Unity3D Tutorial

Jeb Palveas and Jack Chang, July 2012.

● Introduction

○ These tutorials were designed to be a simple as possible to get you familiar with the unity development environment. For more advanced stuff check the resources that are provided or find your own. There are thousands!

○ Before doing these tutorials it is highly recommended that you watch the following video tutorials. They cover most of the stuff that will be covered below and are very easy to follow. After watching these videos the tutorials will become very simple and straightforward.

http://www.unity3dstudent.com/category/modules/essential-skills/

http://www.unity3dstudent.com/category/modules/beginner/

http://www.unity3dstudent.com/category/modules/intermediate/

● Tutorial 1: Unity Development Environment Basics

○ Goal: To orient yourself with the Unity’s development environment and understand the basic function/purpose of each window.

○ Additional Resources: http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/Manual/Learning%20the%20Interface.html

○ Panels:

■ Project Panel

● Contains the resources or assets of the project. Can include items such as: Unity project files, textures, scripts and meshes.

● It is basically the asset folder of your project.(If you look at both side by side they should match one to one.

■ Hierarchy Panel

● Displays a hierarchical list of game objects within the current scene.

■ Inspector Panel

● Displays the currently selected object’s/file’s components or properties.

● Contains a preview window for viewing textures or meshes.

● Can also view script code.

■ Game Panel

● Is a preview of your current scene. Can be run to see the project in action.

■ Scene Panel

● Displays the game objects placed within the current scene and corresponds to the hierarchy.

■ Provides GUI manipulation of objects within the scene.

(Tip) Try changing the persp. of scene panel and becoming familiar with QWER, Alt and Shift keyboard shortcuts

● Tutorial 2: The Initial Camera Game Object + A Cube

○ Goal: To understand the basic workflow in the development environment

○ Source: here is the source to the scene for this tutorial.

○ In order to be viewable every scene needs a camera. By default, Unity provides you with initial main camera object. It has its transform component, camera properties, as well as other components. It can be manipulated via the scene panel inspector or by scripts.

○ Exercise 2.1: Adding a cube to the scene and viewing it:

■ Add cube to the scene by clicking GameObject > Create Other > Cube Translate the cube to position (0,0,0) by the scene or inspector

■ Position the camera so the cube is visible. Change camera transform via Inspector ( Position, Rotation, Scale)

■ Preview the game and observe the cube

While this may be very trivial and can be done in less than 10 seconds it is important to note what happened. When adding the cube gameobject it showed not only the scene but the hierarchy tab as well. This is because the tab hierarchy lists all the game objects that make up your current scene. Additionally, notice that both the camera and cube gameobject come with a default transform component as well as various other components.

○ Important: Changes made while the play/preview mode is active will not save once it stops previewing. Make sure you are not previewing the scene when you want to save the modifications you are making.

● Tutorial 3 - Scripting Basics

○ Goal: To familiarize yourself with scripting fundamentals

○ Additional Resources:

Using Scripts

Getting a script to run without attaching it to a GameObject

○ Exercise 3.1: Hello World Script (here is the source to this scene)

■ Create a script Assets > Create > JavaScript

■ Name the script “HelloWorld”.

■ Click the script and in the inspector panel type the following code into the start and update function

var counter : int;

function Start ()

{

Debug.Log("Hello World.");

counter = 0;

}

function Update ()

{

counter ++;

Debug.Log(counter);

}

■ Create an empty gameobject GameObject > Create Empty

■ Drag the script to the empty gameobject in the hierarchy to add it as a component

■ Run and view the results

○ Exercise 3.2: Reusable Scripts (here is the source to this scene)

■ Add cube to the scene by clicking GameObject > Create Other > Cube

■ Position the cube so it is viewable with the camera

■ Create a script Assets > Create > JavaScript

■ Name the script “Mover”.

■ Insert the following code into the start and update function

var MAX_X : int = 5;

var MIN_X : int = -5;

var X_Increment : float = 0.1;

var Dir_Right : boolean = true;

function Start ()

{

Debug.Log("Mover Starts");

}

function Update ()

{

if(Dir_Right)

transform.position.x += X_Increment;

else

transform.position.x -= X_Increment;

if(transform.position.x >= MAX_X)

Dir_Right = false;

else if(transform.position.x <= MIN_X)

Dir_Right = true;

}

■ Assign the script to the cube and the camera by dragging it to the objects within the hierarchy

■ Run and view the results

○ Exercise 3.2(Script Version): Reusable Scripts (Source to this scene)

■ Create a script Assets > Create > JavaScript

■ Name the script “CreateCube”.

■ Insert the following code

function Start ()

{

Debug.Log("Create Cube Starts");

var cube = GameObject.CreatePrimitive(PrimitiveType.Cube);

cube.transform.position = Vector3 (0, 0, 0);

cube.AddComponent("Mover");

//for the camera

Camera.main.gameObject.AddComponent("Mover");

Debug.Log("Added the Mover script to the camera");

}

■ Assign the script to the camera by dragging it to the object

■ Create a script Assets > Create > JavaScript

■ Name the script “Mover”.

■ Insert the following code

var MAX_X : int = 5;

var MIN_X : int = -5;

var X_Increment : float = 0.1;

var Dir_Right : boolean = true;

function Start ()

{

Debug.Log("Mover Starts");

}

function Update ()

{

if(Dir_Right)

transform.position.x += X_Increment;

else

transform.position.x -= X_Increment;

if(transform.position.x >= MAX_X)

Dir_Right = false;

else if(transform.position.x <= MIN_X)

Dir_Right = true;

}

■ Run and view the results

● Tutorial 4: Occluder and Collision Basics

○ Goal: Learn how to add and manipulate components

○ Exercise 4.1: Simple components (source to this scene)

■ Create a floor by adding a plane object to the scene and naming it “Floor” GameObject > Create Other > Plane

■ Create a cube above the floor object and rotate the cube slightly(make sure it is viewable via the camera) and name it “GravityCube” GameObject > Create Other > Cube

■ Add a light to the scene GameObject > Create Other > Point Light

■ Add a gravity component to the cube by selecting the gravity cube and Component > Physics > Rigidbody

■ Extra: Change the Material type of the box collider by importing the Physics Materials package under assets

■ Create and add a script to the cube that changes its color on a collision event

var theColor : Color;

var theOtherColor : Color;

function Start(){

theColor.r = 0;

theColor.g = 10;

theColor.b = 10;

theOtherColor.r = 10;

theOtherColor.g = 0;

theOtherColor.b = 10;

}

function OnCollisionEnter(){

Debug.Log("Collided!");

if(renderer.material.color == theColor)

renderer.material.color = theOtherColor;

else

renderer.material.color = theColor;

}

■ Run and view the results

○ Exercise 4.1(ScriptVersion): (source to this scene)

■ Do the following by adding the script below to the default camera.

● Creates a floor

● Creates cubes above the floor object and rotate the cube slightly

● Adds a gravity component to the cubes and gives them some bounciness

function Start ()

{

var floor = GameObject.CreatePrimitive(PrimitiveType.Plane);

floor.transform.position = Vector3(0,-1,10);

floor.transform.localScale =Vector3(10,1,10);;

var cube1 = GameObject.CreatePrimitive(PrimitiveType.Cube);

cube1.transform.position = Vector3(0,10,10);

cube1.transform.rotation = Quaternion.Euler(10,0,10);

cube1.AddComponent("CollisionColor");

cube1.AddComponent("Rigidbody");

cube1.collider.material.bounciness = 1.5;

var cube2 = GameObject.CreatePrimitive(PrimitiveType.Cube);

cube2.transform.position = Vector3(2,10,10);

cube2.AddComponent("CollisionColor");

cube2.AddComponent("Rigidbody");

cube2.collider.material.bounciness = 0;

}

■ Create and add a script to the cube that changes its color on a collision event

var theColor : Color;

var theOtherColor : Color;

function Start(){

theColor.r = 0;

theColor.g = 10;

theColor.b = 10;

theOtherColor.r = 10;

theOtherColor.g = 0;

theOtherColor.b = 10;

}

function OnCollisionEnter(){

Debug.Log("Collided!");

if(renderer.material.color == theColor)

renderer.material.color = theOtherColor;

else

renderer.material.color = theColor;

}

■ Run and view the results

● Tutorial 5: Prefabs

○ References:

■ http://www.unity3dstudent.com/2010/07/beginner-b03-prefabs/

■ http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/Prefabs.html

■ http://cgcookie.com/unity/2011/12/27/introduction-to-prefabs/

○ Goal: To understand and be able to utilize prefabs

○ Exercise 1: Create a simple prefab (source to this scene)

■ Create a floor by adding a plane object to the scene

■ Create a prefab by Assets > Create > Prefab

● Name it CollisionCube

● Add a cube to the prefab by selecting the prefab and creating a cube

● Add a gravity component to the prefab

● Create and add a script to the prefab that changes its color on a collision event

■ Create several CollisionCubes above the floor object and rotate the cube slightly(make sure it is viewable via the camera)

■ Make sure to assign the prefab to the variables in the Create Environment script

■ Run and view the results

● Tutorial 6: Cameras

○ Goal: To understand and be able to utilize multiple cameras by switching between cameras and attaching cameras to objects

○ Tutorials/References:

■ http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/Cameras.html

■ http://www.unity3dstudent.com/2010/07/essentials-e09-cameras/

■ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr7t9TyM3A0&feature=player_embedded

● Tutorial 7: Lights

○ Goal: To understand and be able to utilize multiple lights within unity (point/directional/spotlight)

○ References:

■ http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/Lights.html

■ http://www.unity3dstudent.com/2010/07/essentials-e08-lights/

● Tutorial 8: Particles

○ Goal: To understand how unity uses/handles particles

○ References:

■ http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/ParticleSystems.html

■ http://www.unity3dstudent.com/2010/10/beginner-b23-particle-systems/

■ http://cgcookie.com/unity/2012/02/13/unity-particles-getting-started-with-particles/

● Tutorial 9: Menus/HUD

○ Goal: To understand and be able to utilize unity’s GUI textures

○ Tutorials/References:

■ http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Components/GUIScriptingGuide.html

■ http://www.unity3dstudent.com/2010/07/beginner-b16-switching-scenes/

■ http://www.unity3dstudent.com/2010/10/beginner-b25-gui-texture-and-mouse-events/

● Tutorial 10: Meshes/Models/Animation

○ Goal: To understand and be able to utilize models/animation within unity

○ Process: There are many ways to model and animate characters for games but it essentially boils down into 3 parts.

i Modeling the Character: Modeling the character involves the creation of the characters mesh and textures. This is generally achieved with modeling software such as Blender or Maya

ii Rigging the Model: Rigging the model is the process of giving the character a skeleton or armature which allows us to control the characters mesh. This can be done in blender or other software.

iii Animating the Model: Animating the model involves applying the animation to the characters skeleton. This can be achieved via keyframe animation or using pre-made .bvh animation files. Keyframe and binding .bvh animation can be done in Blender or other software such as MotionBuilder or WebAnimate.

○ Free Assets:

■ http://www.blendswap.com/ - Good source for many types of assets

■ http://mocap.cs.cmu.edu/ - tons of .bvh animation files that need to be bound to a model

○ Blender - Modeling/Rigging/Animation

■ http://www.blender.org/

■ Getting Started

■ http://cgcookie.com/blender/category/getting-started/

■ Tutorials - Modeling and Rigging http://cgcookie.com/blender/2010/05/13/game-enginecharacter-part-1/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0JgoVx30eM&feature=related

○ MotionBuilder - Animation/Binding (nearly all of AutoDesk’s software is free for students including Maya and 3DSMax)

■ www.motionbuilder.com/

■ Tutorials - Binding .bvh files to your Model