Whirligig News

Hi Everyone

I've been working towards a new default version after all the large updates I've been making over the past few months and I'm now almost ready to push that live. This version needs a bit of testing by you, the users so I don't accidentally break it for everyone.

I'm hoping that it won't require too much in the way of confirmation that it's good to release as the majority of the underlying changes are bug fixes and life improvements in an attempt to make it more stable.

[h3]Updates[/h3]

• Half width side by side stereo videos now supported (they were before but to get them working you had to adjust the stretch. This is now no longer the case, with a simple tick box in the depth menu.
  
• Improved NDI support.
  
• Updated timecode settings. You can choose your own ip and port values.
  
• including dialog to show number of subtitle and audio tracks found when video loads.
  
• All plugins and engine versions updated to the latest.
  
• Quest 3 controllers added to the controller selection menu.
  
• Explorer visual updates.
  
• Explorer list by size and size indicated on each media.
  
• Help menu improved and changed to "about". This is partly in preparation for more info in this menu.
  
• Icon design redeveloped.
  

[h3]Preparing for version 5 release and leaving Early Access[/h3]

We are now in the far flung future of 2024 and I think it's about time I move Whirligig out of Early Access and into full release. With this I also intend to move to version 5 (I was running out of numbers in the fours) and have a redesign of the logo and splash screens. Here is the new logo/icon:



and here is the new splash screen:



Now I'm not a liar (most of the time) and I'm not going to start now. This new logo has been made with the help of ChatGPT based on my original pinwheel hand draw logo. I was just experimenting and came up with multiple options, which I couldn't deny looked really nice. I was also keen to get away from the four blade pinwheel design as it could be misconstrued at a passing glance. This is probably my paranoia but it had been niggling me for a while and once you see it it's hard to unsee.

All this new design will slowly be worked into the online store once the update has been released.

[h3]Cross Platform Work[/h3]

PC VR Stores:

• Viveport (this needs fully updating)
  
• Steam
  
• Oculus Store
  
• Pimax Store
  

Standalone Stores:
Pimax Store (Pimax Crystal)
Applabs (Quest 2/3) Quest 1 isn't yet support as I have to work out permissions issues.
Itch.io (Quest 2/3, PicoVR 4, other Pico 6DOF headsets.

My cross platform policy
If you own Whirligig on any of the stores and wish to have it on another store, this includes from PC to standalone and vice versa, then email me which store you want and I will send you a free code [email protected]. I've held this policy from the beginning and have been able to manage the requests. If this changes in the future I might have to re-address this but unless it's get unmanageable I will continue my cross platform purchase support.

Standalone vs PC VR

So there are some fundamental differences between the two versions but I have strived to keep the majority of features the same.

The PC version has full gamepad, mouse, keyboard and VR controller support. The standalone version has VR controller and gamepad support.

The standalone version also includes VLC video path options but replaces the other video paths with Exo Player and Media Player.

Passthrough support has made it to the Quest 2/3 and Pico standalone. Now you have the option to see the outside world while watching your media, also including dimming the passthrough while playing.

Timecode support is currently only available on the PC however if anyone wishes to contact me about standalone support testing I'd be happy to include it in future releases.

[h3]Feedback[/h3]
Whirligig's development has always been very much guided by community feedback. This ranges from bug reports, feature requests to suggestion of new platforms to work on.

I really want to know what you think of the direction of Whirligig. Do you think I should move out of Early Access? Do you like the logo? Are the changes I've made to move to OpenXR been good? Are there blind spots I'm missing with Whirligig? Let me know what you think. It really does help me to know where to focus on and make Whirligig better for everyone.

[h3]Reviews[/h3]
Positive reviews are very important in helping people know the product is still in development and that there are people out there who find it a worthwhile addition to their library. They also help to boost my self esteem which in my estimation works out as 1 bad review is equal to 6 good reviews.

If you have Whirligig on the Oculus store then it would be good to get a few more positive reviews there. It's been a long time since any reviews have been posted and the last couple refer to a much older version of Whirligig.

If you don't want to give a good review and would prefer to give a bad review that is also fine. However please let me know what I need to do to improve it. It's difficult to know what to do with a review which just says "this is crap". I'm already working on making it not crap so knowing where I need to focus my efforts is very useful.

[h3]And Finally[/h3]
I've been working on Whirligig since 2016 and have no plans to stop. I want to be able to continue making a product you all want to use so don't expect to see me slow down on updates after this big release. I have several ideas I want to implement, which I hope you'll appreciate when they are released.

I wish everyone a happy new year. Fingers crossed for all of us that 2024 will be a good year, well hopefully a better year than the last few. The bars been pushed pretty low but we still manage to get under it somehow.

I look forward to hearing all of your feedback.

Happy watching :)

Phil

Hi all

Index controller support update.
This update includes fixes to the Index controller support. The issue with the index controllers is that the grip is too easy to read as a key press so it appears as if you are always holding down the grip button. This update moves the mapping from the grip to the touchpad on the top.

For this fix to work you need to have the index controllers selected in the input menu. Once that is done then you shouldn't have issues with buttons sticking.

New backgrounds
I've added 60+ backgrounds to the themes menu. This replaces the previous ones as these new ones are of a much better quality.

Explorer
Explorer now remembers where you last were.

Bug fixes and updates
Unity engine version updated.

I've done my best to fix any bugs that I come across or that are reported to me. If you come across any please let me know.

Thanks
Thanks for your support over the years if you have issues let me know and if you enjoy using Whirligig a positive review is always welcome.

I'll continue to update and improve over the holiday time. I wish everyone well and look forward to hearing your feedback.

Keep on watching :)

Phil

Hi

Another update with a couple of bug fixes but the main addition is an update to the backgrounds options.

So I found a very good equirectangular sky pack and I've include the options from there and in the process updated the background menu to accommodate them and updated the outer glow options to support screen transparency. Here is the new selection:



and a few screenshots of it in action:



If you were using any of the previous themes then this does replace them. However I feel these are much better then the old ones. If you really want one though I'll be happy to make them available.

All the best and happy watching

Phil

Hi everyone

This is a default build update with several large improvements, additions and bug fixes since the last default update.

[h2]VLC VideoLan plugin update[/h2]

Whirligig offers 4 video path options to allow for the largest range of compatibility, Media Foundation, WinRT, Directshow and VideoLan. Media Foundation, WinRT and Directshow are available using the AVPro Renderheads plugin which is well supported by the developers, however the plugin that ran the VLC VideoLan support was no longer supported I have replaced the old plugin with an official VLC Video plugin made by the VideoLan guys themselves. This is much better supported and provides a host of improvements over the previous plugin.

VLC VideoLan integration improvements

• Greatly improved performance when using VLC video path (GPU decoding).
  
• Using the latest VLC dlls, which provides the widest and most up to date media support.
  
• Extra image support. Whirligig now supports xcf, gif, tiff, tif, ilbm, pcx, tga, bmp, pnm, webp, bpg, jpeg, jpg, jps, png, pns image formats. If there are any file types that I've not included but VLC does let me know and I'll add it to the list.
  

[h2]Future use of the VLC plugin[/h2]

The official VLC plugin supports all the same features that the VLC player has, which allows me to open up other areas of support. The biggest one will be playback of streaming media from external locations. This will be more significant for mobile Whirligig as network playback support is often requested. There are several other additions I wish to look into but if anyone else has any ideas let me know.

[h2]Explorer improvements[/h2]

The explorer in Whirligig has been functional but has needed updating for a while. I've redesigned a good part of it, worked on optimisations and fixed any bugs I've come across.



[h2]Audio reactive backgrounds[/h2]
As I am using media playback systems that also support audio I've worked on adding audio reactive backgrounds to the player. When playing audio if you select one of these backgrounds, the environment will move and pulse to the audio as it plays. The audio backgrounds are 3D 360 environments and there are currently 7 to choose from.



Currently it only works with Media Foundation and WinRT video paths for playing back audio.

[h2]Optimisation[/h2]
A significant amount of my time has been put into optimisation of code, especially in the input detection system I've created. Whirligig should now be snappier and feel smoother.

[h2]Engine and plugin updates[/h2]
With VR being in constant development, keeping everything up to date is a must to ensure compatibility and gain performance improvements from the latest OpenXR versions. This version of Whirligig is currently running on Unity 2022.3.13f1 (as of release the latest 2022 version) and OpenXR 1.9.1.

[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]
I've continued to fix reported bugs and any bugs I've come across as I go along. With the major updates that I've been making there is always a chance I've broken things so any reports on issues are very welcome.

[h2]Additional Releases[/h2]

Whirligig is available on multiple platforms and multiple headsets and this release is going to signify an update release on all of the platforms bringing every version in line with each other.

When it comes to betas I mostly release these on Steam so for beta versions Steam is the place to go. Sadly there isn't a universal store for Standalone VR yet so I've provided Ich.io for sideloading on some headsets and will be adding Whirligig to each of the manufactures stores if I can accepted onto them.

I've always held a policy that if you own Whirligig on any other platform you can request a code of another platform for free. Here is a list of the current platforms Whirligig is on

PC VR

• Steam Store
  
• Oculus Store
  
• Viveport
  
• Pimax Store
  

Mobile VR

• Applabs (Quest 2/3)
  
• Ich.io (Quest 2/3, Oculus Go, Pico)
  
• Pimax Store (Pimax Crystal)
  

If you have Whirligig on any of these stores and wish to access one of the other stores email me [email protected] with proof of purchase (Screenshot of it in your library or something like that) and I'll send you a code for the store you wish.

Hopefully all the updates I've been making will improve the ability for me to support more headsets so keep an eye out for new headset support in the future.

[h2]Your feedback[/h2]

I am very happy to get feedback from the people who use Whirligig and most fixes and new features come from suggestions from all of you. If you have any suggestions or issues please let me know (comment here or post in the forum) and I'll do my best to implement and fix things. I want to continue to develop Whirligig into the foreseeable future so ways I can improve it for your needs the better.

[h2]And finally[/h2]
I'd just like to thank everyone who has supported this project (just by purchasing you're supporting and positive reviews are always welcome). Without the community who has commented, made suggestions and reported bugs I wouldn't of continued to develop Whirligig. This is all very appreciated.

I hope you like the new update and I wish everyone happiness for the future. Keep watching :)

Phil

Edit (I've updated the build to 4.9981 after a couple of bugs and updates came to light)

Hi everyone

So I had a small break to work on another project and now I'm back to working on Whirligig.

I always have a plan but rarely follow that plan. In this case the plan is to get every purchasable version on the same build. I have a couple of free versions for older headsets such as the Go and GearVR which I don't support any more but are available if people want to make use of that hardware. The purchasable versions include Steam Store, Oculus Store, Viveport and Pimax Store. After this release I'll be fixing any reported bugs and updating all the default builds.

So that is the plan and I'll try and stick to it. What have I done in this version then:

So a big area that needed improving was the explorer. There were several issues with the setup and it was starting to look ugly as well so I've put a big of effort in improving performance and functionality wise. Here are some screenshots:





I've also continued to fix bugs, update engines and plugins and improve some of the menus.

The work done on the Explorer was quite big under the hood so if there are any issues please let me know. Hopefully it should work and look better now though, fingers crossed.

Please report any bugs
So I hope to update the main build with this one. Between the previous default release and this one the largest improvements include VLC plugin update which replaced the VLC video lan side of the player with the official plugin. This has brought better performance and wider image support. The OpenXR integration which will help for future updates and a complete overhaul of the input system which should improve overall performance and make adding new features easier.

So these are the areas that might have new bugs in. If you come across bugs please let me know. I'll do my best to fix them for the next release.

Let me know what you think about the Explorer improvements. Thanks for your continued support and I look forward to the next update.

All the best and happy watching.

Phil