INTERACT FORUM

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: 1 [2]   Go Down

Author Topic: Skins - really need an overhaul  (Read 34132 times)

blgentry

  • Regular Member
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 8014
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #50 on: May 20, 2015, 08:53:29 pm »

^ and ^^ .  The Mac has UI guidelines that are rather strict.  This is supposed to insure a familiar look and feel across applications so they all seem to be unified in some way.  Like having Command-S be save on any application that does saving.  I think this is mostly a good thing, but it's at the expense of creativity.

The good news is, you can obviously write an OSX app that looks nothing like the guidelines.  As JRiver has proven.  Frankly, it's off putting to a lot of Mac users because it's so "not a Mac App!!!".  It bothered me for about a week and then I got used to it.  But I'm a power user.  I'm not a typical Mac guy.  Though I am enthusiastic about it.

But more importantly, to address Jim's comment:  The look changing.  I don't think OSX itself changes looks very often, and when it does, it's more cosmetic than actually functional.  But darn itunes!!! They seem to change design paradigms every year.  You get used to how it works, download an update and BAM!  Your familiar features and interface are gone.

It's kind of insane how badly they mess with the interface on itunes.  Like removing cover flow.  Bam, gone.  You liked it?  Oh, sorry, try the new interface, we swear it's better.  The itunes team leadership should all be fired; it's one of the most complained about pieces of software on the entire platform, and equally complained about on the Windows side.

That's one thing JRiver has going for it.  Not only are the views EXTREMELY flexible, they don't change from release to release (as far as I can tell being somewhat new to JRiver).   This doesn't exactly belong in this thread, but hey you guys brought it up.  :)

Brian.
Logged

glynor

  • MC Beta Team
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 19608
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #51 on: May 20, 2015, 09:13:14 pm »

The Mac has UI guidelines that are rather strict.

The HIG is dead. It died a long time ago, and it was Apple that killed it.
Logged
"Some cultures are defined by their relationship to cheese."

Visit me on the Interweb Thingie: http://glynor.com/

flight16

  • Junior Woodchuck
  • **
  • Posts: 50
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #52 on: May 21, 2015, 03:24:03 am »

I completely agree with the original post.

I'll take anything with a modern, sleek look and feel.  I don't care if it conforms to Mac HIG or not as long as it's clean.

I've trialed JRiver several times and the functionality is good, but this is one of the two things holding me back from purchasing.  It just feels clunky, even with the 3rd party skins.
Logged

flac.rules

  • Regular Member
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 1268
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #53 on: May 24, 2015, 03:06:11 pm »

I think the skin-makers would need(?) some assurance from the devs, the skinning situation has been a recurring theme for many years, and I think many skinners are not willing to "risk" putting down a lot of work on this when the situation is as it is today.
Logged

JimH

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 72446
  • Where did I put my teeth?
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #54 on: May 24, 2015, 03:46:07 pm »

I think the skin-makers would need(?) some assurance from the devs, the skinning situation has been a recurring theme for many years, and I think many skinners are not willing to "risk" putting down a lot of work on this when the situation is as it is today.
It's hard to know what that means....  "situation as it is today"...
Logged

flac.rules

  • Regular Member
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 1268
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #55 on: May 25, 2015, 07:28:22 am »

It's hard to know what that means....  "situation as it is today"...

The situation seems to be that skinning is not very flexible and easy today, and there is no signals that it will change in the near future.
Logged

JonnyRedHed

  • World Citizen
  • ***
  • Posts: 193
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #56 on: June 04, 2015, 12:58:17 pm »

I'm with you man.
When I made Purity, a very long time ago, I'm just starting to understand how skins works on MC.
However, time goes by and I just understand that making a decent skin for MC is mainly impossible and worthless, because of the lack that skins developers have to face it (there are to much things that you can't control/design). My last intent was a skin for myself that I made a year ago in order to "match" the flat design guidelines.

Please consider sharing this skin, it looks great.  
Logged
Namaste - 'bows slightly with hands pressed together, palms touching'

6233638

  • Regular Member
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 5353
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #57 on: June 04, 2015, 03:52:40 pm »

It's hard to know what that means....  "situation as it is today"...
After trying to create a skin for MC:
Retina support is buggy (many elements are not being scaled up or down correctly - especially in the Mac version)
There is no support for multiple assets to cover situations where you must have an image drawn for that resolution rather than scaled for it to look right
Some of the skinning features have not been updated to support retina scaling.
Many elements of the skinning engine are not rendering "to spec" causing glitches which may be acceptable with or not even applicable to many of the skins that MC is shipping with, but makes it impossible to have certain designs look correct.
 
Though I've already put in a lot of effort into creating a skin that attempts to look "native" in OSX Yosemite, without these bugs being taken care of I can't create a skin that renders correctly, and it's not worth putting any more effort in.
If I created a non-retina skin, or was creating a skin that was not trying to exactly match something else (the latest version of OSX) many of these could be overlooked.
 
It would be less work if I was drawing a "standard" non-retina skin, because you don't have to worry about it scaling correctly or being so precise with how you define many elements of the skin.
Fixing the rendering issues would significantly reduce the amount of work to create a "retina" skin since the ideal would be that you draw it for 4x size and it just works at any other scale.
Maybe you would have to draw a handful of icons at 1x and 2x scale for it to look its best, but ideally you'd just draw it once and that's it.
 
There are a few examples of the issues I ran into in this topic: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=92667
Logged

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #58 on: June 08, 2015, 03:33:50 pm »

This kinda brings up one of my top pet peeves with the current skins like Noire. I think there's some room for improvements in the multiple platforms front with skins - it seems the platform names are too vague and don't specify specific editions. Example being this snippet from Noire;

I make you a deal, I will add a PlatformVersion element next to the existing Platform, and you provide me with images for Noire, matching style for 8/8.1 and 10? :D
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #59 on: June 08, 2015, 03:38:53 pm »

I can in the original 100% size, sure. Sizes up to 4X for HiDPI *may* pose issues - I have to find if/where Windows stores those larger images. Or I need to find an artist (I can't draw, but I can edit pretty well!) to recreate them. :P

The Windows 10 ones I ripped out of the aero theme are here: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=97977.0

I'll dig out the 8.x ones from my archive drive. :)

P.S. If Mac is also on this list, I can also provide 1:1 stoplight icons for 10.10 (and assuming they're going to be used in 10.11), but again only at 100% original size - no HiDPI ones.
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #60 on: June 08, 2015, 03:50:21 pm »

For official inclusion I would really need HiDPI variants. Maybe I'll see if i can dig them up.
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #61 on: June 08, 2015, 03:56:28 pm »

It wouldn't be hard to just resize them though I'm not sure how well they'd look - probably fine for minimize, maximize and restore... but the close button uses a little anti-aliasing so not too sure.

I did however just rip the Windows 8.1 buttons while set to the largest DPI available on Windows.
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #62 on: June 08, 2015, 04:06:18 pm »

Okay, here's the Windows 8.1 buttons ripped at the highest DPI available on Windows: https://www.mediafire.com/?38nn6415cbc9pba

It looks like all of them, including the close button, can just be resized bigger without any issue as needed, which is a good thing so it should be easy to integrate these.

Now on back to Windows 10 and see what can be done there...
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #63 on: June 08, 2015, 04:16:32 pm »

They look like they are 200% size out of the box, which should be fine. I'll see what I can do with these.
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #64 on: June 08, 2015, 04:20:38 pm »

Yeah, I'd just open them in paint.net and upscale them from 200% to 400% - should be no issue with those since no aliasing is involved. When I'm done with Windows 10, I'll upscale them all to 400% and reupload. :)

Windows 10 on the other hand... yeah, it'll take me a little bit but I think I can rip the 200% close button out of the aero theme. The other buttons are already ripped and ready and will upscale to 400% without issue.
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #65 on: June 08, 2015, 04:31:46 pm »

Success, got the close button perfectly. Here's Windows 10's buttons at 200%: https://www.mediafire.com/?xyy70dmiaeox4l2

Honestly, MC should limit the size of these buttons to 200% regardless of the size specified to match the OS in this case.

Next, I'll start doing OS X 10.10 at 200%. :)
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

glynor

  • MC Beta Team
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 19608
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #66 on: June 08, 2015, 04:36:42 pm »

I'd advise caution spending a bunch of time doing Windows 10 specific skinning. Microsoft is still re-skinning pieces of Windows 10.  They've already changed the notification area's "reveal arrow" and the Computer icon since the current public build.
Logged
"Some cultures are defined by their relationship to cheese."

Visit me on the Interweb Thingie: http://glynor.com/

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #67 on: June 08, 2015, 05:04:06 pm »

True, but it only takes me less than an hour to re-rip the buttons. Speaking of, at 200% there's actually a couple bugs with the Windows 10 button images MS uses, which I fixed.
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #68 on: June 08, 2015, 05:11:48 pm »

Okay, here's the skin ready 200% size Windows 8.1 images. Included are Minimize, Maximize, Restore and Close. :)

https://www.mediafire.com/?d8x2wj20x3yymkd

Sample (Windows 8.1):



I'm about to make a clone of Noire and start some testing.
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #69 on: June 08, 2015, 05:42:47 pm »

And here's skin ready 200% images for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10. Again all four are included for each.

https://www.mediafire.com/?2div534l6enuzxx

Sample (Windows 10):

Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #70 on: June 08, 2015, 05:49:21 pm »

Having the disabled button state be all blank seems weird (the 4th image). Not sure if its used at all for these buttons though, but I would rather have something there.

Good job so far.
How does the 10 look on Noire? I imagine it might not be perfect due to the dark color.
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #71 on: June 08, 2015, 05:59:48 pm »

Ah, you're right. Maybe a greyed out button?

I got sidetracked by 10's images - I'll test that here in a bit. As for the dark color, I can make the first button of each white instead of black - they exist as white in both. :)

EDIT: Something like this work?

Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

glynor

  • MC Beta Team
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 19608
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #72 on: June 08, 2015, 06:12:37 pm »

True, but it only takes me less than an hour to re-rip the buttons.

Cool. As long as you're eyes-wide-open.  ;D
Logged
"Some cultures are defined by their relationship to cheese."

Visit me on the Interweb Thingie: http://glynor.com/

JimH

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 72446
  • Where did I put my teeth?
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #73 on: June 08, 2015, 06:14:22 pm »

Awesome,
Thanks for doing this.  It's fun to watch.

Jim
Logged

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #74 on: June 08, 2015, 06:25:49 pm »

Cool. As long as you're eyes-wide-open.  ;D

Always am. ;)

Awesome,
Thanks for doing this.  It's fun to watch.

Jim

No problem Jim, this really is fun to do too. :D

Anyways, here's the fixed Windows 8.1 200% buttons - comes in two flavors for lighter and darker skins which are skin ready, the source images for all of them and newly created disabled buttons for all of them.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/nlyf9pvs7n958j1/Windows8WindowButtons.zip
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #75 on: June 08, 2015, 06:46:55 pm »

And here's the fixed Windows 10 200% buttons. Again they come in two flavors, is available as skin ready images for both dark and light skins, source images are included and disabled buttons were created for all of them. :)

Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/download/5j0p9z1kbx7j7l1/Windows10WindowButtons.zip
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #76 on: June 08, 2015, 07:37:44 pm »

I was successful at adding the Windows 10 buttons to a modified Noire - I won't embed the images as they're too big for the forums;

100% size: http://i.imgur.com/0jf0U97.png

200% size: http://i.imgur.com/KScwAwR.png

And here's the needed main.xml code;

Code: [Select]
   <Entry Name="CloseButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Close-Win10.png" NumberImages="5" Scale="2" Alignment="2" OffsetX="42" OffsetY="2" Scale="2" />
    <Entry Name="MaximizeButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Maximize-Win10.png" NumberImages="5" Scale="2" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-5" OffsetY="2" Scale="2" />
    <Entry Name="RestoreButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Restore-Win10.png" NumberImages="5" Scale="2" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-5" OffsetY="2" Scale="2" />
    <Entry Name="MinimizeButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Minimize-Win10.png" NumberImages="5" Scale="2" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-50" OffsetY="2" Scale="2" />
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #77 on: June 08, 2015, 07:48:17 pm »

And finally here's Windows 8.1's buttons in the modified Noire. 200% looks good, but at 100% the images look blurry (especially maximize/restore, perhaps due to downsampling?) compared to how they normally look within Windows. Shame I can't specify different images for specific sizes (e.g. 100% and 200%).

100% size: http://i.imgur.com/J9e6u9H.png

200% size: http://i.imgur.com/4YuRcJ2.png

And main.xml's code;

Code: [Select]
   <Entry Name="CloseButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Close-Win8.png" NumberImages="5" Scale="2" Alignment="2" OffsetX="42" OffsetY="2" Scale="2" />
    <Entry Name="MaximizeButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Maximize-Win8.png" NumberImages="5" Scale="2" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-25" OffsetY="2" Scale="2" />
    <Entry Name="RestoreButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Restore-Win8.png" NumberImages="5" Scale="2" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-25" OffsetY="2" Scale="2" />
    <Entry Name="MinimizeButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Minimize-Win8.png" NumberImages="5" Scale="2" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-49" OffsetY="2" Scale="2" />
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #78 on: June 08, 2015, 09:27:24 pm »

At last, the buttons marathon is over! Here's the window buttons (aka stoplight buttons) for OS X 10.10 at 200%! They're available in skin ready PNGs and source images! I've tested this in a modified Noire - I know the menus overlap the buttons at 200% (normal Noire modded to show only Mac buttons does this too!), which seems to be a bug if you force the Mac skin on Windows (maybe Mac too?). Oh, and the skin ready PNGs have the space on the end - without it the buttons don't look correct, it seems. Also, it looks like these stoplight buttons won't change for OS X 10.11 either, so that's good news. :)

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/download/qanexqf8aqkgnqa/OSX10.10WindowButtons.zip

100% size: http://i.imgur.com/v6WOWRT.png

200% size: http://i.imgur.com/Gmk8BIm.png

And main.xml's code;

Code: [Select]
   <Entry Name="CloseButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Close-Mac10.10.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="0" OffsetX="8" OffsetY="5" Scale="2" />
    <Entry Name="MaximizeButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Maximize-Mac10.10.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="0" OffsetX="48" OffsetY="5" Scale="2" />
    <Entry Name="RestoreButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Restore-Mac10.10.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="0" OffsetX="48" OffsetY="5" Scale="2" />
    <Entry Name="MinimizeButton" Platform="Windows" Bitmap="Minimize-Mac10.10.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="0" OffsetX="28" OffsetY="5" Scale="2" />
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #79 on: June 09, 2015, 02:16:21 am »

I've tested this in a modified Noire - I know the menus overlap the buttons at 200% (normal Noire modded to show only Mac buttons does this too!), which seems to be a bug if you force the Mac skin on Windows (maybe Mac too?).

The OSX version doesn't have a menu there, as the menu moves to the main OSX menu bar at the top of the screen, so thats fine.

200% looks good, but at 100% the images look blurry (especially maximize/restore, perhaps due to downsampling?) compared to how they normally look within Windows. Shame I can't specify different images for specific sizes (e.g. 100% and 200%).

Maybe I'll add that as well while I am at it, but the possible choices is getting quite complex, which makes me think I should add a new sub-element, as parsing a long list of top-level <Entry> elements with different conditions is going to get complicated in the code.
Platform alone was easy, since there are no alternatives, ie. its a simple true/false check, but if I add PlatformVersion and some kind of Scale-dependent condition, thats not so straight forward.

So, something like this (names not final)
Code: [Select]
<EntryGroup Name="CloseButton">
   <ConditionalEntry Platform="Windows" PlatformVersion="6.2-6.3" Scale="1" Bitmap="Close-Win8-100.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="2" OffsetX="42" OffsetY="2" />  
   <ConditionalEntry Platform="Windows" PlatformVersion="6.2-6.3" Scale="2" Bitmap="Close-Win8-200.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="2" OffsetX="42" OffsetY="2" />

   <ConditionalEntry Platform="Windows" PlatformVersion="10.0" Scale="1" Bitmap="Close-Win10-100.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="2" OffsetX="42" OffsetY="2" />
   <ConditionalEntry Platform="Windows" PlatformVersion="10.0" Scale="2" Bitmap="Close-Win10-200.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="2" OffsetX="42" OffsetY="2" />
</EntryGroup>

This makes parsing and handling this easier, since I can just parse all elements inside the EntryGroup, evaluate their conditions, and then decide which of the entries to actually use for the style.
Especially for Scale this is important, since scale might be 1.5, and no perfect match exists - and I need to decide which of the images to use only after I know which options do exist.

Another question on that, should it just decide based on the existing "Scale" value, which doubles as the image scale for rendering, or should there be an explicit new option for the conditional behavior?
Using the existing Scale makes it a bit simpler, but it limits the flexibility a bit, since these things are directly tied together. But on the other hand, are you ever going to use ScaleCondition=1 with Scale!=1? Does that even make sense? Why not pre-scale all your assets perfectly?

On that topic, anyone want to express an opinion on how to select an image based on scale? What do I use for 1.5 scale in this example? Avoid upscaling, if possible?

I'm open to suggestions on how you feel the syntax might be best for this.
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

6233638

  • Regular Member
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 5353
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #80 on: June 09, 2015, 05:25:07 am »

I would say that Media Center should select an exact scale if it exists, else it should pick the closest size up and scale down from that.
Scaling up should be a last resort if a high enough resolution image does not exist.
 
That way you can create a skin with 4x assets and only include specific elements at 1x or perhaps 2x scales.
Generally once you get above 100%, scaling down from a 4x image looks fine though, it just looks bad at 1x for certain items.
Logged

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #81 on: June 09, 2015, 05:26:35 am »

Thats what my thought would've been.
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #82 on: June 09, 2015, 06:08:50 am »

Same here, I'd avoid upscaling where possible. I'm thinking 2X would probably be the best limit, even at 4X since the OSes seem to have a limit with the window buttons at 2X anyways.

The OSX version doesn't have a menu there, as the menu moves to the main OSX menu bar at the top of the screen, so thats fine.

D'oh! I knew that. :P

The proof of concept looks great, I don't see any issue with that. But I have to ask, in Noire by default why is Scale="4" listed twice in each entry for Windows?

I'll start the creation of 1X sizes using my existing 1X sources, so it shouldn't take long but the placements will probably be a little different.
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #83 on: June 09, 2015, 06:29:30 am »

The proof of concept looks great, I don't see any issue with that. But I have to ask, in Noire by default why is Scale="4" listed twice in each entry for Windows?

Bug.  Its XML, double attributes are just ignored. If they would have different values, that might end up fun.
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #84 on: June 09, 2015, 06:35:46 am »

Hmmm, might have to try that. :P

Anywho, here's the 1X scale buttons for Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and OS X 10.10 (just the skin ready PNGs this time). PlatformVersion for OS X can be set to 10.10-10.11 since the stoplight buttons are (currently) the same. :)

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/download/ob06cvqxoqg9m92/1XScaleWindowButtons.zip

Here's the placements in main.xml I currently use for each;

Windows 8.1:

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="-49" OffsetY="0" />
        <Entry Name="RestoreButton" Bitmap="Restore.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-49" OffsetY="0" />
        <Entry Name="MinimizeButton" Bitmap="Minimize.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="2" OffsetX="-75" OffsetY="0" />

Windows 10:

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" />

OS X 10.10:

Code: [Select]
       <Entry Name="CloseButton" Bitmap="Close.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="0" OffsetX="7" OffsetY="6" />
        <Entry Name="MinimizeButton" Bitmap="Minimize.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="0" OffsetX="26" OffsetY="6" />
        <Entry Name="MaximizeButton" Bitmap="Maximize.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="0" OffsetX="45" OffsetY="6" />
        <Entry Name="RestoreButton" Bitmap="Restore.png" NumberImages="5" Alignment="0" OffsetX="45" OffsetY="6" />
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #85 on: June 09, 2015, 09:07:16 am »

This is coming along nicely. Scale-dependent lookup is already working, just need to build a parser for the OS version strings in the PlatformVersion field.
I'm thinking of supporting following syntax:

"6.3" - single match
"6.2-6.3" - range
"?-6.1", "10.0-?", open ranges

Not sure the last one is really needed, but its not making anything more complicated, so why not.
It'll only support two-component version numbers (so only 10.6, not 10.6.8), but that fine grained control really shouldn't be needed. Luckily versions are structured similarly between Windows and Mac (and Linux just doesn't apply).

If there is an entry without any PlatformVersion, its considered a fallback, and will only be used if none of the other entries match (ie. the current Close button will be the fallback, and the new ones use specific version strings in Noire).
Do we have a wiki page on Standard View skinning where I can document this? I should check.
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

glynor

  • MC Beta Team
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 19608
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #86 on: June 09, 2015, 09:34:26 am »

Logged
"Some cultures are defined by their relationship to cheese."

Visit me on the Interweb Thingie: http://glynor.com/

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #87 on: June 09, 2015, 11:04:55 am »

Anywho, here's the 1X scale buttons for Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and OS X 10.10 (just the skin ready PNGs this time).

First off, thanks, second, some comments on the Win8/Win10 versions.

I feel it looks slightly odd to have the close button overlap the outer skin border on Noire, because it gives it a sharp corner which isn't really supposed to be there.
I realize, standard Windows layout has the close buttons right to the top edge without any gap, but that doesn't really seem to work very well with our skin.

Oddly enough, the 2x scale versions didn't have this, they were positioning 2px further down, which is where i'll move these to as well probably.

Second point:
The 1x versions of the "normal" state in the "Light" Win8 version are grey, while the 2x versions are white.  White seems to be the color I want for a dark skin, grey looks inactive.
An inconsistency here is also weird in general. :)
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #88 on: June 09, 2015, 11:34:28 am »

Second point:
The 1x versions of the "normal" state in the "Light" Win8 version are grey, while the 2x versions are white.  White seems to be the color I want for a dark skin, grey looks inactive.
An inconsistency here is also weird in general. :)

Whoops, fixed: http://www.mediafire.com/download/7il5fcsic2jd66o/Windows8LightButtons1x.zip
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #89 on: June 09, 2015, 11:40:58 am »

Thanks.

I've added them and the required skinning changes to the next build, for Noire only. We'll see how it goes, and I can move them to other skins later.
Also for the main frame only, I was poking  the other frames, but its not done yet. Maybe I'll get them done in time for the next build, we'll see!
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

Awesome Donkey

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 7816
  • Autumn shade...
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #90 on: June 09, 2015, 11:41:30 am »

and Linux just doesn't apply.

Haha, yeah, the elephant in the room. I've got an idea for this, not sure if how viable it is. Perhaps for Linux and other OSes in general where a match isn't detected could use the window buttons from the Noire Glass skin?
Logged
I don't work for JRiver... I help keep the forums safe from "male enhancements" and other sources of sketchy pharmaceuticals.

Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit + Ubuntu 24.10 Oracular Oriole 64-bit | Windows 11 24H2 Update 64-bit (Intel N305 Fanless NUC 16GB RAM/500GB M.2 NVMe SSD)
JRiver Media Center 33 (Windows + Linux) | iFi ZEN DAC 3 | JBL 306P MkII Studio Monitors | Audio-Technica ATH-M50x Headphones

Hendrik

  • Administrator
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10945
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #91 on: June 09, 2015, 11:43:48 am »

Haha, yeah, the elephant in the room. I've got an idea for this, not sure if how viable it is. Perhaps for Linux and other OSes in general where a match isn't detected could use the window buttons from the Noire Glass skin?

Linux is kinda cheating right now as it is, as it uses the Platform="Windows" entry (and with the new PlatformVersion, for "0.0"). We'll have to see once we decide to give it its own skinning platform. ;)
Logged
~ nevcairiel
~ Author of LAV Filters

mwillems

  • MC Beta Team
  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 5234
  • "Linux Merit Badge" Recipient
Re: Skins - really need an overhaul
« Reply #92 on: June 09, 2015, 11:45:28 am »

Linux is kinda cheating right now as it is, as it uses the Platform="Windows" entry (and with the new PlatformVersion, for "0.0"). We'll have to see once we decide to give it its own skinning platform. ;)

I'd be happy to get consistent behavior from clicking the maximize and minimize buttons in Linux (they don't work at all on the ARM builds, and only in some configurations on x86 linux) before we worry too much about how they look   :P

Logged
Pages: 1 [2]   Go Up