#I usually use Maya as my main 3D software so trying to figure out where things are in Blender is causing me a headache

[chroma-game]

Working on the main character's clothes atm. Messing around with Blender's cloth systems. It's slowly driving me insane.

[imatv]

Q&A Intro to VR

A while ago, an old friend introduced me to some students doing a science project who asked me some questions about VR. They were kind of introductory questions, but I’m sure lots of people out there don’t know much about VR yet; so I decided to post my response.

“ Intro

Hey there future VR developers and creators!

My name is Alvin, and I've been working with VR and AR technology for about 5 years now. I recently graduated Fall of 2017 from UCLA with B.S. in Computer Science and a minor in Cognitive Science.

Just after graduating high school (wayyyy back in 2013), I remember getting the first Oculus Rift DK1 in the mail and setting it up. Even though it was a prototype, it was absolutely mind-blowing. I remember putting it on and being INSIDE Minecraft.

After that, I made it one of my goals to keep up-to-date with the industry and so while in college, I made a bunch of random VR and AR projects for hackathons. These include:

AR search - https://devpost.com/software/findar

VR walking - https://devpost.com/software/m-o-l-m

VR dodgeball - https://devpost.com/software/dodgelodge

These projects allowed me to learn a lot about how to make things for VR, and eventually landed me a research position at UCLA, under two psychology professors who studied human memory and human perception.

They wanted to study the human brain with the help of VR. So I built experiments using VR as a tool to put people into virtual worlds so that we can see how the brain reacts in certain conditions.

After two years of this, I was pretty set to go to graduate school, but those plans changed very quickly. A couple of my friends and I were getting odd jobs to develop VR projects for other people, and we were getting paid too!

So, instead of going to grad school, I and my team of friends started a company, called Escality (clever combination of ‘Escape Reality’), and now we make our own VR/AR games and also other applications for clients!

Here's the trailer for our first VR game on Steam!

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhzONE7-NQ0

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/805320/Conjurors_Eye/

Okay enough about me, let's talk about VR!

Answers to Questions

How does VR work?

If you haven’t tried VR yet, you have to do that first. Find any way you can. It will blow your mind. And it'll be a good first step to understanding how it all works.

This video comes close to capturing what VR is like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNjmmLLBGHs, but seriously you need to try it for yourself.

Alright, after that, let's dive in:

A lot of things come together to make VR work, but the main two are: Displays and Tracking

For displays, VR headsets are just screens (like your phone screen or your computer screen) with a bunch of fancy sensors.

But for these screens to make it feel like you're somewhere else, they have to show two images (one for each eye) that are slightly different. This is what's called a stereoscopic display (stereoscopic, meaning two views).

For tracking, well, it depends on the headset. But there's two main types of VR tracking technology: lighthouse (or outside-in tracking) and inside-out tracking.

Here's a good illustration of the difference:

With inside-out tracking, the headset on the player has cameras and fancy sensors (like accelerometers, the kind of sensors used in phones to tell if they're upside down or not). The cameras and sensors work to understand the world around the player and make really good guesses to how the person is oriented.

With outside-in tracking, separate tracking cameras are placed around the room and look for certain markers on the player and/or headset to make a good guess as to where the person is and how they are oriented.

If you want to read more about this, here's a good article: https://www.wareable.com/vr/inside-out-vs-outside-in-vr-tracking-343

When you combine high quality stereoscopic displays with good and fast tracking, you can put that on someone's face, and they'll feel like they're somewhere else! That's VR!

How much money does it take to manufacture a VR headset?

The answer to this question is like the last one. It depends.

For example, let's take the Oculus Rift. It is currently being sold at $400, (released for $600). According to this article, it costs $206 for the parts, not including the labor put into putting it all together.

But if you look at other headsets, like the Pimax, it's being sold at $1000. There's no source for how much that one costs to make (probably a lot more).

How could you transfer VR files to space?

VR files are just regular computer files. If you've ever played a game on your computer, VR is the same thing! A VR game is just another computer game!

The main difference between VR and regular games is in the display (two images instead of one big one) and the tracking (using sensors and cameras to figure out where you're looking / how you're tilting your head).

How are VR movies made?

There are two types of VR environments: VR capture (taking the real world and putting it in VR) and completely virtual environments (building worlds from scratch in VR)VR capture techniques vary widely and usually involves taking a bunch of pictures of the world and mixing/matching them to form a sphere. Then based on where you're looking, you'll see a part of that sphere.

Here's a good article about how VR capture is done: https://www.viar360.com/blog/types-of-virtual-reality-capture-methods-that-allow-you-to-replicate-the-real-world/

For completely virtual environments, these are usually built in a game engine editor like Unity or Unreal Engine. 3D modeling is done to create virtual assets, then animation and VFX tools are used to make them move and look as if they're alive.

Popular 3D modelling software programs include: Blender, Maya, 3DS Max, and many more.

What supplies are needed to film a VR movie?

Assuming you're doing VR capture (taking the real world and putting it in VR), usually you'll need some kind of 360 degree camera. You can refer to the previous answer's link to that one article. Searching up each method for VR capture will give you an idea of what is needed for each technique.

Otherwise, if you're building completely virtual environments, all you need is a computer with a game engine downloaded (Unity and Unreal are the most popular and easiest to learn).

How much does the equipment cost to make a VR movie?

That highly depends on the technique used.

For simple 360 videos, all you would need is a 360 degree camera which costs anywhere between $100 to a couple thousand dollars depending on the quality of video that you want.

For more advanced techniques like photogrammetry and light-field capture, setups can run up to many thousands of dollars.

If you want to create completely virtual worlds, though, that's usually completely free! With software like Unity and Unreal, as well as Blender, you can create entire virtual worlds at zero cost. But it's a lot of work.

How are VR files stored or sent?

Again, VR files are just regular computer files. You can download a game from the internet, the same way you can download a VR game from the internet.

Will the VR video be clear even though they are heavily compressed?

Video files can be encoded at whatever quality you want them to be. They can be 1080p, or they can be 100000000 x 1000000000 resolution. That's up to you.

Whether or not your computer can run something that's 100000000 x 1000000000 is a separate issue (most regular computers today will have trouble even playing things at 4K).

Also VR headsets don't go that high.The HTC Vive Pro has a screen resolution of 2880 x 1600 (1400 x 1600 per eye).

The Oculus Rift has a screen resolution of 2160 x 1200.

The Pimax has a screen resolution of 2 * (3840 x 2160).

When you put a VR headset on, resolution isn't as important as refresh rate (the speed the screen updates per second). Research suggests that 90 Hz screens are optimal for VR use.

That means the screen has to update 90 times every second in order to feel good. Tracking also matters a lot, because with bad tracking, people can get nauseous and motion sick.

As for the video being clear, just make sure the resolution of the video matches the one that your headset supports. If you're using a HTC Vive Pro, make sure it's 2880 x 1600 (1400 x 1600 per eye), etc.

How do you incorporate sound into VR?

Most modern VR headsets have speakers for both the left and right ear. Spatial audio files exist that have data on how loud something is in your left ear vs. your right ear depending on where you're facing.

These types of files are called ambisonic audio files. Youtube supports First Order Ambisonics, and you can also read about this file type here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambisonic_data_exchange_formats#File_formats_and_metadata

VR games do this by default through the game engine code. So, when you play a game in VR made in Unity or Unreal for example, the sound will automatically be built-in and spatial, so that something on your left in VR will actually sound like it's on your left, etc.

Alright! That's all of the questions answered! Good luck on your project! Don't be afraid to ask some more! ”

[danielledgerfutureworks-blog]

Route To Industry Research Blog - Full

Key Designer – Eric Barone

Eric Barone the Sole Creator of the hit game, Stardew Valley had a very interesting path to the games industry as the first prototypes of the game were created as practice for Barones programming skills. (Ligman, 2016)

As a child Barone Fondly Remembers the game Harvest moon, he adored how it favoured domestic tasks instead of violent mechanics. Harvest Moon allowed the player to have social and even romantic relationships with the townsfolk which isn’t a feature that many games offered. Barone described this as “making the experience much more personal” (White, 2018) although at first he was discouraged from the games industry after often reading about its underpaid overworked culture. Based on this his career took a turn and he chose to instead study computer science believing this could provide him with more financial stability.

After graduating he tried to get a normal job where he could support both him and his partner. However after several attempts of failing to get an entry level programming job he applied for he decided that he had a better shot at a one of these positions if he improved upon his programming skills, he began doing this by learning how to program video games as he decided it was a creative way to teach himself and would keep him interested longer.

When he started he didn’t have a plan, but he was always focused on the player experience throughout the development of the game. Starting with player movement and navigation and slowly working his way up through different farming mechanics. Barone kept iterating and going back to previous mechanics and reworked or completely started fresh with them in order to create something he was happy with.

During the games 4 and a half year development process Barone never asked for help and did all testing himself until the final stages of the game. Towards the end of development those close to him including his long term girlfriend urged him to compromise the quality because otherwise she believed he would have never released the game, but actually caring about the details and being meticulous with the game is what Barone feels made it a great game.

Finn Brice the founder of Chucklefish made Barone an offer. 10% of Stardew Valley profits would go to Chucklefish and in return Chucklefish would act as a de-facto publisher for Barone’s game also helping him with some of the more tedious aspects of games development such as public relations and legal documents. Barone felt this was a good deal because if a larger publisher had approached him first they might have asked for 60-70% of the profit. (Chucklefish, 2018)

   Key Designer- Sean Valesco

Sean Valesco and 4 of his friends worked at Wayforward making games quickly for popular IP’s and Shantae Series , however at the end of each project the staff would be shuffled around, this meant that seas Valesco would be split up from his friends during the work day so they all started to meet up at Valesco’s house after work and at the weekends and work on smaller projects. After some time doing this they started to discuss making a Nintendo inspired 2d platformer that could capture the nostalgia of the Nintendo Entertainment System and its games but with smoother animations and a much better quality. (Wayforward, 2018)

Valesco and his team decided to create this game with no large publishers as to avoid releasing a game that was in his eyes only 90% finished. The team decided to set up a Kickstarter for the game as it meant they would have creative freedom but would still be working towards a promised deadline.

Shortly after this the team left Wayforward so they could work full time on their iconic 2d platformer Shovel Knight. Their funding goal was set at seventy-five thousand dollars. At this time the teams problems were that nobody knew about the game they were making or their Kickstarter so they started to prepare for PAX where they would be able to showcase their game, they began working tirelessly on a demo to show off at PAX, although while they were there the game did not receive much attention they met some other developers who had also funded projects using Kickstarter and they were given 2 good pieces of advice, number 1 being update the Kickstarter every day and the other being to send your demos out to YouTube creators and Twitch streamers.

When the team returned from PAX they took the advice and started posting to their Kickstarter daily, interacting, posting updates and hosting art competitions. Doing this and as well as sending copies of the demo for the game to YouTube and twitch streamers started to create a fan base for the game so by the time their Kickstarter campaign ended on April 13th 2013 they had surpassed their funding goal of $75,000 and managed to raise $311,502. (Yacht Club, 2014)

This project was going to require a lot of crunch time in order to finish it on time while also trying to create a great game. Towards the end of their deadline Valesco pushed it back and although this meant the team digging into their own savings to get by, they pushed through and finished the game releasing it June 26th 2016 and selling 75000 copies in the first week.

Although this was not a wild success, as the stretch goal promised boss knight campaigns were added in they sold more copies of the game and the fan base grew until they were getting contacted by publishers asking for the game to be ported to other consoles, eventually leading to shovel knight getting its own Amiibo figure which was the first of its kind not being from one of Nintendo’s own IP’s.

Key Companies

Team 17 is a video company based in Wakefield UK, the company was founded in December of 1990 through the merging of 17Bit Software and Team 7 who was originally based in Sweden. There are many benefits in working for team 17, they are as follows according to the team 17 website

Career     progression at all levels – it’s up to you to shine!

Varied     projects – we publish games across many different platforms and use a     variety of middleware

Training     workshops for both tech and soft skills

Competetive     salaries

Bonuses

Regular     social events

Health     Care & Life Insurance

Subsidised     gym membership

The staff reviews written on Glassdoor about the working environments are generally positive, with some complaints about overtime, however this seems to be a common issue with most game development company’s as ‘crunching’ near a games release date is a common occurrence within the industry.

The salary for Artists According to the team17 Glassdoor page is £24,000

 Rockstar is a large AAA games company which has a reputation for creating immersive open world games, Rockstar is an international company with many different branches, one of them located in Leeds UK Which is local enough for a daily commute. However according to Glassdoor the pro’s of working within this company are very few the main Pro being that you get to work on some of the most coveted games. However the cons are abundant including, low Salary, Poor management, an outdated overtime pay structure and little to no intrest in employee development.

 Job Prospects

There are many ways in which someone can join the games industry the first of which being, working at a AAA games company this has advantages such as a chance to learn from others more experienced than yourself as well as a stable income for the duration of the employment contract.

My specialism is 3d Art which means the roles that I will be looking for in the games industry are either A Prop Artist or an Environment Artist, however since I will not have work experience when I leave university I am required to search for an entry role job as a Junior Environment/Prop Artist

According to (Glassdoor, 2018) the average wage of a 3d artist is 30k per year although this is not the case for the junior entry level position. Entry level positions usually pay between 20-25k per year depending on the size of the company you work for, for example as a junior environment artist at Ubisoft earns only 19k per year however the same position at Splash Damage offers 24k per year because often working for a smaller company means you will be a larger part of the team and will therefore need a more broad understanding of the development process.

According to a job advertisement posted for a trainee environment artist at SEGA the required skills for this position are “

·         Visual flare and talent

·         Skilled in 3DS Max/Maya/Modo

·         Experience with ZBrush and Photoshop

·         Knowledge of games development pipeline/environment/engines

·         Self-motivated, good communicator, positive can-do attitude, team-player

·         Love of visual environment creation” (GlassDoor, 2018)

The skills listed are attainable by all undergraduates studying games design, however one of the ways that you can help yourself stand out from the rest is with a portfolio which shows you demonstrating these skills, portfolios show employers you’re artistic and sometimes your technical ability, this is why it is important to keep updating and improving your portfolio.

Portfolio

A portfolio is the most important tool for a 3D artist as it shows potential employers what your capabilities are, it is your responsibility to make sure that your portfolio shows that you have a wide range of skills and talents and to keep it updated and relevant.

To stay relevant in today’s job market an artist’s portfolio must be online, the best options for 3d artists are Artstation and sketchfab. Artstation is the more popular option amongst professionals because it allows viewers to get a more technical view of the artists models separating the different texture maps, this can give a valuable insight into someone’s technical skill.

As is often the case quality is preferred to quantity which means that it is better to have 3 pieces that show your talents well than 9 that offer no insight into your artistic ability, as there is a lot of competition it is best to have your portfolio stand out, according to (Mon, 2017)

“Competition is hard and you have to stick out from the mass of artists trying to get their first job. Creativity and unique art samples help you do that. Metal barrels, wooden crates, concrete or brick textures are not exactly assets that will blow anybody away anymore. Try to come up with something refreshing and unique when building props or an environment.”

One of the ways to do this is to show that you can use different styles in your work for example an artist who shows they can recreate a cartoon style and realism shows a wider set of skills than someone who has only produced art in One of those styles. However all work in your portfolio should be of the same quality so if you feel one piece stands out as worse than others then work on it until it becomes of the same quality or create a new piece.

Key Games

One of the games I believe had influenced subsequent design the most is the classic SEGA Dreamcast hit Jet set Radio which was the first game to incorporate Cel Shading which is an art style in which 3d art appears as 2d art to mimic that of a comic book or cartoon, this style has gone on to inspire other artists to recreate and improve the style for their games. Games such as The Legend Of Zelda Windwaker and The Wolf Among Us and over 250 other titles. (Wyss)

 Cuphead’s Art style has been one of the most unique in recent years using the style of a 1930’s cartoon incorporating hand drawn 2D animations into an extremely difficult run and gun game. The artist Chad Moldenhauer although this game has been released too recently to influence any other game which has been released, the style is mimicked and adapted from 1930’s cartoons and includes effects which give the illusion it is being played on a CRT television which makes it one of the most unique looking games on the market.

Another game that heavily influenced subsequent design was Space Invaders a popular arcade game created in 1978 by Tomohiro Nishikado was the first Pixel art game used in the apast because of the capabilities of technology at the time but many Indie developers have used it in recent years for many different reasons, some use it because it is quick to produce and others use it to create a feeling of nostalgia in gamers.

 I believe my route to the games industry from this point is to increase and develop my skillset in order to create a variety of art styles also to use an online portfolio to display my skills and artistic techniques to potential employers and to keep increasing the size and quality of the portfolio throughout a position as a Junior Environment/ Prop artist.

Bibliography  

Chucklefish.  (2018, June 26). Chucklefish Home. Retrieved from Chucklefish Blog:  https://blog.chucklefish.org/

GlassDoor. (2018,  August 5th). Environment Artist Jobs. Retrieved from Glassdoor:  https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Job/environment-artist-jobs-SRCH_KO0,18.htm?srs=TAB_OVER_SALARY_SEARCH

Glassdoor. (2018,  August 5th). Environment Artist Salaries. Retrieved from Glassdoor:  https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/environment-artist-salary-SRCH_KO0,18.htm

Ligman, K. (2016,  March 9). Stardew Valley developer says there were times when he almost quit.  Ready Set, p. 1.

Mon, S. (2017,  March 17). Everything You Need to Know to Become a Game Environment  Artist. Retrieved from Artstation : https://magazine.artstation.com/2017/03/game-environment-artist/

Wayforward.  (2018). Wayforward Home. Retrieved from Wayforward:  https://wayforward.com/

White, S. (2018,  March 20). Valley Forged: How One Man Made the Indie Video Game Sensation  Stardew Valley. GQ.

Wyss, J. (n.d.). The  Wolf Among Us. Retrieved from Wikipedia :  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolf_Among_Us

Yacht Club.  (2014, April 4th). Shovel Knight. Retrieved from Kickstarter:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight