About this course: This course will begin your journey to creating Virtual Reality experiences. A Virtual Reality experience is a new world that you step into and are entirely immersed in. Creating a VR experience means creating that world and all the objects in it. In this course you will learn the basics of 3D graphics: how we create objects and how to lay them out to create an environment. You will learn techniques like materials and texturing that make your objects appear realistic. You will also learn about audio techniques to ensure that your experiences sound great as well as looking great. In all of these topics we will pay attention to the particular requirements of Virtual Reality, including pitfalls and performance issues: making sure your environment runs fast enough in VR. You will learn all of this using the professional game and VR engine, Unity3D. Unity is one of the most used game engine and is a relatively easy, but fully featured, introduction to 3D development. The course will culminate in a project in which you will create your own VR scene. VR development is something you can only learn by doing it yourself, so working on your project will be the best way to learn.
Who is this class for: This class is for people who are interesting in become Virtual Reality Developers. You don't need any particular experience of development, but some experience of digital creative work (e.g. photoshop, illustrator, digital music) will be helpful. If you are completely new to VR you might want to first follow our course "Introduction to Virtual Reality", which covers the basic concepts. We don't assume you have any experience of work in 3D graphics or unity. If you already have some experience, then some of the topics will be familiar to you, but we will also cover some VR specific aspects.
Created by: University of London, Goldsmiths, University of London
Taught by: Dr Sylvia Xueni Pan, Lecturer, Department of Computing
Goldsmiths, University of London
Taught by: Dr Marco Gillies, Senior Lecturer
Computing Department, Goldsmiths, University of London
| Basic Info | Course 2 of 5 in the Virtual Reality Specialization |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 3-5 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| Hardware Req | You will need a virtual reality device, e.g. a smartphone VR device, Oculus Rift or HTC VIVE |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
3D Graphics
This week you will begin developing 3D Virtual Reality Environments. We will cover the basics of 3D graphics, including a number of 3D engines and development environments that you can use. We will particularly focus on the Unity3D engine.
16 videos, 7 readings, 3 practice quizzes
- Discussion Prompt: Content Creation in VR
- Practice Quiz: Reflection on Your Skills for VR Work
- Reading: Course Blog
- Video: What are 3D Graphics?
- Discussion Prompt: Your Favourite VR Environment
- Video: Introduction to Integrated Development Environments (IDE)
- Video: Why Use A-Frame?
- Reading: Learning To Use A-Frame
- Video: Open VR with Lance Putman
- Video: Unreal Engine
- Video: Introduction to Unity
- Reading: Learning Unity
- Practice Quiz: Choosing Game Engines
- Discussion Prompt: Which Engine Will You Use?
- Reading: Setting Up Unity
- Discussion Prompt: How Was Setting Up Unity?
- Video: 3D Space
- Video: Unity User Interface
- Video: Navigating in Unity
- Video: Objects and Meshes
- Video: Creating Objects in Unity | Primitives
- Reading: Unity Basics
- Video: Creating 3D Assets
- Video: The Asset Store
- Video: Importing Assets From Unity and Other Places
- Reading: Importing Assets
- Discussion Prompt: Share Your Work
- Video: VR Environment Project
- Reading: VR Project Brief
- Practice Quiz: Planning your project
Graded: 3D Graphics
WEEK 2
VR Graphics
In this module you will carry on learning about 3D graphics, including how to use transforms to lay out a 3D scene and how to use materials to give your objects a distinctive appearance. You will also submit the first draft of your project.
16 videos, 4 readings
- Video: Transforms
- Video: Compound Objects
- Video: Positioning, Scaling, and Transforming Primitives in Unity
- Video: Cameras in VR
- Reading: Transforms and Cameras
- Video: Unity VR Mode | Setting Up Cameras | Standard and VR
- Reading: Setting up VR mode
- Discussion Prompt: Setting up Unity for VR
- Video: Keyframe Animation
- Video: Keyframe Animation in Unity
- Reading: Unity Animation
- Video: Introduction to Materials
- Video: Lights in VR
- Video: Lights in Unity
- Video: Materials
- Video: Materials in Unity
- Video: Textures
- Video: Textures in Unity
- Reading: Graphics in Unity
- Video: Working on Your Project
Graded: VR Graphics Quiz
Graded: Content Creation Work in Progress
WEEK 3
VR Audio
In this week you will learn about using sound in Virtual Reality and how you can use advanced 3D Audio techniques to enhance your experience.
14 videos, 2 readings
- Video: What is Sound?
- Video: How Do Humans Perceive Sound?
- Video: What is Digital Audio?
- Video: How is Sound Useful?
- Discussion Prompt: Examples of the Use of Sound
- Video: How Do We Use Sound in VR?
- Video: General Guidance for Using Sound
- Video: How Do We Use Filters in VR?
- Discussion Prompt: Using Audio in your Project
- Video: Audio Formats, Sources and Listeners in Unity
- Video: Audio Effects in Unity
- Video: Unity Audio Clips and Files
- Video: Audio Mixers in Unity
- Video: Audio in Unity | Additional Resources
- Reading: Learning More About Audio in Unity
- Reading: Now It's Your Turn!
- Video: Summary
Graded: Audio and Revision Quiz
WEEK 4
Content Creation: What works in VR?
In this final week of the course, we will put together everything we have learned to think about how to create compelling VR worlds. We will start by looking behind the scenes at how 3D graphics hardware works and why VR can be so demanding of computing power. Then we will think about the particular requirements of content creation for VR. You will finish by submitting the final version of your project for a peer review.
11 videos, 5 readings, 2 practice quizzes
- Video: Polygons to Pixels
- Video: Motion to Photon
- Video: Global Illumination
- Reading: Unity Shaders
- Practice Quiz: What Works in VR?
- Video: Why Do We Need Different Graphics Techniques for VR?
- Reading: Techniques for Optimising a VR Experience
- Practice Quiz: How is VR Content Creation Different?
- Discussion Prompt: How is VR Content Creation Different?
- Video: Further Learning
- Reading: Further Learning in Unity
- Video: Unity Resources
- Video: Unity Examples
- Discussion Prompt: Share a Useful Resource
- Video: Learning VR Content Creation
- Video: Summary| Creating VR Worlds
- Video: Project Advice
- Reading: Final Project Requirements
- Reading: Thank you
Graded: Creating VR Environments Project
FAQs
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Creators
University of London
The University of London is a federal University which includes 18 world leading Colleges. Our distance learning programmes were founded in 1858 and have enriched the lives of thousands of students, delivering high quality University of London degrees wherever our students are across the globe. Our alumni include 7 Nobel Prize winners. Today, we are a global leader in distance and flexible study, offering degree programmes to over 50,000 students in over 180 countries. To find out more about studying for one of our degrees where you are, visit www.london.ac.uk
Goldsmiths, University of London
Championing research-rich degrees that provoke thought, stretch the imagination and tap into tomorrow’s world, at Goldsmiths we’re asking the questions that matter now in subjects as diverse as the arts and humanities, social sciences, cultural studies, computing, and entrepreneurial business and management. We are a community defined by its people: innovative in spirit, analytical in approach and open to all.
Pricing
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Ratings and Reviews
Thanks for this well explained course.
It covers many critical aspects of 3D VR environments.
It was really helpful
Exactly what I was looking for !!!
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Great review. Good introduction to Unity. However, there did seem to be a reliance on a lot of outside materials at times.