Whirligig News

Hi all

So driven by the fact that the Index controllers need support in the main build I've finally got round to updating the default build to the latest beta.

The development of the betas has included a lot of new features, bug fixes, plugin, sdk and Unity version updates. I've gathered as much of the most important ones together for you to peruse below.

[edit]
Whirligig 4.757
So based on the comments and in an effort to fix as much of the issues as possible I've made a few more changes.

[edit][edit]
Whirligig 4.7572
Changed the way that riftcat works so that it should work with gamepads now.
Added another fix for countries that use "," instead of "." for decimals. Hopefully this will fix any problems for people from these countries. Let me know if you still have problems.

• Index controller defaults added. If you are upgrading rather than running for the first time go into inputs and hit defaults.
  
• Steam and Oculus controller code updated to improve the left right handed support and general improve the detection and working of it.
  
• Downgraded from Unity3D 2019 to 2018. 2019 was causing troubles with colour grading in DirectShow and possible other issues.
  
• Added Left and right selection to the input menu and have it stick when you restart Whirligig.
  
• Added grip options for the Oculus touch in the input options.
  

Now back to the previous updates.

New features and improvements

• Index controller support.
  
• Added memory of previous FOV for Barrel and Fisheye when browsing.
  
• Replaces all the texture loads with a different method which improves load times and removes pauses in VR.
  
• Added Mixed Reality Controller inputs for the joysticks.
  
• Added Polish language option. Very kindly provided by a user :).
  
• Changed SteamVR SDK to v2
  
• Images refresh when replaced while viewing.
  
• Hide timebar option so that it doesn’t show up in the playback when skipping forward and backward. Setting/interface/Show progress bar...
  
• Whirligig now remembers the volume from your previous session.
  
• Text in UI sharpness improved for better legibility.
  
• Playlist option improved and added to settings menu. Still in beta.
  
• Added the ability to delete files through the shortcut menu. Add this shortcut in the input menu.
  
• New environment loft added.
  

Updates SDK's, Plugin's, Unity

• Oculus SDK
  
• Unity3D
  
• SteamVR
  
• AVpro Video plugin
  

Bug Fixes

• Double tap of skip forward/backward fixed.
  
• Corrected reversed backwards/forwards on position panel.
  
• Fixed scrolling on input menu.
  
• Fixed double click issue when going from next previous media.
  
• Fixed tilt up not moving smoothly on hotkeys.
  
• Fixed (hopefully) the issue with non English setup machines.
  
• Fixed issue with Windows Mixed Reality controllers.
  
• Fixed warp restore from preset and depth change.
  
• Fixed keyboard shortcut restoring to default on each start.
  
• Fixed Suppressed loading settings checkbox.
  
• Fixed force mono on all videos. Settings/projections/Depth/
  
• Fixed Oculus remote not working.
  
• Fixed fitlers in browser not remember properly.
  
• Made it so you can't select no filters in the explorer.
  

If you discover bugs

This is quite a big update with a lot of changes to the core structure of Whirligig. Because of this I might of failed to see new bugs that I've added. Please get in touch here or post on the Steam forum or email me [email protected] I really want to make sure this is a quality update for all users of Whirligig and build a good bases to go forward. The more feedback I can get the better I can make forthcoming updates.


If you have Issues

There are a couple of things you can try. Try resetting the player completely:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/451650/discussions/0/154642901285181817/

You can also return to the previous default build in the betas. To change between betas follow this guide I made:
https://youtu.be/E0g9ICfaxbU

The version of the previous default is
whirligig_early_access_v.4.72


If things are really bad for everyone I'll need to revert back to the previous default but hopefully with you're help I can fix any of the issues you might be having and we can stick with this version going forward.


And Finally

So these are the updates in this default build release. I hope you like them. I'll be working on some small things in the next update which will occur over the next couple of weeks. These will most likely be small changes to fix some UI bugs and improve the stability. If you have any problems let me know so I can include fixes in these updates as well.

And finally finally, thanks for all your support and I look forward to hearing your thought.

Until next time, happy watching :)

So here we go, another beta. A few things have gone on here. Firstly we have index controller support, then a load of bug fixes, also an update to the image loading code which improves the speed of image loading and doesn't interrupt the VR and a load of bug fixes.

This beta is going to lead onto a default build. This is for a couple of reasons, firstly because I need to release index controller support and secondly I need to release updates to the default build more regularly. So below is more detailed list of updates

• Updated Unity3D
  
• Improved fidelity of main menu.
  
• Index controller support.
  
• Double tap of skip forward/backward fixed.
  
• corrected reversed backwards/forwards on position panel.
  
• Added memory of previous FOV when going through projection options.
  
• Fixed scrolling on input menu.
  
• Fixed some spelling mistakes.
  
• Fixed double click issue when going from next previous media.
  
• Fixed tilt up not moving smoothly on hotkeys.
  
• Replaces all the texture loads with a different method which improves load times and removes pauses in VR.
  

There's likely to be other things I've done but that's the ones I can remember for now :)


And Finally
So that’s all the updates I can remember. This is going to default soon as the release of the Index means I need to support the controllers in the main build.

As always bug reports, questions and feature requests are always welcome. I hope you like this update and I hope it improves your experience.

Until next time

Keep watching :)

Here comes another update. I’ve worked on a few bugs reported by users. Continued integration of the SteamVR 2.2 SDK and with testing on the 3 headset options, WMR, Oculus and Vive.

- Updated Oculus SDK, Unity3D and SteamVR SDK

- Fixed (hopefully) the issue with non English setup machines.

- Fixed issue with Windows Mixed Reality controllers.

- Added Mixed Reality Controller inputs for the joysticks.

- Added Polish language option. Very kindly provided by a user :).

- Fixed some smaller bugs.

So that’s the current updates. So if you find any issues please let me know so I can have a go at fixing them for them. With the updates of the SDK’s and Unity3D new bugs might have crept in so any help with spotting them is gratefully received.

Other than that, happy watching :)

Hi all

I've not had a great deal of time to work on Whirligig other the past couple of months but I'm getting back into weekly releases of the betas. Today is the first of these with updated features, bug fixes and general improvements.

So welcome to version 4.743. Here are a list of the updates in this version.

• Hide timebar option so that it doesn’t show up in the playback when skipping forward and backward. Setting/interface/Show progress bar...
  
  
• Whirligig now remembers the volume from your previous session.
  
  
  
• Maximum file name length test to stop crash when player ini is saved.
  
  
  
• Suppressed loading settings checkbox fixed.
  
  
  
• Text in UI sharpness improved for better legibility.
  
  
  
• Command line options added to disable VR and to force player to run using SteamVR. -disablevr and -forcesteam
  
  
  
• Playlist option improved.
  
  
  
• Updated Oculus SDK, Unity3D version and plugins.
  
  
  
• Fixed force mono on all videos. Settings/projections/Depth/
  
  
• Updated plugins, Unity3D version.
  

One of the more complex updates here is the playlist improvement. Playlists were a part of Whirligig before but weren't really easy to create or use. Now I've create a more user friendly version which allows you to drag videos into the window to build your playlists and create multiple playlists. I'm going to add a youtube video once I get a chance highlighting this. I also hope to improve it more with a way to create the playlists from the browser menu.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0g9ICfaxbU


In discussion you get a notification if someone has replied to a post but if you post at the bottom of a news feed then you don't get that notification so it can be easily to miss a reply. I check these news post regularly (mostly). If you do post here with an issue or suggestion please check manually to see if I've replied to your comment. I don't want people to think I'm ignoring them :)


So this is the first of the weekly updates, let's see if I can manage to keep it up for more than one week :)

My updates for the future are a combination of suggestions from you and ideas I've got on improving things. I very much appreciate feedback regarding bugs or feature requests so keep them coming.

Until next time

Happy watching

This update page is going to keep updating itself over the next day so keep an eye out for more details.

Whirligig has been updated to version 4.7. Updates since last default release.

• Updates to Oculus, Steam, Unity3D, video plugins and other plugins.
  
  
• Rooms updated. 18 new rooms.
  
  
• Explorer has options to limit media type. Video/images/other.
  
  
• Shortcut menu added to allow extra functions in playback.
  
  
• Beta language support for Chinese and Spanish.
  
  
• Resume from previous time, on all video option.
  
  
• Option to hide controls during playback.
  
  
• Optimisation on menus to decrease possibility of slow downs.
  
  
• Bug squashing and general optimisation.
  
  

Rooms menu has been redesigned. Lots of new image based Rooms added. Check them out under settings/projection/rooms. Basically 15 new rooms have been added. These are based on stereo 360 degree images so aren't as dynamic as the originals but they have been lurking in Themes for too long and needed to be properly used.






This is a new feature that allows you to bring up a shortcut menu to user defined options. This has been created to add functionality to the Oculus GO/GearVR version and improve usability overall. The shortcut menu can be mapped to the controllers like other options and the Shortcut menu buttons can be mapped in the inputs menu under settings/other/inputs. I've also updated the default options in the gamepad, keyboard and touch controllers so if you want them to be mapped to a standard key simply go in and hit default on each of the control options.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0g9ICfaxbU


A discussion about the latest update. If you have problems or suggestion let me know herre :)
https://steamcommunity.com/app/451650/discussions/0/1743358239845490065/



I’ve worked hard to add new features and improve Whirligig for this default release. If you discover any issues please let me know [email protected]

If you like this update please let me know and positive reviews are always welcome.

I hope you continue to enjoy using Whirligig and happy watching :)