10 Important Points to Note before starting VR Development in 2021

Oct 2, 2020

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Do you want to become a full-fledged virtual reality developer and make money from your games?. I know you do. Here’s one thing, starting off on the wrong foot can make it very tough for you to attain that level in the expected amount of time before you lose the passion you once had. Here’s why:

  • On the process of gathering any new skill there are two very important things you should keep in mind: Decision & Action.

If you can’t make prompt decision, the action side of things diminishes significantly. And that’s not very good because actions makes you achieve goals.

In this blog post I will cover and explain all the necessary areas you should know before getting in vr development for whatever purpose you might have(video games, education, movies, medicine, automobiles).Please Note that, more attention is focused on video games development in vr. Let’s begin

These are the steps guiding us through this article:

Overview

  • Gentle Introduction to VR Development
  • 10 Essentials for VR Dev (Main Content)
  • 10 Great tools for VR Development
  • Summary

What is virtual reality development

Developers, storytellers, artists, beginners, etc. all have an opportunity to build immersive experiences using an exciting new technology that literally pushes the bounds of content creation.

VR content development is similar to 3D game development in that it the spatial design of a large, immersive 3D worlds that the player/user will traverse on her own. But in truth, it is not similar to 3D game development, there is a wide range of differences between the two like:

  • Immersion: The users are placed in a virtual space, cut from the real world on a sensory level. VR headsets allow this by occupying their whole field of vision, while headphones achieve the same results with sounds, thus fully immersing the users in another world.
  • Positioning: How is the world positioned relative to the user(player)
  • Double Lens: The worlds must be viewed from a double lens headset, how to provision for this
  • Interaction: To feel real, a simulated environment should include virtual elements we can interact with: picking up an item, swinging a sword to kill a goblin, breaking a mug, pushing the ignition button of plane in a flight simulator, etc.
  • Sensory feedback/Tracking: Vr headsets track the position of the users within a given space so that the computer renders the changes of positions. Users moving their heads or bodies will be given the illusion that they are moving in the virtual world. In short, a vr world has to meet a few or all the features above for it to be considered immersive. Keeping that in mind, let’s look at how you can kickstart career in Virtual reality for whatever your purpose might be.

10 Essentials to know before starting VR Development

  • Begin your Technical training

    So you want to start creating VR worlds and certainly you have some ideas on where to start or you don’t have at all. Thankfully, there is a small circle of resources available for you to choose from so here it’s easier to make a decision. The two main softwares/game engines we have that can accomplish your goals are unity and unreal engine. As a beginner it is recommended to start with unity for these benefits:

    • Unity has a very simple learning curve. You can start making simple games and intercations in a little as a week if you put in enough time, believe me.
    • Unity is free for all to use until you start earning a large sum of money which by then you would have no problems in showing appreciation by paying up.
    • Unity has wide and growing support for other purpose aside from video games like movie production, 3D animation, education, medicine and space. As you can see, there is something for everyone.
    • There is a lot of resources you can use to learn and improve your vr development skill. Unity is dedicated to helping beginners be successful in thier chosen course.

    I expect that you have a decision to make unity your development home because it would favour you greatly. About the resources i mentioned, these would help you get started:

    Using this resources, you can start to work with unity to realize your dream of building VR world in any industry.

  • Choose your Focus: Technical or Graphical

    Just like in 3D game development, VR general purpose development also demands skillful focus on two main areas: Technical(Building the environment and making it interactive with codes) and Graphical(designing the environment with artistic software,assets). This tells you that it is not recommended to be the programmer and the graphics designer at the same time: It just wont work for you. I used to think that if I put in a lot time, I could achieve everything alone but in truth, for you to become a pro in VR development you would have to put in so much time and efforts which is not guaranteed if you are doing two things at the same time.

    Now let’s say you decide to focus your resources in coding , you might be asking how you can acquire assets to use for building your environment and scenes. Why this mnight have been a big concern a few years back for indie createors, it isn’t anymore there are lots of ways you can get graphics to complete your projects. Follow the steps below where I would guide you through the process:

    For Technical and Programming focused

    As someone focused on developing vr applications on unity engine alone, you want a simple way to get the assets/models of your choice to use in prototype and production level versions. I have compiled a list of the best places to get models, most are free others cost a few dollars.

    For Graphical and Design focused

    If you are graphics inclined and want to develop for vr, focusing on your skills would bring great benefits in time. The market for virtual reality desginers is expected to grow by 10% by 2025 according to statista. This is because 60^ of people involved in 3d games and VR development are software devs and programmers. But, as you may have thought you also require the skills of a programmer in whatever projects you might take up, I sourced around for the best way to go about this:

    • Consider searching on some freelance websites dedicated for VR Development
    • Get involved in the Unity/VR Reddit groups. many people have found partners and went on to complete projects together. Reddit Unity3D, Reddit virtualreality
    • In the first case though, you would need to spend some cash for hiring a developer you can team up with. I recommend selling your graphics skills either on some frelance websites you can find or generally any of the listed 3D models store above.

  • Determine your Target Platform

    This means that you should identify the platform or device your VR applications would work on. Is it a specific OS like Android, IOS, Windows or General like mobile devices against PC. Also, ofc we have the newer Standalone devices like Oculus Quest, Go, Rift and HTC Vive which runs on AndroidOS and Steam VR respectively. As a beginner, it is necessary that your applications has support for mobile devices because it’s easier to market it to consumers. Also as a business/company creating VR experiences to market a new product to your customers, it’s more realistic to develop for mobile devices has greater audience.

  • Test your work with the right hardware

    Every VR Developer needs to have a test unit to see how the application works and what bugs need to be fixed while still in development mode. Depending on the kind of app your are building, your VR gear and system would vary.

    If you want to target casual users of VR, develop for Google Daydream or GearVR, you would need to have a similar VR Headset for your dev process This would ensure that you have a working prototype similar to how you want your users to interact with your app with no flaws.

    And if you want to target premium VR users, develop for Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, you would need to make the adjustments for that. Once you’ve determined your target platform and associated hardware/headset, consider any computing requirements. For Rift and Vive, you’ll likely need to invest in a PC gaming computer that contains a solid graphics card.

  • Consider the System Reqirements

    Before installing your preferred software in this case Unity Engine, be sure that your computer meets the necessary system requirements for development process. This would help you before-hand evaluate your system specifications and make any necessary adjustments before you begin.

    Below is the required system specs for unity VR Development:

    Windows

    • OS: Windows 7 SP1+, 8, 10, 64-bit versions only; macOS 10.12+
    • GPU: Graphics card with DX10 (shader model 4.0) capabilities.
    • Processor: 1.1 GHz Processor
    • Memory: 4 GB RAM
    • Storage: Upto 10GB Free Space allocated for Unity Dev

With these you know know what’s in store and can make tweak your system if it does not already meet the required specs

And there you have it, 5 things to consider before starting VR development. This can take you just a day to figure out or in some cases, weeks. It all depends on how prepared you have been till now i.e learning the ropes. That said, I think some tools will be greatly helpful for you in your vr journey whatever your propose might be. Take a look at them below:

Top 5 VR Software Development tools

  1. Unity

    Unity is famous for game development, however, it helps you to build VR solutions for many other sectors too. E.g., you can create VR solutions for automotive, transportation, manufacturing, media & entertainment, engineering, construction, etc. with Unity. You can get a valuable set of tools when you use Unity, e.g.:

    • A powerful editor to create VR assets;
    • Artist and designer tools;
    • CAD tools;
    • Collaboration tools.

    Read more about them in “Unity 2019: performance by default, high-fidelity real-time graphics, and artist tools”. Unity works with all popular VR platforms like Oculus, Sony, etc.

  2. Amazon Sumerian

    Amazon Sumerian is the VR engine from AWS, and you don’t need 3D graphics or VR programming skills to use it. Sumerian works with all popular VR platforms like Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, HTC Vive Pro, Google Daydream, and Lenovo Mirage, moreover, it works with Android and iOS mobile devices too.

    Amazon Sumerian supports various VR use cases like employee education, training simulation, field services productivity, retail & sales, and virtual concierge. It has powerful features, e.g.:

    • Sumerian editor;
    • Sumerian hosts;
    • Asset management;
    • An ability to script the logic in the scenes you create.

    Read more about these features in “Amazon Sumerian features”.

    You can access extensive learning resources that will help you to use Sumerian, and you can read “Getting started with Amazon Sumerian” for this. The Amazon Sumerian FAQ page has plenty of valuable information that’s useful for any virtual reality developer. Check out the Amazon Sumerian pricing page for its pricing plans.

  3. Google VR for Everyone

    Google, the technology giant offers a wide range of VR development tools, and you can use them to create immersive VR experience for your stakeholders. You can access these tools on the Google VR developer portal.

    You can use these tools to develop VR apps for multiple platforms, e.g., Unity, Unreal, Android, iOS, and web. To access the guides to develop VR apps for each of these platforms, first navigate to “Choose your development environment” on the Google VR developer portal.

    The Google VR developer platform has software development kits (SDKs) for all VR platforms it supports, e.g., Unity, Android, iOS, etc. You can navigate to the download page on the Google VR developer portal to access them. You can read “Google VR API reference” to understand the Google VR APIs, which covers all SDKs that the Google VR development platform offers.

  4. Blender

    Blender is an open-source 3D creation suite, and it’s free. At the time of writing, Blender 2.80 is its latest release. The Blender Foundation, an independent organization for public benefit governs the development of Blender.

    Blender offers the following features and capabilities:

    • You can create your 3D pipeline with modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, composing, and motion tracking.
    • Blender supports video editing and game creation.
    • If you have an experienced VR developer in your team, then he/she can use its API for Python scripting to customize the application. This allows you to create specialized tools.

    You can download Blender for using it on a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. Visit the documentation page on the Blender website to read its manuals, moreover, you can also access its tutorials.

  5. Oculus Medium

    Oculus, the well-known provider of VR platforms like Oculus Rift S, Oculus Quest, and Oculus Go also offers powerful VR development software, named Medium. It’s a comprehensive tool, which allows you to create 3D assets.

    You can sculpt, model, and paint the VR assets you create. Even if you are a beginner, with Oculus Medium you can quickly create an immersive environment.

    The Oculus Medium YouTube channel has many useful videos, and you can view them to get more information on this tool.

The 5 Virtual Reality development tools I have described above can help, however, developing a VR solution can be complex. With this guidelines and steps in VR development, you should be able to start your journey for what purpose you have. This is a lengthy article and as such, you might have questions circling your mind. The comments section is provided just for that reason, and don’t hesitate to leave me a question. Thanks Chel_