Massive Release: Cross Platform Multiplayer
This is by far the biggest and most exciting Sketchbox release ever. We spent the last 6 months building real-time collaboration for Sketchbox, which lets up to 16 people, on any VR headset, design together with built in VOIP. Many of our beta testers have replaced in person meetings, with Sketchbox meetings.
You can now act out interactions in VR, without writing any code, using Wizard Mode.
We’ve begun creating direct integrations with other 3D tools, like Navisworks and Revit, so designers can easily get their assets into Sketchbox, from anywhere.
And thanks to the feedback from our beta-testers we added, a paint bucket tool, 60 new primitives, teleportation and more!
Real time Collaboration
We can now work with up to 16 people on the same project in Sketchbox, from any VR headset! VOIP is built in.
When you’re designing a VR experience, you not only need the input of the design and development teams, you need input from other stakeholders. Our users were sending screenshots and videos back and forth, which can’t communicate what it feels like to really be in a VR environment.
Many of the teams that were beta testing Sketchbox Multiplayer have even replaced their in person meetings, and design review sessions with Sketchbox VR meetings. It’s incredibly effective, and fun.
Starting meetings is easy, just select ‘Your Meeting Room’ from the homescreen. And you can join a meeting with one click, using the sharing URL.
Integrations with Revit, Navisworks
The workflow of an AR/VR designer is complicated, and messy. You use a handful of 2D tools for creating images, and a bunch of different 3D tools for working with 3D models. We plan to make getting content, from any source, into Sketchbox dead simple, which is why we’re launching plugins for Navisworks and Revit, that will export a model to Sketchbox with one click.
We started with Revit and Navisworks because many of our users (AR designers and Architects) requested it. If you’re an AR designer, you often need to bring models of the real world, into VR, that you can’t replicate in your office (think a factory, or oil rig).
With every integration we build, we’ll be making the workflow of an AR/VR designer simpler.
Act out Interactions with Wizard Mode
Most people don’t respond well to testing with wireframes, they don’t see them the same way a designer does, which is why you need interactive prototypes for user testing with 2D apps. Similarly you can’t do VR user testing with sketches, or videos or anything else. You need to bring people into VR — so they can walk around, experience the scene at human scale, and get a sense for how the objects will feel and what the interactions will be like.
Wizard mode lets you go invisible and act out various interactions and other events that you’d need to code to show otherwise.
60 new Primitives
Primitives are great for quickly building out scenes. Before we had four, now we have sixty-four 😎 and plan to add more. Get in touch if there’s anything in particular you want to see.
Re-color primitives, text and models
We added a paint bucket tool, so you can now recolor any object. The paint bucket tool, combined with all of our new primitives makes building complex scenes really easy. The color palette is small for now and we’ll be adding more soon.
Teleport to Human Scale
When you’re building a scene, you’ll often be at 20x, or 100x human scale, and it was difficult to get back to human scale, which is ideal for experiencing the scene. Now you can use the right joystick to teleport anywhere in the scene, at human scale (approx 5'10).
In-VR Signup
We need your email address to keep your sketches synchronized with the multiplayer server, and you can now signup from within VR. No need to take your headset off 😄
Other Improvements
- New home-screen with drastically improved UI
- New and improved tutorial that’s accessible from the home-screen
- Significantly improved rendering: scenes load faster 🚀 and can be larger
- Improved support for standard 3D model formats like GLTF and FBX
- Improved 📷(no lag!)
- Improved light/dark modes (both are better for extended sessions)
- Proper file associations — .SBD files can be opened with one click
- Hundreds of bugs squashed 🐛
- And more…
