Sculpting a character in VR

Discover how to use Oculus Rift in a 3D character concept pipeline.

You may be forgiven for thinking that the Oculus Rift VR headset was created solely for use as a gaming device. That is no longer the case, as there are now lots of creation tools springing up, including VR sculpting and painting apps.

This project will show you how virtual reality can be used in a character concept pipeline. We will explain how to sculpt in VR and how to paint a character model, in this case a robot from a mining colony. We will be using a few concept sketches and paintings that are imported as reference planes.

The software we will be using is Oculus Medium, which is an immersive virtual reality experience that lets you sculpt, model, paint and create objects in a VR environment. The software enables you to create expressive works of art, whether you’re a total beginner, an aspiring creative or a professional artist. Using Oculus’ Touch controllers enables the user to employ intuitive hand gestures and movement for a natural, tactile experience. The final sculpt will be a character that can be posed and exported with painted colour detail, for use in another app or for 3D printing.

Learn to sculpt