Introduction

When it comes to character animation, the 3D pipeline can be a very effective tool in many ways. But arguably one of the biggest downsides, for both the artist and the client, is that the setup phase takes a lot of time and effort. Before an animator can even start making a character move, that character needs to be designed, modeled, UV unwrapped, textured, and rigged, and each one of these steps can be complex in its own unique way. Until recently, this was an unfortunate fact of the process that couldn’t really be avoided. But as new technologies and software become more accessible, a solution may be found in virtual reality.

In a previous blog entry on the subject, we covered how the workflow of creating animation in Quill differs from more traditional 3D animation software. In summary, the key benefit of using Quill is a significant increase in efficiency and speed for the animator, by using new and unconventional techniques to create in 3D while simplifying and bypassing many steps in the traditional pipeline. However, as an app development company, all of the help that Quill brings to the table for artists wouldn’t amount to much if it weren’t also possible for those assets to be plugged in to game development software and accessible to our programmers. So we decided to put Quill to the test, and use an animated character created in VR software in an actual app.

The VR Animation Process

For our experiment, we decided to create an app where a cartoon astronaut stands before you in AR and jumps when you press a jump button. Very simple, but this would allow us to test our ability to make a character with multiple animation states in Quill (idle and jump) and then be able to plug that character into Unity and play back the animation states at the right time in a way that feels natural. We also decided to put a photo of a person’s face onto the astronaut’s head, as customization is an option that users value.

This was uncharted waters, since these animation techniques are so new. After some research and problem solving, we were able to reach our goals. Once we had figured out the steps required to properly get the animation from Quill into Unity, we were able to do all of the actual creative and programming work in about five days total. Projects we’ve done in the past with similar kinds of character work have sometimes taken multiple weeks or even months just to finish the animation phase, so this test was a significant improvement in efficiency compared to our standard process.

As with all new technology, this method has its limitations. The lack of rigging or joint-driven animation makes things like auto-generated transitions or procedural animation impossible. Instead we have to think of the character more like a 3D version of a classic sprite sheet, swapping in between predetermined and unchangeable frames.

It’s also important for the artist to make sure the character uses as few polygons and poses as possible, because the multiple meshes across many frames can lead to massive file sizes if optimization is not taken into consideration. Within Quill the artist can use vertex painting to make the 3D strokes different colors and gradients, so simple color work and detail like the astronaut’s suit is easy. Placing a texture map onto a single stroke like the astronaut’s face is also fairly simple. However, if we wanted to put texture maps on a more complex piece of Quill geometry that’s made of multiple strokes, like the astronaut’s open helmet, the process would be far more difficult and time-consuming. This means that traditional UV and texture techniques should not be used for most Quill assets. Basically, if our goal was to create an app where a fully photorealistic character moves at a smooth 60 frames per second, Quill’s current restrictions mean that it would definitely still be more beneficial for us to use the traditional 3D pipeline.

That being said, for simple and stylized characters like this one, Quill has proven itself to be a very powerful tool in our arsenal. Now that we have confirmation that we can use animated assets from it in apps like this, we will be able to shave entire days’ worth of work off of similar projects in the future. Which means that if you’re looking to create an app featuring charming 3D cartoons, we can help you get better results faster. If you have a project that this animation pipeline could benefit reach out and lets talk.