Unreal engine VR cookbook: developing virtual reality with UE

277 Pages·2017·17.454 MB·English

by  Epic Games, Inc.;McCaffrey, Mitch

Praise for Unreal ® Engine
VR Cookbook
“I’ve been a fan of Mitch’s work for quite some time. Back in early 2014, Mitch was exploring
new locomotion mechanics in Unreal Engine for VR characters and sharing his findings, as well
as numerous sample files, on the www.unrealengine.com forums in massive ongoing threads.
Even in the early days of VR exploration, his work was helpful to many newcomers working to
understand the issues of designing for a comfortable virtual experience. With his YouTube channel,
Mitch’s VR Labs, he helped thousands of people understand the foundations of locomotion and
interaction mechanics with clear and concise UE4 videos. I’m thrilled that he has taken the time
to bring all his knowledge and experience in working with Unreal Engine and virtual reality to
the Unreal ® Engine VR Cookbook. With the current attention and appetite for understanding
how best to work in the exciting medium of virtual reality with Unreal Engine, I think Mitch is
uniquely qualified to share this book with the world.”
—Luis Cataldi, Unreal Engine Education, Epic Games, Inc.
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Unreal® Engine VR
Cookbook
McCaffrey_Book.indb iii 1/17/17 8:44 PM
The Addison-Wesley
Game Design and Development Series
Visit informit.com/series/gamedesign for a complete list of available publications.
Essential References for Game Designers and Developers
These practical guides, written by distinguished professors and industry gurus,
cover basic tenets of game design and development using a straightforward,
common-sense approach. The books encourage readers to try things on their own
and think for themselves, making it easier for anyone to learn how to design and
develop digital games for both computers and mobile devices.

Make sure to connect with us!
informit.com/socialconnect
McCaffrey_Book.indb iv 1/17/17 8:44 PM
Unreal® Engine VR
Cookbook
Developing Virtual Reality with UE4
Mitch McCaffrey
Boston • Columbus • Indianapolis • New York • San Francisco • Amsterdam • Cape Town
Dubai • London • Madrid • Milan • Munich • Paris • Montreal • Toronto • Delhi • Mexico City
São Paulo • Sydney • Hong Kong • Seoul • Singapore • Taipei • Tokyo
McCaffrey_Book.indb v 1/17/17 8:44 PM
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products Editor-in-Chief
are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and the pub- Mark L. Taub
lisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial
Executive Editor
capital letters or in all capitals.
Laura Lewin
The author and publisher have taken care in the preparation of this book, but make no
expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility for errors or Development Editor
omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection Sheri Replin
with or arising out of the use of the information or programs contained herein.
Managing Editor
For information about buying this title in bulk quantities, or for special sales opportuni- Sandra Schroeder
ties (which may include electronic versions; custom cover designs; and content particular
to your business, training goals, marketing focus, or branding interests), please contact Full-Service Production
our corporate sales department at [email protected] or [phone]. Manager
Julie B. Nahil
For government sales inquiries, please contact [email protected].
Project Editor
For questions about sales outside the U.S., please contact [email protected].
Anna Popick
Visit us on the Web: informit.com/aw
Copy Editor
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016958916 Barbara Wood
Copyright © 2017 Pearson Education, Inc.
Indexer
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected Dick Evans
by copyright, and permission must be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohib-
ited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any Proofreader
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information Anna Popick
regarding permissions, request forms and the appropriate contacts within the Pearson
Technical Reviewers
Education Global Rights & Permissions Department, please visit www.pearsoned.com/
Luis Cataldi
permissions/.
Jeff Wilson
The following are registered trademarks of Google: Android™, Daydream™, Google Clinton Crumpler
Cardboard™.
Editorial Assistant
Steam VR is a registered trademark of Valve Corporation. Olivia Basegio
Oculus Rift is a registered trademark of Oculus VR, LLC.
Cover Designer
Samsung Gear VR is a registered trademark of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Chuti Prasertsith
PlayStation VR is a registered trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Compositor
Unreal Engine is a registered trademark of Epic Games, Inc., in the United States of The CIP Group
America and elsewhere.
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-464917-7
ISBN-10: 0-13-464917-6
1 17
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Contents
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
About the Author xix
Part I: Getting Started 1
1 Terminology and Best Practices 3
Terminology 4
Devices 4
Software 6
Unreal Engine 9
Best Practices 10
Summary 11
2 Head Mounted Display Setup 13
Gear VR 14
Gear VR Project Setup 14
Gear VR Global Menu Setup 20
Gear VR Global Menu Progress Material 26
Rift and Vive 32
Rift and Vive Project Setup 33
Rift and Vive Tracking Origins 39
Summary 42
3 Toolkit 43
Generic Function Library 44
Oculus Function Library 45
Steam VR Function Library 47
Summary 47
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viii CONTENTS
Part II: Recipes 49
4 Trace Interaction 51
Understanding Trace Interaction 52
Understanding Interfaces 55
Setting Up Trace Interaction 57
Basic Project Setup 57
Interaction Interface Setup 58
Interaction Component 61
Interaction Pawn Setup 73
Setting Up a Basic Interactive Object 75
Summary 79
Exercises 80
5 Teleportation 85
Setting Up Teleportation 86
Parabolic Tracing 86
Visualizing the Teleport 92
Visualization Material 92
Visualization Actor 94
Simple Teleportation Volume 95
Summary 101
Exercises 101
6 Unreal Motion Graphics and 2D User Interfaces 103
Challenges with 2D UI in VR 104
History and Compatibility of UMG 105
Basic VR Menu 105
Menu Actor 108
Menu Pawn 111
Custom Menu Interaction 113
Implementing Custom Menu Interaction: Approach 1 113
Implementing Custom Menu Interaction: Approach 2 118
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CONTENTS ix
Summary 123
Exercises 123
7 Character Inverse Kinematics 125
Introduction to Inverse Kinematics 126
Setting Up Head IK 127
Mirror Creation 128
IK Pawn 130
Head IK Animation Blueprint 132
Setting Up Hand IK 137
Adding Motion Controllers to Your Pawn 137
Hand IK Animation Blueprint 138
Summary 144
Exercises 145
8 Motion Controller Interaction 147
Why Motion Controller Interaction Works 148
What to Look Out For: The Importance of Affordance 148
Shared Input of the Current Generation of Motion
Controllers 149
Setting Up the World Interaction Project 149
Interacting with Objects 151
Creating the World Interaction Interface 151
Creating the Interactor Component 153
Adding Interaction to the Interaction Pawn 161
Creating the Interactive Objects 163
Creating an Interactive Static Mesh Actor 163
Creating an Interactive Button 166
Creating an Interactive Lever 176
Summary 187
Exercises 188
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