[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by NetworkShadow:
So what kinda of time frame are we looking at for the tweaking of SS and release of Omega?

All I can say is almost definitely pre-Xmas. Hey, Black Christmas - that gives me an idea...

[quandarry]

[swiz]

Originally posted by quandarry:

Hey quandarry, are you M Stoton or did you just happen to use "right behind you!" like he used to?

[NetworkShadow]

Originally posted by bbxstudio:
All I can say is almost definitely pre-Xmas. Hey, Black Christmas - that gives me an idea...

Hmm the "TuX update" is also set for pre-Xmas... 2 black themes at once, might be too much to handle. Should make all the dark theme fans happy, I know I will be!

[christianclark]

Originally posted by NetworkShadow:
Hmm the "TuX update" is also set for pre-Xmas... 2 black themes at once, might be too much to handle. Should make all the dark theme fans happy, I know I will be!

I just waiting for BBX Omega.

Has Unsanity get in touch with Takashi Izawa about Shinobi upgrade to ShapeShifter?

Christian

[codywalton]

Originally posted by christianclark:
I just waiting for BBX Omega.

Has Unsanity get in touch with Takashi Izawa about Shinobi upgrade to ShapeShifter?

Christian

Shinobi allready works with shapeshifter.

[Tulkas]

Originally posted by swiz:
Hey quandarry, are you M Stoton or did you just happen to use "right behind you!" like he used to?

I am NOT him.

[fireside]

Originally posted by bbxstudio:
All I can say is almost definitely pre-Xmas. Hey, Black Christmas - that gives me an idea...

iii'm dreaamming of a blaaack christmas, like the ones i never knew.

[TheDisaster]

I hope by the time Omega comes out the new version of SS will work on my machine.

[Drifter]

BBX, looks nice. I've been paying attention for awhile now, and it looks great. It's kind of like the Matrix: the black reminds me of the machine world, and if you do a white version (please!) it would look like the Zion Control. Y'know. Where the people were in white suits with those holograms in Reloaded.

I've decided, if you want, to help you do other misc stuff.
Like bezels. I made a set for Aluminum Alloy a week ago. If you gave me a color scheme or showed me what you wanted to look like, I could do it. I tried to keep the look the same for the Aqua and AA ones. Changed gradients and stuff.
And I thought about this a week or two ago. It's not really enough to just switch the vore system icons: locations, clippings, Finder, etc.
Why not change the whole app icons too? You'd keep it within Aqua guidlines, but you could change the colors and the icons to make it more consistant. It just looks weird seeing a G5 http location icon next to a white iTunes mp3.

I could alos fool around with some DPs. My own DP is a modified Sucy DP (peterjsucy.com). It has little cutouts for iCan, DragThing, Drop Drawers, etc. They look pretty nice too. I tried my damn best to get the cut outs. I could also make some ones completly consistent with BBX.
Whatever I can do to help.

Oh, mod these Konfabulator widgets: iTunes Remote, Volume knob, battery, clock. Those are a few. Also thing about an iPulse skin.

There are so many things you could do with it. If you want me to help just say so.

[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by Drifter:
I've decided, if you want, to help you do other misc stuff.
Like bezels. I made a set for Aluminum Alloy a week ago. If you gave me a color scheme or showed me what you wanted to look like, I could do it.There are so many things you could do with it. If you want me to help just say so.

Hmmm... what do you mean by bezels?

Anyways, to clear things up, this is how Omega (and all BBX kits from here on in) is going to work...

First off, I release the kit (v.1.0) which includes the following 'official components'...

a. themes
b. essential icons
c. iTunes remote (and skin if possible)
d. Safari skin
e. desktops
f. alert sounds

but it also includes the 'construction kit' which consists of...

g. layered icon templates in PSD format with all effects (glows/masks/etc.) live
h. layered control graphics (all states) in PSD format
i. instructions (for embedding LEDs in icons using the layers provided) and guidlelines (for control LED states and some insight on maintaining the overall look and feel)
j. offical logos/logotype in various sizes/configurations

This way, if users like the kit they'll help push it over the edge into something big and will have actually contributed to the overall design in a very real way. If they hate it, I didn't waste too much time.

I'm doing it this way because...

1. I get the kit out faster
2. It allows users to participate and have fun 'fleshing out' the design
3. It will give really talented/prolific contributers a chance to shine (with full credit to each individual contribution)
4. future/potential themers get a feel for how I go about these things and maybe they can put this insight to good use in producing their own unique designs

Contributers send me their creations and I post them on the Omega site alongside the 'official assets' as 'user contributions'... eventually (assuming all goes well) there will be a large library of stuff for Omega-fying your machine. Don't forget, there will also be a ton of XP kids creating stuff (some of which can be used on the Mac) as well.

So I appreciate the offer - but it would probably be best if you waited until I had all of the official assets together so you can go gung-ho using the provided guidelines and construction elements so that everything is uber-consistent. Send me some links to the stuff you've created though, if I see an area where I know I could use you to help create launch elements I'll let you know.

[Drifter]

Damn. Bezels are those little graphics that come up when you increase the volume, dim the computer, eject, etc.

Well then, I'll work as hard as I can to replace as many of those damn aqua icons as I can. I have back-ups of every app icon on my machine.
The only problem is what the icon (like the iTunes icon on the document) and the font would be. I thought the icon font was myriad. Dosn't look like it. Anyone know?
If you change your mind I'm ready and willing.

Do this: Release it December 17 at midnight. That way when I get back from LotR movie(I saw the other 2 at midnight, same for this one) I'll be able to work in PS the night away.

But I'm glad you're going to be so extensive on this. This will really set the standard for themes. Maybe you and Max should team up and make another kick ass theme.
Or do you want to eliminate competition

[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by Drifter:
Damn. Bezels are those little graphics that come up when you increase the volume, dim the computer, eject, etc.

Send me a link. Better yet, write me an email with the details (what files need to be replaced, whether or not color can be used, etc). I may have you skin those for me... with details I'll talk with Smeger and see if they can be incorporated into the SS theme template maybe [email protected]

Originally posted by Drifter:
Well then, I'll work as hard as I can to replace as many of those damn aqua icons as I can. I have back-ups of every app icon on my machine.

Hmmm... maybe I should consider having you whip thru the app icons then. I just need to come up with the template for apps (it lives in my head already tho).

Originally posted by Drifter:
Or do you want to eliminate competition

No way - I need them to keep people happy (and off my back) in the 6 month stretches between my own releases

[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by TheDisaster:
I hope by the time Omega comes out the new version of SS will work on my machine.

It will probably coincide with a point-release, and Smeger's really good about working thru any problems before he incorporates new features. I myself have never had a problem with SS or APE across 4 different machines :/ For me it's been rock-solid from early beta.

[Drifter]

Well here's the problem. I don't have net access at my house. We just moved in and my mom's lazy even after repeated reminders. I'm on my uncle's PC in Philadelphia. I'll try to do as much work with you on doing this as I can, get the files off the AlBook in my dad's office, and work on them as much as I can. I haven't been in school for over a week. I was suspended for no reason. Beside the point..

(System/Library/LoginnPlugins/BezelUI/Resources)
I think that's the location.
With Panther, there's one for the G5 lid. They all geneally have odd names, but take a look through. My own are brushed metal. I just can't figure out how to change them. When I get back, I'll try to change permissions to see if my Aluminum Alloy ones work. They're not part of a theme. You have to do it seperatley. There's a chance you could make them into a package to install. Might be wrong.
I'm pretty sure that you can use color. The size is like 211x206.

If I get a chance anytime soon, I'll post what my AA ones look like.
All you need to tell me is what colors, techniques, and the like are used. I'm a PS noob. But I can do alot of work with transparancies and that stuff. Just send anything to [email protected] that would be useful. I'll be on AIM tomorrow as much as I can.

As far as the icons, I have made a few myself. They're not drastic changes, but they generally get rid of the whole Aqua white look.

The only major problem is the icon on the document itself. What would an iTunes icon look like in BBX Omega? I'm not that good, nor do I have any experience with vector apps or even PS lines and objects.
You'd have to have someone else make those.
But one I changed my Roxio Toast 5 icons, I churned them out in less than a minute and thirty a pop in PS, including exporting with IconBuilder. Your choice is the font, the app icon, and the document icon. With that I could probablt do a few dozen, depending on the amount of app icons.
Hell, if you wanted to be really whippy, I'm sure you or I could whip up a package or an AppleScript for this stuff.

When I get back to my iMac (this damn HP WinME is murdering me) I'll see what else in the app directories I could mod. Ever thought about changing interface resources? Some apps can do that.

Lol. It looks like they're on your back BBX. And will be even after this.

Oh yeah, here's the bezel link.

[Edit] Here's a really useless idea I just thought up. What about a background image or color for icon view in the Finder, instead of white? It would have to be big, like in 20,000 or 30,000 pixels. I'm going to go back to my little unobtrusive corner.


[Edit][Edit] If you want to know, here are a few apps that I have icons for that aren't Apple freebies: Keynote, Toast 6, Final Cut Pro 4 and Express, Shake, DVD Studio, Soundtrack, Developer Tools, AppleScript, many, many shareware icons, Photoshop, Macromedia Suite, InDesign, Illustrator, AfterEffets, Roxio Jam, ImageReady, Quicktime Pro, Cinema 4D, Pro Logic. There are a few others, but those are alot of common apps. Just a little tidbit if you want me to do that many.

Don't forget the Utility Icons or Developer ones. Alot of the Dev. need real icon updates. What about a white icon template. All that black might me a little too much to handle.

Hey! What about a Keynote theme.

Hell, I could start up an icon replacement service...
And if I knew RealBasic, that'd be possible...

Fifth Edit! What about Boot up and start up screens? See if those can be put into SS. And I might be able to make those.

[Drifter]

Here are some ideas:
1. A screen saver. BBX images in a folder with an extension. Make them really high res, too.

2. A color specifically picked for highlights. Something that looks and works well with the theme.

3.A keynote theme. Speaks for itself.

4. A background color or picture for icon view. No logos, just a color or gradient to use in icon view. It has to be as big as possible.

5.Redone icons for the Developer Tools so they don't look like System 7 resolution.

6. Redone icons for every app possible. From the App icon to the documents.

7.Redone elements in apps so they look mroe consistant.

8. An iTunes skin

9. Alot of widget skins.

10. Omega textures for use in apps like DragThing and Photoshop.

11. Important elements in .psd with transparencies. Stuff like LEDs that could be used as parts of DPs and stuff to give it a consistant look. Example: A bolt from Aluminum Alloy is lined up across my DP
12. Dock skins.

13. Desktops that have cut outs and wells like Sucy DPs. Those are hella handy.

14. And iPulse skin. That thing on the teaser should work nicely.

15. iContainers for CandyBar and Pixadex.

16. Photoshop goodies like instructions on how to make Omega stuff.
Tecniques. Like how to make that light thing on those folder icons in the teaser. Stuff like that. You know what I'm talking about.

17. A font. Original or the one you use in logos and stuff.

18. Effects. Don't make them space-like thought. Make them sort of industrial since it's a tech theme.

19. Maybe an iTunes playlist?

20. Packages or AppleScripts to install elements like these.

21. Anything else to use in Photoshop, like textures, colors used in the theme, patterns, that stuff.

22. Photoshop Actions to do stuff!

23. Smilies for iChat. You can change those right?

24. iChat sounds for log in and stuff.

25. A skin for Calculator if possible. Even the LCD part change would be nice.

26. An open mind about a moded version of themes like Max does.

27. A place to submit mods or suppliments or stuff of that nature.

28. Icons that aren't completly system related. Maybe you could get IF to make you some futuristic icons like robots and stuff.

29. DPs in many sizes, like 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1920x1200, 1024x768, etc.

30. Release it soon.

[mrtew]

Originally posted by Drifter:
Here are some ideas:...... 30. Release it soon.

I like the last idea the most. The other 29 seem to be designed to steer BBX the opposite direction though. It sounds like you've got a LOT of extra energy. Have you thought of designing your own theme? You sound like someone who could really get into it.

[MorphOSX]

MrTew: I agree.

Drifter: some of your thoughts are interesting, some of them are odd, but i can say that you would most deffinitely make a good themer with the energy you exert towards wanting to improve things. =)

BBX, as with any themer, i think, enjoys having feedback to his work and thoughts on how the themes look. And in some cases, they enjoy feedback as to how they can improve a theme during an update phase for their next major release. However, I think everyone can agree at this point that BBX's vision of Omega is purely his own, and until he's unveiled his brainchild to the rest of us, all we can do is wait, speculate, and watch.

I have no idea what he has up his sleeve, but with the winds that are blowing about it, it's more than likely going to blow our socks off.

As far as submitting mods and icons, I think the idea is interesting, and perhaps, within the scope of reasonable changes, somewhere like ResExcellence would be a good choice to discuss hosting such submitable changes. The problem I see with that is that some themers prefer to be asked before people mod their themes, etc, so it would have to be something that the themers themselves had a hand in, even if only to be around to approve mods to their themes, etc.

I look forward to seeing BBX's theme, and hopefully after he's over the hump of getting the theme out the door, He'll have more time to sit down and look at some of the suggestions for mods and/or future features to include as Omega evolves from the 1.0 mark, and we'll ALL have an easier time adding our own icons and desktop pictures once the real thing is in our hands to play with.

Just my few pennies.

Dave

[iNeusch]

Originally posted by mrtew:
I like the last idea the most.

Yeah

[Drifter]

I was just thinking of some stuff.
Most of it were miniscule stuff. Hell, half was crap.

I can't theme. I am almost in the dark when it comes to lighting, effects, shapes, graidents, and whatnot.
I might do that stuff every once in awhile, but I'm not really good at it. I couldn't come up with something like the LEDs. Plus, BBX has models. Well, I don't.
I'm just a lifeless kid with nothing better to do.
If it weren't for those goddamn buttons, I'd make a mod of AA so the gradients match and stuff. Make it a little lighter.

Yeah. I'm getting tired of this PC. No spell checker. No google bar. No Photoshop. No .Mac. And the text is so small.

But that "I'd make a good themer" thing was pretty funny if I do say so myself.
I just want to bring some consistancy to the UI outside of the theme.

There probably won't be much else to improve with Omega. But I think I have an idea of what it'll look like.

Since Xmas is looking to be pretty shitty (my mom's a ****ing waitress), it looks like there won't be much new to do. Well, besides basic Photoshop stuff.

[Mike S.]

Originally posted by Drifter:
Yeah. I'm getting tired of this PC. No spell checker. No google bar. No Photoshop. No .Mac. And the text is so small.

Diverting from the thread here:

You can download a nice Google Bar here and Windows will let you make the fonts as big as you want through the display properties.

You can access your iDisk through Windows and I don't see why you couldn't log into the .Mac web site if you spoofed a Mac browser string. It's all web based so it isn't doing anything special.

Photoshop is just a question of ethics...

[bbxstudio]

Minor update - I'm currently collaborating with Brian Pink on the coolest iTunes remote module ever - for use with Omega of course. It will be driven by Konfabulator, with as many wicked LED effects as we can possibly pull off... depending on how fast that goes, we may create some additional modules for launch as well. Too cool

[Drifter]

Can you please post a WIP pic if you have one? Or anything? I won't have the net for a week.

Don't forget about the bezel thing. Just email me whatever files I'll need, and wether the original bezels(the actual part, not the background) should be changed.

[fireside]

make sure its very unobtrusive bbx. and fast. wicked fast. and awesome looking. but most importantly, unobtrusive.

[d4nth3m4n]

from what ive heard over the course of the last 400+ replies and 9 pages, obtrusive may just be the word for this- omega sounds like its going to be some serious eye candy- to the point that i might spend all day looking at the blinky lights on the itunes konfab remote. whenever (ahem) this theme hits, it will most likely be pretty cool, but after all, my P.O.S. comp will still be 3 years old and barely capable of running panter. and the hard drive will still be almost full, and just about every complaint i have with the thing will be all contained under this nice, complete omega overlay. this theme/gui will not cure cancer, it will just make you look at something slightly different while you surf the macnn forums.

[fireside]

erm no poster above me with lame name. if you know bbx at all, he is all about unobtrusive konfab crap. he hates big things that stick out on your desktop just as much as the rest of us, if not more.

i just hope he makes a super slick minimalistic theme.

[cloudaj]

well i think the point he was making was that if theres big flashing leds then thats kinda obtrusive, but either way dashes your hopes of minimalism

[pup]

The waiting is KILLING me! LOL

[Drifter]

Every week I wait, another irreplacable infant limb is digested.
They taste especially good 16 miles up. Nice and crunchy like a snowcone.


BBX, keep it like the shape of the egg iTunes remote.

[NetworkShadow]

Originally posted by bbxstudio:
Minor update - I'm currently collaborating with Brian Pink on the coolest iTunes remote module ever - for use with Omega of course. It will be driven by Konfabulator, with as many wicked LED effects as we can possibly pull off... depending on how fast that goes, we may create some additional modules for launch as well. Too cool

Sounds good to me, but that's $30 I don't have right now for konfab... too bad you couldn't get someone to make a standalone application.

[Drifter]

What is kon anyway? I know it runs java stuff, but doesn't it involve XML or something?
That'd be a bitch to replacate.

[cloudaj]

$20 for ShapeShifter, $15 for CandyBar, another $30 for konfabulator...OS customization on OSX is EXPENSIVE

You should talk with the SS devs and get iTunes theming working, I prefer to stay in iTunes either way without running konfabulator (tried it with trial and wasnt a big fan).

[NetworkShadow]

Originally posted by cloudaj:
$20 for ShapeShifter, $15 for CandyBar, another $30 for konfabulator...OS customization on OSX is EXPENSIVE

You should talk with the SS devs and get iTunes theming working, I prefer to stay in iTunes either way without running konfabulator (tried it with trial and wasnt a big fan).

We've been over iTunes themeing before, it's very limited and hard to do.
I think a themeable standalone iTunes remote would be the coolest. Sofa is quite nice, but needs to be more themeable. http://sofa.ouvaton.org/

[cloudaj]

well i wasnt sure if any "doors has been unlocked" with the ShapeShifter theming methods.

[NetworkShadow]

Originally posted by cloudaj:
well i wasnt sure if any "doors has been unlocked" with the ShapeShifter theming methods.

We can hope...

[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by cloudaj:
You should talk with the SS devs and get iTunes theming working, I prefer to stay in iTunes either way without running konfabulator (tried it with trial and wasnt a big fan).

We're really going to push the envelope with this Konfab widget - it will be a (near) full-funtion remote with freeform LED-driven seek/volume sliders and transport controls, embedded custom display font, a jumpt-to-iTunes function and (the coolest part assuming we can get it to work) the ability to control another copy of iTunes over the network. I've looked at other iTunes remote possibilities but this is indeed the only way to have a completely free-form custom-skinned remote that totally sings with the rest of the Omega goodies. It's a bonus goody - if you want to use it you'll have to use Konfabulator, but of course nobody's forcing you to (and I would be open to an Audion port but it's not something I'm interested in doing myself). I may develop an actual iTunes skin IF I can actually use color for the bevel graphics as opposed to grayscale (Omega has an 8% saturation for a deeper black).

[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by cloudaj:
$20 for ShapeShifter, $15 for CandyBar, another $30 for konfabulator...OS customization on OSX is EXPENSIVE

It costs money to develop software unfortunately. This sort of thing has always been driven by shareware, the current situation in OSX is no different than it's ever been.

[cloudaj]

i guess i can sample it with the trial for konfabulator, im just mad that you people keep putting out all this awesome stuff and depleting the funds in my wallet

[ender2002]

Originally posted by cloudaj:
i guess i can sample it with the trial for konfabulator, im just mad that you people keep putting out all this awesome stuff and depleting the funds in my wallet

there are alternatives

but thats an entirely different ballgame.

[NetworkShadow]

Originally posted by bbxstudio:
It costs money to develop software unfortunately. This sort of thing has always been driven by shareware, the current situation in OSX is no different than it's ever been.

Oh well I had been wanting to buy konfab for a long time now, I guess this is the excuse I was waiting for. I'll buy it with some Xmas cash.

[Hi I'm Mike]

Originally posted by NetworkShadow:
Oh well I had been wanting to buy konfab for a long time now, I guess this is the excuse I was waiting for. I'll buy it with some Xmas cash.

cool buy all these programs for me too.. or since we are one buisness can we use all the same serials for the programs since we are working together on one project? hmmm..

[NetworkShadow]

Originally posted by Hi I'm Mike:
cool buy all these programs for me too.. or since we are one buisness can we use all the same serials for the programs since we are working together on one project? hmmm..

Maybe.

[MetalSnake]

Originally posted by bbxstudio:
It costs money to develop software unfortunately. This sort of thing has always been driven by shareware, the current situation in OSX is no different than it's ever been.

In Mac OS <=9 you needed only Kaleidoscope now you need ShapeShifter, Mighty Mouse, CandyBar, that�s much more expensive

[Drifter]

Damnit Omega! The one time I'm on, you don't reply to the whole bezel icon thing. Email me any files I need, like LEDs, what you want them to look like, the pattern, how to make effects if needed, etc. Be quick.

[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by Drifter:
Damnit Omega! The one time I'm on, you don't reply to the whole bezel icon thing. Email me any files I need, like LEDs, what you want them to look like, the pattern, how to make effects if needed, etc. Be quick.

Thanks again for the offer Drifter, but I think it'll go faster if I do all of the launch items myself as opposed to having to walk somebody through the design and effects, etc. There will still be a ton of stuff to skin once the kit and included templates/construction elements come out - I'd save your energy until then

[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by MetalSnake:
In Mac OS <=9 you needed only Kaleidoscope now you need ShapeShifter, Mighty Mouse, CandyBar, that�s much more expensive

I can foresee a day when all of this will converge under a single application in OSX

[Mike S.]

Originally posted by bbxstudio:
I can foresee a day when all of this will converge under a single application in OSX

When you say "foresee" is that you taking a prophetic guess or you saying, "I know something that you don't."?

[bbxstudio]

Originally posted by Mike S.:
When you say "foresee" is that you taking a prophetic guess or you saying, "I know something that you don't."?

Well if I did know something you didn't I couldn't just come right out and say it now could I? Not that I know anything you don't.

[eFX]

I was just browsing for some MP3 players, and found this beuty.





It so real looking it almost feels like a mobile phone.

http://www.panic.com/audion/faces.php?p=4

Page 3 with the slick BBX Mercury player!

Ive Never seen that before but imagine what Omega will looks like. I just hope bbx could perhaps make a Audion player

[NetworkShadow]

Audion sucks except for the skins. It can't play AAC and I hate it's winamp like playlists. Importing my whole iTunes Libary would be a HUGE pain too even if it did play AAC. I'm kinda sorry I bought the thing.
Don't waist the time of poting a skin to Audion unless they come out with Audion 4.