SexyCirrus Expanded 3.3.X
Feature User Guide
Why Use a Springboard?
While you can use whatever viewtype you want for displaying multiple categories and systems, the Springboard Series is designed solely for this purpose. All the other SexyCirrus viewtypes can play videos, which will continue to play even if you back out of the current view. This is a design element of Kodi itself. Springboard viewtypes automatically terminate any playing media when visible. This also means they are incapable of using trailers or video in any way. To compensate for this, they can use a Motion-Multi Image which can be specified in the system menu. Essentially, dump every frame of a dreamscene to a directory, and setup your Motion-Multi Image source as this directory. It will play the indvidual images at speed to mimic video playback. Springboards were designed to have a system / home menu type feel. A perfectly looping background is the perfect compliment.
Option: Persistent Backdrops
ABOUT
Persistent backdrops allows the user to specify a singular repeating background for the desired viewtype while keeping the title fanart still present in the information window. This is designed in mind for those who might use screenshots for fanart (especially low resolution shots / screenshots from pre-HD systems) but not want it displayed as a background. It is also useful for having a sectional background, such as 1080px image of a system logo as a constant backdrop or any JPG image the user intends.
First time users will need to complete the following two steps.
1. From the Home screen go to
System > Appearance > Skin > Settings > SexyCirrus Expanded
2. Toggle 'Setup / Allow Usage of Persistent Backdrops' then specify the location of the target images.
USAGE
NOTE: Only JPG images are supported.
1. Images must bare the name of the system and / or a singular image with the name 'user'.
2. Select 'Use Persistent Backdrops' in the flyout menu on the desired viewtype then choose 'By System' or 'By User' for the intended image.
Example of naming convention: IBM PC Compatible.jpg
IMPORTANT INFO- REMEMBER: 'By System' requires images to be named after the System flag (called 'Platform' in Advanced Launcher) not the launcher / category name.
- If done incorrectly, a fallback warning image will be displayed instead.
- Persistent backdrops take priority over normal fanart and multi-image directories but do not obscure trailers.
Option: Modified Page Header Information
ABOUT
By default, when navigating through Advanced Launcher the upper left corner displays the time and the section name, Addons, as well as the amount of items and pages available. By tagging Modified Page Header Information, SexyCirrus Viewtypes will display the time, the system name, as well as the number of games followed by 'Games Available'. If the setting is toggled and on a Springboard 'Games Available' is changed to 'Systems Available' and next to the time 'Games' is displayed. This will hopefully lend to the gaming experience of Kodi feeling that little bit more integrated.
USAGE
This is a system menu based option, so do the following.
1. From the Home screen go to
System > Appearance > Skin > Settings > SexyCirrus Expanded
2. Toggle 'Modified Page Header Information'.
Option: Use Trailers
ABOUT
As the name implies, this takes advantage of the trailers feature in Advanced Launcher allowing a trailer or other desired video to be played back after hovering over a title for a few seconds. This was implemented after suggestion by user nyny77 and to support his video projects for HTPC gaming.
USAGE
1. The title must have a defined Trailer.
2. Select 'Use Trailers' from the flyout in the intended viewtype.
3. Choose desired presentation option.
4. Sit back and enjoy the magic!
KNOWN BUGS-
- On Versa viewtypes, the trailer for the title previous will be visible for a split-second when transitioning between titles if playing.
Extra-Fanart: Icons & Sprites
ABOUT
Icons & Sprites is a vanity addition to certain viewtypes, namely the Versa & Advance Series. It serves no purposes beyond aesthetics and as a fun addition to give viewtypes a more 'active' feel by having per title animated sprite appear, having an icon, or both.
1. The title must have a defined Extra-Fanart directory.
2. An image with the name '
icon.png' or '
sprite.gif' must exist within this directory.
Extra-Fanart: Secondary Fanart
USAGE
1. The title must have a defined Extra-Fanart directory.
2. An image with the name '
fanart2' must exist within this directory.
IMPORTANT INFO- Both JPG and PNG files are supported.
- Do not have both a fanart2.jpg and fanart2.png for a single title as both will render and this may produce an undesired aesthetic.
- Secondary fanart obeys the original image aspect and does not stretch the image in most viewtypes.
- Secondary fanart works as a support image and does not change the backdrop image. The Multi-Image Directory feature may be desired if this is the intent.
HELP
If encountering visibility problems, try the following:
1. Check that the 'fanart2' doesn't carry the .JPEG extension instead of .JPG
2. Terminate your Kodi session and restart. Occasionally Kodi won't register new images / changes until a new session.
Extra-Fanart: Multi-Image Directory
ABOUT
The original implementation for using multi-images in the gaming section of Cirrus comes with one unique and crippling flaw, it relies on the title name, and many titles contain characters which cannot be used in a valid pathname on various operating systems. This leads to frustrating and often unflattering workarounds, such as excessive uses of
- symbols as
: is illegal in the Windows filesystem, for example. Sadly, this means the feature is often ignored. SexyCirrus uses a different implementation which allows this wonderful feature to come back to prominence and removes the obscurity in its usage.
USAGE
1. The title must have a defined Extra-Fanart directory.
2. Within the defined Extra-Fanart directory, create a subfolder called '
extrafanart'.
3. Place images in the 'extrafanart' subfolder.
4. Select appropriate options from the flyout on the intended viewtype. (Not available on default Cirrus views)
IMPORTANT INFO- Uses the same structure as original Cirrus (extrafanart) but not the same implementation, allowing easy change over for setups which used the original.
- Images in full screen will always be stretched to fill the screen. Advise usage of 16:9 aspect (or monitor appropriate) images for optimal results.
Extra-Fanart: Thumbnail Substitution
ABOUT
This feature was designed to aid users that have titles from other regions which prior to the late 128-BIT era didn't have standardized casing across regions. This most normally applies to games from Japanese regions but also early 32-BIT titles in the west for PlayStation and Sega Saturn. By design, in most viewtypes this makes adding titles from differing regions problematic, now a Super Famicom game can exist comfortably alongside a collection of western Super Nintendo titles, for example.
USAGE
In order to introduce a substitution, the following must be true:
NOTE: Only JPG images are supported.
NOTE: Only Versa viewtypes support this feature.
1. The title must
NOT already have a normal thumbnail image defined.
2. The title must have a defined Extra-Fanart directory.
3. Within the Extra-Fanart directory the intended substitute image should bare the name '
extrathumb_XXX'.
Accepted Values for XXX
- Tall <-- For NTSC-J SFC or similar
- Fat <-- For NTSC-J N64 or similar
- Wide <-- For NTSC-J GBA or similar
Example of naming convention: extrathumb_tall.jpg
HELP
If all values are believed to be correct, but the substitution isn't visible, try the following:
1. Check that the 'extrathumb_XXX' doesn't carry the .JPEG extension instead of .JPG
2. Terminate your Kodi session and restart. Occasionally Kodi won't register new images / changes until a new session.
3. Delete the title, add it again and set it up. If a normal thumbnail was once added or cancelled during setup Advanced Launcher puts a placeholder path.
4. If step 4 is reached, go back and take reasonable consideration that the problem now lies with the user and the setup, not the tool.
