DVD browser skin

by **csander** on Sat Dec 27, 2003 5:17 am

Here is my newly finished DVD browser skin. I started with 4 rows of DVDs which looked better, but I was unable to get keyboard navigation to work properly (I'll be posting a bug on this), so I ended up with only 3.

The second image shows the highlight of the doors of the cabinet, which is a button that will return to my main window screen.

My next skin will be a DVD details screen that will be launched into from this screen. I haven't quite decided what I want to do for that one.

Chris

by **csander** on Sat Dec 27, 2003 6:03 am

In case anyone is wondering how I did this, here is the breakdown:

Backdrop:

Plain cabinet:

Lighting mask. I used partially transparent gradient objects that can overlay each other and then converted them into a flattened grayscale image that could be used as a mask applied to an all black layer. This allowed me to easily overlay seperate lights in an additive fashion and move them around without tedious manual work. I blurred the final image to give the lighting a softer feel:

Resulting positive lighting (white is transparent...):

Finished cabinet with lighting:

In Xlobby, I have a gradient background on bottom, followed by the cabinet backdrop, followed by the DVD covers, followed by the finished cabinet, followed by the DVD screenshots, followed by a button to cover or show the doors.

I also replaced xresource-selector-square.png with a light cone looking one. Unfortuneately this png is also used by the other databases, so that could be a problem.

by **Mac** on Sat Dec 27, 2003 1:36 pm

This is a great looking very unique skin. I sure would like a copy of the xml file and the images you used to create this skin, if you don't mind. My email is mailto:alabamadoc@charter.net.

Great work!!!
Mac

by **acemt01** on Sat Dec 27, 2003 5:45 pm

WOW!

That's impressive. I would like to use this on my 16x9 screen. could you send my the skin as well so I can mess with it. Very Nice.

mailto:weflyswa@earthlink.net

thanks,

Mark

by **Gozur** on Sat Dec 27, 2003 8:14 pm

Time for me to also jump on the bandwagon and request the xml and images.

If at all possible...

Thanx

-Goz
mailto:gozur@perfectidiot.com

by **csander** on Sat Dec 27, 2003 8:50 pm

I have zipped up the skin and put it on my website. You can get it here:

http://sanderland.com/Xlobbyskins/sander1v1.zip

Just unzip it into your skins directory, start up xlobby, and select sander1v1 as the skin. Or just copy in the pieces you want. I have included the splash and main screen I did to make it easier to try out the skin.

This skin is 1280x720, but I can create other sizes if people want them. I did all the graphics using vector objects, so scaling should be easy to do on my part. 16:9 scaling would be easiest, although I might be able to work out a 4:3 version.

Keep in mind I replaced the button xresource-selector-square.png which is shared with the other category sections. I have put in a feature request to allow custom selectors per category. Hopefully this is something Steven can manage to do.

Chris

by **mattdisaster** on Sat Dec 27, 2003 9:14 pm

Awesome! I'm pumped to see all these new skins poeple are making! Question though, does this setup match your hardware setup at home? hehe, cause that would be friggin amazing. Keep up the great work!

-matt

by **csander** on Sun Dec 28, 2003 12:07 am

Heh - I run this skin on a 93" screen with a front projector. It is kind of comical that it looks like I have an entertainment center with a tv in it instead of the projector.

Chris

by **jfxwave** on Sun Dec 28, 2003 1:55 am

That’s pretty cool; I wonder if the DVD were port ional to there true size? I also run a projector with a 133” screen and I was wondering how much I would have to resize them... Nice work on the skin...

by **csander** on Sun Dec 28, 2003 2:13 am

I considered trying to make the DVDs so they would be life size on my screen, but the covers ended up being too small and it wasn't really usable from the viewing position, so I gave up on reality and went for supersize covers.

Chris