Info on general VR/AR workflow

mantaskava

Hello good people,

VR part:
I am looking for some info on general VR/AR workflow or at least someone who could point me in the direction where I can find that info.
In short, let's say there's ~100 products/models and one scene/interior in which I want to showcase all those products in. For example there's a vanity cabinet and a mirror above, plus floor and walls of course. All these assets should be interactive so I can swap one or another to a different one directly in VR. For now it should work on a single PC that is located in the showroom, but online/web solutions interests me as well.

AR part:
So at the moment I am mostly interested in VR workflow, but I too wonder how much(if at all) VR/AR workflow differs from each other?
Let's say I have all those VR ready models that client asked for and then later they decide they need AR models as well so people can view them on their website. What additional steps/requirements there appears then?

General part:
All the info/links regarding these topics interests me, so don't be shy Basically, I am interested what happens AFTER I got the models. In VR case, how do I make an interactive scene, and in AR case, how do I "put" that model on clients website so their clients can view them through their phones (and maybe through their browsers as well).

General info/tips/hints/links/program names, all is welcome

Thank You.

Eric Chadwick

You're looking at a deep project there, significant time investment for an individual to take on. It all depends on your current knowledge level. 

Unity is the most often used toolset these days for VR production. Though some prefer Unreal.

For AR you'll likely need to get comfortable with ARKit (Apple devices) and ARCore (Android devices).

mantaskava

Eric, I sure do realize extent/size of project like this, and that is why I wouldn't tackle task like this as a single person. But I still need to start somewhere. And I bet there's people in this forum who already done all this stuff and can point me in the right direction. 
I myself come from arch viz, product viz, and some AR modeling background (but I was commissioned just to model/texture those AR models). And now I am more interested in putting all these product models in VR/AR and actually implementing it all for a client in ways where they can actually use it to increase their sales/improve user experience.  

From what you've said so far I can see I need to google these two topics so far: Unity/Unreal interactive VR, and ARCore.

Yet I still hope someone could direct me to some specific tutorials/courses/youtube channels etc regarding these topics.
Or just expand some more on general workflow/pipeline/steps/required knowledge/required software here.
For example- Is there anything specific you would have liked to know before starting your first VR/AR project? If so, what is it?

rollin

Hi there, you might not be on the right forum if you want to know what happens after you have the models. You might want to ask these questions in development oriented and engine related forums. E.g. the unreal engine or unity engine forums.

Overall about VR - AR reusability. This depends on the target hardware but chances are you have more processing resources in a VR case as AR devices are often more portable and therefore bit less powerful. But this probably depends more on the actual case 

jStins

I agree with the other comments, there is a lot involved here. You really need to define your target platform (Desktop VR? Mobile VR? Handheld AR or an AR headset?). Graphics optimization is super important for smooth playback. The degree that you need high performance graphics increases as you move towards mobile VR or handheld VR systems. Unity is a popular choice for this kind of work:

https://forum.unity.com/forums/ar-vr-xr-discussion.80/

VRTK could be a good starting point for locomotion and interaction if you go down the Unity VR path:

https://vrtoolkit.readme.io/docs

3DGolum

Our general workflow is to create 3D model, texture in Substance Painter, assemble scene in Unity and assign texture maps, export package to developer who then adds all interactivity, and final bake. If you want to view your models online then take a look at glTF export which is also possible within Unity.

I also agree with the above comments that there is a lot involved here and the Unity forums will be a great resource.

mantaskava

It seems to me that majority of you guys lean more towards Unity instead of Unreal, are there any specific reasons for this?

3DGolum

Both have their advantages and it makes no difference to me but the majority of the developers I supply assets for request them in Unity.