Starting this project I initially wanted a smaller group, as I knew it would be easier to manage with the workload and timings. I decided to collaborate with Carlotta as we both have similar interests within VFX. We got in contact with a MA Virtual Reality student as we were hoping to incorporate and learn more about VR this term. We found a student, Rita, who was happy to work with us. Our initial discussions consisted of agreeing on our aesthetic and theme, both myself and Carlotta originally wanted to create an advert as it ensures a clear purpose and narrative for our project. However, we are aware that compromise will be needed.
I wrote up a short description of our initial concepts for our production and Carlotta compiled images for our mood board.
After speaking with Rita she was on board with the aesthetic and ideas we were going for. She had the idea of incorporating the concept of wellness and mental health in our production, so the project developed to become a virtual space that a person can inhabit for the purpose of reliving stress and escapism.
Rita informed us that her tutor thinks another VR student would be needed, therefore after meeting we decided to combine our group with another. We are now working in a group of six; four VFX students and two from VR.
The concept is remaining largely the same, creating a VR experience within the overarching theme of Escapism.
The plan is to create 3 different worlds within virtual reality, an energising and colourful one, a calming and relaxing world, and an adventure experience. We will create these worlds in pairs, both me and Carlotta will work on the calming experience, adhering to our mood-board aesthetic.
After discussions with various members of the group, me and Carlotta had decided on a rough layout/idea for our room. Speaking with the VR students we were able to decide 3 interactive elements to our experience: breathing exercises with a flower, lighting candles and interacting with a gong.
We needed to ensure we were modelling and texturing our items in the correct way to be transferred into Unity.
I also was tasked with animating the face of a character within the VR experience: a penguin. I used blendshapes to create the correct expressions and movements for the script that Lauren had written.
Lauren wanted me to animate a hug on our penguin character, this is because he will be interacting with the user in VR. I had not rigged and skin painted the model, so I just did a very basic blendshape animation, using the vertices and faces to move the arms.
Another interactive element to the VR experience is with the penguin screaming. We want the user to be able to scream along with it, so I needed to animate this also.
The issue we faced is that when I exported the animation for Lauren to use in Unity the timing had to be perfect to fit the audio as she cannot edit it further.
This meant that I had to align the talking, pauses, and scream with the voice over. I primarily used the graph editor to do this.
Animating the penguin in Maya was not too complicated, the real issue that arose was with exporting it to Unity. The model would constantly flicker between hard and smooth shading, and we noticed the scream animation did not translate well.
We needed to ask for advice as to why this was happening. However, due to time constraints it could not be fixed before the deadline.
I modelled and textured the gong for our scene. I am unsure if the colour scheme is right at the moment, I will be able to change this as needed depending on the overall aesthetic of our room.
This is another interactive element to the experience, The handle needed to be made and exported separately, so the user can pick it up in VR.
I started working on modelling the candles for another interaction. The plan is to get the user to light them when in the ‘calm’ room.
I created colour maps for the candles, as I wanted a gradient on each of them.
We have an issue regarding the textures transferring from Maya to Unity. Me and Lauren sat together to figure out how to correctly transfer the models, we followed a YouTube tutorial. Importing the items to Unity was a success, however we found that some of the textures were not able to transfer, for example the frosted glass – I believe this could be because it is based on a preset in Arnold. We couldn’t find a solution online, so the VR students will ask their tutor for advice.
Another issue we encountered was that the models were in ‘smooth shader‘ in Maya, yet when opened in Unity they were blocky. Again, we couldn’t figure out how to solve this so Lauren will speak with her tutor.
I also needed to make a corinthian column for the scene. I started the leaf detail in Zbrush, then I imported it to Maya and did a duplicate special to create the repetition around the column.
Next I needed to join Carlotta in modelling furniture for the room.
I wanted to model an interesting sofa, I found a good one that I believe would fit the aesthetic. I initially started the model in Maya, I attempted a few methods trying to decide what the best technique would be.
I decided the easiest and quickest way would be to sculpt by eye in Zbrush, with the symmetry tool activated I was able to model the sofa relatively well.
I also modelled a vase in Zbrush, I found an interesting reference photo then sculpted it using DamStandard and Smooth tools.
I started the rug in Maya using a plane, then imported into Zbrush to add texture using GroomTurbulance.
After importing the furniture into a scene together I started fixing the UV’s on the sofa, in order to efficiently texture later. I created the UV in Zbrush, then cut and sewed the seams in Maya as needed.
I used Arnold pre-sets to texture the furniture, this was to get an idea of how the light would work on the models. I also wanted to initially experiment with colour scheme, but I will use my own textures to adhere to the palate from our mood board.
As transferring textures from Maya to Unity was an overarching problem we faced, Carlotta, Rita and I decided that the scene would be textured in Unity in order to fit the deadline.
Our room is completely modelled and the UV’s are all organised, therefore we still hope to texture the room after submission.
We went to the final presentation of the VR students, in which we got feedback on the work from their tutors. This gave us a few days to work on the aesthetic of some of the rooms, and any elements we needed to change last minute.
Overview:
Overall, this group project has been interesting, I enjoyed working with the girls from VR and feel I have learnt new things regarding VR software and how best to import and export files for it. Communication has been fine during the process, Lauren took the role of lead and was very easy to contact, this meant creating good models and animations was possible.
Despite this we also had many issues during the process. Firstly, one of the group members had left mid-project, this meant we needed to pick up the extra work. I had to animate the penguin as a consequence of this, and upon reflection I believe we were very ambitious with what we could achieve within the time-frame.
We also faced issues with texturing models in Maya and exporting to Unity, we were not able to overcome this before the deadline. Therefore the VR experience is not completely the aesthetic we were initially after. I have learnt that compromise is necessary when working in a group, as well as good and clear communication.