I recently added an Oculus Quest to my VR headset collection and my first app purchase was, of course, Tilt Brush. I may be Tilt Brush’s biggest fan and feared disappointment in Tilt Brush on the Quest compared to Tilt Brush on my Vive. I found very few comparison reviews available so I thought I would share my observations of Tilt Brush on the Vive vs Tilt Brush on the Quest.
As of today, October 29, 2019, Tilt Brush on the Quest is missing some significant features available on the Vive version. Some of these are major issues impacting the way I work and others are minor inconveniences. When first opening Tilt Brush on the Quest, it appears very similar to Tilt Brush on my Vive. I can tell a difference in the visual detail but this isn’t a deal breaker for me. There appears to be some inaccurate and delayed tracking when trying to work in detail and I also find that I am not able to work as long in VR on the Quest as I can on my Vive and Rift S.
Some features missing from the Quest version of Tilt Brush are: 1. Select All, 2.Video camera and other cameras, 3. Export (as fbx), and 4. Limited Memory which creates issues for large scenes. Some of these have alternative options and others have a significant effect on my work process.
I frequently use “Select All” as I build experiences. I have found I am able to grab the world in the Quest version of Tilt Brush to get around the missing feature. For the Vive Tilt Brush, if I grab the world, it selects the floor also. The Video Camera is also missing, which was initially more of an issue for me. I video my scenes and share them on social media so this could be a major issue. Quest compensates for this because it has an option to video your current game play. This option on the Quest is more versatile in some ways than the video camera in Tilt Brush. In order to video a scene in Tilt Brush, return to the main menu and select “sharing” and “video game play”. You can then return to Tilt Brush and record the scene. This requires extra steps such as extra trimming and editing of the video but it is a workaround for the missing feature. It also is an easy way to share the painting process within Tilt Brush much like screen record on the pc. Transfer the files to a pc by connecting the Quest to the pc with the included USB2 cord. I uploaded some videos to my pc and the entire process is relatively simple. The Quest recording option offers an excellent alternative so I don’t miss this feature within Tilt Brush.
The biggest missing feature for me is the lack of ability to export my scenes and objects as fbx files. I use this frequently while building scenes in Unity. I am currently using my Tilt Brush art in my Unity projects as assets in my VR experiences, so adding difficulty to this process makes me prefer my PC version of Tilt Brush over the Quest and I will continue to paint with my Vive when creating assets until this is easier. The Tilt Brush forum answers this question stating that fbx will not be available on the Quest because fbx files are not supported on Android. It is possible to export a sketch as a glb and then import into Unity using the Tilt Brush Toolkit. I haven’t tried this yet but will report back when I do.
Another major issue with the Quest is the limit on the memory in Tilt Brush. I reach this limit in every painting session. The issue arises more quickly when I select multiple objects and attempt to copy and paste these objects. If I save, close, and reopen the sketch, Tilt Brush will sometimes free up memory to continue painting. I have not cast my Tilt Brush sessions to a screen yet. I will be experimenting with options for this over the next few weeks to prepare for my Tilt Brush storytelling demo with the Dallas AR/VR Immersive Design Meetup on November 13.
I do love the freedom and portability of the Quest. My home was hit by the recent Dallas tornado and I was forced to relocate to a hotel. I was able to continue to work in Tilt Brush with my Quest without major difficulties of setting up sensors in a hotel room. I was also able to paint in Tiltbrush without wifi and without power until my battery ran out which was about 2 plus hours. It also offers opportunities for me to show my Tilt Brush artwork to more people without having to set up my pc and Vive or Rift S. I’m looking forward to the upcoming Tilt Brush update in November for both the pc version and the Quest.
My wish list for Tilt Brush’s next release is an ovoid guide, additional guide options, bringing in models and using as a guide, rigging and animation options, and the ability to create concave objects with the hull brush or transparent concave brush options. I would also like to be able to bring objects from one scene into another file without having to use Poly.Google. I think that’s about it. I know other TB artists have requests so it will be exciting to see what happens with the new rapidly approaching release.
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