Making 3D pixel art using picoCAD

This week we’re going 3D and taking a look at picoCAD, a software for creating low-poly pixel art! In this video I cover some basics of using picoCAD and share my first two creations!

#picoCAD

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0:00 Introduction
0:41 Creating the Pixel Art Texture
1:58 Modelling the Mesh
3:01 Importing and Mapping the Texture
4:02 Finishing Touches and Export
5:00 Creating a Sphere
7:51 Outroduction
8:08 VID OVER

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Check out my art here:

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Software used: Aseprite (for pixel art creation), picoCAD (for modelling)
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Title sequence theme music by Failpositive:

Chiptune music by mcguy215/Concrete Castles:

Other music featured throughout this video was obtained from the Youtube Audio Library.

[ncrtrooper]

For anyone asking: you can also export it as a sprite/object for Unity/Blender.

[Aquahands]

This is actually pretty cool can't wait to see other projects with this.

[BHDBdingo]

Not sure if this was planned to be a single video where you use PicoCAD, but I’d love to see you do a character in this program.

[LuxurioMusic]

Oh wow! I've only seen little tiny demos on twitter of these, but seeing the whole process makes it feel really intuitive.

[rubiksstudios]

I love low poly 3d object art, it's great that so many people are working on free programs for the public that even though simple can achieve so much more if pushed to their limits

[CKTDanny]

What the heck, that's so cool!!! PicoCAD looks like an absolute gem, I love every bit about its philosophy. The whole interface just seems so playful; yet it has many of the tools and conventions you'd find in a familiar workspace like Blender for simple 3D modelling and UV mapping! 🤩

That was a really fun vid, I enjoyed the change in pace while keeping things square 😁 Seeing your techniques has got me wondering too, have you dabbled into 3D stuff at some point?

[trunkit]

The pokéball reminds me of ds assets, where the textures are pixelated.

[Zeldakostv]

this is actually one of the coolest programs ive ever seen. No longer need to understand complex 3D modeling softwares for simple assets. Can you piece together multiple shapes though?

[ResoluteGryphon]

I recently came across an image of a 3D spaceship with a low-res texture. I thought it looked really cool. Made me want to use that pixelated and simple 3D style for a game. This tool looks really fun to try out that style.

[craftminerCZ]

That's a really cute piece of software, I really like the limitations it has built in to play around

[TempestKrimps]

man i'm an absolute sucker for pixel art programs that actually have a pixelated ui. first aseprite and now picocad? this looks amazing

[HKJeffer]

The soda machine render gives a lot of good old NDS game vibes.

[kinoko]

Oh this is great! It seems like a really cool way to learn the basics of 3D modeling with such a simple interface and whatnot. I’d love to see more in picocad :)

[loopering]

I have never been interested in game design, but then this video got recommended to me and I started to really like it.

[mdisdqd]

I love to see specialized programs like this. Not just for art, but absolutely anything. The GUI is fantastic as well

[kafkaffis]

I love everything about interface and tools.
So comfy and tightly packed.

[unclefelix]

thank you very much for this!! i was really having a hard time finding any good tutorials on how to use this and you explained it perfectly

[paypercutts]

I'm very glad you made this video Brandon. I've been wanting to see alot more of this kind of art with picoCAD

[ottogaijin]

WOW! It is a pleasure to see the video about picoCAD on your channel! Thank you so much for your content!

[anmeldungscrack]

Thank you so much for this!
I did some light programming in Pico-8 years ago so I already knew about that, but I had no idea Pico-CAD existed.

I always wanted to create these low poly models and this will finally push me over the edge. What a great little program.

Also, the video is sublime as usual and has the exact right amount of depth. Keep up the good work! :)