I decided to set incremental goals for myself. After being able to create the stereo-panoramas, I figured that my next step should be to create a static environment that I could move around in.
The delay in gaining this knowledge has had several components. First was the time to invest in learning this skill, but recently, I made the decision to dedicate time to gaining this knowledge. Secondly, my only VR device is a Google Cardboard, which can be limiting. Lastly, I had to find the right tool.
My first step was into Autodesk Stingray. At the time it made the most sense, I work for an Autodesk partner and had access to the software and other resources for Stingray. I had difficulty here because most of the reference material was for higher end devices, like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. So I had some trouble making much progress.
After some time trying to learn Stingray, Autodesk announced that they were going to stop developing Stingray. I think that they realized that they were not going to compete with Unreal and Unity, so it better to partner with them, than compete with them.
So at that point, I decided that I should just pick either Unity or Unreal and begin learning the tool. I ended up picking Unity, primarily because most of the VR games I had on my phone had a Unity logo during the splash screen sequence.
Unity has a lot of great tutorials and learning resources, but what really helped me make real progress was a class from Udemy. Udemy has a lot of classes in a wide variety of topics. If you are not in a hurry, you can usually buy your classes during a sale. For example, as I am typing this, there are three days left on sale where most courses are $10.99 The classes I purchases were normally $200.
I did buy several Unity courses from Udemy, but the first course has really helped. I would recommend taking "Building Virtual Reality Games for Google Cardboard Using Unity." You can find a link to the class here.
At this point, I have learned enough to create an environment, place a model from Inventor, and create a script that allows me to move around. In this case, I hit the input button to start moving, and hit it again to stop.
Here is a video of the preview in the Unity Editor.
If you would like to download and try my first VR experience, you can download it here. Please bare in mind before installing, I am only a beginner and this is only for Android.
If you are as interested in VR as I am, but don't know where to go first. I highly recommend Unity and courses from Udemy. I feel they have helped me make more progress in just a month than I had made in previous attempts to learn VR.
