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Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

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Re: Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

#11

Post by stephengillie »

thenomad wrote: post #7

I've been testing this tool this afternoon. It's surprisingly powerful. The scale-shifting means it's very easy to work on something at toy soldier scale, and then shift it to be an epic hall or similar. And being able to immediately visualise the space you've created in VR, without having to work on a 2D screen then throw a headset on, is a major improvement on current VR authoring. (I'm the developer of Left-Hand P…

Having developers spend more time "in-helmet" will help them make more compelling VR experiences. It's obvious from the state of experiences that most devs aren't spending all day in VR, the way someone might spend all day in League or WoW or EvE. Hopefully this will fix that.

I'm excited to get home and try this.

Re: Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

#12

Post by BatFastard »

Idea is great, dying to try it out. The cost of getting 3d content has been growing more and more cost prohibitive every year. Does it export ot a fbx or obj format?

Interesting that it is a mesh building tool with a voxel representation.

Can you do any type of scripting or animation with it? So many things needed. I want displacement maps, and collision hulls, and ...

Re: Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

#13

Post by [deleted] »

stephengillie wrote: post #11
thenomad wrote: post #7

I've been testing this tool this afternoon. It's surprisingly powerful. The scale-shifting means it's very easy to work on something at toy soldier scale, and then shift it to be an epic hall or similar. And being able to immediately visualise the space you've created in VR, without having to work on a 2D screen then throw a headset on, is a major improvement on current VR authoring. (I'm the developer of Left-Hand P…

Having developers spend more time "in-helmet" will help them make more compelling VR experiences. It's obvious from the state of experiences that most devs aren't spending all day in VR, the way someone might spend all day in League or WoW or EvE. Hopefully this will fix that. I'm excited to get home and try this.

[deleted]

Re: Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

#14

Post by secure »

I used this tool to create a 3D model of a rack deployment. It was quite intuitive and I finished my model in an hour or so, which was way less than using traditional tools like sketchup (I tried before and gave up frustrated).

3D modeling really is an area where VR is just way more pleasant to use than any other option, at least for beginners :)

Re: Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

#15

Post by meheleventyone »

BatFastard wrote: post #12

Idea is great, dying to try it out. The cost of getting 3d content has been growing more and more cost prohibitive every year. Does it export ot a fbx or obj format? Interesting that it is a mesh building tool with a voxel representation. Can you do any type of scripting or animation with it? So many things needed. I want displacement maps, and collision hulls, and ...

It's not voxel based as far as I can tell, it's a regular poly mesh editor albeit with a great interface for VR. It does provide some constraints that disallow edits that result in the mesh ending up in a bad state.

Right now there aren't any tools for animation or anything else like that. Just basic object creation, extrusion and feature manipulation.

Re: Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

#16

Post by BatFastard »

meheleventyone wrote: post #15
BatFastard wrote: post #12

Idea is great, dying to try it out. The cost of getting 3d content has been growing more and more cost prohibitive every year. Does it export ot a fbx or obj format? Interesting that it is a mesh building tool with a voxel representation. Can you do any type of scripting or animation with it? So many things needed. I want displacement maps, and collision hulls, and ...

It's not voxel based as far as I can tell, it's a regular poly mesh editor albeit with a great interface for VR. It does provide some constraints that disallow edits that result in the mesh ending up in a bad state. Right now there aren't any tools for animation or anything else like that. Just basic object creation, extrusion and feature manipulation.

That's a good start at least. Do you know if it is open source?

Re: Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

#17

Post by [deleted] »

stephengillie wrote: post #11
thenomad wrote: post #7

I've been testing this tool this afternoon. It's surprisingly powerful. The scale-shifting means it's very easy to work on something at toy soldier scale, and then shift it to be an epic hall or similar. And being able to immediately visualise the space you've created in VR, without having to work on a 2D screen then throw a headset on, is a major improvement on current VR authoring. (I'm the developer of Left-Hand P…

Having developers spend more time "in-helmet" will help them make more compelling VR experiences. It's obvious from the state of experiences that most devs aren't spending all day in VR, the way someone might spend all day in League or WoW or EvE. Hopefully this will fix that. I'm excited to get home and try this.

[deleted]

Re: Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

#19

Post by alexqgb »

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #3

Should I be surprised that this doesn't work with Google's own Daydream? I would have assumed support for that before Vive and Rift. I'm assuming there are technical limitations to doing this on Daydream but is it just not doable at all on it? Is the control not precise enough or do you need two? Edit: Okay thanks for the clarification! I guess I wouldn't be surprised if Google has it working internally on their own…

Not if you understand the difference between a system that only tracks three degrees of freedom (i.e., rotational motion only / e.g., Daydream and GearVR), and one that tracks all six (i.e., rotational + translational / e.g., Vive and Rift).

Since 3 DoF systems are widely-viewed within the industry as being time-limited, most designers with long-range plans for their work will build for 6 DoF first and foremost, and maybe develop a 3 DoF version if the basic concept and funding stream allows.

Being a general authoring tool rather than a specific title, Google's VR Blocks fit squarely (sorry) in the Do 6 DoF First category.

Re: Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

#20

Post by alexqgb »

Stanleyc23 wrote: post #6
avaer wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Performance aside, Daydream does not have 6DOF. There's a bunch of hacks you can do around 3DOF, but the experience would be severely crippled without 3D tracked controllers.

once 6DOF technology gets more advanced and more distribution, is there any use case or niche for 3DOF where it is actually the better solution?

Assuming rough parity in terms of simplicity and cost, no. Unlike, the limited range of B&W photography vs. color, there is no intrinsic value in having a compromised sense of space and severely limited range of motion when using immersive media.
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