Creative Core is your next step towards becoming a Unity creator. This free learning path will teach you all the core elements you need to bring your imagination to life with Unity. Once you’ve completed Unity Essentials as an introduction to the fundamentals of Unity Editor, take this pathway to learn VFX, Lighting, Animation, Audio, UI and other creative skills, no programming required. Discover how to use lighting, VFX, audio, and animation assets to craft dynamic environments, enhance character movements from basic to advanced, and create stunning visual effects that captivate your audience.

Cameras are your eyes into an interactive experience. They can be fully dynamic, fixed, or tied to a character. In this mission, you’ll explore the different camera types common to interactive experiences. You’ll also learn some basic camera shot terminology and practice recreating iconic scenes from popular media. By the end of this mission, you’ll be able to: Decide which Camera setup to use, given a project’s requirements. Configure a single Unity Camera in a 2D or 3D scene. About this learning experience This project is a standalone learning experience which uses content developed for the Creative Core pathway. You’ll find everything you need to get started with cameras in Unity, but you may also notice references to the guided learning journey for that pathway. If you decide that you’d like to complete the whole Creative Core pathway, you can start at any time. You’ll receive credit for any tutorials that you have already completed when you do.

Whether you’re exploring the architectural design of your new house, sneaking through a haunted castle in a stealth game, or immersing yourself in the world of a cinematic animation, good lighting takes a real-time experience to the next level. From the basics of illuminating a space to telling evocative stories through your design: lighting will help you get there. In this mission, you will light an indoor and outdoor space in the Unity Editor and learn about the fundamental principles of lighting for Unity experiences along the way. You’ll finish by applying what you’ve learned to complete your own lighting study. By the time you complete this learning experience, you’ll be able to: Implement appropriate lighting in a scene in a manner that will simulate the real-world behavior of light. Decide the appropriate lighting system in order to achieve common outcomes in a Universal Render Pipeline (URP) project. Configure light sources and shadows in order to functionally light a scene. Configure ambient (diffuse environmental) lighting in order to convey mood or enhance realism. Generate a lightmap in order to implement baked lighting in a scene. Configure Light Probes in order to increase the realism of baked lighting. Configure Reflection Probes in order to achieve accurate reflections. Troubleshoot common lighting errors in order to appropriately light a scene. About this learning experience This project is a standalone learning experience which uses content developed for the Creative Core pathway. You’ll find everything you need to get started with lighting in Unity, but you may also notice references to the guided learning journey for that pathway. If you decide that you’d like to complete the whole Creative Core pathway, you can start at any time. You’ll receive credit for any tutorials that you have already completed when you do.

The world around you is in constant motion. The same is true for digital worlds. A static environment tends to appear unfinished, or cold and unfeeling; animation is all about creating the illusion of life. In this mission, you will learn how to create animations in the Unity editor and how to configure animations imported from an external program. You’ll apply these concepts to add animation to objects and characters in your scenes, and even control when the animation gets played. By the end of this mission, you’ll be able to: Describe the relationship between different animation components. Create simple keyframed 3D animation sequences. Describe key components of an animator controller. Configure Animation Clips imported from digital content creation (DCC) software or the Asset Store for use in a project. Configure a humanoid rig for use with the Humanoid Animation system. About this learning experience This project is a standalone learning experience which uses content developed for the Creative Core pathway. You’ll find everything you need to get started with animation in Unity, but you may also notice references to the guided learning journey for that pathway. If you decide that you’d like to complete the whole Creative Core pathway, you can start at any time. You’ll receive credit for any tutorials that you have already completed when you do.

Audio is one of the most overlooked aspects of interactive development, but it’s also one of the first things that can disrupt a user’s immersion if it’s done poorly — or worse, completely forgotten about. In this mission, you will learn how to implement audio effects in Unity by creating a soundscape for an outdoor scene. You’ll create ambient audio effects, trigger sounds with events, and modify sounds with special effects. By the end of this mission, you’ll be able to: Implement audio in Unity. Produce customized results by correctly configuring audio in a scene. Create interactive experiences by synthesizing audio experience design principles. Refine existing audio in a Unity project. Solve accessibility challenges in an audio design. About this learning experience This project is a standalone learning experience which uses content developed for the Creative Core pathway. You’ll find everything you need to get started with audio in Unity, but you may also notice references to the guided learning journey for that pathway. If you decide that you’d like to complete the whole Creative Core pathway, you can start at any time. You’ll receive credit for any tutorials that you have already completed when you do.

Post-processing is just like applying filters to a photo you take with your phone. This can make your scene look more beautiful and interesting. In this mission, you will use post-processing to achieve a particular look and feel in a scene. By the time you complete this learning experience, you will be able to: Evaluate whether post-processing is an appropriate tool for a given goal. Implement a particular visual style in a project by configuring a post-processing profile. About this learning experience This project is a standalone learning experience which uses content developed for the Creative Core pathway. You’ll find everything you need to get started with post-processing in Unity, but you may also notice references to the guided learning journey for that pathway. If you decide that you’d like to complete the whole Creative Core pathway, you can start at any time. You’ll receive credit for any tutorials that you have already completed when you do.

Visual effects, or VFX, are simulated motion effects added to enhance a scene, ranging from a subtle splash of water to a massive fiery explosion. In this mission, you will learn to create your own visual effects, including fire, weather effects, and a puff of smoke. By the time you complete this learning experience, you will be able to: Decide whether to use Unity's Particle Systems or VFX Graph in order to produce an effect in your scene. Produce environmental and burst effects by configuring Unity's Particle System object. Interpret a simple VFX graph. About this learning experience This project is a standalone learning experience which uses content developed for the Creative Core pathway. You’ll find everything you need to get started with VFX in Unity, but you may also notice references to the guided learning journey for that pathway. If you decide that you’d like to complete the whole Creative Core pathway, you can start at any time. You’ll receive credit for any tutorials that you have already completed when you do.

Before you get caught up in developing your dream project, it’s important to start a little smaller and create a prototype. Prototyping gives you the opportunity to work out what should really be at the heart of the real-time experience you want to make and to test out different approaches to achieve that. In this mission, you’ll learn about some different approaches to prototyping and explore an example we’ve created as you work on your own prototype. This learning experience is about process rather than a set outcome; if you’re new to prototyping, we hope you’ll find something useful no matter what you want to create! By the time you complete this learning experience, you’ll be able to: Determine the appropriate prototyping approach for a specific project. Decide the critical project features required in order to create a functional prototype. Create a functional prototype in Unity. Integrate external assets and tools into your prototype. Refine a prototype environment using ProBuilder and Terrain. Test a basic experience prototype. About this learning experience This project is a standalone learning experience which uses content developed for the Creative Core pathway. You’ll find everything you need to get started with prototyping in Unity, but you may also notice references to the guided learning journey for that pathway. If you decide that you’d like to complete the whole Creative Core pathway, you can start at any time. You’ll receive credit for any tutorials that you have already completed when you do.

A user interface (UI) is what allows a user to interact – or interface – with an application. A UI often includes images, text, buttons, toggles, sliders, or dropdowns. In this mission, you will design your own title screen and functional settings menu. By the time you complete this learning experience, you will be able to: Decide on a user interface approach for a project. Create and configure visual UI components in a manner that will respond appropriately to different screen sizes and resolutions. Create and configure interactive UI components such as buttons, toggles, and sliders, in order to implement simple UI functionality. About this learning experience This project is a standalone learning experience which uses content developed for the Creative Core pathway. You’ll find everything you need to get started with UI in Unity, but you may also notice references to the guided learning journey for that pathway. If you decide that you’d like to complete the whole Creative Core pathway, you can start at any time. You’ll receive credit for any tutorials that you have already completed when you do.

Shaders and materials let you define how your 3D objects look: their colors, reflectivity, and physical texture. With shaders and materials, you can bring realism into your projects or express your own artistic style. In this mission, you will explore concepts of light and reflection, including common terms that many 3D artists use every day. You’ll apply these concepts to create your own materials and shaders that simulate real-world objects — and even some other-worldly objects. You’ll complete this mission by creating a still life composition in which you can demonstrate a variety of shaders and materials. By the time you complete this learning experience, you will be able to: Explain how surfaces in Unity are defined and rendered. Select a type of shader for your own project. Create materials for a common shader, using a wide variety of properties. Create your own simple shader using Shader Graph. About this learning experience This project is a standalone learning experience which uses content developed for the Creative Core pathway. You’ll find everything you need to get started with shaders and materials in Unity, but you may also notice references to the guided learning journey for that pathway. If you decide that you’d like to complete the whole Creative Core pathway, you can start at any time. You’ll receive credit for any tutorials that you have already completed when you do.