ProBuilder Tutorial: Rapid Prototyping in Unity

Export — Import

Moving on, it’s time to learn how to export and import objects created using ProBuilder. To begin, you can create in-depth detailed objects in separate scenes, and then, when you’re satisfied, you can import them into a working main scene.

Go to 2_ExportImport in the Scenes folder. Open it. Select Level Geometry in the Hierarchy and press F to center the view on it. Take a look at that! Isn’t it awesome?

But what if your team leader asked you to put it in the main scene (1_BlockOut)? With ProBuilder, it’s easy! Go to Tool ▸ ProBuilder ▸ ProBuilder Window and open the GUI, if it’s not open already.

In the Hierarchy, go to Level Geometry ▸ Reference Plane ▸ Altar and select it. In the GUI, there’s an Export button. Click it.

This will export your object as an .obj file, along with all its children. Find a good place to store it in your project folder.

Lastly, reopen the BlockOut scene. You can bring your altar back by dragging and dropping it to the Models folder as you would any other obj. It’s that easy!

From there, drag and drop it in your scene and place it wherever you like.

Useful List of Shortcuts

Now that you’ve mastered the above, here’s a short list — that is not by any means thorough — with the most frequently used hotkeys.

All Selection Modes

• G to go back to object selection and return to the last state.
• H will toggle select mode (Unity also uses H to hide objects from view, but you can rebind it).

Edge

• Alt-B to bridge edges
• Alt-U to insert an Edge loop
• Alt-R for ring selection
• Alt-L for loop selection
• Shift-Control-I to invert selection
• Shift-movement to extrude an edge or a face
• Alt-S to divide the selected edge

Face

• Control-E to extrude
• Backspace to delete a face
• Shift to add more faces to your selection

Vertex

• Alt-C to collapse a vertex
• Alt-X to separate a vertex into two

Where to Go From Here?

Download the completed project files by clicking the Download Materials button at the top or bottom of the tutorial.

Congratulations, you made it. If you want to keep learning, go check out the Unity ProBuilder Manual.

If you want an extra challenge, do you see the tall building on fire?

That’s how you can prototype a proper protofire. Test your skills. Create a ladder to save everyone in the building. The idea is that you can tweak the values until the ladder reaches the window.

Creating games is an art. To hone your skills, look for books about level design, level art and game design.

In any case, practice, practice, practice until you feel rapid prototyping is second nature to you and you remember most of the commands.

Go ahead and copy levels from your favorite games or real landscapes. The possibilities are endless.

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any questions or comments, please join the forum discussion below!