View Full Version : [New Project] Zephyr
Xephyr [ALPHA]: Release Thread (http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=26995)
Kudos, first of all, to all the other skinners still faithful to XBMC. It looks like skinning engine 2.x has really caught the imagination, and stuff like Clearity, xTV, Vision etc is fantastic.
I'm hoping this will be too. The screens here are just mockups, the result of a few hours playing around this evening when I should have been doing work. The watchwords here are grace, lightness and minimalism. Everything should either fade or slide quickly and without any juddering, and every font and edge should be crisp.
So here's what happens. I'm not someone with a wealth of free time, sadly, but I get a few hours here and there. The last time I did anything substantial for XBMC was back in the early XBMP days, so it'll take a short while getting used to the new skinning engine. For my part, I'll be entirely selfish and make this simply for my own use, designed merely for 720p resolution with minimal features. If all that works out, then I'll sort out an SVN and leave it in other hands.
Most importantly, let me know what you think of these and whether any of it seems impossible. Things to note are the frosted glass overlay between GUI and background video, and the fogging on unfocused objects (not sure if that's doable). And this is all very early concept stuff - much is missing and much will no doubt change. I'll shut up now.
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/xbmc_home2.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/xbmc_movies.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/xbmc_pics.jpg
Tweaked the movies page a bit.
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/xbmc_movies2.jpg
And the Home page:
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/xbmc_home3.jpg
MikeBeecham
2007-06-16, 10:50
the mocks ups look really nice mate...the only thing I would be concerned with is colour burn on old CRT TVs...Im not sure that this is an issue on HDs, but I think more people are usiing the older CRTs still at the moment.
MacGyver
2007-06-16, 13:34
I agree, the white will be harsh on a plasma, have you tried doing a mock up with black, I'd like to see it.
Nothing seems impossible from what I see, the only thing that makes it not very friendly is the fact that to get non focused menu item to frost over, they will have to be pictures, which is great if you like English, not so great for our foreign friends. And the side scrolling home screen will take you a little bit more time to code because it moves in from off screen, and flows off the other side.
I like simple minimal skins too.
I'll help if I can, but will be on vacation in the sates for 30 days in about 3 days, so my internet activities will be limited. Glad to help when I get back.
Okay, have rejigged it to use glass panels rather than fullscreen backdrops, and intensified the glass effect so it's visible on an LCD TV.
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_home1.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_movies3.jpg
MikeBeecham
2007-06-16, 16:53
it does look good mate...seriously...I think McGyver will be the man for the job to help you out...but PLEASE get rid of the Halo background, as it's only really relevant for a games section!!!
The Halo pic's actually just there to represent a video playing in the background. Not sure what the standard background would be yet.
The Home screen's up and running in XBMC now, btw. Looks identical to the concept pic.
Here's an example of the different fullscreen backdrops for each menu option. Haven't put it into practice yet.
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_homepics.jpg
And the overlay for when a song/video's playing in the background.
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_overlay.jpg
KingJames
2007-06-16, 19:33
this is hot
And here it is running in XBMC. Amazingly, the backdrops are all 720p resolution and fade in and out like silk - didn't expect that. Need to fix that menu text alignment, though.
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_homemovies.jpg
jmarshall
2007-06-17, 01:31
Nice work. Love the look of this one :)
MikeBeecham
2007-06-17, 02:11
me as well....cant wait to see it in the svn and downloadable...keep up the good work
That's the home menu fixed. I've having to smoke the glass a tad for the media pages - it's a little aggressive. Again, this is a grab from XBMC, not a concept anymore. :grin:
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_hometv.jpg
HitecDevil
2007-06-17, 05:07
wow it looks sexy!!! cant wait for a beta stable version...:grin:
To round off a very productive day (though not for my *actual* job), here's the MyVideos window running on XBMC. Just a couple of bits to be added there.
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_movies.jpg
MikeBeecham
2007-06-17, 11:20
so this is running on your xbox at the moment?
MikeBeecham
2007-06-17, 11:20
..and KEEP the BSG backdrop :D
The last few screens are running on XBMC, yes. All animations in place and running smoothly. Plenty left to do, though, which will have to wait until Tuesday.
MikeBeecham
2007-06-17, 19:30
indeed...but it does look good though. I can imagine the side-srolling navigation to have a smooth-flow animation from one choice to the next..that would be grand!
It does that already, even better with wrap views. :cool:
that's very nice - love the glass effect also
MikeBeecham
2007-06-17, 21:53
then lets get out a beta ASAP my friend...be great to try it out
Well, I'm working today and tomorrow and then I have the rest of the week set aside for some good ol' skinning. As much as I hate to invoke the curse of the promised release date, I'd say a beta's likely in about a week.
MikeBeecham
2007-06-18, 00:02
cool mate....tell me, have you skinned before? You seem to know what you're doing in this area?
Some concepts for MyPictures:
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_pictures1.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_pictures2.jpg
Now playing overlay:
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_overlay2.jpg
stanley87
2007-06-18, 03:42
My Pictures is VERY NICE!
Plus, you got JM's tick of approval on page 2 - WELL DONE!
If it showed the current picture you have selected as the background-it would be cool, and then you press eg, X or something, and the panel slides away just leaving the picture :-D
Rand Al Thor
2007-06-18, 17:06
Wow, this skin looks great! You have great taste in movies too, American Psycho is a fabulous flick. Cheers.
This looks awesome! Love the simplicity in it.
You still need a default background ;)
Oh... I can't wait till it's finished.
this is sweet...i want this :grin:
HarshReality
2007-06-19, 19:05
OK, Im sufficiently curious now... just going to wait here for some form of release...
So here's the bad news: the MyPictures concept was dumped. It was just too out of place and the novelty versus practicality balance was way off. Here, however, are the latest screens from a partially functioning alpha, all grabbed from XBMC.
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_homemovies.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_movies.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_hometvshows.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_tvshows.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_tvshowlist.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_homemusic.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_music.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_pics.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_homesettings.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_settings.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_homefiles.jpg
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_homegames.jpg
MikeBeecham
2007-06-20, 09:37
no complaints from me so far...all looks sweet
it's acctually nice to have skin without icons!
OMG I'm almost willing to stop my skin. This is awsome!
Can't wait to set this to my new default!
Need help coding?
Nick8888
2007-06-20, 10:55
Is it possible to move the main menu to the bottom of the screen so that it stays onscreen on click and the movie/music/pictures menu slides up?
I have been thinking about this abit lately actually.. a skin which foccusses on the now playing content and keeps menus to a minimum. Just like a typical tv settings menu.
I think this skin (if/when released) could be the start of a new generation of skins which minimalise menus and emphasis the now playing content.
Cheers
Nick
MikeBeecham
2007-06-20, 12:53
hmmm...interesting idea...not sure if this is possible with the current skinning engine, but it's worth asking the question I would have thought.
no complaints from me so far...all looks sweet
it's acctually nice to have skin without icons!
Yeah, the icons thing was totally intentional. And I'm shit with them anyway.
Don't want to make you rush, but do you already have an idea for the wide icons?
MikeBeecham
2007-06-20, 21:01
Yeah, the icons thing was totally intentional. And I'm shit with them anyway.
Yeah...nice!
If I can be of any help then PM me and we can chat!
Okay, so now each of the backgrounds for the Home options and windows are customisable. The catch: it takes about half a second for custom images to fade in when you change options, whereas the default ones are instant.
jmarshall
2007-06-21, 03:41
That'll simply be the JPG load time versus XPR load time. If users specify a BMP instead, it'll be much snappier.
HarshReality
2007-06-21, 22:00
That'll simply be the JPG load time versus XPR load time. If users specify a BMP instead, it'll be much snappier.
BMP files are normally larger, how would it be more efficient to load a larger file... or am I misunderstanding your meaning of "snappier"
The man speaks the truth; the BMP files do load faster. Still not *quite* as fast as the XPR ones, but at least we're only talking about a split second's difference.
A few more screens. Getting down to the nitty gritty now.
VideoOSD
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_osd.jpg
VideoOSD Settings
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_vidsettings.jpg
Custom Menu (with slide-in/slide-out file browser)
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_browser.jpg
Basic Icon view (bringing the total for each main window to three, which is how I'm leaving it)
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_icons.jpg
Random settings screen
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/alpha/zephyr_settings2.jpg
BritneysPAIRS
2007-06-22, 07:20
the load time can quite often be caused by its running on a standard 10 gig drive in which case f drive seems to run way slower than normal, for large pics or any large files. Ive thought ive had errors at times but on a larger harddrive or C or E from a normal 10 gig drive it runs fine. The 8 Gig HDD speeds are fine but no F drive.
One more screen to keep things ticking over 'til tomorrow, when the alpha build is released and added to SVN. :nod:
Thought I'd make this one full size for the sake of variety.
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_episodes.jpg
Incredible.
I don't know if you've thought about it yet, but it might be cool to have the background change based on the show or artist people are browsing. I'd happily add a full widescreen "banner" to my site if you have some way of handling it in the skin. I would just need the dimensions you'd want to use.
PS: My site: thetvdb.com
You know, I tried doing "live" switching of backgrounds within controls for my original Pictures window - couldn't get it to work. If it's possible then I'm more than happy to play with the idea. One of the post-alpha features is going to be a separate custom background folder for each Home menu option, so you trigger a slideshow of sorts with each scroll of the button. I've been *really* impressed with XBMC's handling of the 720p backdrops - smooth as silk.
Just threw another menu option in there for shits and giggles. And that's all for this thread; the next time you hear from me you'll be downloading it.
http://www.nashwanpower.com/download/xbmc_concept/zephyr_clips.jpg
djh,
I gotta say this is going to be on sweet skins... it will likely make me change from my custom PM3 skin.
A few questions...
will there be options to have some items on the home screen... like date/time?
will there be the option to remove and/or change the 'frame' around the images in the menu? the skin is so polished that the current frame looks a bit out of place... maybe becasue it is not as slick as the rest of the skin?
one request...
please make a generic template for scripts that were designed to use the PM3 skin/layout to minimize porting... so we can still use the existing script layout and just change the background and such via your template.
again this is great work!
v1nzent-
2007-06-25, 21:29
shitloads of respect for you, can't wait to try it :)
HarshReality
2007-06-25, 21:49
one request...
please make a generic template for scripts that were designed to use the PM3 skin/layout to minimize porting... so we can still use the existing script layout and just change the background and such via your template.
again this is great work!
He has no "template" its just one huge image not near as complex as PM3 with this and that on the side. I would imagine though for the purposes of a script the menus would cross the bottom.
ShortySco
2007-06-25, 21:54
Hi,
This looks absolutly fantastic. Maybe even worth replacing my 4:3 set for some of this! :laugh:
MikeBeecham
2007-06-25, 23:51
I would like to know where you get your TV and Movie posters from...I would like to choose my own!
djh,
is dev of this skin dead?
Heh. Don't worry, guys, I will get back to it. Been busy the last few weeks.
Expect some form of download in about a week's time.
And hang on, what's everyone doing posting in this thread when there's a release thread elsewhere? Bail out!
release thread... please post link
I did a search, this is the only thread I could find on this skin
thread...
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?t=26995