Introduction
Augmented reality is increasingly finding a place in our everyday life. Currently, AR is closely intertwined with social networks, and I can say with confidence that social AR is now the best method of creating experiences with augmented reality. Facebook was one of the first tech giants to introduce AR into their products. When the world saw Spark AR (an environment for creating filters for Facebook and Instagram), many enthusiasts began to experiment with it, including me. To put it bluntly, there were a few good and, most importantly, quick ways to bring your creative idea to life. At that time, the barrier was quite difficult, since it was necessary to have a fairly deep knowledge of programming to work with AR. Spark AR, on the other hand, allowed people with a more creative mind to work with AR, let's say, like a graphic or 3D editor. I believe this has become a formula for success. Wonderful ideas began to be realized quickly. And the software part, such as algorithms for image or face recognition, positioning of virtual objects in the real world - all this was sewn into a ready-made base on which you could already build your AR filter. A real boom in AR masks has begun. In a while, Facebook realized that filters are a great way of advertising. It's vivid, it's memorable, and it's a relatively new user experience. Companies that use AR for their marketing, look more modern and are better perceived by the young X and Z audience. Thanks to the huge Facebook/IG audience, if you create an interesting AR filter, you could one day see hundreds of millions of views of your effect in the statistics with little or no investment. And it's really impressive!
If you combine traditional marketing with AR masks, you can achieve a tangible improvement with relatively small additional effort and money.
Who is the AR filter creator?
AR creation is something that could not be called a profession not so long ago. But now it is. Moreover, an AR creator is a specialist in several areas at once (soon all professions will look like this😉). Very often 3D or game designers, and game developers become AR creators because the software environment is as similar to Spark. However, you also need 2D design and animation skills, and an understanding of the basic principles of UX - you have to make the filter so that people who are not familiar with AR can understand how to use it. For the filter to become popular, you need to be on trend this is situational marketing. For example, a Halloween filter might look like a close-to-real 3D pumpkin on the user's head. And then the users themselves will become your advertisement. They will share photos and videos with the superimposed effect on social networks just because it's fun.
When working with AR, you should know that it is still a new technology. You are an explorer and experimenter. You have a lot of space and opportunities to find new ways of user interaction with virtual objects and effects, be bold in your fantasies!
For complex filters, you'll need knowledge of JavaScript and basic programming skills. With the rest, it is not necessary, but if you came to Spark AR as a developer, you will want to resort to scripts at times because such an opportunity exists.
And of course 3D. 3D design, 3D animation. I firmly believe that 3D models should prevail in the Augmented Reality experience. It is much more realistic, it is much more interesting and lively. Giant animals or 3D portals, 3D masks that react to your face or gestures, that's what users love!
So, let's summarize: the creator of AR filters is a 3D designer, 2D designer, researcher-experimenter, maybe a coder, and a bit of a marketer. All this. You imperceptibly begin to understand all this if you work for some time in the area. But don't be in a hurry to think that is something unattainable or too difficult - it's just a matter of your desire.
Why designers and people in creative professions can comfortably start working with Spark AR?
The answer is simple - the Path editor. If you have worked with such 3D software as Blender or Cinema 3D, you know what we are talking about. The entire functionality is divided into small blocks. On a large canvas, you can place these blocks to form a sequence of actions for the program. For example, if the user opens his mouth, the 3D model will increase in size. 5-7 blocks connected in series will be needed for this. In fact, it is visual programming. And if you are a visual thinker, this is just perfect for you! Yes, you need to practice with it, but once you get used to it, it becomes super comfortable. Not without nuances, of course. When it comes to super-complex logic, you may have to resort to scripting, but the framework is different for everyone. For example, to simulate the real physics of objects and the force of gravity, quite a lot of elements are needed, and it is wise to use a ready-made script, the input, and output of which can be displayed in the Path editor to work on less complex components. My background as a UX Designer turned out to be quite useful in this situation because I also worked with blocks and diagrams and shaped the user flow. However, over several years of working with filters, I began to understand all aspects of the above.
In general, if you are one of those who try everything that interests them - a little 3D, a little programming, a little user experience or marketing - then when working with filters you will use all of this. In this way, the work looks quite diverse and non-routine. If you like to focus on one thing, it can be a disadvantage for you.
What is the hardest thing about working with filters?
Yes, I think it's worth saying right away that I'm talking about something more complicated than skin tone correction or superimposing a simple image somewhere on the face (you can find many similar guides about this on YouTube).
Let's take turns. I would put optimization first. Yes, optimization. Because as soon as you create your first filter and try to publish it on your Instagram, you will find out during the upload that the file size exceeds the limit...hell, what limit?! Maybe you're more patient than me and read the documentation about it first, but still - currently the total size of filter files should not exceed 4 megabytes for Instagram and 10 megabytes for Facebook. Let's be honest, almost no one is going to make an AR filter for Facebook, so let's focus on 4 megabytes. It would seem, that this is very little. Music, sound effects, 3D models, textures, animation files, 2D images, or stop-motion animation files - all of this can fit into 4 megabytes. But you will need the patience to learn how to do this.🙂
Of course, 3D models take up most of the space. The creation of 3D models for AR is similar to the same process for game dev. It is best to work in Blender, then you will get almost no conflicts when importing the model into Spark AR (with the requirements for 3D models and types of animation, I highly recommend reading the documentation: https://sparkar.facebook.com/ar-studio/learn/articles/3D/3D-objects ).
Another reason is a special Spark AR add-on that allows you to optimize individual meshes and models, it can be found here - https://sparkar.facebook.com/ar-studio/learn/articles/creating-and-prepping-assets/toolkit-for-blender/ .
This is a very simple but effective tool, I use it all the time and am grateful to the Spark team for it. It helps reduce the number of triangles on the model surface. Better to not exceed the limit of 30-50k triangles per mesh (this is written in the documentation), then the model will not take up too much space and the AR filter will work stably on weaker devices. Also important to know that the maximum texture size supported by Spark AR is 1200x1200px. You can use 4K textures, but they will not look sharper and the size of the images will be noticeably larger. With the rest, the texture can be divided into parts of 1200px and you will get the necessary sharpness. Use light and normal maps so the model will look much better.
There are various tricks how to use as few megabytes as possible, for example, if you have a very detailed 3D face mask that is symmetrical from left to right, you can export only the left part to Spark AR and then mirror it to the right side. Thus, the model will take up half as much space. Or, if we are talking about triangles, you can make the model more detailed on the visible side and as simplified as possible on the less visible side. Animation data when exporting can take up a lot of space, sometimes it is better to implement animation in Spark AR itself, then it does not affect the final size of the filter. These are simple tricks that you will learn by trying to fit all the stuff into 4 megabytes.🙂
But why is there a limit on the effect file size?
1) Take into account that every user waits for its download before trying your AR filter. Internet speed may not be too high, for example, if we are talking about a mass event. Therefore, so that the user does not have time to feel discomfort or get bored, the effect size should remain small. In this case, "magic" will work.
2) The second reason - the AR effect is launched on mobile devices. Yes, they are powerful, but even for the latest models of smartphones, it is not the easiest task. Every millisecond, the algorithm must recognize changes in the position of the face or marker, superimpose a 3D model, and play animations and sounds. The limit on the size of the effect allows us to maintain a balance between the content and smooth work of the smartphone, and therefore users will remain satisfied.
Creation of commercial filters
So let's say you have already created several AR effects and want to try them yourself in commerce. How to sell your services? What are the features?
It should be remembered that AR filters are still a new thing and not all customers may know about the advantages of this technology. When selling AR experience, you should be able to explain as simply and clearly as possible what exactly you do and how it works and what it can be useful for. Get ready for this. From my experience, I can say that it is best to have several videos with your filters (if you don't have anything to show yet, you can use samples from other creators for demonstration) for each type - for example, color correction, face recognition, image recognition and plane tracker (placing a 3D model in real space without a marker). It's even better to have published effects on your profile, then customers can try what you create. In this case, it is better to show once than to explain 10 times.
Let's dwell a little on the moment of publishing AR effects on your profile. You can do this on your main profile or create a new one for this - just consider whether you want customers to see your personal photos and videos because they will be able to go to your profile from the AR effect page. Also, if your AR filter is public, potentially hundreds of millions of people will see it. And I will tell you, your effect can go viral quite unexpectedly, and literally in a few days you will see statistics with 5-6 zeros.😉
If you publish AR effects on your profile, in the hub you can also create your portfolio that will increase your visibility: https://www.facebook.com/sparkarhub/dashboard/ . You can show the statistics of views to your customers, which in turn will give you a certain reputation.
I can say from my own experience that there are clients in almost all areas. From a college in the United States to a restaurant in the Netherlands. So don't be afraid to look for and offer what you do. Potential customers are often those who are already familiar with AR masks and are looking for these services. This is where buying ads and showcasing yourself in thematic communities can come in handy so you can be easily found.
Example: https://catchar.io/
I recommend subscribing to the Spark AR creators community, there you will find answers to various questions, support, and sometimes customers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SparkARcommunity .
Meta also certifies AR creators. Before passing the test you can watch a good mini-course that can close gaps in your knowledge and contribute to a positive result: https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/certification/exams/700-101-exam
The certificate is an opportunity to stand out among many others, and of course, don't forget to show the badge and link to the client.
Offer your services to companies by writing to them directly, just create something cool and publish it - clients will come to you themselves. Also, try competing for orders on various freelance platforms.
And most importantly, don't forget that as an AR creator you will be part of the community, bring something new and cool, and expand your horizons thanks to persistence and imagination, good luck!
Follow my IG: instagram.com/anton.arcreator/
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