.  

Unit 3 - Environment, Modeling, and Set Dressing

Get an overview of Unit 4 and what you will do when creating animations with Timeline.

Learn to build a master Timeline, animate GameObjects, and organize animation tracks in the Unity Editor.

Configure a generic cat character, set up its Animation Clips in Timeline, and refine looping and blending across different rigs.

Use Humanoid rigs to add two pedestrian characters to your Scene and reuse walk cycles across multiple characters.

Learn to export your animations as .mp4 dailies so you can quickly share work-in-progress for feedback.

This quiz checks your understanding of Unit 3 topics, including animation and both generic and humanoid rigs.

Unit4_StarterFiles_2019.4.zip

In this unit, you’ll learn all the basics of creating animation in Unity using Timeline — from animating props to animating Generic and Humanoid characters. Then we will show you how to create dailies by recording your work-in-progress to an MP4. 

By the end of this unit, we will have created an animatic, which is a rough representation of a finished Scene. Think of the animatic as a "pre-animation," in which we’re creating the first pass of a more complex animated sequence from its bare essentials. In a professional production, this animation would then be refined in iterations until it’s highly polished. 

Unit 4 - Animation

Watch an introduction to Unit 5, where you will compose cinematic camera shots using Cinemachine.

Build a solid foundation in using the main camera to frame shots and move it in preparation for Cinemachine.

Install Cinemachine, create a virtual camera, frame shots, and animate camera movement for your scene.

Add multiple virtual cameras, animate pans and push-ins, and blend smoothly between camera shots.

Test your understanding of Unit 5 topics, including cameras and Cinemachine, with this quiz.

Unit5_StarterFiles_2019.4.zip

In this unit, you’ll learn how to film animation by composing shots with Cinemachine, Unity's go-to cinematics authoring tool. You’ll then explore how to sequence, edit, and blend shots in Timeline and animate cameras. By the end of this unit, you’ll be able compose and capture multi-camera shots in Unity. 

Unit 5 - Cinematography

This unit introduction video outlines core concepts of lighting and post-processing.

Learn to place and adjust Point Lights and Spotlights in Unity scenes to shape mood and ambiance.

Enhance your Scene’s mood with streetlight Prefabs, the Light Explorer, activation tracks, and atmospheric fog.

Learn to configure your project for post-processing and add Bloom, tone mapping, Color Grading, and Motion Blur to your Scene.

Learn to add per-camera post-processing, including vignette and animated depth of field, to refine your Scene’s look.

Test your understanding of Unit 6 concepts, including lighting and post-processing.

Unit6_StarterFiles_2019.4.zip

In this unit, you’ll learn all about lighting and post-processing in Unity. This unit is important because so much of the visual fidelity and ambiance of the project happens here. You’ll not only learn about lights but also shadows, important settings, and post-processing techniques essential to creating mood in your Scene and style in your camera shots.

To begin this unit, download the Unit 6 project from the Tutorial Materials tab.

Unit 6 - Adding Visual Fidelity Through Lighting

Explore Particle System and VFX Graph, add audio, and render a high-resolution master of your Unity project.

Explore how to create a smoke effect with the Particle System and a spark effect with VFX Graph.

Practice adding and mixing music and sound effects on a Timeline, including spatial audio and simple post-processing.

Discover how to add and customize on-screen titles to enhance your Unity project.

Discover how to export high-resolution movies and image sequences from Unity for final editing in external tools.

Check your understanding of Unit 7 topics, including Particle System effects, VFX Graph, audio, and rendering.

Unit7_StarterFiles_2019.4.zip

In this unit, you’ll learn about Unity’s visual effects tools, including the Particle System and VFX Graph. You’ll also learn how to work with sound effects and music. Finally, we’ll cover how to render a high resolution master version of your project. 

Unit 7 - Effects and Final Render

Scope & Sequence .pdf

Syllabus.pdf

In this introductory course from Unity, students will learn to create an animated Scene as they develop movie-making skills. During the course, students will progress through a series of Units with the instructor and practice their new skills with provided example projects. They will complete Creative Challenges and Quizzes for each of the Units to solidify and expand their learning. 

Students will learn how to create Scenes, design sets, animate characters, move cameras, set up lighting, create special effects, add audio, add titles, and render their work — all without having to write a single line of code. The foundational skills they’ll develop around 3D modeling, environment creation, animation, and cinematography align with technical objectives and best practices employed by proficient Unity developers. Students will progress from being beginners with little or no experience to capable Unity developers. By the end of the course, they will be presented with a Final Project challenge to create an open-ended personal project that demonstrates their new Unity skills. Students will then be ready to confidently apply those skills to create their own animated movie. 

In this official course from Unity, you will learn Real-time Animated Storytelling, allowing you to create your own 3D animations with cutting-edge technology. During the course, you will develop pre-visualization skills, learn to create an environment and props, animate characters, film a story, and refine your Scene with lighting and effects. As an artist and storyteller, you will learn how to leverage one of the most powerful new technologies to bring your ideas to life in real-time. 

As you complete the creative challenges and develop your own project, you’ll be able to share your new skills in our gallery and in your portfolio. 

Whether you’re a student who wants to be at the forefront of the entertainment industry, or a professional looking to upskill, by the end of this course you will have developed in-demand animation skills to make you stand out from the crowd. 

The 3D assets for this course were generously provided by our partner, Synty Studios, and are not for commercial use. If you would like to use any of the 3D assets from this course in commercial projects, please purchase one of the asset packs from Synty Studios’ 

Real-time Animated Storytelling

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Unit Overview

An introductory video for Unit 1, where you will learn about downloading Unity and preparing for this course.

Unit 1 - Overview

1. Unit Overview

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