‘Archangel’ Developers Create in ‘Oculus Medium’ to Bring Giant Mechs to Life

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Jul 27, 2018

Skydance Interactive, the studio behind Archangel (2017) and the recent multiplayer expansion Hellfire, today released a video on just how they made their building-sized mechs.

Concept artist Bryant “Momo” Koshu designed mechs for the game, and says it took him at least six months to figure out the exact design of the single player game’s cockpit using standard tools such as Adobe Photoshop. Later including Medium in his creative process, Oculus’ VR sculpting and modeling program, Koshu says he reduced the time down to a little over a week to create the updated cockpit design.

“We went through the process in a matter of weeks,” says Skydance Interactive Producer Mark Domowicz. “Part of that is Momo. He’s a ninja with the software. Part of that is just the toolset; you can just jump in and put something together, kit-bash something together.”

“This is more than just sculpting,” says Koshu. “This can actually be used for the whole video game pipeline.”

Oculus Plans to Let You Bring Your ‘Medium’ Sculptures Into Home

Skydance tells us Koshu first uses Medium when prototyping, and then adds final touches using ZBrush, Autodesk 3ds Max, Unreal Engine 4 and other tools.

Originally launched in 2016 with Touch, Medium recently got an overhaul via its 2.0 update, which brings a new file management system and a “major UI facelift,” designed to help artists work better and faster. If you’re interested in creating with Medium, check out these updated tutorials from Oculus.

Cless

Medium is great. I’m using it with my HTC Vive and Revive to blockout all the characters I’m making in 3D (even if it is for Indie studios hahaha).
- OculusMedium
  
  Tell us more about how you’re using Medium for your indie studio! Email us medium@oculus.com
Foreign Devil

Somebody has to come up with a more precise sculpting input tool than the Occulus touch controls. ..It’s would be like people trying to sculpt in Zbrush using a mouse or gamepad.
- prg4mer
  
  the problem with a mouse or gamepad in vr is that it is two dimensional. I think good tracking is all you can do for in-VR sculpting.
  - Foreign Devil
    
    yeah tracking is one aspect. . but it is pretty close. The bigger issue is there is harsh pressure sensitivity on the Touch trigger buttons. . they are mean’t for simulating shooting guns. . . not fine 1000+ levels of pressure needed for sculpting details.
    - dk
      
      u don’t need pressure levels just add and subtract geometry like making a real figure out of clay
      if u want to apply more or less of a surface texture or paint that should work by the distance of your hand from the surface and it can be done just on the software side …..like with graffiti applications ….spraying from far away gets u less texture and close up gives u more texture
      or it can be like with a mouse spraying for 1 sek gives u a bit of texture spraying for 10sek gives u more texture
- Jerald Doerr
  
  Ahhhh Oculus Touch controls or anything like Vive tracking would be perfect?? Its in VR 100% 3D I would say more so Oculus becouse it has a analog switch.. even with a art pin on a computer its still 2D in ZBrush with the exception for having pressure sensors… so VR would not at all be liking using a mouse or gamepad..
- dk
  
  what
  - JJ
    
    you must not be a 3d modeler
    - dk
      
      actually I am(not so much after university) …..and the comment is completely nonsensical a mouse doesn’t have pressure levels …I get what he is trying to saying but it’s really misleading….and in another comment I explained how it’s really up to the software u don’t really need the hardware improvements he is talking about in the other comment
      - Lucidfeuer
        
        But that’s precisely what’s missing: a surface feedback. Right now VR modelling tool have a “magnet” sticking type of placement, the rest are the usual symmetry, nurbs or subdivision schemes.
        
        But you can draw anything precise without a grid sticking and a feedback of sorts to know exactly where you’re pointing app, that’s why it’s still only good for mock-up and not precise modelling.
      - dk
        
        he is talking about a button with pressure levels …which is different from surface feed back …which u can get only if u have a stylus/controller on a robot arm http://www.b3-d.com/image/96778180.jpg
      - Jerald Doerr
        
        lucidfeuer … I understand what your trying to say but go watch videos or try it yourself in VR .. people have already made awesome artwork in VR.. having an actual presents and your eyes view in 3D in VR Is the tradeoff of actually having support/”feedback” on a shitty 2D mouse pad or even a 3D stylus like dk is showing…But that’s what makes it so good! Gato Satanista is on point.. we need something like Maya in VR to make solid objects that can be edited instead of a mess of pixels in 3D space..
      - Jerald Doerr
        
        Feedback??? I could model just fine in the day with a mouse and keyboard.. all I needed was points and polygons.. you just tell me where to aim and shoot.
        Man I remember when splines, nurbs, and metaballs came out.. wooo wee… lol
        
        Don’t forget about organic modeling vs hard serfice modeling… right now it looks like you need two defernt VR programs instead of one… hopefully in the next year someone will have the all in one real deal modeler.
      - Lucidfeuer
        
        I’m talking about a table. The one you used your pen or mouse on.
      - Gato Satanista
        
        Your correct. The thing with modelling in VR is that point (vertices) localization, object viewing and object manipulation… all of that is much more natural in “real 3D” and with motion tracking. Polymodelling in VR will be a game changer, for real. Medium is a very capable tool to concept some complex hard surface (like robots and sci-fi stuff) with vertiginous speed. But you will need to export and finish in other software to use in production. And for simple hard surface modelling, like archviz, doesn’t have much value. It’s better to do the all the job on a tradicional software. But if someone made a polymodelling VR software in VR… What we really need are VR versions from Max, Maya, Cinema 4d…etc
- Gato Satanista
  
  Hi, I do 3d animation and modelling for a living and the oculus touch in Medium are very precise. Today I can concept much faster in Medium than in Zbrush. But I still need Zbrush to finish the models. But this is not Oculus touch fault. It’s due to some lack of funcionalities in the Medium software. For me, we need only more sofware updates in Medium and a better resolution headset to get full VR sculpting. Another input tool, if more precise, is welcome of course, but not a priority or necessity.
  - Jerald Doerr
    
    Thank you….
Lucidfeuer

So it can a good mock-up app, before the final modelling. I can’t wait for tools and tracker to be precise enough so that the whole modelling and texturing pipeline can be done in VR, especially with Zbrush.
- Jerald Doerr
  
  The hardware already is precise enough… it’s just that know one (well there was one back in the day but I can’t remember it?) has come out with VR software that’s is polygon, point, or spline based… then you could go from VR model to game or CAD in seconds..
  - brandon9271
    
    Have you guys seen Gravity Sketch?
  - Lucidfeuer
    
    There a few of those actually, but without a precise anchoring and feedback, you can’t draw precisely, even though being in VR is more enticing and relevant than a screen.
    - Jerald Doerr
      
      https://youtu.be/fwMgu4sfoYc
      Gravity Sketch is pretty damn close.. 29.00 I might just pick it up..
- Raphael
  
  Yup, I’m rather tired of the cartoon graphics most of these VR sculpt programs generate. I use Cinema4d on a daily basis. Need to see mainstream pro modeling utilise VR.
  - Gato Satanista
    
    These cartoon graphics doesn’t bother me so much as I use the medium only as modelling tool. When I need to get a better image, I just export, retopologize, (if needed) do the texture job and render in cinema 4d. Sure, better rendering would be cool. But not a priority giving the actual context
    - Raphael
      
      I’ve started doing a similar process with the vr modeling tool I use. It’s pretty amazing being able to sculpt in a more natural way when life-size virtual clay and then import into C4D. Modo people have a VR sculpt app so maybe they will add vr to their main rendering solutions at some point.
jetsontrevor

It’s already integrated in our pipeline for the last 2 years! Old news chaps! It’s nothing to be a rockstar about.
- OculusMedium
  
  Wow for the last 2 years! Tell us more about how you’re using Medium in your pipeline! Email us medium@oculus.com