LIVE ONLINE COURSE
ON AR/VR DESIGN
11 OCT 2023 - 15 JAN 2024
DURATION:
12 WEEKS
MONDAYS & WEDNESDAYS
5 PM PST / 8 PM EST
Turn your imagination into immersive experiences. Harness the power of Blender and Unity to forge a path in the cutting-edge field of virtual and augmented reality.
Build impressive portfolio cases and prepare for the job market as you learn from Adam Liss, former Senior UX Designer at Amazon.
THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU, IF...
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YOU ARE A CREATIVE WITH NO 3D EXPERIENCE (YET)
Amplify your skillset as an artist or a designer! We’ll equip you with the essential skills in 3D modeling, interactive virtual environments, custom behavior creation, and lifelike animations so you can seamlessly transition into the world of XR.
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YOU ARE A 3D ARTIST LOOKING TO LEVEL UP YOUR VR/AR
Gain expertise in VR/AR and discover how to take your 3D skills to new heights. You’ll build solid XR design portfolio cases to expand your career possibilities and stand out in the rapidly evolving world of digital experiences.
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YOU WANT TO ENTER THE XR FIELD FROM SCRATCH
Our bootcamp is a perfect fit for fresh graduates from other design fields and career switchers – it’ll help you unlock the gateway to an exciting path in the industry with no XR background whatsoever.
Bring your virtual visions to life.
From crafting stunning 3D models and designing captivating environments to implementing interactivity and optimizing assets for different platforms, you’ll get all the skills needed to create truly immersive XR.
Creativity and innovation – in learning, too.
Shape the future of digital experiences with the power of live online learning – unleash your ideas, connect with peers, and receive expert feedback from the comfort of your own space.
LISS LinkedIn Profile
- Senior UX Designer, ex-Amazon, HTC Vive
- Over 9 years of expertise in designing games, tools, and AR/VR applications
- Led a team on an unreleased Augmented Reality headset project as a senior UX designer at Amazon
- Contributed to the design of VR collaboration software for HTC Vive and home environment for VIVE Cosmos headset, and worked on various projects at Deloitte Digital, including a VR golf tour and AR tool for brain surgeon
- Master of Entertainment Technology degree holder who’s extremely passionate about experimental game projects, cooking, and gardening
COURSE INTRODUCTION
MODULE 1
Intro to 3D Modeling & Assets Creation
Step into the extraordinary world of XR design and equip yourself with the knowledge and skills to harness the power of AR/VR. From exploring the fascinating history to diving into cutting-edge technologies, this class will ignite your passion for crafting immersive digital realms.
- AR x VR x MR (distinctions and definitions)
- The pros and cons
- The history of AR/VR
- Hardware overview
- Content creation pipeline
Embark on a journey into the world of 3D modeling. Grasp the intricacies of Blender's menus, interfaces, and modeling tools, unleashing your potential to shape, mold, and craft stunning 3D creations.
- The basics of 3D meshes
- Intro to Blender
- Blender menus & interfaces
- Modeling techniques
- Demo: Tour the Blender interface & controls
Forge your own masterpiece by transforming pixels into 3D wonders! With Blender, discover the art of importing reference images, refining your model's form, and employing advanced modeling techniques.
- Basic modeling techniques
- Importing reference images
- Modeling and shaping
- Demo: Creating a basic model in Blender
Assignment #1: Create a 3D Model in Blender
Let's get started on our course project! Create an untextured golf club by using reference images for your mini-golf course project.
Extra Credit #1: Create another 3D model of your choosing that will be used as an obstacle or decoration for your golf course.
Immerse yourself in materials, textures, and realistic object rendering within Blender. Learn how to create visually striking models that transport viewers into virtual reality.
- Materials, textures & shaders
- Vertex cleanup, unwrapping & UV mapping
- Texturing methods (UV-mapped vs. one texture per material)
- Applying textures to objects
- Demo: Texturing a model in Blender
Assignment #2: Create a textured model
Make a textured 3D object in 3 steps.
Extra Credit #2: Texture the additional 3D model you created previously.
MODULE 2
Building VR Environments
We’ve used Blender to create 3D models, now it’s time to keep building. Welcome to Unity! This is where you’ll plant your 3D model and turn it into a scene for a game or other AR/VR experiences.
- Starting a new project
- Intro to menus & interfaces
- Intro to GameObjects & components
- Placing and manipulating objects
- Demo: Setting up a Unity project
Begin your journey by setting up your VR project in Unity. Learn the foundations that will allow you to view and interact with VR scenes using either a headset or computer.
- VR design principles
- Successful VR software use cases
- Setting up a VR player rig
- Simulating and testing without a headset
- Demo: Getting VR set up in Unity
Assignment #3: View your 3D model
Using a simulator or VR headset, view the scene that you have created in your Unity project.
Master the best practices of creating environments and jump into the theory of terrain teleportation. Explore the tools that experts use when visualizing memorable experiences.
- Environmental rendering in Unity
- Indoor vs. outdoor environments
- Unity ProBuilder & Terrain tools
- Teleportation and locomotion
- Demo: Creating a VR environment (Unity)
Assignment #4: Create an indoor VR environment
Your objective is to produce a Unity environment where users teleport.
Lights, VR, action! Unity offers different types of lighting, so let’s learn what’s available and the technicalities behind each type.
- Intro to Unity lights
- Light and shadow settings
- Baked vs. dynamic lighting
- Demo: Adding lights to a VR environment (Unity)
Lighting can make or break, pictures, movies, and definitely VR experiences. Learning the basics won’t be enough. In this class, you’ll cover advanced tools that will simulate more realistic environments.
- Lightmaps
- Global illumination
- Light probes
- Reflection probes
- Demo: Making lights and reflections (Unity)
Assignment #5 Add lights to your VR environment
The objective is to create a Unity environment with realistic lighting.
MODULE 3
Interactivity, Scripting, and Animation
You’ve made your environment, added the lighting, and now it’s time to get interactive! Learn which best design practices to implement and how to work with VR interactions.
- Common VR interactions
- Physics simulation & interactivity
- Haptics
- Considerations for ergonomics & accessibility
- Demo: Attaching interactions to objects (Unity and XRI)
Assignment #6: Add interactions to your VR environment
Create a realistic Unity scene with interactive objects.
Explore scripting without having to write code! Attain the skills to integrate character behaviors, game logic, and interactive systems.
- Intro to Unity Visual Scripting
- Common components
- Creating a script
- Demo: Adding logic to a scene (Unity Visual Scripting)
Assignment #7: Add logic to your VR environment
Build upon your game by incorporating game logic using Visual Scripting tool.
Discover the basics of C# scripting as you delve into the foundational principles of code modification. Unveil your skills in a captivating demonstration where you'll infuse dynamic logic into a scene using a text Visual Studio editor in Unity.
- Basic programming constructs (methods, variables, if/then logic, for loops)
- Intro to code editor software (Visual Studio)
- Common Unity C# functions
- Demo: Adding logic to a scene (C# using a text Visual Studio editor in Unity)
Extra Credit #3: Implement interactive obstacles or hazards in your environment using visual scripting or C#.
Enter the realm of advanced visual effects by mastering the creation of popular visual elements such as sparks, glows, and explosions. Explore techniques to push beyond realistic rendering to create artistic and stylized looks.
- Particle systems
- Shaders (shader graph)
- Shader code
- Demo: Developing a particle effect in Unity
Assignment #8: Create a celebration particle effect
Create a celebration particle effect triggered by scoring points.
Breathe life into pixels with animations that ignite VR! Take a leap into the universe of animation as you uncover the core principles of keyframe animation and start using Unity’s animation systems.
- Intro to animations
- Creating animations in Unity
- Animating basic VR scenes
- Demo: Creating animations in Blender
Master the art of character rigging, animations, and advanced techniques like inverse kinematics-based animation, unlocking the power of lifelike character performances.
- Character rigging
- Character animation
- Animation blending
- Inverse kinematics
- Demo. Animating characters (Blender)
Assignment #9: Add an animated object to the scene
Add an animated object to your Unity scene.
Extra Credit #4: Rig and animate a character.
Rig and animate a character using Blender for a 1-2 second animation.
Gain proficiency in incorporating networking features and creating virtual avatars to enhance social interactions in Unity's immersive multiplayer experiences.
- Social VR basics
- Designing virtual Avatars
- Demo. Adding multiplayer using Normcore
Every player wants a smooth experience no matter what they use. Develop VR experiences that are optimized for various devices across a wide range of hardware configurations.
- Designing low-poly models
- Mesh simplification
- Improving accessibility & UX
MODULE 4
AR Design
Welcome to the world of AR! Discover the principles of augmented reality, its applications, and explore the process of creating engaging phone-based AR filters.
- AR design principles
- Designing for AR platforms
- Intro to filter-based platforms (Lens Studio)
- Demo: Designing an AR filter (Lens Studio)
Ready to place 3D objects into real-world environments? In today’s class, you’ll tackle more advanced augmented reality experiences using Unity.
- Integrating AR into Unity
- Setting up image targets
- Additional ARKit/ARCore/Vuforia features
- Demo: Setting up an image target (Vuforia plugin in Unity)
Assignment #10: Create a basic image recognition app
Create a Unity scene that recognizes an image target and places a 3D model.
The possibilities are endless and it’s time to go beyond basic AR filters and object placement. Next up? Create an interactive AR phone app!
- Text & orthographic layers
- Preparing assets for use in AR
- AR interactions
- Building to phones
- Demo: Designing a more advanced AR app (Vuforia plugin in Unity)
MODULE 5
Prototyping, Collaboration, and Career
Step into the shoes of your user. A designer’s number one goal is to prioritize creating user-centered experiences. Embrace design thinking and learn prototyping techniques to shape your visuals while harnessing the power of Figma.
- What is design thinking?
- Common methods and techniques
- Common tools
- Paper/physical prototyping
- VR visualizations and pre-scripted prototypes
Start your prototype from scratch. Hone your prototyping skills in Unity, and gather essential user feedback to refine your interactive experiences. Pay close attention because this is one of the most important parts of the development process!
- Demo: Prototyping in Unity from scratch
- Differences in VR and AR prototyping approaches
- Running user tests and gathering feedback
Extra Credit #5: Create a Unity prototype
Develop a Unity prototype with visual scripting to enable users to select different golf clubs in the scene.
Teamwork fuels creative brilliance. Enhance your collaboration skills, document design ideas, and effectively communicate with interdisciplinary team members.
- Brainstorming & bodystorming
- Design documentation
- Collaborating with developers and other team members
- Presenting design solutions
- Workshop: Brainstorming design-enhancing approaches
Assignment #11: Submit your VR project and document an end-to-end experience design
Finalize your VR project and submit it for review. Create a design document proposing an innovative feature for the game of mini-golf using Figma.
Your bootcamp is coming to an end but your career in AR/VR design is about to kick off! It’s time to polish your portfolio, learn how to prepare for interviews, and take the first steps toward elevating your career!
- Selecting your domain expertise
- Creating your XR design Portfolio
- Interview tips
What our students say
"The group activities, they allow us to interact and exchange ideas, plus the way it is structured is challenging and mind twisting as we collaborate in different parts of the ideation."
"Overall I'm impressed with the level of detail and explanation around particular topics and subjects. There's a real depth to each module which for learning allows the information to stay in your brain."
"I really enjoy the format of the course. Lectures with real life examples and an ongoing case study. Also built in 20 minutes at the end of each class for questions is helpful."
"I enjoyed the structure of the class. I like how we learned about a topic and practiced it in the workshops. It’s helped me to apply what I learned!"