How to make a 3D portfolio
To make a 3D portfolio, pick four to eight of your best projects and write a short case study for each: the problem, your role, how you did it, and the result. Then choose a 3D room, place each project in it as an object visitors can click, compress the 3D files so the room loads in seconds, and publish it as a website with a written version that search engines can read. With a browser-based builder like XRfolio that takes an afternoon and no code. Building it by hand in Three.js or Unity takes weeks.
1. Choose the work
Four to eight projects is enough. Every extra project makes the good ones harder to find. Lead with the work closest to the job you want next, not the work you are most attached to. Put one project where visitors see it first; in XRfolio you set the visitor’s first view so it lands on that.
2. Write a case study for each project
A 3D room gets attention. The case study is what gets you hired. Use the same shape for each one:
- One line saying what it is and who it was for.
- The problem, in a sentence or two.
- Your role, especially on team projects. Say what you did, not what the team did.
- The process, with two to five images: sketches, iterations, screenshots, the finished thing.
- The result, with a number if there is one: users, revenue, time saved, an award, a shipped date.
- Links to the live project, the store page, the repository, or a video.
3. Gather your media
- Images: export at around 2,000 pixels on the long side, as JPEG or WebP. Bigger files only make visitors wait.
- Video: short MP4 or WebM clips. A 20-second loop shows more than a 5-minute walkthrough nobody finishes.
- 3D models: GLB is the web standard. XRfolio also accepts .gltf, .fbx and .obj and converts them for you.
4. Pick a room that fits your field
The room is a frame, not the work. A studio suits artists, an office or workshop suits engineers, a gallery suits photographers. Start from a template if one is close; start from a blank room if you know what you want. Shared libraries, like XRfolio’s model library, give you furniture and props with the credits attached.
5. Place each project as something visitors can click
A poster on the wall, a model on the desk, a screen on a stand. Each object opens that project’s case study. Keep the number of clickable objects close to the number of projects, so visitors are not hunting through decoration for the work.
6. Keep it fast
The 3D room is what loads first, so its size decides how long visitors wait. Aim for an initial download around 10 MB or less. Compressed for the web, a good object model is 100 to 500 KB and a whole room 1 to 3 MB. Mesh compression (such as meshopt), mesh simplification and WebP textures do most of the work; XRfolio runs all three in your browser. Images and video should load only when a project opens.
7. Make it readable without the 3D
Search engines, AI assistants, screen readers and application tracking systems read text, not 3D scenes. Publish a written version of the same portfolio as an ordinary web page, with your name and role in the page title and every project as text. That is the page that comes up when a recruiter searches your name. XRfolio generates it automatically for every published site.
8. Publish it and put the link everywhere
Publish to a subdomain such as you.xrfolio.page or to your own domain, then add the link to your résumé, your LinkedIn profile’s Featured section, your email signature, and your profiles on Behance, GitHub or ArtStation.
Other ways to make a 3D portfolio
| Approach | Good for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| A builder like XRfolio | A finished, hosted 3D portfolio without code | You work inside the builder’s room-and-objects format |
| Three.js, by hand | Developers who want the portfolio itself to show their code | Weeks of work, and you own the performance, hosting and maintenance |
| Spline or a similar design tool | Designers making one interactive 3D scene or hero section | Built for scenes, not for case studies; you still need a site around it |
| Unity WebGL build | Game developers showing a playable piece | Large downloads and weaker phone support than web-native 3D |
| 3D embeds in a normal site | Showing individual models (for example from Sketchfab) beside text | Each model is a viewer in a box; there is no room to walk through |
Mistakes that cost interviews
- A room so heavy it never finishes loading on a phone.
- No written case studies, so the work cannot be judged or found.
- Contact details hidden somewhere in the scene. Put your email and LinkedIn in plain text.
- Thirty projects of mixed quality instead of six strong ones.
Common questions
Do I need Blender or 3D skills to make a 3D portfolio?
Not with a builder. Template rooms and shared model libraries cover the 3D part, and your projects can be images, video and text. If you do model, export GLB files: they are the standard format for 3D on the web.
Will a 3D portfolio work on a phone?
It can, if it is built for it. Keep the 3D room itself to a few megabytes and load images and video only when a project is opened. Heavy rooms are the usual reason a 3D portfolio stalls on mobile.
Is a 3D portfolio bad for SEO?
Only if the 3D scene is the whole site. Search engines and AI assistants read text, not WebGL, so publish a written version of the same portfolio as a normal page with your name, role and projects. XRfolio does this for every published site.
Is a 3D portfolio worth it if my work is not 3D?
It is a way to stand out, not a requirement. Flat work such as posters, screenshots and documents hangs on the walls like it would in a studio. Keep a one-page PDF résumé as well, because many application systems ask for one.
How long does it take?
With a builder and a template room, a first portfolio takes an afternoon; most of the time goes into writing the case studies. Building a 3D portfolio from scratch in Three.js or Unity usually takes weeks.
Try it without an account. The builder opens in a browser tab, and the tutorial walks you through a first room in about ten minutes.
More guides
- What is XRfolio? What it does, who it is for, what it costs, and what it is not.
- XRfolio vs. Behance vs. Squarespace Prices, domains, discovery, and whether you can take your site with you.