F’25 Brings New Course on 3D Modeling, Animation & Game Dev for Everyone

Coming in Fall 2025 and running yearly, EECS 298 : 3D Technical Art and Animation is a new, open-to-everyone course teaching students how to create 3D characters, objects, environments, materials, armatures, animations, and more in Blender before bringing them to life in a game engine. Per the course syllabus, students will not only learn how to create these 3D art assets, but also learn how to integrate them into technical ecosystems such as the Unity game engine, achieving special effects and interactivity (dynamic hair, flowing lava, layered animations, particles, etc). No background in programming or art is assumed, and there are no prerequisite course requirements.

Students will conclude the course with a portfolio of 30+ low-poly models, along with a functional, shareable, 3D platforming video game (think Super Mario 3D World) featuring student-made (and student-integrated) playable characters, environments, NPCs, and objects. The course staff will provide some of the programming– students produce the 3D assets and game engine integration that brings everything together (and to life!).

Created by Austin Yarger in collaboration with Evan Marcus, the course will run once yearly (in fall semesters) with a capacity of approximately 50 students. The course will provide 4 credits of varying types depending on the department of the student (for example, CS students will earn FlexTech credit, while STAMPS students will earn elective credit). The course is designed to complement a growing suite of game development and XR courses on campus, including EECS 494 : Game Design and Development, EECS 440 : Extended Reality for Social Impact, EECS 498.007 : Game Engine Architecture, SI 311 : Games and UX, PAT 305 : Video Game Music, EDUC 333 : Games and Learning, etc. 

A full list of planned topics include–

3D content authoring, basic animation techniques, 3D topology, open source tools (Blender), basic computational geometry, 3D asset formats and representations, asset optimization, armature design, UV mapping and textures, basic materials and lighting / shader logic, asset-to-engine pipelines, 3D printing and photogrammetry, etc.