We are thrilled to be launching the public beta of Mattercraft, a brand new creative tool for building rich 3D experiences for the web, including AR, VR and WebXR. Mattercraft is the culmination of our 12+ years of experience creating best-in-class tooling for AR/VR/MR and is a fully integrated, browser-based 3D content development environment designed from the ground up for building interactive experiences for the web.
Mattercraft takes the best of the web development ecosystem, including support for the huge NPM JavaScript package library, and adds a delightful, powerful, yet easy-to-learn 3D experience editor. It’s packed with everything you need to build the next generation of content for your users.
The current feature set includes:
- Instant Live Preview
- 3D Support including dynamic lighting and shadows
- Animated models, including skeleton animation, blend shapes and morph targets
- Timeline and Animations, including fully custom interpolations supported with a curve editor
- Seamless Scripting
- JavaScript Libraries from the NPM package repository
- Code-free Interactivity
- 3D Text
- WebXR support for headsets, including Meta Quest and Zapbox
- Light... and Dark Mode
Check out our beta launch demo below:
Who is Mattercraft for?
With Mattercraft we’ve tried to combine the best bits of front-end web development, 3D games engines like Unity as well our own AR-first content creation tools. So, you’ll feel right at home if you’re a web or games developer or indeed an existing user of our own Zapworks Studio tool.
For Web Developers
Mattercraft is a powerful tool for web developers creating WebXR and AR experiences. With its package manager you can effortlessly install, update and manage code dependencies as well as collaborating with multiple developers to maintain productivity while synchronizing the latest project file. With Mattercraft, you can also leverage the exposed CSS to speed up your workflow and make global changes to multiple elements across your content. On top of this, Live Preview makes it even easier to preview and debug your projects in the browser, or on your mobile device in realtime as you make changes, enabling faster content creation and deployment.
For Unity Developers
Mattercraft is also an excellent alternative to Unity for creating a diverse range of 3D experiences for the web, including AR/VR/MR and WebXR. Unlike Unity’s WebGL build output, experiences built with Mattercraft are fundamentally web-based, this means the full speed and memory of the web browser is available for your content to use. Mattercraft’s JavaScript runtime is also a fraction of the size of Unity’s WebGL build target, meaning users get straight into your experience with minimal waiting around on loading screens. Mattercraft also leverages the web’s best 3D rendering engines, making it possible to build beautiful 3D environments as well as spec-accurate support for the GLTF model format.
Existing Zapworks Studio Users
For existing Zapworks Studio users we’ve built upon and evolved some of Studio’s best features and functionalities to give you even more flexibility and control over the content you create. Mattercraft uses the latest version of TypeScript which is the same JavaScript based language as Studio providing type-safety and accurate auto-complete for seamless interactivity. You can access Mattercraft within your browser, eliminating the need for download or installations. Real-time collaboration has also been introduced enabling multiple contributors to work on the same project simultaneously with automatic syncing of changes Additionally streamline your workflows with live preview allowing you to view your project within another tab in real time which automatically updates as you make changes.
The Mattercraft beta
As of now, Mattercraft is in a “closed beta” phase, and we are excited to invite you to join us on this new journey. The functionality Mattercraft offers is in line with Zapworks Studio, so if you’re familiar with Studio, then you should feel at home in Mattercraft. That being said, with Mattercraft’s whole suite of new and improved features there's plenty of new things to try out.
Using Mattercraft for live projects
While we encourage you to explore the capabilities of Mattercraft, we must emphasize that it is currently not recommended for use in live projects or client work. The closed beta phase is intended for experimentation, learning, and testing. However, if you find yourself needing to use Mattercraft for such purposes, please don't hesitate to reach out to us on Discord. We are here to assist you and provide any necessary support.
Giving feedback
Your feedback is crucial in shaping the future of this tool, making it even more powerful and user-friendly. We kindly request and eagerly anticipate your input through our dedicated Discord channel. Share your thoughts, suggest features, and report any bugs you encounter. Your participation will contribute to the refinement and growth of Mattercraft.
Join the Mattercraft Discord here
We really appreciate your time during this phase of Mattercraft. Together, we are hoping to shape the future of 3D web experiences and unleash the full potential of Mattercraft. Thank you for being a part of this exciting journey. Let's create something extraordinary!
Connell GauldCo-founder and CTO, Zappar
