2019-02-24, 01:05
I am running Windows 7 pro and Kodi 17.6 on my HTPC along with Amber 3.0.8 skin.
Running Windows 10 along with the same Kodi and Amber on my desktop computer which is also where I "play with things" before I incorporate into my HTPC.
I just recently upgraded to Kodi 17.6 from Gotham 13.1. I won't bore everyone with why right now. I would have probably gone directly to Leia 18.1 RC 1, except I quickly discovered that Amber did not work with Kodi 18.1. I have been using Amber since I 1st went to Kodi at least 4-5 years ago. It is by far my favorite skin. In addition I found out that an addon that I depend on (Kodi-Callbacks) does not work on Kodi 18.1. Thus I fell back 1 step to Kodi 17.6, and everything runs very nicely and almost as good as Gotham did.
I use Kodi every day. I watch my Movie collection and use it as my PVR. I never watch a TV show live. Even the news I record and watch as soon as COMSKIP completes. So that brings me to the problem I am solving with this little change to the skin.
My issue with Kodi 17.6 and Amber is that I found it to be distracting when every-time a skip is initiated (COMSKIP or by the viewer) this large progress bar along with the recording time on the left and a indicator on the right telling me what time I will finish watching it, and a big clock display on the far right. In my humble opinion it takes away from my viewing experience. And if you happen to get a "buffering" message, that is real big too. Funny how quickly I forget these days. I can't even remember what (if anything) was displayed with Gotham and Amber. I know this, it was barely noticeable. I am sure some people have no problem with this "feature". But I am kinda a minimalist, so rather watch my TV show then look at a status display every-time a skip of any kind is initiated. And by the way, I tried several other skins (even though I love Amber). All were just as bad and some were worse. Sometime I think that programmers do things just because they can. But being old school (and also just plain old), I believe "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
I am not a "skinner" but I have done considerable programming over the years. This does not require programming, but I did need to go to the Wiki skinning manual to see if I could figure out how to get around this issue. After much digging and trial and error I found an easy solution. Just modify C:\Users\myname\AppData\Roaming\Kodi\addons\skin.amber\1080i\DialogSeekBar.xml.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<window>
<!--Removed from next line| Player.DisplayAfterSeek | Player.Forwarding | Player.Rewinding -->
<visible>Player.Seeking | [Player.Paused + !Player.Caching] | Player.ShowInfo | Window.IsActive(fullscreeninfo) | Window.IsActive(videoosd) | Window.IsActive(musicosd) | Window.IsActive(playerprocessinfo) | !IsEmpty(Player.SeekNumeric)</visible>
<visible>!Window.IsActive(sliderdialog)</visible>
<visible>Window.IsActive(visualisation) | Window.IsActive(fullscreenvideo)</visible>
<include>OSDFade</include>
Only line #3 and #4 were changed. I just cut out the Player.DisplayAfterSeek, Player.Forwarding, and Player.Rewinding from line 4 and put into the comment in line #3.
The result is when COMSKIP skips a commercial, nothing extra is displayed, but COMSKIP still sends a message to the notification area saying a commercial of mm.ss. That is standard in the Skin. And if I do a manual skip forward or backwards, I get a momentary flash of that original information at the top of the screen as was standard with the skin. That little display last just a few mili-secs and is not distracting at all.
If I need to know where I am in a show I am watching, I just press "info" and I get everything that was originally displayed before my mod. Same goes for pause. I have not found anything to be negatively affected by the change. I just don't have to look at that big status display while I am watching my news and other recorded show.
Keep up the good work. Amber is a great skin! I hope someone will eventually pickup the support. I also hope that Amber and Kodi_Callbacks will eventually work with Leia 18.1. Until then I will continue like this.
Hopefully someone else will find this useful. I try to share my help when I can.
Running Windows 10 along with the same Kodi and Amber on my desktop computer which is also where I "play with things" before I incorporate into my HTPC.
I just recently upgraded to Kodi 17.6 from Gotham 13.1. I won't bore everyone with why right now. I would have probably gone directly to Leia 18.1 RC 1, except I quickly discovered that Amber did not work with Kodi 18.1. I have been using Amber since I 1st went to Kodi at least 4-5 years ago. It is by far my favorite skin. In addition I found out that an addon that I depend on (Kodi-Callbacks) does not work on Kodi 18.1. Thus I fell back 1 step to Kodi 17.6, and everything runs very nicely and almost as good as Gotham did.
I use Kodi every day. I watch my Movie collection and use it as my PVR. I never watch a TV show live. Even the news I record and watch as soon as COMSKIP completes. So that brings me to the problem I am solving with this little change to the skin.
My issue with Kodi 17.6 and Amber is that I found it to be distracting when every-time a skip is initiated (COMSKIP or by the viewer) this large progress bar along with the recording time on the left and a indicator on the right telling me what time I will finish watching it, and a big clock display on the far right. In my humble opinion it takes away from my viewing experience. And if you happen to get a "buffering" message, that is real big too. Funny how quickly I forget these days. I can't even remember what (if anything) was displayed with Gotham and Amber. I know this, it was barely noticeable. I am sure some people have no problem with this "feature". But I am kinda a minimalist, so rather watch my TV show then look at a status display every-time a skip of any kind is initiated. And by the way, I tried several other skins (even though I love Amber). All were just as bad and some were worse. Sometime I think that programmers do things just because they can. But being old school (and also just plain old), I believe "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
I am not a "skinner" but I have done considerable programming over the years. This does not require programming, but I did need to go to the Wiki skinning manual to see if I could figure out how to get around this issue. After much digging and trial and error I found an easy solution. Just modify C:\Users\myname\AppData\Roaming\Kodi\addons\skin.amber\1080i\DialogSeekBar.xml.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<window>
<!--Removed from next line| Player.DisplayAfterSeek | Player.Forwarding | Player.Rewinding -->
<visible>Player.Seeking | [Player.Paused + !Player.Caching] | Player.ShowInfo | Window.IsActive(fullscreeninfo) | Window.IsActive(videoosd) | Window.IsActive(musicosd) | Window.IsActive(playerprocessinfo) | !IsEmpty(Player.SeekNumeric)</visible>
<visible>!Window.IsActive(sliderdialog)</visible>
<visible>Window.IsActive(visualisation) | Window.IsActive(fullscreenvideo)</visible>
<include>OSDFade</include>
Only line #3 and #4 were changed. I just cut out the Player.DisplayAfterSeek, Player.Forwarding, and Player.Rewinding from line 4 and put into the comment in line #3.
The result is when COMSKIP skips a commercial, nothing extra is displayed, but COMSKIP still sends a message to the notification area saying a commercial of mm.ss. That is standard in the Skin. And if I do a manual skip forward or backwards, I get a momentary flash of that original information at the top of the screen as was standard with the skin. That little display last just a few mili-secs and is not distracting at all.
If I need to know where I am in a show I am watching, I just press "info" and I get everything that was originally displayed before my mod. Same goes for pause. I have not found anything to be negatively affected by the change. I just don't have to look at that big status display while I am watching my news and other recorded show.
Keep up the good work. Amber is a great skin! I hope someone will eventually pickup the support. I also hope that Amber and Kodi_Callbacks will eventually work with Leia 18.1. Until then I will continue like this.
Hopefully someone else will find this useful. I try to share my help when I can.
