Adobe Aero

Adobe Aero is a visual, fairly intuitive way of creating AR experiences that can be experienced on iOS and developed using macOS or Windows (both in beta).  It allows creators to place, scale, and rotate existing or stock 2D or 3D objects directly into virtual space as well as programming basic action sets for user interactivity.  

While it is an easy way to create interactive AR experiences, users have to have an iPhone or iPad to experience them and the desktop creation apps are still fairly buggy.

COST:

  • Free (no Creative Cloud subscription required)


Lens Studio

Lens Studio is an application for creating Augmented Reality filters which are then used with either Snap Camera or Snapchat. It’s based in a 3D environment and comes with a large variety of templates that can be used as a starting point. Starting out users should be able to just use the built in components and visual node scripting but as needs get more complex it is possible to add custom code using Javascript. Lens Studio also supports custom machine learning libraries.

COST: Free


Snap Camera

Snap Camera is an application which allows users to add Snapchat lenses to any incoming video feed and then output as a webcam. Snap Camera is a quick and easy way to add Augmented Reality filters or effects to a video feed and there is a huge library of user created lenses to choose from. If a custom filter is needed, it can be created in the companion application Lens Studio. Snap Camera allows hotkeys to turn filters on and off but there is usually a small amount of lag so if you want to be able to “cue” filters a more custom solution is probably needed.

COST: Free


Spark AR

Created by Facebook, Spark AR is an AR development software that is meant to make the development and deployment of AR apps as easy as possible. It comes with various templates and assets libraries and is capable of using many different forms of data as triggers (such as motions, sounds, facial expressions, etc.).

Effects are created using a visual coding language and can be customized further using javascript.

AR effects can only be published on Instagram or Facebook and both users and developers need accounts on said platforms.

COST: Free


Unity

Unity is a game design engine developed by Unity technologies. Originally only for MacOS it is available for Windows as well and can create games for the most modern game and VR consoles as well as for most mobile and desktop platforms.

Similar to Unreal, Unity is capable of creating real-time visuals for games (both 2D and 3D) as well as interactive simulations, film layouts, and other experiences.

Unity has less of a learning curve to get started than Unreal and it is easier to create web-based experiences with it. The backbone of Unity is C#, though users can get started without any coding experience. It is harder though to create photorealistic graphics with Unity than Unreal.

There is a robust asset store with 3D and 2D assets.

COST:

  • Free for students or until a company generates $100 000 annually or if released on closed console systems (PlayStation, Switch, etc.)

  • After this, $1800/yr/seat or higher depending on the tier


Unreal

Unreal is at its core, a game engine created by Epic Games but it has a large swath of applications in the live performance industry. Unreal offers an excellent real-time 3D environment that can create stunning visuals without rendering.  Programming can be done either with its built-in nodes or directly in C++.  It is capable of releasing on most modern gaming and VR systems as well as Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. 

Unreal is used extensively in virtual production pipelines and can be connected to either professional tracking gear or more consumer-grade options such as the HTC Vive.

There are substantial assets available both paid or for free available on the Epic Marketplace and the engine comes with example content built into it.

While there are many great tutorials available online (both from Epic and from the creator community) Unreal has a fairly steep learning curve and requires pretty hefty computer resources to run.

COST: Free until a project makes 1 million dollars in gross lifetime revenue


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