Full modelling workflow in VR? (this filled a piece!)

[Rakjavik]

So I'm trying to do a start to end workflow for model creation, so far I have Google Blocks for initial model, mesh maker VR for mesh editing and Merper for animating.

So I'm still missing a VR Texture creator/Editor and a "Rigger" (I hope I'm using the right terminology as I'm still quite a noob in 3d modeling)

Are there other software gems like Merper to fill those needs? Does Merper plan to implement rigging?

Thanks!

edit - can't spell

[Fede]

I like this idea - would you mind adding links to the steam store pages of all the ones you mentioned to this thread?

A great place for rigging which also uses FBX would be mixamo, which is now owned by Adobe:
https://www.mixamo.com

Not in VR but still very nice.

For materials, also not VR but this seems to be popular and reasonably priced:
https://www.allegorithmic.com

It's worth mentioning that that most modern engines use a PBR ( physically based rendering ) approach and the FBX file format while very popular wasn't built with that in mind. So we all try our best to guess/adapt to that by putting the matching PBR textures near the file and doing some sort of pattern matching. The GLTF format does support that and it is gaining traction, but it isn't as widely supported yet.

Another good source of content is this: https://freepbr.com
... which I have used for testing different things here. That will give you an idea of what kinds of textures and formats the different engines support.

I hope this helps. And when you have something, please share a screenshot!

Cheers,
F

[Rakjavik]

Thanks for the reply! Is OBJ considered the "open source" format?

As far as other software

Google Blocks for creating low poly from scratch (does not import yet!)
http://store.steampowered.com/app/533970/Blocks_by_Google/

Mesh Maker VR (for importing and editing existing meshes) Extremely CPU heavy! Might only be able to do low poly models
http://store.steampowered.com/app/576790/Mesh_Maker_VR/

Both Unreal and Unity engines have VR editors, but I haven't found texturing or rigging options in them yet.

Software I've bought/refunded due to not having the above functionality

KODON,MakeVR PRO and ShapeLab

[Fede]

Thanks for the links.

I did play with Blocks the minute it came out, and thought it was great. I understand the web-centric approach, but I hear you on being able to do a local workflow. Needless to say TiltBrush is awesome as well, and Google Earth is still my favorite VR app.

I did not know about MeshMakerVR, I will take a look later - thanks for sharing.

I need to double check about ShapeLab and take another look at MasterpieceVR - if I remember correctly one of those had good texturing - or at least a way to paint directly onto the model in VR, almost like ZBrush. I'll double check when I'm at a computer with a headset. Nothing I've seen has rigging as far as I know.

I also heard good things about Oculus Medium and Quill - I've only recently started using my Oculus so anything that's exlcusive for that I haven't checked out yet.

As far as the scenarios go, you import your modeled character into MerperVR and find yourself with a T-Posed character that you can only move if you happen to find the model's root ( usually where the axis are ) and looks like it came straigh out of HBO's Westworld ... Then what?

Does your model have UV coordinates or do you need to generate some? Exposing 2D painting on an existing texture map should be easier than doing UV unwrapping. If I end up going this way I'd have to support a different output format like GLTF though.

Rigging is something I think may be more in line with the rest of the application. The interesting thing there would be to keep it in line with the simple and intuitive paradigm while providing enough fine tuning to get it right. I've downloaded several test models from the web where the rigging was 98% of the way there but there were enough bad triangles to make the whole thing not usable.

Thanks for all the great feedback.

Cheers,

F

[Fede]

I just pushed an update that does rigging. It's still in its early stages but it should give you an idea of where this is headed and should fill-in the gap between the tools that just do modeling and those that do animation.
Enjoy.

[Jimbo]

Originally posted by federico:

I just pushed an update that does rigging. It's still in its early stages but it should give you an idea of where this is headed and should fill-in the gap between the tools that just do modeling and those that do animation.
Enjoy.

WOW !!! this just keeps getting better ... I am literally trying game dev using mostly VR and this tool is totally a missing link. Keep up the awesome work !!.

all the VR modeling software still comes with a lengthy Retopology aspect as most of the apps (except shapelab) use voxels and convert to poly/tri's. I am yet to find a decent workflow for this :S I have tried all manner of retopo tools to not much avail sadly and i am sure others trying this have hit the same kind of road blocks. VR is an epic productivity tool and I think this app is inovating in all the right ways

[Falibu]

so happy that someone is picking up the torch for working with rigging in VR. the last time i was looking for something to fill that gap, i came across another vr animation program but it seems to have been abondoned before they added rigging. i regularly use as many VRtistry apps as i have time for and have also tried my hand at creating VR games, primarily from VR. i regularly use tilt brush, blocks and masterpiecevr. so far the closest thing i've come to retopo in VR is using verto studio which allows me to drop vertices and snap them to an object and then fill in the faces between the vertices.

[Fede]

I'm glad you all are enjoying this.

@Jimbo:
I've yet to spend a lengthy amount of time on some of these other packages but I was really impressed with the way Oculus Medium does things - they do the voxel thing like everyone else and then give you an option for quality on export. It feels like saving a JPG with quality settings.

@Faibu:
Can you link to Verto Studio and that other app here please? Seems like this is the collector thread.

I think the biggest challenge I have in exposing tools for the VR headsets is the lack of a keyboard or a good way to put actions in the user's hands. Traditional 3D modelling tools have tons of shortcuts that people use regularly. In VR you don't need to do things like ALT+MOUSE and SHIFT+MOUSE to do somethng because you have good 3D position, but in turn you need to deal with lack of buttons for activating other features.

Any ideas on this front are always welcome.

Cheers,
F

[Rakjavik]

Rigging, AWESOME! I'll be playing with that over the weekend.

Blocks has an interesting system to help with button presses, when you have the trigger pressed on your drawing hand, your 2nd hand trigger works like a mode shift. So while you are drawing with your right hand, you can hit the trigger on the left to enable other functions (in Blocks it is snapping other objects)

[Abra]

Originally posted by federico:

I'm glad you all are enjoying this.

@Jimbo:
I've yet to spend a lengthy amount of time on some of these other packages but I was really impressed with the way Oculus Medium does things - they do the voxel thing like everyone else and then give you an option for quality on export. It feels like saving a JPG with quality settings.

@Faibu:
Can you link to Verto Studio and that other app here please? Seems like this is the collector thread.

I think the biggest challenge I have in exposing tools for the VR headsets is the lack of a keyboard or a good way to put actions in the user's hands. Traditional 3D modelling tools have tons of shortcuts that people use regularly. In VR you don't need to do things like ALT+MOUSE and SHIFT+MOUSE to do somethng because you have good 3D position, but in turn you need to deal with lack of buttons for activating other features.

Any ideas on this front are always welcome.

Cheers,
F

Hello. There are many innovative ways to apply shortcuts in vr. My preference is for menus that pop up on touchpad touch.