How to Create a 3D Prop for a Video Game

There was a time when 3D game development was out of reach for most independent game developers. Graphics programming involved a lot of complicated matrix math and a deep understanding of how graphics cards function.

Nowadays, with widely accessible 3D software and several robust game engines available, anyone can make a 3D game with some effort and practice.

Instead of learning how to mathematically transform points in three-dimensional space, or how to write an OpenGL shader from scratch, all you need to learn is how to create a 3D model and load it into an engine.

What is a 3D model?

At its heart, a 3D model is a file that contains a list of coordinate points. A coordinate point is called a vertex, the plural being “vertices”.

Each set of three vertices describes a triangle, or a flat face of the object. In most 3D software, two triangles are displayed together as one quad, but under the hood they are saved as triangles.

Building up all these points into a bunch of faces, you eventually have a 3D representation of a shape. There are many file types that encode this 3D information in different ways, but some of the most common 3D file types are OBJ, STL, and FBX.