MediaPortal II gets opensource xaml skinengine - Page 3

bedlam · 2008-01-08, 07:10

How about a replacement for BitmapEffects (like dropshadow, outer glow, bevel)? In WPF you can only write unmanaged bitmapeffects (perhaps for good reason). But it would be awesome if this could be done in managed code in the mediaportal implementation!

But perhaps the performance hit would be to great, In WPF one would refrain from using them until absolutely necessary.a

frodo · 2008-01-08, 13:13

thats not planned atm

m0deth · 2008-01-08, 16:44

Thanks!

Ok, maybe you guys have thought of this....but can you take a lesson from the game devs....and leverage DirectX shaders?

Here's the idea.....some of the neater "sparkly" effects most GUIs use can be done in hardware on the GPU, even shader model 2 effects could be run nicely on cards as low as fx5700's or like ati's. This sort of thing might help in rendering effects on low cpu machines with video cards users generally pick to handle video for MP.
Things like Transparency Blending, Lightmapping, Ripple effects, and raster+vector animation could lend to skins that look like theater curtains opening with full 3d effects for example. The ideas would be widely varied from the skin artists once you give them the right tools you know? I'm sure they can think of better ideas for these uses than myself, but you get the idea I hope, it could set MPII apart from every other app. out there in this genre, make it modular, so that end users can choose which features to enable based on system makeup and that would open up so many possibilities.

Just an idea, thanks for the reply
sorry if the ideas are broken....I see things in my mind working and then have to translate into words....sometimes it works =]

m0deth

frodo · 2008-01-08, 20:47

Well the wpf engine we build already makes heavy use of shader 2.0 models to do as much work as possible
and it does support transparency blending and raster/vector animation already

SiLenTYL · 2008-01-13, 13:12

would it be possible to have vista aero-style animated backgrounds with ur skin engine?

that would be cool

tourettes · 2008-01-13, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiLenTYL

would it be possible to have vista aero-style animated backgrounds with ur skin engine?

that would be cool

If you look closely the MPII technology preview that was released in last December you see that it was already possible then

mikael · 2008-01-13, 14:49

You can do really cool stuff with the new xaml skin engine... in fact, nearly all you can think about in an application UI way. Combine Vista, Mac and your favorite application... and just let your ideas flow

Darre · 2008-01-13, 16:06

Will MP2 be supplied with a good tool to make skins? The one that comes with mp1 doesn't work, but even if it did I'd still prefer to use text editors as it isn't very intuitive. I'm really looking forward to see how this will turn out! Is Harley the only one working on skins/design in MP2? If not what are you doing mikael? If you guys test the abilities of the skin engine in mp2, feel free to post videos of cool stuff

Thx guys for making mp even cooler =)

mikael · 2008-01-13, 16:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darre

Will MP2 be supplied with a good tool to make skins? The one that comes with mp1 doesn't work, but even if it did I'd still prefer to use text editors as it isn't very intuitive.

Yes of course, just search on the web for "XAML editor" and you'll find a lot of them. One good example is Microsoft Expression Blend

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darre

Is Harley the only one working on skins/design in MP2?

Nope, Harley got some other dudes that's also helping doing the design work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darre

If not what are you doing mikael?

I'm one of the dudes

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darre

If you guys test the abilities of the skin engine in mp2, feel free to post videos of cool stuff

Nothing is finished, you'll have to use Infinity until a working version of the xaml skin is done. Right now it's nothing to display. I'm sure you'll know when a new version, and if so, a new design is released. Feel free to post us some ideas!

frodo · 2008-01-13, 17:36

you might wanna read this:
http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/Med...rtal2/Skinning

especially the xaml design tools section

Frodo

2008-01-08, 16:44	#23 (permalink)
m0deth Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Age: 40 Posts: 71 Thanks: 9 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts Country: My System	Thanks! Ok, maybe you guys have thought of this....but can you take a lesson from the game devs....and leverage DirectX shaders? Here's the idea.....some of the neater "sparkly" effects most GUIs use can be done in hardware on the GPU, even shader model 2 effects could be run nicely on cards as low as fx5700's or like ati's. This sort of thing might help in rendering effects on low cpu machines with video cards users generally pick to handle video for MP. Things like Transparency Blending, Lightmapping, Ripple effects, and raster+vector animation could lend to skins that look like theater curtains opening with full 3d effects for example. The ideas would be widely varied from the skin artists once you give them the right tools you know? I'm sure they can think of better ideas for these uses than myself, but you get the idea I hope, it could set MPII apart from every other app. out there in this genre, make it modular, so that end users can choose which features to enable based on system makeup and that would open up so many possibilities. Just an idea, thanks for the reply sorry if the ideas are broken....I see things in my mind working and then have to translate into words....sometimes it works =] m0deth __________________ "an object at rest...cannot be stopped!"

2008-01-13, 13:12	#25 (permalink)
SiLenTYL Portal Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 318 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	would it be possible to have vista aero-style animated backgrounds with ur skin engine? that would be cool __________________ My HTPC : * Zalman HD135 HTPC Case (Black), Core2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4 Ghz, 8600GT 512MB Silent, 2GB Corsair DDR2 1066Mhz RAM, Pioneer BDC-S02 (Blu-Ray reader, DVD-Burner), FireDTV DVB-T * MY CODECS - http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/sh...3&postcount=17

2008-01-13, 14:49	#27 (permalink)
mikael Portal Designer Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Age: 23 Posts: 468 Thanks: 68 Thanked 53 Times in 28 Posts	You can do really cool stuff with the new xaml skin engine... in fact, nearly all you can think about in an application UI way. Combine Vista, Mac and your favorite application... and just let your ideas flow __________________ Skin: SimpleMP Beta 4

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2008-01-08, 07:10	#21 (permalink)
bedlam Portal Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 74 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	How about a replacement for BitmapEffects (like dropshadow, outer glow, bevel)? In WPF you can only write unmanaged bitmapeffects (perhaps for good reason). But it would be awesome if this could be done in managed code in the mediaportal implementation! But perhaps the performance hit would be to great, In WPF one would refrain from using them until absolutely necessary.a

2008-01-08, 13:13	#22 (permalink)
frodo Portal Developer Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: The Netherlands Age: 36 Posts: 1,515 Thanks: 3 Thanked 119 Times in 44 Posts Country: My System	thats not planned atm

2008-01-08, 20:47	#24 (permalink)
frodo Portal Developer Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: The Netherlands Age: 36 Posts: 1,515 Thanks: 3 Thanked 119 Times in 44 Posts Country: My System	Well the wpf engine we build already makes heavy use of shader 2.0 models to do as much work as possible and it does support transparency blending and raster/vector animation already

2008-01-13, 16:06	#28 (permalink)
Darre Portal Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Age: 23 Posts: 578 Thanks: 47 Thanked 35 Times in 28 Posts Country:	Will MP2 be supplied with a good tool to make skins? The one that comes with mp1 doesn't work, but even if it did I'd still prefer to use text editors as it isn't very intuitive. I'm really looking forward to see how this will turn out! Is Harley the only one working on skins/design in MP2? If not what are you doing mikael? If you guys test the abilities of the skin engine in mp2, feel free to post videos of cool stuff Thx guys for making mp even cooler =)

2008-01-13, 17:36	#30 (permalink)
frodo Portal Developer Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: The Netherlands Age: 36 Posts: 1,515 Thanks: 3 Thanked 119 Times in 44 Posts Country: My System	you might wanna read this: http://wiki.team-mediaportal.com/Med...rtal2/Skinning especially the xaml design tools section Frodo