The ORB skin contest

[StillWater]

Originally posted by simon snowflake
(might even contact the webmaster at www.theorb.com)

You all should!

Originally posted by Jellby
It's me or are you all skinning the same picture???

Chad, e-raser and Simon used the art from the Orblivion album, but dekt, as far as I know, will use the Little Fluffy Clouds art, while Dimichan has incorporated art from 4 or so different albums.

Originally posted by Dimichan
roughed in about 2/3 of mine, still working on a lot of it but here's what I've got so far (not same pic )

That's looking sweet!

[simon snowflake]

rebuild

[e-raser]

good to see its comming along,
keep it up,

[dimichan]

well, round one complete, I'm not real thrilled with the framework but just not up to changing it all around tonight
orb attempt
screenshot attached

[StillWater]

Originally posted by dimichan
well, round one complete, I'm not real thrilled with the framework but just not up to changing it all around tonight
orb attempt
screenshot attached

It's coming along nicely. Sorry, a lot of the following comments are 'negative' - but that doesn't mean that overall I don't like the skin


Some nitpicking:

-I can hardly make out what many of the PL stacks do. A lot of the symbols seem unclear and/or vague to me.

-The little arrow on the balance bar isn't actually 'clickable' - you have to click above it to get the balance to work

-the left part of the titlebar on the PL shifts when changed from active to inactive

-the "add" PL stack 'eats' a little bit of grey from the PL border.

-at the moment, the easter egg has a black line at the top

-the MB buttons look a little messy

As I said, overall, I like it - especially the VOL/BAL, Shuf/Rep, EQ bars and MBinner.

[dimichan]

started polishing a bit, thinking of shading behind the PL stack pressed labels to make them a bit clearer, those are ALWAYS a problem, even doing the text by hand -_-

Not knowing much about the group is making for being stumped in the titlebar easter egg

Updated screenshot... though I've made some really slight changes since (but barely noticeable ones)

[simon snowflake]

ok I'm out, cant finish it in time, way to bussy at the office to skin instead of work.
And i've gotta go to my parents this weekend cause my brother is officially opening his buissnes.

but here is a picture of what i made sofar:

[ripe]

dimichan:
Nice work! I like the combination of the heavy outer frame with the soft misty interior. I like the colour too.

A couple of tings:
I think it needs some texture on the inner highlights of the window frames (eg the white areas that have the cbutton labels). IMO those parts are too smooth at the moment, they need to look like they are made from the same material as the outer frame.
Also, I think the url display on the MB needs some love and attention. It looks like it is floating on top, not really connected to the rest.

Other than that, I think it's a cool skin

[dimichan]

Hehe - thanks! I was having trouble thinking of what to do for the MB display, *might* have an idea though... The inner parts, not quite sure how I can work texturing in and leave the labels legible, I'll have to see if I can come up with something... and in the meantime, I uploaded the zip file here; and for that matter, considering I only use that webspace for pic hosting and file hosting and their renewal prices went way up without my knowledge, anyone who wants or needs files hosted for download can email them to me in zip format (homestead doesn't accept wsz) and I'll host 'em, especially for betas and bugtests, including WA3 since I have 100 megs of space mostly sitting unused. Too big for email, contact me and I'll give temp access to my ftp

[dimichan]

Added slight texture and modified the MB area a bit (zip file also updated)

[ripe]

yep, i think it looks much better now

[not in santiago]

With an extension on the due date, I was motivated to tackle my skin again. Currently, I'm in skinner stage #15: overwhelming contempt for my creation.

I am NOT entering this in the contest (because I probably won't be able to finish it on time and, um, because it sucks!) However, I'd like some critiques along general lines (because it's only half done and there are a lot of things missing).

I am profoundly frustrated with this skin because I've had to compromise over and over to the point where there's nothing left but a big pile of boring. I wanted an underwater feel, but is the blur annoying? I have no idea what to do with the main window.

If all else fails, this has been a good test of my discipline and self-determination. (Not to say I've passed . . .) Sorry if I sound cranky. I really need sleep!

<-- (me yawning)

P.S. - Dimichan: I really like the green marble and skewed text of your skin!

[dimichan]

Thanks guys ^_^

Hey, don't give up yet NIS, I like what I see so far, it's different! (Different = good)

[StillWater]

Originally posted by not in santiago
With an extension on the due date, I was motivated to tackle my skin again. Currently, I'm in skinner stage #15: overwhelming contempt for my creation.....

Wow, that's really cool! (Your constant self-deprecation can be very misleading sometimes )
some thoughts and suggestions:
-perhaps join the starry sky with the sea, instead of having that white area there?
-the water is cool, but yes, maybe it is a little too blurry. That's probably not necessary, so maybe make it all a bit sharper (though perhaps not as sharp as it is in the shufrep)
-I know your usual skinning speed , but I do hope you complete it and enter it in the contest. I think it would make some more very worthy competition.

[not in santiago]

Perhaps join the starry sky with the sea, instead of having that white area there?

The white bar is a direct mimic of the album cover, but I'll try it without and see what looks better.

I'm afraid to reconsider the whole blurry element as it's kind of the ill-conceived "gimmick". All buttons in the off position are/will be blurry. I thought it would look cool, but I think it's going to send people off to their optometrist instead.

I think I need to think about thinking.

[dekt]

Don't worry not in santiago, your skin is good and my half-arsed attempt is here to make it look even better by comparison.

What can I say about my efforts? Not much except I was trying to make it quite functional. I succeeded actually, but it's also as dull as dishwater. Sorry about that ¤db¤ (but at least I got your name right this time ). I think I needed a better plan to begin with. I had a phase last year when I could do loads in the computer as I went along but I've obviously got that out my system now! Need to sketch more - back to the drawing board, as they say.

Any suggestions for spicing it up (apart from bevelling) are welcome. Here goes..

[Tac-Man]

well it looks like it needs more detail. all the stuff is just kinda floatin there, and the background could use maybe a little lightening up. Cool Cbuttons . And it looks pretty decent.

Not like my half finished awful Orb skin.

[dekt]

Thanks, cbuttons seem to be my (only) speciality. I was trying to use the lines to hold the skin together, maybe they will when there's more there, I dunno. Just realised where I (subconciously) stole the lines thing from - Star Wars! That solves what font to use anyway.

[not in santiago]

Hey! Self-criticism is my specialty. Stop stealing my schtick, people!

Dekt, this is just the first thought that popped into my head, but if you need ideas for the rest of the skin, maybe keep with the cloud theme. Perhaps add more layers of clouds here and there (your own cumulonimbic shots with some solarizing and/or colouring effects) and blend them into the existing skin. Play with opacities and soft shapes.

| |
- - - -
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(I hope the "illustration" works out). [Okay. It didn't, but you know what I mean, right?] As simple as they are, I like the above shapes on the album cover. Perhaps you could incorporate them into some button ideas?

I think keeping the grey is important as it lends to the ironic "dingy" feel of the album cover. However, it may "dull" the skin somewhat - perhaps some additional, bolder colours are in order? (I'd hate to say "brighter" as it would really change it's atmosphere. I think by "bolder" I mean "more substantial.")

At least it's not blurry . . . .

[simon snowflake]

i really like the c-buttons dekt

[StillWater]

Originally posted by dekt
I was trying to use the lines to hold the skin together, maybe they will when there's more there...

I totally agree. The cbuttons are so simple but so very stylish
Everything's floating around a bit, as Tac-Man said, but as you say, some careful building upon the current foreground elements should fix that up.
That black bar for the text and numbers works suprisingly well - but as it is now, the vis area will look a bit crappy when a song is playing.
I hope you can incorporate the c-button style into other components, cos it's

[dekt]

Originally posted by ¤db¤
That black bar for the text and numbers works suprisingly well - but as it is now, the vis area will look a bit crappy when a song is playing.

I realised that but, since I'd already moved the star left so the vertical line in the lower spike lines up with the edge of the clutterbar, I thought I'd just leave it.

Thanks for all your comments folks, much appreciated. I think the inspiration for the cbuttons may have come from Standard Grade Physics at school! Someone who's done electronics may recognise the 'AND' and 'NOT' gates (switches) from electrical notation (I figure Dr Alex Patterson would approve ). I'll probably try and work out the components with the lines theme then come back and try to add a bit of detail at the end. Sorry for nicking your persona not in santiago - I thought self-deprecation was a Scottish trait anyway?

_|_
. | . Crosshairs? Check the main and EQ close buttons (it's hard to see but they're half there). I do have a thing about keeping true to the style of whatever I'm working from but I've already used a bit of licence to reposition/scrub some clouds so I probably will play around a bit more.

I'll post my progress in a few hours. Cheers, D

[dekt]

Went round in circles a bit but may have solved the vis problem (if you can even see the blue frame I've added). Figured it was easiest to tie all the lower main controls together but not so sure about doing that for vol/bal/window buttons?

Just realised I need 4 circles not 3 for the shuffle to work, damn. Oh well, next revision...

[flatmatt]

I'm enjoying your skin quite a bit, dekt. The cbuttons have very unique, interesting shapes, and the EQ, though not quite as original, fits well with the cbuttons and main window. It's nice.

[dimichan]

Yeah, I like it, Love the colors and the cbuttons are cool, and the rest preserves the feel instead of being invasive - definitely want to see this!

[e-raser]

good to see some action finnaly in this thread.
so when does the voting begin?

[StillWater]

dekt: It's looking good, man The EQ, simple as it is, looks great. The only thing which kind of irks me is that - for me - those three circles just seem to be too close to the eject button. It just seems visually cramped there now.

[dekt]

Here's the latest. Didn't have as much time to spend on it tonight but the main's almost there now. Sorted the shuffle and did a simple balance, etc.

Have to say I'm pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback (:cue end of +ve feedback?! ). I thought most folk liked flashier skins. I've been trying all along not to put in anything flashy which could distract from the controls. Apart from that all I'm really doing is applying a grid to neighbouring areas. Lining things up is the easiest way to get visual harmony (meant to say that to you ¤db¤ about your Aphex skin). My approach is definitely more tortoise than hare but I'd better shift my arse tomorrow cos I won't be able to do much on Friday!

[not in santiago]

Hey db, when you say the skins are due September 14th, do you mean 12:01 a.m. September 14th, or 11:59 p.m. September 14th? And according to what time zone? (Man, I feel like I'm back in school!)

I ask because I sliced my thumb open at work and haven't been able to grip anything, much less a mouse, over the past couple of days. I miiiiight be able to get my skin done on Saturday, if I have all day, but even then I don't know.

I'm not worrying about it a huge deal because I'm still not sure whether I want to officially enter it, but I'd kind of like to. At the very least, it would give me incentive to FINISH it and MOVE ON.

What's the word?

[StillWater]

Originally posted by not in santiago
Hey db, when you say the skins are due September 14th, do you mean 12:01 a.m. September 14th, or 11:59 p.m. September 14th? And according to what time zone? (Man, I feel like I'm back in school!

Well, I really do hope that you enter it in the contest. If you need an extra day or two then that shouldn't be a problem, just let me know before the 14th if you do.

[dekt]

¤db¤: would it be okay to ask for Saturday afternoon to finish this bloody thing off? I doubt I'll get any time on it tomorrow so could I get a wee bit extra and have it for you to see on Sunday? Sorry e-raser, I'm just deliberately stringing things out really!

I'm never that great at estimating time but I honestly forgot how much time you spend fiddling about with a skin. It had been about a year's gap from my last one to this. It's like riding a bike though...

Latest update (to keep you all enthralled I included the shuffle/repeat states in this ss! Not even a bit enthralled? Oh well...):

[not in santiago]

¤db¤: would it be okay to ask for Saturday afternoon to finish this bloody thing off? I doubt I'll get any time on it tomorrow so could I get a wee bit extra and have it for you to see on Sunday?

I second the motion! (Er, humbly make the same request.) This has been The Week From Hell for me. All I need is one day. The results won't be pretty, but . . . hmmm. I can't even think of a good excuse.

- "sleepless (not) in santiago"

[StillWater]

dekt and not in santiago : Sure. Sunday it is.



by the way, looking good, dekt

[StillWater]

Originally posted by dimichan
Not knowing much about the group is making for being stumped in the titlebar easter egg

Hmmm, well I don't know. The only thing I can think of for an easter egg is this: There is an Orb song ("White River Junction" from the Orbvs Terrarvm album) which actually has a kind of Easter egg in it: During some sections, there is a woman's voice repeatedly saying "Listen to the radio....Listen to the radio...". But the voice is ingeniously put in there, in such a way that it is very hard to pick it up - but once you know that it's there, it's really obvious. It took me many listens before I discovered it, and I've played the song to quite a few people and asked them if they can hear the voice - and no one ever can. Of course, once I point out what to listen for, they can hear it - because it's quite loud and clear, only it's 'camouflaged' by other sounds. So if you knew this song and this woman's voice, using the skin and then seeing "Listen to the Radio" in the easter egg would be kind of funny, I guess. Just an idea, though

[dimichan]

Just the kind of thing I was looking for, thanks! ^_^

[dekt]

damn file size limit! sadly this is not finished article but"so near but yet so far"draft-only thing in case I actually do get to sleeo but don't wake up till monday (i can dream exxcept i cant cos ....ahhhhhhhhh).

anyway sorry i cant meet a deadline to save my life (you wouldn't think I ever managed this at work but ido , honest) Blame parents for making me drive them to airport at 3.30am Sat?(now 6am Sunday? - i had friends round and couldn't focus before that to nail this thing).Anyway my rough (no MB, no WVS, no mikro/mbinner) is at the following...
address (zip file)

I'll have another go at finishing it later (assuming i can see and think straoght or otherweise). fuck spelling things right by the way, well just now anyway. ramble ramble.......... sorry

bah, just gneerally bah.

[StillWater]

I like it a lot. Extremely functional while still remaining stylish and creative. A lot of nice little touches such as making the mono and stereo indicators an extension of the blue bar and filling in the "o" on both ends of "on auto" a la the sliders. My only aesthetic criticism is that I'm not overly fond of the bright purple background on the PL. Otherwise, it's very cool.

Some notes:

-The Easter Egg titlebar is a pixel off the normal one. I hope you include an easter egg (If you can't think of one, I'm sure a quote from the woman in the song would be good)

-I have an idea for a balance easter egg. It is just an idea, so please ditch it if you don't like it. It was hard to explain, so I drew it. If you use it, you'll probably want to improve the letters a bit, as I did them pretty quickly. The easter egg appears only at 86% left (accessible only using the balance slider on the EQ-windowshade). See attachment.

-The playlist stacks are great, but why does the "select" stack have a vertical line and the others don't? And the "list" stack isn't done, but you probably know that.

-Maybe you should make the top part of the stacks match the background colour of the pledit.txt area.

-When the EQ sliders are at the very top, they eat into the top of the grey frame.

-seeing as how so many of the components are drawn with thick grey lines, would "Arial Bold" be better in the playlist? I haven't tried it, so it might very well look crap.

-There are no buttons in the PL windowshade.

-I hope you make some cursors. I'm sure even just a standard triangular cursor with a thick grey outline and filled with blue like your sliders would look great.

[e-raser]

its alright with me if u guys drag this thing out to the end of the world....i'm now in a film school and soon going to be making my own music videos anyway....
not that i don't want to win and make a video with ¤db¤...
by the way, ¤db¤, have you any links to videos that you have made. i'd love to see what you do.

[StillWater]

Originally posted by e-raser
its alright with me if u guys drag this thing out to the end of the world....i'm now in a film school and soon going to be making my own music videos anyway....
not that i don't want to win and make a video with ¤db¤...
by the way, ¤db¤, have you any links to videos that you have made. i'd love to see what you do.

That's great news about the film school . But never forget that you will ultimately learn more about what you need to know through making your own films, and not just through film school. If you don't own your own DV camera yet, make it the next thing to save up for and buy.

Someone already asked to see my films. Unfortunately, I don't have any means to make them available. (uncompressed, they are usually over a gig, and they are still huge when compressed). Hopefully I will be able to do it somehow sometime soon.

[e-raser]

well curently i'm working with both digital video and 16/35 mm film stock. i'll probable get my own camera in my 2nd or 3rd year. i'v got 4 years to compleat the program so i'm going nowhere fast.