HISTORICAL / PROJECT COURSE
APU
Build the Matrix-inspired machine from first shape through rigging and animation. A substantial end-to-end course, with additional Sentinel, effects and pilot material.
Ask Cris to borrow the set ↗A place to make things again · Est. 2001
What are
you making?
From your first 3D model to a stubborn Unreal Engine scene: find a useful next step, put the video beside your workstation, and get on with making the thing.
HARD SURFACE✳ENVIRONMENTS✳LIGHTING✳WATER✳GAME DEVELOPMENT
01 / THE WORKSHOP
Pick up a tool.
Start somewhere.
Free lessons, practical experiments and the odd spectacular wrong turn. Current Unreal Engine 5 material is marked clearly; older teaching carries its date.
Explore all 622 video lessons, courses and subtopics →
New to all of this? Excellent. Nobody starts out knowing what half the buttons do. Pick one small thing and try it. If it breaks, that is usually where the interesting bit begins.
02 / CURRENT WORK
The Outer
Islands.
A living game development journal from Cris Robson. Watch scenes, systems and puzzles take shape in Unreal Engine 5, including decisions that did not work the first time.
A new, complete Outer Islands tutorial set is being made for this Workshop. The existing videos here are real published work; they are not being passed off as that new set.
NOW PLAYING / THE OUTER ISLANDS — GAMEPLAY TRAILER
03 / THE ARCHIVE
Twenty years
in the making.
3D Palace began when learning from a video on the internet still felt slightly ridiculous. Some lessons are old. The patient, project-long way of teaching remains useful.
PUBLIC YOUTUBE PREVIEW / COMPLETE SET BY LIBRARY CARD
Stormbringer
A Serenity-inspired ship build and a memorable run of learner follow-alongs. Request the full set through the Palace Library; Cris checks each request before lending.
Ask Cris to borrow the set ↗The library is reopening carefully. Requests are free; Cris reviews each one and sends access when a complete set is ready. The old forum stays private until individual public posts and names can be checked. No old accounts or mailing list are being revived.
04 / A LITTLE HISTORY
Useful lessons.
Occasional chaos.
I'm Cris Robson. I started 3D Palace in 2001 because learning 3D should not depend on buying a stack of expensive manuals. We made long, ambitious tutorials, shared what worked, and sometimes learned from things that went gloriously sideways.
That spirit is still here. Beginners get encouragement. Critique should be constructive and something you asked for. Rudeness toward other people has no place in the Workshop.
Ask, share work, or send a correction ↗05 / WORK WITH CRIS
Need a guide
on the project?
The archive and public lessons are free. I also teach and consult on current Unreal Engine 5 work: hard surface assets, environments, lighting and water systems. One-to-one mentoring, team training and project consultancy are available.
Tell me what you are making ↗