VR Builder setup

In this VR Builder tutorial, you will learn how to set up VR Builder. After following this tutorial, you will have your Unity project ready to run in VR as well as the foundation to explore more VR Builders capabilities in Unity.

If you are familiar with Unity already, you likely want to skip some of the first chapters.

In the next chapters, we will cover:

1. Prerequisites: Installing Unity and creating a Unity project 
2. Downloading VR Builder from the Unity Asset Store
3. The Project Setup Wizard
4. Next steps

Prerequisites: Installing Unity And Creating a Unity project

For this VR Builder tutorial we assume you have already installed Unity and created a new, empty project using a 3D template.

If you haven't installed Unity yet, you can find excellent documentation on how to do this right from Unity themselves:

• Installing Unity: docs.unity3d.com/Manual/GettingStartedInstallingUnity 
• System requirements for running Unity: docs.unity3d.com/Manual/system-requirements
• Creating a new project: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/Quickstart3D

If you are completely new to Unity, you might also want to check some basic concepts. The documentation on how to use the Unity Editor (docs.unity3d.com/Manual/UsingTheEditor) and Unity Learn (learn.unity.com) are both valuable resources to do so.

If you are not sure which Unity version to use, we'd recommend using one of the newest LTS (long term support) versions.

In case of doubt, please also check the compatibility section of the VR Builder description on assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/visual-scripting/vr-builder-201913.

Downloading VR Builder From the Unity Asset Store

Please have Unity running and a new, empty project open before continuing. This ensures that VR Builder will be added to the right project.

The easiest way to get VR Builder from the Unity Asset Store is to visit VR Builder's product page: assetstore.unity.com/packages/tools/visual-scripting/vr-builder-201913

The next 3 steps are:

• Adding VR Builder to Your Assets
• Downloading VR Builder to your PC
• Importing VR Builder to your Unity project.

In your web browser, on the right side of the Asset Store product page, you can find the button Add to My Assets. Select this button.

After that, the same button will change to Open in Unity. Press select this button again to get back to your Unity project..

This opens the Package Manager. Select VR Builder from your assets. Then press download and after the download is completed import.

A pop up will appear showing you all the files to be added to the Unity project. Just confirm the selection by pressing "Import".

For older Unity versions, a dialog from Unity's XR Interaction Component appears. VR Builder should work with either choice, so select the option that better suits your existing project. Use I Made a Backup, Go Ahead! if you are new project. This will trigger an the automated restart.

For newer Unity versions the Samples of the XR Interaction Toolkit might need an update.

After these notifications the Project Setup Wizard will appear.

Guide Through the Project Setup Wizard

The Setup Wizard helps to get new or existing Unity scenes set up and ready to be used with VR Builder. In the following we will guide you through the different tabs of the VR Builder Setup Wizard. 

Welcome

Welcome to the VR Builder Setup Wizard. Press “Next” on the bottom right.

Interaction Settings

Here you can configure some default settings related to VR Builder interactions. Right now, the only available setting will determine whether a newly created grabbable object will use physics or not. You can also change these options at any time in Project Settings > VR Builder > Settings.

XR Hardware Setup

Then, if it's not configured already, you will be able to configure your project to work with your VR hardware. If your hardware is not listed but supports OpenXR, select Other. You might need to finish the configuration under Project Settings -> XR Plug-in Management. If OpenXR is not supported, please reach out to us in the VR Builder Community. The packages for the selected hardware will be imported after closing the wizard.

Unity Localization

Finally you must choose whether to set up localization support or skip it for now. VR Builder supports localization through the Unity Localization package. When setting up localization, the wizard will guide you through the manual steps required for a localized project. It provides a useful checklist and some shortcuts to make the task easier. It also has links that redirect to the relevant Unity documentation. If you decide to skip this setup, VR Builder will work in a single language. You can perform localization setup at any time.

We encourage you to use Unity Localization, even if you use just one language. With Unity Localization, you will have all your texts in one place inside the Unity Localization Tables, which in turn will give you the possibility to export and refine them and import them back into Unity.

Note that as of Januar 2024, we do not support asset localization tables. See Resources path/Key in the Documentation on how to localize files.

Final page

This page lists some useful resources to get you started with VR Builder. There is also a checkbox which lets you choose if the demo scene should be loaded after closing the wizard.

After clicking Finish, VR Builder is set up! You will need to wait a few seconds for packages to import if you selected a headset from the hardware list. Then, feel free to try out the demo scene or create your own scene by selecting Tools > VR Builder > Scene Setup Wizard….

Note that if you selected the Unity URP template in the beginning, the materials on the avatar hands and demo scene will look solid magenta. That's Unity's way to tell you that the materials are not compatible with the current render pipeline. You can rectify this by selecting all materials (by filtering them in the project window), then click Edit > Rendering > Materials > Convert Selected Built-in Materials to URP. You can of course ignore this step if you don't plan to use the provided hand models or the demo scene.

Next Steps

In this VR Builder tutorial you learned how to set up VR Builder for a Unity project. Now that your Unity Project is up and running for VR, we recommend checking out the tutorial on VR Builder's Process Editor.