Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift

Google VR Blocks: A Free 3D Modeling Tool for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift(vr.google.com)

275 points by antichaos 8 years ago | 46 comments

thenomad 8 years ago |

I've been testing this tool this afternoon.

It's surprisingly powerful. The scale-shifting means it's very easy to work on something at toy soldier scale, and then shift it to be an epic hall or similar. And being able to immediately visualise the space you've created in VR, without having to work on a 2D screen then throw a headset on, is a major improvement on current VR authoring.

(I'm the developer of Left-Hand Path, a VR RPG that's been in production for a year or so, and so have authored rather a lot of VR content.)

Blocks is obviously not trying to be a pro modeling tool, but it might still end up being useful for some professional applications. And it certainly shows just how powerful a pro modeling tool in VR could be.

stephengillie 8 years ago | |

Having developers spend more time "in-helmet" will help them make more compelling VR experiences. It's obvious from the state of experiences that most devs aren't spending all day in VR, the way someone might spend all day in League or WoW or EvE. Hopefully this will fix that.

I'm excited to get home and try this.

pmoriarty 8 years ago | | |

The problem with spending a lot of time in VR is that the current generation of VR headsets get incredibly uncomfortable before too long. Developers generally get paid for their efforts, so maybe they'll put up with the discomfort, but I certainly wouldn't want to spend that much time in VR if I could help it.. not before the headsets get a lot more comfortable.

secure 8 years ago |

I used this tool to create a 3D model of a rack deployment. It was quite intuitive and I finished my model in an hour or so, which was way less than using traditional tools like sketchup (I tried before and gave up frustrated).

3D modeling really is an area where VR is just way more pleasant to use than any other option, at least for beginners :)

mmcclellan 8 years ago |

Coverage:

Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/6/15929312/google-blocks-vr-...

Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/google-blocks-vr/

Engadget: https://www.engadget.com/2017/07/06/google-blocks-virtual-3d...

whywhywhywhy 8 years ago |

Disappoints me that major creative tools for VR are mostly being pushed out by the likes of Google and FB who are extremely likely to drop the projects within the next 2 years as their objectives shift because they're not creative tools companies.

Would be much happier if some indie devs took up this space.

Impossible 8 years ago | |

There are plenty of creative tools made by indie developers, including 3D modeling and sculpting tools. Most of Google's creative tools are aquihires (Tiltbrush, Soundstage) although Blocks appears to be internally developed. Some cool ones I can think of off the top of my head include SculptVR, Kodo, VRTX, Bound, Tvori and King Spray.

intoverflow2 8 years ago | | |

Thanks for the list will definitely check them out.

Think my main worry is the existence of the big players making things like this on a whim or acquiring things like this on a whim then dumping them (Let's be real here no way will google still by supporting tilt brush in 5 years) puts more indie devs off exploring this space.

thenomad 8 years ago | | |

MMVR too, which is, iirc, basically an attempt to create a full-scale modeling tool in VR.

andybak 8 years ago | | |

Can't find Kodo and Bound seems to be a PSVR game?

Got any links?

andybak 8 years ago | |

Funnily enough I was just making a list of VR tools that allow user-generated content (excluding music). I got this far:

Sansar

Modbox

Anyland

Tvori

Diorama Worlds

StageX

Google Blocks

High Fidelity

Tilt Brush

Medium

Quill

Rodin

MakeVR

Metaverse Construction Kit

3DSunshine

Country of One

VR Home

MyDream

Shape Lab

- I'm working on a feature matrix but rest-assured several of those are mature, well-suppoted and by smaller developers.

pavlov 8 years ago | |

Unfortunately indie creative tools are not a great business (with only a handful of exceptions that have found a sweet spot, like Sketch).

If you want a tool that will be around in two years, Oculus and Google are still a better bet. I wish the market for creative tools were better, but I don't see the prospects for small developers getting any better in this space.

BatFastard 8 years ago |

Idea is great, dying to try it out. The cost of getting 3d content has been growing more and more cost prohibitive every year. Does it export ot a fbx or obj format?

Interesting that it is a mesh building tool with a voxel representation.

Can you do any type of scripting or animation with it? So many things needed. I want displacement maps, and collision hulls, and ...

meheleventyone 8 years ago | |

It's not voxel based as far as I can tell, it's a regular poly mesh editor albeit with a great interface for VR. It does provide some constraints that disallow edits that result in the mesh ending up in a bad state.

Right now there aren't any tools for animation or anything else like that. Just basic object creation, extrusion and feature manipulation.

BatFastard 8 years ago | | |

That's a good start at least. Do you know if it is open source?

clebio 8 years ago | |

Solid questions (no pun intended)!

* FBX export? * scripting/animation? * Displacement maps, collision hulls, etc.

Would also like to know.

BinaryIdiot 8 years ago |

Should I be surprised that this doesn't work with Google's own Daydream? I would have assumed support for that before Vive and Rift. I'm assuming there are technical limitations to doing this on Daydream but is it just not doable at all on it? Is the control not precise enough or do you need two?

Edit: Okay thanks for the clarification! I guess I wouldn't be surprised if Google has it working internally on their own standalone Daydream hardware.

Impossible 8 years ago | |

When Google releases a 6DOF standalone or mobile Daydream they will port all of their desktop PC VR apps to mobile. We're close to this, as the standalone Daydream hardware (mobile Vive) has 6DOF inside out headtracking, even though it lacks a 6DOF controller required for all VR content creation apps. For now, mobile devices don't have the input and tracking capabilities to provide a good modeling experience.

avaer 8 years ago | |

Performance aside, Daydream does not have 6DOF.

There's a bunch of hacks you can do around 3DOF, but the experience would be severely crippled without 3D tracked controllers.

Stanleyc23 8 years ago | | |

once 6DOF technology gets more advanced and more distribution, is there any use case or niche for 3DOF where it is actually the better solution?

alexqgb 8 years ago | |

Not if you understand the difference between a system that only tracks three degrees of freedom (i.e., rotational motion only / e.g., Daydream and GearVR), and one that tracks all six (i.e., rotational + translational / e.g., Vive and Rift).

Since 3 DoF systems are widely-viewed within the industry as being time-limited, most designers with long-range plans for their work will build for 6 DoF first and foremost, and maybe develop a 3 DoF version if the basic concept and funding stream allows.

Being a general authoring tool rather than a specific title, Google's VR Blocks fit squarely (sorry) in the Do 6 DoF First category.

sheepdestroyer 8 years ago | |

vive and rift are accurately positioned in space while daydream has just an approximation from the gyro and a lot less inputs. So yeah, basically just not doable on this platform and similar ones like samsung's

rasz 8 years ago |

1992 is here again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTjB4fCPpaM&t=6m38s

mintplant 8 years ago |

Can't wait to try this out. Better UIs for 3D modeling is at the very top of my software wishlist. Personally, I've always thought that an "art" 3D modeling tool (eg Blender) with a parametric/sketch-and-extrude modeling interface (as in CAD software like Inventor) would be an interesting direction for this.

iso-8859-1 8 years ago |

Imagine coupling this with a structural code editor like Lamdu: https://github.com/lamdu/lamdu (but in 3D)

Then I would spend my days waving my arms around to make code instead of typing on the keyboard. It'd be great.

Fifer82 8 years ago |

Why does VR on the PC always seem like vaporware? It is prohibitively expensive and that does not seem to change year on year, I don't even really think I have seen a news story or anything about VR for the last 18 months apart from Sony's crappy offering.

andybak 8 years ago | |

Meanwhile me and others are having a blast in VR day in, day out.

Funny definition of "vaporware"...

> I don't even really think I have seen a news story or anything about VR for the last 18 months apart from Sony's crappy offering.

1. Microsoft's Windows VR platform announced and launched to devs.

2. Bethesda announced 3 major AAA VR titles at E3: Fallout, Skyrim and Doom

3. Valve's innovative Knuckles controllers are in the hards of developers

4. Several new headsets announced - 3 for the new Windows VR platform, another Steam VR compatible headset from LG and some standalone headsets.

5. The Rift and Touch is now under 449 Euros

6. Apple announced SteamVR support and their own VR framework for Metal

That's just from memory.

bni 8 years ago | |

Yesterday I was ripping robots to pieces in Robo Recall, and later took a supercar for a spin around Spa in Assetto Corsa. Both using my Oculus Rift. I must have bene dreaming since this is supposedly just vapour?

suyash 8 years ago |

3D modelling is no easy play. I bet this tool is just a fun to use app but can't be utilized for serious work as navigating in VR with controllers in a heavy headset is extremely tiring. It's done in 2D screens because that is way more effective way as of now.

mkw5053 8 years ago |

Wow, I can't wait to get home to try this out on my Vive! Does anyone know what tools (like possibly Unity) were used to make this?

snakeanus 8 years ago |

How does it compare with things like Blender?

makx 8 years ago | |

It's much more simple than professional modeling tools. You can make some simple objects, but you don't have the tools required for more complex work. If you want something something like Blender in VR, your best option is to actually get a VR user interface for whatever software you're using, like MARUI [1] is for Maya.

[1] https://www.marui-plugin.com

thenomad 8 years ago | | |

There's actually a Blender addition that allows you to use it in VR. Haven't tried it, so don't know how good it is, but:

https://blendervr.limsi.fr/doku.php