[skunkm0nkee]

It's been over a year since I last did a proper MediaStream release so it's about time the skin got a bit more attention! I've spent the last few weeks making a few changes to try and bring the skin up to date with changes that have happened in XBMC since the last release of the skin (which was December 2008!).

I've also tried to simplify the skin a bit to make it simpler to use and easier to setup. There were too many options bolted on as we pushed towards the v1.00 release and looking back now a lot of them weren't really necessary.

I still have a few ideas and changes I'd like to make but the skin is now at a stage where it could do with being released, partly so I can gauge the feedback and see if it's worthwhile continuing and partly to help me find any bugs and issues that I may have introduced in the changes (or missed this time around).

The main changes since the last time are pretty much as follows (there may be some others that I've forgotten about!):

• Added: media flags to Media Preview view
  
• Added: media flags to Info List view
  
• Added: media flags to Showcase view
  
• Added: media flags to TV/Wide view
  
• Added: media flags to Episodes view
  
• Added: displaying of Latest Movies and Episodes on Home screen
  
• Added: option to hide latest media info on Home screen
  
• Added: media flags to video info dialog
  
• Added: new Media Preview Lite view (similar to Media Preview but without the info)
  
• Added: Finish Time info to the Video OSD
  
• Added: extra info to be displayed on scan dialogs
  
• Added: drop shadow behind poster image in Media Preview view
  
• Added: displaying of TV Network and episode runtime to Media Preview view for Episodes
  
• Added: initial version of slider dialog
  
• Added: license file
  

• Fixed: the sorting options on the Options Menu
  
• Fixed: position of focus image on sub-menus of Home screen
  
• Fixed: central background for settings is removed when returning to the credits screen
  
• Fixed: central part of background should not remain on screen when returning from Settings to Videos
  
• Fixed: issue with Seasons view
  
• Fixed: missing progress bar in Video OSD
  
• Fixed: full screen video so that progress bar doesn't appear when codec info is displayed
  

• Updated: Episodes view so that plot is hidden when episode is unwatched (re-arranged other info)
  
• Updated: tidied up the buttons on the video info dialogs
  
• Updated: file path on video info dialog to be file name and path
  
• Updated: slight tweak to the glossy overlay on the large poster image on Media Preview view
  
• Updated: background for weather on home
  
• Updated: tidied up animation for weather on home
  
• Updated: moved all the positional code back from IncludesDims.xml as the code is now fully developed for 720p (XBMC will handle scaling for other resolutions)
  
• Updated: background texture used in a number of the smaller dialogs
  
• Updated: the way the lists are displayed to try and tidy up the way items are shown (work in progress)
  
• Updated: tweak to the focus image for list items
  
• Updated: tidied up the fade at the bottom of lists
  
• Updated: Paused text on Video OSD to be in upper case
  
• Updated: code to background load full screen images
  
• Updated: how the background images are displayed to get the fanart backgrounds to background load (smoother navigation)
  
• Updated: how the info is displayed on a number of views to avoid flickers and stutters and make navigation a bit smoother
  
• Updated: lightened color of disable text so that it is visible on black backgrounds
  
• Updated: correctly named all the file icon images
  
• Updated: XBMC skin version to 2.11
  
• Updated: tidied up info properties for artists and albums
  
• Updated: linux build script to deploy latest media script
  
• Updated: Swedish translation (thanks to blittan)
  

• Removed: faq.txt (as it's completely out of date now)
  
• Removed: lite theme
  
• Removed: PAL folder (rely on XBMC to do any re-scaling)
  
• Removed: IncludesDims.xml file (to simplify the code for future updates and modders)
  
• Removed: option to have blade on home screen in centre of the display
  
• Removed: plot from being displayed in Video OSD
  
• Removed: option to hide fanart on tv show views (fanart will be displayed if it is available)
  
• Removed: option to display fanart on tv show views (fanart will be displayed if it is available)
  
• Removed: option for Animated Media Preview view (may get added back as a separate view at a later date)
  
• Removed: option to hide info in Media Preview view
  
• Removed: images with Big suffix and also those named with incorrect case
  

I haven't got time to post any images of the new features right now but hope to add them shortly.

You can download the skin from here - MediaStream v1.5

Please post any feedback you have, or any bugs that you find, in this thread. Thanks

Also if you have any suggestions for further changes or features please post them in here too and I'll do my best to add all the sane ones!

Have fun!

[skunkm0nkee]

[Reserved for images etc]

[kricker]

Yeah! Good to see an official update to my preferred skin. I look forward to running it again, just need to make my homescreen mods.

[benobi]

Thanks a lot for the update, this is great.

One suggestion though, would it be possible to preload images in the wallstream view? I was a bit disappointed to see that the scrolling is jerky while many other skin are now very smooth thanks to the preload.

Thanks!

[ClayM]

I love this skin! Thanks for the hard work.

[Bram77]

Does it run well on the XBOX?

[Waffa]

If I do a little mod to it, yep.

Thanks skunk !!

[bash1979]

Looks great, nice work!

Just wondering if anyone else has tried to use custom backgrounds on the home page? I've pointed XBMC to custom background folders, but every time I switch from say TV to Movies to Weather, etc. on the homepage, there is a brief flash of the original MediaStream background before my desired background image is rendered. It's almost as if it's literally loading mine on top of the old one.

Is there a way to set the old one to black before rendering the custom one?

[kautious]

If I do a little mod to it, yep.

Thanks skunk !!

How did you mod it??
Could you be so nice to share your or show your code that's been change?
Running on my xbox, it jumps from 14mb to 6mb when browsing my videos.

[Waffa]

I did not mod it yet... but when I do it would be hiding views in skinsettings...
Like the way I did for MiniMeedia Waffa!

[kautious]

Cool!!
Hiding views seems to be the new thing with saving memory on the xbox
Great work on the update skunkm0nkee!

[Waffa]

And did made the mod see here:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?p=4...post486316

[sekidengun]

Hi there, thanks for the update.Minor problem on the home page for me. I use custom backgrounds on music and videos. When returning to the homescreen, or when I have just opened XBMC, my custom backrounds are black for around a minute untill they load. If I navigate away from my homepage then go back, it takes a minute for them to load again. Im using Camelot. Many thanks.

[Waffa]

Hey Skunk Maybe you can take a look to Home Screen...and add multi-image for custom backgrounds folders.

Was playing around with Home.xml because it eats all memory on the xbox with default backgrounds while scrolling..
so took out the code for default backgrounds and left the code for custom backgrounds, and set custombackgrounds folders.

Have no memory eating homescreen anymore, but do miss the multi-image

[skunkm0nkee]

Yep, backgrounds on the Home screen is something that's on my list as it's done in a very different way to how most skins work nowadays (back when the skin was first written it was the only decent way to get the home menu to scroll smoothly).

I hope to re-write it in a more standard way for the next release.