You access Procreate 3D by importing a 3D model into the Procreate Gallery on an iPad, because 3D Painting only activates when you open a .USDZ or .OBJ file. Tap Import in the Gallery (or drag in, AirDrop, or download Procreate's model pack), then tap the model to open it in 3D Painting. The model must have a UV map, and you need Procreate 5.2 or later on a compatible iPad. There is no separate "3D mode" to switch on.

What Procreate 3D actually is

Procreate 3D is a texture-painting feature, not a modeling or animation tool. You paint color, roughness, and metallic maps directly onto a model's surface, adjust lighting, and preview the result. You can't sculpt, rig, or keyframe anything in it.

For motion designers and VFX artists, that makes it a quick way to hand-paint textures for assets you'll render in Cinema 4D, Blender, or another 3D package before compositing in After Effects or Nuke. It's a good fit for stylized props, hero textures, and look-development passes where a pencil in hand beats node-based texturing.

Requirements before you start

Check these first, because most "I can't find 3D" problems trace back to one of them:

• Device: The model pack instructions specify a compatible iPad (iPad 5th generation and above, excluding iPad mini 4 and iPad Air 2).
• Procreate version: 3D Painting requires Procreate 5.2 or later.
• File format: Procreate imports .USDZ and .OBJ. Other formats need converting first.
• UV map: Any model you paint must have a UV map attached. Without one, you can't paint on it.

The last point matters most for pipeline artists. A UV map is the flattened 2D layout of the model's surface, the same thing you'd use for texturing in any DCC app. Having one doesn't guarantee a good one: models downloaded from the web may have gaps, missing parts, or overlapping islands, because the original modeler may never have intended them for painting. If your paint smears, doubles, or vanishes in places, re-check the UVs in your 3D app.

Method 1: Download the built-in model pack

This is the fastest way to see 3D Painting working, and it requires no external files.

1. Open any canvas in Procreate.
2. Tap Actions and go to the Help tab.
3. Tap Download 3D model pack and wait for it to finish.
4. Find the models in your Gallery and tap one to open it.

Opening a model from the Gallery switches you into 3D Painting automatically. The pack is useful for testing gestures, brushes, and lighting before you commit your own assets.

Method 2: Import your own model

Procreate gives you three ways to bring in .USDZ or .OBJ files.

Import from the Files app

In the Gallery, tap Import in the top right. The Files app opens. Navigate to your .USDZ or .OBJ file and tap it. The file lands in your Gallery and opens in 3D Painting.

Drag and drop

Hold a .USDZ or .OBJ file in Files to pick it up, then drag it into Procreate. You can stack multiple files by selecting one and tapping others to add them, then dragging them all in together. You can import several models at once, but you can only paint on one at a time.

If your OBJ comes with texture maps, drag in the whole folder containing the OBJ and its maps. Procreate supports Color, Roughness, Metallic, Ambient Occlusion, and Normal maps this way, which keeps an existing material setup intact.

AirDrop

From another Apple device, such as a Mac running Blender or Cinema 4D, AirDrop the file to your iPad. Accept it and choose Procreate when prompted. The model opens in 3D Painting and appears in your Gallery.

Files from marketplaces

If you buy 3D files from a marketplace like Etsy, sellers often deliver them through an external download link, since upload limits force larger files elsewhere. Download the file to your iPad, then use Open in Procreate from the share options. The same format and UV requirements apply.

A note on FBX and other formats

Some tutorials suggest importing OBJ or FBX through the Photos app and treating the model as a layer. That doesn't match how Procreate's own documentation describes 3D Painting. According to that documentation, only .USDZ and .OBJ files work, and they open as paintable 3D canvases rather than flat layers.

If your asset is an FBX, .blend, or C4D scene, export it as OBJ (or USDZ) from your 3D app first. Check that UVs are present and clean before it leaves your machine.

Painting once the model is open

With the model open, the basics are quick to pick up:

1. Tap a section of the model to select a mesh. It flashes blue when selected. If no color appears when you paint, tap the area until it flashes, then try again.
2. Choose a brush and color.
3. Paint with Apple Pencil.
4. Rotate by dragging one finger across the model; pinch and drag with two fingers to zoom and pan.

No Apple Pencil? Go to Actions → Prefs → Gesture Controls → General and toggle on Enable 3D painting with a finger. In that mode, you rotate by holding the Modify button (the square between the sidebar sliders) with one finger while dragging with another.

Painting color, roughness, and metallic

Brushes in the Materials set can paint color, roughness, and metallic textures. Custom brushes can do the same if you set options in the Materials tab of Brush Studio. In the Layers panel, open the arrow next to a mesh and then the cube to reveal its Color, Roughness, and Metallic maps, and tap one to paint only that texture type.

For roughness and metallic, only the greyscale value of your brush matters, not the hue. Darker values reduce the effect and brighter values increase it. That maps neatly onto how you'd author these channels for a PBR shader in your render engine.

Work non-destructively

When you open a suitable model, it has at least one Base Layer, and paint appears on that layer as you work. Create your own layers above it to leave the Base Layer untouched. For production textures, that's the sensible habit, since you can revise a paint pass without losing the underlying color.

The 3D Actions menu

3D-specific tools live under Actions → 3D, and they only appear when a .OBJ or .USDZ file is open:

• Show 2D Texture: Unwraps the model into its flat texture map so you can block in base colors or refine detail like standard 2D painting. Toggle it off to return to the 3D view.
• Paint Through Mesh: Lets strokes ignore unselected meshes, which helps when one part blocks another.
• Edit Lighting & Environment: Opens Lighting Studio, where you can add lights, adjust hue, saturation, and intensity, and set environment lighting.
• View in AR: Places the object on a flat surface using the iPad camera. AR uses ambient light from the camera, not your Lighting Studio setup.

Troubleshooting access problems

• You can't see 3D Painting: You need to import a model into the Gallery and open it. The interface doesn't appear on regular canvases.
• Import fails or the model won't paint: Confirm it's .USDZ or .OBJ and has a UV map.
• Nothing happens when you paint: Tap the target mesh until it flashes blue to select it.
• Another mesh is in the way: Turn on Paint Through Mesh.
• Gestures are awkward: Enable the single-touch gestures companion in iPadOS settings, or use finger painting.

Where Procreate 3D fits in a motion pipeline

Treat Procreate 3D as a texturing stop, not a pipeline hub. A typical loop: model and UV in Blender or Cinema 4D, AirDrop the OBJ to your iPad, paint color/roughness/metallic, export the maps, then bring them back into your 3D scene for lighting, rendering, and compositing in After Effects or Nuke.

That workflow is excellent when you have a model to paint. It's less helpful when you have only a flat illustration or a concept frame and need to explore how it looks in motion or in three dimensions.

Quick recap

1. Use a compatible iPad running Procreate 5.2 or later.
2. Get a .USDZ or .OBJ model with a clean UV map, either from the built-in model pack or your own 3D app.
3. Import via Files, drag and drop, or AirDrop.
4. Tap the model in your Gallery to open it, and 3D Painting starts automatically.
5. Paint on separate layers, check Actions → 3D for texture, mesh, lighting, and AR tools, then bring your maps back into your render pipeline.

You access Procreate 3D by importing a 3D model into the Procreate Gallery on an iPad, because 3D Painting only activates when you open a .USDZ or .OBJ file. Tap Import in the Gallery (or drag in, AirDrop, or download Procreate's model pack), then tap the model to open it in 3D Painting. The model must have a UV map, and you need Procreate 5.2 or later on a compatible iPad. There is no separate "3D mode" to switch on.

What Procreate 3D actually is

Procreate 3D is a texture-painting feature, not a modeling or animation tool. You paint color, roughness, and metallic maps directly onto a model's surface, adjust lighting, and preview the result. You can't sculpt, rig, or keyframe anything in it.

For motion designers and VFX artists, that makes it a quick way to hand-paint textures for assets you'll render in Cinema 4D, Blender, or another 3D package before compositing in After Effects or Nuke. It's a good fit for stylized props, hero textures, and look-development passes where a pencil in hand beats node-based texturing.

Requirements before you start

Check these first, because most "I can't find 3D" problems trace back to one of them:

• Device: The model pack instructions specify a compatible iPad (iPad 5th generation and above, excluding iPad mini 4 and iPad Air 2).
• Procreate version: 3D Painting requires Procreate 5.2 or later.
• File format: Procreate imports .USDZ and .OBJ. Other formats need converting first.
• UV map: Any model you paint must have a UV map attached. Without one, you can't paint on it.

The last point matters most for pipeline artists. A UV map is the flattened 2D layout of the model's surface, the same thing you'd use for texturing in any DCC app. Having one doesn't guarantee a good one: models downloaded from the web may have gaps, missing parts, or overlapping islands, because the original modeler may never have intended them for painting. If your paint smears, doubles, or vanishes in places, re-check the UVs in your 3D app.

Method 1: Download the built-in model pack

This is the fastest way to see 3D Painting working, and it requires no external files.

1. Open any canvas in Procreate.
2. Tap Actions and go to the Help tab.
3. Tap Download 3D model pack and wait for it to finish.
4. Find the models in your Gallery and tap one to open it.

Opening a model from the Gallery switches you into 3D Painting automatically. The pack is useful for testing gestures, brushes, and lighting before you commit your own assets.

Method 2: Import your own model

Procreate gives you three ways to bring in .USDZ or .OBJ files.

Import from the Files app

In the Gallery, tap Import in the top right. The Files app opens. Navigate to your .USDZ or .OBJ file and tap it. The file lands in your Gallery and opens in 3D Painting.

Drag and drop

Hold a .USDZ or .OBJ file in Files to pick it up, then drag it into Procreate. You can stack multiple files by selecting one and tapping others to add them, then dragging them all in together. You can import several models at once, but you can only paint on one at a time.

If your OBJ comes with texture maps, drag in the whole folder containing the OBJ and its maps. Procreate supports Color, Roughness, Metallic, Ambient Occlusion, and Normal maps this way, which keeps an existing material setup intact.

AirDrop

From another Apple device, such as a Mac running Blender or Cinema 4D, AirDrop the file to your iPad. Accept it and choose Procreate when prompted. The model opens in 3D Painting and appears in your Gallery.

Files from marketplaces

If you buy 3D files from a marketplace like Etsy, sellers often deliver them through an external download link, since upload limits force larger files elsewhere. Download the file to your iPad, then use Open in Procreate from the share options. The same format and UV requirements apply.

A note on FBX and other formats

Some tutorials suggest importing OBJ or FBX through the Photos app and treating the model as a layer. That doesn't match how Procreate's own documentation describes 3D Painting. According to that documentation, only .USDZ and .OBJ files work, and they open as paintable 3D canvases rather than flat layers.

If your asset is an FBX, .blend, or C4D scene, export it as OBJ (or USDZ) from your 3D app first. Check that UVs are present and clean before it leaves your machine.

Painting once the model is open

With the model open, the basics are quick to pick up:

1. Tap a section of the model to select a mesh. It flashes blue when selected. If no color appears when you paint, tap the area until it flashes, then try again.
2. Choose a brush and color.
3. Paint with Apple Pencil.
4. Rotate by dragging one finger across the model; pinch and drag with two fingers to zoom and pan.

No Apple Pencil? Go to Actions → Prefs → Gesture Controls → General and toggle on Enable 3D painting with a finger. In that mode, you rotate by holding the Modify button (the square between the sidebar sliders) with one finger while dragging with another.

Painting color, roughness, and metallic

Brushes in the Materials set can paint color, roughness, and metallic textures. Custom brushes can do the same if you set options in the Materials tab of Brush Studio. In the Layers panel, open the arrow next to a mesh and then the cube to reveal its Color, Roughness, and Metallic maps, and tap one to paint only that texture type.

For roughness and metallic, only the greyscale value of your brush matters, not the hue. Darker values reduce the effect and brighter values increase it. That maps neatly onto how you'd author these channels for a PBR shader in your render engine.

Work non-destructively

When you open a suitable model, it has at least one Base Layer, and paint appears on that layer as you work. Create your own layers above it to leave the Base Layer untouched. For production textures, that's the sensible habit, since you can revise a paint pass without losing the underlying color.

The 3D Actions menu

3D-specific tools live under Actions → 3D, and they only appear when a .OBJ or .USDZ file is open:

• Show 2D Texture: Unwraps the model into its flat texture map so you can block in base colors or refine detail like standard 2D painting. Toggle it off to return to the 3D view.
• Paint Through Mesh: Lets strokes ignore unselected meshes, which helps when one part blocks another.
• Edit Lighting & Environment: Opens Lighting Studio, where you can add lights, adjust hue, saturation, and intensity, and set environment lighting.
• View in AR: Places the object on a flat surface using the iPad camera. AR uses ambient light from the camera, not your Lighting Studio setup.

Troubleshooting access problems

• You can't see 3D Painting: You need to import a model into the Gallery and open it. The interface doesn't appear on regular canvases.
• Import fails or the model won't paint: Confirm it's .USDZ or .OBJ and has a UV map.
• Nothing happens when you paint: Tap the target mesh until it flashes blue to select it.
• Another mesh is in the way: Turn on Paint Through Mesh.
• Gestures are awkward: Enable the single-touch gestures companion in iPadOS settings, or use finger painting.

Where Procreate 3D fits in a motion pipeline

Treat Procreate 3D as a texturing stop, not a pipeline hub. A typical loop: model and UV in Blender or Cinema 4D, AirDrop the OBJ to your iPad, paint color/roughness/metallic, export the maps, then bring them back into your 3D scene for lighting, rendering, and compositing in After Effects or Nuke.

That workflow is excellent when you have a model to paint. It's less helpful when you have only a flat illustration or a concept frame and need to explore how it looks in motion or in three dimensions.

Quick recap

1. Use a compatible iPad running Procreate 5.2 or later.
2. Get a .USDZ or .OBJ model with a clean UV map, either from the built-in model pack or your own 3D app.
3. Import via Files, drag and drop, or AirDrop.
4. Tap the model in your Gallery to open it, and 3D Painting starts automatically.
5. Paint on separate layers, check Actions → 3D for texture, mesh, lighting, and AR tools, then bring your maps back into your render pipeline.