[grumpygamer]

Finally I have a little time to design a skin for XBMC.

Goal is to have a very posh-looking skin that natively supports asian characters.
I'll post pictures as the work goes on.
Also It would be great if someone with skills can help me out with actually building the skin.

I will write a bit more about it this evening...





Here is the music preview first mockup (I have increased font size for the menu)


As you can see I have used cdarts instead of cases at the moment, but I'm trying to figure out a good fallback design using jewelcases.

Edit: meanwhile i've already started my exploration of the xml files, using the foundation skin, since there is no fast tutorial.
For now the font is up and running (pretty simple lol), now just looking into getting the menu horizontal.

Here is a version with a background image


Hopefully you'll be able to choose in config to use background images or not.
Based on that, we'll have negative texts and different shadow positioning

19 September 2013
Edit: i have got the menu working horizontally in the correct position, step forward!

20 September 2013
Edit: got the main background up. Little steps...

23 September 2013
Edit: here's the uncompressed image for testing purposes.
http://i.imgur.com/NV6dCaP.jpg

26 September 2013
Edit: really busy for the past 2 days.
Working on the jewel case mod. Can't seem to figure out where to assign a background color to a label

More to come...

[jurialmunkey]

Looks good so far. Though I would be worried about the small font sizes -- gets hard to read from any sort of distance. Also, there was a skin back in the days of xbmc being run on xbox called "Horizonz" -- so you might want to think about a different name to avoid confusion.

[Amelandbor]

I like it so far.

[yattaah]

Looks great! And yeah, I was also confused by the name.
Can't wait to see some more

[crs.one]

Hey there...
I like the mockups - any chance to get some 1920x1080 uncompressed preview, so we can check them on screen for some detailed feedback?
Anyway...keep up that work

cheers

[jurialmunkey]

I've already started my exploration of the xml files, using the foundation skin, since there is no fast tutorial.
For now the font is up and running (pretty simple lol), now just looking into getting the menu horizontal.

It's dangerous to go alone! Take this:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBM...ing_Manual
It doesn't matter how much about skinning I learn, I find myself referring back to this practically every time I do some skinning stuff.

Also these pages are very useful to have as bookmarks:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Window_IDs
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Ope...nd_Dialogs
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Lis..._functions
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Ani..._Your_Skin
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Tweeners

Oh yeah, also there are some basic tutorials here in case you missed it in the skinning manual:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBM..._Tutorials

[grumpygamer]

Thanks, I have stumbled upon most of those pages already but I'll keep this post as a quick reference.

---

@crs.one

sure I'll post a couple today during my lunch break (the only time I have).
These will have to be taken with a grain of salt; I'm only putting stuff out there at the moment, not sure I can do what I have in mind with what xbmc has to offer in terms of coding language(?)
Uncompressed image is in the top post.

[crs.one]

Hey grumpy,

just checked the preview on my 60'' LCD.
I could read everything with ease and the layout is coming out great.
The arrangement of location, date, time and weather fits in perfectly - I like its simplicity.
Keep it up!
Now waiting for some movie / tv views

[grumpygamer]

Cheers for the heads up!
60" !!! Impressive! I thought I was lucky with a 52!

[grumpygamer]

27 September 2013
Edit: ok I have more samples of the homepage with the CD widget showing cases instead of CDArts.
I would have all this set in the skin options.

Basically I also would like to set different cases based on folder name (folder.jpg->basic, jfolder.jpg->jewel case, etc)
If you choose to use cases instead of cdarts, the case can open and reveal the disc if the cdart is present.





Here's the flat version


Notice I used some japanese characters to show how it would look like.
With longer names it would have to wrap.
Had to add to the post because I cannot put more images in the first one... I'll sort that out eventually

[ZombieRobot]

I like this a lot keep it up man

[deletedpenguin]

Following this closely -- looks great!

[grumpygamer]

Thanks guys.
I am pretty slow but steady.
I SHOULD have enough computer knowledge to get things running but it'll take time.

[Ferdi-T]

Looks quite nice, good luck!

[grumpygamer]

Update: 10/1/2013

Understood how layering works with images, now the bottom bar is placed and working with all the rest.
Still haven't figured out how to add label background color/texture.
There is another thread in the forum where it is stated it's not possible (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=135826)
Got the date and time up on the homescreen too