Vinyl Reality - DJ in VR news & patch notes

v1.1.1 Release notes

New Features and Improvements:

• SDK: Released SDK v1.5 which adds support for Spout video routing to custom environments

The new SDK release can be downloaded here: https://www.vinyl-reality.com/sdk/

This update adds support for sending and receiving real-time video between Vinyl Reality and other applications (ex: OBS, Resolume, TouchDesigner, Processing) using Spout. Spout uses the GPU to send real-time video between Windows applications with near-zero latency or overhead. Video can be sent to Spout from the spectator cameras in all environments in Vinyl Reality, including custom ones created with the SDK. Vinyl Reality can also receive video from Spout and display it on the screens in the Streaming Studio and Indoor Rave environments. Possible use cases for Spout in Vinyl Reality:

• Displaying custom visuals in the environments by receiving video from a VJ application
• Customizing your video streams by sending video to another application and adding effects
• Sending video directly to OBS for streaming

For more details on how to configure Spout in Vinyl Reality, be sure to check out the relevant documentation.

v1.1.0 Release notes

New Features and Improvements:

• Customization: Added support for sending and receiving video using Spout

Bug Fixes:

• Main Menu: Fixed link to Discord server

Big thanks to Flip Reality for contributing to this release!

v1.0.2 Release notes

New Features and Improvements:

• Record Case: Added support for Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) text characters

v1.0.1 Release notes

Bug Fixes:

• Avatars: Fixed some Ready Player Me avatars not loading correctly

Today marks a very important milestone in Vinyl Reality’s development as it transitions from Early Access to a full release. Developing Vinyl Reality as a solo developer has been a very rewarding (and at times also a very challenging) experience, and I’m very proud of the final result. I feel that the application is now stable and delivers the experience that I initially set out to create. I still have a lot of ideas on how to further improve the application, so of course this does not mean that there will be no new updates or content released in the future!

New promo videos

To help promote the full release of Vinyl Reality I’ve created two new videos. The first video is a brand new trailer which highlights some of the features that have been added during Early Access: The second video is a bit more technical and gives a quick overview of all the DJ equipment currently available in the application:

Thank you!

I would like to thank everyone who has supported the development of Vinyl Reality during its Early Access phase. Getting this far wouldn’t have been possible without your continued support and amazing feedback! I hope you enjoy using the app as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it 💙

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/5535f096069ef4f7351423aa94902e721af4b683.png This update is a pre-release of the 1.0.0 version of Vinyl Reality, and will be used to track down and fix the last remaining issues and bugs ahead of the full release later this month. So if you experience any issues while using this latest update, be sure to report them on the Vinyl Reality Discord server, or through the contact form on the website!

v1.0.0rc1 Release notes:

New Features and Improvements:

• Avatars: Added new built-in robot avatar
• Avatars: Improved resting hand pose for Ready Player Me avatars
• Turntable: Added pitch range user setting with options: 8%, 16%, 32%, 50%, 100%
• Turntable: Attach records when thrown onto turntable platter
• User Settings: Moved all meta data settings to record case panel
• Performance: Several minor performance improvements

Bug Fixes:

• Turntable: Fixed record playback stopping when another record touches the needle
• Turntable: Fixed tonearm falling through tonearm rest when dropped

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/09d59cb74db659476f90d6304626a09ed0a5644d.png Vinyl Reality now supports loading both half and full-body avatars downloaded from the Ready Player Me platform in the .GLB file format. Using full-body avatars does not require full-body tracking, and works with just the tracking data from the headset and both controllers. For more information on how to create and load your own avatars, please visit: https://vinyl-reality.com/wiki/doku.php?id=ready_player_me_avatars

EA v1.6.0f1 Release notes

New Features and Improvements:

• Avatars: Added support for loading half and full-body Ready Player Me avatars
• Audio Analysis: Improved beat and energy detection algorithms
• Environments: Tweaked audio reactive components in Indoor Rave and Streaming Studio environments

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/88608d59e14504b9e6e59ed17449a81271d58c0c.png

New Indoor Rave environment

The main addition in this update is the new indoor rave environment which replaces the existing club environment. This new UFO themed environment includes:

• A massive crowd which reacts to your music
• A ton of audio reactive screens and lights
• Audio reactive smoke and CO2 cannon effects
• Lasers!

For the crowd to dance in-sync with the music being played, it’s important that your tracks have their BPM meta data analyzed and tagged correctly. I added a guide to the online documentation which explains several ways to analyze and tag your audio files: https://vinyl-reality.com/wiki/doku.php?id=how_to_analyze_and_tag_audio_files

Wrapping up

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/93d220c729b607992bcb9625feda7668a4d9720f.png Today also marks the 4 year anniversary of Vinyl Reality being released on Steam Early Access! Even though the application has been in a stable and polished state for quite a while now, I was keen on adding this new environment before finally calling it “finished”. So in the coming weeks I’ll be fixing the last remaining issues and start transitioning the application from Early Access to Full Release. Thanks to everyone who supported the development of the application up until now!

EA v1.5.0f1 Release notes

New Features and Improvements:

• Environments: Replaced club with new indoor rave environment

Bug Fixes:

• Main menu: Fixed custom environment folder shortcut button not working

EA v1.4.7f1 Release notes

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/578491e01cd757d7f0265979527dc69a00503ef0.jpg

New Features and Improvements:

• Vinyl Records: Improved readability of record grooves
• Vinyl Records: Added optional setting to make record grooves glow
• Audio Recorder: Increased max file size of wave file to 4GB
• Audio Recorder: Split wave files larger than 4GB into multiple parts
• Mixer: Improved gain-staging on channels to prevent audio clipping
• Mixer: Improved level meter accuracy and responsiveness
• Audio Reactive System: Improved music energy level detection accuracy and responsiveness
• Tech: Improved overall performance

Bug Fixes:

• Audio Recorder: Fixed recordings longer than 1.5 hours resulting in a wave file with incorrect length
• Environments: Fixed lighting in Black Box environment

EA v1.4.6f2 Release notes

Bug Fixes:

• Vinyl Records: Fixed crashes and random weird behavior (ex: audio stopping, VR controls becoming unresponsive) caused by throwing vinyl records into the environment

EA v1.4.6f1 Release notes

New Features and Improvements:

• Streaming: The artist and title of the current track is now automatically written to a separate text file (Documents/Vinyl Reality/NowPlayingTrackInfo.txt) which can be used for a text overlay in OBS
• Environments: Made small tweaks and performance improvements to beat detection for audio reactive elements
• Main menu: Added list of patrons to credits section

Bug Fixes:

• Turntable: Fixed platter braking incorrectly when powering on the turntable while the platter was still spinning after shutting it off, mimicking the behavior of a real SL-1200.

EA v1.4.5f2 Release notes

Bug Fixes:

• Audio: Fixed several audio related issues and bugs

EA v1.4.5f1 Release notes

Bug Fixes:

• Turntable: Fixed platter strobe dots rotation speed when headset refresh rate was not set to 90 Hz
• Record Case: Fixed not being able to return to previous folder if Rekordbox collection loading fails
• Audio: Fixed rare audio crash when loading Tutorial
• General: Fixed other minor non user-facing bugs

Tech:

• Engine: Updated Unity version to 2018.4.32f1

After the previous update (EA v1.4.4f1), I started receiving more reports from users experiencing audio dropouts and unresponsive input controls after using the app for about an hour. After a thorough investigation, I think I have finally found the root cause for this issue, and this update should hopefully fix it. If you still experience a similar issue after this update, be sure to report it!

EA v1.4.4f2 Release notes

Bug Fixes:

• Stability: Fixed memory corruption bug that could result in audio dropouts and unresponsive input controls

EA v1.4.4f1 Release notes

Bug Fixes:

• Potential fix for soft crash which caused audio to suddenly stop playing

Tech:

• Updated FMOD audio engine

EA v1.4.3f1 Release notes

New Features and Improvements

• Record Case: Improved loading time when importing Rekordbox collection XML file

Bug Fixes:

• Record Case: Fixed frame drops after loading a very large Rekordbox collection XML file

EA v1.4.2f2 Release Notes

• Turntable: Fixed needles jumping after the application encounters a performance issue
• Beat Detection: Tweaked settings to improve accuracy
• Tech: Fixed two rare bugs which could lead to crashes

I’m currently working towards releasing the “full” version of Vinyl Reality and leaving Early Access, but I though it would be a good idea to release a small update in the meantime, with a couple of improvements and a new environment add-on.

Kratfwerk Environment

Some users who have been using Vinyl Reality from its early beginnings might remember the old main menu scene located in a large industrial hall which was loosely based on Kraftwerk in Berlin. Since I really liked the layout and atmosphere of this space, I decided to convert it to an audio reactive environment designed for streaming. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/720d8ea812e08d06d3b0c9a8d9fc14e6b5d2e4ce.jpg This environment is not included with the application by default, but can be downloaded from mod.io. Be sure to also check out some of the other amazing environments which have been created by the community on Vinyl Reality's mod.io page!

Other notable improvements:

• Beat Detection: Improved accuracy and responsiveness for all audio reactive components
• LIV: Updated SDK to v1.5.3. Be sure to use LIV’s latest public beta for the best experience
• Desktop Mirror: Added optional bass vibration effect
• Streaming Console: Added keyboard shortcuts for selecting cameras
• Tech: Improved performance and fixed several minor bugs

This update fixes a couple of bugs and adds several small improvements.

Breaking Changes

To simplify its installation, the directory for custom content (ex: environments, slipmats) has been moved to: C:\\Users\\YourUsername\\Documents\\Vinyl Reality Content that’s already been installed will have to be copied manually from the old to the new directory, or reinstalled. For more information on how to install custom content, please refer to the online documentation.

EA v1.4.1f1 Release Notes

• Custom content: Moved installation directory to user’s documents folder
• Bug: Potential fix for master output audio and audio reactive lights not working in some cases
• Main Menu: Added several new links and redesigned several panels
• Mixer: Improved rotary knob center snapping
• Environments: Improved visibility of exit sign

Mod.io

To make it easier to share, discover and download user generated content for Vinyl Reality, I’ve setup a page for the application on mod.io, a cross platform mod API. Content creators will be encouraged to upload their content to this page going forward, so that all of the custom environments and slipmats for Vinyl Reality are easily accessible in one place. An account is not needed to download content, but is required to upload it. All of the custom content for Vinyl Reality can now be found at: https://vinylreality.mod.io/ {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/b62bc930eecce0ef877c8a722b7c59cf228e4851.jpg

Installing custom content

For the time being, installing user generated content, still requires the files to be downloaded manually from the mod.io page, and then extracted and copied into the correct directory. Install instructions for custom content can be found on the documentation wiki. I hope to be able to integrate the mod.io API into Vinyl Reality at some point though, so that in the future content can be browsed and managed directly from inside the application.

Attic Environment

Some users might fondly remember the Attic environment which was included in early versions of Vinyl Reality, but was replaced by the Black Box and Streaming Studio in a recent update. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/4efbbbf9cb8263570b6f1e5dff872e373a51aee5.jpg After making a few tweaks, this environment is now available again as a separate add-on and can also be downloaded from the mod.io page: https://vinylreality.mod.io/attic

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/b3f67ba864e98a2f64d78b0f2c314221def582af.jpg

Low and High-Pass Filter

This release adds a new knob to each mixer channel, which combines a low and high-pass filter. Turning the knob clockwise from the 12 o’clock position activates the high-pass filter (HPF), increasing the cutoff frequency from 20 to 22000hz when completely turned. Turning the knob counter-clockwise, actives the low-pass filter (LPF), decreasing the cutoff frequency from 22000hz down to 20hz. While the filter is active, the LED ring on the bottom of the knob is illuminated in blue. The filter’s resonance and attenuation slope can also be configured in the mixer’s settings panel.

Known issues

Cross-platform Oculus avatars are currently not loading correctly. This issue is also affecting other applications and games, and is most likely caused by a problem with downloading the required assets from Oculus servers. I’ve contacted Oculus about the issue and hope it will be resolved on their end soon.

Full Release Notes

• Mixer: Added low and high-pass filter knob to each channel
• Mixer: Improved 3 band EQ knob sensitivity
• Mixer: Added filter resonance and slope to user settings
• Tech: Optimized performance

This update adds "Now Playing" notifications to the desktop mirror. EA v1.3.3f1 Release Notes:

• Desktop Mirror: Added optional "Now Playing" notification
• Environments: Lowered height of camera feed screen slightly

For more information on how to enable the new notifications, be sure to read the online documentation: https://vinyl-reality.com/wiki/doku.php?id=application_settings

This update adds expressive cross-platform Oculus avatars and focuses on improving performance.

Release Notes:

• Avatars: Added expressive Oculus avatars
• Avatars: Updated to the latest version of the Oculus Avatar SDK
• Streaming Console: Improved audio recorder performance and reliability
• Tech: Improved performance to minimize frame drops and audio glitches
• Bug: Fixed streaming camera zoom level not being saved and loaded correctly

After combining a lot of new features and content in the previous update, I now plan to switch back to releasing smaller updates more regularly again. This small update focuses on improving the streaming cameras, by adding the following functionality:

• The position of both streaming cameras is now saved and loaded automatically for each environment
• Added a button to the user setting’s application tab to reset the position of the cameras for the current environment
• Added a controller shortcut to snap the rotation of a streaming camera to 10 degree increments, to make it easier to align straight shots.

To snap a streaming camera’s rotation, simply hover over it with a controller and press one of the following buttons on your controller:

• Vive Wands: Menu button
• Index: B button
• Oculus Touch: B or Y button
• WMR: Menu button

Full Release Notes:

• Streaming Cameras: Position is now saved and loaded automatically for each environment
• Streaming Cameras: Added reset button to user setting’s application tab
• Streaming Cameras: Added controller shortcut to snap rotation to 10 degree increments
• LIV: Fixed bug introduced in EA v1.3.0f2

After two beta tests, the final version of update 1.3.0 is finally here! Here’s a quick overview of what’s new.

New Environments

Streaming Studio

• A customizable environment with audio reactive video playback and lights
• Best suited for video recordings or live streams
• Optimized to run smoothly on machines meeting the minimum specs

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/7ae3335ba7bf59e973d1636eb5ad6a73ae744f6d.jpg The Streaming Studio environment is specifically designed for streaming, by making it more visually interesting for people watching a video stream or recording made with Vinyl Reality, from outside of VR on a 2D screen. Users can customize the streaming studio environment by playing their own videos on the screens surrounding the DJ booth. More customization features might be added in upcoming updates.

Black Box

• A minimal, low-lit environment
• Best suited for long recording or practice sessions
• Optimized for performance

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/c41933004552c14948f14045ac59572ef31071e3.jpg The Black Box environment was designed primarily with performance in mind, and should provide a very smooth DJing experience even on systems that only meet the minimum requirements. These two new environments replace the existing Attic and Recording Studio environments, but the plan is to make these available again as separate downloads in the near future, so they can be loaded as a custom environment.

Streaming Cameras

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/0beeb08ec093658970777f148c3d0e03b67a1d30.jpg To give users more control over how streams are recorded, each environment now contains two spectator cameras that can be freely positioned anywhere inside the DJ booth. Both cameras can be activated using the existing streaming console. The camera to the left of the DJ gear is assigned to button number 3 on the streaming console and the one to right to button number 4. For more information on how to use all of these new features, be sure to check out the online documentation for this update: https://vinyl-reality.com/wiki/doku.php?id=early_access_v1.3.0f1

Full Release Notes:

• Environments: Added new Streaming Studio environment
• Environments: Added new Black Box environment
• Environments: Removed Attic and Recording Studio environments
• Streaming: Added two user controllable spectator cameras to all environments
• Streaming: Cross-platform Oculus avatar’s hand poses now update correctly for all platforms (except WMR)
• Streaming: Controller models are now hidden from spectator and mixed reality (LIV) cameras
• Streaming: The camera output screen now hides automatically when no spectator camera is active
• Bug: Fixed track cover artwork not loading when quality setting was set to low or medium
• Bug: Fixed Several minor bug fixes and improvements
• Audio Analysis: Improved energy detection algorithm
• Oculus: Added correct models for Rift S controllers

I wanted to give users more control over how streams are recorded, so I decided to add a new type of spectator camera that can be positioned anywhere in the environment and is activated using the existing streaming console. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/0beeb08ec093658970777f148c3d0e03b67a1d30.jpg Each environment now contains two of these new user controllable cameras, one to the left of the DJ gear and one to the right. The left one is assigned to button number 3 on the streaming console and the right one to button number 4. To position one of these cameras, simply grab it with a controller and move it to anywhere in the environment. The zoom level of the camera can also be adjusted, by moving the controller’s joystick or touchpad up and down (while selecting it with a controller).

New Environment

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/a1efafb4748d738c27cf10db45a47183b1a518dd.jpg I’ve also replaced the recording studio environment with a new simple and low-lit environment called Black Box. This environment was designed primarily with performance in mind, and should provide a very smooth DJing experience even on systems that only meet the minimum requirements. The older environments that have been replaced by the Black Box and Streaming Studio will still be made available as a separate download once the final version of this update is released.

Full Release notes

• Environments: Added new Black Box environment, optimized for performance
• Streaming: Added two user controllable spectator cameras to all environments
• Streaming: The camera output screen now hides automatically when no spectator camera is active
• Oculus: Added correct models for Rift S controllers

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/2f3e8369bcfb9591decba8323b1b121c3140b219.jpg This beta release of Vinyl Reality adds an early version of the new Streaming Studio environment, which is specifically designed for streaming, by making it more visually interesting for people watching a video stream or recording made with Vinyl Reality, from outside of VR on a 2D screen. Users can customize the environment by playing their own videos on the screens surrounding the DJ booth. More customization features will be added to the environment in upcoming updates. To find out more about how to load your own videos, check out the online documentation on this topic. I’d love to hear all of your feedback on this new environment, so be sure to share your thoughts in the beta testing forums, or on the Vinyl Reality Discord server!

Planned environments for the full release

In preparation for the full release of Vinyl Reality, I decided to rethink the environments included with the application, seeing what works and, more importantly, what I think could be improved. For the final version of the app I'm planning to include 3 different types of environments, each serving a unique purpose:

• Minimal: Very simple and brightly lit environment, optimized for the best performance. Best suited for practicing and audio recording.
• Streaming: Designed to be as visually interesting as possible for spectators (on a 2D screen), with audio reactive lights, animations and visual effects. Designed to run smoothly on machines meeting the minimum specs. Will allow for some customization.
• Experience: Designed to be as realistic, immersive, visually interesting and awe-inspiring as possible from the perspective of the VR user. Will require a system with recommended specs to run smoothly.

The third type (experience) will probably only be added after the application leaves Early Access, because it will take a considerable amount of time and resources to create. I plan to remove or redesign all of the current environments (Recording Studio, Attic and Club), but still make the current versions available as a separate download, so they can be loaded as a custom environment.

Full release notes

• Environments: Added an early version of Streaming Studio environment with customizable audio reactive video screens
• Streaming: Cross-platform Oculus avatar’s hand poses now update correctly for all platforms (except WMR)
• Streaming: Controller models are now hidden from spectator and mixed reality (LIV) cameras
• Bug: Fixed track cover artwork not loading when quality setting was set to low or medium
• Audio Analysis: Improved energy detection algorithm

Early Access version 1.2.4 of Vinyl Reality is now available. This update adds the final improvements to the record case before the upcoming full release of the application.

Vinyl Record Labels

My favorite new feature in this update is the ability to load and display the cover art embedded in audio files on the vinyl record’s label. I think it adds a really nice visual touch to the records and makes each one feel more unique and recognizable. If no front cover art image is embedded in a file, the old default record label will be used. As always, this feature is optional and can be configured in the new record case user settings panel.

Additional Metadata

I’ve redesigned the bottom part of the record case’s UI and replaced the mostly useless navigation menu options UI with a display for the selected track's key, length and genre metadata. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/31209528/1933d3a7537de0c5224907885d601d7089869b9c.jpg Additionally, when a track is loaded onto a turntable, it’s key can also be displayed on the turntable’s pitch slider (pictured above), making it easier to mix harmonically. Because a change in pitch also changes the key of the track, the key’s value will change color to indicate that the key has changed if the pitch is adjusted by more than 3 percent.

Full Release Notes

I’ve also added a number of other changes and improvements, so be sure to read through the full release notes below.

• Record Case: Added option to display cover art embedded in audio file on vinyl record label
• Record Case: Replaced navigation menu options UI with display for the selected track's key, length and genre metadata
• Record Case: Added ability to browse entire Rekordbox Collection after loading exported XML
• Record Case: Changed save location for audio recordings to separate "Recordings" subfolder
• Turntable: Added option to display current track's key on pitch slider UI
• Turntable: Added ability to load separate slipmat images for left (Slipmat_Left.png) and right (Slipmat_Right.png) turntable
• User Settings: Added separate record case UI panel
• Bug: Fixed potential memory leak in record case
• Demo Tracks: Added 4 new tracks, courtesy of Fold Records

For more in-depth information about all of these features, you can check out the online documentation: https://vinyl-reality.com/wiki

Flip Reality used the Vinyl Reality SDK to faithfully recreate the jaw-dropping stage from Daft Punk’s Alive 2007 tour. If you want to relive Daft Punk's set from 2007, be sure to join the live stream on Sunday the 15th! Live Stream Link: https://www.bandlab.com/flipreality Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/415020902696400/ The environment will also be made available for download after the stream has finished.