BECOME A BETTER VIRTUAL REALITY DESIGNER

TOP TIPS FROM ARTISTS WHO ARE ALREADY WORKING IN VIRTUAL REALITY

Think immersively

“There are wonderful sources of inspiration for composing VR scenes. Forget about movies, TV, and Google Image Search. Instead, think about the kind of art that you can immerse yourself in. Think of architecture, sculpture, theatre in the round, theme park design, and so forth, and study what really inspires you in art that is meant to surround the viewer.” Brian Tate, geme director, Red Storm Entertainment

layer it up

“Use scale to full effect. It the best visual tool you have. Layer environments as much as possible and introduce depth and parallax within your VR space. Create the illusion that there’s an even bigger world to explore.” Chris Rundell, senior environment artist, Ninja Theory

Be Realistic

“You can’t fake scale or perspective. In VR, the viewer sees everything the way they would see a real object. Their brain instantly knows when the size of something isn’t right, so measure your work meticulously.” Brian Tate, game director, Red Storm Entertainment

Build virtually

“I encourage all artists to spend time inside the headset, working with tools like Tilt Brush, Medium and Makevr to mock up scenes. Visual thinkers can just let the ideas flow. You don’t need concept art, or even to click around in Max or Maya.” Ben Curtis, freelance creative/producer director

view it in vr

“Experience what it looks and feels like for yourself as soon as possible. Don’t spend hours or days working on it on a 2D screen before looking at it through the headset. That means getting comfortable putting your own content into an engine and viewing it quickly. Likewise, when critiquing another artist’s VR work, do it in VR!” Brian Tate, game director, Red Storm Entertainment

Go BIG

“When starting a new level keep it boxy and crude until you’re satisfied your scales will work. Measure real world objects and props, check size relationships with your character height before you commit to textured details. Many people don’t realise it’s too small/large until it’s too late. Texture reworking sucks and wastes your time.” Chris Rundell, senior environment artist, Ninja Theory