- Timeframe: 2 Weeks
- Roles: 3D Modeling, Interactive Design
- Skills: Cinema 4D, Unity3D
During my second year at SCCA, I was given the opportunity to explore Virtual Reality in independent study, and helped faculty lay the foundation for what will eventually become VR curriculum for the design program. I had little to no experience with all the aspects of creating a VR experience, but was eager to dive in and see how far I could take it before graduation.
Initial Model in Cinema 4D
The challenge for the Space Camp project was to create an interactive virtual reality experience from the 3D modeling all the way to full immersion in the environment. After deciding on a scene I wanted to build, I started in Cinema 4D modeling the environment and playing with lighting and skyboxes to create a nice little campground.
After spending time in Unity I was able to animate the campfire and get crickets singing in the background.
The next step was to get in the environment and start the interactive portion. Using the "Virtual Reality Toolkit" SDK I wired the scene up for the HTC Vive, and went camping! The video above is a screen recording of me walking around the campsite interacting with assets.
There was only one thing missing, getting the marshmallow to light! For this I had to learn a little javascript, and learn how triggers worked in Unity. After a little work, I was able to get the fire to jump to the stick when it touches the campfire. Overall this project was a blast, and I'm looking forward to doing more interactive experience design.
3D Print Model of the Camp
As an experiment in prototyping in 3D, I decided to export the camp and 3D print it.