Whirligig News

[edit - I've uploaded a new version 5.261 which should address some of the controllers being at weird angles. I've also done a load of testing on different headsets and have only found the hand tracking to work on the Quest 2 and 3. My implementation is using XRhands which is not hardware locked so if the other headsets support it it should work. I will have to continue to look into what headsets will allow hand tracking and make a compatibility list. This will be interesting when I start building with the hand tracking for Standalone as I know both Pico and Quest support it so hopefully they will both pick it up. Regardless let me know your experiences and what you'd like to see :).]

Hi everyone

So I've been working on a load of updates including a bit of a overhaul of the VR controller detection system. This has included the addition of hand tracking. So a quick overview.

This is a quick post so lacking a bit of detail as I wanted to get this release out so people can try it. The control system has been worked on so let me know if you have any issues.

A quick note. Hand tracking isn't on as default. It will be disable in the settings/input menu. Switch it on and it should start working. I've only tested this with the Quest 3 but it should work on other headsets as well as it's using XRhands.

[h2]Updates:[/h2]

• Mouse right click plays/pauses.
  
• Mouse doesn't get locked to screen when playing in locked panning and full screen cinema mode.
  
• Direct audio option added to audio menu.
  
• Hand tracking.
  

[h2]Hand Tracking[/h2]


This is the first release of this so it's a little rough around the edges. Hand tracking is a mystic art and anything that feels like it's working is a win. This is how it works.

Control panel use
If you open your palm up with your thumb out the control panel will appear on your palm. You can then push the buttons on your palm. They should do all the things you expect that it does.

Pinch menu use
Put your hand into a pinch gesture (without the palm one above) and the laser will link to your hand. You can then pinch to select items on the menus. This should work just like the controllers with the trigger.

[h2]Is that it?[/h2]
Yes. Well no. This is the first release and I want to make it much more usable. This is the first release to give people a chance to try it and hopefully let me know what's working, what's not and how I can improve it. I will continue to work on it but your feedback is very welcome. Please let me know what you think :)

[h2]And finally[/h2]
This was a quick release update but took a long time to do. Hopefully it works well and I very much want to hear what you think. Again, positive reviews are always welcome as well as feedback and bug reports.

I hope you like the update.

Happy watching :)

Phil

Hi Everyone

Here is the latest update to Whirligig with some major changes and improvements to improve performance, usability and bug fixes. There is a lot to talk about, so here we go.

[h2]Explorer[/h2]

• Shared location support. The VLC plugin has allowed me to provide network shared locations such as SMB.
  
• 4 extra shortcut options to save too.
  
• New root browsing system allowing you to browse local drive or shared locations.
  
• Code optimisation to improve load speeds and unability.
  
• UI improvements to both list and thumbnail views.
  

[h2]Overall UI improvements[/h2]

• Hover state applied to buttons where possible.
  
• UI elements reduced down to increase loading times and unify UI elements.
  
• Scrollbar menus universal design.
  
• Buttons, sliders, toggles and menus universal design.
  

[h2]Projection/Rooms[/h2]

• Rooms have been split up into 360 degree image based rooms and full 3D rooms.
  
• Two 3D rooms removed, the loft and the the loft 2. These both were causing issues with loading and playback. They will return at some point so if you miss them a lot let me know.
  
• Brightness option added to 360 degree image based rooms to make for a more comfortable experience.
  
• Brightness can fade when playing so that it feels like the lights have gone down when watching your content.
  

[h2]Audio[/h2]

• Output options added. Mono, Stereo (best for VR), quad, surround, 5.1 and 7.1. This allows you to use Whirligig as a desktop player and use the surround sound options in 5.1 videos sending the output to your amp.
  
• Media Foundation surround options now have linked slider options to change left/right and rear left/right simultaneously.
  
• mute button added to audio menu.
  
• Spatialize audio option added to surround sound menu for 3D sound.
  

[h2]Subtitles[/h2]

• Subtitle system changed to allow you to select your desired subtitle track and then solely turn that one off and on.
  
• Subtitle repeater input binding option. I've created a thing called Subtitle Repeater, which will turn on your selected subtitle, rewind your video 10 seconds and then 20 seconds later turn off the subtitles. Good if you didn't quite catch what someone said.
  

[h2]Core Updates[/h2]

• Unity Engine updated to 2022.3.25f1.
  
• AVPro video plugin updated to 3.0.
  
• VLC video plugin updated to 1.9.
  
• Implementation of shader removal to improve startup times.
  

[h2]Other[/h2]

• Vsync on/off added to quality menu. This can help with screen tearing and flashing on some systems.
  
• Splash screen and icon updates.
  
• Input drop downs have been organised to make browsing them easier.
  
• Cinema mode fullscreen and locked. This options when desktop monitoring is on and Cinema is selected as projection will make that video full screen in the same way a standard desktop video player would work.
  

[h2]Issue with the latest version?[/h2]
If this latest update causes issues there are a few things you can try.

Return to the previous default release.
Here is a quick tutorial to show how to do this.
https://youtu.be/z9pv-cgn4IE

and here is the Whirligig version you will need to select to return to the previous version.


Reset Whirligig
There are a couple of ways to do this. You can do this from within Whirligig in the about menu.


If you can't get to that menu for whatever reason you can reset Whirligig manually by deleting the Whirligig roaming folder.
Close Whirligig.
Navigate here :
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming
Find the folder called 'Whirligig' and rename or delete it.
Restart Whirligig.

I don't store any information in the registry so by removing this folder you are return Whirligig to it's factory default before it has run for the first time.

[h2]Feedback[/h2]
A lot of the updates, features and bug fixes I do are due to user feedback. I very much build Whirligig on what information I get back from users and my own desires for the player. If you wish to give feedback here's a list on how to get the information to me as best as possible.

Suggestions
Any features you think will benefit Whirligig please let me know. The Steam forum for Whirligig is a good place to post as I check them regularly and when a feature is suggest it's good to get feedback from the community.

Bugs
If you run into a bug then I will do my best to fix it and the more information I can get the better. You can contact me directly [email protected] or post on the forum. Here is a list of useful information you can provide me that will help me track down the problem.

• Headset used.
  
• Country you're running Whirligig from. (some countries uses different syntax, which is easy for me to miss on my setup.
  
• Version you are using. Default release or beta.
  
• A copy of the roaming folder. All information in the roaming folder is readable with a text editor. Information about the projection and previous settings are stored about each media you watch. Problems in the roaming can sometimes happen and a full reset can fix some issues.
  
• A link to the media that is causing the problem.
  
• Anything you think might be relevant about your setup.
  

Reviews
If you like Whirligig review it. It helps to tell people that it's still in active development and also give them a heads up of what to expect. I also get a warm feeling when I get praise :)

[h2]And Finally[/h2]
I've been working on this release for some time now and my main goal has been to improve overall performance, bug fix and add network support. I've also added features where I can and tried to improve the overall experience. I hope that you find the updates beneficial and I look forward to hearing your feedback.

I have lots of ideas for future releases and I would love to hear what you would like to see also :D

Thank you for support me in my Whirligig development and finally, happy watching.

Phil

Hi again

I'd like this to be the next default release but I'm still having a couple of accounts of a black screen on load. I'm working on fixes for this but as I can't recreate it I don't really know what's going on. Hopefully this latest build will improve things as it has some more fixes and an updated engine.

I've just managed to get a black screen but noticed my Quest had disconnected. On re-connection it appeared in the headset and also on the desktop again. It should of appeared on the desktop anyway but Meta headsets pause the app when the headset is removed so I think that mucked around with it. Again any hints on why this might be happening for some people please let me know.

[h2]The updates[/h2]

Subtitles
I've reexamined the subtitle system, found a couple of bugs and made a couple of changes. So now in subtitles you can select the language you wish to use and then when you switch on the subtitles it will switch the selected subtitle on. This information is saved as well so it will load the subtitles you previously selected.

In addition to this I've added a new feature called Subtitle Repeater. This can be bound to an input key to use.

What does it do I hear you cry. When watching a movie on Netflix, Prime etc I sometimes don't always understand what someone has said. This feature when pressed rewinds the film 10 seconds, turns on the subtitles for 20 seconds and then turns them off again. It's designed to stop me having to go through a load of menus to turn on the subtitles and then the same process again to turn them off.

UI update
People may or may not be happy with this. I've changed the buttons on the main UI.


[edit] I brought the quit back replacing the audio menu button. It felt weird it not being there :)

Basically I've removed the quit button and the menus menu button and replaced them with subtitle and audio options. The thinking behind this is that quit is available through the VR interface (SteamVR etc) and I don't think people are using the menus menu to switch back and forth between different menus that often.

If this is not the case please let me know. I'm already missing the quit button but I'm not sure if it needs to be on the main UI.

Fixes
I've fixed a couple of issues that were reported including a lot of the shortcuts not working on the shortcut menu (although I still have a little work to do on this), issues with the subtitle menu and some other smaller issues in the UI.

[h2]And Finally[/h2]

I want this to be pushed to the default build but I'm concerned about the reports of a black screen. I don't know if these are small issues which will require a separate build for people having the problem or if this is more universal.

If anyone comes across this issue I would be very interested in getting a copy of your Whirligig roaming folder, which is located here: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Whirligig

my email is [email protected]

Hopefully you like the updates and thanks for your support.

Happy watching

Phil

Hi Everyone

Another week and another beta. I've continued to work on overall improvements in UI, usability and optimization. I've also wanted to make Whirligig a viable desktop player so I've included some updates relating to that. This also includes bug fixes and probably additional bugs. Please let me know if you come across anything and I'll do my best to fix it.

[h2]Updates[/h2]

• Set cinema mode to full screen. This makes your cinema playback act like a standard desktop player making the screen fill the window.
  
• Rooms is now better organised into 360 stereo (rooms that are 3d overunder images) and 3D environments (full 3D environments). In addition the "360 Stereo" rooms have a brightness control that can be applied continuesly or dim when the media is playing.
  
• Audio output. Now you can change your audio output device. So if you wish to output to a surround sound system you can. The options are currently Mono, Stereo (best for VR), Quad, surround, 5.1 and 7.1. These options are only applied when using Media Foundation and WinRT as all other video paths have direct access. I'll be looking at making it the same with VLC at a later date.
  

[h2]Tutorial videos[/h2]
I'm going to making a good amount of tutorial videos about all the options in Whirligig. I'll be posting regularly these updates to the Steam video section and my youtube channel. So look out for those :)


[h2]Bug reporting[/h2]
Please report any bugs you come across. You can either post in this news feed, o the discussion board or email me [email protected].

[h2]User reviews[/h2]
User reviews are always welcome, more so if they're are positive :) Please let everyone know if you like Whirligig, it helps to inform people before purchase and helps me know I'm still making something that people like.

[h2]And finally[/h2]
I'm hoping this will be the version I either release as default or close too. Development still continues and with all the changes recently I'm now in a better position to add more features. I hope that what I'm making is being enjoyed by everyone and look forward to hearing all your comments :)

Happy watching

Phil

Hi everyone

After the last release and all the work on the browser I received a couple of comments about Whirligig failing to open. I started examining this issue and discovered on the first run of Whirligig, Whirligig would take a very long time to open while being unresponsive giving the impression that it had crashed. Every time after that Whirligig would open much quicker. So down the rabbit hole I went and I've been improving loading times, reducing overheads and fixing issues to make Whirligig faster than ever. I'll go over some of the improvements.

[h3]Rooms[/h3]
Rooms would load into memory at start which slowed things down quite a bit. I've changed this so that Whirligig only loads the room when when you're using it.

I've temporarily removed two rooms (the 3D ones at the end) as I need to determine what overheads these have. I hope to improve all the rooms in the future.

[h3]Controller Models skins[/h3]
I've done the same as the rooms and they will only load in when you choose them.

[h3]UI improvements[/h3]
I've spent a long time reducing all the texture for the UI as many were duplicates. This has reduced resource use and allowed me to standardise a lot of the look of the UI's. This will massively help me in the future when adding new features and improving the UI.

[h3]Added features[/h3]

• Added another page of blank backgrounds so you can add more of your own.
  
• 
  
• Two new mapping input options for Rotate. Rotate exists as a projection option and a position options. They work differently but now you can choose either one and they are better labeled.
  
• 
  
• Vsync as an option to the quality menu. Some people have experienced black flashes in either the headset or the monitor. Enabling this can remove this issue.
  
• 
  
• Reset all has been added to the position menu.
  

[h3]Bug fixes[/h3]
I've also spent a large amount of time fixing issues as I go. Any time I've come across a problem I've address it so hopefully many of the little problems will be ironed out.

I'm not going to list them here as there are a lot of small ones and many of which may have been added during the optimisation process. If you reported a bug and I've addressed or attempted to address the issue I'll post in the respective forum/email to let you know.

[h2]Please let me know of bugs[/h2]
I'm currently replacing a lot of the core code so any issues you have please let me know as I'm in the best position to address them right now. The more bugs reported the more I can fix and I very much appreciate when people let me know there is an issue I can fix :)


Well if you do, let me know with a good review :D Me like many developers thrive on positive feedback and are destroyed by bad reviews, which cut much deeper than a good one helps.

In all seriousness though a positive review really helps me to know that the changes I'm making are improving Whirligig and that I'm still providing something that people want to use. That also goes for feature requests, bug reports and general questions. I'm a lone developer and rely a lot on feedback to make Whirligig better. If there are ways I can make your experience better let me know.

If you are having issues with Whirligig I will understand if you write a negative review and it will make me sad :( I would however appreciate if you let me know what the issue was so I can improve Whirligig for the future :)


Thanks to everyone who enjoys Whirligig, you're support is very much appreciated. I look forward to hearing your suggestions for future updates.

Happy Watching

Phil