Getting Started

In this page you will learn how to quickly add an avatar to a scene with minimal setup.

Step 0 : Adding a VR Rig

Before following this guide you will need to add a VR Rig in your scene. Your VR Rig must contain a camera object whose pose follows the hmd movements, and two hand object following the left and right controller’s movements respectively.

Step 1 : Choose a type of avatar

There are two types of avatar you can use:

  • Runtime avatars, they are best suited for applications where the users will choose their avatars or where avatars may change.

  • Static avatars, they are best suited for applications using a single pre-loaded avatar that will not change.

Step 2 - A : Adding a Runtime Avatar

A Runtime Avatar is an avatar where the model will be loaded during runtime.

To add a runtime avatar in a scene, right click on the Hierarchy view of the scene, and select AvatarReady -> Runtime Avatar.

AvatarReady_RuntimeAvatarMenu

This will add a [Runtime Avatar] GameObject to the scene.

This GameObject will contain an Avatar Ready Setup component, and an Avatar Runtime Link component. The [Runtime Avatar] has a child GameObject CC_DummyAvatar.

This CC_DummyAvatar GameObject has an Avatar Ready component.

How to setup the Avatar Ready component will be explain in step 3.

Loading an avatar at runtime:

With On Screen UI

Avatar Ready includes an on screen UI to load avatars. To add the UI to your scene, right click on the Hierarchy view of the scene, and select AvatarReady > Runtime Import UI.

This UI will allow you to select an avatar from those available (remote or local) to load on an AvatarReady target.

AvatarReady_AvatarRuntimeUI

At runtime, if there are runtime avatars in the scene, they will be displayed in the target field. Select the Avatar target you wish to load an avatar for. You will then be able to select the avatar set to use (local or AvatarGallery), apply some filters, and select an avatar.

Select Avatar button will then apply that avatar.

From a Script

To load an avatar from a script, you can call the ApplyAvatar coroutine from the AvatarReadyRuntimeImportHelper class.

Warning

doxygenfunction: Unable to resolve function “Inria::Avatar::AvatarReady::AvatarReadyRuntimeImportHelper::ApplyAvatar” with arguments (AvatarReadySetup, string, string, Action) in doxygen xml output for project “AvatarReady” from directory: _static/xml. Potential matches: 

- IEnumerator ApplyAvatar(AvatarReadySetup avatarReadyTarget, GameObject avatarPrefab, Action OnAvatarLoaded = null)
- IEnumerator ApplyAvatar(AvatarReadySetup avatarReadyTarget, string avatarName, string provider, Action OnAvatarLoaded = null, Action OnLoadingFail = null)

Hint

ApplyAvatar is a coroutine, use StartCoroutine(AvatarReadyRuntimeImportHelper.ApplyAvatar(…)) to call Apply Avatar.

With a Virtual Interface

Avatar Ready doesn’t include a default VR interface, but the VR interface sample contains an example of interface that can be used in VR.

Hint

This interface is not included by default since it requires the XRInteraction package.

Note

  • When downloading an avatar, AvatarReady will first check if the avatar is available in the local cache.

  • Downloaded avatar are placed in the local cache folder before loading.

  • Loading an avatar can take a few seconds, the process can be longer when downloading the avatar.

Step 2 - B : Converting a Model To Static Avatar

A static avatar is an avatar where the model is already in the scene. The model will not be changed during runtime.

To convert a character model in your scene into a static avatar the model must have an animator component with a humanoid rig defined. Right click on the character model GameObject in the Hierarchy view, and select AvatarReady > Convert to AvatarReady.

AvatarReady_StaticAvatarMenu

This will create a new parent for the model [Static Avatar: NameOfTheModel] with an Avatar Ready Setup component. The model will be added as child of this object with an Avatar Ready component.

Once the values of the Avatar Ready Component have been set (see step 3) . Click on the Setup Avatar button to finish preparing the avatar.

Step 3 : AvatarReady Setup

Quick setup of an avatar animated by IK and controlled using a three point setup (HMD and two hand controllers).

Additional information on how to use specific aspects of AvatarReady is available in other sections of this guide.

AvatarReady_ARComponent

  • On the AvatarReady Component set Animation Type to IK.

  • For Animation system choose FinalIK if available (this requires the finalIK package) or Unity Animation rigging otherwise.

  • For Configuration select Default config. This will display three Object fields under Trackers:

  • Right click on your VR Rig root GameObject and select AvatarReady > XR Rig Helper > Default

  • Drag the HMD tracked object and both controller tracked objects into the XR Rig Helper component.

  • Click setup Effectors. This will generate child GameObjects for each tracker, you can add a position or rotation offset to this objects to better align the trackers with the user’s hands.

  • Set you Avatar as Avatar Ready target and press Apply Rig

  • We will leave the default AvatarReady features for this example.