Uhe GUI skinning issues

[nBeat]

Hello Uhe-team!

I thought I'd bring this to your attention in case you've missed it.
From the Orangify! and Divalicious thread:

It won't - currently v2.7 has issues with loading images for user skins (it doesn't load them).

Use 2.6 for now. I will need to update the skin once 2.7 is out and fixed.

Same thing with Diva.

I needed to rename each sub-folder in the 'Animations'-folder
(eg. add a prefix or suffix).
I use "_OT" (dymopng -> dymopng_OT).
I did the same in 'Controls' 'Icons' and 'Panes', but for the individual files
(eg. DivaEnv1_Analog.png -> DivaEnv1_Analog_OT.png).

You shouldn't have to do this but it works for now.
Besides, it's easy to revert this by removing the pre/sufffixes.
Try http://www.editpadlite.com for easy and fast search-and-replace.

Might work for Zebra. ...or just wait 'til everything's settled.
I will.

Oh, and I like oranges. Lots of vitamins.

Hi nBeat
Can we expect an updated skin for DIVA 1.3 (with the new modules, etc.)?

Once Diva goes out of beta, yes.
Then I'll need to do some re-working of the graphics and the script due to the new GUI implementation.

Cheers
Jorgen

Seems this issue applies to at least Diva and Zebra.
Maybe you could look into it? No rush on my part though.


Cheers
Jorgen

[Urs]

I've added this to our bugtracker. Not sure when we can look into it.

For some reason, the Unempty Dark Horse loads just fine. Maybe graphics must not have the same name as in the original skin.

[nBeat]

I've added this to our bugtracker. Not sure when we can look into it.

For some reason, the Unempty Dark Horse loads just fine. Maybe graphics must not have the same name as in the original skin.

Well, in worst case we-who-like-skin-things could just add these pre/suffixes.

[EvilDragon]

Urs, but this worked in 2.6 without fail - so what's different in 2.7 that makes it not work the same way?

[Urs]

Urs, but this worked in 2.6 without fail - so what's different in 2.7 that makes it not work the same way?

Multithreaded image loading in the background. Satin and Diva open instantly now, no more 2-15 second waiting for it to happen.

This is another case where a fix for one problem causes a problem in related areas.

[Urs]

That said, I'm going to spend today in the office, trying to figure out a fix for Renoise and skinning. If it doesn't work then I need to sleep over the release. Even if a fix is found, I'm not sure if an overnite public check is enough.

I'm currently realising that no matter what we do, there'll always be a problem that occurrs to us only after it's too late to fix for a release. It is then about weighing pros against cons. On a pragmatic level it's "how many support emails and lost users if we release now (with broken skins and renoise playback)" vs. "how many support emails and lost sales if we release in February (when I'm back from overseas)".

A common ground may be including a "Known Issues" text and offering a fixed beta as soon as possible, maybe even while I'm on vacation. So even if I find a fix today, we might release revision 2125 tomorrow and I'll post another revision for those experiencing issues here.

[Teksonik]

So we can't even just edit the default skin now ? I'm not sure how just changing the color of default elements could cause a problem......

[Urs]

So we can't even just edit the default skin now ? I'm not sure how just changing the color of default elements could cause a problem......

No, all it does is, it doesn't load graphics from the Themes folder if a graphic with the same filename exists in the main Images folder.

#---

I think I have found the cause - the check for Theme was taken out, probably for debugging reasons. I now have to check the revisions log to see if this was a fix for something else, or if it wasn't put back in by accident.

[Urs]

Ok found it. The graphics search was replaced by another developer. He thought he'd have a faster algorithm but he missed the actual theme check. Putting it back in now

[Urs]

Please check this out:

Diva 1.3 Win
Diva 1.3 Mac

Zebra 2.7 Win
Zebra 2.7 Mac

small fix: Rev 2126 should load correct graphics from Theme folders now

[Totolitoto]

Thx!

[EvilDragon]

Testing!


EDIT: It's working!



Question - I see that font rendering completely changed in 2.7. - font looks thinner, and things aren't aligned well in buttons/dropdowns as they were in 2.6. I see no way to fix this in the script... some kind of vertical offset for text in buttons/dropdowns? No rush on this, just want to know if this was intentional and what's the reasoning behind it, and what can be done to make this more 2.6.-alike.






Also, from this post:

Suggestion - could you make it so that both Zebrify and Zebralette by default have the same possibility to load custom skins like Zebra has? Currently user has to manually add <plugin>default.txt, rename <plugin>.txt to <plugin>_orig.txt and add <plugin>.txt with ALTERNATIVE and INCLUDE commands...

This makes it harder to install custom skins, because the user has to either do the above or overwrite factory files, which are then reverted to when updating...

Also, to add to this, the installer doesn't seem to recognize if the user modified this and added the files, and it overwrites the <plugin>.txt with the default one, which contains the full skin script... essentially requiring the user to do some file renaming/mumbling every time an update (or a beta) is installed.

[nBeat]

Graphics loading correctly here too.

Many thanks Urs!

[Urs]

@EvilDragon - need to do things step by step. I think the whole part about having 3 files for skin support is stupid anyway, it was just convenient at the time (MFM2 intorduced this). I'm going to continue work on the UI engine and make it so that Themes will just work without those files.

In the same vein, text rendering been a big struggle forever. I think the Satin-way with an added custom font that's the same on Mac and PC is way to go. The "new" look is actually based on a bug fix that gets the spacing between letters as it's supposed to be - I think it enhances readability. Mac and PC still look different, but we now even have differences on Mac pre/post Mountain Lion. So I'll spend a few weeks (January?) working something out for good. I'm quite sure we'll have user adjustable parameters for antialiasing and weight.

[EvilDragon]

Good stuff - thanks for all the info you provide, I really appreciate it.


And yes - themes working without those files is something that's going to make things a lot easier - what, you'll basically just scan for subfolders in Support/Themes and use folder names as theme names? Well that's just perfect, and simple!