CUBICITY: Creating and Utilizing Asset Libraries with Blender

Instructor:
Kent Trammell

Learn to create, manage and leverage the libraries with Blender's Asset Browser.

One of Blender’s latest features is the Asset Browser which is a welcomed interface for organizing, navigating, and utilizing libraries of models, materials, node trees, poses and more. In other words: 3D assets that can be easily reused, easily shared between scene files, and easily updated if needed.

Asset libraries are extremely important for larger-scale projects and animation pipelines.

3 main stages of Asset Library workflow

  1. The Creation of cute city assets
  2. The Assetization of those assets so that they're accessible in the Asset Browser
  3. The Assembly of those assets into a final, adorable little city

Chapter 1

Something for every skill level

We’ll begin with simple standalone assets like a light post and a bench and even simple vehicles. These are the kinds of things you can build on your first day learning Blender.

Chapter 2

Getting Modular

We’ll design buildings within a grid layout and street sections that snap together geometrically for a seemless fit within the material. Additionally, we’ll use procedural textures to keep our materials to a minimum. In fact we won’t be using a single image texture throughout this project.

Chapter 3

Advanced techniques that go the extra step

We’ll dive into automated material randomization, which is very important when reusing assets and materials frequently. Finally, we will utilize vertex colors to control several conditions within our materials like randomizing colors and illuminating windows. There really is something for everyone in this course!

Course Review:

"An absolute Workflow MONSTER"

One more thing...something really special

Submit your work to help grow and create a community asset library!

Active CG Cookie members will be invited to:

  • Apply what they learn by creating a handful of city assets that fit this style.
  • Then submit them to be reviewed.
  • If they pass inspection, they will be included in the official CUBICITY library!
  • Over the coming months and years, I hope to see this thing grow by the dozens or even hundreds of assets.

Likewise, the city assembly file will grow and evolve over time. New city blocks and neighborhoods added...maybe a pier with ferris wheel and food trucks…maybe a snow-covered neighborhood for the holidays...how cool will that be?? Something we can all be proud of together!

Ready to build your own mini metropolis?

Start Course

Get this course and 264 others by joining CG Cookie

Awarded upon completion:
100xp +
Course Curriculum
1 Review
  • Martin Aversa(cgtin) ·

    A m a z i n g !

    This was my first course on CGCookie, I've been learning Blender on my own for a few months, mainly on youtube, so I was comfortable enough to move inside the soft and to use some of the tools that we see here, and it was so so so valuable to me, my growth-over-time ratio increased by a lot (tho I would not recommend this course if you have never used Blender because it is going to be a bit hard to follow).

    One of the things I loved about the course is that Kent explains very thoroughly what we are doing, how it works, and why we do it. From the technical side of the program to the practical side of the real world and what we want to emulate. Going from modelling, to shading, and even geometry nodes. It sounds scary but it is 100% possible going step by step with the course.

    Overall it is a fun project, a very enjoyable process, and a very nice final result to brag about with friends :)

    10/10 would watch again sometime to consolidate the knowledge
    Hope you all enjoy it
    Cheers!