How Long Does It Take To Develop Virtual Reality Content? We know that when it comes to building a new training program, a key question you may have is, “How long will it take?” As we observed, estimating the time it would take to develop your new Virtual Reality training program is challenging. That’s why we’re here today to answer the question, how long does it take to develop VR training?
One of the biggest questions we get when talking about our VR training is, “How long does development take?” A VR training program takes an average of 8-10 weeks to build, however, certain projects can take as little as 4 weeks or as long as 6 months or more.
In this article, we’re going to break down the three stages of VR training development, as well as the factors that will directly influence your project timeline.
While some VR activities can be a simple two-minute experience, some can be more complex, bringing on multifaceted learning options and fully immersive environments. When looking at the timeline for VR content development, we can break down the process into three key stages
- Instructional Design
- Asset Creation
- Development and Programming
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1. Instructional Design
Let’s start with the instructional design stage. This is where we begin by defining the learning objectives, addressing business challenges, and making sure that everything we develop meets the needs of your training program.
The first stage can take anywhere from 1-8 weeks or more, depending on
- The complexity of the subject matter,
- Working with the experts,
- The number of people needed for the final sign-off.
2. Asset Creation
Once the project has left the instructional design stage, it’s time for asset creation. This is where graphic designers, 3D artists, and various creatives go to work and build everything that we will make in the virtual world.
Whether it’s 2D or 3D objects, video clips, sound effects, or voiceovers, this is the stage where all the assets start to take shape. This stage can take anywhere from 4 weeks to 4 months, depending on the project.
Now bear in mind, that there are a few factors at this stage that can help expedite the process, including whether custom or stock assets are used or whether certain reference assets are available, like blueprints or CAD drawings.
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3. Development and Programming
The final stage is development and programming. This stage builds a working virtual environment by fine-tuning design elements and digital assets and turning them into a comprehensive VR experience.
This stage can take anywhere from 1-8 weeks or more, depending upon the size of the virtual environment, the number of digital assets, and the number of interactions that exist throughout the program.
Now that you know the steps, let’s dive deeper into the four factors that specifically affect the development time of your VR training program.
4 Factors That Affect VR Content Development Time
Okay, so now that we know what goes into each phase of content development, we can start unpacking the factors that directly impact development time. The four major factors that affect VR development time are:
- Flowchart/Script Development
- Model Complexity
- Program Intensity
- The levels of expertise of the developers.
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1. Flowchart/Script Development
Let’s start with flowchart and script development. This is the time it takes to establish the training program’s outline and goals, as well as the steps a learner will experience and where visual elements will be placed, which sets the groundwork for the rest of the development process. The more complex the learning program, the more time will be needed for its script development.
2. Model Complexity
The second factor is the complexity of modeling or how detailed the assets in the virtual world will be. For example, a learning activity set outside in a park with trees and birds, and fountains will take more time to develop than an activity set in a single office room with a table and a chair.
3. Program Intensity
The third factor that affects VR development time is the intensity of the program. This is when the programmers build the unique interactions that give the project shape. For example, when a learner selects a certain option, the programmer must determine how the experience reacts. The longer it takes to program the VR experience, the larger the program will be and the greater intense the scriptwriting will be.
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4. Developer Expertise
The last factor is the level of expertise of your developers. Here are just a handful of the people involved in the development. The more experienced the people in these roles, the faster content can be developed.
This is a great reason to find an experienced partner that can bring the expertise, tools, and experience to your VR training project.
Virtua Reality Development Team
- Instructional Designers
- Subject Matter Experts
- Graphic Designers
- C# Programmers
- Unity Developers
- 3D Artists
Whether you’re considering adopting a VR training program or have already started planning and redesigning your content, this should help clarify what goes into a VR training program and why the average development time is eight to 10 weeks or more.
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