Sharing VR Creations with the World
Most of the world is still consuming content through traditional displays - here’s how to show them your awesome VR creations.
With VR being such a dynamic new medium, demonstrating content creators’ work is proving to be a difficult challenge. The translation of immersive experiences into flat online displays and news feeds involves a huge loss in fidelity (visuals, interactions, depth perception, audio) that can rob an otherwise awesome experience of a good first impression.
There’s already a handful of successful documentation techniques for sharing VR. In this article we are going to break them down, taking a look at where each is most effective, and how to use them. We will also be showing a single project viewed through the lens of each.
Metric Definitions
Ease of Creation — How easy is it to produce this content?
Audience Accessibility — How easy is it for a broad audience to experience this content?
Quality — How well does the content convey your immersive experience?
Screenshots
Screenshots are the simplest window into VR work. They are easy to distribute, people are used to consuming them, and they are fast to make. Unfortunately, screenshots do not do a brilliant job conveying your VR experiences due to their static nature. However, they are undoubtedly useful, and in many cases they are required (e.g. app distribution platforms like Steam, Oculus Home, and the mobile app stores).
Where they work
Screenshots work great when you need to create collateral for projects which could be distributed on many different online platforms. Leverage screenshots when authoring content for blog posts, press kits, or digital storefronts.
How to do it right
First person perspective is a great choice for screenshots, as it will allow people to project themselves into the experience. There isn’t a need to have a 1:1 mapping with your in-app experience here, so feel free to crop or visually adjust your screenshots so they have good visual balance.
Some VR projects benefit when screenshots are taken from a third person perspective to better showcase the action and environment.
In all cases make sure to use mono images. Side-by-side stereo images look great in a head mounted VR display, but awkward and confusing in a still image online.
Pictures of People
People are empathetic by nature, and images of others enjoying products has traditionally been a great way to get people excited about them. However, for VR, unless these pictures live alongside other media, they are not a good way of showing off your experience.
Where they work
A compelling image of someone smiling, having fun, or in an interesting position works great when used in conjunction with in-app content. However, without supplementary media, images of people using your VR product are really just showing off how interesting VR is, and shed pretty much no light on what you have created.
How to do it right
Try to capture people in dynamic positions that highlight the immersive nature of your application. Make sure images of people are always juxtaposed with images of your digital experience. If you expect your work to be shared out of your control where they could be separated from their sister content, then avoid them altogether.
Traditional Videos
Traditional videos are great because they are extremely easy to distribute, and showcase the action in your application. For years, flat videos have been the gold standard for showcasing 2D and 3D software, and while there are more exciting options available for VR, they are still a solid choice to convey your VR experience in a straightforward and easy to digest fashion.
Where they work
Regular videos work great pretty much all over the web, making them an excellent choice for nearly any online platform. If you have fast moving action, gorgeous transitions, or simply want to drive a narrative for your audience, they are a major upgrade from static images. The downside to videos is that they require someone to sit through them. Distribute videos on platforms where your audience will be interested enough in the content to dive deeper than simply scrolling down a page.
How to do it right
Videos are great at showing gameplay, but in VR the gameplay is often still hard to understand. Consider cutting to video of people using the experience, or overlaying a PIP (Picture In Picture) video of someone controlling the application.
Avoid showing moments that are not core to the VR experience. The juiciest moments of your application should be captured to make them worth the watch — and to generate excitement. However, for a trailer, be sure not to reveal too much!
Keep the pacing up. People will compare your VR video to other trailers they see (games, movies), so their expectations around production value and cadence will be high.
360 Photos
360 degree photos give you all the benefits of a still screenshot, but also allow users to glimpse into the world they will be a part of when they jump in. Unfortunately, there are very few online platforms that currently support actual 360 photo viewing as opposed to a single frame 360 video. 360 photos are a powerful tool, but they have limited distribution potential.
Where they work
The primary platforms which enable 360 photos are Facebook and YouTube (in the form of static image uploads posing as videos). YouTube support also means that any site which uses the embedded player has the potential to display 360 photos, this includes Twitter, which greatly enhances their reach.
How to do it right
In general, it is best to take 360 photo imagery of your application from the same perspective as the in-game user. 360 imagery asks more of your online audience than most other media — try to choose in-app moments carefully to make looking around worth their while.
Always inform people that they can click and drag on the image to look around. People do not expect interactive photo panels, and it can be easy to miss if they aren’t looking for it.
If you use YouTube as your 360 photo viewer, make it clear that the scene is a photo and will not be changing. It is likely your audience members expect things to start moving when they click play, and may even think the player is broken if they don’t receive a heads up.
360 Videos
360 videos have all the same limitations as 360 photos, however you get the opportunity to show off a lot more of the world you’ve built and is more engaging overall, making the limits to distribution less painful.
We won’t be diving into footage shot with 360 cameras in real life for this article, but there are plenty of resources out there to get you started.
Where they work
360 videos work great when you want to give your audience a tour of the experience which gets them ‘in’ as easily as possible. Like 360 photos, the primary distribution platforms for them are Facebook, YouTube, or your own website. If you have the ability to create a 360 video, use it instead of a 360 photo. Most platforms support both, and 360 video is a much more powerful experience.
Some mobile video viewers also leverage the phone’s gyroscope to allow people to physically rotate around the space, which is a great way to experience 360 content.
How to do it right
Move your viewpoint back from the action a bit so that your audience can see what’s happening with the user’s hands in desktop experiences. It may not be true first person, but it gives a better perspective for the viewer — hands tend to not end up in front of the face very often, so they are easy to miss if you are too close.
Make sure your computer is up to the task — rendering a 360 video with live action can be very taxing on a system. If your machine can’t take the heat, then you can always do an on-rails tour of the experience without an active user inside.
One advantage of 360 videos (and photos) is that you can create stereoscopic versions, which will allow users to view your video in VR — similar to if they were actually in your experience. Just make certain to provide a monoscopic alternative for people without head mounted displays.
Mixed Reality Videos
Mixed reality videos are the creme de la creme of VR documentation. They do an excellent job of showcasing a VR experience in an extremely easy to distribute medium while retaining all of the empathetic goodness that comes with showing actual people using the software.
Where they work
Mixed reality videos are just traditional videos, which means any platform which supports video viewing can also showcase these awesome mashups. Whether they are on a download page, a write-up, or traveling around the blog-o-sphere, they are extremely effective. If you have the ability to create these, use them, everywhere.
How to do it right
A mixed reality video needs to be done to technical perfection or the results will be very poor. To see more on the technical details of creating mixed reality videos, go here.
When shooting a mixed reality video, frame it as you would a real scene. Make sure to get far enough away from your subject to show the world around them, and always choose moments where the user is interacting with the world to take advantage of the mixed reality technique.
In Conclusion
So what’s the best method for showing VR work online? There isn’t one. Each method has its pros and cons, and you have to decide which is the best fit for your project depending on your goals, your audience, and your resources.
Happy sharing!
I’m Austin. I work as a VR user experience designer. I am having a blast exploring virtual reality from the design perspective, and I’m excited to share what I’m finding.
Check out some of my work.
Stay tuned for more.
