Pimax Crystal

Introduction

Hi all,

I’ve been working on Whirligig for several years now and have come across quite a few headsets for development, some provided to me by the manufactures and some purchased myself. This has left me with a stupid amount of headsets that I have to go through when releasing new versions of Whirligig, making sure that it works on all the different hardware.

Well Pimax got in touch and sent me a Pimax Crystal so that I could support their headset with Whirligig on release. It’s very appreciated when a manufacture supports developers with hardware as, I’m sure many VR developers find, not spending all the money you earn on headsets is an important factor of keeping your head above water. The hardware side of the industry is moving at such a fast pace that headsets are being developed and released so quickly that for a developer like myself to keep up, without support from the manufactures we have to develop blind and hope for feedback from the users to fix problems.

Well as I’ve said Pimax got in touch and sent me their flagship headset the Pimax Crystal and I’ve now been working on getting Whirligig fully operational for the launch of their Standalone platform. I’m going to go over my findings, look at the pros and cons of the headset and try and give a developers point of view.

Please note that Pimax haven’t sponsored this post and I’ll try not to be biased in my review. I’m also coming at this from the point of view of a developer rather than a consumer so bear that in mind. Also they gave me a great headset for free so it’s difficult not to be influence by that :)

What’s in the box

If you’ve owned one of the previous Pimax headsets before you’ll recognised the packaging and as packing goes it’s well put together. I won’t go into all the components in the box, just to say, headset, controllers, two batteries and cables. There are loads of other bits and bobs but the main components are there to get you up and running on both stand alone and PC based VR.

Comfort

So as you can see from the pictures, it’s a big headset. Large battery on the back, ultra wide front, built in headphones overall build quality feels good. It’s pretty weighty so the balance is very important. In this respect it works well for me. The battery at the back offsets the weight at the front, there’s padding at the back so in my experience it hasn’t given me a headache. I would say it’s as comfortable as it can be for the weight. If I was going to compare it to other headsets I would put it in the top three for comfort with the Pico 4 and Quest 2 within the standalone market. I don’t know whether they decided to design it specifically for my head size but I find the foam around the lenses fits perfectly against my head blocking out all light. With the weight evenly distributed on the front and back I’ve personally to be comfortable without much adjustment. It is one of the largest and heaviest headsets I’ve tried so I’m pretty pleased that it fits so well for my above average sized head.

Hardware

Lenses

The lenses in the Crystal stand out against other headsets, using optical glass. I have no idea what that means but I can say that they feel a good step up from the frenal lenses that the Quest use which produce a heavy amount of god rays. The only headset I can compare these to in my collection in my collection are the Pico 4’s, which use pancake lenses. The field of view seems solid and wide with less distortion than their previous headsets. You can defaintly feel the quality here and as the headset has a stupidly high resolution it’s good to know that isn’t let down by the optics.

Resolution

One of the main selling points that Pimax focuses on is the 12k resolution of the Crystal. You can very much tell that this headset is packed with pixels. It has a very crisp image quality and when you can take advantage of it, it very much stands out. This however is where I have some issues. My system is relatively modest in VR cycles, intel i7, 16gb of ram and Nvidia RTX laptop. With this headset I have found it difficult to get the full potential out of it as increasing the resolution to anything close to its maximum, my system struggles. However I do find the process of getting the best settings has improved from it’s previous software incarnations.

This is before looking at running a 12k resolution off an Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chipset. If your PC system can handle it then you’re in for an optical treat. How the standalone system fairs, time will tell.

My limited experience however is reduced down to my development on Whirligig so I can’t comment to heavily on how this will play out. Whirligig’s development will be discussed later as the standalone option and resolution have a large impact on the media playback experience.

Controllers

I would say that there isn’t a great deal to say about the controllers. They are the same layout as all the major headsets. If you’ve used any of the Oculus, pico 4 Vive Focus 3 etc they are pretty much the same. They have a rechargeable internal battery with USB-C connections.

From a developer point of view these controllers are perfect. I can replicate the experience on multiple devices and lean into the design as a feature. The Grip controllers from Valve are great, however it requires a whole different approach in getting them to work well. This also goes for the WMR controllers. Having a standardised controller layout helps a great deal in development so from my perspective I’m happy.

Controller innovation is great but at this point in the market I just want to know that everyone is having a similar experience. The Crystal controllers do not get in the way of that goal.

Sound

The Crystal sports headphones directly over your ears with a simple adjustment that should make placement easy for majority of users (maybe children will have problems but I haven’t accosted one yet to see). As they aren’t simply piping the sound from the main headset you get good clear quality audio. No complaints here.

Battery

The Crystal has two batteries in the headset itself and they also provide a swapable one. With the Android chipset there is a stipulation that you have to have a dedicated battery supply. So the headset has a permanent battery that kicks in when you’re swapping the main battery positioned at the back. I haven’t extensively tested how long they last but I’ve read that it’s about 3 hours which sounds about right. With the battery easily swappable you can get continual play for as long as you like.

With the swappable battery I’ve never come across a situation where I can’t continue development until I’ve charged the headset. I can’t say this for other headsets on the market.

Tracking

The Crystal has moved away from the lighthouse setup to inside out tracking with four cameras on the front of the headset. For the most this seems to be working well however I do have some drifts on the controllers. With each update this is improving so I’m currently not too worried about it but this does show one of the issues with the headset, which is that currently a lot of the reported issues are software based. Hopefully these problems will be resolved over time but for early adopters this does mar your initial impressions.

All the other bits and bobs

So Pimax have packed a lot of tec into this headset. There is eye tracking, a built in microphone, auto IPD, two USBC ports (not totally sure why) and 4 tracking cameras.

The Crystal currently has a lot of untapped potential sitting under its hood and I’m looking forward to seeing how these assets get implemented in future software updates.

PC or not PC

The Crystal has one feature that stands out against all the other standalone headsets and that is dedicated PC support. As far as I’m aware (correct me if I’m wrong, I often am) all other standalone headsets on the market do not have dedicated PC support and use a compression system that basically allows the PC to render the visuals then they’re compressed into a video stream and sent either through a USB-C cable or through the wifi to the headset. Information about tracking is sent back the same way. This is done seamlessly and the majority of people won’t even know that this is going on. This is not how tethered PC based headsets work. They plug a video cable straight into the PC, no compression occurs, all tracking data is sent directly to the computer through a USB and all video directly sent to the headset. What does this mean for the user though? Well there is an overhead using the compression way, this can increase latency due to the time to compress and uncompress the video, the image clarity can be affected as you are watching a compressed feed and the higher the resolution goes the more these issues will be compounded.

The Pimax Crystal is both a standalone and PC based headset, not a standalone that can be used with a PC. When you switch the little switch on the inside of the visor it becomes a PC based headset needing a dedicated video cable to be plugged into your setup. If you want a headset for an extreme PC gaming experience using your water cooled beast of a machine that cost you the price of a house then this headset is for you. Currently the best alternative is the valve Index and the Crystal beats for it’s resolution and image clarity. Regarding compatibility the Crystal is Steam compatible so no problems there when considering your VR library. The question lies in whether the addition of standalone adding extra weight to the headset and whether a power user will be interested in using those features are yet to be seen. Having this unique feature though helps to future proof it a little longer than other headsets in this regard. I am also interested in how the chipset might be used in conduction with the tethered setup.

I’ve seen other reviewers having difficulty getting this headset setup and working with their systems. I did not have any issues myself and pretty much plugged it in and installed the software. It found the headset and controllers and I was away. As Pimax are continually updating their software and firmware I can’t say whether it was my system that made it easier or the latest updates. Hopefully a lot of the issues that others have had will be removed with updates

Conclusion on Hardware

All this tec is very impressive but here is where the software side of things have to catch up. I’ve read reviews of the Crystal lamenting the lack of pass-though and it is possible that at the time of review this was the case but now there has been an update and passthrough is there. Pimax are pumping out updates quite regularly so issues are being resolved at a rapid pace but it is hard to forgive some of these issues on such a pricy headset. I’m confident they will resolve these problems over time but for people purchasing the headset on release should be aware that they are buying into a developing headset and that they might not get the experience they expect straight out of the box. At least regarding it’s stand alone side of things. I’m confident that this will change over time but it would be inept of me not to mention this.

The potential

Pimax has packed a lot into this headset making it’s pioneering PC based setup a real contender in the standalone market. The areas holding it back at the moment is the implementation of the hardware within the software. The technology is there to take advantage of and once elements such as using the eye tracking for adaptive resolution can be fully implemented, that is when you’ll see the potential of standalone 12k experiences become a reality. For this next phase of headsets I would be expecting, eye tracking, adaptive resolution support, hand tracking and glass based lenses. The Crystal has all these including the addition of a 12k display and interchangeable lenses, which should give it a shelf life at least as long as the current round of standalone competitors. With the addition of proper tethered support when the standalone chipsets have moved on you’ll still be able to take advantage of the system with a beefy PC.

A developer of Whirligig’s view

Something that isn’t going to go away any time soon is the use of VR headsets as a way to view media whether it be 360 degree or standard flatscreen content. Whirligig has been my attempt to provide a way to do this with the most options and best compatibility I can muster. I’m going to go over my feelings regarding the Crystals ease of development and use for this kind of application.

Crystal as a media player

The hardware that the Crystal sports is perfect for media playback. When viewing media in the headset there are a few areas that helps to make the experience as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. Firstly the comfort of the headset. The Crystal is pretty dam comfortable for long use when watching a film. As you won’t be swinging your head around the extra weight isn’t so much of an issue plus the Crystal in all the headsets I’ve used completely blocks out all external light. This may vary based on your head shape but for me it’s pretty perfect. The lenses are really high quality glass so god rays a much reduced problem and the headset also has active dimming so contrast is excellent. The wide field of view and high resolution also adds to the sharpness of the whole experience. On top of that, built in high quality headphones simplifies the whole experience.

The only thing I’d say is if you pull out the Crystal on a plane you might get some funny looks as it’s not very inconspicuous as a VR headset goes.

Ability to play media

I’m only going to look the standalone nature of this as the PC side of things is entirely based on your setup. So when it comes to playback of media on a standalone VR headset the majority of work is put onto the gpu decoding from the chipset. Basically an Android chipset has a gpu that can decode video and once you’ve taken advantage of that you can play back quite high res videos without a huge drain on the cpu as the gpu is taking all of the weight. What this means is that if you’re playing a reasonably high quality video you can take advantage of the 12k resolution in standalone mode. This makes the high resolution of the headset idea for this type of content. Watching a HD film is ideal in the Crystal and when it comes to 3D the increased resolution really helps to make that image pop. 3D films are reliant on resolution as each eye needs to be sharp to resolve depth. A 3D film played back on the Crystal will compete with the clarity you get at the cinema as there will be no cross talk between the eyes, no dimming from the glasses and the optimal position for the experience. Where you sit in a 3D film is hugely important and with VR you get the best seat in the house.

Media playback in VR will always be something that people will want and the Crystal is currently one of the best options on the market for this kind of use.

With such a high price tag I’m sure users won’t be buying the Crystal to just watch films but if you’re worried that it isn’t a suitable headset for this kind of thing, rest assured it’s one of the best on the market.

Pimax Crystal SDK’s and Unity

If you’re using Unity, have already setup and worked with OpenXR and the new input system then installing the SDK’s switching to Pimax in the Android section and building the app gets you 99 percent of the way there. The SDK’s aren’t actually OpenXR however they work on the same system so very little needs changing. This is very pleasing as this didn’t use to be the case but makes supporting the Pimax headsets a breeze now. Most of the work is getting the correct controllers in and in the right place, which is a task I have to do for all headsets. Overall I’ve found it a good platform to work on.

I’ve always tried to support as many headsets as I can with Whirligig and on the whole I’ve managed to do so. Regarding Pimax this support has come relatively easily, which is a relief as too much of my time is trying to fix issues with specific platforms where I would like to be adding features and improving performance.

I’m glad to say that I’ve had a good experience with this headset and great support from Pimax. Next I’ll be looking at getting Whirligig on the odd but charming Portal. Hopefully the process will be as straight forward as this one :)

Happy watching everyone and signing out

Phil

Whirligig updated on the Steam Store. All new OpenXR support and loads more

Hi everyone.

I've finally done it, I've updated the main default build on Steam :D If all goes well then it means I'll be updating the Oculus store soon as well.

It's been a very long process of getting the OpenXR SDK in and working. I hope that this will push forward to a new era of development where I can finally update multiple stores with confidence. I hope it also helps me to improve development on all other headsets including all the mobile ones.

I worked very hard not to introduce new bugs but the world isn't perfect so there is a chance that people might find issues. I hope I've fixed more than I've introduced so if you come across any let me know and I'll do my best to fix them as quickly as possible.

You can find a full steam news post here:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/451650/view/3686805432431140623

With a full description of what's changed, what's been added and what's been fixed. if you want a brief description though, here we go.

  • Full OpenXR support. (no more SteamVR or Oculus SDK)

  • Thumbnail view in explorer.

  • default presets for everyday use.

  • full surround support for videos with 5.1 audio (media foundation and WinRT only)/

  • Redesign of main UI (not major but buttons make more sense and now has presets and mute on it).

  • New, much more useful controller UI.

  • Full skinnable controllers for all headsets.

  • NDI support.

  • Loads of bug fixes.

Please have a look and I hope you all find the improvements worthwhile :)

Thanks for your continuing support. Without encouragement from the community I'd of stopped a long time ago.

All the best and happy watching

Phil

I'm updating stuff

Hi everyone

If you think I’ve not been working on Whirligig as this site hasn’t been updated, you’re wrong :) I’ve been working hard continuously, well mostly, the pandemic took it’s toll as it did with all of us. But I have continued my updating and working on Whirligig throughout.

Firstly this isn’t a proper post. I wanted to make it though just so the last post wasn’t so long ago. I will be making a much more detailed most in the near future. I will at least try and add a few small details of the update I’ve done since the last one. Soooo here we go :)

  • Full OpenXR support.

  • Completely rebuilt the control system so people can have their own skins like Oculus did.

  • NDI support on the PC.

  • Improved Desktop mirroring.

  • Surround sound support for videos with 5.1 sound.

  • Positional audio support for 5.1 audio with adjustable channel volumes if you want voices to be louder for instance.

  • Mobile headset support. Quest 1/2 on Applabs

  • Currently in progress but support for Pimax Portal.

  • Also in progress Pico4 VR support. Contact me in the support section if you’re interested in trying them.

  • Lots of bug fixes. I’ve also included some new bugs for those of you who like to search for them.

  • Lot’s of SDK and engine updates to try and make it easier to work on in the future.

So I’ve been busy and will continue to be, but I’m a lone developer and keeping up with everything is hard and confusing. Much of my work is an attempt to make updating easier so fingers crossed I’ll be able to get stuff out there quicker.

Anyhow, I hope you like the changes, let me know if you have any feedback and I hope to keep developing as long as you keep wanting me too.

Keep watching

Phil

Default build updates

Hi everyone

Welcome to the long overdue update to Whirligig's default build. I've put this off for far too long, which means there are a lot of updates.

Backend updates:

  • Unity3D updated to 2919.4.23f1.

  • AVPro Video plugin updated to AVPro 2.x.

  • Oculus SDK updated to latest build.

  • SteamVR updated to latest build.

  • Performance improvements in UI and video playback for Media Foundation.

  • Improvements to the UI control system.

Features:

  • Desktop Mirroring updated and moved to the explorer menu as a tab.

  • Webcam support added to the Explorer menu.

  • Sharpness added to Image Adjustment Menu.

  • Added support for external VLC installation.

  • Added extra movement options to key assigns.

  • Added thumbnails to save slots.

  • Proper none VR support.

  • Disable VR mirroring has been improved and now also displays a Whirligig mirroring disabled.

  • Command -forcesteam if you wish to force Oculus to use Steam instead of Oculus SDK.

  • compatibility with Quest/2 link cable.

  • Virtual Desktop support remote play supported through -forcesteam

Bug fixes:
There has been numinous bug fixes and to be honest to much to mention. If you find more let me know. They seem to keep breeding regardless of how many I squash.

If you have issues with the update

I've tried very hard to make this update not break Whirligig for people already using it. However it is important to note that it's very difficult to know how this update will effect all uses. Here are some suggestions that might help if you run into problems.

Return to previous default version
If you find that you are having problems with the update you can easy return the previous default build which will remain in the betas section in Whirligig Steam properties. I've created a tutorial to help people who haven't done this before, although I will say it's very easy to do. The build to return to is whirligig_early_access_v.4.762. Here is the tutorial:

Whirligig beta development continues and there are many updates and improvements that can be obtained by using them. If you're interested in using the betas and you're not sure how, this is a quick...

Reset Whirligig to factory settings
Whirligig doesn't hold any information in the registry and saves all it's files out to ini files contain in a folder called Whirligig in the roaming folder of windows. By deleting this folder Whirligig is effectively return to factory settings. Here are instructions to remove this folder:

Close Whirligig.
Navigate here :
C:Users%username%AppDataRoaming
Find the folder called 'Whirligig' and rename or delete it.
Restart Whirligig.

That should reset Whirligig back to factory settings. To fully be sure that it's a clean install uninstall Whirligig from Steam and check it's install folder to make sure the Whirligig folder has been removed. My install location is "C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonWhirligig" but yours my be installed in a different location. Steam when uninstalling a program should remove the install folder but I've had a couple of reports where this hasn't happened properly and when updating old files aren't overwritten which causes problems.

Contact me
If you are having a problem with the update and wish to help me fix it please contact me or post on the Whirligig Steam forum. I'll do my best to find the problem and post a fix or help with getting Whirligig working for you again. The more bugs I can find and fix the better for everyone.

Email: phileday@yahoo.co.uk

Steam Forum: https://steamcommunity.com/app/451650/discussions/0/

Final Thoughts
This update has been a long time coming and will hopefully help me move forward with more features, more improvements and more bug fixing in the future. I've been making Whirligig since 2016 and although there are several video players on the market now, I think that Whirligig still has a place for a certain type of user who just want that little extra control, projection format options or Whirligig has a specific function that isn't present in the other apps.

To everyone who has support Whirligig over the years I'm eternally grateful and look forward to updating and improving Whirligig in future versions for you all.

You've already supported me by buying Whirligig but if you want to do something else a good review is always gratefully received.

I look forward to hearing your feedback and wish you all the best of health and hopefully a great year ahead.

Until next time, keep watching

Phil

P.S.

I'm also working on a game and games engine (actually based around Whirligig). If you want to see what this is all about check out http://pageone-adventure.co.uk/

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 :)

If you want to comment check out the news post on Steam:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/whirligig/announcements/detail/1591376968934658285

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 :)

Heads up on developement

So I’ve been working hard on new updates and one dropped on Monday. However I haven’t released it as a full beta yet as it’s a major update which is likely to have problems.

Major you say. Problems, prey tell.

Yes. The two things I’ve updated are the SteamVR SDK’s to 2.2 and Unity3D to 2019. Both of which have cause a load of code rewrites some expected and other not. The Unity3D update buggered up all my toggle groups so I had to go through and rewrite the way toggles worked and the SteamVR 2.2 meant I had to completely change the way inputs are registered.

The good new is that I’ve managed to get these updates working and I’m now in the process of checking all the elements to make sure I’ve not broken things in other areas. This will allow me to go on and hopefully add new features in the future with the latest tools and Unity3D improvements.

So expect a full beta release early this weekend with another one at the end with hopefully some feature stuff.

Until then thanks for everyone’s support.

Phil

Hi all a new beta has been released

So I’ve knocked out the first beta in my collection of weekly betas. Here is a link to more information:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/whirligig/announcements/detail/1627398788375759798

In summary though:

  • 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 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/

So so far so good. I hope to continue the beta releases so keep an eye out for a new one next week :)

Phil

Today I worked on

So I’ve manged to do a few things on Whirligig after work. Not uploaded yet but getting some stuff done.

  • Continued to integrate NonVR option.

  • Fixed issues with Monitoring panning speed slider.

  • Added new feature to keep the progress bar hidden when skipping forward and backward.

  • Updated Oculus SDK’s.

So this is to start my new social presence.

Hi everyone one, or maybe just me, it’s difficult to say.

I’ve been working on Whirligig for a long time now and my active work on it varies greatly. I’ve not been as active as I would like for a little while now but I want to change that, or to at least keep people informed of my work on the player.

The first thing I’m going to try and do is start to release updates more regularly again. Getting into a routine for me has been a bit of a pain recently. Fingers crossed this will change now. So find below the things I’m going to be working on for the next couple of updates.

  • Release a new OculusGo/GearVR Beta. It’s been a while and I’ve updated a lot so a new version of this should be a good start.

  • Hide timebar option when playback is happening.

  • Renaming videos?

  • keep volume settings after closing and opening Whirligig.

  • Check Force mono on videos is working.

  • Check maximum number of files for browser.

  • Finish playlist option and make it a proper feature.

  • Check suppress loading options is working correctly.

  • WMR testing. Wrong height has been reported so I need to go back and check the integration again.

  • Non VR support

So that’s the current run of things I want to look at next. I may or may not stick to this as there are other things I’d like to add including better room options etc so they may sneak in if I fancy doing them earlier. Also if people have requested stuff and I’ve forgotten I’ll be looking at that as well.

So other than that that’s it for now.

Hope you stick around to see how things develop and I look forward to all your feedback.

Until next time.

Phil

Whirligig beta 4.51 release and it's a biggy :)

Hello everyone

So we are sooo close now to a full default release update. I intend this beta release to be the last release before then and the only thing I want different is any bug fixes that I'm currently not aware of.

So where do we begin. The truth is I've not been keeping a full check on the updates I've included so I will be highlighting the biggest I can think of and know that there are a load of others that I've forgotten to include. So here comes the list.

1. Rewritten into C Sharp
Full programing language change. I've rewritten Whirligig to be entirely in C Sharp. This although a massive change shouldn't have an impact on the main running of Whirligig, although during the switch over I've also tried to optimise some of the code. Hopefully this should make Whirligig a bit more stable and quicker. This in the long run is to help with my ability to convert Whirligig to run on Android devices so I can support headsets such as the Oculus Go and Vive Focus.

2. Settings Menu Update
I've got a designer friend in to help with remaking the settings menu to make a lot of the hidden features more accessible and also make it easier to find and add new feature. During this process I've rewritten the code for this menu so again improving the ability to add new features.

Settings-Menus.jpg

 

3. Improved Input Menu
The input menu needed an overhaul in both design and code. The previous versions coding meant that it was very slow and had a chance of breaking. This new menu system works in a similar way to be before but is much cleaner in both design and code. Hopefully it should feel smoother and more stable.

 

4. Worked on the main design of the UI
In the redesign of the menu I've also remade the main UI. One of the less know but big features of Whirligig is the ability to change the menu design to other premade ones of varying degrees of complexity and colour. This was an opportunity to remove some of the old basic designs, remake the main default design to be much more simple and provide better access to the other menus. If you don't like the simplicity of the new design you can simply go back to the old one.

NewMenuDesign.jpg

 

5. A new Second monitoring system
Whirligig has for a long time had the ability to have none VR support. When you don't have VR attached you can use the player as a 360 degree 3D video player with anaglyph. This feature has again like so many other features has been a bit hidden. I decided to dust it off, improve it and make it a part of the player properly. What this means is you can now have your desktop monitor work as a second screen which full mouse support so while a friend is watching the video in VR you can be navigating and using the player with the mouse on screen. I feel this feature has many very useful applications. I work in a situation when I have to demonstrate videos to people and this automatically makes my life easier.

DesktopMonitoring.jpg

 

6. Force Mono
When watching some 3D films sometimes the 3D is done so badly that it is just better to be able to turn it off. This allows you to do that while still maintaining the 3D settings such as Over Under, Side by Side.

7. All major plugins, engine and SDK's updated to their latest release.
Keeping these up to date helps to make Whirligig and stable and powerful as it can be.
 


So this are the currently updates I think people might be interested in. As I say I've updated so much there are defaintly many features, bug fixes and improvements I haven't listed here. To biggest thing to note is that this is the last Beta release before the default build updates on all platforms Oculus, Vive and Steam. There won't be any new features. This is being put out to check for bugs before for being released as default. For that reason if you find any problems with this build please let me know. I'm very much in debt to the community for bug reports and feedback. A lot of the updates are directly because of feedback so I take this very seriously.

Apart from all that I hope you enjoy this release and look forward to hearing what you have to say :)

Until next time

Happy watching

Phil

Whirligig 3.98 Beta update. Big UI update with loads of other stuff

I've been working on Whirligig for a long time now and since it's release in April last year I've made significant improvements to the video support, features, bug fixes and much more. Well this update is a big one in the life of Whirligig as I've finally decided to address something that a lot of people have been critical of since the beginning. The UI. 

I've put off making any significant changes to this for a long time as I've put a lot of functionality updates above that of the look of the player. Well now I've finally got a designer and friend in to design me a new UI and I've done my best to integrate it into Whirligig. It's not fully finished and some of the menus still need a bit of work but I hope you'll agree that it's a marked improvement on before. This isn't just a look change, there are new ways to change the settings default resets and menus have been designed to reflect the new design of the main playback window. On top of this I've continued to improve other aspects of the player, fixed more bugs and added some new features.

 

If you don't like the new menu or prefer the older ones the option to change between menus hasn't gone anywhere and you can easily change back to the old one in the menus menu. To access this menu goto settings (the cog on the UI), the last tab and open up the menus menu from there.

Find below a list of all the things I can think of that made it into this update.

  • UI Overhaul, sliders for all options, easily change between modes and all other menus given the same style. This has also meant an improved mouse support and link between menus.
  • Improved Glue UI with effect moving the UI to the HMD location between play and pause.
  • Nine additional backgrounds.
  • Bug fixes including tilt up/down option fix, duplicate cursor fix and many more.
  • Improved option for very small radius and close screens.options.
  • Added new custom format for watching videos recorded on the Oculus demoing stuff. This is courtesy of Andrew Hazelden who has helped me a lot in testing and providing custom projection formats. You can find out more about his amazing 360 production programs on his blog here : https://www.andrewhazelden.com/blog/

Theres plenty of other things I've added but I haven't properly kept track of them all. If I manage to think of any more I'll let you know.

If you don't like the new menu or prefer the older ones the option to change between menus hasn't gone anywhere and you can easily change back to the old one in the menus menu. To access this menu go to settings (the cog on the UI), the last tab and open up the menus menu from there.

As I mentioned before I've been working on this UI update for some time. There are several people who have made suggestions for improving Whirligig and I've been taking them down and working out what to add next. The improved UI has been a big task which has yet to be finish but I've done the bulk so the next update will include more features as well as aesthetic improvements. Please keep suggestion stuff to me as I am constantly on the looking for new things to add.

I would love your feedback

Whirligig 3.98 has only been released on Steam Beta at the moment. This is because as it's such a significant update it will require a lot of screenshot changes, tutorial changes and bug testing. I also want to get feedback from the community about what you think of it. Is it a step in the right direction? what is it missing? are there any bugs you've come across? I really want to know what people think before I make the plunge into releasing it as the default build for Oculus Store, Viveport and Steam Store.

I hope you like these changes and look forward to your comments.

Phil

Release of Whirligig 3.96 and launch of Whirligig on Oculus Store

Whirligig On Steam

http://store.steampowered.com/app/451650/

Whirligig on Oculus

https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1130182873666293/

So a lot has been happening in the Whirligig camp. Firstly Whirligig has finally made it to the Oculus Store. This was release on the 15th of February and I have yet to properly announce it. In truth this is the announcement.

I've also been hard at work with at bug fixes updates and new features. The latest beta on Steam has some major improvements including full mappable controls on all devices include keyboard, Vive controllers, Touch and gamepad. I've also updated all the plugins fixed bugs made improvements and loads more. So let's have a look.

Whirligig on Oculus Store

I've been working on getting Whirligig on the Oculus Store for the good part of 4 months now. My intention has always been to have Whirligig on the Oculus Store as well as the Steam store and anywhere else that might want to try Whirligig. It's taken me so long to get it on the store as it kept getting rejected for one reason or another. I've spent a large part of the last couple of months optimising the code, fixing bugs and working at improving the framerate to get it past Oculus's strict conditions for entry. Much of the problem lay in the rejection process which provides very little information on how they have come to the conclusion that they have and also how to recreate the issues they've come across so you can fix them.

So in truth a lot of the optimising, bug fixing and improvements were blindly done to hope that it would pass the process and thankfully after several rejections it finally got accepted and was released on Wednesday the 15 of February.

Why haven't I Properly announced it

The version that finally made it onto the store was after a long period of work and I believed it was going to get rejected again. When it passed and I was given a release date it finally gave me control to update whenever I liked, without having  to go through the review process again. So I quietly released it. This hopefully gave me some some but not to much feedback so I could prepare for the first update and a proper announcement. This has almost come to pass :) I am now testing the beta I've released today on Steam so I can push this out to all Oculus users as well as the Steam users (Also Viveport although the process takes longer). This brings up the question of Beta builds. Unfortunately Oculus doesn't have the same system as Steam regarding the ease in which to do beta builds that anyone can test. I've concluded that the best approach is to reduce the time between release and betas. This hopefully should keep all users up to date with no less than a 2 weeks difference. 

And Finally What's in Whirligig 3.96

As mentioned before I've been working hard on new updates. This is one of the biggest updates I've done so far. The best way to go through all the improvements is to list them and go through the more significant ones.

  • Added Keyboard, Vive, Touch mapping.
  • Added 6 model types for Touch controls.
  • Added new room, tilted dome and flat dome.
  • Added Switch Laser for mapping on Vive Controllers.
  • All keys disable when Vive dashboard so you can't accidentally push options.
  • Added the ability to map radius/distance to the controllers.
  • Updated UMP and AVpro plugins and also looked at changing media foundation to use Unity audio source to allow Oculus headphones to work as default.
  • Removed position menu from settings and give it it's own menu.
  • Changed the way the position and zoom system works so that it doesn't move the menus.
     

All new mapping for all input devices

So mapping has been added to the thumbsticks on the Gamepad. That's pretty much the improvement of the gamepad update. You'll notice however that there are now tabs at the top. These lead to Touch, Vive Controller and keyboard mapping. I'v done my best to map all the buttons on each device. The only exceptions are the buttons that are lock to default actions. These include the triggers on both the Vive and Oculus controllers, the Touch controller switch laser button and on the keyboard the numbers, escape and space. I'll be making tutorials for all of these options in the near future. Hopefully it's mostly self explanatory and be aware that I will continue to improve this feature with, for example default reset options on all inputs and maybe the addition of the Oculus remote.

Something you might also notice is that I've included a way to change the Touch controllers for different models. The main drive for this was that I bought an asset from the Unity store to get a good Touch controller model. It came with several skins and I thought it would be a good addition. If people like it I'll look at adding it to the Vive controllers and also adding more skins :)

Added new room, tilted dome

So the big addition here is a tilted dome and a flat dome. So two additional rooms. I've also worked with a 3D modeler and designer who made the new rooms and improve the other rooms as well. It's a slow process but hopefully things are moving in the right direction. The only Room I'm not happy with is the outdoor cinema which I will be replacing with something better once I can figure what.

And all the other updates

So I continue to try and improve the player with fixes and general improvements to the playback systems. The people behind Unity3D, the video and other plugins have updated several components and I've followed suit so hopefully you'll gain some benefits from those updates as well.

Conclusion and the future

So In conclusion, this update and announcement is pretty big. If you try the Steam beta let me know what you think and if you have any problems. If you've just bought the Oculus Store version expect an update to this version over the weekend. Fingers crossed I've not broken anything.

So for the future. There have been requested feature updates such as gaze support, payback speeds, a-b looping, which I would like to add soon. I also want to improve the position movement system I've got in there so you can move back when watching a film if you want. So small updates on the way. The biggest update you'll see soon though is a major overhaul of the interface. Well sort of major. I've got a designer and friend in to look at making a slick and exciting new look and feel. This will be combined with some new additions to the interface such as slide bars for the main ui on all the changeable options. So expect the next version to have some big improvements and some guided design which it's very much needed for a while. If you do like the Menu now though don't fear, all old menus will be available so you can choose whichever suits you best.

I hope you continue to enjoy Whirligig and like the improvements I'm making. If you have any problems let me know and I'll do my best to fix them. Suggestions are also welcome and if you really like the player good reviews on the Oculus and Steam pages are very much apriciated.

Until the next update. Over and out.

Phil

Tutorials, tutorials, tutorials and other stuff.

Tutorials

So I've been working on a load of tutorials to explain different aspects of the player. Hopefully these will make it more evident about using those features.

Whirligig - SaveLoad
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daVddLvL7N0

Whirligig - Input Controls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW9U8i96vYA

Whirligig - Image adjustment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzwFFxm-Ovc

Whirligig - Changing the Menu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlfUDgfHnuM

Whirligig - Backgrounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqSpuxa1hBw

I've also made a tutorial to going over the useage and features of the free version so it can help people get started if they want to use that version. That can be found here:https://youtu.be/5Svgphimh58

I rambles on a bit but hopefully it's useful :)

Oculus Store Submission

I've also been working on releasing it on the Oculus Store for all the obvious reasons. The store setup is a bit different but hopefully it should be easy enough to update both as I go along.

And Other Stuff

I've been working on a few things and trying to improve the player through bug fixes etc. My general drive has been a bit lackluster recently though, partly due to personal issues and party due to working on aspects that interest me less but need to be done. I will be ramping up production though and hopefully the Oculus Store submission will be a bit of a boost if that gets accepted. The Game will hopefully be pushed back into production as well. The game development has driven the Producer a great deal so that needs to be documented better for people as well.

So with any luck you'll start to seem some new stuff coming soon.

Hope everyone out there is well.

Until next time adios

Phil

Whirligig Producer

I thought as I've been working on a new project to the Whirligig brand, yes I've decided to make it a brand :) Kind of. I thought I'd post some pictures of my progress.

The update I'm refering to is an overhaul of the Publisher soon to be called the Producer. I've been working on this for a while and the producer has been a long term plan of mine to try and make something that expands the creativity of the player and make something that others will hopefully find really useful. The end goal of this is to start work again on my game and during that process build on the producer to make it a much more useable product.

So here are some pictures of the Producer so far.

Some of the notable improvements are the design and the addition of the images menu. This is going to be rename as it currently makes no sense. A lot of what's gone on is under the hood. You'll notice that the publish menu has gone and is now combined with the projects menu. The way that projects are built is totally different as well.

All of this will be explained much better on release :) until then marvel over the preview and also don't fear, work on the player has not stopped. The player is an integral part of the producer so as I build on the producer new features will be added to the player and vise verse. I hope to release a new version with new features of the player next Monday. Hopefully with a new room :)

Until the next update. Keep on Whirligiging or whatever.

Phil

 

3.85 updates to the Steam version, Backgrounds, Menus, Image Adjustment and more

Ok. I've added a few more features this time. This is in beta release until Monday when as long as no one lets me know of big bugs I'll release as the standard release.

So without further adieu lets continue with the big changes.

Backgrounds Added

Background options.

Background options.

So I've added a new background option. This allows you to change the background to a selection of 12 different backgrounds. This is the first phase of this option. I intend to also allow people to use their own backgrounds as well but that will come in future versions. The options to choose from are 4 colour backgrounds, 7 cloudscapes and one image I've provided from my up and coming game. Expect more to come and also the option to add your own.

 

Menu Menus

Menus

Menus

There has been an option in the player to be able to add your own menus or at least switch between the new ui and the ui from the free version. This option has been hidden under the 'h' keyboard shortcut. Well I've added a whole menu system for it now. This is similar to the backgrounds menu where once you open it you can choose from a selection of different menus (3 at the moment). Just simply click on them and the menu will change to that version. All menus have the menus option button on them so you can easily switch back if you like. There are currently only 3, these include the default menu which you will know from before, the free version menu with added buttons which is bigger and will probably be easier to read on older VR headsets and the third is a simple version of the menu with the progress bar and buttons but no tilt,FOV etc. All these settings are available in the settings menu so you can use them there if you need to.

Here are the different menus.

Here are the different menus.

 

Added image adjustment menu

Change media settings

Change media settings

You can now change the saturation, brightness, contrast and gamma of the video (not images yet but will be there soon). This option is in the buttons tab and on the main menu. Once open simply use the sliders as you would expect. The settings are saved for each video and can be easily reset.

 

Settings menu gets buttons tab

Buttons menu

Buttons menu

The settings menu now has a buttons tab. What this is is a tab that contains all the buttons that you get on the ui. Why I've put this in is so that you can access all the menu options you need from the settings menu which in turn should allow for an even more stripped down menu. Also it kind of unifes all the options.

 

Also ran updates


Added reset buttons to all the options in the settings menu to get back to the standard settings easily.

Added option to turn off mouse control which unlocks the cursor. This is very useful if you don't intend to use the mouse as it allows you to easily jump to your desktop and move the Whirligig window etc.

Changed the way the drives are detected in the explorer hopefully fixing issues with drives not showing up.

Change f2 shortcut so it doesn't hide and reveal the menu as this is an option in the settings menu. Now it reveals the settings menu. So people who want a way to hide the menu untick the 'select play/pauses' now when clicking outside of buttons the menu will hide and reveal, to play hit the play button. 

Subtitles now work in rooms and Curved Cinema.


There are a few other updates I've done along the way in the form of bug fixes etc and tweaks here and there but I won't mention them here as they are either too boring or I forgot what they are.

So I hope you like the updates. I'm going to continue to update and improve the player and I've been updating and improving the publisher which runs alongside the player so hopefully You'll see some interesting updates in the future :) 

Again if you find bugs or have suggestions please let me know and if you like Whirligig and want to let me know leave some nice reviews on the Steam page :)

Until the next update, happy watching.

Phil

3.83 update now set to default build

The Steam version of Whirligig is now updated to 8.3
http://store.steampowered.com/app/451650/

The free version of Whirligig is now updated to 8.3
http://www.whirligig.xyz/player2-1-2/

The publisher has been updated.
http://www.whirligig.xyz/download-1/

So what have I been upto. I've been hard at work trying to integrate a new video rendering path into the player that allows for 3 options of playback Directshow, Media Foundation and VLCVideoLan. I've now completed that an in the process added a load of other stuff. If you use the Steam version and you're trying out the betas you'll probably know quite a bit about the updates. If not then you'll be jumping from version 3.72 to 3.83 which a load new features and updates. Hopefully all good and hopefully I've not added a load of bugs into the mix. 

Here is a brief rundown of the updates.

------------------------------------------------------------
Settings menu including, full adjustment, Background glow, position adjustment, volume,supersampling and access to many more options. 

Video paths added, Directshow, Media foundation and VLCVideoLan. 

Directshow plugin update which should be faster and allows gpu decoding on Nvidia. 

Srt separate subtitle support. 

Arrow keys,gamepad and Oculus remote work in explorer. 

General bug fixes. 
------------------------------------------------------------

The free version has also been updated to include all these features. The only difference is that the UI is much more limited in the free version and you won't get the latest updates as they come in. If you're not sure about whether you want to buy Whirligig on Steam then consider trying the free version first. If you do buy the Steam version then thank you, you're helping to support me in improving the player and also you'll get all the bonuses of new updates and the new UI.

I've also started work on the publisher again and that has been updated and works with the latest version of Whirligig. It's hard to explain the publisher so if you're interested check here:
http://www.whirligig.xyz/overview/

It's not totally up to date but will give you some idea of what I'm trying to do with that.

I hope you like this update and if you do let me know with a nice review :) 

known bugs. (that I'm working on to fix) 
The player sometimes crashes when going from DirectShow to VLCVideoLan. If you find that this always happens then try going to media foundation first before VLCVideoLan. 

When setting the radius really small sometimes the menu will goes behind you. Resetting your position can help fix this. 

There are probably loads of other bugs but I'm trying to work on them as best I can. If you come across any let me know how you caused it and I'll do my best to fix it. 

 

Below I'm going to go into more details relating to each update for people jumping from 3.72 to 3.83. 

------------------------------ 
New Menu
I've been adding loads of features over the development of the player but a lot of the features have been somewhat hidden. I've now created a new settings menu that has all these features making it easy to access them and easy for me to add more to them. So firstly to access this menu use the cog icon on the main display at the bottom on the left. Each menu explained: 

General
Background glow. Turn off and on the background glow for cinema films. 
Loop. Turn loop on and off. 
Swap Eyes. The standard for stereo is left right but this allows you to swap those eyes. 
Mirror display. Mirror the display to the monitor off and on. 
Glue UI. Glue the UI to the hmd. 
Subtitles. If there are subtitles turn them off and on. 
Select plays and pauses. This allows you to hide the menus with the select buttons and simply use the playpause icon. Default as like the orignal system. 
Volume. Turn volume up and down. 
Stereo Separation. Increase or decrease stereo separation of a 3D film. 
SuperSamping. Increase or decrease SuperSamping. 

Position
This menu allows you to move the camera position around. Currently simple Backward, Forward, Up, Down, Left, Right. 

Adjust
Here you can access all the controls you need to adjust the projection and playback of the video. So a quick list: 
Stereo options. Mono, Over Under, Side by Side. 
Projection Type. Fisheye, Barrel, Cinema, Curved, Custom, Rooms. 
Tilt. 
FOV. 
Radius. 
Rotation. 

Video Path
You can now choose from 3 different types of video path. These include. 

Directshow. The original type of playback. This is the most stable and best quality but requires you to install codecs to get the most out of it. If you have the LAV codecs installed and running properly I'd stick with this one. 

Media Foundation. This is the default type of support that Windows 8 and 10 brings. It's has a lot more supported codecs and requires no additional codecs to be installed. It isn't as fast as the Directshow codecs. Media Foundation isn't compatible with Windows 7 so will be disabled on those systems. 

VLCVideoLan. This has a far wider support than Media foundation and is relatively fast. It doesn't have as many as LAV support with directshow but is a good place to go if you don't want to install additional codecs. It also is compatible on all systems. VLC also can play back Youtube videos and I'm currently working at integrating this support into the player. 
----------------------------------------- 
Subtitle support. 
You can now have subtitles with your films. If you have a film and want to have subtitles then simply accompany the film with an srt file so for example. Alice in Wonderland.mp4 and the subtitle file Alice in Wonderland.srt 

The subtitles will play automatically but you can turn them off with a xbox mapped button or by using the new menus. 
------------------------------------------ 

There are loads of other little things such as bug fixes and little improvements.

Whirligig Update 3.72 available in betas

Steam

I have for a long time been updating the beta, leaving the main default build behind. This was due to issues with a bug in Unity. From the last release 3.71 this won't happen and any version that goes into beta will soon be followed by an update of the main build. This is the first of those update with the main build being updated this friday. 

I will make a better announcement on Friday once the testing process is done but until then here is a list of the changes with highlights on the main features. 

To try this build simply right click on Whirligig in Steam, go to properties, go to the beta tab and in the beta dropdown select 3.72

If you find any issues let me know so I can fix them for the friday release :) 

Free Version

 The new Steam version also herolds a new version of the free version of Whirligig. This version also contains all the updates and additions of the Steam version. The one thing it doesn't have is all the new UI updates, so the new icons the new look and menus for the Rooms, Select projections, Custom Projects etc.

All functionality though is still there. You just have to use the keyboard and Gamepad to access them.

The update of the free version is to continue on to an update  for the Publisher. At present though the publisher is using an old version. A lot has changed in the menu system since the last publisher update so it needs to be rewritten before it will work with the new version.


New features
-------------------- 

Added 10 more Save slots. 

Added clear to save slots so you can tidy up those slots. 

Added clear to presets. 

Added video outer glow option for Cinema and Cinema Curved. This is accessible by the keyboard 'z' and is mappable to the xbox controller. 

Next Media and Previous Media added to the options for the xbox controller. 
Add .ts and .tp now support. 

Improvements and bug fixes
------------------------------------------- 

Updated Unity3D to UNITY 5.4.0F1 

Remote press button holds now so that you can easily scroll up and down. 

Glue to HMD now glues the Explorer and over menus to it as well. 

Fixed small scale not setting the menu distance properly. 

The cursor is now hidden when the menu is hidden. 

Fixed issue with the menus not changing when loading presets. 

Fixed crosshair while save slots are present so it is over the slots and not on a separate plane. 

If a film is no longer found then the save slot will disappear. 

Changed the buttons of and the way they work on presets so they look nicer. 
Added name on presets so you know which one you're loading,clearing,saving. 

Fixed the over menu option. The old menu didn't work when going to it as it was setup wrong.

Update to 3.7 Default another big update :)

Something I'd like to say before diving into the updates.

I've been working on this player for a long time and I've been working on it as an individual with a full time job. Putting it on Early Access has allowed me to reduce my full time work hours giving me more time on Whirligig to improve and add features that people have requested. Anyone who has bought Whirligig in these first stages of commercial development has helped support me and allowed me and will continue to allow me to add more cool features. 

If you have enjoyed using Whirligig and want to thank me in any way other than paying for it :) please give some nice reviews on the Steam page. Anyone who as read through the reviews of Whirligig will probably be quite confused as to whether the player is any good or not as they seem to range quite dramatically from 'this a garbage and gives Early Access a bad name' to 'this is the best VR video player out there and well worth the price'. This is bloody confusing for me I can tell you. Hopefully the UI updates will help to improve the overall negative feedback. 

I want to continue to build on Whirligig adding features and improving the player on each update. I am aware that my time for being one of the only VR video players out there are numbered but I do want to continue to make Whirligig something beyond a Video player giving options that no other player would have. Your support in both investing and giving feedback is incredibly important to me and I very much appreciate it. 

Thanks for your support and I hope you enjoy all of the new features in this version. 

All the best and happy watching. 

Phil from Whirligig


Now thats over let's look at the updates :)

Well here is another big update. The large part of this update is that it is an update to the default build so bringing the default build up to speed with the beta builds. I've had to give up on Oculus and Unity fixing the mouse problem before updating as this doesn't seem to be something they are fixing soon. I've worked out the problem and if you use the mouse with the Oculus you are informed that you have to click outside the area and back in again to use the mouse properly. If you don't use the mouse then this message won't appear. 

So lets look at the updates from the previous default version. 

UI Updates 

The design
(Main UI) 
I've complete redesigned the UI. The old UI was designed for the DK1 and although useable was large and a bit confusing for a lot of people. It was also designed for keyboard control not mouse or crosshair control. 

What I've done to improve this is to shrink down the UI change the feel of it so it isn't so intrusive. I've designed the buttons to be more compatible with the feel of new UI interfaces and hopefully it is much easier to understand straight away. 

(Play,fast forward, rewind, previous and next) 
The original design did not have these options on them. This is because playing was a simple case of pressing fire/select and fast forward and rewind was left and right. However this seems to of confused a lot of people and also not having that familiar video controls puts a lot of people off. I've add them in and they are now a prominent part of the progress bar. although I have added these I am aware that I don't think I've got the order right. If people think it should be a different order let me know. 

(Other Menus) 
The left and right buttons for things like tilt and rotation makes sense but I don't think that this is user friendly for things like select projection, custom projection and rooms. These all have their own menus now that appear when you click the button next to the name. This makes a lot more sense and hopefully should improve the user experience considerable. 

(Custom Projection) 
The custom projection option of Whirligig is one of the most powerful parts of the player allowing me to add bespoke options for cameras such as the Theta and weird projection formats such as the wide selection of cubemap options. The way to select this before wasn't the best I can think of, having to go through a list of options rather than just selecting the one you prefered. Now you can do this with all the customs projections being listed in it's own menu. This allows for the addition of new formats with ease and makes custom projections a proper feature of Whirligig. 

(Explorer) 
The explorer icon used to be above the UI. Now it is part of the UI next to the video name. I felt that this is a fundamental part of opening a new file and made sense to be part of the UI rather than a separate part of it. 

The Explorer has also been improved in a few ways including a better look and easier to grab scrollbars. The colour of the scrollbars have also been changed to make them more easy to see. For some reason people weren't noticing the scrollbar and thinking they had to have their films in alphabetical order or something. 

Other improvements
(Presets) 
I've added a presets option. This allows you to save the settings of a video and then load it up with another video. 

(Grip of Vive makes the controls sleep) 
I've added a way of turning all the menus off on the controllers so that they go to sleep when pushing the grips. This allows you to hide them easier when watching a film. 

(Xbox GamePad) 
The Xbox gamepad controller now uses a different control system which should remove incompatibility which some people were having problems with. It also means there is no need to have a dropdown option to select your gamepad. I've also added two new button options the two shoulder triggers. These are set left and right as default but can be change to any function in the same way that all the other buttons can. 

Other things added
I've made many other updates since the last default update. I won't go into detail here but here is a list. 
Updated to the latest Unity3D build. 
Updated to the latest SteamVR plugin
Updated to the latest Oculus Build. 
An ability to change the stereo separation on 3D films. 
An ability to change the SuperSampling for SteamVR. 
Defaults the Vive to right handed. 
Numerous custom projections added. 
Look of save slots improved. 
Mappable Gamepad options for hide and show menu added. 
Full player reset option. Do this by pressing ctrl, alt and tapping f9. 

And a load of bug fixes. 

I hope you like the UI update and if not let me know. As I said at the top of this post if you like the player and want to see it develop let me know and post some nice reviews. If you don't like it then also let me know. I want to fix problems and make it a player worth owning so all feedback good or bad as long as it's constructive is aprciated.

So happy watching and I hope you enjoy the Whirligig experience.

Whirligig on Steam
http://store.steampowered.com/app/451650/

Update to 3.8 beta on Whirligig for Steam ( Big UI and Video plugin update)

Big update number one. Video plugin

OK so this has been talked about for a long time and now it is here. I have finally updated the video plugin and now DirectShow and Media Foundation support can be built from the same build. Firstly what this means is that I can constantly update the Media Foundation option (Both will be combined into one in the future) and I am now running the latest version of the plugin which is faster and plays smoother in both directshow and media foundation. So in the direct show version you should notice smoother playback of files, I've noticed it switching backward and forward between the old and new plugins and I'm on a relatively slow machine.

Big update number two. UI

I've been taken a lot of the comments about the UI on board and I've worked on a new UI system which I hope will be considered a new and improved version over the previous one. 

 

I've been working on a way to add new UI's so that you can choose between them and this has required a lot of recoding to make this process easier. If you've browsed my website you will know I have a publisher that runs alongside Whirligig. The publisher is a way to design your own UI's. After updating the player this is no longer going to work in the current version of the Publisher but I will be working on an update to this which will allow you to make your own UI's.

So currently the default UI is the one you see in the example above. If you prefered the old one just press 'h' on the keyboard and you can switch backwards and forwards between them.

Why isn't this the default version yet and still only beta.
There is a bug in Unity3d which means that with the Oculus Rift the Cursor doesn't stay locked to the centre of the window. What this means is that if you use the mouse you very easily click outside of the window causing the player to become unfocused. I consider this a significant issue that prevents me from making the latest Build the standard build. I might well have to just release it anyway though, as the amount of changes are becoming too large to not consider it an improvement.

Updating to the betas a howto:
Simply right click on Whirligig in Steam, go to properties, go to the Betas tab and then in the betas dropdown either select the Directshow latest build or the Media Foundation version.


Final word.
This is one of the biggest updates so far. Both the UI update and the video plugin update has changed a large part of the code. For this reason it is possible I've added issues to the player. I hope that all these changes are making it more stable but if there are issues please let me know.

Feedback Feedback Feedback
I've tried hard to improve the look and feel of the UI and hope that people will consider it an improvement over the previous version. The previous UI was originally designed to be used on the DK1 which is one of the reasons for the large buttons and size. I've built this new version with the DK2 and up in mind so buttons are smaller, Everything that should have a menu option has one now i.e. the projection type, the custom formats, the explorer etc. I've tried to mirror other UI's for video players (although this is hard as VR requires a different approach to many things). There are still many improvements to make but I hope this is in the right direction. If you think otherwise though please let me know and I will continue to improve it in my weekly updates.

So hopefully you find this week's updates to your likely. 

Until next week.

Phil

Whirligig Steam Page:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/451650/

 


Other updates
-----------------------
-A new room has been added called bedroom. Now watch a film as if you're in a Hotel.
-Unity version update to Unity 5.4.0b22
-And some other bug fixes. I've probably added more in this update though so I won't shout to loud about it.

New update with new Explorer improved UI (Hopefully)

Whirligig Update.

OK. So Whirligig has been on Steam for over 5 weeks now and I've got the comments back and found more time and generally tried my best to work out the reasons behind the bad reviews and comments on the discussion forum. So what have I done?

The Explorer
The first port of call was mostly the Explorer. Something that I generally didn't think was that bad and was adequate enough until I had time to put into making a new one. It appears it was that bad and I needed to put time into it now, so I have. So what have I done with the Explorer. I've completely replaced it, that's what I've done. I've made something that I think will make a whole lot more sense to first time users and will will be considered a great improvement on the previous version.

The Menu
So the next port of call was the main menu. Generally, although it looks basic and can do with a bit of tender loving care I thought the best thing to do with this is add the functions from the Vive controller on the main menu. By doing so it makes all of the quick access options onto the main menu for Oculus users. Although all these options are on the Gamepad it doesn't always seem to be obvious. So for example all the Stereo Options are easily visible on the menu.

Gamepad Options
Now there has been an ability to change all the gamepad options in Whirligig from the start but one thing that hasn't been possible is that you don't see the options window in the HMD. Well all this has changed. Partly as this was confusing a load of people and also when I implemented the explorer it broke the Gamepad Options. Because of this the gamepad options is a new button on both the main menu and Vive controller. Hopefully it feels more integrated into the main player now.

Mouse Control
All of these new control systems are accessible with the HMD cross hair and Vive controller Laser. But there is a natural inclination to want to use the mouse to select the controls and buttons. This is especially apparent for the Explorer. So what I've done is add a mouse control system so that is, if the mouse is moved it will take control of the cross hair/laser and allow to navigate with that.

A word of warning regarding the mouse control. So one of the things that I have to do with the mouse control is to lock the mouse cursor to the centre of the display, otherwise you would keep moving outside of the bounds of the window and accidentally defocus the player. This means that unlike the previous version where you can go off and click on other windows you will not be able to do it with this version. I don't yet know if this is a big problem for people or actually will help as you won't accidentally loose focus on Whirligig. I am going to include in the next update a command line option to disable the mouse support for people who don't want this option. Feedback on this is very much appreciated.

Other stuff
So there has been a load of other changes including updates to the Unity version, SteamVR version and many bug fixes. I've tried hard to removed the ini file getting confused and breaking everything and I've also tried to fix the gamepad failing to be recognised so that people have no D-pad options. Some of these bug fixes are hard to test and as a result my attempts to fix them may well have failed. Please let me know if you find these issue continue and if they do I'll keep having a crack at them until they are squashed for good.


Final word
In this update I've tried to address a lot of the problems people were having and make the whole experience a much more enjoyable thing. Whirligig is not part of a big company or a throw away experiment, it is solely written and developed and continues to be developed by one person, me. I am going to continue to develop it for the foreseeable future and want to make it into a tool and player that people want to use. I hope you like the updates and I want to know what updates you want to see in the future. The more feedback I get the better Whirligig can be for everyone who uses it.

Future updates
Now I've got a new UI system in there I want to continue to develop that so that you can easily select formats, rooms and custom formats. I've had a good amount of feedback on the discussion forum and a few of those ideas will soon be in there too, including stereo separation, Vive controller sleepy time (so you can hide them and they don't come on while watching a film) and many more hopefully. The big one I want to do is integrate the new Video plugin from Renderheads which will improve performance and add Media foundation support. This won't be in there until they have release full directshow support across all windows platforms though but they are hopefully releasing this this month so fingers crossed that will be in there soon and herald a new era of better performance and default support. Long term I'm also looking at another plugin called Popmovie which will allow for multiple audio channels, spacial sound and subtitle support.

So hopefully you'll stick with me and enjoy the new updates as they come.

Until next time

Over and out

Phil.

Here's a link to the Steam page

http://store.steampowered.com/app/451650/

 


---------------------Full release details----------------------
3.4
A big UI update.

-Unity3d Updated to 5.4.0b17
-SteamVR plugin updated to 1.1.0
-Brand new explorer replacing the old one completely.
-In HMD Gamepad Options.
-Bug fixes to confused ini files.
-Gamepad update to help with problem not detecting gamepad. The default gamepad is now Xbox one without Auto Detect. I removed this as it was causing problems. Hopefully this should help alleviate gamepad d-pad problems.
-Mouse support. The UI system now has mouse support. This means that all the options on the UI are now selectable with the mouse. This should hopefully really improve the usabilty of Whirligig. This does pose one big problem which is that I have lock the mouse in the view otherwise you end up clicking outside of the view. This may be a problem for some who are used to being able to select outside of the program. I am going to see what the feedback is and see what to do from there.
-Added Icons to the menu to allow people without the Vive controller to be able to select those options.
-Added Gamepad Edit as a new icon.
-Updated documentation to reflect changes.
-Updated the start screen with changes.
-Aspect ratios for 3D over under films should be auto detected properly now.
-Curved and flatscreen aspect ratio script has been re written and the models for these have been replaced. This means that they will appear bigger but that the size represents the height in meters of the screen. This will benefit updates in the future.
-A new custom format has been added 'Facebook Pyramid'. Thank you Andrew Hazelden http://www.andrewhazelden.com/blog/ :).
-The trailer has been updated.

Known Bugs
-Gamepad and Explorer are going to be a bit wierd in the desktop mode as the mouse is stil controlling the movement while trying to select options. It will be fix in the next update hopefully.
-The explorer doesn't always select the correct drive. I don't know why yet. You can simple click a different drive and back again.
-Dropdowns in the Gamepad options will select the option if clicked to the left of the dropdown to close.
-If the wrong gamepad is selected the d-pad will access will be mixed around. Xbox one and 360 have different mapping so need to be selected correctly to get the dpad working properly.

3.24
Fixed Zoom and Volume cross over issue.
Updated Help screen.