skins for discoDSP's OB-Xd synth

[fmr]

So, although it had to be through some kind of "hacking" it was possible to modify the graphic elements of the synth.

Latest 2.0 development builds can get their own knob.png bitmap. It has to be provided 3x size for future proof (retina, scalable and HiDPI GUI). Any components can be redistributed as well as window size.

Yes, and that's much better, of course

[discoDSP]

New nightly builds https://www.discodsp.net/obxd-nightly/

So after working on implement window scaling and image downscaling using AVIR library, it looks like it's very slow doing so. I was suggested to use LancIR (thanks Voxengo) but finally took the bitmap assets route instead.

Code needs to be polished to detect a HiDPI environment and/or macOS system which handles the scaling downsizing much better than Windows. Right now OB-Xd will use @2x bitmaps in macOS and .png (downscaled from @2x using a offline top quality Lanczos 3 non-separable algorithm) instead having to process in realtime, which was not viable at all). Something good about this system: you can downscale with your app of choice instead leaving it to the OS itself (in case of Windows a extremely crappy one).

As you may see at Themes folder there are @2x.png and .png assets now, very similar to how Apple implements the multi-sized bitmap.

I'm attaching a current Windows vs Mac GUI to see both get high quality GFX.

[Faceless_79]

New nightly builds https://www.discodsp.net/obxd-nightly/

So after working on implement window scaling and image downscaling using AVIR library, it looks like it's very slow doing so. I was suggested to use LancIR (thanks Voxengo) but finally took the bitmap assets route instead.

Code needs to be polished to detect a HiDPI environment and/or macOS system which handles the scaling downsizing much better than Windows. Right now OB-Xd will use @2x bitmaps in macOS and .png (downscaled from @2x using a offline top quality Lanczos 3 non-separable algorithm) instead having to process in realtime, which was not viable at all). Something good about this system: you can downscale with your app of choice instead leaving it to the OS itself (in case of Windows a extremely crappy one).

As you may see at Themes folder there are @2x.png and .png assets now, very similar to how Apple implements the multi-sized bitmap.

Does this mean, that skins can't be upscaled, only downscaled? Lanczos 3 sounds good as it is a very good algorithm, at least for downscaling. Keeps the text/fonts etc very legible.

[discoDSP]

Does this mean, that skins can't be upscaled, only downscaled? Lanczos 3 sounds good as it is a very good algorithm, at least for downscaling. Keeps the text/fonts etc very legible.

They are going to work for now on two fixed sizes: 1x and 2x (using @2x on the file name, check latest nightly) which will be used for Hi-DPI systems and also for upscaling at a later time, but it will be safe to say a @3x will be required for that . Getting the bitmap interface fully scalable requires a rewrite which has already been done but there is little point ti plement in 2.0 when one can already have custom GUI size windows and bitmaps.

1x images have been downscaled from 2x using Lanczos 3 non-separate. This is the best and fastest way I could find. AVIR library worked well but it was slow and not suitable for real time. There was another library but quality wasn't exactly the same, so the simplest solution was going for assets and offline processing instead. This way Windows/Linux with poor native image downscaling won't complain as before.

If you are in need of @3x assets for a scalable HiDPI window size in the future just let me know, it won't be hard to do.

So the last thing to do for 2.0 is fixing the XML assertion issues and we will be good to go

Cheers,
George.

[rasmusklump]

Now those red lines around the knobs are again present on the SEM skin....

[discoDSP]

Now those red lines around the knobs are again present on the SEM skin....

Copy and paste knob.png and knob@2x.png from Classic folder to Rin Elyran Classic SEM folder to fix it. I'll update it on the next build.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Here's a new 2.0 skin I whipped up mostly yesterday. Nothing fancy. This takes the basic layout of the Blue skin, makes everything about 1.25x larger, new knobs, recolored buttons, and just tries to clean up some things here and there. This is actually a completely new skin from the ground up, not just a bigger version of the existing skin.

Should work with hi-res screens (I guess, I don't have one to test but I followed the same basic layout principles as the DiscoDSP Blue skin).

OB-Xd Vintage Blue.png

OB-Xd Vintage Blue 2.png

Can be downloaded here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jzxcmdblw0yg0 ... e.zip?dl=0

George, feel free to include in future builds if you'd like.

Note: I wanted to make the LED's (legato, voices) larger, but couldn't get the menus working properly after resizing the images in the script. Even if I also resized the images to match. Things just wouldn't line up correctly. Hence why that's so small. If someone can figure that out and fix it, feel free! If not, no biggie.

EDIT
If you saw this earlier today, I took down the old version and replaced it with this more OB-X inspired update to the skin.

EDIT 2
Now with a more low contrast version that looks a bit more realistic, with softer colors and some subtle lighting, but also keeping the slightly higher contrast version as an alternate.

[planetearth]

Does this mean, that skins can't be upscaled, only downscaled? Lanczos 3 sounds good as it is a very good algorithm, at least for downscaling. Keeps the text/fonts etc very legible.

They are going to work for now on two fixed sizes: 1x and 2x (using @2x on the file name, check latest nightly) which will be used for Hi-DPI systems and also for upscaling at a later time, but it will be safe to say a @3x will be required for that . Getting the bitmap interface fully scalable requires a rewrite which has already been done but there is little point ti plement in 2.0 when one can already have custom GUI size windows and bitmaps.

[SNIP]

So the last thing to do for 2.0 is fixing the XML assertion issues and we will be good to go

Cheers,
George.

George, does that mean the issue with the VST3 version not showing the currently selected preset is already fixed or will be fixed by the next release?

Thanks.

Steve

[discoDSP]

Here's a new 2.0 skin I whipped up mostly yesterday. Nothing fancy. This takes the basic layout of the Blue skin, makes everything about 1.25x larger, new knobs, recolored buttons, and just tries to clean up some things here and there. This is actually a completely new skin from the ground up, not just a bigger version of the existing skin.

Nice one

George, does that mean the issue with the VST3 version not showing the currently selected preset is already fixed or will be fixed by the next release?

It seems to be a JUCE VST3 wrapper issue. Should be fixed on 2.x releases.

[Kian Russell]

Here's a new 2.0 skin I whipped up mostly yesterday. Nothing fancy. This takes the basic layout of the Blue skin, makes everything about 1.25x larger, new knobs, recolored buttons, and just tries to clean up some things here and there. This is actually a completely new skin from the ground up, not just a bigger version of the existing skin.

To be honest I am not a fan of that skin.
It makes readability harder because the background is just a tad too light.

Anyway all this OB talk has got me thinking, does this OB stack up against the Arturia offering?
Is it better, worse or on par?

[discoDSP]

Anyway all this OB talk has got me thinking, does this OB stack up against the Arturia offering?
Is it better, worse or on par?

Something like that may fit better into an Arturia OB-Xa vs discoDSP OB-Xd thread or similar because this one is about OB-Xd skins.

Cheers,
George.

[Kian Russell]

Something like that may fit better into an Arturia OB-Xa vs discoDSP OB-Xd thread or similar because this one is about OB-Xd skins.

Cheers,
George.

Fair enough.
50% on topic aint no excuse I guess.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Here's a new 2.0 skin I whipped up mostly yesterday. Nothing fancy. This takes the basic layout of the Blue skin, makes everything about 1.25x larger, new knobs, recolored buttons, and just tries to clean up some things here and there. This is actually a completely new skin from the ground up, not just a bigger version of the existing skin.

To be honest I am not a fan of that skin.
It makes readability harder because the background is just a tad too light.

Anyway all this OB talk has got me thinking, does this OB stack up against the Arturia offering?
Is it better, worse or on par?

The very first attempt was a much darker blue but I didn't like it. At least on my screen, legibility isn't an issue due to the size. It's pretty big and the fonts are pretty thick. You could always open the background pane in an image editor and increase the contrast or make color adjustments. Anyone is welcome to modify it.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

To be honest I am not a fan of that skin.
It makes readability harder because the background is just a tad too light.

Anyway all this OB talk has got me thinking, does this OB stack up against the Arturia offering?
Is it better, worse or on par?

Better?

Vintage Dark Blue.png

You can download here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/luho0z2q68tfx ... e.zip?dl=0

Took less than 5 minutes to edit the colors and export as a new skin so figured might as well.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Last one! Really need to stop tinkering. This one is probably my favorite. Took the dark blue one from last time, and blended in a beat up metal texture. This give it more of a 3D feel.

Vintage Dark Blue Beat Up.png

This is my new favorite of the bunch.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ur19e8i04i9mn ... p.zip?dl=0