ways to make gbpvr prettier
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2005-08-15, 12:35 AM
jorm is adding genre tagging to guide2j if you use the zap thingy. i wish he would consider doing the same thing for xmltv, just reread in the xmltv file specified and get collect the extra information sub passes over. that way i could use the genre thingy aswell (of course i wrote my own xmltv grabber so i can add support to this in the xmltv file, and not all xmltv sources do this, but .... hmm im going to go and bug jormnow to add this.
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2005-08-15, 12:36 AM
oh and for the menu thingy, i think some of the my series plugins allows you to have no menu buttons, and if you want i could add support to all of them to have no buttons, but then i would have to sort out a few keys (if you have the 45 button remote, you can probably get away with it, 34 i dont think has enough buttons for eveything).
2005-08-16, 11:08 AM
just read over the thread...nice ideas!
but: - mp looks that nice because of the skins being installed with the program. gbpvr-users must download them from somewhere. - mp's skins work with every mp-plugin. our skins don't - mp scales at high resolutions. gbpvr scales too, but you have to change EVERY skin.xml for EVERY plugin to get it working. so what i would prefer as a skin-maintainer: - a sort of central widget-skin.xml-file. the background can go there, the buttons, popups (several resolutions, if you want), lists (active, inactive elements), icon-views, detail-views and so on.... - in the plugin skin.xml-files one can define extra backgrounds and other elements which cannot be skinned in the central skin-file. - the va-panel is a good idea....but we need something to switch it off or to define the elements which must be displayed. if i don't want music-info i must edit xml-files. concerning the scaling: wouldn't it be better to design the skins for high resolutions and let gbpvr scale them down? don't know how this looks, but this would solve the scaling-problem. just a few ideas ;-)
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www.sitecomposer.de
2005-08-16, 11:43 AM
the background cant go there, since different plugins use different backgrounds, and there are a few composite images elements that need to be set (eg "@CurrentLocation" in my pictures 3).
Quote:concerning the scaling: wouldn't it be better to design the skins for high resolutions and let gbpvr scale them down? don't know how this looks, but this would solve the scaling-problem.the bigger the skin the more memory it needs dont forget. also most people are using a tvout of some kind, so its best to keep the skins using standard tv out format, eg 720x480 for ntsc and 720x576 for pal. and i wasnt meaning the mp skins, i meant the transistions and effects mp does, eg buttons sliding in/out etc.
2005-08-16, 04:59 PM
reven Wrote:the bigger the skin the more memory it needs dont forget. also most people are using a tvout of some kind, so its best to keep the skins using standard tv out format, eg 720x480 for ntsc and 720x576 for pal. This brings up a good point. One of GB-PVR's strengths is its ability to work with the more common (a.k.a. less expensive) hardware and consumer electronics. Let's face it, being able to connect a regular old CRT television to a computer is downright cool. GB-PVR takes that coolness factor and adds its own bling bling! But what about those of us that have more horsepower? Eventually, the more expensive technology that few of us have access to will become more mainstream and I simply don't think GB-PVR in terms of looks is ready for that. Dottore is doing an excellent job of maintaining the BlueMCE skin (which looks FABULOUS on my HDTV by the way) but he makes an excellent point regarding skin maintenance. GB-PVR's skin support could be more intuitive. I think if it were easier to create skins for GB-PVR it would attract more skinners and we most likely wouldn't be having this discussion. I also think a revamped skinning interface would allow sub to stay focused on the more important things, namely NEW FEATURES!  I know this is (way) down on sub's to-do list but I for one look forward to its implementation. The possibilities are truly endless. Imagine what Dottore, Tipstr or any of the other skinners could be capable of if a unified skinning system were implemented. Shock and awe people... Shock and awe... [/steps off soap box] dottore Wrote:- the va-panel is a good idea....but we need something to switch it off or to define the elements which must be displayed. if i don't want music-info i must edit xml-files. You can configure the VA panel via the GBPVR config application. Music messages, upcoming recordings messages, and weather messages are all configurable. Jeff
2005-08-16, 09:24 PM
Quote:so what i would prefer as a skin-maintainer:Ok, I'll make this change. This has been requested a few times, and definitely worth doing. It may not be in the next release, but if not we should be able to get it into the one after that. Quote:- in the plugin skin.xml-files one can define extra backgrounds and other elements which cannot be skinned in the central skin-file. Quote:Eventually, the more expensive technology that few of us have access to will become more mainstream and I simply don't think GB-PVR in terms of looks is ready for that. Dottore is doing an excellent job of maintaining the BlueMCE skin (which looks FABULOUS on my HDTV by the way) but he makes an excellent point regarding skin maintenance. GB-PVR's skin support could be more intuitive. I think if it were easier to create skins for GB-PVR it would attract more skinners and we most likely wouldn't be having this discussion. I also think a revamped skinning interface would allow sub to stay focused on the more important things, namely NEW FEATURES! Its not a direct reply to these suggestions, but my comments from the following URL are also relevent to this discussion. http://forums.gbpvr.com/showpost.php?p=5...ostcount=7
2005-08-16, 10:40 PM
i think the skinning is pretty good as is, the compositeimages are brilliant! and well if you want a high def skin, just make one. theres nothing limiting you to 720x480, you can use any resolution you like, the skin i use is 852x480. there are a few problems with a couple of plugins, but everything that comes standard in gbpvr has no limit (i think the main menu has an issue requiring 720x480, this may have been fixed thou)
2005-08-17, 07:34 AM
@jeff: sorry, i missed that. so the va-panel is exactly what we need....hopefully the plugin-developers will use this for their panels...
it isn't that easy to make a good looking high-res-skin, the users want the existing skins to work on their machines. there is no easy and fast way to set it up for high-res. i think, higher resolutions will not consume as much memory as menu-transitions ;-) by the way: how did sub manage such a smooth screensaver? couldn't this be used for menu-transitions? another point is: gbpvr is designed for use with a tv-out, so the resolution is ok for the moment. when it comes to hdtv it must be done ;-)
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www.sitecomposer.de
2005-08-17, 07:40 AM
Quote:i think, higher resolutions will not consume as much memory as menu-transitions ;-)menu transitions are temporary thou, they only last a few seconds freeing any resources once done, so they in fact use less  Quote:by the way: how did sub manage such a smooth screensaver? couldn't this be used for menu-transitions?thats just alphableeding the image away, my pictures 3 does this when in fullscreen and going to next image. Quote:another point is: gbpvr is designed for use with a tv-out, so the resolution is ok for the moment. when it comes to hdtv it must be done ;-)all you need is hi-def skin, xbmc does this the same way they have multiple versions of the same skin. |
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