XBMC4Xbox

DOWNLOAD SKIN Version 3.5.49 (3/23/15)

CHANGELOG

GIT REPOSITORY BROWSER
-First and foremost, all credit goes to Scarfa for Rapier (this idea is fantastic)

-I started with Rapier Qualar Mod 3.13 as it was the last version available for use on xbox (I couldn't find an actual source code for it so download this if you want to actually see what I was working with). Here is Qualar's thread if you're interested (credit is due)

Mostly my goals were to make this skin RAM efficient and more visible for users not sitting in front of a computer (to be able to sit in the recliner and still be able to read words on the screen if you will). I set out to remove "includes" to improve RAM for the xbox, it worked quite well. If you wanna look through the code, get ready to waste a LOT of time. By removing the includes, this skin is quick as hell and it can keep up with no worries. The whole point here was simply to adjust a skin to keep up with more and more MB's of streaming crap. This skin will hold it's own and I suggest you give it a whirl if you want a quick skin with decent media views, and snappy action

I've gone through and revamped pretty much every window, so I'm not going to explain all of the things that I've done (just try it out for yourself). This isn't a final release, but it will work for now (I'm sure I've missed some things, so if there are any SERIOUS bugs I will address them) and I plan on getting this wrapped up sometime soon. A Couple of things:

-I Switched off pretty much all of the options that this skin has to offer to improve RAM. This isn't exactly a beginner's skin the way that I have it presented, so if you want more options just turn them on (system/skin settings)

-The backgrounds are customizable (as are quite a few other things), change em if you wanna.

Other than that, I will keep updating...feedback and requests are more than welcome

Nice one!

well...try it

I certainly will when I get a chance

Looks great I'll also try it after crimbo. I stopped using dds after the implementation of JPEG Turbo, do you notice a difference in this skin?

thanks, appreciate it...as for dds, it seems to make a difference as far as speed/consistency goes while toggling from large thumb to large thumb (ie. coverflow, or poster view). So yes, in this skin it does make a difference (in the library) where smoothness is concerned but there is a bit of quality loss (as was the case when this tool came out). Personally I use posterwrap in the video library, so maybe I notice it more. There were some views in this skin that even dds wouldn't help (3d wrapview, showcase etc...I removed them because they ultimately crashed it.) However, someone that doesn't use library mode wouldn't really benefit from it my opinion, I just thought I'd package it as an option if someone wanted to try it out (I wasn't necessarily advocating it)

I was always a true Transperancy! fan and really like Confluence as well, but will try this one as well!! Thanks for the hard work!

Yea, I like those skins also but the layout of this skin is really neat. One of the main things that I never understood was the media control area...so I just completely rebuilt it. I tried to keep things very clean looking, and also bigger for better visibility (kind of a fine line not to go too big). If you like transparency for the fanart, this definitely allows you to showcase some of your own backgrounds through most of the windows. Also I forgot to mention above that while it has no problems in 480p, it also holds its own in 720p. So give it a go for sure and leave some feedback if you wouldn't mind

I am really enjoying this skin and the fact you have made rapier “recliner friendly”. This will be the skin of choice for my main Xbox for some time I feel! Thank you.

I spotted a small non-serious bug: Pressing black button for video info is off screen slightly.
Would it be possible when you get your skinning addiction back to add system information in the right hand corner of the bottom info pane, CPU, RAM, Temps etc. similar to Slik?

Again, thanks for your hard work!

Hey I'm glad you like it! Honestly, just knowing that one person actually likes this makes it worth the effort that I put in...so thanks for your input (keep it coming too). Anyway...I knew about that issue, and I'll take care of it asap (but I'm trying to get everything organized so that someone can take just one file from 720p or the whole folder instead of downloading the whole zip again.) As for the system info...I'm not sure I want to delve into that right now, but it's very quick to navigate to from any window. All you have to do is click the right thumbstick for the shutdown menu and you have your favorites and your system info available immediately. I'm guessing you already knew that, but if not there ya go. FYI - the problem with this stuff, the addiction really never goes away so keep me posted if you notice anything else out of whack (I noticed that I must have missed the login screen so I'll get to that pretty soon too)

Here ya go...I updated the OP, check every now and then because I'm gonna keep updating my 720p. Just take it and replace your current one (save the one you have in case you don't like what I've done). I can't figure out a better way to do it without SVN, so it'll work for now ---

thanks for this.
i have downloaded it - will test out when I get a chance.
looks good

cheers

Thanks for the fix, update option is a good idea!

Another little bug: Text overlap in plugin settings. (sorry! it’s the graphic designer in me )
Regarding the ram display, I am assuming (I could be wrong) the total is displayed for the screen it is currently shown on i.e. (system info) so when browsing films etc. it is an unknown/inaccurate account of ram available. I have been using Slik for a while now and have become accustomed to this info being displayed all the time and find it hard to be without. Also, 1channel4Xbox is real ram eater and I like to keep my eye on its usage. Yet, [removed] has been working very well with this skin and I have had no problems or crashes so far.

Another request is a buffer % when paused.

If and when you’re up for it of course, I will be very grateful. I don’t want to come across as though I am demanding features.

Thanks.

No Worries, actually for some of these windows I actually busted out a ruler , but I must have forgotten to get back to that one. In fact, the plugin settings dialog was another one that I plan to make into a fullscreen dialog (i.e. Favorites, Song Info, Movie Info etc.) as the the buttons don't have enough room for all of the text (no matter how big or small the skin font is). It takes a while for me to sculpt out the idea's in code, but when I decide to tackle that I'll post a pic for some feedback. You are correct, the system info page only displays info for that window at that time (but it's a good gauge for where you're at). I guess I'll have to take a look at slick and see what you mean (are you talking about the "home" info pane, or the actual info pane that you turned on in the skin settings/both?). I removed the info pane from some of the windows (maybe a mistake?) because media flags show up there too, and it made navigation pretty choppy. Buffer percent on video info (top), or video osd (bottom)?

5l1p wrote:If and when you’re up for it of course, I will be very grateful. I don’t want to come across as though I am demanding features.

These are all things that I knew would be exposed and I want to get them straight, you are not demanding anything yet I appreciate the feedback, and I took care of the margin issue as well

I was referring to the margin issue and not the text labels, I do however look forward to your fullscreen view to combat this! Again, thanks for the fix!

The system info is enabled in Sliks settings and appears in the top right corner it is there throughout the entire skin and can always be viewed, even when watching videos by pressing the white button. I don’t have a stock fan so it is good for me to see if I’m “cooking” my Xbox or I’m about to run out of ram. And yeah, not the home info pane, I noticed rapier has this but it’s not “realtime” like Slik.

A buffer percentage next to “paused” would be very handy. (is this video osd?) Keep up the good work!

Another little Bug:
Highlighting files in the file manager with Y causes the font to disappear rather than be highlighted.

Very nice! - downloading now!

@ 5l1p...okay, so the video/music OSD is the media navigation at the bottom of the screen in full screen media views (what you were asking about is the seekbar). I had my way with the buffering issue and took care of that, as for the file manager....well, it works and IT has had it's way with me for now. I messed with it for a while and it's gonna take some fiddling with (besides, we all know what we clicked on). Also, I checked out Slik and I can see the allure of that feature...the problem is that I didn't account for that when I was plotting these windows (and I was debugging which shows the info you wanna see but it doesn't look nice) i.e. almost every window would have to be adjusted for the idea that I'm thinking of for that skin option (LOTS of work), but it's not out of the question and I'm pondering it cuz it's cool. Nice pic by the way

@ anyone else that's tried it...feedback? bugs?

Just installed the skin (with latest 720P) and set custom backgrounds like with Transparancy! .
First impression is it looks good, however, I personally prefer to have the top and bottom menu bars to be more transparant to get the best and largest fanart view possible, since all my fanart is in 1280X720 now it cuts off some faces etc.
I like the music thumbs view!!!
One thing I noticed (and this is not limited to this skin) is that if I have set all folder views in Confluence to show all folders as thunmbs and the files in the folder as media info or list, once I change the skin this memory setting is lost. It would be nice if all skins use the same codes for the view types, or is this a general XBMC setting?

Hey EFORCE, thanks for giving it a try! There's not a lot that can be done about the top/bottom bars as they cover up the submenubars as they focus and unfocus. I'm curious how the menus navigate with such large res (most of the home window backdrops are 600x400). That's a bummer though

-Music thumbs view eh? I'm out of town right now, but is it actually thumbnail view or wrap view? I can't remember what the thumb view looks like off the top of my head, but FYI I plan on going through and revamping all of the media views to match the font changes that I've made (so far all I got to was MusicWrap, and all ListInfo "Classic" styles, and started on LargePosterWrap).

-I'm not sure about the folder issue, it could be a string in the skin that is conditionally included incorrectly. I'll take a look at it and see if I notice anything in the skin, but it makes me wonder if you're viewing it in library mode or not.

-What version of transparency are you using BTW? I was thinking about taking a few of the other older skins and removing the includes from those as well (taking them out really improves the speed and proficiency of the skin as far as I can tell). Not nearly as in depth as I went here, but a good once over to bring them current and make them faster.

***ALSO, if you're downloading the skin for the first time the "DOWNLOAD SKIN" and the "UPDATE 720p" have the same 720 folder in them***

Well i must admit i do like this skin...looks really nice !!! But some time i get stuck navigating as i can not see if im in the menu at the top of the screen....it would be better if the highlighted color was a little brighter . Apart from this Great work !!!!