[disrupted]

now updated for Kodi v14.x

Some time ago I started working on a mod of the reFocus BIG skin by Paul Salem to make this fantastic skin run a bit snappier on low-end hardware like the Raspberry Pi Rev. 1. To achieve this main goal I have removed some (in my eyes) unessential features and add-ons. I have also made a few changes on some of the views and there is a whole new Fanart view as well
It's still in development stage, but it runs pretty stable for me, so I thought maybe someone wants to give it a try.

Screenshots:
all images show the reAlaska dark theme (can be changed in Settings → Appearance → Theme)

watch gallery

the GitHub repository can be found here:
https://github.com/disrupted/skin.refocus.light



Kodi 14.x "Helix"


Installation through my custom repository (recommended):
→ you receive updates automatically as soon as there is a new version
 

• Download xbmc.repo.freeman.zip to your Kodi machine
  
• In Kodi go to Add-ons → Install from zip file → navigate to your downloaded file and select it
  
• Now you have my custom repository installed
  
• Head over to Add-ons → Get Add-ons → disrupted's Add-ons → select "reFocus light" and install it
  
• Wait a few minutes for the download & installation process to complete
  
• Afterwards you will be prompted to switch to the newly installed skin
  

Installation from GitHub repository (may be unstable):
→ developer version contains smaller changes which means you can update the skin more frequently.

Code:

### sample installation on XBian ###
# NOT possible on OpenELEC because there is no git client!
cd /home/xbian/.xbmc/addons # you may need to change the path according to your system
git clone https://github.com/disrupted/skin.refocus.light -b gotham --single-branch
sudo service xbmc restart # (re-)start your XBMC

then go to Settings → Appearance → Skin and select "reFocus light"
you may need to download additional additional addons like the "Artwork Downloader" from the official Kodi.tv repository if you haven't already in order to use all skin features

→ to update to the latest version: just log in via ssh and go back to the skin.refocus.light folder (where you installed it previously) and execute git pull origin gotham



Credits:

• Many thanks to Jeroen for the original reFocus skin and Paul Salem for his fantastic work!
  
• this modded skin is based on reFocus BIG
  

[postdeath]

Thanks for this, it's fantastic. Do you plan on disabling the background dimming that occurs when home screen widgets are used?

[disrupted]

@postdeath: thanks for your kind words :) did you enable home screen widgets from the developer options located inside the Skin Settings? because at the moment (latest version 20-01-14) widgets should be disabled by default because they aren't optimized yet. but I will most likely rebuild the skin widgets on the home screen very soon, it's already on my todo list. ;-)
don't know if I change the whole look & feel or keep them relatively original looking and just do some minor changes though. did I understand it right that you don't like the background dimming? If you have a particular idea regarding the skin widgets you can of course send it to me. :)

[gugahoi]

Tried to install on OpenElec 3.2.0 on a RPi and nothing seems to happen. I put the zip file in the downloads folder and tried to install from zip but it does nothing? Help would be appreciated.

[disrupted]

don't know exactly what the problem is with installation from zip..I'm using the git clone method for easier updates and so far I only got positive feedback for the zip-method.
However you can of course unzip it manually on your computer, then place the skin.refocus.light folder directly in the addons folder of XBMC. so it has to look like this on OE /storage/.xbmc/addons/skin.refocus.light
afterwards you need to restart xbmc or reboot your Pi. then go into Settings -> Appearance where you can change the skin normally from the dropdown menu.

you may need to activate hidden folders in Settings -> Appearance first in order to see the hidden .xbmc folder.

you may also want to consider upgrading your OE-installation to the newest version. it's already 3.2.4 available ;-)

[kumagorou]

Hello,

I tried this version of refocus on my PI, but I still have this problem http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1459667.
Any idea of what it could come from? Do you also experience this lags on your PI. I'm running the lastest Raspbmc.

Thanks!

[disrupted]

@kumagorou: this is most likely a performance issue of your exact setup, but I can confirm that this skin including the animation are smooth and snappy most of the time on my Raspberry Pi system (XBian Beta 2, 16Gb SDHC Card - not even installed to USB Stick, "High" CPU overclocking profile). There are a bunch of threads about getting the most out of the Raspi Hardware but the biggest impact on the overall performance and stability has the OS itself IMHO. I'm sorry, but if you compare Raspbmc to XBian and OpenELEC you will clearly see that Raspbmc is the slowest of all 3 (at least that's my experience). switching to XBian or OE, overclocking and installation on USB may greatly improve your performance.
additionally you should also disable every addon you don't need in XBMC - especially services like "TV Guide - Next Aired" use a lot of processing power when they are constantly running in the background.

[kumagorou]

Thanks, I will try just that.
My setup is already overclocked, I don't use any addon and default skin and amber are really snappy. Refocus is generally ok, only the transitions between main menu and tv shows/movies are really slow. But I'll you know how it goes with another distro

Thanks!

[Galefury]

A Gotham version will be welcomed, especially since Jeroen shows no sign that is working on the skin anymore. Real life and all that...

[disrupted]

@kumagorou: it probably also depends on the size and view type of your video library. going in and out of the TV Shows (banner view) or Movies menu is really snappy for me, no lag whatsoever. even the New Episodes Menu with enabled ClearLogos is pretty fast.
@Galefury: thanks for your interest. If I have enough free time I'm going to start development for Gotham in the next few weeks. Maybe I'll even manage to take a look this weekend

[meneer]

Somehow I can't seem to get it installed on my Pi. |'m using Open Elec. The .zip does nothing, the github gives me an error that it can't find the git and I can't seem to find the hidden XBMC folder to install it manually. What am I missing?

[postdeath]

@postdeath: thanks for your kind words did you enable home screen widgets from the developer options located inside the Skin Settings? because at the moment (latest version 20-01-14) widgets should be disabled by default because they aren't optimized yet. but I will most likely rebuild the skin widgets on the home screen very soon, it's already on my todo list. ;-)

Ah, I was using an older version - up to date now, cheers.

[disrupted]

Somehow I can't seem to get it installed on my Pi. |'m using Open Elec. The .zip does nothing, the github gives me an error that it can't find the git and I can't seem to find the hidden XBMC folder to install it manually. What am I missing?

You can't install it with "git clone ..." on OpenELEC simply because there is no git client available for it.
But .zip installation should normally work (I already received positive response from other testers). Make sure you are not running one of the OE Gotham testing builds because Gotham isn't supported yet.

Your 3rd option is to manually extract the zip file on your computer and then copy it over to the addons folder of your OpenELEC system. for instance you can copy the extracted folder "skin.refocus.light" via SMB (if you have samba enabled) to the downloads folder of your Raspberry Pi. then log in via ssh and move the folder to the addons folder. after this has completed you need to restart xbmc or reboot your RasPi.

Code:

mv /storage/downloads/skin.refocus.light /storage/.xbmc/addons/skin.refocus.light
killall -9 xbmc.bin <<OR>> reboot

if this seems to be too complicated you can also use the file manager inside XBMC to copy the folder to the right directory but you need to enable "show hidden files and directories" in XBMC->Settings->Appearance->File lists in order to see the hidden .xbmc folder

EDIT: I have also updated the first post so nobody gets stuck with git installation on OE anymore ;-)

[Scott00007]

Is this coming to Gotham?

[disrupted]

@Scott00007: yes! but it will take some time because I'm pretty busy at the moment. I'll keep you posted on this thread when I achieve progress.