Create Your First 3D Title

Prerequisites and Installation Order

Text Studio 3D requires Unity 2023.2 or newer, Text Studio 1.3.0 (always install matching Text Studio and Text Studio 3D versions), Unity UI 2.0.0 or newer (including TextMeshPro), Mathematics 1.3.2 or newer, and Burst 1.8.26 or newer. Install Text Studio first, verify a normal animated text object, then install Text Studio 3D and allow Unity to compile before importing optional integrations.

• Confirm Tools > Text Studio contains 3D Gallery and Runtime Preparation, and Tools > Text Studio > 3D contains Render Studio, Project Theme, Build Preparation (which opens Runtime Preparation), Advanced Geometry Preparation, and Authoring Glossary. The style and Material Set browsers, Style Compare, and Live 3D Preview open from the Text Studio 3D inspector.
• Create one default Text Studio 3D object and confirm that readable geometry appears without assigning a custom style or technical Font3D asset.
• Keep Font Source set to Text Object unless the object should explicitly inherit typography from a 3D Theme.
• Check the active render pipeline material family before changing geometry settings, then open Runtime Preparation before choosing a runtime font policy.

First-install checkpoint: a default object should show readable extruded text, one enabled layer, valid materials, a working perspective preview, and no Runtime Preparation blocker for the intended runtime policy.

Update an Existing Project

Update Text Studio and Text Studio 3D together. After updating to 1.3.0, open Tools > Text Studio > Runtime Preparation and run Prepare again: geometry prepared by earlier versions is reported as stale and is not used by Prepared only players until it is prepared again.

Custom contour assets from earlier versions keep working. To store one in the current format, save it, open its Storage section, and choose Upgrade Contour Storage; the command first writes a verified recovery copy outside the Assets folder (Results/TextStudioContourMigration in the project folder by default). Export Recovery Copy saves a copy without changing the asset.

Contour tubes and repeats saved before 1.3.0 keep their previous outline and centered marquee placement, and the inspector says so until you choose a Path Source or press Use Explicit Perimeter. With Automatic Quality on, earlier viewport-band settings appear under Advanced Quality > Previous Quality Settings for reference only; set an error budget to reduce detail again (see Quality, LOD, and Topology Effects).

Add 3D to an Existing Text Studio Object

Select a compatible world-space text object and use its setup card to add Text Studio 3D. The component follows Text Studio content, typography, reveal, effects, and placement, then generates dimensional geometry. When the optional UniText integration is active, shaped world-space text can use the same path without requiring a TextMeshPro component.

Step 1: Open the 3D Gallery

Choose Tools > Text Studio > 3D Gallery. Select a real rendered style preview, inspect its layers and requirements, then create a new title or apply the style to the selected Text Studio object. Use Style Compare when two candidates need a fair side-by-side judgment.

Step 2: Enter the Text in Text Studio

The base Text Studio component remains the source of truth for content, typewriter timing, placement, and effects. The 3D inspector controls only geometry, materials, output, and 3D-specific behavior. A world-space TextMeshPro setup card can add Text Studio and Text Studio 3D in one step while preserving existing text. When UniText World and the optional integration are installed, Text Studio selects that backend automatically and drives the same extruded workflow without requiring a TextMeshPro component.

Step 3: Follow the Persistent Workflow

The inspector keeps Setup Status, 3D Style, Mesh Detail, Live 3D Preview, Depth Extrusion Sweep, Mesh Output, Performance, Physical Letters, Glyph Sockets, 3D Modules, Runtime Statistics, Runtime Preparation, and Static Output in persistent foldouts. Open only the section needed for the current decision; every setting remains reachable without switching inspector modes.

Runtime Preparation explains whether the current font, output, style, and module stack can satisfy Generate if missing or Prepared only. Read it before treating a successful Edit Mode preview as proof that the same glyphs can be generated in a player.

Step 4: Preview Before Entering Play Mode

Open Live 3D Preview. Use front, perspective, side, and back views, orbit and pan, studio lighting, wireframe, material regions, normals, sockets, contour direction, and bounds to understand the result. Then use the base Text Studio preview to judge reveal, Active motion, Hide, spatial fields, and reduced-motion behavior on the same geometry.

Success checkpoint: you should have readable 3D text, a chosen style, a perspective preview, and a Runtime Preparation result that matches the runtime policy you intend to ship.

The current inspector keeps geometry, output, modules, runtime statistics, build preparation, and static output in one persistent workflow.