As part of a series of workshops at the Animation department at LUCA School Of Arts, two workshop days were organized where design with Virtual Reality was the main focus. For this, the Department of Audio Visual Arts had purchased 8 Oculus Quest 2 headsets. All headsets have Gravity Sketch installed. This is VR design software that is available for free.
The students were shortly introduced to the main tools and could start designing and testing shortly after that. At his point the students could sketch their designs in VR in a very loose fashion. More akin to sketching on paper or in a digital sketching program, only this method allows for sketching in 3D space.
After getting more acquainted to using the VR headset and the main tools in Gravity Sketch, the students were given an introduction into modelling in Gravity Sketch using the SubD method. You can find an example of this method in this link. The modelling method allows for less heavy file sizes and more control on the 3D topology of the design. Gravity Sketch differs from traditional 3D software as it allows for a more intuitive design process while experiencing the three dimensional space the 3D design is situated in. By using the controllers with body movements, the designer taps into his/her muscle memory to aid in the designing of the 3D model.
During the workshop the students were allowed to pick their own subject as long as it fitted into the following categories: concept art, storyboard, 3D modelling, layout. These are all components of the animation production process.