With all the indie VR content being published these days, it’s only natural to want to create VR experiences of your own.
While it may seem quite daunting at first, the truth is that there are numerous resources and tools at your disposal that can streamline VR development.
We hope to provide some great insights into how you can plan and outline your VR content as well as use tools to bring it to life.
Quick Summary
In this post, we will shed light upon:
- The basic process to develop VR content
- The engines used to develop VR content
- Some frequently asked questions (FAQs)
So without further ado, let’s get started.
The Basic Process to Develop VR Content
It can be great to dive straight into VR development and find your bearings as you learn more about it.
However, it can be a lot more fruitful if you develop a plan going into it rather than doing things on the fly. It’ll help you streamline your development pipeline and will also ensure that you learn as much as you can in the shortest amount of time.
Developing VR content typically consists of three major stages:
Stage 1: Creating an Outline and Defining Objectives
To start off, you must create an outline of what you hope to achieve. This could be in the form of a flow chart or in the form of a step-by-step process.
The objective is to figure out the different steps that developers will go through and what they will learn throughout the journey.
It’s very important to define objectives as well.
This is because objectives provide you with a metric that you can use to measure your progress towards the goal you want to reach. It’s a good idea to define learning goals as well as actual concrete objectives.
The flowchart will also be used to highlight visual, audio and other elements that your VR project will have. You’ll also detail how these different elements will interact with each other as well as the user in the virtual environment.
Stage 2: Creation of Assets
Once you have outlined all of the assets and elements that you’ll need to bring your VR project to life, it’s time to create them.
The different assets that you’ll need will depend on how big your VR project is and what it entails. You might be able to borrow some assets and elements from resources online. On the other hand, other elements might need to be created from scratch.
The process for creating assets can involve a variety of different skills such as:
- 3D modeling
- 2D graphic design
- Video elements
- Music
- Voice-over
- Level design
And a whole lot more.
Again, this is not an exhaustive list. The skills you may need to execute your outline and bring your VR project to life may vary. It’s all about what you hope your VR project to contain and what types of skills are needed to craft the elements necessary.
The skills you learn here will most likely be outlined in the flowchart or outline that you developed in stage 1. If you’ve mapped out your learning goals properly, then you’ll start to achieve them one by one in this stage.
Stage 3: Script Creation Through VR Authoring Tools
So, you’ve developed the assets that will be included within your VR project.
Now, the only step left is to write scripts that will allow these assets to interact with each other as well as the user to create an interactive VR experience.
There are a number of VR authoring tools available that allow you to write custom scripts to bring your project to life.
A VR authoring tool is what is used to write scripts to create a VR program. You can upload your assets to the tool and then, write custom scripts to define how they’ll interact with each other.
Furthermore, you can also use it to write scripts that will tell the VR headset as well as the controllers what to do. You can also define interactions based on what types of movements will do what within your VR program.
Engines Used to Create VR Content
If you intend to create a VR game, then you can make use of a game engine that will allow you to create a very streamlined VR experience.
A game engine is super-convenient since it provides you with an established framework that already handles a lot of the details that may be tedious to program. This includes:
- Game physics
- Graphics rendering
- Particle effects
And a whole lot more.
Two of the most popular game engines used to create VR content are:
- Unity
- Unreal Engine
Unity
Unity is a super popular game engine that is often utilized not only to create VR games but also AR games as well as smartphone and regular computer games.
The tool is quite user-friendly and allows you to create custom scripts within it through the use of C# as its programming language.
We recommend beginners to use Unity since it’s quite user-friendly.
Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine is a super sophisticated game engine that comes packed with a wide variety of tools that you can use to develop your VR project.
It’s a high-end engine that can be utilized to create visually stunning projects with photo-realistic images and detailed particle effects.
That being said, it’s definitely harder to get into than Unity is. C++ is utilized to program scripts within Unreal Engine.
We recommend that you opt for Unreal Engine if you already have some VR or game development experience.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How Do I Create VR Content?
Follow these three steps to create effective VR content:
- Develop an outline and a flowchart for the development process. This should include your learning goals as well as your project’s objectives.
- Create all the assets and elements that you need to include within your VR project.
- Use a VR authoring tool to write custom scripts that will define how your assets and elements will interact with each other and the user.
What are the Four Key Elements of Virtual Reality?
The four key elements of virtual reality are:
- The virtual world or virtual space
- Immersion
- Sensory feedback
- Interactivity
What are the Three Types of Virtual Reality?
The three types of virtual reality that are universally agreed upon are:
- Non-immersive
- Semi-immersive
- Fully-immersive
What Programming Language Does VR Use?
This varies depending on what engine and VR authoring tool you use.
C# is the language that is most commonly used by most VR authoring tools. However, other tools also utilize C++, Java, Lua and other prominent programming languages.
What are the Two Features Most Important for a Smooth VR Experience?
If you want to provide a smooth VR experience within your developed project, you need to keep a close eye on two specific aspects. These aspects are:
- The frame rate
- The latency
Wrapping Things Up…
Obviously, VR development is an incredibly dense topic, and there are numerous things to learn in order to do it effectively.
This is just a rough outline of what your process of VR development should ideally look like for it to be effective and fruitful.
Have you ever developed anything in VR? Tell us about your experience in the comments section below.