Introducing Amazon Sumerian by Tutorials!

May 14 2020

Create unique 3D, AR and VR experiences with our new book, Amazon Sumerian by Tutorials! By Tiffani Randolph.

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Introducing Amazon Sumerian by Tutorials!

15 mins

Creating interactive 3D, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences used to mean that you needed a team of programmers, special expertise and a lot of time.

But now, thanks to Amazon’s new Sumerian engine, all you need is a great idea to get you started!

From developing an online check-in system complete with a digital concierge to creating a virtual museum tour guide, Sumerian provides you the tools to make it yourself in a way that is both accessible and user-friendly.

And that’s why we wrote Amazon Sumerian by Tutorials — as a free resource to help anybody who wants to bring these types of unique experiences to life.

Keep reading to learn more about Amazon Sumerian and how to get your free copy of Amazon Sumerian by Tutorials.

What is Sumerian?

Amazon Sumerian is a browser-based platform that makes it easy to create engaging 3D, augmented reality and virtual reality experiences for your business. No programming experience required!

Sumerian is easy-to-use, even if you are non-technical, and has everything you need to create compelling experiences for your customers or clients.

Here are the top 5 reasons why Sumerian is so great:

  • For all skill levels: Whether you are non-technical, a web or mobile developer, or have years of 3D development experience, getting started with creating 3D, AR and VR experiences is easy with Sumerian.
  • Ready-to-use templates and assets: The Sumerian editor provides ready-to-use scene templates and intuitive drag-and-drop tools to easily build interactive scenes.
  • Integrates with other AWS services: Get easy access to machine learning, chatbots, code execution and more to customize and personalize user interactions.
  • Nothing to download or install: All you need is a modern web browser to access Sumerian. You don’t need any special setup to get started.
  • Platform-agnostic: Build once with Sumerian’s browser-based platform, and your experiences will run on Android & iOS mobile devices, as well as on all popular AR/VR headsets including Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, and the HTC Vive.

Here’s our recommendation:

  • If you want to create a new tool to help your business, you may want to consider using Amazon Sumerian, as its flexible engine lets you to easily create 3D, AR and VR experiences for a variety of applications. It’s easy to learn and doesn’t have the steep learning curves and required programming experience that other 3D engines do.
  • If you want to make a complex game or experience and know a modern programming language, you may want to consider using Amazon Lumberyard, Unity or Unreal. These are designed for professional game developers, so they offer a lot more customization and advanced options.
Amazon Sumerian vs. Unreal, Unity, and Amazon Lumberyard: Wondering whether you should use Sumerian over a more traditional game engine?

What Is Amazon Sumerian by Tutorials?

Amazon Sumerian by Tutorials will teach you everything you need to know from the ground up to create compelling 3D experiences. All you need is some free time and a modern web browser to start creating engaging experiences!

In Amazon Sumerian by Tutorials, you’ll learn how to build four experiences:

  1. Creating an Escape Room
  2. Building an Education Experience
  3. Creating an Augmented Reality Experience
  4. Creating a Virtual Travel Agent

Here’s what’s waiting for you in the book:

Section I: Creating an Escape Room

Learn the different systems of Amazon Sumerian through creating an escape room! By the end of this section, you’ll be creating dynamic scenes and converting them to virtual reality with ease using Sumerian’s visual scripting language.

Here’s what you’ll cover while creating your escape room:

  • Chapter 1: Getting Started with Amazon Sumerian: Every journey starts with a first step. In this case, that means creating an AWS account and setting up a IAM user account.
  • Chapter 2: Building an Escape Room: This chapter introduces you to the 3D objects that you’ll use to construct your escape room.
  • Chapter 3: Entities & Materials: This chapter introduces you to entities and how to use materials to give them some color.
  • Chapter 4: Adding Interactivity With Behaviors: Scenes are best when they are interactive. The chapter shows you how to use behaviors to make your scene dynamic.
  • Chapter 5: Creating Branching Logic with Attributes: This chapter shows you how to create logical behaviors that change based on user input.
  • Chapter 6: Physics: Here, you’ll get an overview of the Sumerian physics engine, from adding gravity to a scene to throwing objects on command.
  • Chapter 7: Virtual Reality: Sumerian comes with built-in virtual reality tools. This chapter walks you through the process of turning your escape room into a virtual reality experience.
  • Chapter 8: Post Effects & Publishing a Scene: Once you’ve completed your scene, you’ll add effects to make it pop. You’ll also learn how to optimize your scene and publish it.

Section II: Building an Educational Experience

Now that you are comfortable with using Sumerian’s visual scripting language, you can move onto Sumerian’s API, and learn how to leverage the API to add features not included with the engine.

In this section, you’ll create a quick-start, product walkthrough of a bread-making machine that combines video and audio in an interactive tour.

In Section II, you’ll explore the following topics:

  • Chapter 9: Custom Models & Sounds: In this chapter, you’ll provide your own models to create a scene, and you’ll incorporate sound into your experience to narrate the demo.
  • Chapter 10: Lights, Camera, Action: This chapter provides an overview of the camera and lighting system. You’ll learn how to use cameras and lighting to direct a user’s focus.
  • Chapter 11: Introduction to JavaScript: Being successful with Sumerian means knowing JavaScript. You’ll learn JavaScript basics in this chapter while working in the context of Sumerian.
  • Chapter 12: The Sumerian API: The Sumerian API lets you take your experiences to the next level. This chapter will help you get started with the API by introducing you to its core concepts.
  • Chapter 13: Animation & Particle Systems: You’ll learn how to create smooth transitions, animate models and use the timeline editor. You’ll also use the particle system to add some steam to your bread.
  • Chapter 14: Incorporating Web Content: This chapter shows you how to embed YouTube videos into your scene. You’ll also learn how to provide dynamic information in a scene by using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.