How To Work with VuMark Databases

This page concerns the Vuforia Engine API version 9.8 and earlier. It has been deprecated and will no longer be actively updated.

The VuMark Databases are created with a VuMark template in the form of an SVG file. Once a database is created, VuMark instances can be generated in the Vuforia Target Manager or the VuMark database with the VuMark template can be downloaded to be locally accessible with all its instances in your AR application. In addition, VuMark instances can also be generated with the Vuforia Web Services. 

How to Create a New VuMark Database

To add a VuMark to your app, you will need to create a VuMark database and add the VuMark to that database. This article will show you how to create a VuMark database and VuMark instances with the Vuforia Target Manager.

To learn how to design a VuMark, please visit VuMark Design Guide and Designing a VuMark in Adobe Illustrator.

1. Go to the Vuforia Developer Portal and login in with your Vuforia Developer credentials.
2. First, if you have not already done so, create a new Development Key to associate with your VuMark database. This is done in the License Manager. See: How To Create a License Key
3. Select the Target Manager tab and press Add Database in the upper right corner.
4. Name the database and select the VuMark database option. The database name should be unique from other databases in the developer account.

5. Press Create to finish setting up the database.. 

Adding a VuMark to a VuMark Database

1. In the Target Manager home page, you will see a list of existing databases.
2. In the list of databases, locate the newly created VuMark database and click it.

NOTE: VuMark templates can only be added to VuMark database types. Device and Cloud databases will not accept VuMarks.

3. In the next window, press the Add Target button.

4. Browse to the VuMark scalable vector graphics SVG file for your VuMark.
5. Enter the width of your VuMark in scene units. We recommend defining this to correspond with the printed VuMark's width in whichever unit of measurement you prefer.

NOTE: Developers looking to use VuMarks in combination with Positional Device Tracker should specify the target size in meters.

6. Provide a unique name for this VuMark template.
7. Conclude by clicking Add.

8. The VuMark database is now ready for download and implementation in your development environment. Check the box next to the VuMark template and press the Download Database. The database can be downloaded as a .unitypackage for Unity and as dataset files (.xml and .dat) for native development. 

NOTE: It is possible to add more VuMark templates to a VuMark database, however, the classic development license key from the License Manager only allows one VuMark database with one VuMark template to be downloaded and used at a time. To unlock usage of multiple VuMark templates in a database, please see the Pro License options.

Generating a VuMark instance for download

In addition to downloading the database, you may also generate instances from the VuMark template. A VuMark instance is a printable target with an instance ID that you have specified in the Target Manager.

1. Click the Generate VuMark link next to the VuMark template to generate an instance image. 

2. Define the ID for your VuMark in a supported data format that is stated by the ID Type. The data length(ID) cannot exceed the ID Length value for the VuMark template.
3. Select the Graphic Format for the VuMark image file and press Download.

4. The instance image will be downloaded and you may repeat the process to define the instance IDs for all of the VuMark instance images. 

VuMark Instance Compatibility

Each VuMark template is assigned a UUID when uploaded to the Target Manager. When a VuMark instance is generated from it, the ID data is encoded using the template’s UUID. This makes each VuMark instance different and unique from one-another.

Even if the same SVG file is uploaded twice to the Target Manager, instances created from the identical VuMark templates will be unique and not recognizable to the other as their UUID are different. This is also true even when encoding the same ID data into the VuMark instance (i.e., 101010101).