Introduction to Virtual Reality
Introduction to Virtual Reality
Overview
Exporting from Rhino
Exporting from Rhino
Notes
- Move model to origin point, or the 0,0,0 position on each axis. AKA "000"
- When the _move tool is activated you can type the location or distance you would like to move precisely.
- Convert NURBS objects to meshes
- Export as MotionBuilder FBX
Model preparation in 3Ds Max
Importing & the 3Ds Max User Interface
Notes
- Change Units to the metric system using millimeters.
- Select Customise > Units Setup > ‘System Unit Setup’. Make sure that 1 unit equals 1 millimetre.
- The viewport can be maximised and minimised (Alt + W)
- Navigation;
- Holding 'Alt' with the middle mouse button to orbit around the scene.
- Scrolling the middle mouse button will zoom the view in and out.
- Holding the middle mouse button will pan the view.
UVW Mapping
Notes
- Remember to use layers, they are your friend.
- Ctrl click to select multiple objects.
- Box mapping will work in most circumstances, use 'real world' settings when possible
- (1M x 1M x 1M or 1000mm x 1000mm x 1000mm)
Lightmap Unwrapping
Notes
- You can apply a single modifier to a ground of objects.
- Get familiar with the 'UV Editor' UI, to produce great textures you need to be familiar with it.
- Set UVW Unwrapping channel to 2.
- Change padding from 0.02 to 0.1.
Exporting
Notes
- Exporting as an Autodesk .FBX
- Us the following settings when exporting an FBX;
- Make sure in Geometry that TurboSmooth is unticked
- In Animation makes sure that animation is unticked
- Make sure cameras and lighting is unticked
- In Units, deselect automatic and set scene units converted to Centimeters. This because 1 unit in Unreal Engine equals 1 Centimetre. This will ensure that our model come in at the right scale.
- In FBX File format we are going to set the Type to ASCII and the Version to 2011.
Unreal Engine
Starting a New Project
Notes
Resources
User Interface & Importing
Notes
- To navigate:
- Click and hold your right mouse button to move the camera.
- Use the scroll wheel to zoom.
- Use the W A S D keys to move around the scene.
- We recommend a camera speed of 5.
- FBX Import Options:
- Deselect auto generate collisions.
- Unticking Generate Lightmap UV’s.
- Make sure the Import Uniform Scale is set to 1.
- Untick Import Materials and Import Textures.
Resources
Placing Objects
Notes
- Transform tools; found in the top right hand corner of the viewport.
- Move (E)
- Rotate (R)
- Scale (W)
- Whether the gizmo is object or world based
- Grid Snapping On/Off and Grid Sizing
- Rotation Snapping On/Off and rotational increments
- And Scale Snapping On/Off and scale increments
Starter Content Materials
Notes
- To apply a material to an object simply drag the material from the content browser onto the object.
Resources
Creating Basic Materials
Notes
- Adjust UVWs on the texture coordinate node with U and V tiling. The smaller the number the larger the tiles, the larger the number the smaller the tiles.
Resources
Creating Materials from Textures
Notes
- Opacity channel controls the translucency of the material. 0 = Transparent, 1 = Opaque.
Resources
Lighting & Lighting Builds
Notes
- You can also adjust the direction of the light by using the transformation tools.
- There are two main lights; a spot light and a point light.
- The third is a; Directional Sky-Light AKA. Sun
- Like the other lights, this can be adjusted using the rotation tool. This will change the angle of the sun.
- The directional light is also connected to the skysphere that creates the sky. In the world outliner, it is called SkySphereBlueprint.
- Every time you move the directional light you need to refresh to sky sphere.
- You can build the lighting separately by clicking the dropdown arrow on the build button and selection build lighting only.
- The medium quality setting should suffice for most uses.
- You can still work while your lighting is building.
Resources
VR Camera & Navigation
Notes
- Enable collisions on the floor by adding a box simplified collision to the static mesh.
- Drag and Drop the HTC Vive Camera into the scene
- Found in the Virtual Reality Blueprint -> Blueprints -> Motion Controller Pawn.
- Change the camera to Auto Possess Player 0.
- Correct your Nav Mesh Bounds with a manual scale operation.
- VR Preview will work only if your headset is connected.
Packaging the Project
Notes
- Script Escape key as quit function.
- Adjusting the project settings;
- Always provide an appropriate Project Name.
- Make sure start in VR is ticked.
- Make sure game default map is correct.
- Make sure Windows is a supported platform.
- Package
- File -> Package Project -> Windows and then Windows 64bit.
- This can take some time.
- To transfer your application to a new computer copy the entire folder named WindowsNoEditor.