Get started with virtual reality and learn how to make the most of this intuitive and exciting creative tool

AUTHOR

Mike Griggs Mike Griggs is a veteran creator with a passion for explaining the process of digital content creation to new artists. www.creativebloke.com

Over the past year, virtual reality headsets have arrived in a big way. This is down to two game-changing events. First of all, Oculus released the Quest 2, the latest version of their standalone VR headset, for less than the cost of a next-generation console.The second event was a global lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This meant that people needed a method of exploring the world, exercising and meeting in ways that did not involve leaving the house.

But in addition to this, a VR headset has the potential to be one of the most potent tools in an artist’s arsenal. A wide range of VR creative applications allow painting, sophisticated 3D modelling, and even animation, all directly within a headset. Also, there is a lot of content being developed in existing digital content creation software for VR, which can only be successfully previewed in a VR headset. Even though many traditional applications can provide a ‘preview’ of a VR view in a window, this is still a 2D preview. The placement of an object in terms of distance from a camera in a VR space is extremely hard to gauge without access to a virtual reality headset.

In this article, we will look at some of the ways a VR headset can be used to work with your computer wirelessly, create digital content, and be an essential part of your creative toolkit.

Working in virtual reality is like no other creative discipline, as the world surrounding the artist is totally bespoke to the task at hand – with everything from the interface to the artist’s studio existing within that world.