Quinto Black CT - New Winamp Modern skin

[PeterK.]

... Worst case, I'll just have to adjust to what is available ...

Dry your tears Aminifu, I will add a 7-sec-option to the context menu. OK?

[Aminifu]

Ok, thanx.

[PeterK.]

I am implementing a feature which I know from the skin called Ebonite and which gives the user the ability to set the Notifier (notification window) deeper or higher on the desktop. Unlike the technique used in this particular skin which provides a separate window for that option I added this feature to Notifier's context menu:



You may choose a value between 0 and 80 pixel. The chosen option will add pixel to the y-parameter of the Notifier. So you may have it 80 pixel deeper (seen from the top edge of your desktop) or higher (in case you set bottom_center as location).

There is no translation for the string "Y-Offset" but I think you will get the idea pretty fast.

So now we have a fully equipped Notifier menu including:

Location
Fade In Effect
Fade Out Effect
Time
Y-Offset

Anything else while I am at it?

[Aminifu]

...
Anything else while I am at it?

It appears you have covered everything notifier related.

I have the Ebonite v2.0 skin in my collection. It has the notifier options on both a separate configuration window and in the main context menu's Options sub-menu. The time option is not included, but the times I've set for my other modern skins are maintained. Each Y-Offset also moves the X starting positions more to the right (or left) on my computer. I assume your implementation will just affect the Y coordinate.

[PeterK.]

... I assume your implementation will just affect the Y coordinate...

No!



Now this is fun!

In the beginning, while adding the Y Offset to Notifier's context menu I refused even to think about the X Offset because the endless repetition of if()...else() lines might have caused a small chaos for two different cases. (X and Y coordinates).

In the end the implementation of this technique turned out surprisingly easy compared to Y Offset which "demanded" a bunch of if()...else() queries.

As for now all offset values are shown properly and I hope it will stay that way.

A screenshot of the notification window after setting both X and Y offset to 0:



And another one after changing both offsets to 80 (pixel):

[ariszlo]

A customizer's dream! Why are you hiding the "Show Now Playing Artwork" option from the menu?

[PeterK.]

... Why are you hiding the "Show Now Playing Artwork" option from the menu?

And what does this option actually do? I see no "visual effects" while runing Bento/Pimeer/STUDY and having this option checked.

[ariszlo]

If it is checked then the cover art embedded in the mp3 file is shown. If it is unchecked then it isn't.

[PeterK.]

If it is checked then the cover art embedded in the mp3 file is shown. If it is unchecked then it isn't.

Thank you for pointing it out. Here it is!

[PeterK.]

All of you who use Quinto on a regular basis will know there is button on the Equalizer-Drawer which gives the ability to switch between three different colors of the side-panels. I used the same technique for a new Notifier option but this time via context menu and not by hitting a button:





It is obvious that some of us prefer dark wallpapers on their desktops while others like bright colors. In order to give all of you a notification window which is "visible" on every desktop I created an option which, once clicked, switches between a dark and light Notifier background:





Having done this I would like to draw a line here and call this update finished. The remaining days till the end of the month I would like to use for some testing and code-cleaning. In the beginning of May a new Quinto Black CT version (1.2) should be online.

[PeterK.]

A short note:

I added (yet another) feature to Notifier's context menu called SIZE which allows to switch between STANDARD and HIGH-RESOLUTION size of the notification window. On a standard display the difference in size would be like on the following screenshot:

[PeterK.]

Hello again!

Shortly after the release of version 1.2 and I am already working on a new feature! This is nuts - but makes so much fun!

This new feature has been "around" for a while in some skins (mostly vintage ones) but will be a new, re-written and re-designed Plug-In in Quinto's coming version 1.3.

VU Meter is the new "kid" in my skin. There are some meters which were implemented in skins but which never gave me the impression of a halfway "real working and looking" meter. I needed a more realistic mechanism which would satisfy my senses and work properly. Therefore I kept searching.

Today I am very happy to announce that I found THAT thing.

It is a VU Meter Plug-In which I could not download because it is stored on a not active server but I was lucky to have found a skin with that particular script. It is called "WMP11 BlueVU".

The VU Meter Plug-In was made by entrase whom I neither could find in the members list nor got a reply after sending him a message. I hope he does not mind.

Currently I am altering the script file to fit into my skin and must admit that things are looking good. Also the first draft of the Plug-In bitmap is already finished and would look like this in the OFF-STATE (introduced in my very first Quinto version):



And another screenshot of the same Main Player and VU Meter while playing a file:



After clicking on one of those MENU buttons a menu will pop up showing:

• Rise Speed (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• Falloff Speed (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
• Sensitivity (1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2.0)
• Mode (Exponential, Hybrid (exp+linear), Linear, Hybrid (log+linear), Logarithmic)

I am convinced that those options will satisfy all your needs.

The button in the left bottom corner is a mock-up/fake button for now. I could image to add an option to it later. (Maybe ON/OFF?). I also will think about changing the background of the scale according to chosen COLOR THEME.

From now on the new feature definitely needs some polishing and testing. So stay tuned!

[Aminifu]

Hi PeterK.,

Nice idea. I have an old plug-in for dual VU meters for classic skins. It is true that most of these kind of meters for Winamp are not very accurate. However it is cool to have an active visual indication to let you know when the channels volume balance is not equal.

While they're not VU meters, the spectrum analyzers on the Now Playing view of Victhor's Komodo skin (http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=382601) are the only ones I've ever seen that appear to accurately represent the different stereo responses coming from the right and left channels. Any chance of adding stereo spectrum analyzers like these?

[PeterK.]

Any chance of adding stereo spectrum analyzers like these?

From the top of my head I would say these are just two visualizers which do not "accurately represent the different stereo responses coming from the right and left channels" because there is only one visualizer in Winamp. I jut made a screenshot while playing a file and see exactly the same "values" on both sides with one difference: these two visualizers are (double) mirrored.

I really hope I am not saying anything silly here - we could also ask Victor. But as far as I know you can have different stereo responses only while using VU meters - either as two bars like on Quinto's MainPlayer or in a separate container window using needles. Making such feature requires namely the use of two commands:

getLeftVuMeter() and getRightVuMeter()

Adding a visualizer (also called "Visualization") means just adding these simple lines, which automatically display it wherever you wish:

<vis
      x="355" y="47" w="126" h="34"
      id="player.vis.id"
      colorallbands="130,130,130"
      peaks="0"
/> 

As you see: no left or right.

[PeterK.]

On this following screenshot you can clearly see the difference between the left and the right channel: