A new free version of Masterpiece Studio is available today, enabling anyone to use the tools for non-commercial purposes.
Masterpiece Studio Pro is a creative suite that give creators a way to easily make 3D character, props, animations and more. It can be used as a standalone service or integrated with other modeling apps in VR or on desktop.
The updated suite launched in early 2020, adding expanded support, features and programs. It now consists of two programs, Masterpiece Creator and Masterpiece Motion, allowing indie creators to conceptualize, create, rig, animate and export 3D models all in one workflow.
The free edition has all the same features as Masterpiece Studio Pro, with certain restrictions on exporting assets. Paid users, who are subscribed to one of the Masterpiece Studio Pro plans, can access private exporting options. The new free, non-commercial license will only cover exporting to Masterpiece’s public gallery online. The gallery can be browsed by Masterpiece users and allows them to download, modify and remix any available assets.
The overall aim is for the free edition of Masterpiece Studio to encourage indie creators to get started and create without any initial costs while also building a large community of 3D creators and assets ahead of an expected increase in demand in the years to come.
The free version of Masterpiece Studio is available now via Steam and Viveport.
Masterpiece Studio (formerly MasterpieceVR) today announced it’s releasing a free edition of its latest professional VR creator suite, Masterpiece Studio Pro. The free software license is targeting individuals looking to use the suite for non-commercial use.
The free version is said to contain the entire set of features of Masterpiece Studio Pro, which is a subscription-based service aimed at freelancers, teams, and educators using its creation tools for work.
Like its original 2019-era Masterpiece Studio, Masterpiece Studio Pro lets users create 3D assets within VR, letting you use motion controllers to draw, sculpt, texture, optimize, rig, skin, and animate things like characters or objects. The Pro version was launched back in April 2021.
Image courtesy Masterpiece Studio
One of the biggest caveats with the original was the inability to export models, which was a feature only paying users could access. That’s still a thing with the free version of Pro, although the studio has now created a public library where creations can be published and viewed.
“We believe this Free version will help showcase your work, bring value to other creatives, and help build the creative community of the future,” the studio says on its Steam page.
The Ontario, Canada-based startup is pitching the free license as a way to support VR indie creators by not only letting them learn the ropes of their software for free, but also by establishing a way to share and remix those publicly shared creations. You can find it on PC VR headsets for free over at Steam and Viveport.
Masterpiece Studio is a successor to MasterpieceVR’s original 3D modelling and animation software, rebuilt from the ground up with some major updates and additions. Now bundled as a suite, Masterpiece Studio includes Masterpiece Creator and Masterpiece Motion. The two tools launch independently, but seamlessly communicate with one another. The former is a 3D modelling tool and the latter is a 3D animation rigging tool.
According to CEO Jonathan Gagne, Masterpiece Creator was inspired by the original MasterpieceVR creation tool released launched in 2017. It has been expanded upon with new and more powerful functionality, and now comes bundled with Masterpiece Motion, which was released into beta last year but was also rebuilt and expanded upon for the new suite. According to Gagne, while Masterpiece Studio is based on their earlier work, the suite is “completely new.”
I tried both tools from the Masterpiece Suite and was suitably impressed. Even with no extensive training, I was able to pick up both Masterpiece Creator and Studio with some competence fairly easily and quickly. Both tools, especially given their place in the larger ‘suite’, feel and operate like a VR, 3D-modelling equivalent of tools in the Adobe Creative Suite. This is far from a bad thing – much like the Adobe suite, the Masterpiece Suite tools feel intuitive and yet in-depth. I continued to learn and experiment the more I played around.
Masterpiece Motion has a pre-sculpted humanoid figure to play around with and animate, with the bones and skin of the figure automatically configured (although if you wanted to, you can assign these yourself to any model you import). Over 15 minutes, I managed to make the figure wave, cross its arms, lean forward and reach out to grab me, with considerably minimal training on how to use the tools. I may have spent 15 minutes creating a 10-second animation a la Ben Wyatt, but the ease at which I did so speaks to the intuitiveness of the tools. I suspect that professional trained 3D artists and animators could do much, much more with these tools than I ever will.
MasterpieceVR claims that Creator runs 10 times faster than its predecessor did, along with being much more intuitive and easier to learn than other 3D modelling software. There are also a wealth of new features available in Masterpiece Studio, perhaps the biggest of which is layers. Similar to tools such as Photoshop, layers allow you to section off parts of a project, allowing you to change and edit one layer without affecting the others.
MasterpieceVR recently released its latest set of VR creation tools which aim to get artists quickly sculpting and animating characters by hand from the comfort of their VR headsets.
Called Masterpiece Studio, the 3D content creation suite combines the 3D modeling software Masterpiece Creator with Masterpiece Motion, an animation software for rigging 3D models in VR.
MasterpieceVR first released its titular software for PC VR headsets back in late 2017, which notably included cross-platform multiuser support so artists on different platforms could sculpt and paint in VR together. In short, it’s a bit like the other big VR creation tools out there like Tilt Brush (2016), Oculus Medium (2017)or Quill (2017), except up to four artists can create collaboratively in VR whilst being viewed by up to 20 spectators.
Image courtesy MasterpieceVR
The company’s new software suite is however more focused on speeding up the process for individual creators looking to both build 3D models and animate them all while in VR, which aims to either compliment or replace extant creation tools entirely.
MasterpieceVR says it allows creators to go from conception to fully animated model 10 times faster than traditional desktop tools, which includes rigging, skinning, posing, and applying pre-made animations to a model.
“Masterpiece Studio is a first of its kind VR creative suite that is a cost-effective solution to rapidly go from idea to usable 3D assets,” says Jon Gagne, MasterpieceVR CEO. “The suite’s feature set lets creators make professional 3D assets extremely fast and can be adopted into an existing workflow in just hours.”
Although MasterpieceVR is charging a monthly fee for commercially-minded teams and freelancers, non-commercial use is free of charge; the free version features the entire software suite, however it lacks the export function.
You can downloaded the free version from the company’s website, Steam, and Viveport. It supports Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, and Windows VR headsets.
Art is a subject area that is a natural fit for VR integration. Not only can students harness creative art tools like Tilt Brush, Masterpiece VR or Quill but there are amazing opportunities for them to visit virtual galleries using platforms like the Kremer Collection (which I recently tested with the Vive Focus in the desert) or The VR Museum of Fine Art. Both of these types of experiences offer transformative learning opportunities in the art classroom as both afford students with the ability to do things that have never before been possible.
There is another strand to virtual art education though and it is perhaps the most unique of all, offering a true redefinition in how works of art are appreciated – from the inside out. This third area of VR Art allows art students and enthusiasts to step inside 3D versions of artwork that are living, breathing canvasses. Obviously there is a degree of creative freedom being taken with each artist’s work – since they didn’t create these new experiences themselves – but that doesn’t make them any less powerful. Elements of paintings can be inspected from new angles, palettes engulf you and the integration of additional multimedia elements like music, narration and animation elevate these applications further.
So let’s take a look at some examples of these types of experiences. Naturally 6DOF, room-scale experiences are more immersive when it comes to this artistic sub-genre but there are a couple of examples available to mobile VR users too.
Saryan VR
This app, available on iOS and Android, was inspired by the painting “Armenia” by Martiros Saryan, recognised as one of the masters of Armenian artwork. It’s a simple experience that places you in a fixed position to look around the vibrant 3D.
rendering of the painting and bask in its vivid colours.
Art Plunge
This app is available on iOS and Android but also via the Oculus Store for the Gear VR and Go. It offers the chance to zoom into five famous works of art (Mona Lisa, Starry Night, The Birth of Venus, The Creation of Adam and Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window) and as you do, the canvas expands to paint in additional details around the central subject e.g. the room that Mona Lisa sits in. It’s another short experience but well-produced and a worthy download.
Tilt Brush
When it comes to the 6DOF experiences, you can actually start with Tilt Brush as some of its most talented users have recreated several artistic masterpieces including Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and Munch’s “The Scream. You can access many of these from the main gallery menu inside Tilt Brush and of course what makes them even better is that you could even then add your own creative touch to remix them a little!
Eyes of the Owl: Bosch VR
Available via Steam this is a different beast to the previously mentioned Bosch VR on mobile platforms. To be honest I almost didn’t include it as you don’t truly step inside the painting here as much as zoom in for a close look. The artwork does animate though and the framing is quite special in that you begin the experience stood with Hieronymus Bosch himself inside his studio, in front of his infamous epic “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” Bosch then prompts you to inspect the painting using a magnifying glass and as you dive into some of the incredible detail on the canvas, he narrates to explain his intentions, the symbolism used and more. It’s a great experience for art students but for those unfamiliar with the piece, please do note that it is quite explicit in its nature!
Dreams of Dali
This multi-award winning offering was produced by The Dali Museum which definitely adds authenticity to proceedings. It allows you to step inside his 1935 painting “Archaeological Reminiscence of Millet’s ‘Angelus’ and as you may expect, it’s quite the surreal experience. As you wander around and climb the towers, you come to realise that it’s an experience that is full of surprises and hidden details. It’s also an excellent example of the power of VR to allow art to be viewed from a new perspective.
The Night Café
This virtual ode to Van Gogh is a free download for Vive/Rift that places you inside the striking, unique pallet of his work. You can navigate around the café to find 3D versions of his Sunflowers and several other masterpieces. As the piano player sets the tone, you even around a corner to find Vincent himself – the master inside his own creation. An essential download for any Art Department.
I recently recorded a video for my newly refurbished YouTube channel which showcases The Night Café, Dreams of Dali and Eyes of The Owl. You can watch that below and please do subscribe to the channel for more great VR education content.
If you know any other examples of VR experiences where you can step inside artwork, do let me know. You can find me on Twitter via @steve_bambury.
There are now a few tools available for virtual reality (VR) that allow users to paint or sculpt in VR. Astonishingly beautiful things have already been made in apps such as Google Tilt Brush or Oculus Medium. There will soon be a program that allows up to four users to work together to sculpt a 3D creation called Masterpiece VR.
Masterpiece VR gives up to four users a virtual sandbox to work in, along with a host of intuitive tools for 3D modelling that allow for the creation of collaborative works in VR. Masterpiece VR is compatible with traditional 3D modeling workflows, so users can export works made in Masterpiece VR into commonly used formats such as OBJ, STL and FBX.
The software also has integrated live-streaming functions, so users can use the virtual sandbox like a live studio installation to create works in real time and broadcast them to an audience on YouTube, Facebook or Twitch. Or give an audience a detailed walkthrough and explanation of some finished works.
“We wanted to push the boundaries by creating an organic 3D modeling tool that is both powerful and easy to learn,” said CEO of Masterpiece VR, Jonathan Gagne. “VR was the medium to do this in. It let us take a big step forward in the development of a tool that let people work together in real-time to co-create on the same piece or contribute feedback or critique immediately.”
Masterpiece VR is designed to work on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and the upcoming Windows 10 mixed reality headsets. It is due to be released on Steam Early Access on 14th September, 2017. A price point is yet to confirmed.
You can watch a video demonstration below.
VRFocus will bring you further information on Masterpiece VR as it becomes available.
