Kodi Community Forum

butchabay Wrote:@nowall
Never touched the volume bar ... Maybe you just have to calibrate the screen in xbmc?

My screen is calibrated. I don't remember the initial value in xml, but it was much higher than 480

Probably its absolute coordinates were planned for fullHD, and as my TV is only HD I guess it's normal that there is a move to the right.
Nevermind, don't bother with that, I'll keep changeing it manually in future releases

Yea, pulsating images sounds very neat, but im as sure as ever, my little revo wouldn't manage it

My main wish list for the future is for the ability to be able to add backgrounds to the main menu and navigate between them without the current transition and fade effects that are currently implemented.

This will allow me to have identical backgrounds for all menus (with the exception of an icon/colour change for each background etc) which will then appear as if only the icon is changing, when i navigate through my main menu. Very similar to what happens with your new system backgrounds, only without the minor fade effect.. that way it will appear as if the screen stays exactly the same and only the icon on the background is changing.

My reason for this is to allow me to have a certain amount of fancy effects, while still retaining the speed and responsiveness of my current 1 image config.

I've been looking at re:focus skin lately for ideas as i feel it has some very nice looking menus (pre-eden version) and im sure a variation of them can be implemented into CEv2 without much hassle and it will again give us a very corp/modern feel with the outstanding functionality that we already have. (talk about me wanting my cake and to eat it)

CEv2 is by far the most functional skin I've used, nothing can quite give me what CEv2 currently gives me, and although there are some nice skins around i don't think any of them have ALL the benefits (elegance, speed, and functionality) of this CEv2.

Once configured to suit my needs, i have all the functionally that high power pcs get while retaining the silent running of my atom based pc.

That said, the sleek look and feel of re:focus does looks gorgeous and i do like the "appliance" look and feel it provides in its pre-eden version. Im looking forward to see what butcha has up his sleeve in the coming months

i did read that the xbmc devs are looking to implement the .dds capabilities into the menu backgrounds and as soon as this is done (eden release) i suppose it could resolve my current issue of slow transitions between menus on my revo, and could allow me to have more than 1 image on my main menu like i currently do.

i wish i could implement more myself but my area of expertise was never with coding. im trying, but i have so many ideas and im just to dam impatient lol

This is why i respect butcha, el_p etc as they are doing an incredible job and bucha particulary has literally implement so many of my ideas for me, that i feel like i owe him a free holiday in scotland

EDIT:
The original value for the volume was 820 i believe, and i think it may have been implemented slightly to the right to avoid covering the main menu clock and display info when a dvd is paused etc.

Its in exactly the same location for me (center/right aligned) and i have now centred mine to 480 (as per your edit) and i'm using a 1080p 47" hdtv so its not a calibration issue. i assumed it was to aviode covering the date and time, and the name of the dvd etc when paused? looks good centred though

N.O.W.A.L.L Wrote:...4) I guess it's not possible, but I wish there was an option, just for the system tab at least, to select several pictures for a section background and make them slide, without animation but with just crossfade. This way I could have fun making, let's say, 2 or 3 slightly different icons on settings background per section, to obtain a kind of "pulsating light" effect of the icon, or for example an effect looking like shining gold with a light reflect running in the orange parts.

Unless I've misunderstood what you want to do I think this is possible.

So you want a background that appears to be animated, by cycling through a series of slightly different images? If so, then yes, we could do that. It just needs a multiimage control linked to the folder containing the images. You'd just need to shorten the time between images to get the effect you're after.

The weather fanart is the same control, just with a much longer display.

The animated weather icons are the same thing, with a slower display.

If you're planning to do with a background then the computer will obviously need a bit more juice, not much, but it may be too much for Pat's setup!!

If you've got some images then send them to me and I'll do a mock-up for you.

N.O.W.A.L.L Wrote:I don't know if it's a bug or a willing of Butcha, but the volume bar on my setup has always been in the upper right. Or maybe it's because my TV is just HD, not FullHD...

I prefer it centered

For those who would like to change its position, here is the trick (just edit the XXX until you are satisfied):

File:
720p/DialogVolumeBar.xml

<window id="104">
<defaultcontrol>1</defaultcontrol>
<animation effect="slide" start="0,-40" end="0,0" time="100">WindowOpen</animation>
<animation effect="slide" start="0,0" end="0,-40" delay="400" time="100">WindowClose</animation>
<controls>
<control type="group">
<posx>480</posx>
<posy>0</posy>
<control type="image">
<posx>0</posx>
<posy>-10</posy>
<width>300</width>
<height>50</height>
...

Guys,

This is what we need to see more of!

Have a go at making changes yourself (after backing up files first of course). Have a play at changing positions, sizes etc. You'll quickly pick up how skinning works and can then help to add amazing new stuff to the skin.

I'm always happy to help with tips/guidance etc. just pm me or create a new post.

el_P

PatrickBateman Wrote:I've been looking at re:focus skin lately for ideas as i feel it has some very nice looking menus (pre-eden version) and im sure a variation of them can be implemented into CEv2 without much hassle and it will again give us a very corp/modern feel with the outstanding functionality that we already have. (talk about me wanting my cake and to eat it)

Indeed, with my previous Mac Mini which was very slow, refocus was my favourite skin because it was the most responsive and damn fast (reFocus Grainy Edition running on Plex being superior to the XBMC version) but now I prefer by far CirrusEx, more complete, better looking.

Aeon may be the most eyecandy one, but even on my new Mac it's sluggish.
According to the timeline, AeonMQ3 beta should be released mid-august, with its code rewritten from scratch, therefore incredibly fast according to its developper, with a ridiculous light weight.
Aeon has always been a source of inspiration for other skinners, let's say it is the Cameron's Avatar of XBMC skins, a gigantic but heavy lab.
I'm sure that, after MQ3, there will be new solutions to make things lighter in a code point of view.

el_Paraguayo Wrote:Unless I've misunderstood what you want to do I think this is possible.

So you want a background that appears to be animated, by cycling through a series of slightly different images? If so, then yes, we could do that. It just needs a multiimage control linked to the folder containing the images. You'd just need to shorten the time between images to get the effect you're after.

The weather fanart is the same control, just with a much longer display.

The animated weather icons are the same thing, with a slower display.

If you're planning to do with a background then the computer will obviously need a bit more juice, not much, but it may be too much for Pat's setup!!

If you've got some images then send them to me and I'll do a mock-up for you.

yep, you understood what I had in mind.
I gonna try to make a test with 3 sprites for testing, maybe sunday.

For Pat, well, we should all write to his boss to convince him to pay more Pat, so that he can can finally run CirrusEx with all options activated!

You have ideas guys
I confess i always loved aeon skins and still do! First i thought i could start to mod aeon showmix, but when i saw how complex the code was i gave up! Cirrus and confluence are the skins that allowed me to learn very fast! Now that zombierobot was through hell and back i must say he has done an incredible job with showmix, i presume i'm going to switch back to aeon! I'm not saying that i'll stop with cev2, so no panic

uh... what is Showmix? a new fork of Aeon?

OK, So i've been trying to hunt down super fast skins for Dharma that have a decent fan art view and down slow down my Fusion/Zacate system like AeonMQ2 does. I tried Rapier v4, it was too slow when scrolling quickly.

I tried this one amongst others and so far its very fast. The thumbnails aren't AS fast as conflence when blowing through my library but its almost fast enough.

On a side note there are two things:

1- The trailers play (when in the big fanart view) when I hit the down key. There is no confirmation or anything notifiying you that this is happening. I personally have done this accidentally a time or two and don't care for it. My other users (family ) will have tough time remembering this etc but do still want to be able to play trailers.

2- The Kiosk mode is good but when in the Fanart view, I'm not able to hit the "up" key to bring up the info. This is a great feature that I would like to see in Kiosk mode (it works without Kiosk mode on).

When browsing through the movies the thumbs show up as blank and then come in. Works faster in confluence. Anything you could do there would be amazing but of course I'm sure its easier said than done. Thanks again, you have one heck of a snappy skin here and I wont soon be switching I think.

svinyard Wrote:OK, So i've been trying to hunt down super fast skins for Dharma that have a decent fan art view and down slow down my Fusion/Zacate system like AeonMQ2 does. I tried Rapier v4, it was too slow when scrolling quickly.

I tried this one amongst others and so far its very fast. The thumbnails aren't AS fast as conflence when blowing through my library but its almost fast enough.

On a side note there are two things:

1- The trailers play (when in the big fanart view) when I hit the down key. There is no confirmation or anything notifiying you that this is happening. I personally have done this accidentally a time or two and don't care for it. My other users (family ) will have tough time remembering this etc but do still want to be able to play trailers.

2- The Kiosk mode is good but when in the Fanart view, I'm not able to hit the "up" key to bring up the info. This is a great feature that I would like to see in Kiosk mode (it works without Kiosk mode on).

When browsing through the movies the thumbs show up as blank and then come in. Works faster in confluence. Anything you could do there would be amazing but of course I'm sure its easier said than done. Thanks again, you have one heck of a snappy skin here and I wont soon be switching I think.

Hi Svin,

Good to see you took my advice and gave CEv2 a try

If your having any issues with speed on your box (I'm on an ion/atom based pc) have you tried enabling support for .dds images to help load fanart etc faster? Also I disable a few options in CEv2 to help me retain my CPU cycles for the navigation of my HTPC. I disable animated weather icons, disable scrolling in now playing, hide images etc that are not needed such as studio logos for movies, I set all my backgrounds to the same image, only enable views I need and numerous other changes to help keep the skin lite and fast without Losing features.

It's the perfect skin for small HTPCs such as the revo as the functionality is amazing and looks so clean and official (especially with nowalls new artwork)

Glad to see you like it though and the trailers issue may be a thing of the past as el_p is currently working on a mew Menu for activating trailers etc so your prayers may be answered for the first issue

@nowall
I do need more pay it would always be a welcome suprise to get a pay rise, but a letter to intel wouldkore more use as it's that technology thats holding me back more than anything.. is not good enough for what I want lol

My revo is perfect for the living room, silent, tiny and plays 1080p content etc... If there was any other box of the same dimensions or smaller with more power I'd have one in a flash my iPad is more powerful than my revo so it's hard to understand why pc manufactures can't give us more power in a similar sized package

@butcha
You better not be leaving... You've created a master piece here and it's getting bigger and better every day. I'm personally not a huge fan of aeon, it's a nice skin, but it's not suited to me needs. It's the kind of thing I'd expect to see on a water cooled gaming pc in the bedroom as It's "cool" and popwerful, but it's not what I want to show off my home cinema in the front room. CEv2 is elegant and classy and looks very professional and is a pleasure to use (thanks to you) and makes my front room home cinema look and feel very expensive

Thanks Butch - apologies for being new-tarded

But I have worked out that I need to paste an image on a fileshare site and then enter the URL to paste a picture

@nowall
Aeon showmix is not new, it was just not supported anymore, zombierobot took it an brought it back to life, now it's pinned in the aeon thread!
@sinyard
Welcome mate, as patrick said, try using dds fanart and see how it works.
There are several fast skins and confluence is one of the fastest i've tried, but very limited in all the extras xbmc can offer.
The trailer on down function will be changed, el_p is working on a menu popup to choose to start trailers.
I'll take a look on kiosk mode and try to fix it for next update
About thumbs preloading on fast scrolling, try to disable fanart and see how it works, that's the reason you should try to use dds fanart.
@pat
I'm not leaving mate

@MaxHeadroom
No problem

@Pat
Don't know if you've read this, could be interesting:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=106555

svinyard Wrote:1- The trailers play (when in the big fanart view) when I hit the down key. There is no confirmation or anything notifiying you that this is happening. I personally have done this accidentally a time or two and don't care for it. My other users (family ) will have tough time remembering this etc but do still want to be able to play trailers.

As Pat said, I'm working (very slowly ) on a pop-up menu for the video screen, the idea being that it'll give you options of playing the trailer windowed or in fullscreenm, playing the video (again, windowed or fullscreen), playing the video with cinema experience, TV Tunes for TV shows plus anything else people think might be useful.

I'm having issues with the layout at the moment, but once I've worked out what's causing the problem it should be fairly quick to finish (I know I'm going to regret those words!).

This means that when you push down on the fanart view you'll be presented with a menu, rather than the trailer starting playback immediately.

N.O.W.A.L.L Wrote:yep, you understood what I had in mind.
I gonna try to make a test with 3 sprites for testing, maybe sunday.

For Pat, well, we should all write to his boss to convince him to pay more Pat, so that he can can finally run CirrusEx with all options activated!

Cool - once I've got them, I should be able to knock out a mock-up of how it looks pretty damn quick. Building in the functionality to the skin as a feature will take slightly longer.

As for paying Pat more, maybe he should just work harder