Viar360 Link: https://app.viar360.com/media?leaf=Xz2FYlyioESr

For my final project I created an interactive experience based around a band named Sky Club. The experience is centered around the creation and life of a song. It starts with an intro to the group and then brings the viewer into the main producer’s dorm room where the group creates all of their music. From there the viewer goes into the official music suites in Newhouse to master the song. After you explore the studios, the viewer leaves and goes to the concert to watch the band perform. In each location there are a plethora of options for the viewer to chose to go to. They can explore the studio and watch the group do different things from all different angles. I made the experience in a way that no matter what choices the viewer choses, they will always be able to go back to the other options before they have to go to the next location.

In total there are 15 scenes that are all connected. When I came up with this idea the first thing I did was brainstorm locations to include that I, as a music lover, would love to be able to go to with my favorite artist. I decided to use Sky Club as my musician because they are a trio with all different aesthetics and roles. There is a singer, rapper and producer. This not only is great because there is a variety of kinds of recording and music making techniques to show the viewer, but also because 3 isn’t that big of a group so the shots didn’t look too crowded. At the end of my brainstorming stage I had a meeting with Sky Club, showed them this basic flow chart I drew up and scheduled some days to shoot.

Luckily, I had booked them for a show at The Westcott Theater that week and was able to get the footage. The music video I am making for them got postponed until next semester but we were able to get footage from all the other locations I wanted. On set I just moved the camera to about 7 or 8 locations and got different angles I could chose from while editing. I had some struggles with the Gear 360 but nothing too major. I couldn’t live stream the video to the Samsung phone which I really wanted to do at the concert because it was so dark. I also ran into some issues uploading some clips into the Action Director but ended up switching computers and getting it to work. I wrote a blog post about it.

Viar360 is a great website. I wish you were able to chose when the bubbles for the transitions popped up. I would have loved to have them appear half way through the video. I also wish you would directly input text into the scenes instead of creating a hotspots that shows text when you look at it. I’m sure these advances are coming soon since it is just in beta. Connecting the scenes was easy. I did some brainstorming and sketched out some charts ahead of time and then went in an connected them all in a few hours. I ended up with this:

This is probably my favorite project I have ever created. I will undoubtedly be creating more experiences like this next semester. This project has solidified for me that I really want to pursue a career in VR world with a focus on music. I have been doing a lot of research on fan followings and management of artists. If there is anything that I have really learned to be true is that having a fan feel like the know the artist is extremely important. They are way more likely to check out your new projects and like your photos etc. I feel VR could really be the key to that. Being in the dorm room with Sky Club and hearing their inside jokes and teasing each other is the perfect way to immerse a fan. I tried to personalize the titles of the Viar 360 hotspots to include the names of the members to personalize it even more. If the viewer choses to “Go To The Recording Booth With Maggie,” which is much more impactful and immersive than just “Visit The Recording Booth.” I can’t wait to see the future of music in VR and share this project with my friends. I will be expanding on it next semester but this is a great start.