New Skin - Xlobby "Glass" *CANCELLED*

[Marbles_00]

Well, I'm at it again! I've decided to do an overhaul to the HTPC skin. I want to keep the revolving menu system as in Mirage, but I also want it to look similar to the AppleTV skins that reside on both the MediaPVR and BES. So I've come up with the concept of "glass" icons...to which, I'm calling the skin "Glass". It is very early on in design, so here are some prelim screen shots.
Splash


Main Menu


Movies


Weather


Forcast


Weather Maps


Intheaters screen


Theater Info


Traffic Cams


Webcams


Comments welcome.

[wesblack]

I like it, let's see some more screens....!





Wes Black \ Calrad

[rika]

Great! it´s always fun to see new skins. Keep it coming

Rika

[Marbles_00]

Added a movie screen (see first post). Pretty early stuff, so things could change. A menu selection is across the top of the screen. Taking full advantage of xDatabase. What would be really cool is if I could convert all the coverart to a "glass" look, but I think that would be quite an undertaking...then when more movies are added... .

Comments welcome.

[wesblack]

Looks cool so far.....!





Wes Black \ Calrad

[Marbles_00]

Thanks Wes.

Added more screens: Weather, Forcast, and Weather Maps, and updated the main menu image (the weather icon is now a glass image). The weather images have been re-created to a glass texture to fit with the text and other icons. I haven't done the moon phases yet, but at some point, I'm going to.

[Marbles_00]

More screens added:
Webcams, Traffic Cams, Movie Theater (Intheater plugin) w/ Movie Info and Showtimes overlays.

See first post to view added screens.

[WannaTheater]

From the looks of this, I am assuming it will not run with the last XL free version?

[Marbles_00]

It's been developed on "Xlobby free". I never had the funds or the "acceptance" to make such a software purchase when the Xlobby V3 offer was on the table.

The skin is using xMenu for the main menu rotation, like I used in my Mirage skin. I'm using alot of features that came out in the last releases of Xlobby free, so I'd advise you get the update around Feb. 26 2007 time frame.

In addition to the majority of the plugins used with Mirage, it uses xDatabase for the reflections, though, I ran into some issues with getting them to look right, so, I've put them on the sideline while I find the time to get the rest of the skin complete. I also changed fonts from that outline font shown in the pictures above to the font called "wipeout fussion" that I used in my ZS5 skin (you can get it at my free xlobby site), as I found that outline font really difficult to read if too small.

The skin is designed for 1920x1080 screens, and is totally remote controlled. I'm using it with my Panasonic TV remote (winLIRC/Girder running in the background).

As mentioned the weather icons were developed for a glass look, and will be distributed with the skin. I never did the moon phases though, and most likely won't, as I doubt the phase portion will be noticeable after going through the glass conversion. All glass icons were developed using Gimp.

Like most of my skins I distribute, there will be a lengthy manual, especially in setting up xMenu, so stay tuned.

[WannaTheater]

Thanks. I was wondering where the "mirroring" effects came from. Looks cool! Is winLRC equivalent to something like USBUIRT, just through serial? Also, will older versions of Girder work with winLRC?

Thanks!

[Marbles_00]

Is winLRC equivalent to something like USBUIRT, just through serial? Also, will older versions of Girder work with winLRC?

I use the Igor Serial XP plugin for Girder. My Girder version is something like 3.31. I'm sure it would work on lesser versions as well, though I'm not sure with version 4 (or higher). If using at least XP for your OS, then you have to use the XP version of the Igor Plugin. Other versions won't work. In the plugin setup, the developer actually has three different circuits: a serial one, a USB one, and a TCP/IP one. The USB and TCP/IP circuits use a pic circuit that requires programming. Since I don't have a pic programmer, I opted for the serial circuit and have been pleased with it.

I don't have an IR transmitter to control other devices, but there is a LIRC version that is supposed to work. The kicker here is that I have to use the WinLIRC software to capture the IR code, but the software doesn't recognize the "Igor" version of the serial circuit.

The circuit is dead simple to build, and the parts are cheap. So far, it has worked excellent.

[bubba]

Hey Marbles...I would love to take a look at this skin. Are you still working on it? Any planned release date?

[Marbles_00]

I won't say it is on hold...but it is on a temporary slow-down. I recently changed my MediaPVR system (decided to use the system intended for my BES). This allowed me to drop Got All Media and use GBPVR (for all the TV related stuff). A bit of a learning curve in skinning it to look similar to my Xlobby screens...but far and away easier than GAM. Also had other things going on too, but such is life.

The Glass skin was around 80% complete though minus some features like Blu-ray support and other HD support (I don't have alot of HD content nor a BR player). Also the TV portion is up in the air as my FTA setup is, or will be going down soon enough .

If you want to get started and get ahead of the game, I would suggest to download my Mirage skin and get xMenu working. Use the manual included with Mirage to get a good understanding of how to manipulate xMenu for your usage. Just remember that xMenu uses the xSend/xReceive plugin...and I define the distinct IP address of the HTPC, so you will have to change the conf.ini file in the plugins/xReceive directory, as well as go through the xMenu.ini file and change the IP/port of all the xSend commands to match what you define in your conf.ini. There are also a few xSend commands that will have to change in the Xlobby events as well.

I should try and get some updated screen shots though. Since the ones shown, I've changed the fonts to wipeout fusion (same used in ZS5 skin).

I'll keep you informed when it will be released.

[bubba]

Excellent. It's hard to find much time to play with this stuff these days, and right now I'm still working on skinning my own zone skin. I've studied your pervware *.ini files and events and believe I have a pretty good handle on them. I have an Audigy 2 Value card and am going with 4 zones for now...I like the idea of any four inputs to any four zones. For control, I have installed a 15" touchscreen in the wall with a nice wooden frame around it , and when you're not using it for input, it serves as a nice digital picture frame.

When I get the time I will check out your Mirage skin. I am happy you have decided to go with GBPVR, as that is what I have used for some time. Although, as with you, my FTA setup is coming down. I still have my directv subscription and OTA ATSC, though, so not that big a deal. And I really don't watch very much TV anyway.

Look forward to seeing your skin.

[Marbles_00]

Sorry I haven't updated for a while. Skinning has really taken a back seat as I've lost my drive (not hard drive...but just the thrill of skinning). I've even contemplated dropping the use of xlobby from both my MediaPVR and HTPC and going with something else. I've been playing with XBMC, and Moovida lately. Even been getting more involved with GBPVR and attempting to stream TV across the network. The big thing as to why I haven't dropped xlobby altogether is that I know how to use it. After playing with XBMC (and I really like it, I must say), the thing that turns me off from it (and most of the other HTPC software out there) is the fact that I would/could have to go through extensive re-structuring and re-mapping of my media to get it all to flow just right, something I don't really want to do. The one thing that is really nice about XBMC, and to which the newer Xlobby can do, and that is to display fanart. So in a last ditch effort to bring some thrill back to skinning for myself, I've done my own attempts to bring fanart to the free version of xlobby as well...though not really difficult. Here is what I've been working on lately.

Fanart On:


Compared to when Fanart is Off:


This is selectable under a system settings screen that I'm setting up. I've also got some other tricks up my sleeve that I hope will pan out in the near future, which will bring even more cool features to this skin. Stay tuned.