Supacon
I'm a little floored with just how much work it takes to design a new skin, and was trying to come up with ideas as to how the process could be simplified and automated a bit.
I was thinking that I could write a program that could simplify lot of things and integrate the XML creation (control layout) into some kind of easy partially automated graphical process...
Perhaps I could even create a skin metalanguage that could be parsed by a perl script that would generate actual XML files...
So instead of actually coding all the XML, one could write a more programatic version of the skin, and then a program would parse it.
Some benefits of this would be the following:
-You could create zones for the skin, and move them as entire regions without having to reposition every single element.
-You could have the code automatically fill in the values for your down and active versions of the skin elements (providing that you use a fairly obvious method of laying this out in the graphics)
-You could have the deck 2 controls mirror the deck 1 controls without actually manually entering in their values.
-You could have one file that would generate multiple output files for skins like my VideoVision that are available in multiple sizes (especially multiple heights, unless VirtualDJ starts allowing vertical resizing of the browser area). Everytime you make a change, all versions of the skin get updated.
Perhaps I could also integrate functionality that resizes skin elements like the skin resizer that already exists... although perhaps that's a little much.
Any comments on this? Who would be interested in a program like this? It sounds like a pretty cool idea to me!
I was thinking that I could write a program that could simplify lot of things and integrate the XML creation (control layout) into some kind of easy partially automated graphical process...
Perhaps I could even create a skin metalanguage that could be parsed by a perl script that would generate actual XML files...
So instead of actually coding all the XML, one could write a more programatic version of the skin, and then a program would parse it.
Some benefits of this would be the following:
-You could create zones for the skin, and move them as entire regions without having to reposition every single element.
-You could have the code automatically fill in the values for your down and active versions of the skin elements (providing that you use a fairly obvious method of laying this out in the graphics)
-You could have the deck 2 controls mirror the deck 1 controls without actually manually entering in their values.
-You could have one file that would generate multiple output files for skins like my VideoVision that are available in multiple sizes (especially multiple heights, unless VirtualDJ starts allowing vertical resizing of the browser area). Everytime you make a change, all versions of the skin get updated.
Perhaps I could also integrate functionality that resizes skin elements like the skin resizer that already exists... although perhaps that's a little much.
Any comments on this? Who would be interested in a program like this? It sounds like a pretty cool idea to me!
geposted Mon 14 Jul 08 @ 7:52 pm
tayla
if you could apply those to a programme and at the same time make it as user friendly as possible they will still be singing songs about you in a hundred years.... now sod off and i don't want to see you around here no more until it's completed
geposted Mon 14 Jul 08 @ 9:03 pm
JeremK
I've already started working on a similar program. :-)
geposted Tue 15 Jul 08 @ 1:41 am
DJ Mad Maxx
May the best man (programmer) win. :)
geposted Tue 15 Jul 08 @ 2:01 am
tayla
i'm writing the words to the song right now lads
don't forget guys make it idiot proof please, i would like to use it... lol
don't forget guys make it idiot proof please, i would like to use it... lol
geposted Tue 15 Jul 08 @ 3:02 am
jimmy b
tayla wrote :
don't forget guys make it idiot proof please, i would like to use it... lol
Like me and Tayla, loooooooooooooool.
geposted Tue 15 Jul 08 @ 6:29 am
listen2
I believe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Dreamweaver would help a lot on the XML, although i have never tried it. The rest is just graphics.
geposted Tue 15 Jul 08 @ 10:00 am
Supacon
Yeah, it is "just" graphics, but the graphics part is fairly, complicated, repetitive, and demands a lot of precision too. I really wanted to come up with some kind of a system, program or technique that could simplify that part. So instead of making five buttons, you could make one and the program would automatically apply any changes to that first button to all others like it, and all states of it.
I suppose some of this kind of thing could be done with Photoshop actions... not exactly what I had in mind though.
I suppose some of this kind of thing could be done with Photoshop actions... not exactly what I had in mind though.
geposted Tue 15 Jul 08 @ 11:54 am