Chameleon > Questions & Info
Preview - Blackosx_BookShelf_Theme - And Help Request
Blackosx:
After some time out from theming Chameleon, PolishOX presented me with an idea for a new theme and helped me back in to my art directors chair.. :lol:
Well that was last month and since then I have got as far as creating a background and most of the device icons though there is still some work left to do which brings me to my post here. I would like to ask for opinions and ideas for a device selection graphic as the original idea was to use a hand/arm but it's proving harder then I thought to get it right.
You can see in the screenshot below what I currently have but it's large and too big for the GUI in to draw efficiently without seeing it being drawn and it also suffers from the transparency issue which occurs on the main device selection screen in Chameleon's GUI where transparent pixels aren't blended correctly and the effect is lost. Enzo and I talked about it and I tried to look into why it happened but unfortunately I don't possess the necessary coding skills to try to fix the problem. See more about that at http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php/topic,1432.msg7963.html#msg7963
Here's an 800 pixel wide preview image, or click HERE for a 1920x1200 pixel preview.
Note, the screenshot might look dark but it's been darkened to compensate for the lack to screen calibration seen at boot time.
So back to the request here for ideas.. Can anybody suggest a better device selection graphic which is smaller and works better? When I say smaller, I mean doesn't have to be drawn all the way to the bottom of the screen.. (Maybe I could move the shelf with the devices for selection at the bottom of the screen?) I know I could use a selection glow or outer ring around each device to highlight it, or maybe even start with black and white devices and make then colour when selected, but for now I'm sticking with trying to find some sort of hand image.
Also with what's on the shelves in the background, any ideas if anything needs changing, wrong product order? or is there something missing which I could add? And also can somebody confirm the scale of the Windows XP box with that of Window Vista/7? I'm happy with the scale of the Mac OS boxes as I have all the original products with me here.
I want to try and get this theme finished before Christmas so if anyone has any input then please come forward in the next week and I'll try to get a completed theme posted.
I look forward to hearing any input.
Regards
blackosx
PolishOX:
First of all, this theme is coming out even better than what was in my head. Wait until you hear about my next theme concept!
Regarding the input you requested, working backwards:
1) The XP retail box is indeed HUGE compared the newer more sleek plastic boxes you used ACCURATELY for Vista/7.
Nothing to change there. *NOTHING TO CHANGE HERE*
2) Product order is GREAT and for reference could be seen here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_NT *NOTHING TO CHANGE HERE*
3) The back shelves might benefit from a slightly lighter background if possible or a higher shadow to reveal the bottom of each product box just a little more. *MINOR CHANGE HERE*
4) As pointed out by nawcom, perhaps for the penguin on the LINUX box we should use the official mascot:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tux.svg *MINOR CHANGE HERE*
5) Regarding the hand suffering from transparency issues, perhaps I could ask meklort to look into this?
6) If a hand/arm cannot be used the halo effect would be a great "if all else fails" idea.
But perhaps we could use a hand/arm holding a flashlight and combine the 2 ideas?
Kinda like the theme has a thief sneaking around the OSC (Operating System Center) with a flashlight.
The light beam could possibly be drawn to create the halo effect? Maybe transparency issues would creep back up?
I'll see about getting meklort involved to at least offer a possible concept as to the transparency issue.
PolishOX:
From meklort's brain to irc to voodoo forums:
<meklort> but it doesnt say how it renders it currently
<meklort> and the *best* option would be some sort of test case
<meklort> say, upload two diff themes or a picture of how it should look and how it does look
<meklort> but ya, I'll say that a better description of the problem is needed, or a way for someone to easily reproduce it
So if you could be more specific about the transparency issues and provide a zip file complete with 2 examples he's down to look into it.
Blackosx:
Hi PolishOX - Glad you're liking it and if this one turns out okay then maybe you can bring your next concept to the table :P
Thanks for the feedback , it gives me something to work with.. In response to your points:
1&2) great.
3) No problem, I can tweak that.
4) Official TUX it is.
5) Great.. Thanks for asking meklort to look at it.
6) A halo is the easiest option which I can always fall back to, but the thief/flashlight idea could work.. it's just depending on how I can get the hand/torch looking.. and of course the transparency issue which leads me on to my next post.
--- Quote from: PolishOX on December 08, 2010, 11:50:56 PM ---From meklort's brain to irc to voodoo forums:
<meklort> but it doesnt say how it renders it currently
<meklort> and the *best* option would be some sort of test case
<meklort> say, upload two diff themes or a picture of how it should look and how it does look
<meklort> but ya, I'll say that a better description of the problem is needed, or a way for someone to easily reproduce it
--- End quote ---
Hi meklort - thanks for offering to at least look at this issue.
To give an overview of the problem it's when the device .png's are rendered on the timeout screen, they are drawn correctly and appear as they look in photoshop. However, when the same image is drawn on the device selection screen it's 'blended' differently which results in the transparent pixels effectively disappearing. This happens for all graphics including the fonts..
To show this in pictures, hopefully these help:
Enzo War theme (1680x1050) with a link to download the theme
http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php/topic,1432.msg7883.html#msg7883
(Note to Enzo: This is the first time I've downloaded this theme and good work mate - I like it :) )
Blackosx_Switch theme (1680x1050)
http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php/topic,1432.msg7888.html#msg7888
(download link is here)
I know it's not much to go on but I also looked in to it a bit deeper a while back to at least try an find out why..
http://forum.voodooprojects.org/index.php/topic,1432.msg7963.html#msg7963
I have also put together and attached a test for this current theme with the bookcase background, albeit only a small resolution version so it should fit on a variety of screen sizes, to help show the problem. In this case, the device selection graphic arm/hand has a dark edge / shadow around it on the Timeout screen, but on the device selection screen you will notice that it has a light edge??
The next image shows, on the left, the preview of how it should look in photoshop and on the right shows it rendered in Chameleon's device selection screen in the GUI (excuse the crude photo).
--- Quote from: PolishOX on December 08, 2010, 11:50:56 PM ---So if you could be more specific about the transparency issues and provide a zip file complete with 2 examples he's down to look into it.
--- End quote ---
I haven't done exactly what you've asked for here in providing 2 examples in a zip file. But I will when I get more time, but in the mean time I hope the above links to examples and themes along with the attached theme below is something to go on, and I'm more than happy to post more details if needed.
Enzo:
Ok I'll try to go in order here... =p
1. Shelves! I had a similar idea recently with shelves too heh, just another idea I hope I can get around to =P. Currently have 3 themes that are *almost* done, I'm really just in a nitpicking phase where I keep tweaking the smallest things haha. I had also forgotten about the War theme, I left that one half done a while ago =/.
2. About this theme, how about bookends for the device_scroll =P
3. The transparency issue! ah, Really is bothersome, just feels like a big setback when you get things looking just as you want, and the Cham options screen then says, No I will not render anything with transparency properly! I honestly feel I'd get more themes out if I didn't have to create->adjust->re-tool->test->adjust bah
4. A different device_selection for this theme? hmmm
5. Hope meklort gets on this with success, I think the issue is well summarized here.
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