theme COLORFUL bigbox theme

[viking]

On 1/24/2021 at 11:45 PM, clockw3rk said:

Thanks everyone, this is fantastic. My absolute favorite theme. I'm testing the new MSX and MSX2 platform videos, and there seems to be a mismatch between the background colors. Any suggestions to fix that? 

 

On 1/27/2021 at 6:01 PM, SiriusVI said:

I love this theme and would like to use it. However, it is very laggy on my (quite powerful) PC. For example when scrolling through platform categories and platforms, the videos take a while before displaying and sometimes bigbox even freezes for 1 second or two.

Critical Zone is my default theme for now and it works really smoothly. 

Does anyone else have these issues with Colorful or is it just me?

Hmm. Big animation effects don't help the smoothness, that's for sure. But it must run well on the good configuration.
Have you tried using the video set in HD instead of 4K?
Theme is up to date ?
 

On 1/27/2021 at 6:30 PM, clockw3rk said:

Glad you mentioned this! The theme does seem to intermittently lag while scrolling through the platform wheel on my decently powerful PC. 

Have you tried using the video set in HD instead of 4K?
Theme is up to date ?

On 1/27/2021 at 6:35 PM, SiriusVI said:

I have a theory: Colorful displays how many games there are in eacht platform category and platforms. When BigBox launches, Colorful "counts" the number of games which are in each platform ategory and platform. This takes time, so when scrolling through the list, there are dalays. Once all games are counted, the scrolling works mre smoothly.

Is that what happens?

I do not believe. I am using the basic function given in Jason's doc. Other theme uses it without problem!

On 2/25/2021 at 1:48 AM, Shoniv said:

Does anyone know how I can avoid the transition from game list to the game screen?
To be more precise I'd like to allow the game screen where the video, image, and game details are to appear next to the game list instead of completely disappearing.

Thx in advance.

Unfortunately no. It's in the architecture of BigBox and I don't know how to get past that.
In fact, the GameViewList is the same file as the GameDetailView. The only way to have a smooth transition is to use the GameViewList.
Or, in the BigBox options, set the GameDetailView to OFF.

[Stelder]

I absolutely love this theme, it's exactly what I've been looking for. I love mostly the number player details. I just wish there was option for the game theme for games that have 9:16 ratio video snaps

[SiriusVI]

On 3/2/2021 at 10:21 AM, viking said:

 

Hmm. Big animation effects don't help the smoothness, that's for sure. But it must run well on the good configuration.
Have you tried using the video set in HD instead of 4K?
Theme is up to date ?

Hey there, thanks for answering. The Theme is up to date. Animations are at their standard values (I haven't changed the default settings). I've tried both 4K and HD videos. Both are very laggy. I don't think it's the videos. The problem only occurs when I activate COLORFUL theme. If I use just the Colorful videos with a different theme, it runs butter smooth.

[ProstatePunch]

On 2/11/2021 at 7:45 AM, Retro808 said:

That's likely the Game Details screen. If you want to bypass that go to BB Options > General and check the box for Skip Game Details.

Yeah I already have this off.  Still show the "add to" playlist function when I hit the button mapped to select on a game. 

For now, I mapped the "A" button on the NES controller to the select button.  I mapped the "Start" button on the NES controller to the play button.

But testing this with friends, they clearly want to just press "A" to start the game.  I'd like "A" to do everything, but when I map it to both, it defaults to the "add to" playlist (not actually booting the game)

God I hope that makes sense.  Painful to write. lol

 

 

[viking]

On 3/3/2021 at 5:53 AM, Stelder said:

I absolutely love this theme, it's exactly what I've been looking for. I love mostly the number player details. I just wish there was option for the game theme for games that have 9:16 ratio video snaps

You mean 16:9 right?
No, I cannot adjust the theme according to the ratio of the video. There are too many different ratios depending on the platform.
This is why I use this generic 4: 3 ratio. (And to leave room for texts ^^)

On 3/4/2021 at 6:46 PM, SiriusVI said:

Hey there, thanks for answering. The Theme is up to date. Animations are at their standard values (I haven't changed the default settings). I've tried both 4K and HD videos. Both are very laggy. I don't think it's the videos. The problem only occurs when I activate COLORFUL theme. If I use just the Colorful videos with a different theme, it runs butter smooth.

The problem is not what is displayed IN the video, but animating a fullscreen video. This requires the XAML engine to recalculate each pixel on your screen.
There is no solution". It's not a problem of optimization, but of design.
After that, your config must be old, right? Or do you use slow discs or network?
Or do you have a super fast screen ??

11 hours ago, ProstatePunch said:

Yeah I already have this off.  Still show the "add to" playlist function when I hit the button mapped to select on a game. 

For now, I mapped the "A" button on the NES controller to the select button.  I mapped the "Start" button on the NES controller to the play button.

But testing this with friends, they clearly want to just press "A" to start the game.  I'd like "A" to do everything, but when I map it to both, it defaults to the "add to" playlist (not actually booting the game)

God I hope that makes sense.  Painful to write. lol

 

 

Good idea !
But it remains a "problem" to fix in the options of BigBox, not in the theme. =)

[SiriusVI]

28 minutes ago, viking said:

The problem is not what is displayed IN the video, but animating a fullscreen video. This requires the XAML engine to recalculate each pixel on your screen.
There is no solution". It's not a problem of optimization, but of design.
After that, your config must be old, right? Or do you use slow discs or network?
Or do you have a super fast screen ??

I'm not sure what you mean by my config being old. Launchbox is up to date.

 

I have 1080p 60hz screen. All the files are stored on a fast SSD drive. So it's not slow.

 

As I said I tried both HD and 4k files. Both are laggy with colorful, but work fine with oder themes.

I also tested non colorful videos with the colorful theme, and colorful is still laggy. This indicates once more that the issue is not with the videos.

[viking]

@SiriusVI I mean "your setup", sorry !
Yes, the issue it NOT because this video video, but the fact of animating, in full screen, a video. It takes a lot of work from XAML. (the Microsoft graphics engine behind BigBox for simplicity)
Try ,  in BogBox, to setup the video engine to "VLC".

Do you have a graphics card? Or the Intel chips? What is your CPU ?

[SiriusVI]

34 minutes ago, viking said:

@SiriusVI I mean "your setup", sorry !
Yes, the issue it NOT because this video video, but the fact of animating, in full screen, a video. It takes a lot of work from XAML. (the Microsoft graphics engine behind BigBox for simplicity)
Try ,  in BogBox, to setup the video engine to "VLC".

Do you have a graphics card? Or the Intel chips? What is your CPU ?

The video engine is already set to VLC. Are there any settings in VLC which I can tweak?

My CPU is Intel Core i7-8700K, 4400 MHz

My GPU is MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X

I also tried turning all the animations in BigBox off, which didn't help

[ProstatePunch]

3 hours ago, viking said:

But it remains a "problem" to fix in the options of BigBox, not in the theme. ?

Cool, I'll put a post on the main forum. Thanks for following up!

[Madhead]

I'm happy this theme exists it's amazing! It's got that minimalist multinational corporation interface look about it. As sleek as the new consoles sort of thing. I was just thinking though, what if you were to fill in some of the gaps with like a clean white platform logo at the top left corner? Like all white to maintain the understated look? And 3D boxes by default instead of box fronts? And is there a way to make the video window smaller? It's just that It would be more seamless looking in a smaller window with fades on the sides like netflix.

Here's a wee mockup i did, just an idea, like all platform clear logos would be white like that one. Fades on the side of the video. Button prompts. Or can you tell me how I could do it myself? I wish I knew how this stuff works

 

[Cypher]

On 3/10/2021 at 5:25 PM, Madhead said:

I'm happy this theme exists it's amazing! It's got that minimalist multinational corporation interface look about it. As sleek as the new consoles sort of thing. I was just thinking though, what if you were to fill in some of the gaps with like a clean white platform logo at the top left corner? Like all white to maintain the understated look? And 3D boxes by default instead of box fronts? And is there a way to make the video window smaller? It's just that It would be more seamless looking in a smaller window with fades on the sides like netflix.

Here's a wee mockup i did, just an idea, like all platform clear logos would be white like that one. Fades on the side of the video. Button prompts. Or can you tell me how I could do it myself? I wish I knew how this stuff works

 

I always thought something like this, plus the game logo image rather than text, would look nice as well.

[viking]

On 3/11/2021 at 2:25 AM, Madhead said:

I'm happy this theme exists it's amazing! It's got that minimalist multinational corporation interface look about it. As sleek as the new consoles sort of thing. I was just thinking though, what if you were to fill in some of the gaps with like a clean white platform logo at the top left corner? Like all white to maintain the understated look? And 3D boxes by default instead of box fronts? And is there a way to make the video window smaller? It's just that It would be more seamless looking in a smaller window with fades on the sides like netflix.

Here's a wee mockup i did, just an idea, like all platform clear logos would be white like that one. Fades on the side of the video. Button prompts. Or can you tell me how I could do it myself? I wish I knew how this stuff works

 

 

2 hours ago, Cypher said:

I always thought something like this, plus the game logo image rather than text, would look nice as well.

It's a nice view, but not at all in the spirit of my theme.
If you or someone wants to make a fok of my theme, I have no problem with that! 

[CMOSS]

34 minutes ago, qyuburt said:

Hey everyone!

Just added the PS Vita platform video by @CMOSS and there seems to be a little bit of background noise or something at the beginning before the games start cycling. Is this intentional, or perhaps an issue with my download?

That background sound was there in the footage I used for the intro...

Edited March 15, 2021 by CMOSS

[qyuburt]

1 hour ago, CMOSS said:

That background sound was there in the footage I used for the intro...

 

31 minutes ago, qyuburt said:

Aahhh that makes sense! I was wondering if there was something wrong with my speakers at the beginning. It isn't a deal breaker by any means it still looks fantastic in my system!

 

I decided to take a stab at cleaning up the audio and posting a better version of this startup for future use. 

I'm unfortunately not skilled in video editing to make the video, but if @CMOSS, @viking or anyone else wants to use it its available!

Edited March 15, 2021 by qyuburt

[Madhead]

9 hours ago, Cypher said:

I always thought something like this, plus the game logo image rather than text, would look nice as well.

I quite like it with just the text tbh. But maybe a choice with another view yeah.

[Madhead]

7 hours ago, viking said:

 

It's a nice view, but not at all in the spirit of my theme.
If you or someone wants to make a fok of my theme, I have no problem with that! 

Yeah I see what you're saying. If anything I just wish the video box was smaller because many of the standard definition videos (most of them) look a bit pixelated at that size. I'm not massively bothered about the platform logo at the top left, or even the fades at the sides. Just an option to make the video box about the size as in that pic. Would you know what to edit in the xaml files? Thank you.

[CMOSS]

3 hours ago, qyuburt said:

 

 

I decided to take a stab at cleaning up the audio and posting a better version of this startup for future use. 

I'm unfortunately not skilled in video editing to make the video, but if @CMOSS, @viking or anyone else wants to use it its available!

I hadn't noticed that background noise until you said so. Now it's the only thing I hear

The video, re-edited with your version of the splash screen...

@viking, would you mind replacing the old version one for this one?

Edited March 15, 2021 by CMOSS

[CMOSS]

5 minutes ago, qyuburt said:

Sorry to do that to you but glad I could help! 

If you could outline how you made it I would love to learn to contribute to the theme and community. I've been waiting for a ScummVM video for a while and wouldn't mind making it ?

Take a look at the topic below. Everything is explained, including source files for all the videos

https://forums.launchbox-app.com/topic/55213-colorful-resources/

 

[viking]

Thx @sevenalive !

Startup and pause theme are planned, but not yet started. Sorry ...
Sound theme, it's going to be more difficult. I have no audio skills! At the moment I'm using XBOX ONE Sound Theme.

About game details background image, I'm not sure I understand. Normally you have a gameplay video in the background. No ?
Can you take a screenshot ?

The TextBox is small, because the platform/game name used a huge font and expands upward. So I need this space for the long name.  (+ space for custom icons)

YES, there are plans for the coverflow and especially the grid views. The last @Jason Carr update excites me and I can't wait to develop these views !! =)
The POC by @faeran is awsommmmme ! This is (almost) exactly what I had in mind! ^^

 

 

I also hesitate on one point and I ask you all the question:

I have a design "problem" with the GameListView which is also the GameDetailView. Same code file.
If no one is actually using the GameListView, I can designate it as a GameDetailView only. Not having to do both opens up possibilities!
Tell me =)

[viking]

For the image priority order (pause or gameplay) I believe it's setup in LaunchBox option.