INTERACT FORUM

Since the previous reply showed a scrollbar background image that was transparent, I thought it would be useful to show a scrollbar that has an actual background to illustrate more explicitly how the background limits the thumb size (note: there are lots of tricks you can play with margins, transparency and other image control parameters to do some pretty unique stuff)

The attached file shows another scrollbar/thumb variation (five variations total) in my new (and yes, still unavailable) Dream in Blue skin. This picture also uses the native color, while the previous picture used MC's skin effects to flip the blue and green two digit hex color codes.

Scrollbar thumbs are really tough to get right without distortion on rounded ends. When I started my very first skin, the scrollbar images were the very first thing I started working on. I found it so difficult to figure out what was going on, I just about gave up early on because it got so frustrating.

I had zero experience editing images, and had no clue what the various image parameters meant in the main.XML file. Several years on after that original experience however, addressing image distortion issues is second nature, and I feel somewhat silly that I didn't figure things out much sooner.  One piece of advice you might find helpful: a key thing to grasp is that thumb sizing is ultimately controlled by scrollbar background image. You can make the thumb image as big as you want, but it will always get squished down to fit within the limits of your scrollbar width, which when combined with margins and scaling, can mess up how it comes out in actual use. 

Regarding the built in checkbox for "Enlarge Scrollbars on Mouse Over" - it does work, but has an intolerable delay. For all my skins now, I design the thumb hover sub-image, to be much larger than the default display sub-image. Consequently, the scrollbar thumb enlarges instantaneously on mouse over (vs. waiting for the software to react). See thumb size delta in the attached screenshot. NOTE: the scroll background is completely transparent, so it simply shows the list background as continuous. Nevertheless, the width of that transparent background controls how big the thumb can enlarge to.

Next build we'll do this:
NEW: An option to show the image Action Window is presented in the menu on the image in the tag window.

I just checked out this update and it works very well… Thank you very much Matt!

It does force me to put the image "group" back into the modern tag window which takes up space I'd prefer not to. Yes, minimal when collapsed, but I like to reserve as much space for tag text. That said, I no longer have to do the legacy/modern tag window dance to get it to show, so I am very grateful for that.

But, that adds a 'Player' tab so that removes 'Display.' Not sure why the 'Player' tab removes 'Display' anyway.

Yeah… I have never understood that one either.  I get why it pops up when there is no playing now tab - you need have something to show what is playing. But why automatically disappear when you create a playing now tab? The mini-display window has an X to close it anyway if you prefer not to show both simultaneously. Another question for Matt I suppose.

Same thing when you have an overview or split view tab open along with playing now - only one can be "active" apparently.  Otherwise, you see the dreaded "The Display for This Zone Is Owned by a Different Window" message. I don't understand that one either… Could be a limitation of the software, or maybe early on it was thought that doing it this way was useful but was never changed/updated?

In any event, this new image function is much better than the mini "display" window anyway since it only showed the currently playing item. This new "image" display shows cover art for any file selected while the main large display continues to show whatever you want… A visualization, a custom track info panel, or the cover art for the currently playing item... Very nice!  Thanks again Matt!

I think that's because of the margins on the handle images.  They have a margin that's set that doesn't stretch.  Then the inner part stretches.  You could remove the margins so it stretches uniformly if you preferred.

Thanks - removing the margins apparently corrects the problem (see attachment and simplified code below).

<!--  Vertical Scrollbar -->
<Entry Name="VerticalHandle"  Bitmap="Scrollbar_VerticalHandle.png"   NumberImages="3" Scale="1" />
<Entry Name="VerticalBackground" Bitmap="Scrollbar_VerticalBackground.png"  NumberImages="1" Scale="1" />
<Entry Name="VerticalUpArrow" Bitmap="Scrollbar_VerticalUpArrow.png"  NumberImages="3" Scale="1" />
<Entry Name="VerticalDownArrow"  Bitmap="Scrollbar_VerticalDownArrow.png"  NumberImages="3" Scale="1" />
That leaves two niggles when selecting the Subject option:

(1) When I initially mouseover the handle, there is a brief flash (~ 1 second) between the Up Image and the Over Image during which an un-enlarged Over Image appears.  This is especially apparent when the bright part of the Up Image is significantly narrower than the Over Image, as in the OP example.  I can't capture it, but it's there and is bothersome for this case.

(2) As mentioned in OP, with Subject option selected, the thumbnails shift left as the handle expands.  Then they shift back to right when done scrolling.  Rather annoying. 

The simplified code distorts the handle endpoints when not using Enlarged Scrollbars.  So I will go back to the original code with non-zero top/bottom Margins + DrawMode, and deselect the Subject option (I assume DrawMode requires a Margins callout to define sub-images).

Yes, maybe this area needs some attention. Here's my reason for liking 'Display' to show the album cover image: when an album is playing I can double-click the cover image in Display to show the album cover full screen (I'm old-school so I play music as albums and never use playlists because they are track- or song-oriented). I can also, alternatively, double-click the image at the top right of the screen. That gives me 'Playing Now', and I can double-click that for a full-screen album cover image. But, that adds a 'Player' tab so that removes 'Display.' Not sure why the 'Player' tab removes 'Display' anyway.

I just noticed that if you view the Playing Now window and right click on a track, the context menu has an option for "Send to recent Playing Now" with a couple dozen options spanning what looks like two weeks or so of Playing Now queues.  This implies that old Playing Now lists are saved somewhere.

Is there a way to load a saved Playing Now list into the current Playing Now queue?

I'm finding that I still can accidentally nuke the current playing now queue with a mis-click.

I think that's because of the margins on the handle images.  They have a margin that's set that doesn't stretch.  Then the inner part stretches.  You could remove the margins so it stretches uniformly if you preferred.

None of my MakeMKV rips of Blu-rays or DVDs contain description information, something that would be useful in Theatre View.

Does MC have a way to populate movie Description tags from online sources (Get Movie & TV Info doesn't appear to do this)?


EDIT:  A more thorough check after running Get Movie & TV Info showed that descriptions had been added to a very small number of my movies, but they were all garbage!

The Dark Night Blu-ray description was a Wikipedia entry for Blu-ray discs, the Enigma (2001) DVD got a Wikipedia entry for Bosendorfer pianos, and the Saving Private Ryan DVD got a description of the ValuSoft Elite Forces WWII video game.

The Default option provides templates for Radio, Audio, Image, Netflix TV Series, TV Guide, TV Show, Movie, Connected Video, Video, and Default. Which metadata tag is assumed to be the source of those values?

Is it Media Sub Type?

I have this option on and with the default skin it looks right.  Could you post a screenshot showing the problem?  Thanks.

Screenshots attached.
With Enlarged Scrollbar, the half-round ends of the scrollbar handle are flattened compared to the full half-circle seen without the Subject option.  It looks as if there is sub-image stretching in the horizontal direction without equivalent stretching in the vertical direction.  The effect is not noticeable if the scrollbar handle is a squared-off rectangle.

The distortion can be very apparent, depending on length and size of the scrollbar, but always displays the same geometry.

I have not fully examined dependence on size of the original image, but from my limited testing it is independent of original image size.