Intro to Adobe Aero

Intro to Adobe Aero A UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA CREATIVE CAMPUS WORKSHOP

WELCOME TO OUR WORKSHOP!

Thank you for joining us for this workshop! We highly recommend that you have Adobe Aero Beta installed on your computer before the workshop so that you can work along with us!

Workshop Resources

All Assets we use will be from the Starter Assets provided by Adobe Aero!

Check out the recording for our workshop below!

AGENDA

What is Adobe Aero?

Adobe Aero helps you design immersive experiences by overlaying digital content over a live view of your mobile device's camera. No coding or experience required!

Image provided by Adobe

Adobe Aero a powerful new augmented reality (AR) authoring tool that makes it easier for designers to create immersive content.

Workspace Overview

The Workspace in Aero Beta for desktop is where we will be building most of our AR experiences. The desktop offers a degree of control that is not available on the mobile app and they are often used in tandem to create engaging AR experiences. Let's check out the different parts of the workspace you will be working with when you use Adobe Aero.

The Toolbar

A. Import B. Select C. Move D. Rotate E. Scale F. Orbit G. Pan H. Dolly I. Content J. Behavior Builder

Import: Import compatible 2D and 3D assets into Aero
Select: Select your object on any of the three axes (X, Y, Z)
Move: Move your object on any of the three axes (X, Y, Z)
Rotate: Rotate your objects along all three axes (X, Y, Z)
Scale: Scale your object on any of the three axes (X, Y, Z)
Orbit: Rotates the current view around a model based on a fixed pivot point
Pan: Enables you to drag the view horizontally and vertically
Dolly: Enables you to move towards or away from your model along the Z axis

Starter Assets

Aero desktop comes loaded with a library of useful assets which you can use in your AR creations. In the Edit mode, click the Content icon ("I" above) and then navigate through various available categories to select the asset you would like to use in your AR creation.

Some assets contain embedded animations, look for the badge on the lower right corner of the document's thumbnail.

Actions Panel

A. Delete selection B. Duplicated selection C. Group selection D. Align selection E. Automatic scale F. Revert to original size

Delete selection: Deletes the object you have selected
Duplicate selection: Duplicates the object you have selected
Align selection: Aligns the selected object with the bottom surface plane
Automatic rescale: Adjusts the asset size automatically to fit into the screen view
Revert to original size: Changes the asset size to the original dimension as read in the asset source file

Properties Panel

A. Pivot B. Position C. Rotation D. Scale E. Size

Pivot: Used to identify the position of the point at which the object will rotate or spin
Position: Used to accurately position the object in space
Rotation: Used to precisely rotate your object
Scale: Used to precisely scale size of your object
Size: Used to identify exact dimensions of an object

3D Gizmos

When you have imported assets into your scene, arrange them however you like by using the 3D Gizmo tool to move, scale, and rotate your objects around your scene.

The gizmo handles are color-coded to represent the axis they correspond to:

Red for the x-axis
Green for the y-axis
Blue for the z-axis

3D Gizmos include: select, move, rotate and scale

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Adding Interactivity to Assets

One of the most engaging things about Adobe Aero is its ability to allow you to easily create intuitive interactive experiences for your viewers. Let's learn about the basics of interactivity using Triggers and Actions.

Triggers

You will set up triggers to start your interactive elements. There are 3 different trigger types:

Triggers can be found in the behavior builder

Start: Apply the selected action when the scene begins.
Tap: Tap the object to play the action.
Enter Proximity: Enter a defined distance of the object to play the action.

Actions

You can set an action, that occurs when you activate a trigger. For example, if you set the trigger as start and the action as bounce, then the object bounces when the scene starts.

You can set up multiple actions for a single trigger so that a sound and an animation can play at the same time for example.

There are many different action types. Here are a few:

Play Animation: Apply an animation that comes with the imported asset.
Play Images: Apply animation that comes with the imported animated image asset.
Play Audio: Adds audio to your asset and plays it back.
Path move: Use your device to direct the path of movement for the object.
Spin: Spin the object 360 degrees.
Bounce: Bounce the object up and down.

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Share your AR Creations with the World

Now that you have created your AR design you can take advantage of Augmented Reality's unique capability of enabling your audience to view and interact with digital content in their own physical spaces.

To share click on the Share Button on the top right or File>Share. Then select Create Link.

This will create a link to your file and a QR code that you can share that will walk the user who scans it through the process of viewing your content!

Try out the one we created for our demo project below!

A link to our demo file!

You can learn more about all the ways you can share with Aero here.

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Additional Resources

Adobe Aero Learn and Support Page

Adobe Aero User Guide

Adobe & Arizona Tutorial Pages

We found a lot of inspiration for this workshop from Dunaway Smith's Youtube Channel!

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Appreciate

Credits:

Created with images by zapp2photo - "Augmented reality marketing concept for architecture. Hand holding smart phone using AR application to simulate 3d popup interactive room maps to life. 3d rendering" • bridgephotography - "red fox" • zapp2photo - "Augmented reality marketing and smart AR glasses technology concept. Customer using AR application to monitoring , check , alert airline flight. Blur Airport background" • peshkova - "tablet in hand"