UI3 Discussion

[alexman]

I want something like this
And i think many will.

[jondecker76]

The more I dig into the guts of LMCE and the more I understand, the more I am happy keeping things just the way they are. The current system is very robust and powerful, and capable of a lot more than what we are seeing now. Why fix something that isn't broken? Why fix something that isn't currently being used to its potential?

I think we would be better off building better skins, adding a few screens and changing current layouts. After all, we are in COMPLETE control of what our UI will look like in Designer. Lets use what we have got, and just build a new UI with it. (If you don't like the big-ugly-button look of UI1, learn how to use designer and design something better looking - it sure would be a lot easier than recoding the thing from the ground up, and being back in the same place of having to design the graphics for it)

[tschak909]

I agree there, with one addendum... use the knowledge we get from all of the above this to build a better UI3. :-)

-Thom

[jondecker76]

yes, no doubt someday it will be needed. I just don't think that day is today... Or tomorrow

As you said, we can learn a lot from working with what we have now, so we have an even better understanding of what to watch out for when the time comes that we do need to tackle an entirely new UI schema

[tschak909]

I do want to start work on a new iteration of UI for Orbiter, which I call UI2.5. I have been talking with m1cha3l in the #linuxmce channel, started while we were at LinuxTag, but I want to seriously start work with people who are watching the screencasts, and have an idea of the tools we are working with.

-Thom

[jondecker76]

I would be interested as well. My time is a little limited right now, but will be freeing up a lot soon.

If we could come up with a good "theme" and a couple of mock-ups, then we could split the screens up between everyone involved (if we get enough people we may only need to do 500-1000 screens each!) We would definitely need the help of a good artist.

[HorstJ]

The possibilities LinuxMCE offers are enough for a good UI to be build (in my opinion), but maybe we should change something anyhow. Before building new UIs, it could be a good idea to seperate design and function of a DesingObject. Thus would allow a much easier reuse and a faster creation of new "skins"/UIs, I think.

[samuelmukoti]

Hi,

I went through the videos a couple of days ago! And was very impressed with whats there already!  I believe with some guidance I cold work with my graphical artist (from our Company) and try do some mockups of a few ideas. 

I wanted to ask about animation, i believe i saw an "animate" checkbox in the DesignObj options, is so how does that work, and where and how has it been used in the current UIs.

Lastly, where can i get info about UI 2.5, would love to get involved, need somewhere to start, could help with Artwork maybe, and hopefully get into bare metal soon enough..

regards,

Sam

[tschak909]

Currently, yes.. any Bitmap designObj can use an MNG file as its image.. However, we have to be _VERY_ careful here...because OrbiterGen literally disassembles each frame, and renders a fully composited set of images containing each frame.... this essentially means, that strange rendering artifacts can happen if you use MNG graphics near user interface elements like Buttons for example.

As for getting into the UI2.5 discussion, this is best handled on the IRC channel.

-Thom

[los93sol]

Is there anywhere I can just download HADesigner and whatever else I need to start making a new UI for LMCE?  I'm willing to watch the screencasts and learn, but I don't wanna muck around for two days compiling stuff just to start working and learning.

[tschak909]

"I wanna learn, but I wanna do it now!"

patience, my son.

you can get a copy of Designer, from the wiki.
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Installing_HADesigner

-Thom

[eNoodle]

@tschak

If the OrbiterGen is generating all the screen, wouldn't it be possible to not generate images, but XML files?

These files could then be used with a kind of Proxy-Orbiter to build an Ajax Orbiter or even a Flash Orbiter. Am I totally wrong here?

[ineedme]

Why doesnt make a new UI using SVG not trying to use Flash or similar
Another good alternative is Ajax

[tschak909]

Have you not paid attention to this thread at all?

*hmm*

I'm not going to explain it.

Go watch my screencasts, and you'll see why this isn't possible. Don't post again until you're able to make an intelligent argument.

-Thom