VR the champions of the world?

[Skybird]

Today I have just had one of the best and most amazing VR experiences since the starting phase of my VR journey in late 2017 - I was stunned and blown away as intensely as back then I was stunned by Google Earth VR and Streetview VR. After having checked a bit on whether my G2 Reverb and its handheld controlpieces would work with it, I decided to try Vermillion VR. Its an oil painting simulator, so to speak, and as I said: it blows the mind, that good it is. Intuitive handling for the most, and for my layman perception at least: more than enough realism. I have not dive dinto the options the browser offers, you can set up an included internet browser while sitting in your virtual atleier, and follow for example youtube painting practive lessons. You cna copy am image of yours onto the canvas, lower the colour saturation and fade its contours and then use this as shadow of the former image as an aid to bring the rogh lines of forms and objects onto the canvas, then delete the image and manually paint, as if you had used charcoal to draw a sketch first - the only detail that I wa smissing in this first session with vermillion: charcoal. But there are workarounds to sketch initial outlines of the picture you are painting. All hanbdling feels extrenely natural, you can easily alter the way in which yoruvirtual hand holds the brush or palette knife, alter angles, size, stiffness of brushes, mix colours on the palette - it is easy, it is iuntuive, it is done like you would do it in real life - breathtakingly good! I rate this as a must-have and a VR reference title. As a simnulation of a real world topic, its also top ranks, like Eleven for table tennis is, the cinema themes for Virtual Desktop are to watch you mirrored desktop and from there a Youtube or DVD movie on the big movie screen, or Google Earth VR and Google Streetview VR.

Superb software, big time find today! I am no painter, but maybe now I become one. But that woudl need MY work - the software doe snot turn me into one automatically. What it does is it privdes me with a fullscale atelier and all tools and materials needed to start in painting in oil. And no messy workplace that needs to be cleaned up after you are done!

I wonder if somebody will do a similar program for watercolours, and or pastels? I played around with both a little bit in my young years. The flooding we had 2014 literally washed away the around one dozen of pictures I had left. No loss in quality maybe, but a sentimental one.



P.S. Yes, the paintings can be printed, either from within the software, or, if optimisation is needed (its about the pixel scaling), via external workarounds that are explained in video tutorials. Video tutorials play a big role in this simulator anyway.

A beta (that I am not interested in) also allows "multiplayer". Hm. Painting in multiplayer invokes some wild fantasies, doesn't it ...

[Skybird]

If you fly FS, you might know this guy, he does a lot of FS videos on youtube, but he too fell for Vermillion. Beside being a bit hectic, he shows plenty of the handling details which are good to know, for it gives you an idea of what degree of control you have in this sim.

[Skybird]

I spent most of the day throwing paint at the canvas. I don't claim I know what I do, but doing this and testing what effects the various brushes do when holding them like this or that and using them in different ways, established my mood for laundhing into a stabile orbit. I now "play" this not seated, but standing. It makes the feel of it and the handling of the stands and positioning myself as I need in relation to the canvas for the next stroke so more natural. It all runs and is being handled so naturally, intuitively, its incredible.

Just read some of the comments:





The cartoon man is not part of the simulator! But a brilliant idea and a damn good execution to make this tutorial in this way.



Promoted this sim to the ranks of the best of the best of VR titles so far.

[mapuc]

I'm truly envy I wish I could afford a decent VR.

A decent VR cost thousands of Danish Kroner.

Example Oculus Quest 2 128 GB 3699 :- Egal 500 Euros

Markus

[Skybird]

Here is a channel of a guy who has plenty of individual tutorials on Vermillion, not doing full paintings, but for exmaple explaing browser and prjector functions, brushes, and so forth. Very helpful. This software has some ridiculously good and well-designed options.



Full playlist:


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdjlWkdljxM2FNaFFn4HMzbobVnhyBnOJ


What is Vermillion?

Originally Posted by mapuc

I'm truly envy I wish I could afford a decent VR.

A decent VR cost thousands of Danish Kroner.

Example Oculus Quest 2 128 GB 3699 :- Egal 500 Euros

Markus

Plus your computer and gfx card must have the needed muscles - or you go with the Pico 4 headset, which seems to be the newer - and better - "Quest 2". It is more or less independent from a PC, and features the resolution of the G2 Reverb (2180x2180 per eye). However, another must-have app that is non-negotiable for me is Google Earth/Streetview VR, and the Pico 4 I think does not run it.

I cannot recommend any headset that does not run Google Earth + Streetview, Virtual Desktop or equivalent with good and immersive movie hall themes for watching DVD or Bluray movies or Youtube films or own videos from in there, 360° city tour videos, and now Vermillion has joined the ranks of VR must haves. .

To my best knowledge there are no revolutionary new VR headsets announced for next year. So basing on my own personal needs and interests, I can still fully recommend the G2 Reverb. I would buy this one again at present time, if need be (with sticks, it now costs around 550-600 Euros, but availability is limited.



A PC without VR is not imaginable for me anymore (racing sims, and the mentioned must have titles above).

[mapuc]

I can also buy a VR glasses to my smartphones. My phone have a gyroscope and other things needed to run a VR game.

Markus

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by mapuc

I can also buy a VR glasses to my smartphones. My phone have a gyroscope and other things needed to run a VR game.

Markus

You mean these cardboard boxes for 20 or 20 Euros? Honestly said I never read anything about them that sounded enthusiastic. With one of these you get what you paid for, which is not much: a cardboard box and two plastic lenses. Save that money, chances are you would be disappointed.



I hope my posts about VR do not make you feel hurt, Markus. I certainly have not the intention to make you feel miserable.

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Skybird

You mean these cardboard boxes for 20 or 20 Euros? Honestly said I never read anything about them that sounded enthusiastic. With one of these you get what you paid for, which is not much: a cardboard box and two plastic lenses. Save that money, chances are you would be disappointed.



I hope my posts about VR do not make you feel hurt, Markus. I certainly have not the intention to make you feel miserable.

Ohh NO it don't in fact it's an inspiration to what I should buy and not buy.

Some pages back we had a discussion about VR versus 49 inch curved monitor. The feedback you gave me then is worth a lot.

I have a NVIDIA 1060 something 6 GB graphic card. Can't remember what type and speed of my CPU.
This VR I mentioned before the Oculus Quest 2 128 GB It seems to have a memory backup 128 GB which must mean something.

Markus

[Skybird]

And this is a very different way of painting: call it painting in 3D squared.




https://www.youtube.com/@Annadreambrush/videos


This can be done with Google's Tilt Brush, costing 20 Euros and being from 2016 (I think), or the community- developed follow-up Open Brush, costing nothign while doing essentially the same.

[Skybird]

Multiplayer! I underestimated what might be possible with this option in Vermillion! Painting classes for exmaple. Demonsbtrations. Getting help in a running painting.

^


And this, illustrating the customizability.

[Skybird]

Got this in the Steam sale. This is easily one of the very best looking and most immersive VR experiences I have been into so far. No way a 2D video could do it justice.


I use a 45cm sawed-off broomstick and with my thumbs hold the controllers at their rings fixiated to it, it works very good, giving you the feel of a "solid" paddle.
What these videos usually do noit describe is how very very well the pyhsiucs REALLY work. The film makers just paddle wihtout ambition and have the paddle entering just shallow into the water, they move their lower arms unrealstically as if just shaking somebody's hands (especially when using only the controllers without a fixing help like I described). But the real marvel happens when you chunk in the paddle deep, and make realistic full swinging arm movement - then the kayak turns into a flying fish skimming the waves. Steering is done again with the paddles, but also with how you move your upper body, means: by changing the balance inside the boat you can swing the tip gently around at this or that direction, and if you need fast turns, you chunk in that paddle on one side deeeep, and can turn almost in place. Its unbelievably realistic! Add to this the enormous immersion from the photorealistic graphics (I cannot believe that my system still can run these modern progams and at maximum graphics settings...), the water'S behaviour,m currents, waves, watrer spilling over the front of the kayak, the tip diving in, your body movement letting the boat swing kleft, right, rolling gently. The art is to find your rythm, a synchronised movement that constantly adapts to the ever changing water conditions, anbd nit using just yoiur arms, but your whole upper body.



Content-wise this is little more thna jjst a tehc dmeo, you get four areas, can paddle for fun or do races for entering hioghscore lists, so this is hardly worth moe than the reuced price of 15 coins I paid, but these coins it is worth. Definitely! Its also nice gymnastics for your spine and back, your shoulders and necks, if you may have some cramps or minor pain in there.



Very very impressive! Very very immersive! I dream of this combined with a procedurally generated landscape or running it via somethign like Google Streetview for waterways.


And remember what I dsaid: ther eis no chance a 2D video can do this any justice. If you ever get the chance to try it in VR, at a friend or so, do it. And then do not "play" it - but do it like you would do in a real kayak, maybe do it while standing, or sitting on a bar stool, do not use a chair with arm rests. You want to freely swing your arms up and wide, and swing your whole body, really.

[Skybird]

Wait - did he say at the end they plan release of "wild water levels"...??
Man, I would will to get ripped off to get more levels for this! And yes, this CALLS, YELLS, DEMANDS and COMMANDS for wild water levels!

[Skybird]

In this video a very good overview is given on the current and recommendable VR headsets available at present since 2022, and the confirmed headset releases for 2023 and the less confirmed but stubbornly rumoured headsets in 2023. Very good documentary and comparison.

[Catfish]

This all looks really nice, but after seeing a new gaming PC costs around 4500 Euros it is getting too expensive

[Skybird]

That depends on two things.

First, how you define "gaming PC". If that is an acronym for "as much performance power as possible, no matter what", then you are right. However, I see it like this. My own rig is over 5 years old now, I bought it in late autumn 2017 and I paid I think around 3000 coins. I invested into some additional performance reserves that in 2D I never would have needed until today, and that I make use of not before quite precisely one year ago, when I had to replace the Oculus Rift with the G2 Reverb and its several times more pixel resolution - and the old rig, four years old, could run it, did not complain. That is an i7-8700K, 32GB of RAM, of which I never have used more than less than the half of it, and a factory-overclocked Asus GTX-1080TI. Compared to new top hardware, that is a fossile by now, still, the performance level of it, outdated by now, nevertheless is perfectly enough to deal with everything I have thrown at it so far, and it does so with medium and quite some high settings in graphics options for VR titles: do not think in vR I have all settings at "low" - far form that.

That begs for one question: would I really need to spend the higher money for a new system with plenty of more performance than this old one? Practically spoken, no. And that opens many options to save quite some money on invidiual components if buying a new system . You can get a good "gaming system" without needing to pay the newest of the newest, the latest of the latest, the most expensive of the expensive. The G2, btw, I bought with 2 controllers for 500 coins. For my needs - sitting stationary in cockpits of various kinds - this model was the best possible deal I could get on the planet, i would not want any other of the currently available headsets. My only loss: Eleven Table Tennis.


Second, VR has its arguments to exist even without gaming. The option to watch any sort of film material, city sightseeing tours at youtube both classical format and 360° format, watch movies - and all that on super-big movie screens or in all-surround! Google Earth and Google Streetview - these two apps are must haves, and I strictly recommend to avoid any headset that does not allow to run these apps unconditionally (I would even will to pay a monthly fee for them, like an abo). This alone would be reason enough for me to always buy VR when buying a new computer, even if I would be tired of gaming alltogether. With the resolution offered by the G2, the argument "watching Hollywood films" is no more in doubt like it still was with the Oculus Rift and its blurry images - instead this option is a kill argument. I have watched Dune and Maverick on the moviescreen this way, and a couple of old movies. I switched between different cinema themes, according to the theme of the film. Its unbelievable! I have not watched Maverick on TV screen before - when the Bluray arrived, I directly went into the virtual moviehall, that good it already works!

I admit, for family sessions it is not practical. :LOL:

I am enthusiastic about the Kayak Mirage above, obviously, but in the end, that is just a gimmick, so are time-killing little games like Pinball FX 2 VR and the likes - nice to have occasionally, and if you do not have them, its alright nevertheless. So is a lot of other games - but not all. Racing for exmaple I do a lot, and I could not go back to monitors anymore. But watching films of all sorts, both DVDs and online, and having Google Earth and Streetview - that alone are fully sufficiuent arguments to have VR.

Now imagine VR and - Flight Simulator. The future is here, and it works. I rest my case.
I recommend: pass on that new E-car for 80,000 coins instead.