Immersive Media Design Setup Guide¶
This guide covers setting up your computer for Immersive Media Design.
In this course you are free to use any kind of computer and operating system you wish as along as it can run the software listed. The course will make use of both Windows 10 and macOS based systems as both are commonly used for VR and AR development workflows.
Hardware¶
- A recent Apple Macbook (2013 and newer) with macOS Mojave (10.14) or Catalina (10.15) or a Windows 10 based system.
- At least 30 - 50 GB extra hard drive space to install software and work.
- At least 1 TB external / portable hard drive to move files around and between computers as needed.
- (Optional) A recent mobile device supporting AR Kit 3 (devices with A12+ chip running iOS 13) or ARCore (devices running Android 7.0) for mobile AR development. Learn more about AR supporting devices: ARKit Devices and ARCore Devices.
Software¶
IMD will make use of various types of design and engineering software. Some tools are essential and required to complete a task such as getting a VR or AR experience working while other tools are based on personal preference and workflow. It is assumed that most students are using macOS, therefore the course will focus mostly there. Access to the following software is recommended.
Required Software¶
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- Unity 2019.2 (Installed with Unity Hub) - Download Unity Hub and install Unity 2019.2.
- Xcode 11 (macOS only) - Developer account required to access Apple dev resources. You can download from App Store as well.
- Visual Studio Community 2019 for Mac or Visual Studio 2019 Community for Windows
- Visual Studio Code (aka VSCode)
- Cinema4D for Students - Create account and follow instructions to obtain 6 month educational license.
- Adobe Aero (iOS App) - Free from the App Store.
Additional Software¶
- Steam
- SteamVR
- Processing
- Blender
- Touch Designer
- Adobe Mixamo
- Adobe Fuse
- Adobe Dimension
- Autodesk Maya
- Autodesk Mudbox
- ZBrush
- Substance Suite
- Autodesk Fusion 360
- McNeel Rhinoceros
- Meshlab
- Meshmixer
- Structure Sensor (iOS App)
- Lens Studio by Snapchat
- Spark AR Studio by Facebook/Instagram
- Magica Voxel - 8-bit voxel art editor
Learning Resources¶
Unity¶
- learn.unity.com
- Unity Manual
- Unity Editor Tutorial Fundamentals by Dilmer Valecillos - A great playlist of tutorials for learning about different parts of the Unity environment.
AR Foundation¶
- AR Foundation
- AR Foundation Overview, Video
- AR Foundation Samples
- Learn Unity's AR Foundation - Great overview video of AR Foundation.
Cinema 4D¶
Getting Started with Cinema 4D
- A great example based introduction to working in C4D.
- Each video in the series is between 10-30 mins and there are 20 videos.
Greyscale Gorilla: Introduction to Cinema 4D
- Email address signup to gain access to assets and tutorials.
- The version shown is R14 which is a little outdated but still useful for learning the basics.
- Videos are between 10 mins and 30 mins long. The first video is about 1 hr long and covers the whole process of modeling, lighting, texturing, animating, and rendering a scene.
- Part of the LinkedIn Learning Course Introduction to 3D
- Covers the basics of working in C4D
Apple¶
- Apple Developer: XCode - Login Required
- Human Interface Guidelines: Augmented Reality