View Full Version : Serenity Feature Requests and Mods
digitalhigh
2009-04-13, 16:56
One of the big ideas behind Serenity is that it's "your" guys' skin. I've tried to incorporate as many of your suggestions and requests as possible.
And, I'd like to continue in that fashion. I see stark has a lot of "mods" available. Now, while I know that I can only hope that this skin takes on that kind of fandom...I don't want there to be a dozen unofficial mods floating around out there.
I do want your guys' help in adding more features, however...I just want them to remain part of the skin.
So...if you have an idea or make some changes to the skin...post them here. If people like them enough, I won't hesitate to add them to the official build.
So go nuts...I have no opposition to your ideas. ;)
2-7offsuit
2009-04-13, 20:57
How about an update feature? Some way to notify and update the skin from within XBMC. It would be especially helpful while your trying to fix bugs to make sure people have the most up to date version before reporting them.
digitalhigh
2009-04-13, 21:07
How about an update feature? Some way to notify and update the skin from within XBMC. It would be especially helpful while your trying to fix bugs to make sure people have the most up to date version before reporting them.
Hmmm...maybe something using RSS? I'd probably need the help from a scripter to get this to go...
the add source is too light for my screen, can you darken that sucker some?
when adding a source, i can't go right / left to select the type
my tv shows season fanart doesn't appear yet :)
one more for ya.. can ya make the mouse pointer bigger (or just tell me what to mod to make it bigger)
One more, if it is possible.....Can a search button be added to be able to search a long list for a movie? Only asking because using the apple remote on appletv is quite tedious pressing down each time to go a long way down a list.
Cheers!
theophile
2009-04-23, 18:01
I've got an easy one. I think.
In the TV episodes view, you can scroll down the list of episodes, and press right to get the breakout info window. Since there is no episode fanart, I would like an option that causes that breakout window to appear automatically and instantly when scrolling down the list of episodes, so I can see the episode thumb for each as I scroll.
In other words, I'd like a thumbnail view mode. :-)
2-7offsuit
2009-04-25, 01:18
Is there anyway to customize the shortcuts on the home screen? I'd like movies to just go straight to Movies and skip the the by Title, Genre, etc screen. It might be cool to have those on the drop down though.
Is there anyway to customize the shortcuts on the home screen? I'd like movies to just go straight to Movies and skip the the by Title, Genre, etc screen. It might be cool to have those on the drop down though.
I would like this (and also for tv shows to go straight to shows), and can I throw one in?
A search feature from within movie library mode (for example), as using the apple remote can be quite tedious one button at a time to navigate a few hundred films...
Cheers!
Deano72
digitalhigh
2009-04-25, 02:01
Is there anyway to customize the shortcuts on the home screen? I'd like movies to just go straight to Movies and skip the the by Title, Genre, etc screen. It might be cool to have those on the drop down though.
That had me stumped for a second, but I think I know how to make this happen. So you want an option to make button x on the homescreen jump you to a specific listing of your choice.
Yes, I can do this. I *may* even have time tonight. ;)
I would like this (and also for tv shows to go straight to shows), and can I throw one in?
A search feature from within movie library mode (for example), as using the apple remote can be quite tedious one button at a time to navigate a few hundred films...
Cheers!
Deano72
Is this possible? I was not aware that you could do a search.
I will look into the idea.
(On a side note) I looked at the apple remote...wow. I would go nuts if I only had six buttons available...I had a few other ideas, but they're kinda squashed by the remote. I'll see what I can do.
Yeah six buttons, but they all have a mapping for being held down too, so 12 are available.
I don't know if there is a search, lol but it would be cool.
digitalhigh
2009-04-25, 02:31
Yeah six buttons, but they all have a mapping for being held down too, so 12 are available.
Can you map the hold-down for left/right to be pageup/pagedown? This would increase the scrollspeed when held. I *think* you might even be able to set the speed it scrolls at...although I could be wrong.
The closest to a search feature I know of is pressing shift+item letter on the keyboard, which then jumps you to that section...
IDK, I'll see if I can't think of something...
<!-- hold play --> <button id="7">Fullscreen</button>
<!-- hold menu --> <button id="8">ContextMenu</button>
<!-- hold left --> <button id="9">BigStepBack</button>
<!-- hold right --> <button id="10">BigStepForward</button>
found this under apple remote in keymap.xml.
What could I change "BigStepBack" and "BigStepForward" to to invoke pageup and pagedown?
just changed my keymap to be PageUp and PageDown for hold left and hold right respectively.
Am currently in work so will try that tomorrow.
cheers
dean
nah changing hold left and right to pageup/down does nothing. Just sees it as a normal leftor right press. Ah well worth a try
digitalhigh
2009-04-25, 21:11
the add source is too light for my screen, can you darken that sucker some?
when adding a source, i can't go right / left to select the type
my tv shows season fanart doesn't appear yet :)
Fixed...see if that's more to your liking.
one more for ya.. can ya make the mouse pointer bigger (or just tell me what to mod to make it bigger)
The pointer-xxx.png files are the ones you need to change.
I've got an easy one. I think.
In the TV episodes view, you can scroll down the list of episodes, and press right to get the breakout info window. Since there is no episode fanart, I would like an option that causes that breakout window to appear automatically and instantly when scrolling down the list of episodes, so I can see the episode thumb for each as I scroll.
In other words, I'd like a thumbnail view mode. :-)
I have added better functionality for the episode thumbnail images.
Is there anyway to customize the shortcuts on the home screen? I'd like movies to just go straight to Movies and skip the the by Title, Genre, etc screen. It might be cool to have those on the drop down though.
The buttons now default to show/movie view...I'll work on something better asap.
FernFerret
2009-04-28, 22:50
digitalhigh: Now i'll admit yes, i am that loser that posts a request without checking it first, but I'm wondering if Serenity supports the 16x9 style of banner display for Shows?
I'll check it later tonight when I'm back at my desktop, but just curious.
Thanks for all your work!
--FF
digitalhigh
2009-04-29, 00:56
digitalhigh: Now i'll admit yes, i am that loser that posts a request without checking it first, but I'm wondering if Serenity supports the 16x9 style of banner display for Shows?
I'll check it later tonight when I'm back at my desktop, but just curious.
Thanks for all your work!
--FF
You talking about really big episode thumbnails, or the wide icons for TV shows?
There is an option to choose between wide icons and poster images already.
As far as fullscreen episode images...don't tell anybody, but yes, it's in the works. Fekker and I are coming up with a way for MIP to auto-create fullsize screenshots which will then be displayed as the fanart when in episode-level view.
ok new ep thumbs are done in mip 2890 .. will be created and sized to 720x480 (so no more aweful looking tv episode thumbs. :D .. it's slow and ya have to create for each show, but that's the price of beauty right now ..
the ep fanart is also in there, done as the same time (see, saving time already).. now lets hope i got the naming convention correct for those to work.. s1e2.jpg (example)
1280x720 size for ep fanart
time offset is thumb, fanart, thumb, fanart, etc.. so they will be different images.. 5 of each style are loaded in the dialog for selection.. top have is the episode thumbnail (text doesn't appear for some reason).. bottom half is the ep fanart part.. pick, click, say ok.. standard mip click to pick type deal for image selection.
theophile
2009-04-29, 06:47
Is Matroska chapter support a possibility? It would be great to see the chapter markers on the timeline with name labels, or something like that.
digitalhigh
2009-04-29, 14:10
Is Matroska chapter support a possibility? It would be great to see the chapter markers on the timeline with name labels, or something like that.
I can definitely look into it when I get home from work tonight. ;)
2-7offsuit
2009-04-30, 00:14
How about an update feature? Some way to notify and update the skin from within XBMC. It would be especially helpful while your trying to fix bugs to make sure people have the most up to date version before reporting them.
Or maybe just attaching a version number to each build? I can't ever tell if I'm up to date!
digitalhigh
2009-04-30, 00:41
Or maybe just attaching a version number to each build? I can't ever tell if I'm up to date!
I know, I know...I'm very disorganized when it comes to stuff like that. Changing the rev # = changing the filename = changing the link on the site = pain in the butt when you're uploading five/six times a day.
TBH, there is an RSS feed now avail via the Serenity site, although I don't know exactly how to get it to go ATM...my friend who made the site is working on modifying the T3Ch updater script to work on Serenity, the hope is to have that working soon and implemented so that updating is fully automatic.
Until then, you can check here for posts on when I update things. Anytime I do anything significant, I make it a point to post here and notify people so there is at least *some* kind of a heads up. I'll try to start updating the first post as well so that you don't have to scan through pages to find out what's been fixed/added/changed. Hell, I'll try to take everything I've done and make up some kind of changelog as well, put that on the main page.
Regardless, the one link is always the most updated version available. Sorry bout the confusion tho... :sniffle:
theophile
2009-04-30, 00:43
That's why God invented subversion. :cool:
digitalhigh
2009-04-30, 06:33
That's why God invented subversion. :cool:
I have tortoiseSVN installed, but I use it rather infrequently. Perhaps I should do some homework on the subject...it's just that I have so many things I want to do and so little time in which to do them...
:rolleyes:
I guess this is the place to add requests....
When playing music and the visualization is playing, is there a way to keep
the menu and clock / weather (at top of picture) and the album cover and info (bottom of picture) on screen? After a few minutes they vanish and only the visualization is still there. Could it be configured to stay there indefinately unless you clicked it off? I know with Mediastream there is an option to keep the OSD on screen.
Also, when in the music section, is there a view where the album covers can display in rows, like 5 across and 4 down or some configuration of this?
I can't seem to be able to get to any other views than 'List' and when I push the right button to get to context menu (or try to find other views), it brings up the Artists, Songs, and so on...
I'm a slow reader and and the album covers are much nicer to look at.
Lastly (sorry) at times when looking through the TV episodes and pressing on the right button to see a description of the episode, there is no 'shaded backdrop' behind the description making it hard to read.
I 'found' this skin yesterday and really like it.
BTW - I am using an ATV and the remote is very limited.