Graphics for SageMC (Glassy Icons, etc.)

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by MeInMaui

My output will probably slow down a bit after they arrive.

Didn't you say twins ? I think you are a little too optimistic here ...

[kricker]

yeah a bit..ha! My boy is just over 3 mos. now, and I still dont have much free time...and he is just one!
3 levels of opacity should be fine. I just took your pngs and doubled their layers then merged them to make them more opaque. That'll hold me over just fine.
If you need some advice on how to speed things up even more creating these, let me know. I can probably make some PS actions for youm to automate the repetitive stuff.

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by flachbar

Didn't you say twins ? I think you are a little too optimistic here ...

I'm a pretty optimistic guy. After all, sleep is highly overrated anyway, right? By the way, the twins are in addition to our 2.5 yr old.

Originally Posted by kricker

If you need some advice on how to speed things up even more creating these, let me know. I can probably make some PS actions for youm to automate the repetitive stuff.

Funny you should mention that. I just finished reading up on a batch processing tutorial. It looks like setting up a couple of actions and batch processing all of the files should to the trick. That should speed things up quite a bit.

Thanks!
Mike

[kricker]

Originally Posted by MeInMaui

Funny you should mention that. I just finished reading up on a batch processing tutorial. It looks like setting up a couple of actions and batch processing all of the files should to the trick. That should speed things up quite a bit.

Thanks!
Mike

Yes actions will be your best friends! Once you get the hang of how they work and quirks.

[MeInMaui]

I just know that after I get the actions / batch processing working that I'll kick myself for having done the first set by hand.

[dflachbart]

Originally Posted by kricker

I took a bit of time and played around with Studio a bit, trying to fix the strange icon sizing issues. I think I got something that works for now, at least until flachbar has a chance to address it. I ended up tucking all the guide icons up in the right corner of each show. Then I went thru and cleaned up the icon sizing in the recorded tv lists. It was a little tricky. The icons and panels are referenced from one screen to another quite a bit, so if you change something for one screen it changed it on another. I think I got it worked out for the most part. Here is my .xml file if anyone is interested. FYI I edited my .xml file that had webradio and movietimes already imported into it. Use the file at your own peril, 'cause I am just starting to play around with Studio.

Kricker, looks good ... Could you point me to all the widgets you changed for a starting point, instead of having to go through a STV diff - would save me some time
Via PM is fine ...

Dirk

[MeInMaui]

Dirk,

While you're changing the layout for the icons, do you think it is possible to set it up so that we would no longer require separate sets of icons for SD and HD? If not it's no big deal, I just thought it might make things easier for the end user if they didn't have to worry about the icon size when installing. I would also think that scaled HD icons might look better on screen than low-res icons.

Mike

[MeInMaui]

Ok,

I've updated the glassy icons download to v1.1 It now includes 4 levels of opacity:
35% (Original), 50%, 75%, and 100% opacity.

That should hopefully cover most needs.

I finally got batch processing to work in Photoshop. Quirky little bugger, that function. (Actually it's the actions that are quirky) But once I got it working, it just ripped through all of the icons.

Now back to the guide graphics....

Aloha,
Mike

[MeInMaui]

I've done a little research into EPG category colors. Basically, there is no standard. Here is a list of what I found:

SageTV
Movies = Purple
News = Dark Yellow
Sports (incl. non-event & talk) = Green

TV Guide
Movies = Red
Sports = Green
Family = Light Blue
PPV = Purple

Zap2it
Sports = Yellow
Movies = Orange
Series = Purple
News = Red
Specials = Light Blue
Children = Green
Other = Grey

TitanTV
Action = Orange/Yellow
Children = Light Purple
Comedy = Dark Grey
Drama = Aqua
Documentary = Dark Brown
Game = Light Brown
How-To = Medium Brown
Music = Tan
News = Light Blue

Here is my proposal for a color coding scheme for SageMC.

SageMC Proposal
Sports (incl. non-event & talk) = Green
Movies = Dark Purple
News = Red
Specials = Yellow
Children = Light Purple
Animated = Light Blue
Documentary = Brown
Default = Blue

Please let me know if there are any important categories that I left out or if any of the colors I selected are just plain bad choices. I didn't want to separate out too many categories because I thought the guide would just become too confusing with dozens of colors. I also wonder if adding a legend to the guide might be in order. I could generate the legend as a graphic with a transparent background, but we would have to figure out how to add it into the guide.

Aloha,
Mike

[MeInMaui]

Color Coded Guide Bars v1.0 has been added to the download section.

This is a set of color coded guide bars for SageMC. The download includes highlighted bars for shows now playing, darkened bars for shows not currently playing, replacement left and right arrows, and a replacement color highlight for the currently selected show.

The category color codes are as follows:

Sports (incl. non-event & talk) = Green
Movies = Dark Purple
News = Red
Specials (and Holiday Specials) = Yellow
Children (and Children Specials) = Light Purple
Animated = Light Blue
Documentary = Brown
Default = Blue

Installation Instructions

1. Backup your .../SageTV/STVs/SageTV3/SageMCE/Images folder if you wish to revert to your original guide graphics.
2. Download and unzip the attached file into your .../SageTV directory.
3. Restart the SageTV UI.
4. It is recommended that you set your 'Guide Black Text' to 0xAAAAAA. This can be done within the Advanced Settings screen under 'SageMC 16x9 Options'.

Version History

v1.0
Initial Release

[geogecko]

Just installed these. It looks great. Only thing that bothers me, is that the colors seem to detract from the already wonderful glassy icons! Maybe if they were lighter some how, it might not be that way? I'm not really sure how to explain it.

[briands]

Installed the new guide colors and I like the way they look, except it is hard to read the black text against the darker (like red) backgrounds. I noticed your text is white. Where is that setting?

[geogecko]

Originally Posted by briands

Installed the new guide colors and I like the way they look, except it is hard to read the black text against the darker (like red) backgrounds. I noticed your text is white. Where is that setting?

Change this setting, and it looks fine.

4. It is recommended that you set your 'Guide Black Text' to 0xAAAAAA. This can be done within the Advanced Settings screen under 'SageMC 16x9 Options'.

I think once the sizing problem is fixed inside of SageMC, these colors will look fine, so never mind my previous comment! These look wonderful!

[briands]

So I'm supposed to read ALL of the directions...

[MeInMaui]

Hi,

Geogecko made a good point about the glassy icons looking washed out with these guide bars, soooo......

I've updated the download to include a bright version of the bars in addition to the original dark version. With the bright version of the guide bars, it is no longer necessary to set your guide black text to 0xAAAAAA. You can leave it at the default 0x000000. If you use the glassy icons, it is recommended that you use at least 50% opacity for use with either of the guide bar sets. The first post has been updated with the new information.

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Aloha,
Mike

EDIT: Hey! I already made the the changes and geogecko changes his mind?!?! Arrgghhhh!!! ...

[geogecko]

Lol, you're too fast, that's why!!! I'll give the new ones a try, and who knows, I may like that setup better...

[geogecko]

Wow, that setup is nice! Thank you!

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by geogecko

Wow, that setup is nice! Thank you!

Glad you like them!

[MeInMaui]

Originally Posted by geogecko

Can't wait to see what's next on your "To Do" list!

Maybe, perhaps, a Sage or some type of icon to use instead of the Media Portal icon when using the MP themes, on the Main Menu? I just deleted the hp_start.png (renamed, actually), so that it would go away, but now it looks kind of empty without it.

Hey geogecko,

Does this work for you? I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this glass stuff.

Aloha,
Mike

[bobrap]

Works for me!