theme COLORFUL bigbox theme

[Carpetshark]

12 hours ago, viking said:

Hi @Carpetshark,

There are several things here:

1. The theme does not come in all in one. It would be too heavy. You have to download the platform videos separately. Look at the videos download page, everything is explained in main text.
   in LaunchBox > Tools > Download theme videos tools > Select "Colorful 4K" or "Colorful HD"
2. At the top of each Colorful download page, I put a list of each piece of the puzzle with the direct links. It's up to you to make your choice!
3. We haven't released the "games wallview" for Colorful yet. It's currently work in progress with Faeran for theme v2! Please be patient.

 

Exactly the help I needed, thank you!

[pytsharp]

This is really a fantastic theme and I would love to use it as my default, but I'm not managing to get the plugin that drives my LED marquee to work with it, which is stopping me at the moment.

My plugin (LedMarqueeNoSerial) derives from UserControl and implements IBigBoxThemeElementPlugin. Normally, I just add a reference to the namespace in the XAML, and add an instance inside the Canvas, e.g.

<UserControl xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
             xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
             xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
             xmlns:transitions="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Transitions;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows"
             xmlns:coverFlow="clr-namespace:Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Controls.CoverFlow;assembly=Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows"
             xmlns:cal="http://www.caliburnproject.org"
             xmlns:i="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/2010/interactivity"
             xmlns:ledMarqueeNoSerial="clr-namespace:LedMarqueeNoSerial;assembly=LedMarqueeNoSerial"
             ...

and then at the end of the XAML file:

<UserControl>
  <Canvas>
    [...]
  	<Grid>
      [...]
    </Grid>
    
    <ledMarqueeNoSerial:BigBoxPlugin />
  </Canvas>
</UserControl>

but when using the Colorful theme that doesn't seem to work and the plugin does not seem to be loaded.

 

Any idea why this may be happening?

[viking]

Have you placed the plugin itself in the theme files?

To be honest, I don't know ... sorry!

[AstroDad2]

I think this theme has amazing aesthetics and I really like a lot of things about it, but I wanted to provide a little feedback on the usability. I've observed one problem when using this theme with my kids and wife, and that is the way to "flip through" different things is not immediately obvious.

Like from platform to platform. The initial impression when looking at an item in one of these high level "carousels" (like a platform) is that your only option is to drill into that platform. Yes, there are tiny little arrows in the bottom right, but that doesn't seem to be enough. A lot of big-screen UIs address this by "peeking" the other items -- you can see half of an image to the right or left of the next and previous items, for example. Or maybe the next/previous are faded out a bit and only the one you're on is 100% alpha.

It not only provides a strong visual indicator as to whether you should go up/down or left/right, but it also helps orient users. People build mental maps in their mind, and being able to see more than one thing at a time helps with orientation in a UI. Look at the various streaming boxes/apps -- Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Android TV...they all do this.

I think a stronger visual indicator of what's next/previous for these high-level carousels would be a really positive user experience enhancement. As of right now, it's a big reason I haven't made this my main theme.

Other than that...this theme is really fantastic and professional looking!

[SiriusVI]

Hey, quick question: The "Windows" Platform Video has a blue background, but the Colorful Theme background for "Windows" is green. How can I fix this? I like the blue color from the video.

Edited December 12, 2021 by SiriusVI

[modjoo]

On 12/12/2021 at 9:48 PM, SiriusVI said:

Hey, quick question: The "Windows" Platform Video has a blue background, but the Colorful Theme background for "Windows" is green. How can I fix this? I like the blue color from the video.

Open your Launchbox Folder. From there go to \Themes\Colorful - Dark\Views\Styles. Open the File "COLORFUL_Styles.xaml" with Editor, e.g. Notepad. Look up under Platforms if there is this entry:

<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Windows" Color="#38b1de"/>

If it isnt, then add it at the bottom of the list. Keep in mind that you have to change 

x:Key="Windows"

according to your Windows Platform Name. E.g. if your Windows Platform in Launchbox is called "Windows Games" you have to name it

x:Key="Windows Games"

Save the file and restart BigBox.

Same goes for all Platforms with missing entrys/color codes.

 

Now about Color Codes in the COLORFUL_Styles.xaml :

I just recently got back to Launchbox and updated Launchbox to its recent Version and the Colorful theme to v1.1 where the former Plugin "Ao.Bigbox.Themer.v3_9_7a.dll" no longer works. Instead the above mentioned "COLORFUL_Styles.xaml" is used. 

So far so good. I'm pretty sure that all of my Color Codes worked like a charm when i used the older Version with "Ao.Bigbox.Themer.v3_9_7a.dll" and there were no differences between Skin Color and Video Color (that odd line of slight color difference everyone is talking about and hates ).

I had to manually edit nearly every color code for every platform to get back to a nice seamless look. Yet some of them were not fixable as i couldnt figure out the right hex code (e.g. Atari 5200).

Is there a difference in implementing Color Codes into the skin between the former used .dll and the now "baked-into-launchbox-and-just-read-values-of-the-xaml"-solution? That could be the reason for all those wrong color codes and differences. Maybe @faeran knows more about this.

 

For those of you who want to manually correct Color Codes can use the following route:

1. Open Platform Video with VLC Media Player (e.g. Nintendo Entertainment System.mp4)

2. In VLC Player choose Video / Make Snapshot

3. VLC Player creates a Snapshot .png in C:\Users\yourusername\Pictures

4. Open this Snapshot with the Photo Tool of your preference. e.g. Photoshop. But Paint 3D works too.

5.  Choose pipette tool and get the color Code from the left border of the snapshot

6. Copy this Color Code to the respective Platform in "COLORFUL_Styles.xaml"

7. Save and enjoy

Notes:

The way @viking described earlier in this thread with printing a screenshot when BigBox is open and doing the routine from Point 4 of my route gives me always the wrong Color Codes..

With the VLC Method above i got 98% Percent right. Only Atari 5200 and one other Platform look quite different. I Don't know why. Maybe its because of the change of implementation as mentioned earlier.

 

Hope this is helpful to some of you. 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2021 by modjoo

[adiru]

Hi guys I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I really love this theme I actually bought big box just for it. Everything is working great except when I click on a game , I see the box art, description and a screenshot still picture of the game instead of a video of the game. Am I missing something? please help. Thank you.

[Retro808]

6 hours ago, adiru said:

Hi guys I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I really love this theme I actually bought big box just for it. Everything is working great except when I click on a game , I see the box art, description and a screenshot still picture of the game instead of a video of the game. Am I missing something? please help. Thank you.

A pic of what you see would help better confirm what you need to do.

A couple things to note: 1. Themes do not come with game play videos so if no videos are showing you need to make sure you downloaded them. 2. Themes typically have different views so you would also need to make sure you are on a view that supports game play videos. You can hot swap views by binding a key/button in the mapping section for "Change View".

[adiru]

Thanks for replying!

The view is like this and instead of the video it's just a screenshot.. I downloaded the meta data but I'm not sure the videos were there too.. would you mind explaining how to download the videos if that's what I'm missing ? Thank you

 

[neil9000]

9 minutes ago, adiru said:

Thanks for replying!

The view is like this and instead of the video it's just a screenshot.. I downloaded the meta data but I'm not sure the videos were there too.. would you mind explaining how to download the videos if that's what I'm missing ? Thank you

 

You need a paid premium subscription at emumovies in order to download gameplay videos in Launchbox.

Donation Options - EmuMovies

 

[adiru]

6 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

You need a paid premium subscription at emumovies in order to download gameplay videos in Launchbox.

Donation Options - EmuMovies

 

Oh I see I didn't know that. Alright thank you so much.

[starman314]

Hi @viking, 

Awesome theme!  It really looks fantastic.  Thanks for all of your hard work.  

One quick question, any chance you can provide a PSD for the Colorful_PlatformWheel1_ButtonStart_XBox and Colorful_PlatformWheel1_ButtonStart_Dark_XBox images?  I would like to modify them to use a different button label.  

[hobapli]

i updated 1.1 version of colorful theme and lost everyting   can anybody send me the version of 1.0? this is my favorite theme pls help me guys.

 

 

[hobapli]

:((

[nintari]

Reading through the thread now to learn more about this theme (which I love very much BTW thank you!!) one quick question and I may find it in my reading through...As I scroll the "Platforms" all of the platforms are plain text, not logos...should these be logos? For Example the nintendo platform should it be the Nintendo logo and not just a plain white text entry? I have all the packs downloaded and installed, those appear to be working properly. 

[clockw3rk]

IMG_0796.MOV

 

I may have stumbled onto something regarding the platform wheel transition stuttering that others have mentioned. I don't really have the required technical expertise to be ultra clear, so please bear with me. 

While switching between platforms using "colorful platform wheel 2" (on 3 different computers, all with different specs), I experience a hanging-up in the background color image while it stretches across rightward to cover the screen. Essentially it stops moving for a moment, then continues on.

I noticed that if I change from VLC to Windows Media Player, it clears up the stutter, but replaces it with a quick black-out, followed by a quick image pop-in, seemingly at the exact same point in the transition where it would normally get hung-up using VLC.

I'm wondering if someone could test this to determine if the transition stutter is related to the video player, and if so, could we use that to find a way to eliminate the stutter?

Edited February 20, 2022 by clockw3rk

[viking]

Hi @clockw3rk ,

What version of the theme are you using?
Mine ?
Or the beta of the new version developed by Faeran?

I advise you to use the "new version of Faeran".

 

Another idea: use the HD video set instead of the 4K set.

[soqueroeu]

Forgive me for asking:

I know this is volunteer work, but are people still working on the next Colorful theme version? What do you intend to deliver anyway?

Edited March 11, 2022 by soqueroeu

[ephendi]

Hi all!  

This theme is gorgeous, and I've spent hours to get this thing as smooth as possible, despite running a very low-end i3 system.  The big things that helped the platform menus was was disabling auto-generated playlists, ensuring only HD (not 4k) versions of videos were downloaded, and caching all images (took a LONG time) at low quality.   

BUT, despite all of the system and playlist menus running perfectly, I still can't quite get the games views to run smoothly though... those videos and info screens are very choppy, despite those game videos being smaller and lower res than the platform and playlist Colorful Light videos.  Does anyone have any tweaks or suggestions for getting the games wheels and games detail views to run smoother with videos enabled? 

Also, if is there an easy way to disable game videos if I just can't quite get it to work?

Thank you!!

 

[viking]

On 3/10/2022 at 11:25 PM, soqueroeu said:

Forgive me for asking:

I know this is volunteer work, but are people still working on the next Colorful theme version? What do you intend to deliver anyway?

Yes, it's progressing! =)
@faeran working hard on porting the theme to the community theme creator. Basically, a total rewrite.
It should not take long to post a new beta. It contains the existing (and updated views) + The new TextGameView!

For new views, I still need time. Recently tested in family, they are too slow and contain too much animation. It's flashy, but not very ergonomic.

On 3/11/2022 at 5:28 PM, ephendi said:

Hi all!  

This theme is gorgeous, and I've spent hours to get this thing as smooth as possible, despite running a very low-end i3 system.  The big things that helped the platform menus was was disabling auto-generated playlists, ensuring only HD (not 4k) versions of videos were downloaded, and caching all images (took a LONG time) at low quality.   

BUT, despite all of the system and playlist menus running perfectly, I still can't quite get the games views to run smoothly though... those videos and info screens are very choppy, despite those game videos being smaller and lower res than the platform and playlist Colorful Light videos.  Does anyone have any tweaks or suggestions for getting the games wheels and games detail views to run smoother with videos enabled? 

Also, if is there an easy way to disable game videos if I just can't quite get it to work?

Thank you!!

 

the next version of the theme should improve performance. Hope this helps with your setup. For the media, I can't do much.