[DrXenos]

The Amber skin is almost exact what I am looking for: no nonsense, no distracting artwork, simple interface. And yellow's my favorite color, so bonus!

There are few things I wish I could change. Please tell my if any of these are possible:

1. No background picture, just solid color.

2. Disable OSD on chapter skip. It's distracting.

3. Show folder list in a grid (no icons, images, pictures, etc. just the folder names). The closest I've found is the panels, but it's like to lose the folder images. Basically, I want something the same as list, but multiple columns.

Thanks!

[bsoriano]

The Amber skin is almost exact what I am looking for: no nonsense, no distracting artwork, simple interface. And yellow's my favorite color, so bonus!

There are few things I wish I could change. Please tell my if any of these are possible:

1. No background picture, just solid color.

2. Disable OSD on chapter skip. It's distracting.

3. Show folder list in a grid (no icons, images, pictures, etc. just the folder names). The closest I've found is the panels, but it's like to lose the folder images. Basically, I want something the same as list, but multiple columns.

Thanks!

@DrXenos , thank you for your feedback.  

In regards to your questions:

1. There is no current option for this, but you can always find an image of the solid color you are looking for and set it as the background for any menu item.

2.  I am not sure if this is possible.  Have you used any other skin where the OSD is not shown on chapter skip? If so, which? That way I can see how it is done.

3.  Would you be willing to post a mock-up of what you are thinking about? How do you envision it working when you are browsing your library for movies, or tv shows? Just multiple clumns with the names and no other info? Please be as specific as you can in what you would like to see.  Thanks.

Regards,

Bart

[DrXenos]

 

@DrXenos , thank you for your feedback.  

In regards to your questions:

1. There is no current option for this, but you can always find an image of the solid color you are looking for and set it as the background for any menu item.

2.  I am not sure if this is possible.  Have you used any other skin where the OSD is not shown on chapter skip? If so, which? That way I can see how it is done.

3.  Would you be willing to post a mock-up of what you are thinking about? How do you envision it working when you are browsing your library for movies, or tv shows? Just multiple clumns with the names and no other info? Please be as specific as you can in what you would like to see.  Thanks.

Regards,

Bart

Hi. Thanks for the reply!

1. I figured I could do that, if all else failed. Thanks.
2. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought the default skin didn't show anything on chapter skip. I don't like OSD on pause or chapter skip because it obscures subtitles and I'm hard-of-hearing. At least with you having it at the top, it's less of an issue. Or even if there was a way to dismiss it on pause. If you can't, no biggie!
3. Actually, I misspoke. It's the Icon view, not the panel view that's closest to what I want. If it didn't have the icons, it'd be perfect. What I want is just a multi-column (3 or 4) list of the folder entries, instead of one, long vertical list that takes a long time to scroll down. If you've ever had or seen the WDTV, the way it does folder views is what I'd like. Being able to scroll across as well as down, saves a lot of time.

I think I'm not like most people. I don't care about artwork. I don't want the play to "build" a media library. I hate it when media players insist on scanning all the files for metadata, scraping the Internet for artwork, creating thumbnails, etc. I turn all that off (if I can). I just want to see a folder list of files as I've organized them into directories on my NAS.

So, for example, I keep all my moves in alphabetized folders (#-Z). So, with the list view, I'd see a vertical list of 27 elements:
#
A
...
Z

27 elements isn't bad to scroll down, but I own 1000s of movies. A vertical list is horrible. Panel is close, but the panels are only on part of the screen. Icon (small) is great because it creates a grid over the entire screen, but a lot of that space is taken up by the Icons. I'd like to just see the folder entries:

#          A          B          C          D          E
F          G          H          I          J          K
L          M          N          O          P          Q
R          S          T          U          V          W
X          Y          Z

It would do the same for each subfolder, on down the hierarchy:

Movie1     Movie2     Movie3     Movie4     Movie5     Movie6
Movie7     Movie8     Movie9     Movie10    Movie5     Movie6

Again, these are just the folder names, nothing special about them or how they are organized. If that's not clear, let me know.

Thanks!

[DrXenos]

Just some more info. I don't think I was exactly clear above. The way my WDTV does it--which I like--is it creates two columns of folder entries on the screen. The vertical list is whatever will fit on the screen. It doesn't scroll down beyond that. All the scrolling of new entries is to the right.

Unlike what I said above (either is fine, but I like this). the lists proceed down, then to the right:

#          H
A          I
B          J
C          K
D          L
E          M
F          N
G          O

navigating right from the second column to go to the next set of folder names, etc.

I hope that makes sense.

[bsoriano]

 

@DrXenos , thank you for your feedback.  

In regards to your questions:

1. There is no current option for this, but you can always find an image of the solid color you are looking for and set it as the background for any menu item.

2.  I am not sure if this is possible.  Have you used any other skin where the OSD is not shown on chapter skip? If so, which? That way I can see how it is done.

3.  Would you be willing to post a mock-up of what you are thinking about? How do you envision it working when you are browsing your library for movies, or tv shows? Just multiple clumns with the names and no other info? Please be as specific as you can in what you would like to see.  Thanks.

Regards,

Bart

Hi. Thanks for the reply!

1. I figured I could do that, if all else failed. Thanks.
2. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought the default skin didn't show anything on chapter skip. I don't like OSD on pause or chapter skip because it obscures subtitles and I'm hard-of-hearing. At least with you having it at the top, it's less of an issue. Or even if there was a way to dismiss it on pause. If you can't, no biggie!
3. Actually, I misspoke. It's the Icon view, not the panel view that's closest to what I want. If it didn't have the icons, it'd be perfect. What I want is just a multi-column (3 or 4) list of the folder entries, instead of one, long vertical list that takes a long time to scroll down. If you've ever had or seen the WDTV, the way it does folder views is what I'd like. Being able to scroll across as well as down, saves a lot of time.

I think I'm not like most people. I don't care about artwork. I don't want the play to "build" a media library. I hate it when media players insist on scanning all the files for metadata, scraping the Internet for artwork, creating thumbnails, etc. I turn all that off (if I can). I just want to see a folder list of files as I've organized them into directories on my NAS.

So, for example, I keep all my moves in alphabetized folders (#-Z). So, with the list view, I'd see a vertical list of 27 elements:
#
A
...
Z

27 elements isn't bad to scroll down, but I own 1000s of movies. A vertical list is horrible. Panel is close, but the panels are only on part of the screen. Icon (small) is great because it creates a grid over the entire screen, but a lot of that space is taken up by the Icons. I'd like to just see the folder entries:

#          A          B          C          D          E
F          G          H          I          J          K
L          M          N          O          P          Q
R          S          T          U          V          W
X          Y          Z

It would do the same for each subfolder, on down the hierarchy:

Movie1     Movie2     Movie3     Movie4     Movie5     Movie6
Movie7     Movie8     Movie9     Movie10    Movie5     Movie6

Again, these are just the folder names, nothing special about them or how they are organized. If that's not clear, let me know.

Thanks!

@DrXenos , thanks for the additional info.

For number 2, I will look into adding an option not to show the OSD on pause.  I think this is doable, but I have to check.

For number 3, I don't think it is possible to replicate what the WDTV does with the Kodi skinning engine.  I am sure I could create a view that only shows file names (or titles) with no icons and make it multiple column (though the navigation would not be as you describe), but this would not show a folder hierarchy if you are browsing your library, it would show movie titles.  I think the only way you could see your folders as you have them is if you browse only in file mode (go through Videos, Files) and do not scan your movies into the Kodi library, so that the files view shows the files in the folders and not movie titles.

I am not sure if this is what you were looking for, but I can do some tests if you would like.  It will take me a little while, since work is not giving me much time for skinning thses days.  Please let me know.  Thanks.

Regards,

Bart

[DrXenos]

Thanks for listening. I understand somethings might not be possible.

As for the files names, that's exact what I do. I have the Kodi option set to show the actual file names, not what's in the meta data. Like I said, I have the "library" stuff in Kodi completely turned off.

Thanks!

[DrXenos]

(off-topic: is it possible to edit a post?)

I forgot to add: just to be clear, I do go through "videos, files." This way I DO walk the directory structure. I don't use the library at all. So, if it's possible to just show the items without icons, etc., I'd greatly appreciate it (I can get use to whatever navigation you have to do). No rush. I understand busy!

Thank you, and again: Amber is a great skin.

[DarrenHill]

It will be possible to edit once you're account leaves newbie status and edit privs are automatically granted to you.

You're not far off it now.

[DrXenos]

It will be possible to edit once you're account leaves newbie status and edit privs are automatically granted to you.

You're not far off it now.

OK, thank you.

[bsoriano]

@DrXenos , is this what you were looking for:



If I understood correctly, you did not want any info other than the name.  Would you prefer more columns, even though the labels will be shorter and there will be more scrolling, or is this OK? Is there anything else that you were looking for in this view? Please let me know if I am on the right track.  This is not yet available in any Amber version, I am just trying things out to see how they look.  Thanks.

Regards,

Bart

[DrXenos]

OMG, that is AWESOME!!! Yes, that is exactly what I wanted.

[DrXenos]

Also, I've got a question, if I may. I'm not sure of this was an Amber-specific option or maybe a normal Kodi option, but there was an option to make it remember its previously position in the folders as you drill down. I turned it on and now I want to turn it off. I can no longer find it. it's driving me nuts. I'm beginning to think I was crazy, but I remember finding it twice.

Do you know what I am talking about?

[bsoriano]

OMG, that is AWESOME!!! Yes, that is exactly what I wanted.

@DrXenos , very well, thanks.  I will add this new view in the next skin update.

Regards,

Bart

[bsoriano]

Also, I've got a question, if I may. I'm not sure of this was an Amber-specific option or maybe a normal Kodi option, but there was an option to make it remember its previously position in the folders as you drill down. I turned it on and now I want to turn it off. I can no longer find it. it's driving me nuts. I'm beginning to think I was crazy, but I remember finding it twice.

Do you know what I am talking about?

@DrXenos , this is not an Amber-specific option.  I thought that this was standard Kodi behavior.  I do not recall a setting for this, sorry.

Regards,

Bart

[bsoriano]

@DrXenos , Amber version 3.2.100 is up in GitHub and the Amber repo for Leia.  It includes the new Simple List view.  Please download, test, and let me know if you find any issues and/or have any other requests.  Thanks.

Regards,

Bart