INTERACT FORUM

Windows => Third Party Plug-ins, Programs, and Skins => Topic started by: Beatnik62 on August 11, 2007, 10:08:20 am

Title: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: Beatnik62 on August 11, 2007, 10:08:20 am
I've got a new toy ... Photoshop CS3 and I thought, while playing around, it's time for a new mega-me skin for MC 12. After spending nearly two month of my spare time into it, it's now time to show it up here for beta testing. The name will be No.4, because it's my fourth try of creating a skin for MC. It's based on the skinning engine of MC 12.0.294. It may also run with MC 11.1.200, but MC 12 is recommended. Maybe you want it darker ? There is a secret in the skin directory ... have a look.

Comments are welcome.

(http://www.geocities.com/c_steudte/MC/No_4_Preview_small.jpg)

Click here to zoom >> ::: Zoom :::  (http://www.geocities.com/c_steudte/MC/No_4_Preview.jpg)<<

Click here to download >> ::: Download :::  (http://www.geocities.com/c_steudte/MC/No_4.zip)<<

Have some fun with my new artwork.

Beatnik


Edit : Changed the subject.

Edit by JimH:

You can download this at the skins and plugins page. Here is a direct link

http://accessories.musicex.com/mediacenter/mc_data/plugins/823.mjp
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: Mr ChriZ on August 11, 2007, 02:35:15 pm
Been away and not on my own machine but pic looks nice Beatnik!
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: 221bBS on August 11, 2007, 04:05:59 pm
Just Downloaded/Installed/Loaded it. Looks real nice  ;D

I notice that when my pointer is over a song in playing now, action window (Burn Disc, Rip Disc, etc..) and Horizontal/Vertical scroll bar that the color of the highlight is orange. Also the rating stars are orange.
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: 221bBS on August 11, 2007, 04:13:36 pm
Here's a picture of what I'm talking about

(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k132/min221bbs/Media%20Center/No%204/OrangeHighlights2.jpg)
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: JimH on August 11, 2007, 06:49:59 pm
Verrrry nice!  Thanks!
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: JimH on August 11, 2007, 07:03:10 pm
I notice that when my pointer is over a song in playing now, action window (Burn Disc, Rip Disc, etc..) and Horizontal/Vertical scroll bar that the color of the highlight is orange. Also the rating stars are orange.
It's different, but I like it.
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: 221bBS on August 11, 2007, 08:15:36 pm
I'm not complaining  ;D ...thought it might be a bug since the skin seems to be in black, gray and blue.

Most likely keep this as my default skin  ;D

GREAT JOB!
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: datdude on August 12, 2007, 01:46:17 am
I really like it!! ;D 8)

3 Things I would change though:

1) As mentioned, the orange color seems out of place.  (Maybe mix in some different shades of blue or even purple?)

2) The menu fonts should be a bit brighter.

3)  I would make the grid lines more subtle, trending toward the lighter one.
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: Magic_Randy on August 12, 2007, 10:29:06 am
Nice ;D
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: PeterS on August 13, 2007, 10:09:31 am
Pretty slick. You really are getting very good at this  ;D
I like the funky rating stars and the orange glow accents are a nice touch. Clever shuffle and EQ buttons too. Love the texture in the playerbar header.

The drop down menus could do with a little lightening though as they tend to merge with the player on my sub-par monitor. I tried the No_4 dark skin. Nice, but maybe a little too hard on the eyes for me.

Keep this up and we'll be giving Winamp and WMP skinners a run for their money.

PeterS
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: nathanchavez on August 13, 2007, 07:49:44 pm
This skin is just awesome.  I'm not a fan of dark blue, so I have greyscale turned on, and this skin looks incredible.  I have a new default skin.  The only suggestion I have for you, and this is actually just a personal preference, is that you make the menus a bit more transparent.
Title: Re: Do you want a new standard Skin for MC 12 ?
Post by: Soul_Rvr911 on August 15, 2007, 06:09:38 am
Wow, I love this skin! I found that the regular (light?) version was a little too bright for my monitor - in fact, I even find most of the default skins FAR too bright... maybe it's just my monitor/eyes?? - but the dark skin looks amazing! I too have found a new default skin - thank you! I love the orange stars and the orange highlights, by the way - they stand out very well!
Title: New Skin : No.4 (RC1))
Post by: Beatnik62 on October 17, 2007, 01:02:17 am
Thanks for all your input and remarks. I've tried to optimize the skin to make it crisper. May be you will have another try of the beta version before I release the skin on the "Skin and Plug-in" page.

Comments are welcome.

(http://www.geocities.com/c_steudte/MC/No_4_Preview_2_small.jpg)

Click here to zoom >> ::: Zoom :::  (http://www.geocities.com/c_steudte/MC/No_4_Preview_2.jpg)<<

Click here to download >> ::: Download :::  (http://www.geocities.com/c_steudte/MC/No_4_RC1.zip)<<

Have some fun with my new artwork.

One tiny problem I couldn't solve so far. May be someone can help me with. How do I move the text and buttons (red box in the screenshot of MC in Display View Mode) a little bit up, without changing the position of the Close Display button ?

(http://www.geocities.com/c_steudte/MC/No_4_Problem.jpg)

Beatnik
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: sbsp2 on October 20, 2007, 07:50:02 am
Nice skin!

One obvious bug:
The blue highlight bar in the left Tree pane does not change color (get lighter) when it is not the focused pane. So, when you hit Tab to tab back and forth from the left pane and the right List pane, you can't tell if the left pane has the focus or not.  You can see the right pane change color when it gets/loses the focus (that is working correctly).  Compare to Noire skin to see what I mean.
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: datdude on October 20, 2007, 11:10:38 pm
The menu's look nice, but grayed out items are virtually impossible to see (not that you need to see them).

I noticed you wrapped around the grayish border on the bottom of the player. To me that makes it look like there is another window underneath it.  I would simply make it look like the top bar where it is just slightly beveled but with no border.

I would also maybe try to bevel the corners of the column and pane headers since they kind of run into each other and are hard to differentiate where one starts and ends.

I think this could be my new favorite skin!
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: sbsp2 on October 22, 2007, 06:10:58 pm
Nice skin!

One obvious bug:
The blue highlight bar in the left Tree pane does not change color (get lighter) when it is not the focused pane. So, when you hit Tab to tab back and forth from the left pane and the right List pane, you can't tell if the left pane has the focus or not.  You can see the right pane change color when it gets/loses the focus (that is working correctly).  Compare to Noire skin to see what I mean.

I modified your Tree_Selection.png file to be like List_Selection.png (colorwise) and then I took the dark blue (active/selected) color and put a thin 'orange' ribbon (1-pixel thick) all the way around.  If gives it a cool look (glow) and you definitely know what is active and selected.  Also, this makes the 'under the mouse cursor' selection bar orange (consistent with List view and action window).
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: Beatnik62 on October 24, 2007, 02:58:34 pm

One obvious bug:
The blue highlight bar in the left Tree pane .....

Well, it's not a bug ... it's a feature :-) ... I changed it in my current version of No.4. Please have another try.

The menu's look nice, but grayed out items are virtually impossible to see (not that you need to see them).

Corrected ...

I noticed you wrapped around the grayish border on the bottom of the player. To me that makes it look like there is another window underneath it.  I would simply make it look like the top bar where it is just slightly beveled but with no border.

I will leave this in, because it's part of the design.

I would also maybe try to bevel the corners of the column and pane headers since they kind of run into each other and are hard to differentiate where one starts and ends.

I've tried to find a solution for this, please have a look on the current version.

(http://www.geocities.com/c_steudte/MC/No_4_022_small.jpg)

Click here to zoom >> ::: Zoom :::  (http://www.geocities.com/c_steudte/MC/No_4_022.jpg)<<

Click here to download >> ::: Download :::  (http://www.geocities.com/c_steudte/MC/No_4_RC2.zip)<<

Have fun whit my artwork,

Beatnik

Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: JimH on October 24, 2007, 08:16:30 pm
Beatnik,
Thanks!  This has been my default skin for several weeks.

Jim
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: sbsp2 on October 25, 2007, 09:17:08 am
Here's a couple of screenshots showing the few mods I made (the ORANGE highlight bar is where the cursor is pointing currently, cursor itself did NOT show up...the colors don't show as vivid, free webhost recompresses the jpegs):

Tree pane active:
(http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/31480/2003372630914648542_th.jpg)
_:::Zoom:::_ (http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/31480/2003372630914648542_rs.jpg)

List pane active:
(http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/32741/2003337592935071888_th.jpg)
_:::Zoom:::_ (http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/32741/2003337592935071888_rs.jpg)
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: datdude on December 15, 2007, 01:28:17 pm
Beatnik,
Thanks!  This has been my default skin for several weeks.

Jim


Yes, amazing job.  It still is my default skin!
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: tinear on December 15, 2007, 10:17:48 pm
Thanks for all the obvious (and not so obvious) hard work. Number 4 is a winner -- clean and great looking --- especially with the orange color set-off!
It's now my default....
Strong Work!
Cheers, ;D
Fred
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: NoBS on December 17, 2007, 06:34:29 am
Beatnik62, thank you for sharing your Art and skill.
I raise a drink to you and yours and wish you a Merry Christmass.
May the New Year bring you good fortune, as Karma will dictate  ;)
Peace
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: thurston on December 18, 2007, 02:36:30 pm
Beatnik-
I'm going to try out this skin when I get home.  Does the skin include those visualizations?
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: rjm on December 30, 2007, 01:35:10 pm
Very nice skin. Its my new default. Thanks!
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: mlagase on January 19, 2008, 06:58:54 pm
Sweet skin. Love the orange roll over effects.

Great work!!
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: mlagase on January 19, 2008, 07:14:58 pm
Unless I am doing something wrong, I can't seem to be able to resize colums with this skin enabled for Pane detailed views.

If I try to click and drag the column over, it brings up the edit menu.

If this by chance an autosizing column of some sort?

Mike
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: Beatnik62 on January 20, 2008, 06:35:30 am
....

If this by chance an autosizing column of some sort?



Mike,

I'm sorry, but this is not a feature of my skin, it's the way how MC is designed. You haven't the option the resize the pane columns itself in MC, only for the content of a view you could resize the columns.

Quote
Out of the manual :

Auto-size Columns
Automatically re-sizes the columns in the content pane to fit the longest item in each column.  Tools > Options > Tree & View



However, I hope you anyway enjoy my skin No.4,

Beatnik
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: mlagase on January 20, 2008, 12:48:22 pm
That's cool. Either way, this is now my default skin and love it. Haven't seen any issues thus far.

Thanks again
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: thurston on January 23, 2008, 06:03:31 pm
Beatnik-
Thanks for posting this, it's definitely the best skin I've seen.  Everything is easy to see (test against backgrounds, menus, etc)and crisp.

Another satisfied customer here...have you though at all about doing a Theater View skin?  I'm dying to get a cool look for Theater View.

Thanks again!
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: JimH on January 23, 2008, 06:31:14 pm
It's my favorite, too!  Thanks again.
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: 221bBS on January 24, 2008, 07:39:56 am
I've been using this skin as my default since it first came out :)

I Love It!!
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: kurushi on December 20, 2009, 05:44:11 am
The links are dead please is it possible to reupload it?
Thx.
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: 221bBS on December 20, 2009, 06:51:48 am
You can download this at the skins and plugins page. Here is a direct link

http://accessories.musicex.com/mediacenter/mc_data/plugins/823.mjp
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: kurushi on December 20, 2009, 08:40:15 am
Thx 221 BBs.
Very nice skin slim skin but there's no dsp shuffle ... buttons.
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: 221bBS on December 20, 2009, 09:37:58 pm
It's to the right of the progress bar, left of the search box
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: kurushi on December 21, 2009, 01:06:51 am
Ooops u right i haven't seen them good placement!
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: JimH on April 20, 2012, 10:47:32 am
bump
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: rjm on April 21, 2012, 10:05:45 am
bump
Yep, still my favorite skin.
Title: Re: New Skin : No.4 (RC1)
Post by: MrC on April 21, 2012, 11:47:45 am
Here's a screenshot.