VR Developer v2.0.0

Nanodegree key: nd017

Version: 2.0.0

Locale: en-us

Virtual Reality is the future of creative content. Job opportunities are skyrocketing, making this the perfect time to launch your career.

Content

Part 01 : Welcome to the VR Developer Nanodegree

VR-related job openings are up 800% year-over-year, and there is a lack of skilled VR developers and designers. Hence, the goal of the VR Developer Nanodegree program is to educate thousands of people in VR software development and design.

You are going to learn the principles of virtual reality, some programming and design, a bit of science, a little math, and a whole lot about how to create good VR from scratch.

Make sure you join the Udacity VR Developer Slack community to meet other VR enthusiasts.

Module 01: Welcome to the VR Developer Nanodegree
- Lesson 01: Welcome to the VR Developer Nanodegree
  Learn about the VR Developer Nanodegree, the course outline, your support options, and how to get the most out of your Nanodegree journey.
Module 02: Career: Orientation
- Lesson 01: Career Services Available to You
  The Careers team at Udacity is here to help you land your dream job - whether it's a new role or growing at your current company. Learn more about how we'll support you in your career growth.

Part 02 : Introduction to Virtual Reality

Learn about the principles of VR technology including optics, displays, stereopsis, tracking, and major hardware platforms.

You will also get your development environment set up with the software and SDKs you need, learn some basics about Unity, and find out how to deploy your Unity project to iOS or Android.

By the end of this course, you will have created and deployed a fully functional VR app to your mobile device.

Module 01: Introduction to Virtual Reality
- Lesson 01: Before You Get Started
  In this lesson, you will find important course information such as how to download the associated course assets and which software versions to use.
- Lesson 02: What Is VR?
  Welcome to your new reality! In this lesson, we take a brief look at the history of Virtual Reality and introduce the core components that make VR possible.
- Lesson 03: Platforms & Paradigms
  There are so many options for Virtual Reality hardware, how can you choose between them? In this lesson, we break down the key differences between each type of VR headset.
- Lesson 04: Hello World
  In this lesson, we will start diving into the VR trenches. You will be introduced to the Unity game engine and get your computer set up with all the software you need to begin developing VR.
- Lesson 05: Section Review
  Let's review key concepts and skills that we've learned so far.
Module 02: Udacity Carnival
- Lesson 01: Udacity Carnival
  For this project, you will customize and personalize a Unity project, deploy it to your mobile phone, and view the VR app in your Cardboard viewer.
  
  Project Description - Udacity Carnival
  
  Project Rubric - Udacity Carnival

Part 03 : VR Scenes & Objects

Learn the fundamentals of using the Unity game engine to build beautiful and performant VR scenes.

Starting from basic game objects, you will learn about transforms and materials, so that you can position objects and make them look realistic.

Next, you will experiment with animations and cameras in order to make our scenes more engaging in VR. And finally, you will add some complex lighting to your scene to make your experience really stand out.

Module 01: VR Scenes & Objects
- Lesson 01: Before You Get Started
  In this lesson, you will find important course information such as how to download the associated course assets and which software versions to use.
  - Concept 01: Downloads
  - Concept 02: Learning Plan Week 2
- Lesson 02: Game Objects
  We can’t build our new realities without objects - in this lesson we learn how to create virtual objects and add them to our scenes, as well as how to edit and move those objects around. By the end of the lesson, you will feel comfortable with the Unity interface, too!
- Lesson 03: Materials
  Once you have your objects created, what affects how they actually look? How do we know your wooden table is actually made of wood? Materials and textures are the answer, and by the end of this lesson, you’ll know all about it!
- Lesson 04: Animations
  Now that we have spent time looking at Materials and setting up a scene, we can now take a look at making things move. For that, we need to talk about Unity’s built-in animation system called Mecanim.
- Lesson 05: Cameras
  Cameras play a crucial role in allowing our users to see something on their display. In this lesson, we will break them down and by the end build our own simple VR Camera. We will also spend some time contrasting that with Google VR’s viewer and seeing what they do to make it better.
- Lesson 06: Lights
  To make our scenes look really beautiful, we need to understand lighting. Lighting requires complex algorithm, but Unity enables us to use it in a way that is both beautiful but also performant.
- Lesson 07: Build an Apartment
  Build a new apartment scene with nice lighting and custom animation. Then, deploy it to your your Cardboard headset.
  
  Project Description - Build an Apartment
  
  Project Rubric - Build an Apartment

Part 04 : VR Software Development

Learn how to make your VR experience more dynamic and responsive to your users.

You will be exposed to C# programming and practice using it within the Unity interface.

Upon completing this course, you will have learned basic programming constructs such as methods, loops, variables, and events and how to apply them in a VR environment.

Module 01: VR Software Development
- Lesson 01: Before You Get Started
  In this lesson, you will find important course information such as how to download the associated course assets and which software versions to use.
  - Concept 01: Downloads
  - Concept 02: Opening the Unity Project
- Lesson 02: Creating Scripts
  Get started with programming VR by writing your first scripts. In this lesson we start linking 3D models to source code. We’ll start small by moving cubes around and then work our way up to bigger, more elaborate interactions.
- Lesson 03: Controlling Objects Using Code
  Now that you’ve made some code, we’ll explore the Unity documentation system. This is essential for discovering the commands available to you. Then, we’ll learn several more ways to control objects with code, including creating brand new objects.
- Lesson 04: VR Interaction
  In this lesson, we take a look at the programming paradigms used in Unity’s new GUI system. This lets you make 3D buttons that float in space and react to your gaze. It’s really powerful. By the time you finish this lesson, you’ll have built a 3D button that takes you on vacation.
- Lesson 05: Programming Animations
  Back in the VR Scenes & Objects course, we used the Animator and a pre-made script to control our animations. Now that we have a basic understanding of scripting let’s use code to create animations.
- Lesson 06: Physics & Audio
  In this lesson, we’ll make code that responds to events from the Unity physics system. We’ll dive deeper in how collisions work and how to interact with them. Lastly, we’ll look at immersive audio programming.
- Lesson 07: Advanced VR Scripting
  For our final lesson in this course, we’ll examine some larger scripts. First, we’ll tease out the elements of a flocking algorithm written in C#. Then, we’ll break down how to control an ocean shader written in HLSL.
- Lesson 08: A Maze
  Built a VR application using Unity and the Google VR SDK where the user explores a maze environment to demonstrate working knowledge of 2D and 3D UI, waypoint based navigation, procedural animation, interactive objects, spatial audio, particle effects and persistent storage of session data.
  
  Project Description - A Maze
  
  Project Rubric - A Maze

Part 05 : VR Design

Learn the fundamentals of VR design including ergonomics, user testing, interface design, and more.

This course focuses heavily on testing, iteration, and documentation - the 'secret sauce' which has the power to make any VR project great.

By the end of this course, you will have a solid foundation and be able to approach any VR design task.

Module 01: VR Design
- Lesson 01: Intro to VR Design
  In this lesson, we'll be introducing some of the basics of VR design.
- Lesson 02: Design Foundations, Ergonomics, and the Puzzler Project
  In this lesson, we'll be setting up a solid design foundation for our course project. We'll also be learning about some ergonomic considerations for VR. Lastly, we'll be trying our hand at sketching to draft our experience.
- Lesson 03: Setting the Scene and Your First User Test
  In this lesson, you'll learn about scale and scene setting. You will also be creating the environment for your puzzle experience, and putting it in front of other people to iterate and improve on it.
- Lesson 04: Graphical User Interfaces
  In this lesson we'll be going over some of the basics of creating a graphical user interface for our experience as well as learning about feedback.
- Lesson 05: Movement Mechanics
  In this lesson, you will be doing a dive into motion mechanics for mobile VR. You will also be learning about simulator sickness, its causes, and how to design around it.
- Lesson 06: Audio Goodness, Game Mechanics, and Feedback
  In this lesson, you will be adding audio and game mechanics to the puzzler project, as well as learning about how to use feedback to your advantage.
- Lesson 07: Presenting the Work
  In this lesson, you will create an online writeup of your puzzler project complete with process documentation and media of your final work. This writeup will be graded as your course project.
- Lesson 08: VR Design Review
  We've learned a lot in this portion of the course. Let's review our new VR design skills.
  - Concept 01: VR Design Review
- Lesson 09: Puzzler
  There isn't a lot of preparation to do here other than double checking that your writeup has been created to your satisfaction!
  
  Project Description - Puzzler
  
  Project Rubric - Puzzler
  - Concept 01: Project Overview

Part 06 : VR Platforms & Applications

Develop an understanding of what is happening in the VR industry and why it is so exciting to many people.

This will allow you to choose what hardware and platform you are interested in developing for when moving into the Specializations part of the Nanodegree.

By the end of this course, you will have a solid understanding of the impact potential of VR and be equipped to research any area of VR that interest you.

Module 01: VR Platforms & Applications
- Lesson 01: Platforms & Specializations
  This lesson, we will go over some of the many VR headsets in the industry and get the conversation started on which concentration you want to do moving forward with the Nanodegree.
- Lesson 02: The Horizon
  In this lesson, we look towards the future and see what can affect your current or future VR projects.
- Lesson 03: Major Industries
  To wrap up this course, we look at the major industries that VR will impact to give you a taste of what areas of VR you can contribute to.
- Lesson 04: Night at the Museum
  You will be doing research on a VR company/technology, or an industry that could be impacted by VR. After conducting your research, you will be creating a mobile virtual reality experience with 'information booths' which include both visual and audio feedback for users. These booths should showcase your findings - the goal here is to inform other people about the topic at hand in a fun and creative way through a series of (at least five) display points. Users should be able to travel back and forth between display areas inside the space. This is not a VR slideshow, it is a VR space which contains the information about your research. Some potential outputs of this project are creating a scene in a museum, science fair, or gallery-like space which showcases your findings.
  
  Project Description - Night at the Museum
  
  Project Rubric - Night at the Museum

Part 07 : Choose Your Specialization

Time to transform from VR generalist to in-demand specialist!

Choose where you want to hone your VR developer skills. You can either develop a skill set in mobile performance and 360 media or learn about high immersion on the Unity platform:

PART 8: Mobile Performance & 360 Media Specializations
PART 9: High-Immersion Unity Specializations

Once you have completed one of the Specializations, you can proceed to the final part:

PART 10: Capstone

Module 01: Choose Your Specialization
- Lesson 01: Choose Your Specialization
  Choose where you want to hone your VR developer skills. You can either develop a skill set in mobile performance and 360 media or learn about high immersion on the Unity platform.
  - Concept 01: Choose Your Specialization

Part 08 : Mobile Performance & 360 Media Specialization

In Mobile Performance, you will learn the tips and tricks necessary to squeeze the most amount of performance out of your VR application.

This section will cover everything from simply checking some setting in Unity to more complex optimizations in the graphics pipeline of your device.

In 360 Media, you will learn all of the post-production aspects of 360 media. How to stitch your footage together, edit both video and audio, stylize your footage, and add in VR titles.

Finally, the course will wrap up with interactivity and how to use Unity to add compelling interactions, effects, and controls to your 360 videos.

Module 01: Mobile Performance
- Lesson 01: Why Is Performance so Important?
  In this lesson, you will learn how to fight the crime of low-performing VR apps. You will be equipped with the tools you need to locate clues that lead to low framerate and poor user experience.
- Lesson 02: Graphics Pipeline
  This lesson is designed to help teach you about how the actual hardware in your mobile device runs the VR apps you create. What is a GPU and what does it do? What is a CPU and what does it do?
- Lesson 03: The Profiler
  In this lesson, you will be introduced to your partner in the fight against low performance - the profiler!
- Lesson 04: Script Performance
  In this lesson, we will be going over a handful of common scripting issues which can lead to poor performance.
- Lesson 05: Optimizations
  In this lesson, we will be learning about the optimization details around object pooling, shaders, physics, art/model complexity, lighting, and audio.
- Lesson 06: Tic-Tac-Toe
  Project Description - Tic-Tac-Toe
  
  Project Rubric - Tic-Tac-Toe
Module 02: Suggested Electives
- Lesson 01: Suggested Electives
  Explore the concept of immersive media and learn how to plan a 360 video shoot, write scripts, develop storyboards, and what cameras, microphones, and lighting to choose.
  - Concept 01: Suggested Electives
Module 03: 360 Media Production
- Lesson 01: Spatial Audio with Dysonics
- Lesson 02: Stitching
  Learn the basics of 360 video stitching using Autopano Video Pro. Learn about blending, weighting, synchronization and stabilization as you stitch your footage together.
- Lesson 03: Advanced Stitching
  In this lesson, you will learn how to use Autopano Giga to edit and refine stitching using control points and masks, and gain a deeper understanding of how blending works, and which type is appropriate for each situation.
- Lesson 04: Editing Basics
  In this lesson you will learn the basics of using Adobe Premiere to edit 360 film, as well as learning about the kind of transitions you can use with 360 video.
- Lesson 05: Advanced Editing
  Adobe Premiere gives you lots of options for improving 360 video footage. In this lesson, you'll learn how to color-correct 360 footage, add titles, and add points of interest using GoPro's plugin.
- Lesson 06: Spatial Audio
  Spatialized audio is critical to immersive media. Learn how to cut spatialized audio, place sound in 3D space using Google audio spatializer, and industry best-practices from the CTO of Dysonics.
- Lesson 07: Interactivity with Unity
  In this lesson, you'll learn how to create an interactive 360 experience using Unity's video player. You'll create player controls and branching storylines using a custom 360 video player.
- Lesson 08: The Storyteller's Revenge
  In this project, stitch together you own footage (or footage provided). Then, correct the color and edit the raw footage it into a story. Finally, build a custom 360 video player in Unity to share!
  
  Project Description - The Storyteller's Revenge
  
  Project Rubric - The Storyteller's Revenge

Part 09 : High Immersion Unity Specialization

Learn the fundamentals of developing for the Vive and Rift, and their 6 degrees of freedom hand controllers.

First, you will learn about the benefits and constraints of these headsets, and explore design concepts with these strengths and weaknesses in mind.

Then you will learn how to use SteamVR to give your user locomotion, hand physics, and menu systems, and how to accomplish this functionality with the Oculus SDK and cross-platform development.

Finally, you will learn how to maximize your performance for desktop VR apps, and gain an overview of possible distribution channels.

Module 01: High Immersion
- Lesson 01: Desktop VR Benefits & Constraints
  Learn the benefits and constraints of the Vive and Oculus Rift, learn the different “modes” of high immersion development, and study design techniques of existing VR experiences.
- Lesson 02: High-Immersion Engineering
  Learn everything you'll need to start developing with the Rift and Vive. Learn how to import SteamVR and use it for input handling, create several locomotion mechanics, create hand interaction via grabbing and throwing of objects, and create a swipeable object spawning menu.
- Lesson 03: Cross-Platform Development
  Now that you've implemented the core mechanics of VR it’s time to get them working across multiple platforms. In this lesson you'll learn how to use the Oculus SDK, translate our SteamVR functionality to use the Oculus SDK, and learn how to manage two separate SDKs in one project for a cross-platform VR experience.
- Lesson 04: Rube Goldberg Game
  Create your first High Immersion VR game! In this project you'll apply everything you've learned so far in this course to create a Rube Goldberg Challenge game.
  
  Project Description - Rube Goldberg Game
  
  Project Rubric - Rube Goldberg Game
Module 02: Performance & Publishing
- Lesson 01: Desktop VR Optimization
  In this lesson you'll learn Unity's most common performance bottlenecks, as well as how to identify and fix them with Unity's performance tools.
- Lesson 02: Advanced Lighting
  Dive deeper into Unity's lighting system, with a focus on performance for VR. You'll learn the pros and cons of Forward vs Deferred Rendering, balance real time and baked lighting for optimal performance, play with shadow settings, and learn lightprobes.
- Lesson 03: Publishing for Desktop VR
  Learn how to host your app on Steam, Viveport, and the Oculus Store, then overview some possible marketing and funding channels for your VR app.
- Lesson 04: Performance Bounceback
  Take all your newly learned optimization skills and apply them to making an VR game performant.
  
  Project Description - Performance Bounceback
  
  Project Rubric - Performance Bounceback

Part 10 : Capstone

For the final part of the VR Developer Nanodegree, your challenge is to earn points by completing a series of VR achievements.

You can create any VR experience that targets hardware related to your Specialization, but you must complete a specific combination of achievements.

You will have a wide range of achievements to choose from, such as, for example, App Store achievement, Speech Recognition achievement, Mixed Reality Video achievement, etc. Each achievement wins you points, and you need to earn a certain amount of points for your project to meet specifications.

This is your chance to put all your VR skills to the test in a final challenge!

Module 01: Capstone
- Lesson 01: Capstone
  Create any VR project of your choosing that targets hardware related to your Specialization. This is your chance to put all your VR skills to the test in a final challenge.
  
  Project Description - Capstone
  
  Project Rubric - Capstone

**Part 11 (Elective):** 360 Media Pre-Production

This course is designed to teach you everything you need to know to get started shooting your own 360 immersive films. You will learn about ways to direct attention in 360, and problems to avoid by analyzing some of the best 360 content out there. You will learn to write scripts for 360, and then how to break down those scripts into storyboards.

In the second half of the course, you will learn the right way to approach planning a 360 film shoot, how 360 cameras work, and which one is the best fit for your project and your budget. You will learn all about different microphones and audio capture options for 360, and how to put all of these elements together with fantastic lighting to shoot a great 360 video.

Module 01: 360 Media Pre-Production
- Lesson 01: Introduction to Immersive Media
  In this lesson, the concept of immersive media will be introduced and explored, including showing the basic workflow of creating 360 Media, and discussing metadata.
- Lesson 02: Developing a Critical Eye
  In this lesson, you will look at a variety of existing 360 video content, and learn how to analyze footage for the various techniques, tips and tricks other film makers may use to direct attention or tell a story in 360.
- Lesson 03: Scripting and Planning
  Students will learn how to script for 360 content, and how to plan a 360 shoot, as well as adjust their scripts to equipment and budget.
- Lesson 04: 360 Storyboarding
  In this lesson, a variety of different methods for storyboarding in 360 is covered, including using pencil and paper, a 360 camera, Unity, or VR tools like Tiltbrush.
- Lesson 05: 360 Cameras
  This lesson is an exploration of existing 360 cameras, a discussion about stereoscopy, and how to place cameras appropriately for 360 imaging.
- Lesson 06: Microphones and Lighting
  This lesson is a comprehensive exploration of different equipment and techniques to be used for audio capture and lighting techniques for 360 video.
- Lesson 07: The Protagonist's Journey

**Part 12 (Career):** Career: Networking

Networking is a very important component to a successful job search. In the following lesson, you will learn how tell your unique story to recruiters in a succinct and professional but relatable way.

Module 01: Develop Your Personal Brand
- Lesson 01: Develop Your Personal Brand
  In this lesson, learn how to tell your unique story in a succinct and professional way. Communicate to employers that you know how to solve problems, overcome challenges, and achieve results.
- Lesson 02: LinkedIn Review
  Optimize your LinkedIn profile to show up in recruiter searches, build your network, and attract employers. Learn to read your LinkedIn profile through the lens of a recruiter or hiring manager.
  
  Project Description - LinkedIn Profile Review Project
  
  Project Rubric - LinkedIn Profile Review Project
  - Concept 01: Using LinkedIn
  - Concept 02: Resources in Your Career Portal
- Lesson 03: Udacity Professional Profile
  Update and personalize your Udacity Professional Profile as you complete your Nanodegree program, and make your Profile visible to Udacity hiring partners when you’re ready to start your job search.
  
  Project Description - Udacity Professional Profile Review
  
  Project Rubric - Udacity Professional Profile Review
- Lesson 04: VR Portfolio Review
  In the VR world, having a portfolio website is essentially to getting noticed and earning credibility as a VR developer. Whether you use a website-building platform or code yours from scratch, this lesson and project can help you refine your portfolio for VR jobs.
  
  Project Description - VR Portfolio Review
  
  Project Rubric - VR Portfolio Review
  - Concept 01: Purpose
  - Concept 02: Convey Your Specialization
Module 02: GitHub Profile Review
- Lesson 01: GitHub Review
  Review how your GitHub profile, projects, and code represent you as a potential job candidate. Learn to assess your GitHub profile through the eyes of a recruiter or hiring manager.
  
  Project Description - Optimize Your GitHub Profile
  
  Project Rubric - Optimize Your GitHub Profile

**Part 13 (Career):** Career: Job Search Strategies

Opportunity can come when you least expect it, so when your dream job comes along, you want to be ready.

Module 01: Conduct a Job Search
- Lesson 01: Conduct a Job Search
  Learn how to search for jobs effectively through industry research, and targeting your application to a specific role.
Module 02: Refine Your Resume
- Lesson 01: Refine Your Entry-Level Resume
  Receive a personalized review of your resume. This resume review is best suited for applicants who have 0-3 years of work experience in any industry.
  
  Project Description - Resume Review Project (Entry-level)
  
  Project Rubric - Resume Review Project (Entry-level)
- Lesson 02: Refine Your Career Change Resume
  Receive a personalized review of your resume. This resume review is best suited for applicants who have 3+ years of work experience in an unrelated field.
  
  Project Description - Resume Review Project (Career Change)
  
  Project Rubric - Resume Review Project (Career Change)
- Lesson 03: Refine Your Prior Industry Experience Resume
  Receive a personalized review of your resume. This resume review is best suited for applicants who have 3+ years of work experience in a related field.
  
  Project Description - Resume Review Project (Prior Industry Experience)
  
  Project Rubric - Resume Review Project (Prior Industry Experience)
Module 03: Write an Effective Cover Letter
- Lesson 01: Craft Your Cover Letter
  Get a personalized review of your cover letter. A successful cover letter will convey your enthusiasm, specific technical qualifications, and communication skills applicable to the position.
  
  Project Description - Craft Your Cover Letter
  
  Project Rubric - Craft Your Cover Letter

**Part 14 (Career):** Career: VR Interview Practice

This lesson introduces you to common types of questions you’ll encounter during an in-person interview. Develop a healthier, more confident mindset around your qualifications as a candidate, and learn how you can best represent your unique skills, knowledge, and interests--even if you don’t know the answer to every question.

Module 01: Interview Practice (VR)
- Lesson 01: Ace Your Interview
  Learn strategies to prepare yourself for an interview.
- Lesson 02: Practice Behavioral Questions
  Practice answering behavioral questions and evaluate sample responses.
- Lesson 03: Interview Fails
  Some real-life examples of interviews that didn't go as expected - it happens all the time!
- Lesson 04: Land a Job Offer
  You've practiced a lot for the interview by now. Continue practicing, and you'll ace the interview!
  - Concept 01: Land a Job Offer
- Lesson 05: Interview Practice
  Watch a sample interview for a VR Developer position and analyze the candidate's responses.