Module 7: Creating a Full App Screen

It's time to think bigger! We'll now combine all your skills to move beyond single components and build a complete, visually appealing 3D app screen mockup.

Inspiration: Composing 3D Scenes

This video shows the creative process of combining simple shapes and colors into a vibrant 3D illustration. We will use this same mindset of composition and layout for our app screen.

Project: Build a 3D Weather App UI 🌤️

In this project, we'll create a stylized weather app interface.

Step 1: Set Up the Phone Screen Canvas

  1. Start a new Blender file. In Output Properties (printer icon), set the Resolution to 1080 px for X and 1920 px for Y to get a portrait aspect ratio.
  2. Add a Cube (Shift + A). Scale it so it roughly fills the camera's new portrait view. Make it thin on the Y-axis.
  3. Add a Bevel modifier to this cube. Increase the Segments and adjust the Amount to give it nicely rounded corners. This is your app's background.

Step 2: Model the UI Icons

Let's create the visual elements: a sun and a cloud.

  1. The Sun: Add a UV Sphere (Shift + A → Mesh → UV Sphere). Right-click and Shade Smooth.
  2. The Cloud: Add a UV Sphere and scale it down. Duplicate it (Shift + D) several times. Overlap the spheres to create a fluffy cloud shape. Select all the spheres and join them into one object with Ctrl + J.

Step 3: Composition and Layout

Arrange your elements on the screen. Press Numpad 0 to look through your camera and use "Camera to View" to easily frame your scene.

  1. Position the sun icon in the upper-middle of the screen. Make it the largest, most prominent element.
  2. Place the cloud slightly overlapping the sun.
  3. Add simple cubes (Shift + A → Mesh → Cube) and scale them into thin rectangles to act as placeholders for text (e.g., for the temperature and city name).
  4. Add another rounded rectangle (duplicate your background and scale it down) to serve as a card or panel at the bottom of the screen.

Step 4: Materials and Lighting

Bring the scene to life with color and light.

  1. Apply materials: Give the background a nice dark blue. Make the sun's material a bright yellow. For an extra touch, increase its Emission value in the material settings to make it glow. Make the cloud white.
  2. Set up the three-point lighting system you learned in Module 5 to light the entire scene.
  3. Finally, press F12 to render your complete app screen. Great job!
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