[kwyjiboy]

It breaks my heart to see an almost flawless guiKIT with the simplest of things unchanged: The wait animation and the finder gripper indent.

Nothing stands out worse than leaving the default wait animation or a sloppy variation on it, except perhaps leaving that little gripper that divides brushed metal Finder windows from the favourites folder list on the left. It's as bad, to me, as leaving Aqua elements in a theme.

Please customize these! For an example, take a look at the little milk droplet in Max's Milk theme. It's a nice touch.

[mac15]

It sucks to see the normal Async arrows amongst a normal theme but they're a bastard to skin. Why? because thinking of an animation to suit the theme is really hard. Look at the one in classix. It sucks (its a DD rip, Joe knows ) but there not much that would watch the theme

And the Pane Spliters (grippers ) they're easy to do, I don't know people miss them

[phillryu]

My favorite circle chasers are definitely Aluminum Alloy and Milk... talk to Max for inspiration I suppose. Though I remember he had a hard time trying to come up with one for Mercury.

[wibs]

I'm with you kwyj, but mac15 is right. Coming up with something that fits into a small space, is original, and fits the theme for the async arrows (the circular loading thing) isn't easy. In fact, I'd say it's the hardest part to design. With other elements you have a little more room to play around and expirement, but with a 24 frame animation any changes you make won't be instantaneous (unless someone has found a way to import 24 images into TP really quickly), and if you don't like the result odds are you need more than just a pixel moved here or there.

But enough execuses. It sucks when Apple elements make it into themes. I have a couple of ideas for the next version of ProLCD, but nothing definite yet. Max pretty much always sets the standard for the async arrows, and I always feel like such a failure when I can't come up with anything as good =-\.

As for the pane splitter, I agree again. The only reason they're Apple default in ProLCD is the mockup was designed to look that way.

...wow, I sound like such a narcissist. Gotta stop talking about my own stuff.

[MacDog]

I'll add something to that short list...

I HATE IT when themes alter the Apple menu icon. There's just something reassuring, comfortable and familiar about the Apple in the top left corner of my screen, and I can't stand when it's turned into the letter "K", some funky symbol that means nothing to anyone but the author or some other form or shape.

It's the one thing I wish themers would NEVER change!

[kwyjiboy]

Originally posted by wibs:
I always feel like such a failure when I can't come up with anything as good =-\.

As for the pane splitter, I agree again. The only reason they're Apple default in ProLCD is the mockup was designed to look that way.

...wow, I sound like such a narcissist. Gotta stop talking about my own stuff.

Aww. Someone needs a hug.

[idle]

Originally posted by MacDog:
I'll add something to that short list...

I HATE IT when themes alter the Apple menu icon. There's just something reassuring, comfortable and familiar about the Apple in the top left corner of my screen, and I can't stand when it's turned into the letter "K", some funky symbol that means nothing to anyone but the author or some other form or shape.

It's the one thing I wish themers would NEVER change!

well, i humbly disagree. some themes just look more consistent if everything is changed and that includes the apple logo. still, incorporating a "graphite" variant for all apple purists/zealots is a nice thing to do (or otherwise they'll kill you... lol)

regards. [ idle. ]

[Dace]

Max didn't set the standard...Izawa did. I love his AlumiteX async arrows variation. It's simple, yet beautiful and it works. Izawa pioneered a lot of stuff. He was the first to theme the arrows

[Jaey]

Originally posted by MacDog:
I'll add something to that short list...

I HATE IT when themes alter the Apple menu icon. There's just something reassuring, comfortable and familiar about the Apple in the top left corner of my screen, and I can't stand when it's turned into the letter "K", some funky symbol that means nothing to anyone but the author or some other form or shape.

It's the one thing I wish themers would NEVER change!

I don't mind when it's changed, as long as it's an apple. Changing colors is fine with me.

[Frisbee]

I personally don't mind it at all when the async arrows and gripper aren't themed. They aren't really aqua specific... they don't have any blue shinyness. And they go well with any theme out there (although it helps to invert/tint them in dark themes..)

This thread is making me feel sub-par because don't plan to theme these elements drastically, if I theme them at all.

[kwyjiboy]

Originally posted by Frisbee:
I personally don't mind it at all when the async arrows and gripper aren't themed. They aren't really aqua specific... they don't have any blue shinyness. And they go well with any theme out there (although it helps to invert/tint them in dark themes..)

This thread is making me feel sub-par because don't plan to theme these elements drastically, if I theme them at all.

Any element leftover from Aqua is an Aqua element. If you didn't make it, it's not skinned. Changing the colour is cheap and not what I'm referring to. It takes zero effort to do the Finder gripper -- that alone should never be left unskinned. I also don't see what the big deal about the animation is. I've created animations with many frames in the past for other apps. Photoshop actions are invaluable, but so is a little effort in thinking up something that matches your theme. If you have a vision big enough to generate a theme out of, what's the problem in extending that vision to a living, animated expression? It should be an opportunity to wow people, a finishing touch, and it looks bad when it's just skipped, unceremoniously.

I really do fit let down when they are ignored or done cheaply.

[Frisbee]

But if it looks just fine, why change it?

[kwyjiboy]

Originally posted by Frisbee:
But if it looks just fine, why change it?

It doesn't look fine to me. You could always submit your theme to the Aqua mods section at Resexellence.

[JoE950]

i modified all those elements for [fear]platinum 2. (and they damn kick ass!) but really, you are getting a little too emotional about it.. girls should break your heart, not osx themes.. get your priorities strait man, and your sexual preference. last time i checked intimate relations werent included on the checklist for new ss features..

[Frisbee]

OK.... So I did a new, original gripper, and the async arrows. I wouldn't go so far as to call them good, but they're good enough. And wibs, the asyncs are 12 frames, not 24. The second 12 are the inactive/disabled/background state or whatever.

[kwyjiboy]

Originally posted by Frisbee:
OK.... So I did a new, original gripper, and the async arrows. I wouldn't go so far as to call them good, but they're good enough. And wibs, the asyncs are 12 frames, not 24. The second 12 are the inactive/disabled/background state or whatever.

Screenshot?

[kwyjiboy]

Originally posted by JoE950:
.. girls should break your heart, not osx themes.. get your priorities strait man, and your sexual preference.

Eh, not if you knew me.

[wibs]

Originally posted by Frisbee:
wibs, the asyncs are 12 frames, not 24. The second 12 are the inactive/disabled/background state or whatever.

haha, really? damn, good to know. Thanks!

[Frisbee]

I'm not planning on releasing any screenshots until I release it. A few people have gotten betas, and since I'm not exactly a wallpaper god, I'll see if anyone is interested in helping me out there.

[mrtew]

I intentionally left those two elements and maybe a few others alone in my theme as an indication that they were about the only parts of Aqua that I felt looked fine. Don't fix what ain't broke. I like them. And I totally agree that the Apple should stay an Apple.