Getting Started with Kinect v2, Unity 3D, and C#
I’ve worked with Kinect v1 in the past in openFrameworks and have some experience with .NET. I don’t know Unity 3D. So when Kinect v2 came out, I decided to play with it in Unity 3D. Most of the time was spent googling and watching videos that are irrelevant and doesn’t quite get me to where I want. If this is you, here’s how to start from scratch and get you running as quickly as possible.
Basic Understanding
Kinect is your input that captures some kind of data. Unity is a game development engine, which receives those data. You then have to write a code to process those data and turn it into something fun.
What do you need?
- Kinect v2
- Kinect SDK
- Unity 3D Pro (Kinect plugin only work with Unity Pro)
- Kinect Unity 3D plugin
For Mac user
- Bootcamp (Kinect SDK won’t work on Parallel)
- Windows (Must be 64-bit OS)
What am I using?
- Kinect v2
- Kinect SDK v2.0 build 1409
- Unity Pro 4.6.1
- Kinect Unity Plugin v2.0 build 1410
- Macbook Pro
- Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
Quick Start
My number one question is how do I write Kinect code in Unity. Most tutorials out there will teach you how to setup stage, apply texture, etc. Those are nice to know. But right now I just want to see my skeleton dancing!
Once you feel like you are ready to start your own project, follow Kinect 4 Windows V2 – Unity 3D by Pete D. It is not as daunting as you think.
http://peted.azurewebsites.net/kinect-4-windows-v2-unity-3d/
There’s no source code. I’ll try to upload simplified version on my GitHub soon. Also I’m planning on writing about step-by-step. Stay tuned!
Resources
Unity 3D
For basic understand of Unity 3D, checkout a tutorial series by Brackeys on YouTube called Create a Survival Game. I went through #1 – #4.
1. Unity Tutorial Basics – Create a Survival Game
2. Unity Tutorial Melee Combat- Create a Survival Game
3. Unity Tutorial Animation and Health – Create a Survival Game
4. Unity Tutorial Animation System – Create a Survival Game
Kinect v2
If you want to know all the features in Kinect v2, checkout this video series by Microsoft.
Programming Kinect for Windows v2: (01) Introducing Kinect Development
Programming Kinect for Windows v2: (02) Kinect Data Sources and Programming Model
Programming Kinect for Windows v2: (03) Hand Pointer Gestures and Speech
Programming Kinect for Windows v2: (04) Using Kinect with Other Frameworks or Libraries
Programming Kinect for Windows v2: (05) Fusion, Face, HD Face
Programming Kinect for Windows v2: (06) Recording, Playback, and Gesture Recognition