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Contributing to DaroEngine2

Thanks for your interest in contributing to DaroEngine2! This document covers everything you need to get started.

Development Environment Setup

Prerequisites

  • Windows 10/11 (x64)
  • Visual Studio 2022 or later with:
    • C++ Desktop Development workload (for the engine)
    • .NET Desktop Development workload (for the designer)
  • .NET 10 SDK
  • DirectX 11 compatible GPU

Building

# Build the full solution
msbuild DaroEngine2.slnx /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform=x64

The Designer's post-build step automatically copies DaroEngine.dll to its output folder.

Optional: FFmpeg Support

For ProRes 4444 and Apple Animation video decoding with alpha:

.\setup-ffmpeg.ps1

This downloads FFmpeg libraries to ThirdParty/ffmpeg/. The engine auto-detects FFmpeg at build time via __has_include.

Code Style

C++ (Engine)

  • Exported functions: Daro_ prefix with __stdcall convention
  • Classes: PascalCase (Renderer, VideoPlayer)
  • Member variables: m_ prefix (m_Device, m_Context)
  • Global variables: g_ prefix (g_Renderer)
  • Constants: DARO_ prefix, UPPER_SNAKE_CASE (DARO_MAX_LAYERS)
  • Indentation: Tabs

C# (Designer)

  • Private fields: _ prefix (_isRunning, _engineRenderer)
  • Namespace: DaroDesigner
  • Methods/Properties: PascalCase
  • Local variables: camelCase
  • Indentation: 4 spaces

General

  • Keep changes focused — one logical change per PR
  • Match the style of surrounding code
  • Use CultureInfo.InvariantCulture for all numeric parsing/formatting
  • P/Invoke structs must match C++ layout exactly (Pack = 1, CharSet.Unicode)

Project Structure

DaroEngine2/
├── Engine/                  # C++ DirectX 11 rendering engine
│   ├── DaroEngine.h         # Public API declarations
│   ├── SharedTypes.h         # DaroLayer struct and constants
│   ├── Renderer.cpp          # DirectX 11 rendering
│   ├── VideoPlayer.cpp       # Video decoding (MF + FFmpeg)
│   └── FrameBuffer.cpp       # Shared memory for preview
├── Designer/                 # C# WPF application
│   ├── MainWindow.xaml.cs    # Main UI
│   ├── Engine/
│   │   ├── EngineInterop.cs  # P/Invoke declarations
│   │   └── EngineRenderer.cs # Thread-safe engine wrapper
│   └── Models/
│       ├── LayerModel.cs     # Layer properties and animation
│       ├── ProjectModel.cs   # Scene serialization
│       └── AnimationModel.cs # Keyframe animation
├── GraphicsMiddleware/       # ASP.NET Core REST API
└── ThirdParty/               # External dependencies

How to Submit a Pull Request

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create a branch from main for your change: 
    git checkout -b feature/my-feature
  3. Make your changes — keep commits focused and well-described
  4. Test your changes:
    • Build succeeds: msbuild DaroEngine2.slnx /p:Configuration=Debug /p:Platform=x64
    • Designer launches and renders preview correctly
    • If you changed the engine API, verify P/Invoke declarations still match
  5. Push and open a pull request against main
  6. Describe what you changed and why in the PR description

Areas Where Help Is Needed

Looking for something to work on? Here are areas where contributions would be especially valuable:

  • Testing — Manual testing on different GPU hardware and Windows versions
  • Documentation — Tutorials, video guides, example templates
  • NDI Output — Adding NDI as an alternative to Spout
  • Cross-platform — Investigating Vulkan backend for Linux support
  • Performance — GPU profiling and optimization
  • Accessibility — Keyboard navigation and screen reader support in the Designer

Check the issues for more specific tasks.

Reporting Bugs

When filing a bug report, please include:

  • Windows version and GPU model
  • Steps to reproduce
  • Expected vs actual behavior
  • Relevant log output (check DaroDesigner.log)
  • Screenshot or screen recording if it's a visual issue

Mosart TCP Protocol Reference

For automation integration development, here's the command protocol:

Format: GUID|COMMAND\r\n

Commands:
  0 = CUE      → OK:CUED:{takes}:{name}
  1 = PLAY     → OK:PLAYING:{name}
  2 = STOP     → OK:STOPPED
  3 = CONTINUE → OK:PLAYING
  4 = PAUSE    → OK:PAUSED

Error: ERROR:{message}

Port: 5555 (configurable via AppConstants.MosartPort)

License

By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under the MIT License.