Create A Stylized 3D Fishbowl –Modeling, Shading & Rendering

Learn to model, texture, and render a fishbowl from scratch using professional 3D techniques with Autodesk Maya.

What you'll learn

Model a stylized fishbowl

Apply textures and materials effectively

Use shading to enhance realism or style

Set up a basic 3D scene with lighting

Render with a focus on clean presentation

Source and prepare stock assets

Requirements

Basic knowledge of 3D modeling software

Installed version of Maya (2022 or newer)

Optional: free Adobe Stock Account / free model sources for fishbowl & fish model

A computer capable of rendering 3D scenes with Arnold renderer

Description

In this hands-on 3D tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a fully textured and shaded fishbowl scene from scratch. The course walks you step by step through the entire creative process, from sourcing and preparing 3D models to applying materials and setting up lighting for a polished final render. Whether you're using Blender, Maya, or any comparable 3D software, the techniques shown are adaptable and grounded in industry-standard workflows.We’ll begin by selecting or downloading freely available stock assets and importing them into the scene. You’ll learn how to adjust and clean up geometry, model missing elements like water, and set up a simple base. Next, we’ll unwrap UVs and apply textures in a clean, efficient way. You'll explore shading basics and learn how to give your objects surface detail and realism (or stylization, depending on your goal). Finally, we’ll light and render the scene for presentation.This course is ideal for aspiring 3D artists, designers, students, and hobbyists who want to strengthen their understanding of asset integration, shading logic, and creative scene-building. Basic familiarity with your chosen 3D software is recommended but not required.By the end of this course, you’ll have created a stylized 3D fishbowl scene that’s portfolio-ready and demonstrates your skills in modeling, shading, and visual storytelling.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Introduction

Lecture 2 Scene Setup & Import

Lecture 3 Water

Lecture 4 First Renders

Lecture 5 Intermediate Results

Lecture 6 Ground

Lecture 7 Water Plants

Lecture 8 Texture your Plants

Lecture 9 Fish shader & transparency

Lecture 10 ground plane

Lecture 11 bubbles

Lecture 12 shading adjustments

Lecture 13 castle - modeling basics

Lecture 14 castle

Lecture 15 texture castle

Lecture 16 camera angle

Beginner to intermediate 3D artists .,Anyone interested in building stylized props,Hobbyists and students of digital art,Users familiar with Maya, or similar tools