pfschuyler Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Anyone try the HTC Vive yet? For those who are not aware, this is the competitor to the Oculus Rift. What distinguishes it is that it is full room-scale VR, walking around inside of a virtual space. It is amazing. Autodessys should really be getting into this for the future. The dream scenario would be a new 3d modeling interface for FormZ, in 3d space using motion controllers. Both of the gaming engines Unity3d and Unreal Engine already have new prototype VR interfaces where you build games in virtual worlds for the Vive and Oculus Rift. Imagine modeling with FormZ, not through a 2d screen/interface at all, but inside of a 3d world itself, interacting with scale and space directly.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfschuyler Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Something like this: Building VR in VR with Unreal Engine 4 - Early Preview ( ) Of course we're watching it on a screen., this user is seeing everything in scale-accurate immersive 3d. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael_G Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 That's amazing indeed. I have started creating VR and AR in Unity recently. In principle that's not that difficult, if you just want to use the engine as an interactive viewer. For smaller models even Cardboard works quite well. If just FormZ geometry would export as well as it does from Max or Blender. It seems to be extremely hit or miss with exports from FormZ to Unity. Anyone has an export format (with settings) or a work-flow that does the trick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted April 5, 2016 Share Posted April 5, 2016 HI Michael, Exporting as OBJ or FBX with the TRIANGULATE ALL Faces option should work properly. Do you have any issues with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernieB Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Hello. Has there been an online Form Z demonstration of exporting a model into FBX format into Unreal Engine? I didn't realize the latest version has a built-in plugin for FBX export. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemonkey Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 I did some work modelling in FormZ and exporting to Unity for Oculus about 6 months ago and everything worked fine. There was a bit of work to do with textures etc. in Unity but that was to be expected. There are still some improvements that could be made to exporting. As much as we would like it to, it's very difficult to export from one program to another seamlessly. I would find a series of export/import 2 minute tutorials between different software a real help. I know there are bits and pieces in the forums but I always find them difficult to find, and I might not use it again for 6 months. A simple 2 minute video of: FormZ to Cinema4D, Sketchup to FormZ, Etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etroxel Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 We have a Vive, and are using the Iris' Prospect app with the SketchUp format to walk through architectural models. It's handling large models very well, and the interface is intuitive. Currently the software is free, but I don't expect it to stay that way forever. https://irisvr.com/prospect I save my formZ 8.5 file back to v7, then export from fZ 7 to DAE format and import that file into SketchUp. This gets all of the materials over in tact. Then I save the SketchUp file and drop it onto the Prospect app. Prospect will also natively open Revit and OBJ files. I haven't tried OBJ from formZ yet, but from 3DS Max the materials are coming across. I'll try OBJ from fZ and report back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartjuan Posted July 14, 2016 Share Posted July 14, 2016 OK, I just gotta weigh in. I love FormZ and I love modelling in 3D - I also love making REAL stuff. However, the idea that I would ever want to stand in a empty closet with a blindfold on - staring for hours on end at two 2" screens inside the blindfoild, and try to do the work I do now is absolutely insane. I think VR is cool and has some reallife applications ( beyond porn I hope) especially for simlation and gaming. But trying to spend your day in a VR environment doing the hard work of design sounds just awful. Plus, I use too many other resouces, many of them physical like, catalogs and real material samples, oh and conversations with real people to be isolated like that. ADS please dont waste any time trying to make an interface for designing in a VR environment. Yes, please keep inproiving the export functions, and maybe add a easy export to VR file format with stereo cameras enabled so it can go straight to Google Cardboard or one of the many other apps/viewers. I'd much rather see those resouces going into getting the drafting module up to snuff or improving the materials editor. Thanks, Bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfschuyler Posted July 15, 2016 Author Share Posted July 15, 2016 "sounds just awful" ...that about sums it up. ADS, do what you wish, but whatever decisions you make...please actually try the Vive before assuming you understand it (Tilt Brush, specifically). Its not going to be something to even ponder for FormZ 9 or probably even 10. But it will open your eyes to the fact that 2d GUIs for flat screens are the true compromise and waste of resources. Best to at least glimpse the future, no? Just ask Glen Keane: http://www.tested.com/tech/541133-animator-glen-keane-tests-htc-vive/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernieB Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 OK, I just gotta weigh in. I love FormZ and I love modelling in 3D - I also love making REAL stuff. However, the idea that I would ever want to stand in a empty closet with a blindfold on - staring for hours on end at two 2" screens inside the blindfoild, and try to do the work I do now is absolutely insane. I think VR is cool and has some reallife applications ( beyond porn I hope) especially for simlation and gaming. But trying to spend your day in a VR environment doing the hard work of design sounds just awful. Plus, I use too many other resouces, many of them physical like, catalogs and real material samples, oh and conversations with real people to be isolated like that. ADS please dont waste any time trying to make an interface for designing in a VR environment. Yes, please keep inproiving the export functions, and maybe add a easy export to VR file format with stereo cameras enabled so it can go straight to Google Cardboard or one of the many other apps/viewers. I'd much rather see those resouces going into getting the drafting module up to snuff or improving the materials editor. Thanks, Bart For an exhibition experience I think it would be cool to use VR where you can draw or move objects in a 3D space. Just be sure to clean the headsets often. But the idea of using it for porn...is just...ridiculous. It's not even New Age, like sleeping in sensory deprivation tank. It's like the reverse of using a sex doll - whatever that is like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-andrew- Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 No question whatsoever in my mind that VR, and, more directly, AR, is the future of 3d design and design exploration. There's no substitute for it. That's where it's going. You cannot stop it any more than you could have stopped smartphones. At one time, people felt computers were awful, useless things, meant for scientists in office basements and had no place at home... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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