BaseSkin Tutorial Comments.

[ShiningDragon]

Mhm, i have a question about the clock. Is only the following format like this available?

12. November 2006

Or is it possible to use 12.11.2006 instead too? I mean: Is this configurable within the clockpanel? I need this to know because i want to use a chromepanel like the one for the clock. But with the standard display i had to make a really big one and this wouldn't look good.

[MixMan]

You set the time/date format in control panel / national settings

Welcome to the world of skinning.....ShiningDragon

[Fatman_do]

Thank you Mix-Man, for the Links to this useful tools =)

Fatman_do, i reworked my skin a little and tweaked just the buttons on my own (hope this time more 3D-feeling) and made a nice chromatic Clock-Panel ^^ Hope, someone like it :-D
Only a few graphical things more and i can go through your guide :-D I'll update my work in the post above if u process further; should someone really like one or another graphical thing from me: Of course all of my own things are free to use for own purposes :-D

Oh Fatman_do..., really: Many thanks to you :-D It's been a long time, that i could work HOURS on a small thing like a clockpanel ^^; You've given me back my joy :-D I am looking forward to more of your guide ^^

I won't probably get back to the tutorial until later today or tommorow. Busy weekend.

I see you have found out how to make the blue glow effect on the buttons. Is this using Paint.net?

[ShiningDragon]

I won't probably get back to the tutorial until later today or tommorow. Busy weekend.

Uh ^^ No Problem :-D I just got the mainmenu running ^^; The Screenshot above was only from Paint.NET. Now, thanks to your guide, the skin is working within the mainmenu.

But i have really understanding-problems with the Panels. Like the clockpanel: One Info within main menu skin.xml and two entrys @ clock.xml...; three times the size of the panel. It took ~4 hours to get the clock working right with the right fontsize... (notice for me: Location Point for Fonts are not the ones calculated through painting prog. It looks like, Fonts are bigger in their sizes (invisible part)...)

I see you have found out how to make the blue glow effect on the buttons. Is this using Paint.net?

Yepp, i used Paint.NET for this. It's a Layer-Technique which i used for this. Very kindly that you could see this :-D I had problems to recognize this on the picture.

One thing i learned too: The Display-Qualitiy variies between CRT and LCD Screen. What's good looking on CRT, looks bad on LCD and vice versa.

My respect to all skinners...; it's not easy to create something, which is readable on CRT and LCD and looking good @ same time.

[Fatman_do]

Uh ^^ No Problem :-D I just got the mainmenu running ^^; The Screenshot above was only from Paint.NET. Now, thanks to your guide, the skin is working within the mainmenu.

But i have really understanding-problems with the Panels. Like the clockpanel: One Info within main menu skin.xml and two entrys @ clock.xml...; three times the size of the panel. It took ~4 hours to get the clock working right with the right fontsize... (notice for me: Location Point for Fonts are not the ones calculated through painting prog. It looks like, Fonts are bigger in their sizes (invisible part)...)

The SkinEdit program is good for this. But there are some tricks to get it to work with baseskin .xml's (Font definitions are in baseskin.xml, not the skin you are working in.)

Yepp, i used Paint.NET for this. It's a Layer-Technique which i used for this. Very kindly that you could see this :-D I had problems to recognize this on the picture.

One thing i learned too: The Display-Qualitiy variies between CRT and LCD Screen. What's good looking on CRT, looks bad on LCD and vice versa.

My respect to all skinners...; it's not easy to create something, which is readable on CRT and LCD and looking good @ same time.

Yep, I have no idea about the quality of the tutorial's images since I am using a scaled down window on a 17"crt.

[ShiningDragon]

You set the time/date format in control panel / national settings

Yep, this i knew. I thought it's possible to change the format within GB-PVR itself. It looks like not. I could only see three states: Clock only, Date only and Clock and Date; nothing like Format.
So now i have to rework my Clock and Date-Panel, so that not only Countries with 24hours Format have a nice look... -.- It should be a little bit easier, if i stay at Digiface-Font (because size is for every letter the same size, not like Fonts alá Arial)

Welcome to the world of skinning.....ShiningDragon

Thank you, thank you ^^ But i am really, really slow at the moment. But not important ^^; Just hope to get ready BEFORE GB-PVR 2.01.898...

[ShiningDragon]

Mhm, i have a little Problem right now. I want to add an Panel on the mainmenu, which is displaying the current "recording status".
The Panel which is currently used is to big, i think.

I wanna integrate a chromatic Button on the Top between Date and Clock Panel.
The "RecordInProgess" Button is designed, i think even the VAPanel is correct installed (i think it only, i am not sure). But i see nothing... :-(
Who made the VAPanel? Perhaps i could ask him/her how to use the VAPanel right.

[Fatman_do]

Mhm, i have a little Problem right now. I want to add an Panel on the mainmenu, which is displaying the current "recording status".
The Panel which is currently used is to big, i think.

The NextRecording panel's text is controlled in the baseskin.xml file unless you remove the comment markers "!--" and "--" from the TextStyle in the NextRecording.xml.

I wanna integrate a chromatic Button on the Top between Date and Clock Panel.
The "RecordInProgess" Button is designed, i think even the VAPanel is correct installed (i think it only, i am not sure). But i see nothing... :-(
Who made the VAPanel? Perhaps i could ask him/her how to use the VAPanel right.

Not really sure what you are trying to do there. You want the VAPanel to display the Date with an image background, and then display the rest of the text as normal? You can do this as part of the "VAPanel" composite image.

Code:

        <CompositeImage name="VAPanel" size="370,190">            
[B]            <DrawImage filename="..\DateBackground.png" loc="xxx,yyy" size="xxx,yyy"/>[/B]
            <DrawText text="@Time" loc="xxx,yyy" size="xxx,yyy" textStyle="BigText" align="Left"/>    
            <DrawText text="@DayOfWeek" loc="xxx,yyy" size="xxx,yyy" textStyle="BigText" align="Left"/>    
            <DrawText text="@Date" loc="xxx,yyy" size="xxx,yyy" textStyle="MediumText" align="Left"/>    

...rest of code snipped from post

[ShiningDragon]

Mhm, no. I think i meant something else ^^ These informations i don't want to see on the mainmenu (but good to know the details).

I created a chromatic button. This Button shall be placed between my date und my clockpanel. This Button are two files. One with a dark red LED, and one with a glowing red one.

If GB-PVR is recording something, than the glowing Button shall appear. If GB-PVR is currently recording nothing, then the normal button shall appear.

Do you understand, what i mean?

[Fatman_do]

Mhm, no. I think i meant something else ^^ These informations i don't want to see on the mainmenu (but good to know the details).

I created a chromatic button. This Button shall be placed between my date und my clockpanel. This Button are two files. One with a dark red LED, and one with a glowing red one.

If GB-PVR is recording something, than the glowing Button shall appear. If GB-PVR is currently recording nothing, then the normal button shall appear.

Do you understand, what i mean?

Is this using the NextRecording panel or VideoArchive Panel?

One solution is to have the "not recording" image part of the background composite image in the main menu skin.xml, Then, you "paint over it" with the image in the panel.