Implement Virtual Reality Technology Theory (Classroom Notes 7)

3D design software

Virtual reality focuses on realism and immersion. Realism needs to reproduce the real world and environment through 3D design software. Commonly used 3D design software is 3ds Max | Maya | Softimage | ZBrush | Lumion 3D | Cinema 4D, etc.

1.3ds Max

3ds Max is a 3D design software launched by the Discreet subsidiary of Autodesk, which is widely used in architectural design performance, game development, virtual reality, film and television advertising, simulation, auxiliary teaching, engineering visualization and other fields

Various modeling methods:

• Basic geometry modeling
• 2D to 3D modeling
• Modifier modeling
• Mesh modeling
• Polygon modeling
• Patch modeling
• Nurbs modeling

Animation function:

• Keyframe animation
• Hierarchical animation
• Character animation

2.Lumion

The Dutch ACT-3D company officially released the real-time 3D visualization software Lumion in December 2010, which is mainly used for the rendering of architectural, landscape and planning renderings, but also for the design and production of animations and the production of virtual reality scenes.

Lumion can design realistic models simply and quickly, with high rendering speed and high efficiency. Due to the use of GPU rendering technology, it can quickly respond to user's editing operations and render edited scenes in real time. The software is easy to operate and supports importing models from Sketchup and Autodesk products.

Features:

1. The template
   Lumion provides 9 scene templates (Coastline, River bed, Mountain range, Dry desert, Flat terrain, Flat terrain foggy weapon plain, Large Mountain, Red Rock, Sunset)

2. Sun and sky
   You can set and adjust the cloud, fog effect, sun position and height in the scene

3. Terrain and water area
   You can set and adjust the shape, material and other characteristics of the mountain and water characteristics

4. Models and materials
   Import external models, Lumion supports SKP, DAE, FBX, MAX, 3DS, OBJ, DXF and other import formats

5. Auxiliary scenery resources
   Lumion provides a huge and rich resource library, including buildings, vehicles, characters, animals, streets, surfaces, stones, trees, urban construction auxiliary equipment, etc. Many resources are divided into detailed subcategories.

6. Taking pictures and recording movies
   Lu Min can render single-frame pictures, and can also record movies, and can edit multiple recorded videos to add special effects and transition effects to the movies. These functions are very convenient and efficient for making architectural roaming animations and virtual reality roaming works.

Sketchup, 3ds Max, Lumion comparison:

• Sketchup is a lightweight 3D modeling software that can quickly create models through simple push and pull, and is the most widely used in architectural design.
• 3dsMax modeling is complex but delicate, and can create complex models. It has a long history and many plug-ins. It performs well in modeling, materials, animation and other aspects.
• Lumion is a new expressing software that supports Sketchup well, rendering images based on GPU, fast speed, good real-time effect, but compared with professional rendering software such as Vray and other non-real-time rendering high-quality effects, there are gaps, but with the development of hardware This gap will become smaller and smaller.

Virtual reality development platform

The virtual reality development platform has the functions of organizing and displaying the models made by the modeling software and realizing interaction. Currently more commonly used include Unity, Unreal 4, VRP, Virtools, Vizard, etc.

The virtual reality development platform can realize realistic three-dimensional stereoscopic images, realize virtual real-time interaction, scene roaming and object collision detection, etc.

1. Real-
   time rendering The essence of real-time rendering is the real-time calculation and output of graphics data.

2. Implement collision detection
   When roaming in a virtual scene, when a person or object is blocked in the direction of advancement, the person or object should slide in a reasonable direction instead of being forced to stop, while also being sufficiently accurate and stable to prevent People or things fall through the wall and fall out of the scene. In short, the physical properties of the object

3. Strong
   interaction The interactive design is also a necessary function of the virtual display development platform. Users can control the virtual scene through the keyboard or mouse

4. Strong compatibility
   Software compatibility is a necessary feature of modern software. Most multimedia tools, development tools and web browsers need to import files generated by other software.

5. Good simulation quality The
   virtual reality development platform can provide special effects such as environmental mapping and fine-tuning of light and shade, so that the designed virtual scene has a realistic visual effect, thereby achieving excellent simulation quality.

6. Strong practicality Strong
   practicality means powerful development platform.

7. Support multiple VR external devices The
   virtual reality development platform supports multiple external hardware devices, including keyboard, mouse, joystick, steering wheel, data gloves, six-degree-of-freedom position tracker and trackball, etc.