252324TuTorials
Model and animate in VRof the limbs that I want to move
and move them a very little bit. By
using the Onion skinning under the
Animation tab, I’m able to see the
frames before and after the one
that I’m working on, which gives
me an idea of where to move the
character next.
I keep the amount of frames low,
as a more intricate animation is not
needed for this part of the scene.23
tIMe for soMe coffee
I make myself a cup of coffee,
and decide that one of the pilots
hasn’t had enough sleep and needs
a cup too. To make the cylinder
shape for the cup I use the ‘lathe
trick’, inspired by a video Nick Ladd
posted on the Virtual Animation
group on Facebook. Thanks Nick!
1: Make sure the scene grid is
enabled and draw a line using the
grid as a guide. Then, with the
gimbal, rotate this line 90% to an
upright position. This will be the
centre of our lathe.
2: Draw the shape of one side of
the silhouette of the cup and make
it so that the lathe line is the centre.
3: Select everything and centre
the gimbal on the lathe line. This
will be the centre of rotation. Now
hold down the left trigger and
drag on the gimbal using the right
grip button so that you rotate the
copy a bit around the gimbal. Then
press the left thumbstick to the
right multiple times until you have
completed the shape of the cup.
4: Finish the cup by recolouring
using the Recolour tool and add
some final details using the normal
brush tools.24
explosIons
A scene such as this needs
some pyrotechnics of course,
and luckily explosions are very
easy to make in Quill. Make a new
layer, select a colour that fits the
explosion, add several empty
keyframes and run the animation.
Select the Capped Cylinder brush
(or any other for that matter), select
an animated brush stroke duration
and paint your explosion... while
it’s exploding! You can even select
parts of the explosion while the
animation is running and copy
those around to make more detail
quickly. Afterwards, you can select
the Recolour tool and set it to the
Add blend mode, and paint in somewarmer, lighter parts of the fire
while the animation is running.25
fInal DetaIls
I finish off the scene by
adding several elements not
described in detail here. Among
those is a giant alien spaceship,
gun control rooms on the ship,
several other ships, a ground plane,
mountains in the far distance and
more. All of those details are made
using the techniques and tools
explained here.26
export your scene
Finally, when you’re happy
with how the scene turned out, it’s
time to export. To do so, go to the
Document tab and select one of
the export options. You can export
video (keep the clips short, they
get heavy very quickly), images,
animated GIFs and finally alembic or
FBX for further editing of the scene
in other 3D packages. At the time
of writing this, animation is sadly
not supported for 3D export. For
video captures, I recommend using
a screen capture program such as
OBS or Nvidia ShadowPlay, instead
of the built-in video recorder. First
of all this will enable you to record
longer clips, and secondly you’ll be
able to navigate the scene with both
hands and get smoother camera
movements. The downside to this of
course, is that you’ll have to edit the
video afterwards.27
closIng worDs
Here I have tried to cover
some of the tips and techniques
that I find most useful when working
in Quill. For further inspiration,
I recommend you check out
the Virtual Animation group on
Facebook. Inspiring stuff is posted
their daily, from other VR pioneers.
I’m sure this way of working will
eventually play a much bigger part
in the way we work with art.
Included with this tutorial are
hours of video recordings of most
of the process. Check that out if you
need a more detailed look at how
this project came about. Also of
course be sure to watch the finished
scene in motion, since that’s a big
part of the tutorial.
Always feel free to get in contact
with me if you have any questions
about the workflow or my work.
Happy VR’ing! •