Unity Essentials: Install Unity

Open the Unity Essentials project

Explore the Editor Interface

Master 3D scene navigation

Pass the Scene view flying test

Design a mural in the Scene view

Editor Essentials: More things to try

Mission 1 Quiz

Unity Essentials: Editor Essentials Quiz

Explore a playground scene and design a mural to get comfortable with the Unity interface.

This tutorial series introduces you to the essential skills of navigating the Unity Editor.

You'll learn to navigate 3D space in a playground scene, using Flythrough mode and tools like Move and Rotate to design a mural.

Once you master these skills, you’ll have the foundation required for confidently creating in Unity.

Editor Essentials

Unity Essentials Pathway

Searching for Diamonds

Galactic Explorer

Essential Unity Practice Project

Master the basics of Unity with the Unity Essentials Pathway. Perfect for beginners, this free learning journey introduces game development, 3D content creation, and Unity's core tools. Start building today!

Unity Essentials Pathway - Learn Game Development for Beginners | Unity Learn

Unity Essentials is the perfect place to start for beginners to Unity. No previous experience is necessary.

New to Unity? This guided learning Pathway includes everything you need to get started.

Designed for anyone new to Unity, this guided learning journey is your first step toward creating confidently in the Unity Editor and bringing your visions to life. In this learning Pathway, you’ll design different rooms of a house, learning the essentials of one key skillset as you complete each room.

Unity Essentials

Add furniture to the kid’s room

Make a bouncy ball

Make a tower of prefab blocks

Adjust the lights, background, and camera angle

3D Essentials: More things to try

Unity Essentials: 3D Essentials Quiz

Design a kid's bedroom with a bouncing ball and a tower of collapsing building blocks.

In this tutorial series, you'll explore Unity's capabilities by designing a kid's bedroom scene with dynamic elements like a bouncing ball and a tower of blocks. You'll learn new skills in 3D navigation, object customization, and using Unity's physics system. 

You’ll also create prefabs, adjust lighting, and capture your scene with a camera. 

This foundational knowledge is vital to creating any type of Unity project.

3D Essentials

Create an immersive soundscape

Audio Essentials: More things to try

Unity Essentials: Audio Essentials Quiz

Add immersive sound to a kitchen scene with a variety of different types of audio.

In this Audio Mission, you will learn the fundamentals of implementing different types of audio into Unity scenes. You’ll learn how to set the tone with background music, how to add realism with sound effects, and even how to implement spatial audio in a 3D scene.

Audio Essentials

Add a movement script

Create a rotating collectible

Collect the collectible

Programming Essentials: More things to try

Mission 4 Quiz

Unity Essentials: Programming Essentials Quiz

Add code so that a player character can explore a living room and gather collectibles. 

In this Mission, you’ll program a simple interactive experience where you control a character in a living room scene and move around to collect objects. 

You'll be able to choose from a variety of characters and collectible objects. In our example, we'll use a robot vacuum that maneuvers to pick up dirt around the room.

Programming Essentials

Set up a 2D room

Complete your 2D Puzzle Game

Add an animated pet

2D Essentials: More things to try

Mission 5 Quiz

Unity Essentials: 2D Essentials Quiz

Create a top-down minigame similar to the 3D living room experience, but in 2D.

In this 2D Mission, you'll create a top-down 2D version of the interactive living room scene you created earlier. 

Just like in the 3D scene, you'll control a character, and try to collect all the objects in a room. By completing this scene, you'll learn how working in 2D is similar to working in 3D, but also how it’s different.

2D Essentials

Build your portfolio project

Publish to WebGL

Challenge: Add a bonus scene

Capture a video of your project

Share your project

Combine all of your scenes together into one cohesive portfolio project that you can share with others. 

It's time to collect all your good work together into a singular portfolio piece that you and others can play!

A portfolio, especially in the realm of real-time 3D (RT3D) and game development, is not just a collection of work, but a practical way of demonstrating your familiarity with essential tools and concepts. 

In this Mission, you will package all of your work from this Pathway into a single playable experience that you can easily share with others.


Publishing Essentials

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Overview

Move to the start of the rings course

Frame, Orbit, Zoom through the rings course

Fly through the rings course

Hide the rings

Review and proceed to the next tutorial

Confidently operate the Unity Editor from an empty default project. 

Unity Editor Essentials

Neal Grigsby

Product Manager at Unity

1.3.2 - Move to the start of the rings course_V2.mp4

1.3.3 - Frame, Orbit, Zoom through the rings course_V3.mp4

1.3.4 - Fly through the rings course_V3.mp4

Fly through rings around the playground and solidify your Scene view navigation skills.

Games

Film

Automotive

Explain Unity’s 3D Y-up coordinate system.

Identify the Toolbar button(s) used for changing your view.

Change your view in the Scene view using the mouse and keyboard.

Change your view in the Scene view by focusing on a selected GameObject.

Change your view in the Scene view using the Scene Gizmo.

Use the 2D button to change the view of Scene view.

Navigate the Scene view confidently in all three dimensions, demonstrating the ability to quickly relocate to desired position and orientation in 3D space.

3.1 Explain Unity’s 3D Y-up coordinate system.

3.2 Identify the Toolbar button(s) used for changing your view.

3.3 Change your view in the Scene view using the mouse and keyboard.

3.4 Change your view in the Scene view by focusing on a selected GameObject.

3.5 Change your view in the Scene view using the Scene Gizmo.

3.6 Use the 2D button to change the view of Scene view.

3.7 Navigate the Scene view confidently in all three dimensions, demonstrating the ability to quickly relocate to desired position and orientation in 3D space.

Navigate in 3D space in the Scene view

Ellen Flaherty

Senior Learning Architect - Unity

Mission 1 - Editor Essentials

There’s no such thing as being too comfortable moving around in the Scene view. The more comfortable you are maneuvering in 3D space, the more confident and carefree you’ll be when working in Unity. 

Learning to navigate 3D space is a lot like learning to drive a car: 

At first, it's very overwhelming and scary.

It takes hours and hours of practice before you feel comfortable.

Eventually, you’ll be able to do it easily without thinking too much.

In this tutorial, you’ll fly through a series of rings around the playground to get even more comfortable moving around the environment.

Ring_1 GameObject selected in the Hierarchy and centered in the Scene view.

Before you begin going through the rings, let’s activate the flying course and get in position at the starting line. 


1.  In the Hierarchy window, select the Rings GameObject. 

Notice that it's grayed out — this is because it is currently inactive.

2.  With the Rings GameObject still selected, look at the top of the Inspector and locate the checkbox next to the title "Rings", then enable the checkbox to activate the GameObject.

3.  In the Hierarchy window, expand the Rings GameObject and frame 'Ring_1' by double-clicking it in the Hierarchy window. 

You can tell this is the first ring in the course because it has a red hoop. 

4.  Hold Alt (macOS: Option) and left-click to orbit behind the ring so that you’re facing the next ring and the arrow is pointing away from you. 

First, you’ll go through the rings using the trusty technique that will serve you well through your Unity career: Frame, Orbit, Zoom!

This technique allows you to quickly focus on any GameObject from any angle you want.


1.  Zoom through the center of the ring using the scroll wheel or trackpad. You need to zoom all the way through in order to select the next ring in the course. 

2.  Once you are through the first ring, continue through the obstacle course:

Select the next ring, then press F to frame it.

Hold Alt (macOS: Option) and left-click to orbit behind the ring.

Zoom through the center of the ring using the scroll wheel or trackpad.

Then just repeat!

At first, you might be slower than what you see in the video demo. Just like driving a car, it’ll take a bit of practice before you feel totally comfortable. 

Now, you’ll test your Flythrough mode skills to go through the course again. 

You can actually get anywhere you want in a scene using Flythrough mode. With more practice, you’ll eventually settle into your own 3D navigation style, likely using a combination of Flythrough mode and Frame, Orbit, Zoom.


1.  Once you've Frame, Orbit, Zoomed your way through, try to complete the course again using Flythrough mode (by right-clicking and using the WASD keys).

Tip:  In Flythrough mode, you can also press Q to go straight down and E to go straight up, but you should probably master using the WASD keys first before trying to integrate those keys. 

2.  For an added challenge, set a timer to see how long the course takes, and try to beat your record a couple of times. 

When you've finished going through the rings with Frame, Orbit, Zoom and Flythrough mode, deactivate the rings to hide them in the Scene view. 


1.  In the Hierarchy window, select the Rings GameObject.

2. At the top of the Inspector window, disable the checkbox to deactivate the group of rings. 

Rings GameObject selected in the Hierarchy and the checkbox at the top of the Inspector disabled to deactivate the GameObject.

Congratulations on successfully completing the Scene view flying test! 

You have set yourself up for success moving forward and will be able to create what you want much more efficiently now. 


Proceed to the next tutorial, where you’ll learn to move and rotate objects in the Scene view to create a mural at the center of the playground.

Pass the Scene view flying test

1. Overview

2. Move to the start of the rings course

3. Frame, Orbit, Zoom through the rings course

4. Fly through the rings course

5. Hide the rings

6. Review and proceed to the next tutorial

Complete this tutorial