Desktop Development Questions

[mottosso]

Hi Leap,

I'm interested in integrating your technology and have been skimming the forum and (new) website for clues as to what your support looks like in terms of SDK, documentation and community.

1. Is there still support for Desktop (i.e. non-VR) applications? E.g. for use in Blender and Maya
2. Which SDK versions should I get? I must admit the descriptions for SDK versions 2-4 are a little confusing.

• The V2 software may be used to build with our standard tracking on OSX or Linux, or with tool tracking or touchscreen-style gestures.
• The V3 software, aka the first major Orion tracking release, is optimized for VR.
• With V4 we deprecated the older APIs
  Source

1. Does this mean V2 and V3 are deprecated?
2. Windows Support? V2 sounds like what I want, with tool tracking and touchscreen-style gestures, but if not deprecated, does it not support Windows?
3. Why is there 3 versions of the SDK? Should I as a developer support all three at once in my application?
4. Compatibility? What are your stance/thoughts on compatibility with older devices?
5. Standard Tracking? If V4 is the one to use, does it not support "standard tracking", assuming this means tracking with a stationary Leap device?

Thanks for your time, and I look forward to hearing you soon!

Best,
Marcus

[AlexColgan]

1. Is there still support for Desktop (i.e. non-VR) applications? E.g. for use in Blender and Maya. Yes, V4 retains support for the up-facing tracking orientation. It would just take some work to integrate the LeapC API with Blender or Maya as a plugin
2. Which SDK versions should I get? I must admit the descriptions for SDK versions 2-4 are a little confusing. Does this mean V2 and V3 are deprecated? Correct, V2 and V3 are no longer actively supported.
3. Windows Support? V2 sounds like what I want, with tool tracking and touchscreen-style gestures, but if not deprecated, does it not support Windows? It supports Windows, OSX and Linux.
4. Why is there 3 versions of the SDK? Should I as a developer support all three at once in my application? There are versions of the SDK for Windows, OSX, and Linux. Supporting all three would involve compiling for (and testing) all three. Note that most IDEs will let you compile for any of the three (e.g. Unity lets you pick the target platform), so you wouldn't need to download and separately use all three SDKs.
5. Compatibility? What are your stance/thoughts on compatibility with older devices? Which older devices, computers or Leap Motion Controllers?
6. Standard Tracking? If V4 is the one to use, does it not support "standard tracking", assuming this means tracking with a stationary Leap device? It does.

[mottosso]

Thanks for the response, @AlexColgan!

Which older devices, computers or Leap Motion Controllers?

Sorry, I meant older versions of the Leap Controller hardware. I haven't been able to determine whether there are any other versions, so maybe that isn't an issue. E.g. if I write software with API V4, would it run on a Leap Motion Controller someone purchased back in 2013?

It does.

Brilliant! This was my main concern. Sounds like V4 is the way to go. Thanks again Alex!

[AlexColgan]

There was some very early developer hardware we shipped before our official launch in July 2013, but other than that, a Leap Motion Controller is a Leap Motion Controller