Teaser: LedFest - Page 2

Unox · 09-25-2009, 05:00 PM

Bit of a problem here. Been playing with the item_bg yellow lines. But it looks too clean. Does anyone know how to dirty stuff up with gimp?

[IMG]http://img197.**************/img197/3450/itembling.jpg[/IMG]

Mercado_Negro · 09-25-2009, 05:38 PM

Dirty it up? What for? That is awesome! If you're going to do something to it please save that one and add it to the theme later as an extra, that's definitely the best item image I've seen so far!

kelldammit · 09-25-2009, 05:53 PM

+1 for that. that looks great as-is.

Unox · 09-25-2009, 06:57 PM

Yeah, well.. I tried to do something like an old Fairlightscreen, but the waveforms are ofcourse too sharp, and the borders you can implement with the yellow lines in the item_bg too small. I have the feeling it walked out of a Japanese restaurant looking at it, but it's ok I guess.

Reaper doesn't like it btw, it zooms out everytime I start it up. Time to call for the aid of the master.

kindafishy · 09-26-2009, 08:44 AM

Man, I can't wait for this theme. Glad you decided to try your hand at this Unox, because you are going to end up making the coolest theme to date.

Unox · 09-26-2009, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kindafishy

Man, I can't wait for this theme. Glad you decided to try your hand at this Unox, because you are going to end up making the coolest theme to date.

[bows]

...the musician in me drives on applause, thank you!

Did a little experiment with different fonts:

[IMG]http://img136.**************/img136/992/ledfont.jpg[/IMG]

You get the idea. But I'm afraid I have to make a special font for this theme will all the textlables be in style and readable.. Everything is so small in Reaper..

kelldammit · 09-26-2009, 10:36 AM

just out of curiousity, is there any way to LED-ize the transport counter?
it just looks so out of place like it is.

k

Unox · 09-26-2009, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kelldammit

just out of curiousity, is there any way to LED-ize the transport counter?
it just looks so out of place like it is.

k

Timeline foreground/font changes both counter and timeline. For me it feels like a bit overkill, those area's aren't skinnable, so the illusion crumbles.. I'll include the font that changes it to led-type, use at thou own liking. (you can find the fonts by google'ing 'lcd display font'. Dozens of'em)

Unox · 09-27-2009, 12:25 PM

It's Sunday, did a few pixels. Hope y'all like em:

[IMG]http://img67.**************/img67/1689/sundayafternoon.jpg[/IMG]

Now it's strechable. Totally. I did the little Name/Tracknumber/M/S panel with an overlayhack after reading WT's excellent tutorial. (My reading wasn't that excellent btw, I hacked the wrong button: Mute. Poor Mastersection, repair it tomorrow)

I choose to put the pansection below. At first as a compromise, but now I really like having the trackname on top, I will be using the FXparameters a lot.

The ledfontcolor is colortool-picked from a plug by Schwa, after a bit getting used to it's very easy to read from a distance and doesn't etch on my contacts.

Later!

karhide · 09-27-2009, 12:44 PM

I can't wait to try this theme out!

EvilDragon · 09-27-2009, 01:06 PM

ETA?

^_____^

Unox · 09-27-2009, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilDragon

ETA?

^_____^

Buttons... FXparameters.. All those little icons popping up everywhere..

I dunno. As long as I get ideas and learn stuff I'll keep going. Think maybe three weeks or so. After that I'll have a shitload of work again, so this is a nice inbetween. I'm relieved I made it strechable and still cool to look at, that was a hurdle.

But I can't stop. Just finished this, and now I'm going to do the folderstuff. Just have to find some nice 19" rackears.

Beats me btw why we can skin the folder_bg, but not the fader... Groups/folders should have yellow faders. Masters are red. Returns are black. Duh.

gmanbat · 09-27-2009, 03:21 PM

I most definitely like the looks of this. I am watching this thread for sure!

Unox · 09-27-2009, 04:03 PM

FXparameters in progress...

[IMG]http://img196.**************/img196/3447/fxpartest.jpg[/IMG]

airon · 09-27-2009, 06:03 PM

A bit more context Unox. I can't see the knob edges with all the white in the forum theme surrounding it.

The indicators look like little hammers. Cool

.

Unox · 09-27-2009, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by airon

A bit more context Unox. I can't see the knob edges with all the white in the forum theme surrounding it.

The indicators look like little hammers. Cool

.

There isn't a knob yet.. Well, not one that's worth showing. But the indicator changes color when turned. Had to show off, sorry bout that.

bmanic · 09-28-2009, 07:25 AM

This is a very nice looking theme as well! Thanks for the nice updates, makes for interesting reading.

Cheers!
bManic

cococo · 09-28-2009, 07:32 AM

Great great work! Cant wait for this theme!
Congrats!

Unox · 09-28-2009, 07:59 AM

Ok, have a bit of a problem here. Just a bit. Learned that Reaper interpolates -see picture- the pixels between the fxparm_knob and it's background. Now I keep getting jagged edges as you can see. Do I have to draw a two-pixel opacity line (30%?) on the outsides of the knob? Any tips?

It's also my intention to make the area around the knob less bright than it's pointer. Gives both scale and readout.

[IMG]http://img38.**************/img38/6233/tcpparaknobs.jpg[/IMG]

Unox · 09-28-2009, 06:08 PM

Talking about subtle:

[IMG]http://img97.**************/img97/9356/parasubtle.jpg[/IMG]

Couldn't get rid of the edges, all the colors were cool to think out, but distracting. So back to basics. Tried to make it look like the average black parameterknob found on hardwaregear. It circles good, no artifacts, and no reminder that it's a cpu you're working at.

Djeez, the first things to theme are fun and fast, later on you get to ergonomics and stuff. That's harder. But still addictive.

Tallisman · 09-28-2009, 06:37 PM

awesome... my fav those green ones!

Pashkuli · 09-29-2009, 12:28 AM

What about the fonts. Will they be included (as free) and do we have to put them in X:\Windows\Fonts so they appear properly in Reaper?

Anyway, Unox you are incredible. Are you some kind of graphic designer or web designer... if no you better try.

White Tie · 09-29-2009, 02:40 AM

Rotating bitmaps... don't feel bad, they are the problem, not you. IMO its just not a good way of doing things, but if you've got to do it (and you do...) then you're looking for ways to minimise the nastiness. Tips:

Rotate as little as possible : on the sends this is difficult to achieve, but on the param knobs you can put the vast majority of your knob as a static image on the param background; if its not getting rotated then its not getting spoilt. Then just rotate a pointer image over it. If possible, extend the pointer over the edge of the knob, and then colour so that the overshoot is hidden because it matches the colour surrounding the static knob.
Get big : make the rotating image really, really big. 400% size or more. Reaper will interpolate the size down as well as interpolating the rotation. You're trading sharpness for smoothness, so you might also try making the edges of your pointer have a pixel of 50% opacity colour. Its all about forcing the interpolation algo to draw lots of mid-way pixels to kill those nasty jaggies.
Don't obsess : The way Reaper does this puts perfection beyond our reach. At some point you just have to declare your solution as good as its going to get.

Unox · 09-29-2009, 03:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adXok

What about the fonts. Will they be included (as free) and do we have to put them in X:\Windows\Fonts so they appear properly in Reaper?

It's a free font, 'LCD'. It'll be included. The other one is 'small fonts', think it comes with WinXP. On my machine anyway.

Quote:

Anyway, Unox you are incredible. Are you some kind of graphic designer or web designer... if no you better try.

I'm an arranger.

Unox · 09-29-2009, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by White Tie

[*]Get big : make the rotating image really, really big. 400% size or more. Reaper will interpolate the size down as well as interpolating the rotation. You're trading sharpness for smoothness, so you might also try making the edges of your pointer have a pixel of 50% opacity colour. Its all about forcing the interpolation algo to draw lots of mid-way pixels to kill those nasty jaggies.

Thanks WT! Maybe I'll give the colorwheelbackground another try, was a fun idea.

el-russo · 09-29-2009, 07:05 AM

Hi,
I have an idea regarding the image of waveforms in audio clips.I'm not sure if it's possible to implement, but still, if it's led works we're talking about wouldn't it then be logical if the waveforms were colored like liquid led glowing with different intensity depending on the track's volume? It could even be mirrored by VU meters in the mixer and TCP as well, that is with the same colors as usual, but with different brightness of the glow.

This theme is so reminiscent of "Alien 3" to me! Still love the movie and the design aesthetics.

Unox · 09-29-2009, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by el-russo

Hi,
I have an idea regarding the image of waveforms in audio clips.I'm not sure if it's possible to implement, but still, if it's led works we're talking about wouldn't it then be logical if the waveforms were colored like liquid led glowing with different intensity depending on the track's volume? It could even be mirrored by VU meters in the mixer and TCP as well, that is with the same colors as usual, but with different brightness of the glow.

This theme is so reminiscent of "Alien 3" to me! Still love the movie and the design aesthetics.

<drool>... Alas.

Would put a big strain on the cpu also, all the waveformpixels will have to be recalculated on the fly while zooming in/out..

Reaper needs to store its waveformdata in the memory of the GPU. The GPU can handle this sort of calculation with so much ease... And it just sits there waiting until some DAWdev implements it. Doing nothing. Maybe look a little sad. All this enormous processingpower and the CPU gets the screencalculations.

That's just not fair.

strunkdts · 09-29-2009, 07:36 AM

Unox, this is looking so good.....but (sorry)

the transport icons look thin and wimpy with the new hot digital fonts. (dont u think?) the digital fonts are cool as, but i think theyre now taking something away from the transport bar.

Just giving a fresh artists eye on things.

all else is awseome, looking forward to its release.

peace

pixeltarian · 09-29-2009, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strunkdts

Unox, this is looking so good.....but (sorry)

the transport icons look thin and wimpy with the new hot digital fonts. (dont u think?) the digital fonts are cool as, but i think theyre now taking something away from the transport bar.

Just giving a fresh artists eye on things.

all else is awseome, looking forward to its release.

peace

abcdefghijk

no.

kindafishy · 09-29-2009, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strunkdts

Unox, this is looking so good.....but (sorry)

the transport icons look thin and wimpy with the new hot digital fonts. (dont u think?) the digital fonts are cool as, but i think theyre now taking something away from the transport bar.

Just giving a fresh artists eye on things.

all else is awseome, looking forward to its release.

peace

I disagree.

Unox · 09-29-2009, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strunkdts

Unox, this is looking so good.....but (sorry)

the transport icons look thin and wimpy with the new hot digital fonts. (dont u think?) the digital fonts are cool as, but i think theyre now taking something away from the transport bar.

Just giving a fresh artists eye on things.

all else is awseome, looking forward to its release.

peace

Well, I have these lying around...

[img]http://img268.**************/img268/4281/historyv.jpg[/img]

Studer J37. The one the Beatles used. In Abbey Road. I just wanna see them in front of me. And work. Recording while pressing the same button as they did...

But the whole theme is growing with each new addition. Everytime I change something, other stuff has to be changed a bit to make it whole again (or to avoid compromise). Anyways, there will be a folder in the theme with all the stuff I've done away with for the final version.

Unox · 09-29-2009, 09:55 AM

This is just for fun:

[IMG]http://img32.**************/img32/3738/podtrack.jpg[/IMG]

Go to Line 6, DL bigass pressphoto of POD XT rack, copy a little piece of the top, pink it to preserve bling, rename it as tcp_folderbg and save it as PNG in your Reaper themefolder.

Walla. PODfolder. That's all there is to theming.

EvilDragon · 09-29-2009, 10:30 AM

I'm loving the texture of it, rather than the color.

So, can you tint it with the usual Reaper commands to different color? I'm sure you can, because the background texture would be a shame to toss away!

Unox · 09-29-2009, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilDragon

I'm loving the texture of it, rather than the color.

So, can you tint it with the usual Reaper commands to different color? I'm sure you can, because the background texture would be a shame to toss away!

Don't think Reaper can color it, once there's a picture Reaper leaves it alone. I use Gimp to change stuff like colors. Gonna try that -I like the POD, although it blasts at your eyes- together with the rackears to line up the tracks that are nested in the folder.

birdlanguage · 09-29-2009, 01:22 PM

I tried to make a Studer Button. It's 24x24 pixels for the transport so it gets pretty small. See if you like it.

Unox · 09-29-2009, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by birdlanguage

I tried to make a Studer Button. It's 24x24 pixels for the transport so it gets pretty small. See if you like it.

Thanks! ...the real thing with those is to get them glowing and pressed.. That's quite a puzzle. Nice!

Choose for a simple folder solution. I tried 19" rackears and they looked funny, though busy, got cluttered when nesting folders. Solution: Leds. Green one on the topleft side for "I'm a foldertrack", red one on the bottomleft for the last track. Nested tracks just get more leds.

[IMG]http://img33.**************/img33/5829/followtheled.jpg[/IMG]

Ok, now Beatlebuttons.

carbon · 09-29-2009, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unox

Don't think Reaper can color it, once there's a picture Reaper leaves it alone.

Sure can:
Preferences > Appearance > Tint track panel backgrounds

Gadd23 · 09-30-2009, 07:53 AM

Hi Unox, amazing theme, one of the best for sure.
Im trying to reproduce the Yamaha 01X Control Surface, this is exactly what I need to do it:

I have more questions in the future.
EDIT: In the Mixer too....

Bye and thanks

Unox · 09-30-2009, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gadd23

Hi Unox, amazing theme, one of the best for sure.
Im trying to reproduce the Yamaha 01X Control Surface, this is exactly what I need to do it:

I have more questions in the future.
EDIT: In the Mixer too....

Bye and thanks

mcp_namebg.png and tcp_namebg.png. They're in your themesfolder. If they aren't, pick a theme from the stash with a name background, open the folder and look for the .png's. Open it, look how large it is and where the pink lines are. And copy that.

Have fun! ...I sure do...

Jae.Thomas · 09-30-2009, 08:53 AM

got an alpha yet?