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Release Andromeda 1.x for Kodi 17.x Krypton - Printable Version

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RE: Andromeda - realjohngalt - 2017-05-02

Awesomely clean and aesthetically pleasing skin. A small note: Some users with limited remotes have the select button set to show info, which on many skins allows pressing select twice to play, or once to view info.

I don't believe pressing to the left for play from the info screen is very intuitive since this is the only skin I've used that disrupts this flow. I think a small play button as the default "cursor" location would make sense on the info page just to keep the flow that many have become accustomed to.

Considering this is the only suggestion I was able to come up with, congrats and awesome work!

RE: Andromeda - Tgxcorporation - 2017-05-03

The latest revision should fix your issue with Info Dialogs. A new system for left menu has been implemented:

Image

Tgx

RE: Andromeda - eskro - 2017-05-03

ok, i really like the skin, simple, effective, elegant, im using it!
that being said, there's some stuff bugging me a bit Smile
so these are my 22 findings / recommendations.


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[01] Is it possible to allow the submenu items to have their own widgets?
would be the 1st skin to have that correct me if i'm wrong
and would definitely set your skin apart from others!
also, it would speed up the widget loading time which
i dunno why but it's real slow with this skin.
Faster in other skins like Phenomenal, Nox Silvo and so on :/
So having submenu items load their own widget would help alot
because only one widget needs to load at a time on screen
instead of having like 5 different movie widgets loading each time.
I'm really digging this feature hope you make this possible Smile

[02] Talking about widgets,
is it possible to also boost up the allowed widgets from 5 to 10 at least?
I'm missing needed widgets on my build and i'm sure other users would like this too.

[03] The custom color theme feature,
could you allow us to choose 2 different colors?
example, i really want to have the FONTS in RED but have the backdrop overlay in BLACK.
and overall would be a nice addition to your skin to allow further customization to users!

[04] I know your in the works for the fonts,
so far, i'm having a hard time with the current one, hard to read stuff most of the time
and depending on the backdrop we use, can be even harder...
i think the font is really too small...
I'm not a pro on fonts but i'm pretty sure you'll figure out something!
like when your browsing your movie library,
maybe have a sort of backdrop overlay with desired transparency on the highlighted item.
example only http://i.imgur.com/R2TzFQM.jpg
that's easy to read this way and easier to visually see the highlighted item.
And isn't this font good looking https://i.imgur.com/0ZdGerw.png ??

[05] Talking about highlighting,
specially on the home screen, when navigating widgets,
i see the selected item appears lighter then the other on the widget but,
i strongly think it's not enough...
Have at least a little graphic thing on posters to further distinguish the highlighted item
example like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDslBCZ9usc
skip video to 2min56sec
See the green graphic on the widget Smile
Helps alot and is pretty.

[06] Might as-well add,
just like the video again https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDslBCZ9usc
is it possible to have the Fanart backdrop appear on the highlighted item?
Many skins have that when cycling widget items Smile

[07] Dunno if i'm the only one but the spinning disc art is always empty. i always get a silver spinning disc.
if i switch to Penomenal skin, disc art shows at least a fake disc art so not empty anymore.
if i switch to Titan skin, real disc art appears and if not found, titan will at leat show fake disc art.
but still shows something.
So i disable this feature in Andromeda until it's better implemented.
Because it looks akward if no art is on spinning disc Tongue

[08] Add a setting for Global Background.
I know there's kinda one, but it's not acting like a real default global background.
I want to be able to just use 1 background image and use that for every section.
So far Live TV has its own backdrop, pictures and so on...
Would be faster then having to edit each one 1 by 1...
Set a Global backdrop and the rest is history.
And why not like some skins, since most users will replace the backdrops probably,
make your skin backdrop less by default, that's my suggestion Tongue

[09] To appeal to even a wider audience,
an option to switch the home menu from horizontal to vertical would be awesome!

[10] I see from your post that you've tweek'd the INFO screen,
i'll try it out when i'm done writing this post if update is pushed to the repo,
but we need a trailer button as it's missing.
how to watch trailers?

[11] Make possible to hit the INFO (i) button
on home screen widgets. this is a Must!
How to watch the trailer from widgets on home screen
if we can't make the INFO screen appear?
This would definitely set your skin apart from others again!!

[12] And at the same time,
just like in titan skin, have a setting to have the Extended Info Script addon
appear when pressing the INFO (i) button on a movie or tv show.

[13] Add a way to show the movie and tv show logos
either on home screen if possible and in different viewtypes.
example like in titan skin again https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HudE58DKnek

[14] Could you add in your 1st post the different viewtypes numbers for the views?
that's a valuable information to have and hard to dig :/

[15] I know it's an initial release and more views are coming,
but some current views aren't really intuitive...
I think we need a good Thumbnail view like in confluence skin http://up414.siz.co.il/up3/yld02wzlozuj.png

[16] And don't be afraid to make movie posters bigger in your views,
example, the size of the posters on the widgets is awesome!
Show it off!

[17] Also in OSD (i) when movie is playing,
Poster way too small in my opinion...

[18] Dunno if it's only me but,
the episode thumbs don't appear on screen. tried different views but no go...
like this here http://i68.tinypic.com/1zo9evl.png ...
So far it only displays poster art no matter what...

[19] Oh and, in the customize home menu,
when adding let's say a movie widget,
At the end it asks to input a widget name,
but if you miss typed,
then There's no way to edit just the widget name
without having to redo the whole shortcut again just to change the name.
Possible to have that feature?

[20] Add a way to re-order not just submenu items
but also the home screen widgets.
I sometimes feel the need to re-order things but right now,
Its too much work because i need to delete widgets and
recreate them again just to get proper order.
Unless till you implement that each submenu item can have their own widget Wink
Then i wouldn't use main menu item widgets!!

[21] Same as in post #39 http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=311074&pid=2578057#pid2578057
I agree, cursor behavior currently is a bit weird.
We need to be able to press up on on the top item
to have the cursor go straight to last item listed at bottom.

[22] About the info that appears
when cycling through movies or tv shows
located complete right of the movie or tv show poster (video quality, audio and stuff..)
i suggest allowing us to hide those infos in viewtypes.
but still keep them in OSD when media is playing!

--------------------------------------------------


Well, that sums it up for now Smile
Hope you'll find this post constructive
and have you tweak Andromeda even more to make it THE BEST SKIN EVER Smile

If you could please, let us know what you think about those 22 findings / recommendations!!

THANKS!!! Smile

RE: Andromeda - Tgxcorporation - 2017-05-04

Thanks for your suggestions. Here are my thoughts:

  1. Widgets for submenu items - Not possible until the skin.shortcuts addon supports it.
  2. At least 10 Widgets per item. Too many widgets would slow down the home menu.
  3. Custom color for highlighted item vs theme color -> Added to my todo list
  4. The latest skin revision also supports a thicker font: OpenSans Regular. Try it. You can also customize the transparency of the background overlay in skin settings if you have trouble.
  5. Highlighting. There's already a line for focused items. You can also use a different color theme so that the focused item has a different color from the unfocused items.
  6. Fanart in widget thumbnail -> Added to my todo list
  7. Fake cdart. I'm my other skins, i'd already experimented with fake cd art. I do not like it. If you want to use cdart, use the artwork downloader and fill all the missing cdart images.
  8. Global background. I do not agree. However i'll keep it in mind.
  9. Vertical Home. It's already in my todo list.
  10. Trailer button. Should already be there. If the kodi library has the trailer, the button shows up in the info dialog.
  11. Info on widgets. If I press "i" it works.
  12. Extended info. It's in the context menu and in the Video dialog info. I'm not going to replace the standard info dialog with it.
  13. Logos. If you like minimalism and clearness... that's not the right way!
  14. View IDs in the 1st post. Done
  15. Thumbnail view -> Added to my todo list
  16. Poster size -> I think poster size is already big enough in every page!
  17. Small Osd Poster -> I know, but i cannot cover half of the screen only for a poster!
  18. Episode thumbs -> Working fine here. Post a screenshot.
  19. Widget rename -> The skin.shortcuts addon does not support it.
  20. Widget reorder -> The skin.shortcuts addon does not support it.
  21. Up on the first list item -> Up is needed to show the page header and the topbar. I'm not going to change it. You can use the right scroller the make quick jumps or use a key to go the end of the list.
  22. Disable Codec info -> Added to my todo list

Thanks

Tgx

RE: Andromeda - eskro - 2017-05-05

Hi TGX, thanks for taking time to answer Smile
I'm passionate about your skin Tongue


5. I use theme named INDIGO and see minimal difference on focused items compared to unfocused items..
Maybe when you'll implement the background overlay to be colored differently from the text it'll help.
And as for homemenu widget, the focused one is a little brighter then unfocused ones but minimal difference.
Maybe make focused widget even brighter or if impossible make unfocused widget items a shade darker to help?

8. Global background. I know you don't agree but it's just to make users customize the skin faster and easier.

11. Yes your right, pressing info 'i' on widgets works but not when the widget is coming from Extended Info Mod... bug??

17. what i meant was, the size of the posters of the widgets is perfect!
I suggest to make them a bit bigger when movie is playing (OSD)
example --> https://kodi.tv/sites/default/files/uploads/OSD.jpg

18. for my episode thumb issue PM me please Wink

21. ok, but then, can you allow us to disable that top menu (where we see favourites icon, power, weather and...) ?
So that once disabled, automatically the cursor would behave example
pressing up on the top item will make the cursor go straight to last item.. please?

22. new suggestion,
have an option to add the KODI logo next to the KODI name on main menu top left corner
just like in confluence skin --> https://cordcutting.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/confluence-768x480.png
or even have just the logo there and no kodi name!

23. And also allow users to remove / hide the library statistics under it Smile

24. Oh and, could you look at this image please --> http://i.imgur.com/fWHJqty.jpg
wouldn't it make a fantastic Andromeda list view? or be inspired by it Smile

25. And at the same time, i noticed, the font size, in List view it's pretty good, pretty and big enough,
but in Big List view, font is smaller, can we have the font same size as list view in all viewtypes?

26. Have an option to set font size for Movie Name / Plot ??
because from this image again --> http://i.imgur.com/fWHJqty.jpg
Font is really small, that's my cell taking the picture and i got real close to TV.

27. Have a repo so we can get latest Andromeda skin updates automatically!


Thanks TGX! keep up the good work, you made an amazing skin!!!
Hope more users will put there 2cents and not just me,
don't want to look like i'm complaining hahaha


ciao a presto!!

RE: Andromeda - eskro - 2017-05-06

Sorry for double post Tongue


28. I noticed something when you add 5 widgets on a main menu item,
like when you press down to land on widget #1,
and from there you press down again to land on widget #2,
well it doesn't go on widget #2,,, Goes straight to widget #3...
So it requires pressing up one time from widget #3 to land on widget #2.
Any fix for this?

29. When playing an item from a widget, let's say widget #4 on 5,
when you stop the playback for whatever reasons,
well the cursor focus goes all the way back to the Main menu item
instead of staying focused on the stopped item on widget #4...
Could you fix this so it stays focused on the widget item that was playing after playback stops?

30. So far all main menu widgets appear in posters.
could you set an option to decide if the widget should be displayed
in poster, episode thumb or fanart?
Looks weird sometimes because episodes should be displayed not in poster style
but in episode thumbsstyle :/
Many users also like to have fanart style widgets Wink

31. talking about episodes and to follow on my issue with viewtypes not displaying episodes thumbs,
the only viewtype that shows episodes thumbs for me is the LIST view.
All the other viewtypes show the tv-show poster art instead inside the thumb....


Again Thanks for your work Smile

Andromeda - Tgxcorporation - 2017-05-06

Ok, I've acknowledged your requests, i'll try to fulfill them as best I can.

Thanks

Tgx

RE: Andromeda - eskro - 2017-05-06

(2017-05-06, 09:05)Tgxcorporation Wrote: Ok, I've acknowledged your requests, i'll try to fulfill them as best I can.

Thanks

Tgx

Thanks to you Wink
I only try help with my findings & ideas.
Hope to see an update of your skin soon Tongue
Keep us informed on its development!

RE: Andromeda - maher - 2017-05-10

Thanks for Highlight color i wait to see this option in Nebula Skin also ,
i Hope to add Arial font Because it supports Arabic Smile
awesome work

RE: Andromeda - Tgxcorporation - 2017-05-10

I've just added the support for the Arial font.

Tgx

RE: Andromeda - Rantanplan-1 - 2017-05-10

Cool Skin

Like the modern, light and clean Design.

Two small suggestions:

Would be nice if the Overlay which is used for the Widget section in "Home" would have the same color as the one in the Views. (I guess u already use the same overlay imgage there, but stretch it to have it "scroll" with the widgets, which is responsible for the darker look of the overlay in the homescreen)

2nd: I persomaly prefere lists in Views which got there focus on the middle item by scrolling through.

just things which i had in my minde by giving this a quick test.

Regards


EDIT:
maybe the Design would also benefit from "lighter" Icons. Thows u use now are a bit Bold compared to the Font weight -> Maybe u can have a look here as a example.

Also the "Nowplaying"-Info looks a bit foreign in my opinion.

but overall - cool ,modern concept

RE: Andromeda - Tgxcorporation - 2017-05-10

You have a very good eye!

The overlay is indeed stretched in the home menu to accomodate widgets. It has a slight gradient and so it's darker on top and lighter at the bottom.
I'll try with a gradient-less overlay.

I know icons need to be lighter. So far i used material icons by Google. I need icons to be in true type font format. That's why i cannot use the icons you suggested, even if they are good! Any alternative?

Thanks

Tgx

RE: Andromeda - Rantanplan-1 - 2017-05-10

(2017-05-10, 23:07)Tgxcorporation Wrote: Any alternative?

Did never use "Fonticons" myself for Kodi.

Guess theres not much around, which would suit the needed Icons for Kodi (at least i dont knew many)

Djh_ uses ttf icons for his Aeon2017 as much as i knew
Quote: (it uses almost no textures at all, and even the icons are TTF),

beside thows, the only one i knew of which where made for Kodi, where these: Link (not shure if these would fit better.)

maybe "Segoe UI symbols", but not shure if it would be suitable for Kodi ...


EDIT:
Problable these? -> Link, But guess there would be several icons missing which would be needed for Kodi. (+ Not shure about the license there, guess u need to linkback, or something)

RE: Andromeda - Tgxcorporation - 2017-05-11

Unfortunately the fonts from Kodi SkinIcons Project do not fit and the Segoe UI Symbols font is not free.

Instead the fonts from Icon8 are missing a lot of icons.

I think I'm sticking with material icons unless something better turns out.

Thanks

Tgx

RE: Andromeda - Marc0810 - 2017-05-11

Making a special Kodi font, expect the dimensions its easier than I thought.

A little Buggy but with the freeware Fontforge and vector based Icons as SVG for the Import, but works.

All you need ist a "vector prgramm" with an SVG Export option, because drawing in fontforge is really bad.
Scaling the Vektors and Positioning in Fontforge and export as ttf is all you need in fontforge.

Regards