Starting your VR career with SimLab VR Platform
All what you need to know about starting your VR Career. Why now is the right time? Why SimLab VR Platform is the right option for you? What is your path for starting a successful career in VR? How to take your VR Career to the next phase?
- Why to start a career in VR?
- What Skills do I need?
- My first VR experience
- What is SimLab VR Platform?
- Why to use SimLab VR Platform?
- How SimLab VR Platform helps you solve Catch 22?
- How to learn SimLab VR Platform?
- Let the power be with you
- SimLab VR Platform for advanced users
- Protecting Copyrights while delivering VR Experiences to clients
Why to start a career in VR?
VR is going to change business and education forever, it is going to open many opportunities. As a new technology VR has its challenges, but the great thing is that we believe those challenges are already solved, and VR is ready for mass adoption in business and education.
So how VR can benefit you in your career?
VR opens opportunities that can be in the form of full or part time jobs. It can serve as a tool to improve your current job, whether you are in training, sales, or just need a great way to present a new idea. VR will allow you to achieve your goals.
You can see in the following page different uses cases, where VR is used in business and education
What Skills do I need?
You will be able to create exquisite VR experiences without any coding or design skills using SimLab VR Platform.
You need 3 things:
Imagination: Being a VR experience creator is like being a movie director or a game creator; as VR is a form of story-telling. Stories with creative imagination are always better..
Logic: Although you don’t have to be a programmer or have advanced analytical skills, you still need to have a good logic if you are planning to create a great VR experience.
Passion: Whatever you’re learning you need the passion for it. Learning more about VR creation will get you closer to being among the top VR experts.
Do you have them? You’re all set and ready to start then!
My first VR experience
We all prefer visual presentation over reading, and this is why this is the time to view SimLab VR Platform in action.
Start with downloading SimLab VR Studio from the following link.
Then check the following link to see how easy it is to create a VR experience.
What is SimLab VR Platform?
Other VR platforms focus on the creation, and while you spend most of the time in creation, there must be more to it than just the creation.
With SimLab VR Studio, which is the easiest VR creation tool, you can start working on it without any 3D modeling, or coding skills which allows you to create a great VR experience. However, you will need more while working on VR projects, and this is what SimLab VR platform provides.
With SimLab VR Viewer, you will run the experience and share it too on all platforms such as a PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Quest, Pico, HTC Vive. Mixed reality… etc.
Download the latest version of the viewer from the following link.
In addition to VR Studio (the creation tool) and VR Viewer (the player), SimLab VR Platform also offers additional components that are brilliant when needed.
1. Cloud sharing: Allowing you to share VR experiences with other users or groups. It also allows you to synchronize VR experiences between multiple devices.
2. LMS Integration: Allowing schools, universities, and large corporations to distribute VR experiences using their own learning management system (LMS) and to add quizzes while tracking the progress of the users in the VR experience.
3. VR Collaboration: Allowing you to invite multiple users and share the same VR experience together.
Why to use SimLab VR Platform?
The following video illustrates a lot of the reasons why you should use the SimLab Platform.
SimLab VR Studio is low cost and easy to start with.
SimLab VR Studio saves time and allows production of VR experiences at a fast pace.
You will appreciate the completeness of SimLab VR Platform by satisfying the user requirements.
The major cost in VR experience creation is the cost of the team who will be working on creating the experience. By reducing the time needed to create a typical VR experience from one month to a week, and making it easier to teach new members, you will be able to scale for large projects others can not get!
You will be able to reduce your cost and make more profit, you will be able to offer lower prices and faster delivery times to win over competition.
How SimLab VR Platform helps you solve Catch 22?
If you are not familiar with Catch 22, it is a paradoxical situation similar to the following. You apply for your first job and they ask for experience, and you wonder "How can I get any experience until I get a job that gives me experience?"
This is a common issue in VR, you get this nice opportunity for VR project that you are capable of doing, and the client asks if you can show something related to their industry to grant you the project.
That is where SimLab VR Warehouse comes to the rescue.
SimLab VR Warehouse includes a large number of ready to use (demo) VR experiences that you can open and brand, then use to get VR projects.
VR Warehouse Models licensing
3D Models and scenes included in SimLab Composer, SimLab VR Studio, or downloaded from SimLab cloud, including the ones appearing in the VR Warehouse, are protected by copyrights. These models and scenes may be utilized solely for educational purposes or as a base to generate new VR experiences to be viewed using the original SimLab VR Viewer, free of charge or commercially. However, to distribute such experiences to run on any other viewer, including a white-labeled version of SimLab VR Viewer. In that case, a signed permission from SimLab Soft is needed.
How to learn SimLab VR Platform?
All you need to start learning SimLab VR Platform is to download the free edition of SimLab VR Studio from the following link
After that, you can use SimLab Academy, which is included in SimLab VR Studio to learn the features and techniques starting with the basics, all the way to advanced practices.
The following video describes SimLab Academy
Let the power be with you
This document should provide you with all you need to start your VR journey. Try, create and learn, and if you need assistance, SimLab team is always here to help.
Register to one of the following live webinars to learn more about SimLab VR Platform using the following link
SimLab VR Platform for advanced users
Even advanced Unreal and Unity developers can use SimLab VR Platform in different ways:
Create prototypes fast: you can create a collaboration VR experience using SimLab VR Platform in few minutes, that will allow you to win projects. What is the point of being good in creating VR experiences, if you are not able to get the project in the first place.
Great support of 3D/CAD: SimLab VR Studio supports large number of file formats, and it understands geometries, materials, and animations. It provides all the needed tools to convert 3D models to usable VR assets.
Support all platforms at once: leave the Headache of migrating to a new unreal engine, or supporting new hardware to SimLab team, and focus on building your own VR experience.
Be ready for the future: VR projects do grow, do not lock yourself, so when asked later for collaboration, or LMS integration you will start thinking of finding a new solution. SimLab VR Platform has been in development for over 15 years and tested to deliver many great VR projects.
Use SimLab VR Optimization tools: to run VR experiences on low end devices like iOS, Android, Quest, and Pico you need to do different optimization techniques, SimLab created optimization tools ready to be executed in few clicks, check SimLab VR optimization tools here
Protecting Copyrights while delivering VR Experiences to clients
Now that you have spent days enjoying SimLab VR Studio and have created an amazing VR experience for your client, which he is amazed by, and is ready to accept it as a delivery, the question arises : how do I deliver the requested VR Experience to my client while insuring that the agreed upon Copyrights are not violated.
Let us first cover the basic file formats and sharing mediums, through which, you can send and receive VR experiences and their related files, then we will talk about the different types of agreements that you might make with your clients, and which delivery medium to use for each of those agreements.
File Formats
VRPackages
The VRPackage file format allows you to export your VR Experience from SimLab VR Studio as a single file which can then be added to SimLab VR Viewer to be run as a single user or in a collaboration session or to be shared with other users through SiimLab VR Viewer.
A key feature of VRPackage files is that a single VR Package file can be uploaded only once and by a single user as a form of protection, so for example if you were to create a VR experience in SimLab VR Studio and export it as a VRpackage, then add and upload that package in SimLab VR Viewer, no other user would be able to upload that same VRPackage file.
To create a VR package in SimLab VR Studio, click on the VR Viewer menu, and under export select, “VR Package File”.
Export VR Package File location in SimLab VR Studio
In the VR package export dialog you can access the setting, then enable or disable the “VR Viewer only” option, when this option is enabled, the VR package cannot be opened using SimLab VR Studio or SimLab Composer, and can only be viewed in SimLab VR Viewer.
You need to also uncheck the "Saving" option to not allow the users to save the VR Experience from SimLab VR Viewer.
Zim Files
ZIM is a SimLab VR Studio native file format which the designer can use to save the whole scene in a single file. Unlike SIM Files, which is the other native file format for SimLab VR Studio, ZIM files will contain any resources related to the scene, that includes: Textures and HDR images, video and audio files.
Zim files are used to create a self contained package of your VR Studio scene, which then can be moved to another machine and when opened, it can produce a VR experience Identical to the one exported from the first machine without any loss of data.
To create a ZIM file in SimLab VR Studio, click on the File menu, and select “Save as”, then in the save dialog, switch the type from sim to zim, then save the file.
Choosing ZIM file from the save menu will create a self contained package of the scene
Sharing Methods
Cloud Sharing
Once you have uploaded the VR Package to your SimLab account through SimLab VR Viewer, you are then able to Share the VR Experience with other users by adding them as contacts and then Selecting the VR Package and clicking share, then selecting the contacts you with to share the VR Experience with.
When Sharing a VR experience, you will retain ownership over the VR package, and the user you shared the package with will only have access to run it as a single user and they cannot share it with other nor can they use it in a VR collaboration session.
Sending a VR package File
An alternative method to sharing VR experiences is to share the VRPackage file with a user through any file sharing system ( Wetransfer, Email, Google Drive, etc.) to allow the user to upload it himself.
If this package hasn't been uploaded previously to SimLab cloud, then the user who uploads it will be able to share it with others and can start a VR Collaboration Session with it.
VR Collaboration
Starting a VR Collaboration session which enables multiple users to join the VR Experience at the same time, is also considered a type of sharing since the client is able to fully engage in the VR Experience, but without receiving a VR package directly nor through Cloud Sharing.
To Start a VR Collaboration Session, Select the VR Experience then click on "Start Collaboration"
Sharing a ZIM file
As mentioned earlier, ZIM files are self contained packages that can be opened in SimLab VR Studio and SimLab Composer.
Sending a ZIM file through any file sharing system would enable the recipient to modify the VR Experience and export VR Packages of the VR experience.
These are the 4 methods in which VR Experiences created using SimLab VR Studio can be communicated with clients, and each method has it’s uses depending on the situation or the agreement you have with the client, so lets us now go through a guide on which method to use when distributing VR experiences.
Sharing methods under different licensing cases
1- Selling the Same VR Experience to one or multiple separate clients for a single user use, while you (the Creator) maintain the Copyrights over the VR Experience.
In this case, it is recommended to use SimLab Cloud Sharing to distribute the VR Experience even prior to receiving the payment. It can even be agreed to be shared for a specific period of time and not perpetually, since you are able to Un-share the VR experience with any specified client to remove the client’s access to the VR experience.
2- Selling a VR experience to a client that want several people to have access to the VR experience, while you (the Creator) maintain the Copyrights over the VR Experience.
Similar to the above case, you would want to use SimLab Cloud sharing. Ask the client to provide you with the email addresses for all the users that want access to the VR experience, then add them as contacts, and share the VR experience with them.
3- Selling a VR Experience to a client that want to distribute the VR experience to multiple users without providing you with the users emails.
In this case the Client might not want to disclose the users email or the users are currently unspecified, so he wants to be able to upload it and distribute the VR Experience himself. What you you need to do, is provide him with a VR Package File through a file transfer system other than SimLab Cloud Sharing, while making sure that the delivered VR Package has not been uploaded to SimLab Cloud before.
4- Selling a VR Experience to a client along with with the resources and the Copyrights.
In Some cases the client would want to retain all the copyrights over a VR Experience as well as the SimLab VR Studio file, which would allow him to modify the VR Experience.
Clients might request this type of licensing and delivery for protection against the unavailability of the author in case they would want to modify the VR Experience.
In this case, you would need to deliver a VR Package file and a ZIM file through a file sharing system, and you need to make sure that the VR package file has not been uploaded previously to SimLab Cloud.
5- Offering the VR Experience for sale to the public.
If you are creating VR content using SimLab VR Studio and do not have a specific client to sell to, you can use SimLab VR Warehouse to sell the VR Experience.
SimLab VR Warehouse accepts ZIM files, therefore whoever purchases the VR Experience, will be able to modify it and export it as a VR Package, as well as share it and run it in VR Collaboration sessions, but he will not be able to resell it on SimLab VR Warehouse.
You can access SimLab VR Warehouse through the bottom panel in SimLab VR Studio, Click here to learn more.
6- Publishing a VR Experience for everyone to use for free.
Similar to the earlier method, you can use SimLab VR Warehouse to publish models and set their price to “free”. Setting the VR Experience for free would allow other users to download the ZIM file you created and modify it and export VR packages from it. Additionally, they will be able to share it with others and run VR Collaboration sessions with it.
The user will not be able to resell the downloaded VR Experience on SimLab VR Warehouse.
Need Further Assistance?
These Cases covers the vast majority of agreements that you might make with clients, in case you need further assistance or have some questions regarding Distribution or SimLab VR platform in general, then Click here to book a live webinar where SimLab Team would be able to help you and explain things in details.