Topic: [Update: 2016.01.26] Modern Cards skin, the dark ed. now supports scaling! (Read 128910 times)

Soul_Rvr911 · « **Reply #100 on:** February 03, 2015, 10:24:19 am »

Quote from: NNTK on December 16, 2014, 03:25:31 pm

I modify your skin combine with Black on Black skin.
For who like both skin.

Thanks to Dirhael for the excellent theme, and to you NNTK for your customization! Great work!

john_kane · « **Reply #101 on:** February 07, 2015, 11:45:03 am »

Agree. Black on Black with Modern Cards is very nice.

The Default Webpage views for Playlists, Drives and Devices etc. default to a background of white. That blasts your eyeballs while you are cruising through this nicely muted theme; also makes my plasma scream (buzz) in overloaded white pain.

I added a Custom Webpage directory under /J River/Media Center 20/Data/ with quick and dirty edits to blacken the default pages. Much quieter now.

Here's the attached zip.

pr1me · « **Reply #102 on:** March 03, 2015, 09:30:04 am »

Anyone could make a modern card duo with the color tone of the "Purity" skin ?

I like the grey more

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #103 on:** March 15, 2015, 05:57:41 pm »

I had some time today, so I thought I'd redo the lighter Mac Yosemite skin modification based on the last ModernCards update (it's lighter for those who don't use dark mode, like myself). It also has the 1:1 stoplight icons ripped from Yosemite that I posted previously. From what I tested, it should be perfect. Think I should uploading these modifications somewhere, e.g. DeviantArt?

Download: https://www.mediafire.com/?gigq386jbq1a92h

Also, when Windows 10 gets closer to release, I'll be ripping the new icons.

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #104 on:** March 19, 2015, 08:09:15 pm »

Quote from: Awesome Donkey on March 15, 2015, 05:57:41 pm

Also, when Windows 10 gets closer to release, I'll be ripping the new icons.

I got bored, so I ripped them from the current Windows 10 Technical Preview (10041) build. Here they are: https://www.mediafire.com/?ubo6chpdlc46l6j

Al ex · « **Reply #105 on:** April 02, 2015, 03:47:59 pm »

Quote from: Dirhael on August 24, 2014, 02:35:24 pm

Ok, so I've started implementing custom buttons for Windows 8.x and Ubuntu so far. Do note that this is not yet finalized, but I'll most likely add it in my next release of the skin.

Windows 8.1:

Ubuntu:

Very nice Skin! Just downloaded and installed.

However, the flat buttons - did you ever release them? Doesnt seem to be included. I am talking about the blue/green/grey buttons shown on your screenshot. They are not shown in my version, and I couldnt find them anywhere..

Also - would it be difficult to make a complete dark skin of it as well? Something like the Black on Black (which REALLY sucks), or the Albedo?

StFeder · « **Reply #106 on:** April 05, 2015, 06:20:57 am »

Quote from: Al ex on April 02, 2015, 03:47:59 pm

Also - would it be difficult to make a complete dark skin of it as well? Something like the Black on Black (which REALLY sucks), or the Albedo?

This indeed would be awesome even though I wouldn't agree that Black on Black "REALLY sucks".

Dirhael · « **Reply #107 on:** April 11, 2015, 11:00:16 pm »

Quote from: Al ex on April 02, 2015, 03:47:59 pm

Very nice Skin! Just downloaded and installed.

However, the flat buttons - did you ever release them? Doesnt seem to be included. I am talking about the blue/green/grey buttons shown on your screenshot. They are not shown in my version, and I couldnt find them anywhere..

Also - would it be difficult to make a complete dark skin of it as well? Something like the Black on Black (which REALLY sucks), or the Albedo?

Those buttons are included

To make use of them, you need to copy the "Data" folder from the *.zip you downloaded and place it directly in your "C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 20" folder.

As for a completely dark version of the skin, it wouldn't be all that hard really. It would just take time to make all the changes required in the xml file, update all the relevant graphics and test and tweak until it works properly (the skin engine in MC does have some limitations). I may look at it at some point in the future, but no promises. Mostly it depends on whether or not I can find the time (and if I like how it looks if/when I get around to it).

Al ex · « **Reply #108 on:** April 12, 2015, 12:14:15 pm »

Quote from: Dirhael on April 11, 2015, 11:00:16 pm

Those buttons are included To make use of them, you need to copy the "Data" folder from the *.zip you downloaded and place it directly in your "C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 20" folder.

As for a completely dark version of the skin, it wouldn't be all that hard really. It would just take time to make all the changes required in the xml file, update all the relevant graphics and test and tweak until it works properly (the skin engine in MC does have some limitations). I may look at it at some point in the future, but no promises. Mostly it depends on whether or not I can find the time (and if I like how it looks if/when I get around to it).

Yeah, solved the buttons issue by taking out the image files, which were placed by the MetroX skin in the data folder before. Then it worked...

Regarding the dark version: I found a very pragmatic and quick solution for my HTPC, as I don´t want to have a white surface on the 55" TV-screen. I simply inverted the colors under SKIN / SKIN EFFECTS to get the dark solution. I even didn´t have to play with contrast and brightness, it´s perfect enough for my purpose. See screenshot...

Thanks again for this great piece of work!

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #109 on:** June 02, 2015, 05:25:47 pm »

Here's the minimize/maximize/restore/close buttons from Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 10130. I was able to perfectly rip them for use. You'll probably want to recreate them if you need HiDPI versions.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/ip7yp4vig9zuk1a/Windows_10_TP_10130_Icons.zip

EDIT: New link, tweaked the close button. Also added skin ready PNG files for dark and light skins - and here's the correct main.xml data;

Code: [Select]

        <Entry Name="CloseButton" Bitmap="Close.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-3" OffsetY="0" />
        <Entry Name="MaximizeButton" Bitmap="Maximize.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-48" OffsetY="0" />
        <Entry Name="RestoreButton" Bitmap="Restore.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-48" OffsetY="0" />
        <Entry Name="MinimizeButton" Bitmap="Minimize.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-93" OffsetY="0" />

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #110 on:** June 06, 2015, 01:27:16 pm »

I've updated the buttons above, new link posted in the edit!

Also, I ported the icons to Modern Cards and Modern Cards: Duo - assuming Microsoft don't change the buttons, it *should* be Windows 10 ready!

Just drop these into the main JRiver installation directory with the other skins.

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/download/dp2rtt7uaaq2apn/ModernCardsWindows10.zip

EDIT: I added the custom black ModernCards skin updated for Windows 10, along with some small tweaks and grey icons when using dark skins!

Afrosheen · « **Reply #111 on:** June 09, 2015, 10:41:08 pm »

I love this skin. I just have one issue. On my Mac Mini I'm getting the multicolor buttons on the left hand corner when applying the Yosemite skin, but for the life of me I can't get those colors on my laptop. Both are running Mac version 116. Can anyone help?

edit: I forgot I enabled "greyscale" under Skin Effects. Disabled that, everything's good to go.

Afrosheen · « **Reply #112 on:** June 09, 2015, 11:35:40 pm »

Quote from: Awesome Donkey on March 15, 2015, 05:57:41 pm

I had some time today, so I thought I'd redo the lighter Mac Yosemite skin modification based on the last ModernCards update (it's lighter for those who don't use dark mode, like myself). It also has the 1:1 stoplight icons ripped from Yosemite that I posted previously. From what I tested, it should be perfect. Think I should uploading these modifications somewhere, e.g. DeviantArt?

Download: https://www.mediafire.com/?gigq386jbq1a92h

Also, when Windows 10 gets closer to release, I'll be ripping the new icons.

Is it intentional to have toolbar icons that have been added to the bottom toolbar to stay hidden until hovering cursor over them? I kind of like it…

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #113 on:** June 10, 2015, 08:31:37 am »

Quote from: Afrosheen on June 09, 2015, 11:35:40 pm

Is it intentional to have toolbar icons that have been added to the bottom toolbar to stay hidden until hovering cursor over them? I kind of like it…

No, it isn't. Looks like the reason for that is the icons added to the bottom toolbar are the same color as the toolbar itself. It looks like this kinda happens in the normal ModernCards Mac skin too, though the icons are barely visible. Adding them to the top toolbar next to the menu items should work correctly.

Dirhael · « **Reply #114 on:** July 30, 2015, 07:22:22 am »

Just wanted to update you all on an upcoming new release of the skin. Summer vacation, and a whole lot of lousy weather means that I now have some spare time to work on it again.

I haven't changed the existing versions, but I'm working on a "special edition". This will finally bring a dark color scheme, and some changes here and there to make it feel more at home in Windows 10.

No screenshots yet as I've just started, but I expect it'll be complete in a week or two at most.

StFeder · « **Reply #115 on:** July 30, 2015, 08:34:36 am »

Great to hear

Especially the darker version will be VERY welcome!

I'll try to wait patiently

Al ex · « **Reply #116 on:** July 30, 2015, 10:38:44 am »

Thumbs up!

Daniel Warner · « **Reply #117 on:** July 30, 2015, 11:37:36 am »

Great stuff. Looking forward to it

Dirhael · « **Reply #118 on:** July 30, 2015, 04:10:59 pm »

About to stop working for the day pretty soon, but thought I'd post a couple of images of where I'm at with the skin right now. Click the images for full-size screenshots.

There's still work to be done, but it's certainly usable at the moment. Need to update more of the graphics, tweak colors and such, get the options/analyze/convert windows skinned, and more. I'm also thinking I may have to make new icons for the sidebar tree as I don't think the current ones quite fit. There may also be more big changes to how it looks, nothing is set in stone quite yet. Feedback and suggestions based on the screenshots are most welcome

Daniel Warner · « **Reply #119 on:** July 30, 2015, 04:12:52 pm »

Excellent. I reckon this should be adopted as the default skin. It's so much more polished than noire.

Dirhael · « **Reply #120 on:** July 30, 2015, 04:51:50 pm »

Quote from: Daniel Warner on July 30, 2015, 04:12:52 pm

Excellent. I reckon this should be adopted as the default skin. It's so much more polished than noire.

Thanks! It certainly would have been fun to create the default skin for MC, but that's probably something JRiver prefers to do themselves. Would have been really nice to see MC 21 released with a new look though, no matter who did the work

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #121 on:** July 30, 2015, 05:02:09 pm »

Looks very nice!

Is there going to be a 'light' version too?

Dirhael · « **Reply #122 on:** July 30, 2015, 05:11:23 pm »

Quote from: Awesome Donkey on July 30, 2015, 05:02:09 pm

Looks very nice! Is there going to be a 'light' version too?

Thanks

Yeah, I'll make a bright edition for Windows 10 soon-ish, after I'm done with the dark version. I may wait until MC 21 is released though, to see if there are any new skinning features and such, seeing as they're mentioning this in their plans:

Quote from: JimH

APPEARANCE
This is a tough area since people see things so differently, but we're committed to improving the interface.

mwillems · « **Reply #123 on:** July 30, 2015, 05:23:53 pm »

I agree it's really a gorgeous skin. I use it everywhere.

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #124 on:** July 30, 2015, 05:38:12 pm »

And is that Windows 10 titlebar buttons (minimize/maximize/close) buttons I see there?

MC now supports buttons from multiple versions of an OS for a more native feel if you're using Windows 7, Windows 8.x and Windows 10 (and OS X).

BryanC · « **Reply #125 on:** July 31, 2015, 12:02:48 pm »

Quote from: Dirhael on July 30, 2015, 04:10:59 pm

About to stop working for the day pretty soon, but thought I'd post a couple of images of where I'm at with the skin right now.

Beautiful.

Dirhael · « **Reply #126 on:** August 01, 2015, 11:43:56 am »

Progress update:
- Have updated the playerbar icons (prev, play, next, shuffle, dsp etc. buttons) slightly (new hover color, and tweaked base color).
- Progress- and volume sliders are updated. They now have better contrast and while slimmer the "activation zones" are the same as before.
- All buttons, edit fields, dropdowns have a new look.
- Better contrasting colors used in the list views (such as playing now), for better accessibility.
- Started to do some work on some of the icons.
- The options window, dsp window++ are all now skinned (note: the brighter gray internal window borders you see in the screenshots are not possible to change without overwriting some of the original files shipping with JRiver Media Center. Annoying, but the skin engine is full of inconsistencies such as that. Correction: this is controlled by the list text color. The end result is the same, there's still no way to change this without negatively affecting other parts of the skin).
- Skinned the menus to match the rest of the skin.
- A lot of other small tweaks and changes.

Screenshots (as before, click for full size):

Dirhael · « **Reply #127 on:** August 03, 2015, 02:36:47 pm »

So I'm still tweaking, polishing and fixing bugs in the new dark skin. The skin should be very usable by now, but there's still work to be done.

I'm not ready to release a public version just yet, but I'd love it if there were a few people that are interested in helping me test it. If you're interested, please reply in this topic with what version of JRiver Media Center you're using, and on what operating system.

I'm looking for feedback on what works, what doesn't, bugs, usability/accessibility etc.

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #128 on:** August 03, 2015, 02:46:38 pm »

I'll test it. I'm currently using MC 20 but I'll upgrade to MC 21 once it's available. Also using Windows 10 Pro 64-bit but I can also test it on Mac and Ubuntu tomorrow (hopefully).

Dirhael · « **Reply #129 on:** August 03, 2015, 02:58:46 pm »

Quote from: Awesome Donkey on August 03, 2015, 02:46:38 pm

I'll test it. I'm currently using MC 20 but I'll upgrade to MC 21 once it's available. Also using Windows 10 Pro 64-bit but I can also test it on Mac and Ubuntu tomorrow (hopefully).

Great, thank you

I'll PM you a download link right away!

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #130 on:** August 03, 2015, 03:50:57 pm »

Beginning testing now! It really looks great.

Dirhael · « **Reply #131 on:** August 03, 2015, 04:28:49 pm »

Quote from: Awesome Donkey on August 03, 2015, 03:50:57 pm

Beginning testing now! It really looks great.

Happy to hear you like it

If everything works as it should for you, then I don't think a first public release is that far off now. Really curious to hear how it works on Linux and OSX for you, as I don't currently have access to such systems to test on.

Manfred · « **Reply #132 on:** August 03, 2015, 04:48:40 pm »

Only looking at the Screenshots - it Looks Great.

can't wait to have it

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #133 on:** August 05, 2015, 03:31:07 pm »

Thus far I haven't noticed any issues - the skin also works great in Mac and Linux. And the skin works with MC 21 too!

jaxtherogue · « **Reply #134 on:** August 05, 2015, 03:37:26 pm »

Quote from: Dirhael on August 03, 2015, 02:36:47 pm

So I'm still tweaking, polishing and fixing bugs in the new dark skin. The skin should be very usable by now, but there's still work to be done.

I'm not ready to release a public version just yet, but I'd love it if there were a few people that are interested in helping me test it. If you're interested, please reply in this topic with what version of JRiver Media Center you're using, and on what operating system.

I'm looking for feedback on what works, what doesn't, bugs, usability/accessibility etc.

As a fan of your skin, I'd be happy to test. Running MC 20.0.132 on Windows 10 Pro, 64bit. Fast Insider ring with today's cumulative update installed.

theoctavist · « **Reply #135 on:** August 06, 2015, 01:20:22 am »

Quote from: Dirhael on August 03, 2015, 02:36:47 pm

So I'm still tweaking, polishing and fixing bugs in the new dark skin. The skin should be very usable by now, but there's still work to be done.

I'm not ready to release a public version just yet, but I'd love it if there were a few people that are interested in helping me test it. If you're interested, please reply in this topic with what version of JRiver Media Center you're using, and on what operating system.

I'm looking for feedback on what works, what doesn't, bugs, usability/accessibility etc.

im down baby! windows 8.1 x64 MC 20.0.132

StFeder · « **Reply #136 on:** August 06, 2015, 08:31:23 am »

This looks really, REALLY great!

If I had the time I'd LOVE to do some testing for you, but unfortunately: I don't have much spare time right now. Right now I like MetroX best (I did a dark version of MetroX for my personal use), but it could be about to change.

Will you have a stop button included with your skin? The biggest miss for me with the original MetroX.

(Bonus question: is it possible to make the progress bar less thin? For standard usage I like the thin bar but it would be great for dancing lessons to have much bigger bar. Would be more visible while standing in the middle of the floor

)

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #137 on:** August 06, 2015, 09:04:59 am »

There's a stop button present already, and it looks great.

Dirhael · « **Reply #138 on:** August 06, 2015, 07:54:29 pm »

Quote from: theoctavist on August 06, 2015, 01:20:22 am

im down baby! windows 8.1 x64 MC 20.0.132

Quote from: jaxtherogue on August 05, 2015, 03:37:26 pm

As a fan of your skin, I'd be happy to test. Running MC 20.0.132 on Windows 10 Pro, 64bit. Fast Insider ring with today's cumulative update installed.

I sent you both a message with a download link

Quote from: StFeder on August 06, 2015, 08:31:23 am

This looks really, REALLY great!

If I had the time I'd LOVE to do some testing for you, but unfortunately: I don't have much spare time right now. Right now I like MetroX best (I did a dark version of MetroX for my personal use), but it could be about to change.

Will you have a stop button included with your skin? The biggest miss for me with the original MetroX.

(Bonus question: is it possible to make the progress bar less thin? For standard usage I like the thin bar but it would be great for dancing lessons to have much bigger bar. Would be more visible while standing in the middle of the floor )

As Awesome Donkey replied above, it does have a stop button included. As for making the progess bar less thin? It's an easy enough change to make, so I may just include customized images with bigger bars, for use with HTPC's and such

If there's no major issues reported from the testers within the next few days, I expect to release the first version of the skin before the end of this weekend.

Awesome Donkey · « **Reply #139 on:** August 06, 2015, 08:01:16 pm »

No issues here at all.

jaxtherogue · « **Reply #140 on:** August 06, 2015, 08:29:25 pm »

Quote from: Dirhael on August 06, 2015, 07:54:29 pm

I sent you both a message with a download link

As Awesome Donkey replied above, it does have a stop button included. As for making the progess bar less thin? It's an easy enough change to make, so I may just include customized images with bigger bars, for use with HTPC's and such If there's no major issues reported from the testers within the next few days, I expect to release the first version of the skin before the end of this weekend.

Thanks! The Windows 10 (Dark) version looks great and matches the new taskbar and Cortanta contrast color perfectly. I would second the request for a larger progress/seek bar. Currently it's a bit too tiny for use on my Surface.

Also- and this may spoil the look so I am unsure of it myself- but is it possible to have a very slight contrast between alternating rows in list view? It's kind of anti-modern I suppose but for those big playlists it might be nice.

StFeder · « **Reply #141 on:** August 07, 2015, 04:12:29 am »

Quote from: jaxtherogue on August 06, 2015, 08:29:25 pm

[...] but is it possible to have a very slight contrast between alternating rows in list view? It's kind of anti-modern I suppose but for those big playlists it might be nice.

Was thinking about asking just the same

But also thought it would disturb the look of the skin to much.

BTW: I always thought the best way to make it easy to follow (long) rows is to highlight every fourth. This helps much more than the most used highlighting of every second row, especially for long rows like in MC. And it would be less disturbing (and less anti-modern).

Dirhael · « **Reply #142 on:** August 07, 2015, 01:15:51 pm »

Quote from: jaxtherogue on August 06, 2015, 08:29:25 pm

Thanks! The Windows 10 (Dark) version looks great and matches the new taskbar and Cortanta contrast color perfectly. I would second the request for a larger progress/seek bar. Currently it's a bit too tiny for use on my Surface.

Also- and this may spoil the look so I am unsure of it myself- but is it possible to have a very slight contrast between alternating rows in list view? It's kind of anti-modern I suppose but for those big playlists it might be nice.

Quote from: StFeder on August 07, 2015, 04:12:29 am

Was thinking about asking just the same But also thought it would disturb the look of the skin to much.

BTW: I always thought the best way to make it easy to follow (long) rows is to highlight every fourth. This helps much more than the most used highlighting of every second row, especially for long rows like in MC. And it would be less disturbing (and less anti-modern).

I've changed the height of the volume- and progressbar sliders to be 3px vs. the 1px I used in the beta I sent you (the hitbox is, as before, much larger though). As for zebra striping in lists, I've not decided if I want to change that or not. I never much liked that myself as I think it makes for some visual "clutter". On the other hand, it does help usability ever so slightly. Changing every 4th row is not possible with the skinning engine, it's either every other row or nothing basically. What I may end up doing at some point is coding a small customization utility for the skin, so that everyone can easily decide for themselves what they want. The problem with this, aside from the fact that it'll take time to create the utility itself is that it'll only work on Windows. I just don't know enough about coding to do it for any other platform...

jaxtherogue · « **Reply #143 on:** August 07, 2015, 02:29:42 pm »

Quote from: Dirhael on August 07, 2015, 01:15:51 pm

I've changed the height of the volume- and progressbar sliders to be 3px vs. the 1px I used in the beta I sent you (the hitbox is, as before, much larger though). As for zebra striping in lists, I've not decided if I want to change that or not. I never much liked that myself as I think it makes for some visual "clutter". On the other hand, it does help usability ever so slightly. Changing every 4th row is not possible with the skinning engine, it's either every other row or nothing basically. What I may end up doing at some point is coding a small customization utility for the skin, so that everyone can easily decide for themselves what they want. The problem with this, aside from the fact that it'll take time to create the utility itself is that it'll only work on Windows. I just don't know enough about coding to do it for any other platform...

The zebra stripes aren't that worth the extra work, imo. I'd probably only turn it on for the bigger lists and leave it off otherwise for the reasons already mentioned. It was just a passing thought.

JimH · « **Reply #144 on:** August 07, 2015, 02:44:22 pm »

MC supports the "zebra stripes" in the skin. You can see it by turning on or off "Show gridlines" under options for Tree & View. I believe you would need to provide specific support in the skin itself.

Dirhael · « **Reply #145 on:** August 07, 2015, 03:20:19 pm »

Quote from: JimH on August 07, 2015, 02:44:22 pm

MC supports the "zebra stripes" in the skin. You can see it by turning on or off "Show gridlines" under options for Tree & View. I believe you would need to provide specific support in the skin itself.

Thank you Jim! I didn't realize there was an option to toggle this in the GUI, so I previously disabled it manually in the skin main.xml. Support for zebra stripes is now implemented

StFeder · « **Reply #146 on:** August 07, 2015, 03:59:21 pm »

I didn't remember that option neither. MC so often is more powerful as one thinks. Useful hint and good addition

intrance · « **Reply #147 on:** August 07, 2015, 06:48:18 pm »

If you still need some more test subjects, I'd love to try it on my desktop with Windows 10 or my Surface Pro 3 with 8.1 (both 64-bit).

Dirhael · « **Reply #148 on:** August 08, 2015, 09:12:48 am »

Quote from: intrance on August 07, 2015, 06:48:18 pm

If you still need some more test subjects, I'd love to try it on my desktop with Windows 10 or my Surface Pro 3 with 8.1 (both 64-bit).

Thank you for offering to test, but there's no need. I'll be releasing the first version of the skin before the end of the day

Dirhael · « **Reply #149 on:** August 08, 2015, 05:06:53 pm »

So I've now released the dark edition of my skin. See the first post of the topic for a screenshot and download link

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: [Update: 2016.01.26] Modern Cards skin, the dark ed. now supports scaling! (Read 128910 times)