How to Make an Augmented Reality (AR) Drawing

Learn how to turn your paper sketches into interactive art pieces using Unity, Augmented Reality, and Vuforia in this course. By the end of this journey, you’ll have a sketch of a character, an AR app for a smartphone, and a unique experience to share with others. This course is suitable for intermediate creators who have some experience with Unity and C#, but even if you’re new to these tools, the instructions provided will be clear enough for anyone to follow along.

Throughout the course, you’ll work on multiple projects, including sketching a character, finalizing the character design, creating a user interface for your AR app, and animating in Unity. By the end, you’ll have the skills to bring your paper sketches to life in a whole new way.
Steps include:

How to Sketch:

Sketching is a great way to quickly capture ideas and concepts visually. To get started with sketching, you’ll need some basic supplies such as a pencil and paper (or a digital drawing tool if you prefer). Once you have your materials ready, you can begin by lightly drawing basic shapes and lines to block out the overall structure of your drawing. From there, you can start adding in more details and refining your sketch until you have a finished drawing.

How to Draw a Simple Illustration:

Illustration is the art of creating visual representations of ideas or concepts. To draw a simple illustration, start by selecting a subject or theme that you’d like to illustrate. Next, sketch out the basic shapes and structure of your illustration using simple lines and forms. Once you have a rough draft of your illustration, you can start adding in details and refining your drawing until it is complete.

Sketch a simple character:

In this step, you will start by sketching a simple character using pencil and paper. This can be any type of character you want, such as an animal, humanoid, or even a fantastical creature. The goal is to create a rough outline of your character that you can later refine and develop further.

Finalize the character design:

Once you have a rough sketch of your character, the next step is to finalize the design by adding more details and refining the overall look of the character. This may involve adding facial features, clothing, and other details to give your character more depth and personality.

How to Scan a Drawing without a Scanner:

If you don’t have access to a scanner, there are still ways to digitize your drawings. One option is to use a smartphone or digital camera to take a photo of your drawing. You can then transfer the photo to your computer and use image editing software to crop and adjust the image as needed. Another option is to use a flatbed document scanner if you have one available. These scanners can often scan smaller drawings or sketches.

How to Work with Image Targets:

Image targets are specific images that can be used to trigger augmented reality (AR) experiences. To work with image targets, you’ll need to use a tool such as Vuforia (a software development kit for creating AR experiences). With Vuforia, you can create AR experiences that are triggered by specific image targets and customize the content that is displayed when the image is recognized.

How to Setup Unity and Vuforia for AR:

To setup Unity and Vuforia for AR development, you’ll need to follow a few steps:

• First, install the Unity game engine and create a new project.
• Next, sign up for a Vuforia account and download the Vuforia SDK for Unity.
• Once you have the Vuforia SDK installed, you can import it into your Unity project and create an AR camera.
• To create an image target, you’ll need to create a Vuforia database and upload an image that you’d like to use as the target. You can then use the Vuforia Target Manager to create a new image target and assign it to your database.

How to Make a User Interface:

A user interface (UI) is the way that a user interacts with a digital product or service. To make a UI, you’ll need to consider the goals of your product or service, as well as the needs and expectations of your target audience. Some common elements of a UI include buttons, text fields, and drop-down menus. To create a UI, you can use a design tool such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, or a UI development framework such as Unity or HTML/CSS.

Make a AR app user interface:

In this step, you will create a user interface for your AR app that allows you to control the character and interact with it in different ways. This may involve creating buttons, sliders, and other UI elements that allow you to change the character’s appearance or behavior.

How to Code with C#:

C# is a programming language that is commonly used for building applications on the .NET platform. To get started with C#, you’ll need to install a development environment such as Visual Studio. From there, you can start learning the basics of C# syntax and programming concepts. Some good resources for learning C# include online tutorials, textbooks, and online courses.

How to Add User Controls to 3D Objects:

User controls are elements of a user interface that allow
users to interact with and manipulate 3D objects in real-time. To add user controls to a 3D object, you’ll need to use a programming language such as C# and a game engine such as Unity. You can then create code that allows users to interact with the 3D object through various controls such as buttons, sliders, or key presses. Some common types of user controls for 3D objects include the ability to rotate, scale, or translate the object.

How to Animate in Unity:

Unity is a popular game engine that includes tools for creating animations. To animate a 3D object in Unity, you’ll need to create an animation controller and add animation clips to it. Animation clips contain the keyframes that define the object’s movement, and the animation controller controls how the clips are played back. You can then use script code to trigger the animation controller and control the playback of the animation clips.

Create cool animation in Unity:

Using the Unity game engine, you will create animation for your character to bring it to life. This may involve creating keyframes for different actions or movements, and setting up the character’s bones and rigging to allow it to move smoothly.

Build a one of a kind augmented reality app:

Finally, you will use Unity and Vuforia to build an augmented reality app that allows you to view your character in the real world. This will involve setting up image targets, creating the AR experience, and building and exporting the app for a smartphone or other device.

How to Build and Export a Mobile App:

To build and export a mobile app, you’ll need to use a mobile development platform such as Unity or Android Studio. Once you have your app built and tested, you can use the platform’s export tools to create a build of your app that can be installed on a mobile device. You may need to sign up for a developer account with a platform such as Google Play or the App Store in order to distribute your app to users.

Augmented Drawing Quiz

This quiz will test your understanding of the concepts and techniques covered in the course, which teaches how to turn paper sketches into interactive art pieces using Unity, Augmented Reality, and Vuforia. In this course, you worked on multiple projects, including sketching a character, finalizing the character design, creating a user interface for an AR app, and animating in Unity. By the end of the course, you should have the skills to bring your paper sketches to life in a whole new way. Let’s see how much you remember about the course with this quiz!