3D Fish Magic
Immersive Paul Klee painting
For this project, we collaborated with another artist whose aspired to create an immersive, 3D virtual world inspired by Paul Klee's 1925 painting Fish Magic.
Our goal was to create a virtual reality (VR) app that enabled a viewer to jump inside and explore the painting up close and intuitively.
Our contribution
3D Modeling & texture design
Desktop app build
Virtual reality mobile app build
The team
2 × artists/developers
Year
2019
3D Fish Magic
Immersive Paul Klee painting
For this project, we collaborated with another artist whose aspired to create an immersive, 3D virtual world inspired by Paul Klee's 1925 painting Fish Magic.
Our goal was to create a virtual reality (VR) app that enabled a viewer to jump inside and explore the painting up close and intuitively.
Our contribution
3D Modeling & texture design
Desktop app build
Virtual reality mobile app build
The team
2 × artists/developers
Year
2019
3D Fish Magic
Immersive Paul Klee painting
For this project, we collaborated with another artist whose aspired to create an immersive, 3D virtual world inspired by Paul Klee's 1925 painting Fish Magic.
Our goal was to create a virtual reality (VR) app that enabled a viewer to jump inside and explore the painting up close and intuitively.
Our contribution
3D Modeling & texture design
Desktop app build
Virtual reality mobile app build
The team
2 × artists/developers
Year
2019
Process
Taking inspiration from source material
We visited the original painting onsite at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to study the artwork's materials, textures, lighting and colors up close. To emulate the painting's handmade quality, we created charcoal and watercolor mixed media assets by hand before scanning them to be used as textures.
Modeling with attention to detail
We studied each of the elements of the painting to craft 3D models that would both resemble the original figures and visually engage viewers from all angles. Then, we applied our handmade textures to each model and embellished with custom lighting and particle effects.
Technical nitty gritty
We used Blender to create all the 3D models from scratch, Substance Painter to create digital textures from our scanned drawings and paintings, and Unity for composing the scene, adding sound effects, and building interaction into our app. Leveraging Unity, we were also able to build and deploy the app for different distribution channels.
Deploying to multiple platforms
For exhibition of the project in a public gallery space, we deployed a desktop version of the app, where the artist could use basic keyboard navigation to move the first person controller around the scene, while the screen was projected onto a nearby wall. For mobile distribution, the app was also built as a virtual reality (VR) app for Google Cardboard for viewers to enjoy at home.
Process
Taking inspiration from source material
We visited the original painting onsite at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to study the artwork's materials, textures, lighting and colors up close. To emulate the painting's handmade quality, we created charcoal and watercolor mixed media assets by hand before scanning them to be used as textures.
Modeling with attention to detail
We studied each of the elements of the painting to craft 3D models that would both resemble the original figures and visually engage viewers from all angles. Then, we applied our handmade textures to each model and embellished with custom lighting and particle effects.
Technical nitty gritty
We used Blender to create all the 3D models from scratch, Substance Painter to create digital textures from our scanned drawings and paintings, and Unity for composing the scene, adding sound effects, and building interaction into our app. Leveraging Unity, we were also able to build and deploy the app for different distribution channels.
Deploying to multiple platforms
For exhibition of the project in a public gallery space, we deployed a desktop version of the app, where the artist could use basic keyboard navigation to move the first person controller around the scene, while the screen was projected onto a nearby wall. For mobile distribution, the app was also built as a virtual reality (VR) app for Google Cardboard for viewers to enjoy at home.
Process
Taking inspiration from source material
We visited the original painting onsite at the Philadelphia Museum of Art to study the artwork's materials, textures, lighting and colors up close. To emulate the painting's handmade quality, we created charcoal and watercolor mixed media assets by hand before scanning them to be used as textures.
Modeling with attention to detail
We studied each of the elements of the painting to craft 3D models that would both resemble the original figures and visually engage viewers from all angles. Then, we applied our handmade textures to each model and embellished with custom lighting and particle effects.
Technical nitty gritty
We used Blender to create all the 3D models from scratch, Substance Painter to create digital textures from our scanned drawings and paintings, and Unity for composing the scene, adding sound effects, and building interaction into our app. Leveraging Unity, we were also able to build and deploy the app for different distribution channels.
Deploying to multiple platforms
For exhibition of the project in a public gallery space, we deployed a desktop version of the app, where the artist could use basic keyboard navigation to move the first person controller around the scene, while the screen was projected onto a nearby wall. For mobile distribution, the app was also built as a virtual reality (VR) app for Google Cardboard for viewers to enjoy at home.
Outcome
The final outcome was a VR app that the artist distributed to other fans of the surrealist painter's work along with Google Cardboard kits.
Viewers familiar with and new to virtual reality were able to engage with the original painting in an innovative way that leveraged the technology while still allowing for meditative exploration.
Outcome
The final outcome was a VR app that the artist distributed to other fans of the surrealist painter's work along with Google Cardboard kits.
Viewers familiar with and new to virtual reality were able to engage with the original painting in an innovative way that leveraged the technology while still allowing for meditative exploration.
Outcome
The final outcome was a VR app that the artist distributed to other fans of the surrealist painter's work along with Google Cardboard kits.
Viewers familiar with and new to virtual reality were able to engage with the original painting in an innovative way that leveraged the technology while still allowing for meditative exploration.