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That's what we feel as well, the current look of OM isn't showing off the graphical engine that we have. So a new and updated look is what we're after.Quote:
Originally Posted by meryan00
A Sirus plugin should be feasible, I don't think that any of the devs have the Sirius hardware so that we can develop it though. As of now we have Venice and HD radio support so adding Sirius shouldn't be too hard if there's any documents describing the interface (or a SDK).
Just as an aside, it seems to me that the design of the HMI can be abstracted from the software used to run it. You do this when you you use tools like photoshop to lay out the graphics.
I wonder if there are any open source prototyping tools applicable to this...
Thanks. Sounds good to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by jmullan99
That's great. Would love to go deeper into this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Borte
It's far from being windows 8, really, since everything other than the main page is my own view. You can say it's inspired, but...who knows? I'm going to charge something for my CF skin anyway, but I like the OM project and I would like to contribute - in this case, I don't mind not charging anything at all. Your call.Quote:
How would this be handled in terms of licensing and legality since it's basically Win8?
Awesome. All I need from OM is a plugin to import playlists (WMP or m3u with unicode support, with my graphics, I can't ask for more.Quote:
RipplingHurst-> The questions about color handling in your skin thread that couldn't be handled in CF can be done in OM. The skin is not limited in any ways.
Ive made and modified skins for a few different apps, and with out the skinning engine in place, you won't be able to make a quality skin. Because how you lay it out in PS/AI/ETC, doesn't always flow in the app itself. I usually modify the code as im working on certain areas of the graphics. Sometimes you can be altering just a handful of objects for quite some time to get things right. If there hasnt been that much interests in new skinning, might be best to finish the application first? No?
meryan: This would be an excellent opportunity to help make OM look the way you want. Someone that can build PSD from JPG/GIF to make them into quality graphics is one of the talents we could certainly use. There will be no shortage of ideas. See further down, maybe you could start with modding up some existing graphics into PSD quality.....Quote:
Originally Posted by meryan00
m2x0p9x: Our thoughts are kind of along the same line. Now is the right time to start building the concepts of themes/skins because the skinning part of the project is in early enough stages that it can be a two-way street. If the devs know and see the ideas people have behind the themes, certain features can be added, removed, tweaked.Quote:
Originally Posted by m2x0p9x
For instance (and this is just for example) if someone comes up with, say, an iPhone type theme, lays out some sample shots with wallpaper, icons, etc., first they get a head start on building the theme, but also they get ideas (like swiping left/right to change menus) and then relay that to the devs. Meet in the middle as it were.
Also, sometimes it's helpful to build a PS file starting with a GIF or JPG to get a background on which to build a decent graphic. Car logos come to mind. I have been building up a library of car logos (and other files graphic and non-graphic) that may serve as background wallpaper. But they are not PSD. Some of these could be converted by talented individuals so users can have a background wallpaper specific to the car they drive.
Just to keep traffic low (currently stored on my in-home FTP) I will share how to access the (young but building) collection of files via PM. It is fully open read/write (I keep backups) but I just want to keep "unnecessary" traffic to a minimum if you know what I mean :becky: The purpose is to serve as a common place for us to easily get and put auxiliary files for the group to share. At least until we come up with a better place.
John
First I will try to come up with a couple ideas this week, but I do need to know you already said that animations are possible for components, what about graphic transparencies. I do not have a set idea yet but it is a feature that might come up. plus it makes it easier to add polish.
Second if you need extra storage space I have a dedicated inhouse FTP with a 10x10 fiber if you need a secondary storage location
Transparency is no problem. As long as you can draw it we can handle it. Basic rule is just to split the graphic into object rather than one big object. We can also play around with the graphics itself (like drawing an overlay with another color and so on).Quote:
Originally Posted by meryan00
We do favor PNG format over jpg though.
You know, since I've been dev'ng here and there I happen to look at the code for OM once in a while (the plugins and core stuff). Aren't the UI's just build on code with png's, well, at least for the default skin. If the skinners know what they are aiming for, pretty much [italics]anything[/italics] is possible code wise.
But, I'm not a graphical person, that picture on the first page is even better than what I could do :(. I"m happy looking at the line after line of codes...
Hope this does spark some improvement though!
OK, I have drawn out a rough sketch of what my ideal skin is. Whether or not it is possible to be coded is another story, but I will try to get a computer sketch up later today if I have the time.
Exactly. We have been trying to do a lot of code cleanup to make the skinning process even easier this last few weeks. So far we have not had a skin designer because we looked at it this way:Quote:
Originally Posted by detlion1643
Everyone else make a skin scripting language - why not just use C#/VB?
Creates an editor - why not just use free versions of visual studio express? Its going to be a million times nicer than anything we could ever make.
The compiled code is going to be super fast and not restricted to the options implemented by the skinning code/scripting language.
It might be a little scary at first glance but once you get into it you will see if is pretty easy. I think the sets of graphic objects makes it even easier as you can take those items and reuse them all over without having to make new full screen images.