It's the end of the year and I'm so honored that our project has been chosen as Best in VR Passive Immersive Experiences at the AustXR Festival. (Includes 360 videos and any kind of projects where the integrity of the artwork/video does not change in response to stimuli. ex. bespoke story-based) In this post, I will be shining the light on my Australian team mate: Mada de Leeuw
Mada lives in Sydney and is a master crafter in 3D modelling. She has been working in the industry since the early days of 3D Studio / Max / Softimage and does amazing work in Daz Studio. Her special interest lies in developing works in virtual reality where she has been experimenting for years.
Creating the Impossible
Mada was the technical genius behind Dragon Magic and Freedom Giants VR world where she demonstrated incredible skill by optimizing over 3 million polygons to bring all of the artwork into the ENGAGE platform. How did this happen? About a year ago, Mada asked me to send the tiltbrush file that was to be extracted on the ENGAGEVR platform. I did so hurriedly and left it at that until months later when she contacted me.
When Mada and Chris invited me into the world space in ENGAGEVR, I was completely and utterly flabbergasted! To my horror and amazement, I had mistakenly sent Mada the unedited file representing my artwork in Tiltbrush in all of its imaginative glory. Mada had figured out how to optimize 3 million polygons enabling people to view the VR world and all of the VR google Tiltbrush shaders inside a standalone VR oculus headset!
Optimizing such a massive world was next to impossible, but the fact that Mada was not even cognizant of that was indeed charming! Mada assumed that the file was optimized for a previous project in altspacevr and did not entertain the fact that it couldn't work.
I will never forget the lesson that she taught me that day. Your thoughts have power and your belief systems create your reality. Thank you Mada!
In addition to development and some pretty fun and crafty UX work, Mada also added her UX flair to the Dragon Magic designs and brought an organizational symmetry to our multi-talented team. Our official video for Dragon Magic, Freedom Giants was also put together by Mada. Thank you Mada for style, class and expertise! We are so happy to have an 'aussie' among us!
We did a tour with one of our best buddies Andy Fidel of Playscape Studio! Here we are: Juliana Loh, Mada de Leeuw and Chris Madsen! WOOO HOOO! What a team!
Mada's Perspective on the UX of Dragon Magic, Freedom Giants
"Imagine being able to walk around and become an integral part of a larger-than-life artwork. By implementing transparent levels, viewers can immerse themselves within the art, breaking the traditional confines of a static display.
Embark on a journey of discovery as we explore different viewpoints and points of interest through seamless teleportation. Engaging audio cues accompany highlights in the journey, prompting viewers to contemplate the underlying themes of the artwork in an interactive and thought-provoking manner.
Experience the artwork like never before as take you through diverse angles and compositions. Discover how varying perspectives reveal new dimensions and narratives, creating a truly dynamic and evolving visual experience."
