Tilt Brush README
Tilt Brush is licensed under Apache 2.0. It is not an officially supported Google product. See the LICENSE file for more details.
Trademarks
The Tilt Brush trademark and logo (“Tilt Brush Trademarks”) are trademarks of Google, and are treated separately from the copyright or patent license grants contained in the Apache-licensed Tilt Brush repositories on GitHub. Any use of the Tilt Brush Trademarks other than those permitted in these guidelines must be approved in advance.
For more information, read the Tilt Brush Brand Guidelines.
Building the application
Get the Tilt Brush open-source application running on your own devices.
Prerequisites
- Unity 2018.4.11f1
- SteamVR
- Python 2.7.0 (Optional —
needed only if you wish to run the scripts in the
Support/bin
directory)
Changing the application name
Tilt Brush is a Google trademark. If you intend to publish a cloned version of
the application, you are required to choose a different name to distinguish it
from the official version. Before building the application, go into App.cs
and
the Player settings to change the company and application names to your own.
Please see the Tilt Brush Brand Guidelines for more details.
Running the application in the Unity editor
Follow these steps when running the application for the first time:
- Start Unity.
- Go to File > Open Scene. \
- Select
/Assets/Scenes/Main.unity
. Unity should automatically prompt you to import TextMesh Pro. - Choose Import TMP Essentials.
You can also do this through Window > TextMesh Pro > Import TMP Essential Resources. - Press Play.
These steps have been tested with Release 1.0.54.
Building the application from the Unity editor
Although it's possible to build Tilt Brush using the standard Unity build tools, we recommend using a build script to ensure the application builds with the correct settings. To run this script, go to Tilt > Build > Do Build, or build from the Tilt Brush build window by navigating to Tilt > Build > Build Window.
Note: The application may take a while to build the first time.
Building the application from the Windows command line
Use the build
script in the Support/bin
directory to specify the target
platform and the build options you wish to enable. Run build —help
to see the
various build options.
Additional features
You should be able to get the basic version of Tilt Brush up and running very quickly. The following features will take a little more time.
- Google service API support
- Enabling native Oculus support
- Sketchfab support
- *.fbx file support
- Camera path support
- Video recording for the camera
- Offline rendering support
- GIF support for the camera
Note: Uploading to Poly has been removed completely and cannot be added back in, because it uses an internal Google API. Download from Poly can still be enabled.
Systems that were replaced or removed when open-sourcing Tilt Brush
Some systems in Tilt Brush were removed or replaced with alternatives due to open-source licensing issues. These are:
- Sonic Ether Natural Bloom. The official Tilt Brush app uses a version purchased from the Asset Store; the open-source version uses Sonic Ether's slightly modified open-source version.
- FXAA. The official Tilt Brush app uses a modified version of the FXAA that Unity previously released with the standard assets on earlier versions of Unity - FXAA3 Console. This has been replaced with FXAA by jintiao.
- Vignette and Chromatic Aberration. The official Tilt Brush app uses modified versions of the Vignette and Chromatic Aberration effects that came with the standard assets in earlier versions of Unity. These have been replaced with a modified version of KinoVignette by Keijiro.
- Tilt Shift. The official Tilt Brush app uses modified versions of the Tilt Shift effect that came with the standard assets in earlier versions of Unity. These have been replaced with a modified version of Tilt shift by underscorediscovery.
Google service API support
Set up Google API support to access Google services in the app.
Enabling Google service APIs
Follow these steps when enabling Google service APIs:
-
Create a new project in the Google Cloud Console.
-
Enable the following APIs and services:
- YouTube Data API v3 — for uploading videos to YouTube
- Poly API — for accessing the Poly model library
- Google Drive API — for backup to Google Drive
- People API — for username and profile picture
Note: The name of your application on the developer console should match the
name you've given the app in App.kGoogleServicesAppName
in App.cs
.
Creating a Google API key
Follow these steps when creating a Google API key:
- Go to the Credentials page from the Google Cloud Console.
- Click Create Credential and select API key from the drop-down menu.
Google OAuth consent screen information
The OAuth consent screen asks users for permission to access their Google account. You should be able to configure it from the Credentials screen.
Follow these steps when configuring the OAuth consent screen:
-
Fill in the name and logo of your app, as well as the scope of the user data that the app will access.
-
Add the following paths to the list of scopes:
- Google Drive API
../auth/drive.appdata
- Google Drive API
../auth/drive.file
- Google Drive API
Creating an OAuth credential
The credential identifies the application to the Google servers. Follow these steps to create an OAuth credential:
- Create a new credential on the Credentials screen.
- Select OAuth, and then select Other. Take note of the client ID and client secret values that are created for you. Keep the client secret a secret!
Storing the Google API Key and credential data
Follow these steps to store the Google API Key and credential data:
- There is an asset in the
Assets/
directory calledSecrets
that contains aSecrets
field. Add a new item to this field. - Select
Google
as the service. Paste in the API key, client ID, and client secret that were generated earlier.
Enabling native Oculus support
Note: Tilt Brush is a Google trademark. If you intend to publish a cloned version of the application, you are required to choose a different name to distinguish it from the official version.
Tilt Brush targets SteamVR instead of Oculus by default. Follow these steps to enable native Oculus support:
- Enable the Oculus desktop package in the Package Manager.
- Install the Oculus Unity Integration.
Note: The above link goes to version 1.41, which the official version of
Tilt Brush was built with. Later versions have not been tested. You only need to
include the Platform
and VR
subdirectories when you import.
- If you see a dialog about upgrading the Unity Oculus plugin, click Accept.
- In the Standalone tab of the Player settings, go to Other Settings
and define
OCULUS_SUPPORTED
in Scripting Define Symbols. Add it to the end of the list and use a semicolon to separate it from the previous define commands.
Building your app for Oculus Quest
Follow these steps to build your app for Oculus Quest:
- Define
OCULUS_SUPPORTED
in Scripting Define Symbols in the Android tab of Player Settings, under Other Settings. Add it to the end of the list and use a semicolon to separate it from the previous define command. - Set up your machine for Oculus Quest Development.
- Make sure the following are set in Unity:
- Tilt > Build > SDK: OVR
- Tilt > Build > Platform: Android
- Tilt > Build > Runtime: Mono
- Navigate to Tilt > Build > Do Build.
- Find the generated executable. It will most likely be somewhere under
Builds/OculusMobile_Release_TiltBrush_FromGui/
. - Run
adb install com.google.tiltbrush.apk
.
Publishing to Oculus stores
Follow these steps to publish to Oculus stores:
- Get an application ID from Oculus. The desktop and quest versions of each application need separate IDs.
- Add these IDs to the
Secrets
file. BothOculus
andOculusMobile
should have their own entries. - Put the app IDs in the
Client ID
field for each.
Tilt Brush intro sketch
The Tilt Brush intro sketch uses some slightly modified shaders to produce the
animating-in effect while the sketch fades in. For faster loading, the intro
sketch is turned into a *.prefab
file beforehand. Only the shaders used in the
intro sketch have been converted to work with the introduction.
- The current intro sketches are located in
Support/Sketches/Intro
. There are two versions, one for PC and one for mobile. - The
*.prefab
files are located inAssets/Prefabs/Intro
. - The materials and shaders used in the intro are located in
Assets/Materials/IntroMaterials
. - The
Assets/PlatformConfigPC
andAssets/PlatformConfigMobile
files reference the*.prefab
files that will be used in the intro.
Creating an intro sketch
Follow these steps to replace or alter the intro sketch:
- Make sure the sketch of your choice is already loaded. Run Tilt Brush in the Unity Editor.
- Select Tilt > Convert To Intro Materials in the main Unity menu.
This converts the materials in the sketch to the intro versions.
You will get warnings in the console for any materials it could not convert, as well as a summary of how many materials it converted. - Navigate the hierarchy. Under the Main scene, open
SceneParent/Main Canvas
. Select any of theBatch_...
objects to check whether they have the intro materials set. - Move any objects that do not start with
Batch_
out from under the Main Canvas node. - Select the Main Canvas node and run the Tilt > Save Game Object As
Prefab menu command.
The scene will be saved as a*.prefab
file calledgameobject_to_prefab
. under theAssets/TestData
folder. - Move the game object into the
Assets/Prefabs/Intro
folder. - Update the references in
Assets/PlatformConfigPC
andAssets/PlatformConfigMobile
to point to your new prefab file.
Creating an intro sketch for mobile applications
You may want to have a pared-down version of the intro sketch for the mobile version of the app. Stroke simplification is located in the Settings menu inside Tilt Brush.
Sketchfab support
Follow these steps to enable Sketchfab support:
- Contact Sketchfab for a client ID and secret before you can upload to their service.
- Add the client ID and secret to the
Secrets
file. - Set the service as Sketchfab. Leave the API key blank.
FBX file support
You will need to build C# wrappers for the Autodesk FBX (the Autodesk filebox format) SDK in order to import or export FBX and OBJ files in the app. See Support/fbx/README.md for details.
Camera path support
Follow these steps to enable camera path support:
- Enable video support.
- Uncomment the code in
CameraPathCaptureRig.RecordPath()
.
Video support
To get video support you will need to put an ffmpeg.exe binary in to
/Support/ThirdParty/ffmpeg/bin
. We have created a script to build one for
you - it temporarily requires around 2GB of space to build but will clear up
after itself.
Follow these steps to get video support:
- Find '/Support/ThirdParty/ffmpeg/BuildFfmpeg.ps1', right-click on it in explorer and select 'Run with Powershell'. It will take some time to build.
- In Unity, modify
/Assets/PlatformConfigPC
and add 'Video' to 'Enabled Multicam Styles'. 'Snapshot' should always be enabled.
Video support bug fix
If you add video support, you may encounter a bug where the "Looking for audio" and "Play some music on your computer" text will disappear if the controller is angled too far. Fix this by doing the following:
- In Unity, find the
/Assets/TextMesh Pro/Resources/Shaders/TMP_SDF.shader
file. - Duplicate it and rename this file
TMP_SDF-WriteDepth.shader
. - Open the new file in a code or text editor and make the following changes to
it:
- Change the name from
TextMeshPro/Distance Field
toTextMeshPro/Distance Field Depth
. - Change
Zwrite Off
toZwrite On
.
- Change the name from
- In Unity, select
/Assets/Fonts/Oswald-Light SDF.asset
. - Under
Atlas & Material
, double clickOswald-Light SDF Material
. - At the top, change the name for
Shader
fromTextMeshPro/Distance Field
toTextMeshPro/Distance Field Depth
.
Offline rendering support
When the user records a video from a saved sketch in Tilt Brush, a .bat
file
is generated next to the .mp4
for offline rendering support. This .bat
file
requires the path to the executable of Tilt Brush. The code for writing out this
path to the file has been removed.
Follow these steps to restore the path:
- Open the file
Assets/Scripts/Rendering/VideoRecorderUtils.cs
in a code or text editor. - Look for the function
CreateOfflineRenderBatchFile
near the bottom of the file. - In the function, find the comments on how to modify the string to point to the executable path.
- Update the string to point to the correct path.
GIF support
GIF support was removed for licensing reasons. To get GIF support, integrate your own system by following these steps:
- Add the encoding code in around lines 129 - 148 of
Assets/Scripts/Gif Creation/GifEncodeTask.cs
. - Modify
Assets/PlatformConfigPC
andAssets/PlatformConfigMobile
. Add Auto GIF and/or Time GIF to Enabled Multicam Styles.
The released PC build had the following settings:
- Snapshot
- Auto GIF
- Time GIF
- Video
The released Quest build had the following settings:
- Snapshot
- Time GIF
Experimental mode
Experimental mode is where features live before they are ready to be released in a production build. This mode enables the experimental brushes and experimental panel while disabling the intro sequence.
New features and brushes that you find in experimental mode may not work as expected. Sketches that use experimental features and brushes won't work on Poly or Sketchfab, and may break if loaded into production versions of Tilt Brush.
Turning on experimental mode
Follow these steps to turn on experimental mode:
- Find the Config object in the main scene by going to App > Config.
- Turn on the Is Experimental flag.
The Tilt Brush build system will then set up the experimental flag as needed when you make a build.
Making your code experimental
Code in experimental mode is usually surrounded by the following block:
# if (UNITY_EDITOR || EXPERIMENTAL_ENABLED)
if (Config.IsExperimental) {
// Experimental code goes here
}
# endif
In the editor, all you need to enable experimental mode is to turn on the
experimental flag. The EXPERIMENTAL_ENABLED
scripting definition needs to be
set, or the code will not be compiled into the build at all. This prevents
unfinished features from being accessed by people who hack or decompile the
executable.
Experimental brushes
Experimental brushes and environments are located in the Assets/Resources/X
folder. They are not included in non-experimental builds.