Help make new default skin

[dottore]

here's a new idea.

i know, brown is not a typical htpc-colour, but gbpvr doesn't need to be typical.
i use just a background, the logo and the taskimages, the rest is made in gbpvr with rounded rectangles and so on. for faster loading.

maybe i'll try other colours than brown though....

[nkh]

i know, brown is not a typical htpc-colour, but gbpvr doesn't need to be typical.

I have come to like brown after using Ubuntu, but I think the greenish highlight on the button should be red or yellow?

[dottore]

ok, another aproach...

i like the combination brown/cyan. it's modern and nice. i'll have to try on the tv-screen though.
you see, i have left some place for panels....

[bluesxman]

ok, another aproach...

i like the combination brown/cyan. it's modern and nice. i'll have to try on the tv-screen though.
you see, i have left some place for panels....

Very nice, though I prefered the button size/spacing on the previous screenshot.

[daphatty]

ok, another aproach...

i like the combination brown/cyan. it's modern and nice. i'll have to try on the tv-screen though.
you see, i have left some place for panels....

I like the design. I don't like the color.

Performance considerations aside, what about using color gradients for the backgrounds, buttons, etc. Gradients are a nice touch when implemented correctly and not over used.

[reboot]

@ Tipster
No offence intended, but yellow, green, red and blue, all on the same screen at the same time, just doesn't work.
The eye is drawn to the hilight in the shot, which is the over large "media dx".
I dont' care what it's called, and don't need it's name all over the place.
I want to focus on the buttons. They're the reason one is looking at that screen in the first place.
Task icons are also unnecessary, and only add to the loading time.
Remove the yellow gradient, make the buttons blue, remove the task image, and the arrow boxes in the lower right. Remove the name too, and reduce the size of the font for "menu" (or remove it completely), and it may just be simplified enough to show more function, and less "bling".

[nkh]

I would favour 1280 x 720 for 16:9 and 960 x 720 for 4:3 as these are supported as native resolutions for the newer high res TVs that we will end up buying in a year or two.

I tried to make a skin in 960x720, the main menu looks nice but I have a problem with the tv guide, it seems like the channel logos have a fixed width. Does anyone know how to change that? At the moment I have just put more channels onto the screen at once ('cos that looks nicer here on my laptop, but I doubt it's practical on the tv).

[Kevl]

nkh

Did the fonts on your skin look clearer than the 720x480 ones when applied to TV?

The other thing to bear in mind is that there might be good reason why 720pixels is the wrong thing to do. I would hate you to be doing lots of work if the 720pixel height is wrong for some other reason. As I said I know very little about the skinning of apps.

I would wait until the skinning experts have commented upon the resolution issue.

Kev

[nkh]

nkh

Did the fonts on your skin look clearer than the 720x480 ones when applied to TV?

It looks about the same as the default blue skin on my tv, but I'm using the tv-out on my via m10000 motherboard and a 5 meter s-video cable, so there is some quality loss there... I can read all the text in the two screen shots though (28" tv). I can upload the few files I changed somewhere if you'd like to try it?

[Kevl]

Yes I would like to try your fine skins.

I wont be able to do anything this evenening though as Im in the process of fixing my dishwasher. I may be some time :-)

Kev