Hi Everyone

So I've released a new version of Whirligig in Betas, version 4.92. This version has some big updates under the hood including a move to the latest version of Unity which should improve stability and help for future updates. I've also worked on some of the explorer stuff including the loading of thumbnails.

Explorer

• Thumbnails now cache the stills they make so that the next load will be a lot quicker.
  
• Thumbnails only load if in the viewport so loading a folder with a lot of images/videos won't spend the whole time caching every piece of media.
  
• Desktop mirroring has been looked at and and a couple of things fixed.
  
• Webcam has also had that.
  
• Early integration of NDI support. Still early days on this but it's has some support and it's development will be dictated by the interest from the community.

SteamVR SDK and Oculus SDK news
So I've been stuck in a quandary for a while. On the Steam Store Whirligig contains the Oculus SDK and the SteamVR SDK and picks the one to use based on your headset. On the Oculus Store the SteamVR SDK has to be removed. Oculus has updated there Oculus SDK dropping support for Unity 2019, which means that I've got to update the Unity version to use any new features in the releases of the Oculus SDK.

I did the update installed all the latest SDK's and ran into a bug that appears to be in the Oculus SDK. Basically the Oculus SDK causes Whirligig to crash on load. Finding no solution I have chosen to remove the Oculus SDK from the Steam Store version. This has meant quite a few updates and bug fixes that I've been working through.

So my question here is, is removing the Oculus SDK from the Steam Store version a big deal? I've kept all the same features and I think it'll will help Whirligig work more consistently on Steam. What do you guys think?

And Finally
So give it a go, let me know of any bugs, features you'd like and any thoughts you have. I continue to work on Whirligig and don't intend to stop although I don't have as much time as I used to so progress isn't always good. Despite that I don't intend to stop my work on it and very much appreciate your thoughts.

Apart from that, keep cool (I'm in the UK we're having a heat wave) or warm depending on where you live. Until the next update, happy watching :)

Hi everyone

I've finally manged to get Whirligig on Applab. It's been on SideQuest (itch.io) for a while but I wanted to move that build to applab to make it easier to get on the Quest.

The reason I'm posting here is that I want to get a few people to check it out and let me know how they get on. Basically if they have any problems etc.

I'm offering free codes to anyone who already own it on Itch.io/Sidequest and that won't change indefinitely. I'm also offering codes to anyone who owns Whirligig on any other store/platform. So if you've got it on PC on Steam for example give me a shout and I'll send you a code. That offer might change depending on how many people take me up on it.

So how do you get your code? Email me phileday@yahoo.co.uk with any details you have to say you've already purchased it and I'll send you back a code.

Probably the biggest thing in the last update is the positional sound for 5.1 audio. This is also in the Quest version (only in the Exo Player video path). It's something I've wanted in there for a while :)

So give me an email. Feel free to ask me any questions here as well.

All the best and happy watching.

Phil

Hi everyone

So we have a new update with some exciting improvements. First a couple of images:





Thumbnails option added to Explorer
You can now choose a thumbnail view in the explorer. This is a relatively new update and I think it will struggle with folders with a large number of files. Give it a go though and let me know what you want improved on it.


Audio menu
With audio getting more complex I've given it it's own menu. This allows for more control and new features to be added.

Audio Tracks
With the new menu I've been able to provide a much easier way to select audio tracks and also give more details on what each track is. Simply click the track you want and it'll be selected, also which ever audio track selected will be remembered when the same media file is opened later.

Surround Sound
So this is the exciting one. Basically I've wanted to be able to have positional audio for multi track videos for a long time. Many videos come with 5.1 audio and all the programs you use to play them merges them down to a stereo output. This is generally OK for headphones but with VR you are missing the opportunity to place that audio in a 3D space. This also allows you to take advantage of spatial sound. With direct access to each channel I can now place them in 3D space and give volume options for all channels. If the dialog is too quite you can boost the centre channel for example.

Other options also include showing speakers so you can see where the audio is coming from and lock rotation so that is plays as stereo instead of being head tracked.

Subtitles
With the update to the audio track selection I've also worked on including this for subtitles. There is also support for muxed subtitles in Media Foundation (These will be displayed at their correct times but the time they disappear is based on the length of the subtitle, hopefully I'll be able to fix this soon).

Trying the beta
It's very easy to try the betas but if you've not done it before I've made a tutorial to help:
https://youtu.be/z9pv-cgn4IE

Thoughts
This is a big update and for this reason there is a good chance it'll still have bugs in some way. Please let me know if you run into any problems phileday@yahoo.co.uk or post on the Whirligig Steam forum. I'd also like to know what other options you would want regarding these new features. Are there some kick ass features I could include in the next update :)

Final Thoughts
Work on Whirligig still continues and will continue to continue. Whirligig is a long term project for me and I intend to support it as long as I can. In saying this I also have other jobs so I can't work on Whirligig full time so updates tend to come in spurts. Many have suggested new features and bug reports and I continue to fix and add these in subsequent updates. Not always straight away depending on complexity.

All suggestions are welcome, and I really appreciate feedback. Most of the features I add have been requested so it's worth suggesting something if there is a feature you'd really like.

I hope you like the updates and I look forward to your feedback.

Happy watching :)

Phil

Hi

It's been requested a few times to have thumbnails show up in the explorer. In this update I've added a system that allows you to switch to a thumbnail view.

So this is the first version of this to be released. I think it's working ok, it does go through each file so if you have a very large number of files in a folder it might have problems. I'm hoping that all you can let me know what you think, what problems you have and what improvements I can make.

Here are some screenshots that illustrate the update:





So as I said it's the first iteration of this and will probably have problems. So be careful not to throw too much at it to begin with. I very much want to here everyone's feedback on this :)

Hope you like it :)

Phil

Hi everyone

So after the default update I've been working on all your feedback and bug reports and done my best to fix any issues with the latest version. This is now available as a beta whirligig_early_access_v.4.886 for people to give it a go before it gets pushed to the main build.

What issues have I addressed. Well I've struggled a lot with the VR SDK's and Unity3D so I've spent a lot of time trying to get the Oculus SDK and the SteamVR SDK working nicely together. Hopefully this should fix issues with VR not always working. It should also mean that the SteamVR control panel should only open when using a non Oculus headset. Oculus will use it's own SDK. Apart from that update (which was a pain in the arse to get working) I've worked on getting issues fixed where countries where they use "," for a decimal (this is mainly resume feature issues), small fixes, general stability and any issues that people have had since the last default update.

I've also removed the different loading options at start up as I don't think they were helping and were causing more problems that solving.

If you've not tried the betas before then here is a tutorial to help you get start, hint, it's really easy to try the betas in Steam:
https://youtu.be/z9pv-cgn4IE

So please give it a try and let me know if you have any problems. I'll be updating the default with this very soon so if I can quash any bugs before then the better.

Happy watching

Phil

One last thing. If you have Whirligig on the Oculus store and want to try the beta on Steam email phileday@yahoo.co.uk and I'll send over a code. The reverse is true as well. I am very close to updating that version as well. This is the last push before I hit go on the Oculus Store version.

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.

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:
https://youtu.be/z9pv-cgn4IE

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%\AppData\Roaming
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)\Steam\steamapps\common\Whirligig" 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/


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/

Hi everyone

So before Christmas I posted to say that I wanted to update the default build with the current beta and that if anyone was having problems with this version then please get in touch.

Well the version I wanted to use has been through the ringer and many of the changes I made to fix things broke things. The biggest one of these was updating to Unity 2021 (the 3D engine I use) which caused a slow down in playback for many people especially when combine with super-sampling.

So I've reverted back to Unity 2019 and updated everything else. This seems to of either kept or improved the performance so that's good.

So again the cry to arms goes out to everyone especially people who haven't tried the betas before to give this one a go and let me know if you have any problems with the update. I'm hoping there will only be minor bugs left if any (there might be bugs that are in the previous version and this one but hopefully I've not added any new ones).

The betas have been worked on for a long time now so there are lots of improvement including better desktop mirroring, improved performance, sharpening options and a load more.

If you're interested in trying the betas here is a link to a Youtube video helping to explain how to update to the latest beta and back again. It's very easy :)
https://youtu.be/z9pv-cgn4IE

I hope you like the update. If I don't get any complaints about new bugs I'll be updating the default soon. So if you do encounter problems I beg of you please let me know. The more I can get red of the better.

Apart from that I hope you are all well, looking forward to better times and if you're in the northern hemisphere the summer. If you in the southern hemisphere I hope your winter is brief and mild.

Until next time

Phil the one and only developer of Whirligig

Hi everyone

I've uploaded a new beta release 'whirligig_early_access_v.4.87'. I'll be updating the whirligig_early_access_latest_beta soon but this is a big update in sorts so I wanted to get a little feedback before committing to the larger release.

So firstly I've been wanting to update the default build for a while and the last beta update was, I was hoping, going to be the last before that update. However some people had problems and a there have been a few major updates to the Unity3D software and video plugins. In an effort to take advantage of the new tools, performance improvements and new feature I've spent the past few weeks implementing these changes.

'whirligig_early_access_v.4.87' is the first beta to have these changes and with any luck they will pave the way to more updates in the future.

Updates:
Moved to latest Unity3D engine 2020 build. The hope here is that the people at Unity3D will of improved Unity's performance and VR integration and by moving up to this version I'll be able to take advantage of that. Also this helps for future updates and means I can develop with the latest tools and benefits.

AVPro plugin update to version 2. AVPro is the plugin I use to drive the Media Foundation and DirectShow video playback support. The people at Renderhead have been working hard to release this new version of their plugin with increased performance and extra features. By moving to this AVPro v2 I can now take advantage of new features and any improvements they make. The first thing that should now work is support for videos with 3D meta data that fail to run properly before. Regarding new features, they have extra features for surround sound playback and I'm looking forward to taking advantage of these new features in coming updates. There currently is one know bug when loading videos where you will see a white flash. This should be fixed soon.

So what do I want from you?
Please let me know how this update has effected performance and playback and any other bugs you might come across. Anything I can iron out before updating the default build the better. The aim of these up and coming releases are to improve performance, improve stability and fix and underlying problems that are still there.

So any feedback is welcome. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this release :)

I want to tell you this
So I also want to push something else on you. I'm currently making an adventure game called 'Page One' and I've recently released a demo. Please swing on over there and take a look: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1356030/Page_One/

I'll be updating this demo soon as well so keep an eye out for that.

If you're interested in the development of 'Page One' I've also got a blog which you can check out here.
http://pageone-adventure.co.uk/

Whirligig has a big part to play in Page One's development and you can read all about it there :)

Hope that's everything. Everyone have a happy new year.

Until next time

Phil

Hi everyone

I'm going to split this up in to 3 sections. The beta to default, SideQuest give away and "Page One" the game.

So if you are a beta user of Whirligig you'll know there have been many changes over the last year, improving speed, fixing bugs, adding features, improving none VR support. I want to take this to the default.

So what do I want from you? Firstly if you haven't tried out the betas please give the latest a go. It's version 4.86 there are loads of updates to if from the default, too much to mention. It should be more stable and run smoother. Here is a tutorial on how to try the betas, it's very easy in Steam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0g9ICfaxbU

If you're already using the betas, please update to the latest version.

Now what I need to know is, are there any deal breakers? If I update the default to the latest beta am I going to break things for people who haven't tried the betas.

If you've moved from the the default to the beta you are very important to me. Did it break anything? If I did this would people who have an automatic update find they are confused or it's broken for them.

I want the update to go smoothly but I've held off for so long that I'm worried I've made changes that will effect people who aren't using the betas. It's totally my fault but what can you do :)

So I've finally managed to get Whirligig released and working on the Quest. Currently it doesn't have DLNA support but I do hope to fix that at some point.

So what am I giving away? Well if you own Whirligig on any of the stores, Steam, Oculus or Viveport then I'll be happy to give you a free key for Whirligig on SideQuest. Just email me phileady@yahoo.co.uk and I'll send one over. This actually goes both ways so if you've just bought Whirligig on SideQuest then I'll happily offer you (although not so happily as it's cheaper on SideQuest) a key to your Store of choice.

This will be for a limited period. I haven't made any decisions how limited but expect it to be to the end of the year at least.

If you buy it on SideQuest or get a code from me and like using Whirligig on the Quest a review is always welcome :)

And thirdly. So I've been working on a game for a while now. A long while. Whirligig isn't just a video player. I've programmed a games engine into it. This games engine is an offshoot from Whirligig and you can download it and find out more from here:
https://pageone-adventure.co.uk/game-creator/

and the game here:
https://pageone-adventure.co.uk/page-one/
and on Steam here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1356030/Page_One/

and demo will be released soon so keep an eye out for that.

I've also posted on Reddit with much more info and a discussion is in progress. You can check that out here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/adventuregames/comments/k5bchr/im_making_an_adventure_game_myst_like_and_wonder/

I really want to make "Page One" a thing that I can release and that people will enjoy. I got into making Whirligig because I wanted to work in VR and make a game. I'd like to reignite that passion :)

I'd like to offer everyone who has purchased and commented offering suggestions for features and letting me know about bugs my thanks. I wasn't expecting Whirligig to sell and although I haven't made my millions from it. Everyone who has purchased it allowed me to reduce my hours at my job and work on it to improve it and hopefully making it worth using for those who like to fiddle, tweak and be overwhelmed by options.

Whirligig isn't the most polished VR video player but I think I've managed to make something that a lot of people have got pleasure out of using, from watching their favourite movies and shows to the pleasures of which we will not name.

I hope you all have a lovely holiday, I hope that life gets better for everyone in 2021 (not sure how it could get worse, although I wouldn't put money it not) and lets look to the future with the best example of hope that we can muster.

Until next time, happy watching :)

Phil

Hi all

So I've released Whirligig for the Oculus Quest on SideQuest;

https://sidequestvr.com/app/2171/whirligig-vr-media-player

and I'm offering for a limited time free codes to get it on SideQuest. Just email me phileday@yahoo.co.uk and I'll send you a code for the itch.io store that's linked to SideQuest.

If anyone of you want to take on the offer I'd really apricate feedback. I'm not currently sure if it works on the Oculus Quest 2. I've ordered one which should arrive on Sunday :) So I'll be able to test it then. If any of you have a Quest 2 and want to give it a go let me know.

Apart from that, thanks for your support over the years and hopefully I can continue to support Whirligig for the years to come.

All the best and best of health

Phil