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QUARTZ - Gotham
OK, been playing with the pre-release version for a bit now.

Firstly, it looks good - the menus & screens really hang together.

Unfortunately, it's much less usable for me, unless I've missed something, the killer feature of a definable home screen has been removed Sad

I use mostly genre selections as favourites, especially in the 'family' login. These now all end up with the same icon, all in the favourites menu. I can't use the Movies / Music / TV menu items, as these all use a default library listing which contains things unsuitable for the children.

Similarly, the 'adults only' login is now polluted with "Fireman Sam", "Finding Nemo" and "Fluffy Bunny Singalongs". Given that we have at least as many childrens' films & tv shows as we do adult, it makes finding things take that much longer.

Cheers,

Simon.
Hi Pecinko, I just found this skin and I absolutely love it. I'm building a small HTPC for my parents and this is the only skin I've found that's both simple and not intimidating while maintaining the beauty that makes XBMC so great.

Onto a few questions/bugs:

- If I try to punch in a specific time using the number keys on my Harmony remote, I don't get any sort of on-screen display. If I do the same in Confluence, I can see the time I'm typing in.

- When switching between aspect ratios, I don't get any OSD telling me which option I'm currently on. For instance, "Wide Zoom" vs "Stretch 16:9"

- I also don't get any codec display by pressing 'o' while a video is playing back.

- In the 'Media Info 2' view, sometimes the MPAA ratings run into the star ratings. For instance, 'Rated R for pervasive violence' overlaps the 3/5 star graphics.

Other than those small gripes, I'm absolutely in love with this skin and am using it on my HTPC as well now. I'm sad to see that you're thinking about ditching the current home screen completely; I hope you change your mind and allow the ability to switch between the current and the new vertical look.
@All

Since new version is taking a little different approach on home screen, it would be useful to know your use cases. In other words, what do you have in Home submenus. If it's more comfortable for you - feel free to send me personal message. If it is easier for you to explain using screenshot, that's OK, too.

I can take much better approach at solving this when I know how you use XBMC and Quartz. So, help me help you.


EDIT let me start with my own example:

For me it looks like this. I have 2 profiles - kids & adults. All content is separated into Kids and Adults folders and added as a separate source. Thus only kids movies in kids profile and vice versa.

Adults profile uses practically default settings and menus, recently added items and shortcuts to add ons above main menu. 98% percent of time I go directly to Movies. I use playlists only for music.

Kids profile has has only Movies, TV Shows, quit, logout and recently added items.
My skins:

Amber
Quartz

i just have 1 with tv shows movies and settings
Hi,

just a quick question, I'm confused about the svn version. I've downloaded nightly repo in first post and its version 1.03 so tried the link to the nightly version and the files are all dated august and version 1.03. Is there another way to get hold of the latest WIP version or do I have to wait till it's linked on the first post?

Many thanks
Shoesy Wrote:Looking good fella- I'm looking forward to it...

Is there gonna be plex style 'on deck' support yet- or is it early days on that one?

Yes, already implemented. However, script has not beed publicly released yet. Hopefully it will be before skin release.
My skins:

Amber
Quartz

Simian Wrote:OK, been playing with the pre-release version for a bit now.

Firstly, it looks good - the menus & screens really hang together.

Unfortunately, it's much less usable for me, unless I've missed something, the killer feature of a definable home screen has been removed Sad

I use mostly genre selections as favourites, especially in the 'family' login. These now all end up with the same icon, all in the favourites menu. I can't use the Movies / Music / TV menu items, as these all use a default library listing which contains things unsuitable for the children.

Similarly, the 'adults only' login is now polluted with "Fireman Sam", "Finding Nemo" and "Fluffy Bunny Singalongs". Given that we have at least as many childrens' films & tv shows as we do adult, it makes finding things take that much longer.

Cheers,

Simon.

I must admit I don't quite follow. If you're using profiles, kid's and adult's content should be separated. This way everybody has it's own recently added, content, menu items etc.

Some things are lacking as they're not finished yet but I could use some detailed feedback from your side in order to know how you're exactly using XBMC.
My skins:

Amber
Quartz

nemulate Wrote:Hi,

just a quick question, I'm confused about the svn version. I've downloaded nightly repo in first post and its version 1.03 so tried the link to the nightly version and the files are all dated august and version 1.03. Is there another way to get hold of the latest WIP version or do I have to wait till it's linked on the first post?

Many thanks

Some users have been given access to preview (not full finished) version of the skin.
My skins:

Amber
Quartz

maruchan Wrote:- If I try to punch in a specific time using the number keys on my Harmony remote, I don't get any sort of on-screen display. If I do the same in Confluence, I can see the time I'm typing in.

How can I try this on my side?

Quote:- When switching between aspect ratios, I don't get any OSD telling me which option I'm currently on. For instance, "Wide Zoom" vs "Stretch 16:9"

- I also don't get any codec display by pressing 'o' while a video is playing back.

- In the 'Media Info 2' view, sometimes the MPAA ratings run into the star ratings. For instance, 'Rated R for pervasive violence' overlaps the 3/5 star graphics.

I've taken care of this Smile

Image
My skins:

Amber
Quartz

pecinko Wrote:Some users have been given access to preview (not full finished) version of the skin.

Lol that's good will save me searching every post on this thread for the url of the new version, I'll just sit tight and wait patiently instead.....
pecinko Wrote:I must admit I don't quite follow. If you're using profiles, kid's and adult's content should be separated. This way everybody has it's own recently added, content, menu items etc.

I'll try and explain a bit better.

There are 3 sorts of TV series & films: Adult only, Child only, & Suitable for Adults and Children.

Examples:-

Adult only: Alien (UK 18 rating)
Children only: Bee Movie (UK 4+ rating)
Adult & Child: Star Wars (UK 4+ rating)

To separate the the sets I use 2 genres, 'Family' & 'Adult'. As my children get older, there will be more films that cross over.

In both logins, the Movies & TV Shows lists don't contain the default library selection, but instead have a custom item that opens the relevant genre.

I've just started doing a similar thing with music.

Also, I like horizontal menus, & don't like screen noise like recently added / currently watching / whatever.

This is your skin, so you should make it work for you; it is, however, currently the only skin which allows me to set xbmc up how I want it. I guess one option is to allow custom home screen menus, rather than forcing all of the favourites in to the Favourites menu, which (again) I've never liked.

A large part of my job is designing & coding TV menus intended for non-technical people, so I know you'll never keep everyone happy Smile

Cheers,

Simon.
So you have 2 profiles that share the same library and are entering it by genres. This means each profile uses (custom) single link to a content be it movies, tv or music?
My skins:

Amber
Quartz

pecinko Wrote:So you have 2 profiles that share the same library and are entering it by genres. This means each profile uses (custom) single link to a content be it movies, tv or music?

Yes.

In the adult login, I also have 9 (or maybe 10, not at home at the moment) other 'favourites' under the Movies / TV / Music headings, with selections from various plugins and further genres.

What's currently very nice is the fact that everything useful is on screen, and anyone [literate] can find anything at a glance.

Cheers,

Simon.
Simian Wrote:Yes.

In the adult login, I also have 9 (or maybe 10, not at home at the moment) other 'favourites' under the Movies / TV / Music headings, with selections from various plugins and further genres.

What's currently very nice is the fact that everything useful is on screen, and anyone [literate] can find anything at a glance.

Yes, it's only one except when there are 9 or 10 Smile

Second sentence is very interesting as it describes the very thing that initiated home overhaul - to make it easier for non literates.

Simon, I have some good and some bad new for youSmile Good one is that you can optionally use submenus in new version and that you can have killer interface once you customize skin to your needs.

Bad one is that you have to, in order to have a great interface, alter your media management to a small extent. What I mean is that you should use separate libraries for kids and adults. This way you can utilize separate favorites, links, home layout etc. and it's simple as using 2 folders (kids & adults) and adding only appropriate one to a profile. Simple to manage, too.

However, this is my humble advice and I'm not forcing it to anyone. I will make skin user's guide later. It is not required in order to use a skin and most users do not need it. It will be more like "how to use it more efficiently" kind of thing.
My skins:

Amber
Quartz

I just wanted to add to the many others and say THANK YOU! for all your work on this skin. It is fast, elegant, and EXACTLY what I have been looking for. It performs very well on my living room media center (Ubuntu Box) and just as well on the ATV in my bedroom. Can't wait for the release and all the new features I have seen in here, particularly weather plus support and the music controls (nice to see you are a Crystal Method fan as well...)

Keep up the good work!
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QUARTZ - Gotham12