Tales from the 3D Road: A Veteran Creator's Journey Through VR

Meet The Creator

Tell us a bit about yourself, your artistic background and style. Do you focus on any particular themes or narratives in your VR content?

My first 3D device was my viewmaster, every click of it rotating the round disk brought a new adventure. It started my love of 3D. I have always loved telling stories and believe they are better in 3D. VR is 3D's best friend and over the last 13 years of creating 3D VR it has taken me around the world working with a variety of clients from a now retired tech mogul that I'm not supposed to name to Sir David Attenborough to Andrea Bocelli, Dr. Brian May, Ed Sheeran and so many more. I enjoy travel and adventure stories and am specializing in 3D VR180.

What excites you most about showcasing your content on the Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest?

When I normally create characters or environments in 3D there's a whole lot more in there than a flat image the diorama the details etch which is lost in 2D rendered image seen on the small screen of a deviceBoth, but for different reasons. Meta gave me my own channel in 2019 and has recommended me to clients. The quality is awesome. Apple has an amazing headset with spectacular visuals but is really way out of touch with the common user. Hopefully their newer headsets will be able to reach more people.

An Inside Look: Tales from the 3D Road

Can you share with us the vision behind a piece of content that you are uploading to Rival? What message or feeling do you hope audiences watching it through the Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest take away?

The most recent piece I uploaded was Tales from the 3D Road: The Search for the Big Buddha. Styled like an Indiana Jones adventure story, it takes the viewer on a search for a massive hidden Big Buddha located in Bangkok. It's a fun somewhat tongue-in-cheek travel adventure that I hope everyone will enjoy the visuals and also learn about Bangkok where I've lived for the last 24 years. Hopefully it will inspire some to come and visit in person. But mostly I want to make sure people enjoy watching it.

What’s your vision for how content will be consumed in VR in the next few years? Do you foresee any major shifts in how artists will create and share their work?

I think we are on an expanding journey. On the technology side we are seeing vast improvements that I don't see stopping. Headsets will evolve and things like the Meta Ray Ban and other AR glasses will take us further along in general acceptance of the technology. Creators will evolve too. While I can't see moving away from my Canon R5C, smaller but powerful tools like the new Qoocam Q3 Ultra VR180 are making huge strides in giving creators the tools to make visually stunning content.

What are your aspirations as a VR creator? Do you have any dream projects or collaborations you’re aiming for?

That's a tough question. I have been so lucky to have worked on so many unexpected projects. Dreams come to us every day, so you wake to new ideas for projects. I try to keep myself open to the possibilities that come with every new day. You never know what comes next.

Words of Wisdom for New VR Creators

What advice would you give to new creators looking to break into VR content creation?

Shooting VR content, especially 3D, is very different from 2D shooting. They need to learn the right way to create, from pre production all the way through post and publication. Seek out the experts, read the books, watch the tutorials and then practice, practice, practice.

Can you share any upcoming projects or ideas you’re excited to bring to life on our platform?

My next few projects are going to be Environment arts mainly and a few Creatures around 2–3 Environments projects. Having been doing this for the past 13 years and then another 30 years before that doing 3D side-by-side stereoscopic I have over 400 titles that I could share. I am anxiously awaiting monetization because creating dreams costs money.

Name one VR creator that you’d like to spotlight and why?

Perhaps my friend Baz Travels, Bastian Foresterling. He is currently hard at work traveling through Western USA. I think he'll have some great stories.

Finally, can you give us one quote on how it was like working with Rival?

I love the enthusiasm of the staff, they are your front line defenders of your platform. Creating a sense of community is not easy and your Discord channel goes a long way in keeping communication between creators. Keep that up!

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