On April 12th, Oculus Medium received the 1.1 ‘Large’ update, which added several highly-requested features, including the ability to import reference images. Medium is Oculus’ flagship creative tool for the Touch motion controllers, recognised for its intuitive sculpting and modelling features.

Debuted at Oculus Connect 2 in September 2015, and bundled free with Oculus Touch controllers at the hardware launch in December 2016, Medium achieved its goal of delivering an accessible 3D modelling tool for the masses by emulating real-world clay sculpting, being more intuitive and approachable than professional software like ZBrush. But Medium also appealed to the pros, keen to integrate the tool with their workflow, resulting in a long list of feature requests.

The Oculus Medium “Large Update” is here! Dive in for reference images, Home screen redesign, 2D video, mesh reduction, Oculus avatar integration, and new tutorials!

Publié par Oculus Medium sur mercredi 12 avril 2017

Since the December release, the Medium team has addressed bugs and improved features in several smaller updates, such as the sharing functionality and the layer UI, but 1.1 represents the most substantial changes. The software now includes a collection of common reference images, with shapes, anatomy, guides and stickers, and you can import your own images easily. You can surround yourself with images or set them to ‘move with sculpt’, ideal for tracing and filling out basic proportions of a model. This feature alone is seen as a game-changer, making the tool much more practical for many creators.

In addition, the homescreen has been re-designed, with asset support on the Medium Newsfeed, allowing users to view and download sculpts within the headset. Improved menus allow for easier file browsing, feature discoverability, and usability, and new tutorials running within VR demonstrate sculpting techniques and tool use, with more planned in the future.

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2D videos can now be recorded without having to leave VR, which show your movements represented by your Oculus Avatar, which has now been integrated. There are also new stamp collections, including bones, household objects, fruits and traditional clay tools. Other improvements include mesh reduction (the ability to export a reduced-poly-count mesh with the colours in a texture map), layer naming, and revised smoothing tools that provide more granular control beyond the analogue trigger.

On April 6th, renowned artist Steve Lord previewed the 1.1 update during a Facebook livestream, which remains one of the best demonstrations of the changes. During the stream, the team responded to questions and requests from the live chat, indicating that many more improvements are planned.

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The trial version of Microsoft’s Monster Truck Madness probably had something to do with it. And certainly the original Super Mario Kart and Gran Turismo. A car nut from an early age, Dominic was always drawn to racing games above all other genres. Now a seasoned driving simulation enthusiast, and former editor of Sim Racer magazine, Dominic has followed virtual reality developments with keen interest, as cockpit-based simulation is a perfect match for the technology. Conditions could hardly be more ideal, a scientist once said. Writing about simulators lead him to Road to VR, whose broad coverage of the industry revealed the bigger picture and limitless potential of the medium. Passionate about technology and a lifelong PC gamer, Dominic suffers from the ‘tweak for days’ PC gaming condition, where he plays the same section over and over at every possible combination of visual settings to find the right balance between fidelity and performance. Based within The Fens of Lincolnshire (it’s very flat), Dominic can sometimes be found marvelling at the real world’s ‘draw distance’, wishing virtual technologies would catch up.
  • Foreign Devil

    Great news! My #1 need is better pressure control. . the trigger goes from 0 – 1 too fast. . Also I need to upgrade to 32 GB of RAM it seems to have anything higher rez be workable. . . WIthout uprezing you can only do very rough models.