Creating a Universe from Scratch: Studio Syro's Handcrafted VR Pipeline

At Studio Studio Syro creates animated stories entirely within virtual reality. Using Quill, a VR-native painting and animation tool, we draw, animate, and build worlds directly inside the headset (Figure 1). Our first project: Tales from Soda Island, was the first animated series made completely in VR, and it laid the groundwork for an expressive, handcrafted production pipeline that we've used for every project since. We've since expanded this approach across mediums and formats, creating and publishing animated pieces like Nyssa, The Art of Change, and various music videos and stage visuals, as well as interactive experiences like our SXVA prototype, PondQuest, and Dear Metaverse. In this talk, we'll walk through the way we work, how we build and animate in VR, prototype in Unity, and keep our tools lightweight and artist-friendly. From quick sketches to spatial storytelling, we'll share what it takes to build entire worlds with small teams and big ideas.