Where will VR thrive?
Putting VR into production
But what does this all have to do with me? I don't even own a VR headset! Well, not yet, but how many people have created a fully 3D 360° CG environment? It is something I have been learning how to do. Recently I experimented with converting part of a cruise ship from one of our animations (Tsunami Tuna) into a 360° photograph, and it worked. But how did I do it? Long process short, I used a camera filter in the 3D software Maya called "Domemaster" to create a stereo camera with full 360° views and then converted those renders into a 3D "latlong" image. Once you make it a video, and you add in the metadata that tells software it is VR and not just a flat image, different services will be able to handle it properly. There is more to it than just that, of course, and live-action involves taking video with several cameras all at once at different angles and then stitching those images together. But to sit at the peak of Everest, or to take a tour of the Titanic, or to explore a fully-fictional world from the comfort of your couch in a fully immersive experience is like nothing else you've ever experienced. I've played with the technology, and I've been learning how to make it happen, and I look forward to the day we can take a lunch break on Mars while still in the office in Atlanta. VR Test Tsunami Tuna Scene 5 (stereoscopic)
