Win $25 for designing the best skin for the Fusion Brain's Software!

2k1Toaster · 06-05-2007, 07:28 AM

Alright folks, we got another mission for you.

Right now we would like to collect a large amount of skin files for the software I am writing for the new USB I/O Board, The Fusion Brain. basically it skins through a text file really easily.

I have spent many hours getting the software to draw everything dynamically making the skins have endless possibilites. You can use transparent gifs and pngs as well as animated gifs. Want to touch a window and see the window roll down as the output to roll down your window turns on? Well do it!

We will accept all the skins (no pr0n though, sorry Enforcer

) and the designer of the best skin will be awarded $25 to spend in the Fusion Control Centre Store on whatever cool schwag you want.

To decide what skin is "the best" all the skins will be hosted on our website. Each skin will receive a ratings bar that everyone can vote on. Only 1 vote per IP address, so no cheating!

But i guess if you get to the proxies first, then so be it.

So in order to enter, first you will need the program, duh! Grab a copy here: http://www.fusioncontrolcentre.com/F...g/software.php

or to find that link again whilst visitng the site, the big "Software" button up top links to that page as well.

Then in a few minutes/hours from now (5AM MST) I will post all the valid skin commands, and the nitty gritty of skinning. Sometime in the next few days, I will add this info to the site permanently.

So skin away. If you use copyrighted pictures...

To submit an entry, email a compressed file of any images/sounds/config files to FusionControlCentre@gmail.com with a subject having something to do with skinning.

In the email, please include your name so we know who you are, an alternate email if you dont want us to email you at the address you sent from if you win, an alternate name or nickname or username so we can add a name to the skin on the website or request to be anonymous if you wish.

Any PSD files or whatever that can later be used to tweak the skin a bit arent neccessary, but if you have them, we will host them and it will help people out.

All entries will be hosted on our website (www.fusioncontrolcentre.com) for others to download and rate. Of course you can rate your own skin too... 1 time!

And to clear up any legal issues, the skins are and will always be yours. If you want us to remove the skin at any point we will (in a somwhat timely manner) and all trademarks or copyrights of images in the skin are *believed* to be yours, and your responsibility.

So, who wants money? Get working!

2k1Toaster · 06-06-2007, 01:37 PM

Alright, I guess nobody like money...

Well here is the skin settings that I said I would post:

All of the items must be encased in #STARTNEW# and finished with #ENDNEW#.

Also each of the categories are setup with << and the name of the category and all finished with >>END. Only 5 different categories:
>>MAIN
<<END

>>OUTPUTS
<<END

>>AI_INPUTS
<<END

>>DI_INPUTS
<<END

>>OTHERBUTTONS
<<END

>>DEAD
<<END

_________________________________________

MAIN is where the program settings go. Below is an example using all the possible options:

Code:

>>MAIN
#BACKIMAGE#\Images\BMV2_Background.jpg
#TILESTRETCHBACKIMAGE#TILE
#SIZE#640;480
#TRANSPARENT#000255255
#COLOURDOWN#Transparent
#COLOURUP#Transparent
#SYSTEMTRAY#false
#ANIMATIONINTERVAL#100
#ANALOGUEINTERVAL#75
#USESPEECHRECOGNITION#false
#USESPEECHFULLDICTATION#false
<<END

#BACKIMAGE#path

The path to the image to be used as a background. The root folder is determined as the folder that the program was launched out of. So if you launch the program from C:\Fusion and have your images in C:\Fusion\images\back.jpg then path would be \images\back.jpg

#TILESTRETCHBACKIMAGE#TILE|STRETCH|CENTER

If TILE, then the image is repeated over and over until it fills the screen. Can be useful for repeating backgrounds.
If STRETCH than the image will stretch to fill the entire window no matter how big or small the original image, or if the aspect ratio is different. This is the most useful setting.
If CENTER then the image is just placed in the centre. If it is too big, the edges will be clipped, if it is too small then you will see a border around the image.

#SIZE#width;height

This sets the size of the main window. 640x480 would be 640;480 and 800x600 would be 800;600. You can change it to anything you want, and it will display. You may then need to adjust the cooresponding locations in the skin file if you are modifying a previous file instead of creating a new one and the sizes vary. As of now the application does not autosize, but it is in the works (06-06-07)

#TRANSPARENT#RRRGGGBBB

This is the colour that is set to transparent. So if you want you can create a non-rectangular area by creating a shape and then filling in the remaining rectangle with a colour. Take that colour in its red/green/blue format and put it in here. Always should be 9 numbers.

#COLOURDOWN#Colour
#COLOURUP#Colour

These are for the backing of the buttons. Should not be required anymore, but should be set to Transparent until this completely removed. It will set the background for the buttons when they are pushed and not pushed. Needs a name of a standard colour like Red, Blue, Green, White, Black.

#SYSTEMTRAY#true|false

If true then the program will start minimized in the tray so that external applications can control it without you needing both applications visible. There are currently people working on programs to control in externally.

#ANIMATIONINTERVAL#xxx
#ANALOGUEINTERVAL#xxx

ANIMATIONINTERVAL is the interval the digital outputs are refreshed at where xxx is a number greater than 0. An interval of 100 means 100ms or 10 times a second. This is plenty fast for you not to notice the time from when you click a button to when it goes on. However, if you want extra speedy times, or if you want an animation that switches fast, or to control digital logic, then you can set it higher. Anything below 80mS starts to add CPU cycles. On a via board you might start getting laggy, because the analogue inputs you want high. So you can set which is a higher priority. ANALOGUEINTERVAL is for the analogue input refresh. If you are only using the temperature sensors and other sensors that dont really need fast updates, then this value can be higher. However for accelerometers, you want this as fast as your computer can handle. 75mS updates are suffucient and runs well on a via board. The fastest you can go is 30mS update but the CPU cycles go up because it is a lot of data back and forth.

#USESPEECHRECOGNITION#true|false
#USESPEECHFULLDICTATION#true|false

If USESPEECHRECOGNITION is to enable speech control of the unit. If you are not going to be using you NEED to set it to false. The speech engine will produce false positives if there is no microphone connected, and it is enabled. This will result in it randomly telling you the temperature and turning inputs on and off. If USESPEECHFULLDICTATION is true, then it tries to figure out what you said using a full english dictionary. This will produce less accurate results, but will allow more freedom when you speak. The default is false as well as the reccommendation to leave this false. If false it goes to a speech file where you can set what the commands are what they do.

2k1Toaster · 06-06-2007, 02:10 PM

These are the possibilities of the digital ports as well as an example:

Code:

>>OUTPUTS
#STARTNEW#
  #NAME#Out 1
  #TYPE#RELAY
  #DEFAULTSTATE#ON
  #IMAGEON#\Images\BMV2_Button60_Down.gif
  #IMAGEOFF#\Images\BMV2_Button60.gif
  #SIZE#60,60
  #LOCATION#10,10
  #SHOWTEXT#true
  #PAGE#0
  #PORT#0
  #LINK#1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;10;11
  #ANIMATION#{1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0}::FOREVER::0
  #VIDPID#vid_04d8&pid_000c
  #TXTCOLOURON#LightGray
  #TXTCOLOUROFF#DarkGray
  #BORDERSIZE#0
  #FONT#Arial Narrow;18;BOLD
  #TIMER#30
#ENDNEW#
<<END

#NAME#Text to Appear

The Text To Appear is what appears on the button over the image. For example have textual buttons as well as or instead of all graphical buttons/icons.

#TYPE#RELAY

Right now the only option is RELAY which means a regular digital out. Future options may be EXTENDER for a board that allows 64 digital outputs, or LCD for a character LCD screen.

#DEFAULTSTATE#ON|OFF

When the program starts all the outputs are off on default. However if you are controlling your amp to prevent startup pop, you want this set to ON or else you would need to manually turn on your amp every time.

#ANIMATION#{0|1,0|1,0|1,...}::FOREVER|0|1|2|3...:: 0

This allows you to create an animation to turn on and off outputs with some pattern. Such as flashing lights, or even turning outputs on for a time period and it automatically turns off. The part within the brackets is the animation sequence. 1 is on and 0 is off. Sp {1,0,1,1,0,0} would turn the outputs on, off, on, on, off, off. Then 2 colons are required ::. Then either FOREVER or an integer number greater than 0. This is how many times it repeats. FOREVER means it will never turn off until you manually turn it off. You can set it to repeat 2 times for example so it would be on, off, on, on, off, off, on, off, on, on, off, off and then stay off until you click it again. Another way of using this is to set the animation to {1} with the repeat equal to *time you want it on for* divided by your ANIMATIONINTERVAL. So if 1 output turns on your horn, you only want it to blast for 1 second. So if your animation interval is set to 100mS, then 1000mS/100mS is 10. So the total would be {1}::10::0. The ending 0 is which frame it starts on. 0 being the first frame. This number needs to be between 0 and the total number of frames (minus 1).

#IMAGEON#path
#IMAGEOFF#path

IMAGEON is the image to display when the output is on, and IMAGEOFF is the image to display when the output is off. Follows the same rules as the background image in the main section. The root folder is determined as the folder that the program was launched out of. So if you launch the program from C:\Fusion and have your images in C:\Fusion\images\button1.jpg then path would be \images\button1.jpg

#SIZE#width, height
#LOCATION#x,y

Both comma seperated. for LOCATION 0,0 refers to the top left corner.

#LINK#x;x;x
#ANTILINK#x;x;x

When this button is turned on, the buttons in LINK will also be turned on. Also it will turn off the buttons in ANTILINK. The x is determined by the order in the skin file, not the port number. So the first digital output defined is 0. Semicolon seperated.

#AUDIOFROMOFFTOON#path
#AUDIOFROMONTOOFF#path

These are the sound files that will be played as the button is pressed on or off. path is like the image, with the root being where the application was launched.

#SHOWTEXT#true|false

If true then the text from NAME will be displayed on the button otherwise nothing will show.

#PAGE#x

Where x is the page where this button will be drawn. 0 is the first page. You can have unlimited amount of pages.

#PORT#

This is needed to determine which output this button connects to. Must be a value between 0 and 11 if RELAY because there are only 12 outputs on the board.

#VIDPID#vidpid

If you use multiple firmware versions, then you need to change this. Default is vid_04d8&pid_000c

#TXTCOLOURON#Colour
#TXTCOLOUROFF#Colour

If the button is on the text will be the TXTCOLOURON colour, otherwise it will be TXTCOLOUROFF colour. Needs a name such as Red, Blue, Green, Black, White and other standard colors. Default is LightGray and DarkGray to go with the BMV2 skin.

#BORDERSIZE#x

The border around the button. Set to 0 for graphical skins.

#FONT#name;pt size;extra style

The font for the text on the button

#TIMER#xxx

This is the individual shutdown timer for each of the outputs. After the device is disconnected, and the output is on, the output will remain on for xxx seconds.

2k1Toaster · 06-06-2007, 02:19 PM

This is the configuration for the Analogue Input Ports as well as an example below:

Code:

>>AI_INPUTS
#STARTNEW#
  #NAME#RAW VOLTAGE
  #TYPE#VOLTAGE
  #SETTINGS#CELCIUS
  #VIDPID#vid_04d8&pid_000c
  #IMAGESTATIC#\Images\BMV2_Button.gif
  #SIZE#190,50
  #LOCATION#80,350
  #SHOWTEXT#true
  #PAGE#0
  #PORT#0
  #TXTCOLOUR#LightGray
  #BORDERSIZE#0
  #FONT#Arial Narrow;18;BOLD
  #PLOTLENGTH#100
#ENDNEW#
<<END

#NAME#Text to Appear

The Text To Appear is what appears on the button over the image. For example have textual buttons as well as or instead of all graphical buttons/icons.

The type of the sensor connected to the port. Used to determine how to parse the SETTINGS area.

#VIDPID#vidpid

If you use multiple firmware versions, then you need to change this. Default is vid_04d8&pid_000c

#IMAGESTATIC#path

#IMAGESTATIC# is the image to display for the input. Follows the same rules as the background image in the main section. The root folder is determined as the folder that the program was launched out of. So if you launch the program from C:\Fusion and have your images in C:\Fusion\images\button1.jpg then path would be \images\button1.jpg

#SIZE#width, height
#LOCATION#x,y

Both comma seperated. for LOCATION 0,0 refers to the top left corner.

#SHOWTEXT#true|false

If true then the text from NAME will be displayed on the button otherwise nothing will show.

#PAGE#x

Where x is the page where this button will be drawn. 0 is the first page. You can have unlimited amount of pages.

#PORT#

This is needed to determine which output this button connects to. Must be a value between 0 and 9 because there are only 10 analogue inputs on the board.

#TXTCOLOUR#Colour

The text will be the TXTCOLOURcolour. Needs a name such as Red, Blue, Green, Black, White and other standard colors. Default is LightGray and DarkGray to go with the BMV2 skin.

#BORDERSIZE#x

The border around the button. Set to 0 for graphical skins.

#FONT#name;pt size;extra style

The font for the text on the button

#PLOTLENGTH#

When you draw a graph, this is the number of data points will be stored on the graph. The rest of the points will be stored in a log file.

#MULTILEVELGRAPHICS#
#HIGHTHRESHHOLD#
#LOWTHRESHHOLD#
#HIGHKEYSEQUENCE#
#HIGHMAINWINDOWTITLE#
#HIGHSUBWINDOWTITLE#
#HIGHMAINCLASS#
#HIGHSUBCLASS#
#LOWKEYSEQUENCE#
#LOWMAINWINDOWTITLE#
#LOWSUBWINDOWTITLE#
#LOWMAINCLASS#
#LOWSUBCLASS#
#ENDNEW#

2k1Toaster · 06-06-2007, 02:21 PM

Will be the digital ins and an example below:

Code:

>>DI_INPUTS
#STARTNEW#
#NAME#Winamp - Play
#KEYSEQUENCE#x
#MAINWINDOWTITLE#winamp
#PORT#3
#MINTIMEBETWEEN#500
#VIDPID#vid_04d8&pid_000c
#ENDNEW#
<<END

Digital Input Ports
#STARTNEW#
#NAME#
#KEYSEQUENCE#
#MAINWINDOWTITLE#
#SUBWINDOWTITLE#
#MAINCLASS#
#SUBCLASS#
#PORT#
#VIDPID#
#ENDNEW#

2k1Toaster · 06-06-2007, 02:22 PM

Will be other buttons and an example below:

Code:

>>OTHERBUTTONS
#STARTNEW#
  #NAME#GRAPH1
  #FUNCTION#GRAPH
  #SETTINGS#0
  #PAGE#0
  #TXTCOLOUR#LightGray
  #IMAGESTATIC#\Images\BMV2_Button60_Graph.gif
  #SECONDARYIMAGE#\Images\BMV2_Button60_Graph_Down.gif
  #BORDERSIZE#0
  #FONT#Arial Narrow;18;BOLD
  #SIZE#60,60
  #LOCATION#10,350
  #SHOWTEXT#true
#ENDNEW#

#STARTNEW#
  #NAME#+
  #FUNCTION#TIMER_OUT
  #SETTINGS#+10
  #PAGE#0
  #TXTCOLOUR#LightGray
  #IMAGESTATIC#\Images\BMV2_Button60.gif
  #SECONDARYIMAGE#\Images\BMV2_Button60_Down.gif
  #BORDERSIZE#0
  #FONT#Arial Narrow;18;BOLD
  #SIZE#60,60
  #LOCATION#10,200
  #SHOWTEXT#true
#ENDNEW#
<<END

Other Buttons
#STARTNEW#
#NAME#
#FUNCTION#
#SETTINGS#
#PAGE#
#TXTCOLOUR#
#IMAGESTATIC#
#SECONDARYIMAGE#
#BORDERSIZE#
#FONT#
#SIZE#
#LOCATION#
#SHOWTEXT#
#ENDNEW#

2k1Toaster · 06-06-2007, 02:24 PM

Will be dead buttons and an example below:

Code:

>>DEAD
#STARTNEW#
  #IMAGE#/Images/dead1.gif
  #PAGE#0
  #SIZE#35,190
  #LOCATION#200,400
#ENDNEW#
<<END

#IMAGE#
#PAGE#
#SIZE#
#LOCATION#

monkeyracer · 06-07-2007, 05:37 PM

I think I might want to give a crack at it. I'll try it out a little later this evening.

2k1Toaster · 06-07-2007, 05:40 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by monkeyracer

I think I might want to give a crack at it. I'll try it out a little later this evening.

Alright. I still havent finished this sort of FAQ for the skinning, but the overall idea of what can be done is here.

Of course if you need any help just let me know.

monkeyracer · 06-07-2007, 06:00 PM

sorry,

just so eager to get going on another skin project.
i did give it 24 hours before posting though

2k1Toaster · 06-07-2007, 06:03 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by monkeyracer

sorry,

just so eager to get going on another skin project.
i did give it 24 hours before posting though

Oh, no I am the late one here.

I want people to try and skin this now! Just all the documentation is not yet there for all the options. The options though are really for what to do with the buttons and settings not the interface. So you wont really be able to use those until you get a Fusion Brain.

But the interface with buttons, and menus, and displays is all there, and should be easy.

The "DEAD" category is not in the downloadable version of the program right now, and that will be used for display items that dont do anything. Such as lables, or logos, and such stuff like that. In the next hour, the new version will be up for download. So keep that in your mind.

monkeyracer · 06-07-2007, 06:24 PM

ok, well i won't be home for a couple hours anyways.

btw, where is the button for fending off wild boars?

2k1Toaster · 06-07-2007, 06:30 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by monkeyracer

ok, well i won't be home for a couple hours anyways.

btw, where is the button for fending off wild boars?

Well if you attach a siren to output 1, then make a animation burst for like 10 seconds on output 1. That should fend off the wild boars.

I can see it now. I picture of Pumba from the Lion King in a big Red X.

monkeyracer · 06-07-2007, 06:56 PM

don't tempt me to do that... i just might.

The whole reason I am going with this is for this exact reason. You live in colorado too, and know how often we have to ward of those beasts.

2k1Toaster · 06-07-2007, 06:59 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by monkeyracer

don't tempt me to do that... i just might.

The whole reason I am going with this is for this exact reason. You live in colorado too, and know how often we have to ward of those beasts.

Actually we live on Cheyenne Mountain. Up in the hill, so we regularly have big black bears, foxes, cougars, mountain lions, coyotes, snakes, everything in our yard, on our deck, or pressing their noses against our windows.

And you know a 400lb black bear can bust in a glass sliding door no problem, so it is a little scary when they are staring through the door and you are just sitting there on the couch saying "please dont get angry and kill me, please dont get angry and kill me".

Maybe such a button should be there.

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