viking

@Jason Carr Thanks for your feedback! ? I think you're right about the CG power. I'll generalize my optimizations to all views, but I couldn't do much better. Thx Kevin ! Wow, OK! Thanks for this video feedback, it is clearer. Indeed, this is not normal at all. The theme is not coded to wait for each element to advance. The entire animation segment is a time-based storyboard. Normally, if an element is not loaded, the storyboard still progresses. There must be a charging spike which blocks the advancement. But I don't know which one. Can you try this: test with another video set? (which works well for you on other theme) To see if it comes from the videos. Edit "Theme/Colorful/Views/ PlatformWheel1FiltersView.xaml , line 716 , replace Text="{Binding GamesCount}" by Text="test". To see if it comes from DataBinding. Thx, I'll try quickly !! ? Probably one day, I also have a 4:3 bartop. But it will be a complete adaptation, not a simple scaling up. That is going to take time ! I can't. But at the end, I will probably split the theme into 2 separate versions. Light + Dark. At this time, the GameDetail will be in agreement with the selected version. Thank you all for playing the game and making these feedback! I don't think I can do much better for optimization. It's on the video slide design ... However, I am thinking of an alternative for low spec PC. Radical: On other view, dont use videos, but create a Banner set, based on the video files. It will be much lighter to display and I gain the transparency of the PNG for more worked designs. What do you think ?

OK, I read some Microsoft optimization guide and started to fix my code. The goal here, is to have the smoothest animation possible, even on lower spec PC. Here is a version that I would like you to test. (Not yet by official channels) Colorful_beta_v.0.7.5_performance-test.zip !! IMPORTANT !! I've only changed "PlatformWheel1FiltersView.xaml" (Light one) in this version. You can compare the performance difference with "PlatformWheel2FiltersView.xaml" (Dark one) who hasn't changed. @johnsanc @BendBombBoom @Kevin_Flynn ... and all those with performance issues with Colorful, can you give me your feedback on this corrected view?? Thx ! ? @Jason Carr I dont know if you can run your benchmarks on a single view, but I'll be curious to know the benefit of my work on that! For information, here are the changes I made: On all Bitmap, I changed RenderOptions.BitmapScalingMode, from "HighQuality" to "LowQuality" = It's about scaling. No visible difference with my 4K assets. To reduce the number of elements displayed, I replaced all the Rectangle/Fill with Grid/Background. Remove the coded drop shadow from the info block. Replaced by a PNG Bitmap. BIG size optimization of all PNG files. Theme + ClearLogo. Replace the opacity value =0, with Visibility/Collapsed to remove temporarily invisible elements from the display process. I hope it all helps! It seems more smooth on my PC. I don't know what to do after that. ? Give me your feedback Please!! The truth is, that is the video animation (slide) that slows everything down. It is strongly discouraged by Microsoft. But it is also the foundation of my theme design! I am trapped ! ?

Thank you for your proposal @Jason Carr ! If I do some tests, you prefer that i send you : 1 theme, with 1 test per platform view? 1 theme per test ?

Yes, there has been a code change since v.0.1. But it is not recent. Here are the 2 code extracts. Which seems more optimized for performance? <!-- ================================================================= --> <!-- CODE FROM V.0.1 ================================================= --> <!-- ================================================================= --> <Grid ClipToBounds="False" Grid.Column="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="12" Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="11" > <transitions:TransitionPresenter x:Name="PlatformVideo" TransitionSelector="{Binding ImageVideoTransitionSelector}" Content="{Binding ImageVideoView}" IsContentVideo="True" Visibility="Visible" Margin="0,0,0,0" Width="{Binding ElementName=Canvas, Path=ActualWidth}" Height="{Binding ElementName=Canvas, Path=ActualHeight}"> <transitions:TransitionPresenter.RenderTransform> <TranslateTransform x:Name="PlatformVideoAnim" X="0" /> </transitions:TransitionPresenter.RenderTransform> </transitions:TransitionPresenter> </Grid> <!-- ================================================================= --> <!-- CODE SINCE V.0.4 ================================================ --> <!-- ================================================================= --> <transitions:TransitionPresenter x:Name="vidsource" Grid.Column="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="12" Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="11" TransitionSelector="{Binding ImageVideoTransitionSelector}" Content="{Binding ImageVideoView}" IsContentVideo="True" Visibility="hidden"/> <Border Grid.Column="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="12" Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="11"> <Border.Background> <VisualBrush x:Name="PlatformVideo" Visual="{Binding ElementName=vidsource, Path=Content}" Stretch="UniformToFill" AlignmentX="Center" AlignmentY="Center"> <VisualBrush.Transform> <TranslateTransform x:Name="PlatformVideoAnim" X="0" /> </VisualBrush.Transform> </VisualBrush> </Border.Background> </Border> Thank you for the "TransitionPresenter" advice. I will delete it. Always be one less instruction for the XAML! May I have been too ambitious on this theme. Too much animation in 2sec for XAML ... I don't think BigBox is loading the banner image before loading video. The Banner is only loaded if there is no video available in its database. According to Jason, the slowdowns on my theme are too much XAML instruction in a short time. The idea would be to remove some, rather than adding a new image to load.

Strange this problem. I have it sometimes too. After a BigBox reboot, the problem is solved. I have no idea what this is about. ? I also have small lag in LaunchBox at startup. I feel like it's time for the check update. Trying to stop the automatic update search to see? The easiest way is to use in LaunchBox> Tools> Platform Video Download Tool> Choose "Colorful HD or 4K". I explained everything on the download page of the video set. The shadow cast create a slowdown? Um, thanks for the info! I could try other solution, like working with PNG based shadow image. It's great to optimize the theme for lower spec PC. I will ask for your feedback at the next update! Normally, when you create a new platform, LaunchBox downloads all of these elements. (info, ClearLogo, rating, ...) You can refresh all this in : LaunchBox > Tools > Download MetaData and Media For GamePlay video, you need a Premium EmuMovies account. The theme comes to collect this data in a standard way. The idea is good, but I'm afraid it will increase loading times even more. @Grila @eatkinola @Jason Carr I need your help ! The platform videos don't seem to load very well on my theme. Slowdown, bad video loaded, blocking .... I based my code on examples kindly given by Grila. Here is what it looks like : <!-- ================================================================= --> <!-- STORYBOARD PART ================================================= --> <!-- ================================================================= --> <DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames Storyboard.TargetProperty="X" Storyboard.TargetName="PlatformVideoAnim"> <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:0.0" Value="0" /> <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:2.0" Value="0"> <EasingDoubleKeyFrame.EasingFunction> <CubicEase EasingMode="EaseInOut"/> </EasingDoubleKeyFrame.EasingFunction> </EasingDoubleKeyFrame> <EasingDoubleKeyFrame KeyTime="0:0:3.0" Value="722"> <EasingDoubleKeyFrame.EasingFunction> <CubicEase EasingMode="EaseInOut"/> </EasingDoubleKeyFrame.EasingFunction> </EasingDoubleKeyFrame> </DoubleAnimationUsingKeyFrames> <!-- ================================================================= --> <!-- IN CANVAS / GRID PART =========================================== --> <!-- ================================================================= --> <transitions:TransitionPresenter x:Name="vidsource" Grid.Column="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="12" Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="11" TransitionSelector="{Binding ImageVideoTransitionSelector}" Content="{Binding ImageVideoView}" IsContentVideo="True" Visibility="hidden"/> <Border Grid.Column="0" Grid.ColumnSpan="12" Grid.Row="0" Grid.RowSpan="11"> <Border.Background> <VisualBrush x:Name="PlatformVideo" Visual="{Binding ElementName=vidsource, Path=Content}" Stretch="UniformToFill" AlignmentX="Center" AlignmentY="Center"> <VisualBrush.Transform> <TranslateTransform x:Name="PlatformVideoAnim" X="0" /> </VisualBrush.Transform> </VisualBrush> </Border.Background> </Border> The idea is to load 16:9 videos without distortion, and apply a "TranslateTransform X" animation. I don't realy need the default transition effects. Ideas ? Ways of optimization? Note that there does not seem to be a problem with GamesView, which is not Translate animated.

Yep. The "Style" folder, if i am not saying stupidity, is the old system which has been changed since. Maybe, try to create in Colorful a "Styles" folder, and copy/past only "UserControlStyle.xaml" inside. I don't know if it will create a problem with my theme. - or - Try to deleat this part of PlatformMarqueeView : <UserControl.Resources> <ResourceDictionary> <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries> <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://siteoforigin:,,,/Themes/CriticalZoneV2 - Default/Styles/UserControlStyle.xaml" /> </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries> </ResourceDictionary> </UserControl.Resources>

I'm not sure I understand. It works ? I don't know which resources are called by the Critical Zone Theme PlatformMarqueeView. I don't know if he calls the Banners for example. I cannot advise you on this point, not being the author of this theme. By the way, if I make a Marquee View for Colorful, it's not the banners, but the ClearLogos that I use, I think.

@midd Until I create a Marquee view according to my theme, you can use one from another one. BigBox uses 2 files for the marquee, in theme folder/Views: GameMarqueeView.xaml PlatformMarqueeView.xaml There isn't one (yet) in Colorful, so BigBox uses the Default theme's one. You can copy "PlatformMarqueeView.xaml" from a theme you like, and paste it into Colorful/Views. Just be careful to copy/paste any dependencies as well. (plugins, images,) It depends on the theme you have chosen.

@johnsanc strange this problem. My theme doesn't change the way BigBox manages cache or other data stuf. - Did you set the video engine to "VLC"? In the BigBox options too? - Have you tried my HD video set, instead of 4K? @BendBombBoom The colors are added as I create the videos. I have not yet made the "Genesis" one, but "MegaDrive". That's why you have the default color display. If you wish, you can manually add/modify the colors here: LaunchBox\Themes\Colorful\Plugins\Ao.Bigbox.Themer.v3_9_7a\AssemblyConfig > Ao.Bigbox.Themer.v3_9_7a-Colors.dll.config I don't remember a blur effect on this theme. Where did you put it on 0? For videos, I give you the same advice if it's too slow: - Did you set the video engine to "VLC"? In the BigBox options too? This is important to set on VLC for memory management. - Have you tried my HD video set, instead of 4K? If the videos are too heavy, go to HD.

I dont code a custom view yet, but Colorful must show the default one for marquee. Are you setup your second screen in BigBox option ?

The goal: cover ALL game systems. At least as much as my Nostalgia set. It's a lot of work and time to produce them. Please, be patient! ?

Hi everyone, new little question: The Colorful theme doesnt work well with "theme" games video. (Hyperspin style) Is there a way in the video calling code to force it on a type of video? Like "no theme video". To view videos of simple gameplay only. (if available) In LaunchBox, you can filter media type. "Theme Video" being categorized apart. So there may be a way???? @Jason Carr @Grila @eatkinola ?? ?

UPDATE TIME! With a new platform view ? Version 0.7 - Released January 17, 2020 - New Feature: Add a new and really colorful platform view ! - Improvement: Update Color info for last video added. Here is a preview :

OK, it's time for UPDATE ! +6 platform video today : MS-DOS Nintendo Super Famicom Nintendo Super Game Boy Sega Saturn (JAP) SNK Neo Geo CD Super Nintendo Entertainment System (US) Hope you like it ! ?

Yes, a Marquee View is planned. In the meantime, you can use the one from another theme.

OK! Let's go for a real antique PC! With a real MS-DOS no-graphic boot. ? Thx Jason.

OK. I need help for one platform : MS-DOS The EmuMovies platform video shows very old games. Typically DOS or Win3.1. But for the platform video, the idea is to cover "Dos-Box" right? So also games up to windows 98-2000. I am right ? So I represent in the video a PC from the years 95-98? In the end, the MS-DOS platform is for: All DOSbox games? (From reel DOS game, to win2000?) Only real DOS games? (before win95 ?)

Wow ... I hadn't realized! ? Maybe I'll start with all international variation ...?

@darky1986 : @Retro808 told you everything! Nothing to add ?

!! UPDATE !! +3 new category video. Who finish the category set. ? Already available through the usual channels. Category Favorite (heavy one, sorry. Based on photo) Category Pinball (full CGI be me) Category(?) Playlists (heavy one, sorry. Based on photo) @Jason Carr For the next step, can you give me the Arcade default playlists (full list) ? Like a simple a txt file. I can't find them on the forum! Thank you ?

Nice trick! ? I suspected it for the video! Thank you for your answer.