View Full Version : What should be XBMC's default skin
we (xbmc) team are curious which skin you would like to see as xbmc's default skin.
please let us know
frodo
are there some screenshots of the ones not in the latest build or shown on http://www.allxboxskins.com (http://www.allxboxskins.com?)?
iīve gotto say that after looking at some screen of the dell media expierience it looks really awesome! so im gonna put my vote on that one!
http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/dell_media_experience.asp
WarriorSan
2004-02-12, 21:31
the skins retro and flatstyle are just great skins but i think that by default xbmc skin has to be one of these: xbox media center, mediacenter and project mayhem, just because those look the best like the original windows media center and for some reason almost all the media centers out there (windows media center, dell media experience, j. river media center ect.) are by default something with the colour blue.... hmmm
but that is my opinion.....
don_super
2004-02-12, 22:28
the "dell media expierience" look great for me.
i have to agree. i love retro and use it as my default skin but in terms of the default skin i think leave it with the mediacentre skin as that is a recognizable "standard"
i was to quick to vote. i voted mediacenter.. but that was before i tried th new blueblack skin.. it so great looking and looks realy pro! this is what should be the default skin.
someone that can please change my wote :)
voting for the default skin doesnt necessary mean you should vote for the skin that you think is the best looking. i agree with san9jay "leave it with the mediacentre skin as that is a recognizable "standard"".
thebeast
2004-02-13, 04:13
retro or hifi, although the dell looks interesting. i think retro has the most personality going for it, over all.
but whatever happens, i think the defauld is a good skin. i do think though, that having more than one skin is a very good thing.
wabidwoveren
2004-02-13, 04:33
ive been working on the dell media experiecne (or maybe xbox media experience) with shadow_mx and i definatly think it should be the default skin, because it keeps the same look and feel as win mce but makes it different enough to keep everything interesting.
Patch621
2004-02-13, 04:35
how can you not like:
http://www.allxboxskins.com/skins/xbmp/xbmp22_momdad_preview.jpg
:d
leave it as it is.. it's great, easy to recognize :)
where can i see some of these skins??
Gamester17
2004-02-13, 13:52
we cannot use ms media center/mediacenter/dell media experience as deafult or even host those as they are copywrited
(a default skin and any skin we host must be 100% legal, and not contain any ripped icons/pictures that are copywritted!)
we cannot use ms media center/mediacenter/dell media experience as deafult or even host those as they are copywrited
(a default skin and any skin we host must be 100% legal, and not contain any ripped icons/pictures that are copywritted!)
so heh, why are they even in the poll?!?!
btw, i voted early too, project mayhem kicks ass!!!
where can i get those skins that arent in allxboxskins.com ,like project mayhem,blackblue and dell
i'm with gamester17 - the use of ripped skins/images from other s/w isn't on, and really undermines the originality of xbmp/xbmc. can we assume therefore that the control panel of xbmp (ripped from windows media player) will change?
as for a default skin, wouldn't it make sense to first decide the results of the logo competition, then build a new skin based on that?
i gotta say thay blackblue is my favorite. i like the idea of the media centre style ones but they don't have the professional look about them that blackblue has.
they are all good in there own right though, keep up the great work..
i vote "mediacenter", since it's 'light and 'clean' and would prob. appeal to most? :d
(but come to think about it, it needs a small change:
the text of the playing file is colored orange which renders it almost unreadable on the blue background, and totally so when also being selected in green. any redish color, like orange on a blue blue or green background is probably the harderst combination of colors to read, even on paper, let alone on a screen. hmmm...perhaps i should post this in "bugs reports", perhaps? or "feature requests"?)
wessleym
2004-02-14, 00:35
if they can't be our default skin, then why did frodo ask us? doesn't he run this show?
LiGhTfasT
2004-02-14, 03:10
mediacenter2004 cause it looks pretty much real :)
as for the gui being a rip off of wmce i dont really care because its a great gui and works well
Gamester17
2004-02-14, 18:17
don't get me wrong i love the ms media center/mediacenter/dell skins as they appeal to the majority of people as default skin should, but the fact remain that we cannot host or distribute a such skin on our site as it might be copywrited and thus illegal, we can't break the law.
...however believe look-a-like clones are ok to use as long as not rips or modified rips, a similarity clone must be made from scratch
SupaDawg
2004-02-15, 12:24
where can i get those skins that arent in allxboxskins.com ,like project mayhem,blackblue and dell
i dont think the dell one exists yet. am i wrong?
IndieRockSteve
2004-02-17, 01:26
i think blackblue should be considered heavily. leonardo has done a great job with this skin.
akira666
2004-02-17, 16:41
why blackblue?
because itīs a clean, nice, and friendly skin.
easy for the most people to recognize with.
i donīt think the "coolest" is what should
be the default.
think of all people that canīt all this tech stuff
and is just using their x-box for film and maybe game pleasure.
it should be a skin like blackblue.
/akira
and many thanx to you guys, for a player that gets better and better for every new release.
hi-fi skin ofcoarse duhhh. uncle just loose the signature on the background. thats not cool. we all know you made it so...
:)
SupaDawg
2004-02-18, 06:26
i dont mind the sig. it makes it look classy
Shadow_Mx
2004-02-18, 09:27
http://shadow.gruposid.com/xbmc/wip.jpg
http://shadow.gruposid.com/xbmc/wip-video.jpg
:)
IndieRockSteve
2004-02-18, 09:34
i'd rather this project be affiliated with microsoft as little as possible.
plus, its not like the xp interface is that good looking, i honestly think its quite ugly...
after using the blackblue for awhile. i have to agree that it is the best original looking skin. very clean design. it uses too much space for the menus in my opinion but otherwise definetly a good candidate.
Gamester17
2004-02-18, 14:11
looks like most votes are still going thoughwards the "mediacenter" skin, maybe one of you skilled skinners ( http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif ) could moddify it by remove the offending pictures/icons and creating new original ones as replacements so it doesn't break any copywrites?
that way we still have the skin most people love but without any legal issues to worry about. are there any 3d cad artists out there?
wow shadow_mx that is a truly awsome skin... is it yours..? can i get hold of it..?
sooooooo cooool...
gime gime gime....
SupaDawg
2004-02-19, 02:48
looks hawt shadow
wabidwoveren
2004-02-19, 05:38
no, we cant give out the "dell skin" yet. its actually name is "xbox media experience" or xme for short. shandow_mx and i have a skin matching it for all the following programs. avalaunch, evox, xbmp, xbmc (duh), unleashx, mxm, bo-xlink. they will all be released at the same time, which will be when they are ready. we are in no rush to get them out, but hopefully we can get allxboxskins to host a bundled rar with all the skins in one.
SupaDawg
2004-02-20, 08:26
i'd be happy to port the skin to the available emulators and such if you wanna share the wealth. :d just pm me. hehe
hmmm can we stay to the topic please
which skin should b default and why?
frodo
thebeast
2004-02-20, 23:32
someone working on an updated retro skin?
- i like it, because it makes my xbox feel like the old hardware it is!
haholvik
2004-02-21, 01:00
blackblue would be my candidate, looks great but needs some polishing.
@thebeast: it's a work always in progress... :)
/retro author
oblivian
2004-02-23, 11:50
i think several of the skins are superb, especially retro, b&b and hifi. however, those are very stylized skins so they can fall in a trap where ppl like'em or hate 'em. a default skin should be more subtle and neutral, so my vote goes to media center, because it's plain, simple and "classic".
where can i get "dell media experience" xbmc skin ? it really kicks butt..!
let me know where i can download it....aiiiight!!
no, we cant give out the "dell skin" yet. *its actually name is "xbox media experience" or xme for short. *shandow_mx and i have a skin matching it for all the following programs. *avalaunch, evox, xbmp, xbmc (duh), unleashx, mxm, bo-xlink. *they will all be released at the same time, which will be when they are ready. *we are in no rush to get them out, but hopefully we can get allxboxskins to host a bundled rar with all the skins in one.
see above..
black blue.. i love you :)
contrast
2004-02-25, 14:48
i also think black blue is the best candidate; the colors are neutral but still "cnn-like", the gradients give a very nice feeling especially with "my weather".
the best thing offcourse is that it is made by a homebrew artists, so it really gives the mediacenter a unique style.
i also like retro, lixx and hifi, and i loved the xpmedia for a while, but i think it's outdated now. when we use that skin, (forgetting legal issue's for a sec.) than we should atleast update it to the dell one..
yup, i definetly dig the b&b skin; clean and nice, but it still needs some polishing of course. the only thing i don't quite like is how the small videowindow is placed over the fileselector list. don't know if this could be scripted to be fixed, making the list smaller when the preview is present or something. also some problems with other languages with this skin, but i would rather suggest an update to the translated text, as some of the lines are a bit too long imho. (yep, i'll probably start by making suggestions for my own native language http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif ) ps! sorry to make this into kinda bugreport...
hmm.. i hope my skin would not be the default one :)
because it's too much work to update it every day (for cvs) ;)
in my opinion the mediacenter skin should be the default skin, because the devs can edit it like they want it to do..
and its a kind of recognizable for ppl who don't know xbox mediacenter, but windows mediacenter :)
and yes! my english is bad ;)
mfg lixx
Gamester17
2004-02-27, 16:28
in my opinion the mediacenter skin should be the default skin, because the devs can edit it like they want it to do and its a kind of recognizable for ppl who don't know xbox mediacenter, but windows mediacenter :)
yes looks that the mediacenter and xboxmediacenter skins are the most liked ones and thus the best option but again, we cannot use those in out cvs unless the replace the icons/pics with ones that does not have copywrite, hope someone can help us out what that(?)
hope someone can help us out what that(?)
how about a joint effort from the skinners? i can start working on the big icons for the home menu. i'll just use the existing ones and make similar.
i guess icons for folders, cds, networked folders and such has to be made too?
/floink
ProngsPF
2004-02-29, 06:27
maybe ask foood if you can use some of his icandy set?
http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
http://www.foood.net/icon-files/xp-icandy/snapshots/xp-icandy-1-snapshot.jpg
*there are alot more icons.
http://www.foood.net
Gamester17
2004-02-29, 16:46
maybe ask foood if you can use some of his icandy set? http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/forums/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif http://www.foood.net
yes foood has some very nice icons but he's copywrited them all so you would need foood's explicid consent to use any one of those
i think it would be supersweet if a 3d cad artist could make some models that could be converted into 2d icons form different angels
THiNKFiRE
2004-03-03, 21:07
holy cow. project mayhem has my choice hands down. it was good before but i just grabbed the latest build of it. and it owns!!! keep up the good work!
very clean, legible, easy to navigate. new osd skin is awesome.
wabidwoveren
2004-03-07, 08:52
ok xbox media experience screenshots are here
i know many people are looking for a clean skin, and i think heres the perfect solution for you. this suite is called xbox media experience, and currently has skins for unleashx, xbmp, xbmc, evox, avalaunch, mediaxmenu, and bo-xlink.
xme screenshots (http://www.gruposid.com/dell/screenshots)
edit: contrary to the title it is called xbox media experience
Gamester17
2004-03-09, 14:47
note! i have moved all posts refering to the legal/copywrite discussion specific to the new dell skin here (link, dell skin only) (http://www.xboxmediaplayer.de/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.pl?act=st;f=1;t=2170)