I first downloaded the 0.4.1 SDK and Runtime for the Mac. I then plugged in all cables as recommended in the guide that comes with the DK 2. After getting the cables set up, I installed the Runtime and SDK. The README contains this note:
“Before using your new DK2, it is critical to update the firmware on the headset. This is important to ensure reliable functioning of your DK2. Use the Config Util to install the firmware file supplied in this release (v2.11). This is only relevant to DK2 owners.”
OculusConfigUtil profile screen |
OculusConfigUtil Display modes selection panel |
Extended Mode
In the display preference, I set the displays to extended mode. My laptop screen was set as the main display and the Rift was the extended display. The Unity Integration guide, in the monitor set up section, says “For DK2, the resolution should be Scaled to 1080p, the rotation should be 90°and the refresh rate should be 75 Hertz,” so those were the settings I used.
In the OculusConfigUtil I then selected Show Demo Scene and the demo scene appeared correctly on the Rift. Yeah!
The desk scene demo accessed by selecting the "Show Demo Scene" button in OculusConfigUtil |
I then tried to run the “Oculus World Demo" and it appeared on my main monitor and not the Rift. The mouse cursor also disappeared so there was no way to move the demo window to the extended portion of the desktop. The Unity Integration guide monitor set up section says “Some Unity applications will only run on the main display. In the Arrangement screen, drag the white bar onto the Rift's blue box to make it the main display.” This was the case with the “Oculus World Demo" and to view it I needed to set the Rift as the main display and then run the demo. But, doing so wasn’t as simple as it sounds.
Working with the desktop is not really possible when looking through the Rift, so I needed to first make sure the “Display Preferences Window” and the finder window with the application I wanted to launch were situated such that they were at least partially on the extended portion of the display before I switched to having the Rift be the main display.
Desktop window positioning |
You need to grab the white bar that indicates which display is the main display and drag it so that the Rift is main display. |
Then with my main screen as the extended display, I double clicked on the “Oculus world demo” to run it.
OculusWorldDemo |
And the demo ran successfully on the Rift.
That process was very cumbersome, so I decided to also take a look at using mirrored mode.
Mirrored Mode
In the display preferences, I set the displays to mirrored. Again, I needed to rotate the display 90 degrees for the display to be the correct orientation.
I then ran both the “Oculus World Demo” and the demo in the config Utility. In both cases I saw a lot of judder as I moved my head around (very headache inducing). The release notes have this to say on the topic:
On a suggestion from Brad, I tried setting the display refresh rate to 60 hertz. This significantly reduced the judder; however, there was noticeable screen blur when I moved my head. The good news on the blur was that unlike the judder, it wasn’t an immediate headache trigger for me.
“ Scene Judder - The whole view jitters as you look around, producing a strobing back-and-forth effect. This effect is the result of skipping frames (or Vsync) on a low-persistence display, it will usually be noticeable on DK2 when frame rate falls below 75 FPS. This is often the result of insufficient GPU performance or attempting to render too complex of a scene. Optimizing the engine or scene content should help.
We expect the situation to improve in this area as we introduce asynchronous timewarp and other optimizations over the next few months. If you experience this on DK2 with multiple monitors attached, please try disabling one monitor to see if the problem goes away.”
On a suggestion from Brad, I tried setting the display refresh rate to 60 hertz. This significantly reduced the judder; however, there was noticeable screen blur when I moved my head. The good news on the blur was that unlike the judder, it wasn’t an immediate headache trigger for me.
Which mode will I use?
Which mode I will use will really depend on what I am trying to do. If I am just using the Rift, I would choose extended mode as it does offer better performance. In extended mode I was seeing 75 FPS and in mirrored mode with the refresh rate set to 75 hertz I was seeing 46 FPS and with the refresh rate set to 60 I was seeing 60 FPS.
But until Direct HMD Access mode works on the Mac, unless I am testing for performance, I will probably mostly use mirrored mode when developing. Mirrored mode allows me to see what the person using the Rift is doing and provides a faster work-flow for doing quick iterations.
Thanks for this. Very helpful. I am going to give it a go with the Rift and will let you know.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I've been trying to get my Mac setup well with an extra monitor and the DK2 attached for optimal development but could only do so with mirroring. My FPS is horrible at ~20-30 FPS!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteWhen I start a VR app, I hit command + tab, and then go to the app icon on the apps dashboard, and then left click on it, bringing up the menu. I choose Options and Assign to Desktop 2. Some of the apps worked well with this technique.
ReplyDeleteDoes the OR decrease frame rates? how did the FPS compare to just running the same graphics/game on your Mac? I have i5 27" and I run nearly all games at 2560x1440 with all options on max/high. So I would suspect? That when lowering to 1080 res that I could easily top out all current steam games at 75fps. HOWEVER - will the OR put a drag on that? And if so- what %?
ReplyDeleteHuge huge thanks for detailing all of us. We dev DK2 peeps thank you.
ReplyDeleteok my positional tracker lights up, IRs are on (I can see them using my phone), but tilting doesnt work in the demo. Am I missing something? DK2 + OSX
ReplyDeleteI am completely new to rift, so please bear with me. The issue I'm facing is that my display orientation goes from 90 degrees to standard as soon as I move the cursor on my mac screen. Any help would be really appreciated!
ReplyDeleteOculus has since dropped all mac support for its drivers...
ReplyDeleteHow do you even get to the display options? I'm having trouble following just because of this simple step...
ReplyDeleteahahahahah, few hours laters, searching all around the net, and find your and the only blog with the solution ! you're the one thank ahahahahahahah
ReplyDelete