tsukat

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of the company and responsible for all of the ongoing development

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TSUKAT, and what were your goals?

We were looking for good companies, with experience in 3D Design and its development. We started in 2018 with that and at that point 3D was not as wide spread as it is today. there was no ARKIT etc available, so we needed some real experts.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

First of all, their competence - the interview was easy, they asked good questions and most importantly, they did not overpromise what all they could deliver.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They took on the entire ownership of one of our core components as well as the entire iOS stack development. From conception to development to deployment

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There are about 5 people from Tsukat in our team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Tsukat delivered on time, within the budget and with the expected quality we expected. We have been working with them for quite some time and obviously there are ups & downs, but Tsukat is by far one of the best companies I have had the pleasure to work with.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They have dedicated PM's which make sure that the project stays on track. They are great and we rarely miss a deadline.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are proactive in their communication and they "think" - well believe it or not, we work with loads of service providers out there and most of them dont take it serious or are merely code producers, meaning they dont think beyond their own lines of code. TSUKAT delivers, but also provides very valuable input.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Like I said before, we have worked together for quite some time and there were good and bad times. Overall, we are more than happy with their services.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of a metaverse platform startup. Our application enables brands, organizations and agencies to rapidly develop and deploy photorealistic virtual experiences to the web.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TSUKAT?

Lighting the Way Forward is a 500+ person virtual event giving participants an opportunity to “choose their own adventure” in a multi-player networked environment mirroring an in-person trade show.

The three-dimensional photo-realistic rendered environment—coupled with the ability to connect with Kichler Lighting personnel and other attendees—creates an experience as close to real life as possible.

The event consists of a main hub, general session space, breakout session rooms with influencer presentations, meeting rooms for one-on-one or group appointments with Kichler staff, a club room hosting social hours and events, a food court that with real-time ordering via Grubhub.

There are also product demo rooms and showroom spaces—Bedroom, Bathroom, Kitchen, Dining and Exterior—where the latest innovations are unveiled.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We'd been working with TSUKAT for a little more than a year. Taras' team are some of the most talented, dedicated 3D artists, developers and technologists with whom we have ever worked.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

TSUKAT worked hand-in-hand with our producers and 3D design team to optimize high-poly 3D cad data for streaming in Unreal Engine on SURREAL's platform. TSUKAT modeled a half-a-dozen maps, applied UV textures and lighting.

Their Unreal Engine developers worked with our game and web development team to program interactive configurators so users could configure, change and shop products in the multiplayer environment.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

• Creative Director
• Art Director
• 3D Artists
• Unreal Engine Developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

or Kichler, it was equally important that the Lighting the Way Forward virtual event offered attendees a comprehensive experience to interact with Kichler Lighting products as it was to engage with subject matter and sales experts and select influencers.

The event space consisted of a main hub where participants’ avatars began their virtual experience. From there, they had the ability to meet at a table with other participants and have a one-on-one conversation with voice or video options.

Features also included a general session space, breakout session rooms with influencer presentations that included live Q & A, meeting rooms for one-on-one or group appointments with Kichler Lighting personnel.

There is a club room that hosted social hours and events, the food court that included real-time ordering via Grubhub, and the product demo rooms and showroom spaces—Bedroom, Bathroom, Kitchen, Dining and Exterior—where the latest innovations were unveiled.

Attendance was strong with an abundance of positive feedback about the technology, content and new product, according to the company and planning is underway for the future use of the Virtual Showroom for additional events and extended opportunities.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We've worked with TSUKAT on many projects, and I'm always amazed at their ability to deliver the highest quality interactive experiences under tight timelines. No matter how crazy the deadline, they always come through.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I considered TSUKAT to be one of our most trusted and valuable partners. They're a rare breed of studio-agencies that prioritize our success, and our customer's success, above all else.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Ironically, no. Most service providers have a tough time saying "no" to their partners, but TSUKAT will never take on more work than it can handle given the project parameters, timing and budget. This is another rare quality to find in a partner.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of a Sports technology company. We provide highly realistic sports simulations/training to individuals and companies globally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TSUKAT, and what were your goals?

We wanted to create a realistic VR based cricket batting training solution that would enable cricket players to prepare better against future opponents. As we didn’t have the necessary resources in-house, we engaged with an external development team.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We searched for developers on both Upwork and PeoplePerHour. After explaining the project scope in more detail and finding out more about each shortlisted developer, we chose to engage with Tsukat because of their past project reviews, design skills, breadth of talent and value for money.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The initial project scope was to create a 360-degree video-based VR training aid for cricket batters that allowed the user to virtually hit the cricket ball bowled in the 360-degree video. We supplied their team with the input 360-degree videos and some supporting information, and they edited the clips in Unity to enable the virtual ball to be hit by a user. The next step of the process was to track the outcomes of each player to provide scouting reports to coaches.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

A couple of project managers, a handful of Unity developers, a UI/UX designer, an animator, an artist and a CV engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

1. The development of the solution is still ongoing but so far it meets our expectations and has enabled us to open doors and form business relationships that would otherwise not have been possible without them.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We have weekly video calls to discuss the ongoing project and the status of its features. In addition, we communicate daily via email and review the app monthly to provide feedback.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are team made up of experienced, high quality Unity and Unreal developers, animators, artists, UI designers and CV engineers, who have previously been employed by some of the world’s leading technology firms. They provide a vast range of development services at a very cost-competitive price. And if any technical challenges exist, alternative solutions are presented. When we have a deadline or a client demonstration, they work out of hours to make sure the software is working as intended and free from bugs. Most importantly, they are friendly and a pleasure to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Early on in the project (circa 2018), they were some difficulties in understanding the intricacies of the project scope as it is foreign to them. However, they took their time to learn and understand the project’s background in order for them to provide higher quality solutions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I´m the product owner from the Digital Academy. The company is the world's leading provider of technologies and technical services for the international tobacco industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TSUKAT, and what were your goals?

In new areas of digitalization, we see great added value for our customers through digital training. Also through COVID it is no longer possible to travel to every customer at every time, here too a digital channel creates the bridging.

SOLUTION

How did you select TSUKAT and what were the deciding factors?

Tsukat has a great experience in creating 3D animations and software development. This is a good combination for our project.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We have been working with agile ways of working for almost two years. We have a permanent team and a constant exchange.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

5 Software developers and 3 3D experts plus 1 project manager (not fulltime).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Since the beginning of the project, we have been able to inspire more and more customers with our solution. The number of users is increasing every month.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We use the Scrum and Kanban framework and have several stand-ups a week. For communication and organization we use email, slack and jira.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

TSUKAT is very service-oriented and helpful at all times. We appreciate the cooperation and expertise in this field. They also provide a really high quality.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Sometimes there were changes of team members, but that happens in every team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Augmented Scalamatta is an XR digital studio. We create interactive experiences for clients from domains like Marketing, Retail, Governmental institutions, and others. I am the owner and Director of the studio.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TSUKAT?

We are having a long term collaboration and partnership with TSUKAT on multiple projects.

What were your goals for this project?

We've completed several projects together with TSUKAT, each of them with different goals. The projects we created together ranged from product configurator applications to augmented reality presentation of real estate and infrastructure objects.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We've started doing some experiments with AR already when TSUKAT reached out to us back in 2017. We really liked their work and decided to partner up with them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

TSUKAT acts as our production partner, meaning that we take care of the communication and management with the client, while the TSUKAT team does the majority of the project production.

What was the team composition?

On average the development of the project involves 3-6 people, which are unity developer, UX designer, project manager, and 3D artist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

All our clients were satisfied with the projects we created.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We usually communicate with the Creative Director or one of the Project Managers. The communication is always swift and effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We value much their expertise, the quality of their work in general, and really like that they are always open and ready for discussion and brainstorming.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our agency specializes in providing high fidelity architectural visualization services. I am a founder and managing director. We are a team of 10 people located in London, UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TSUKAT?

We've partnered with TSUKAT for extending the services range that we provide to our clients. With the help of the TSUKAT team, we also deliver stunning VR experience and cinematics in addition to the CGI stills.

What were your goals for this project?

The main goal of the collaboration was to provide additional value to our end clients from real estate market. They are loving the real-time solutions that we develop in partnership with the TSUKAT team.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were impressed by their website portfolio and decided to give it a try.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The collaboration works like this. We work with our usual pipeline creating the CGI stills for architectural projects. After the stills are ready, we pass the 3D scene to the TSUKAT team that does the magic of adopting it to real-time usage and creates VR experience and cinematic animation with the help of Unreal Engine.

What was the team composition?

The usual team composition for our projects is around 2-4 Unreal Artists and 1 project manager for communication.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The clients value the additional PC walkthrough package that we provide to them together with the cinematic animation.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We are happy with the efficient and instant communication between our studios.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The quality of their work is impressive, and the relation that we've build up is impressive as well.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We need to find a way to work more on RnD projects together, not only the commercial ones.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a VFX and software development company specialized in Ar and VR

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TSUKAT?

We asked Tsukat to support our team and bring their expertise with Oculus and Pico.

What were your goals for this project?

Creating a cross-platform VR player supporting English and Arabic language.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Tsukat has been recommended by a colleague.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Tsukat started the developement on Oculus Go, which included the VR player, the payment system via Oculus store, the cloud hosting and data management via Azure. Then they created the Arabic version, the Pico portage, the support for hotspots and encryption of the content.

What was the team composition?

I interacted with both owners.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The app came out quickly, and a lot of requests from our client were kindly treated, which made a big difference making our client loyal.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Management was good, with a direct communication and great availability.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their accessibility, understanding, flexibility, and communication are impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I am happy with the service

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

SUM XP provides photo and video activations at events to help brands connect with their audiences. We've been working events and providing unique solutions for our clients all over the globe for over 12 years. I am the owner and creative director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TSUKAT?

We hired TSUKAT to provide an augmented reality enhancement to the custom trading cards we create onsite at events — specifically for the Overwatch League in this instance.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted guests to use a custom app to view their custom trading cards on their phones, where it would unlock visual enhancements on the front and back side of the card.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We've collaborated with them on other projects in the past and have been happy with the results.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We needed a phone-based AR experience to allow guests to view their custom trading card with digital effects in a custom app.

What was the team composition?

For the most part we discussed the project with the studio manager and creative director.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

It was a working proof of concept that can be shared with our potential clients, opening up a new revenue stream for SUM XP.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management was clear and on schedule throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

TSUKAT has very clear communication and responds to feedback quite well. Which is always appreciated considering that we typically are working with a separate end client.

Are there any areas for improvement?

For this project there was no real areas of improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We V-Cult are a French XR studio. We create immersive solutions to help companies fulfill their digital transformation and boost their business performance. Our solutions are built around 3 pillars: decision-making (architecture, product design, merchandise planning...), education and training, customer journey online and on the point of sale (AR commerce, product configurator, storytelling...). I am V-Cult's Head of Marketing and I am also Account Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TSUKAT?

We have been working with French hotel group Accor for two years so far. We help them test new concepts - hotel rooms, lobbys, restaurants & bars, etc - in virtual reality. We used to work in a HTC Vive environment but since 2019 Oculus Quest has been a true game changer. Accor asked us to port 6 existing HTC Vive projects to Oculus Quest. It mainly consists in polygon decimation and various optimizations so it can run smoothly on a stand-alone VR headset. Tsukat took care of the whole porting process.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to externalize at a competitive cost so our current team could focus on other key projects while guaranteeing a top-shelf end product for Accor.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Tsukat got in touch with V-Cult to offer its offshore development services. After a few emails we sent them a short brief so they could work on a first test technically close to the work required for Accor - porting to Oculus Quest of an Unreal Engine 3D scene initially designed for HTC Vive.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Tsukat provided a first estimate for the entire porting based on the Unreal Engine projects and 3ds max files we sent them for review. Their 3D designers then optimized the 3D scenes and developed dedicated Oculus Quest builds that we sided-loaded on our own devices for test and validation prior to submitting them to Accor.

What was the team composition?

We had two 3D designers working on the project and one project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Not at this stage unfortunately.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I was personally in touch with their Creative Director by email and Hang Out. Everything went smoothly as communication was great and precise.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

• Top-notch quality for attractive pricing
• Fast shipping
•  Great communication and flexibility made it easy for both tech and non-tech staff to collaborate remotely

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing critical.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive Creative Director of Great Wolf Resorts

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

America's largest family of indoor water park resorts, including attractions, retail, and dining. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire tsukat to accomplish?

• Game development on two new custom VR games for our roomscale VR attraction, The Virtual Frontier

SOLUTION

How did you find tsukat?

Referral

Why did you select tsukat over others?

Referred to me

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Tsukat reviewed and quoted against two design documents.

Development progressed through three key milestones: alpha, beta, and final release.

Tsukat provided weekly progress on project status via screenshots, videos, and slide decks. They also engaged frequently to gain approval and feedback on design decisions, or for iteration on open design/development questions. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our core goal was to launch two fun, high-quality, and unique VR experiences using our internal characters/IP. We were very pleased with the final results and the games are performing well with our guests. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Tsukat was efficient and maintained the schedule outlined at the start of the project. They communicated and took feedback well, and turnaround was quick. 

What was your primary form of communication with tsukat?

Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They were quick and efficient, and clearly have experience creating high quality VR games. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something tsukat could have done differently?

Nothing to note here.