What if you could use a single photo, a few other assets, and turn that into a fully-editable, volumetric space, all in minutes?
That’s the dream of how 3D content creation should be. So we set out to create something that would make that attainable; not just for big studios, but for independent artists, small businesses, students, indie 3D creators… anybody and everybody. We wanted to create a way for people to make photographic volumetric environments (FBX, OBJ, …) using a single 360° picture as the main input. Such 3D model can be created and edited on the fly — reconstructing the volumes, moving objects, modulating perspectives, changing textures, compositing with other assets, adding lights, importing point clouds, etc. — suitable for virtual, augmented, and mixed reality applications, as well as web browsers, and so on.
We call it LiveMaker. And we think it’s going to turn the medium on its head.
Obviously, the higher the quality of the original 360 photo, the better the quality of the 3D model will be: that said, LiveMaker provides “Photoshop-like” tools, like painting and re-texturing for hidden areas and ensure the best possible raw files, ready to be polished with your choice of post-processing. Whether you’re editing the static model, or applying real-time rendering such as dynamic lighting and material reflective properties, it will make all the difference.
Techniques like photogrammetry do similar work, but the process can be long and grueling, but working that out into polygons — then decimating that capture down into a manageable file size — can be arduously time-consuming. In our software, individual items in the room can be independently moved around, keeping the 3D scene light, flexible, and easy to reuse. LiveMaker is fundamentally the missing solution in between 3D modeling and photogrammetry. Plus, it offers unlimited flexible prototyping possibilities at ease. The workflow really needs to be experienced to be believed.
In the near future, importing point cloud capture will complete and make the software the best effective solution to make and edit realistic volumetric content, geometric or organic.
7 Ways that LiveMaker is Changing the Game
No hyperbole here: we genuinely believe that the Imverse LiveMaker will open the door to numerous possibilities that would have previously seemed impossible. We know that these kinds of lists usually have five entries, but volumetric is all about testing the limits of what’s possible and taking that extra step.
With that in mind, here’s ten of our favorite ways that LiveMaker and volumetric 3D spaces are changing the game for immersive applications and beyond:
#1: Film Previsualization
Imagine a location scout for film, loading a volumetric model of a space and letting the director try out different angles, or simulate a moving camera. You could send a student or intern out with a 360-degree camera, select the most promising site from the photos, and turn it into a virtual asset. You would obtain a digital 3D location with just one picture and later be able to integrate some volumetric actors in 3D, static or dynamic. This allows the film crew to discover the planned scene in virtual reality, including full scenery, decors and live action characters as they play, repeat and learn the scene which not only lets the director plan, but could even be used as a virtual asset in the film, or outside it for marketing purposes, such as a VR trailer.
A film, Volumetric VR experience or set design for live shows: whatever the application, visualizing in advance doing different iterations is an incredibly valuable tool: and LiveMaker makes it more accessible than ever.
#2: The Pitch
Whether you’re pitching your idea to producers or investors, making a case for a project internally, or seeking grants or other funding, media like games, VR, or mixed reality experiences can be a tough sell to an unfamiliar crowd. For VR applications in particular, there just isn’t enough cultural familiarity for most people to really “get” an idea from description alone.
But if you could show them? Let them experience it for themselves? That’s a different story.
Whether you’re a small team, or part of a larger studio, there are numerous benefits to a shorter, more affordable content pipeline. Being able to turn an idea into an explorable space with a quick turnaround is invaluable for prototyping, pitching new ideas, previsualization and so forth. Plus, when compared with what it would cost to hire a level designer, small studios can create fully-contained VR projects without breaking the bank. You can even show and explore the finished 3D model from within the software: no need to export the file.
#3: Volumetric Video Environments
With the rise of photographic-seeming reality experiences, volumetric video and content are on the hype. Big tech and telecommunication companies are all entering the field to bring that new medium to the consumer. Smaller players like DepthKit are taking a more similar approach to Imverse by democratizing volumetric content creation and sharing. But whatever the format, in this 3-dimensional medium, you need to composite your scenes in an efficient way. You cannot rely anymore on the logic from filmmaking that captures everything in the same way, subject or environment, static or dynamic. In 3D, compositing is necessary to make volumetric creation a reality. Capturing a live action subject like a human in volumes requires a specific approach. On the other side of the spectrum, capturing the space of a location to provide the environment for your subject requires a different method. This is exactly where LiveMaker can alleviate all the difficulties inherent to current volumetric environment creation, that are either looking fake or are complicated to create. By offering a fast way to make a realistic low-poly digital environment from a single photo, LiveMaker becomes the most optimized solution for real-time content, being for volumetric platforms, or even standard video games.
#4: 3D Modeling
What if 3D content creation, in general, was to be re-invented? Applications of 3D don’t need to be reminded, being for games, VFX, product design, architecture and more. But more importantly, nowadays you need to go to school to learn 3D. Desktop 3D software have existed for more than 40 years and the interface hasn’t changed much and the learning curves are remaining steep. VR interfaces and other immersive display have the power to finally free the z-axis that 2D screen cannot convey. You just need the right applications to make use of the power of this new technology. Other tech companies have already understood this, launching new 3D content creation apps such as Medium and Blocks are doing an amazing job to make it easy for the creators, transferring the efforts from the user to the technology. While those other tools are focusing on specific methods of asset creation like sculpting, LiveMaker innovates further by either using a 360 as a canvas to create the textured 3D model in real time like you wouldn’t be able to do in a desktop. But fundamentally, LiveMaker is a complete tool that works from any canvas, blank or not, making it the only real 3D molding tool out there that could compete with screen-based modeling software, laying the ground for a new revolution in 3D content creation.
#5: Educational Applications
Take a look at the video above in the historic Hellbrunn Palace. Those green pillars on the wall? They’re a Trompe l’oeil; a technique used to create the illusion of three-dimensional space in a flat painting. They’re a beautiful work of art to be sure, though ultimately, they’re an optical illusion.
But in LiveMaker, they’re just another 2D surface. So there’s no reason why the beautiful depths of these paintings can’t also be explored in full volumetric 3D, letting you explore the world hinted at in the paintings. The possibilities for architects, museums, universities, and cultural institutions are limitless. Not only can students remotely explore spaces, exhibits, and locations: they can actually explore famous paintings, sculptures, and other works of art in virtual reality: without the arduous task of faithfully recreating the whole thing from scratch.
#6: Architecture & Virtual Design
Now imagine an architecture design firm, that has more renovation projects than constructions. Designers will be able to get a very similar 3D model that will resemble a lot to the reality in a very fast way without the use of intense methods like scanners or photogrammetry. The architect could afford to obtain fully photorealistic and editable 3D interiors on a real-life scale and edit and modify them as if they were changing the reality, by changing the geometry, colors, paintings, and by importing any existing type of furnitures such as 3D assets and much more! This new interactive arch-viz experience could even have implications on the involvement of the clients by inviting them to participate in the intuitive design process during the whole construction or renovation processes and help them to foresee the future realization.
360 to 3D directly addresses a future that industry experts call “Virtual Design and Construction” that is going beyond BIM (Building Information Modeling). It can integrate and help to make BIM models look much more realistic for renovation projects. This will affects all related fields, such as facility management.
#7: Simulations & Training
Whether it’s due to scarcity, fragility, or constrained access, sometimes you want to work in a space even though you don’t have access to it at the moment. Getting a feel for an environment beforehand can be a great way to address stage fright, create a strategy, and try out different ideas that would be time-consuming to test in a physical space.
For a theatre troupe about to perform in an unfamiliar venue, or a public speaker getting ready to deliver a speech, it can be a great way to address performance anxiety. The ability to create detailed, replicable plans in advance is simply huge: by transferring the workload from a physical, to a virtual space, the cost-saving potential is difficult to overstate. From a facilities management perspective, there’s similarly vast potential. Pick up a chair, and move it around: or take it out of the room entirely. Try out different placements for security cameras, and rearrange the space’s layout until you’re satisfied: to say nothing of running virtual training in locations where access is limited or restricted, such as a museum exhibit or a nuclear power plant.
Bottom line: physical access isn’t always feasible. But virtual access happens on your schedule.
#8: In-Depth Virtual Exploration
Whether the applications are educational, private, or professional, there’s just no substitute for exploring a space in three dimensions. Imagine real estate agents, walking clients through the great room of their potential new home, giving them the opportunity to remotely experience the space volumetrically. The potential for real-estate and retail is immense: 3D from 360° pictures lets you truly interact with the actual existing space; going beyond simply viewing a 360° tour.
Once you’ve got the virtual space in your hands, all sorts of applications could be built on top of it, taking the experience even farther. You can make what we call a VR showroom, adding playable videos or movable objects, with comparatively lightweight coding projects in Unity or your game engine of choice. Imagine looking at a room, and being able to swap in different types of furniture, change the paint on the walls, and rearrange things to your liking: all while getting a sense of what it would actually be like in the space.
Imagine that! Or better yet, experience that. These aren’t hypothetical statements, they’re applications that are possible to create right now. Not only LiveMaker makes it a huge potential time and money saver, but it opens up possibilities for global interaction and collaboration in a way that simply couldn’t be done otherwise. While Imverse is more than happy to collaborate on a custom project incorporating this kind of thing, we’re just as excited to put these tools out in the world to see what people do with them. We’re all makers here: the goal is to make tools that others can use to do exceptional things.
Some examples of interactive 3D models made with LiveMaker:
#9: Affordability
While professional grade 3D modeling or Photogrammetry aren't exactly cheap, you might be surprised at how affordable Imverse is. During our Public Beta, LiveMaker software is completely free! After getting started with a few tutorials, you will be bale to make your own fully-functional, volumetric 3D spaces in minutes.
A VR headset is not exactly free. But it’s still orders of magnitude faster and more affordable than other solutions out there. We wanted to make something that was within everybody’s budget: even if it took some effort to purchase the hardware, with our powerful software we made sure it’s always worth it in the end.
#10: Virtualizing Pre-Existing Content
With a single 360 photograph, you gain access to a world of possibilities. For studios with a fair amount of IP in 360 photos, being able to turn those sleeping assets into something live, tangible, and interactive can be incredibly valuable. This is especially true of visual research teams, where a stockpile of high-quality images is one of the side effects of their work. Getting some extra mileage out of existing assets can prove incredibly efficient.
And for smaller studios, or just those working lean, the ability to inexpensively acquire high-quality panoramic images from online sources such as Shutterstock, Flikr, or iStockPhoto, can significantly streamline the creation process, and open up entire worlds of opportunity. And for anyone who just needs a quick and easy tool for VR visualization of their content, whether it’s preexisting, or made with LiveMaker, Imverse has an intuitive VR visualiser tool for taking a look around.
And perhaps best of all: once you’ve exported a file, you can use and re-use it as you see fit. Create a visualization for web browsers, run an interactive VR demo in the room, and then use it to build volumetric content for a more complex interactive experience, or as part of a larger product.
XR For Everybody
XR is awesome. So our goal is to make virtual, augmented, and mixed reality 3D content creation accessible to everyone. But to achieve that, we needed a smart solution that anyone could benefit from, a way to put creating a virtual space within the reach of ordinary people without the need for technical expertise or massive budgets. We couldn’t find one: so we made it. And we can’t wait to see what you make with it. So where can Imverse take your business with LiveMaker?
Virtually anywhere.
The Imverse real-time technology is suitable for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), webVR, interactive installations, volumetric video, live streaming, virtual production, vfx, previz, archviz, video games, retail, media, entertainment, and many more.
