NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: EXPLORE VR
RELEASE: May 21, 2019
PLATFORM: Oculus Quest
FUNCTION: Lead Artist
Explore VR is an immersive virtual reality experience developed by Force Field in collaboration with National Geographic. The project features two distinct locations: Antarctica, created through traditional 3D workflows, and Machu Picchu, which we built using a high-fidelity photogrammetry pipeline. As the Lead Artist, I was responsible for the visual direction and art team management, with a specific focus on pioneering the photogrammetry workflow for the Machu Picchu expansion.
AVERAGE TEAM SIZE ~50 total, ~12 Artists
ENGINE: Unreal 4
MY CONTRIBUTIONS:
- Art Direction & Oversight: Directed the visual execution of the project, ensuring the high-quality standards associated with the National Geographic brand were met through consistent feedback and paintovers.
- Collaborative Pipeline Development: Together with the team, I researched and documented our first photogrammetry and 360 photography workflow, establishing a technical foundation optimized for mobile VR.
- Technical Lead (Onsite): While our producer managed permits and site logistics, I led the technical execution of the two-week shoot at Machu Picchu. I directed a crew of four on the capture strategy, hardware management, and data integrity across four complex locations.
- Art Team Management: Handled the artistic task prioritization and distribution, ensuring the team was supported as we transformed raw capture data into optimized, game-ready assets.
- Cross-Discipline Problem Solving: Acted as a key bridge between art and engineering to develop technical solutions that maintained high visual fidelity on mobile chipsets.
INTERESTS & CHALLENGES:
Part of this project (the Machu Picchu location) was a rewarding blend of my professional role and my personal passion for photography. As the studio had no prior experience with photogrammetry, it was a fantastic opportunity for the team and me to “sink our teeth” into a new medium together. I leveraged my background in photography to help lead the technical preparation, making the journey into this new workflow a truly shared effort.
Capturing Machu Picchu presented a unique set of hurdles that required collective problem-solving:
- Environmental & Logistical Constraints: Our team navigated the site’s vast scale and fluctuating weather patterns while working around thousands of daily visitors.
- Creative Capture Solutions: Since drones were not permitted, the team and I developed creative ground-based capture methods to ensure we gathered the necessary data for a fully immersive experience.
- Technical Reliability: Operating on the other side of the world meant our capture methods had to be flawless; I was responsible for ensuring that all data was correctly managed and backed up before leaving the site.
The result was an incredible journey, bringing the wonder of a National Geographic expedition to life through shared effort and technical curiosity.