[DarrenHill]

Just updated a couple of my systems to Krypton beta, and so far liking the improvements I've seen in Amber too over the Jarvis version.

One thing I have noticed though is with the new settings, for my TV shows and Movies which are in sub-folders, I'm just getting the default folder icon showing rather than anything interesting. I know I can manually add something there with a <foldername>.jpg image in the relevant folder, but I was wondering whether there would be any way to do something a little more convenient via the skin? Maybe for shows etc to use any available fanart or banners (or any other of the existing artwork) perhaps if the <foldername>.jpg file isn't there, rather than just using a default folder icon?

I see there's a few new sliders for using fanart in various background places now, so would it be possible to do something similar for folder art or is that too deep in the Kodi code for the skin to do?

Keep up the good work anyway, it's looking very good

[joethepartylion]

Just updated a couple of my systems to Krypton beta, and so far liking the improvements I've seen in Amber too over the Jarvis version.

One thing I have noticed though is with the new settings, for my TV shows and Movies which are in sub-folders, I'm just getting the default folder icon showing rather than anything interesting. I know I can manually add something there with a <foldername>.jpg image in the relevant folder, but I was wondering whether there would be any way to do something a little more convenient via the skin? Maybe for shows etc to use any available fanart or banners (or any other of the existing artwork) perhaps if the <foldername>.jpg file isn't there, rather than just using a default folder icon?

I see there's a few new sliders for using fanart in various background places now, so would it be possible to do something similar for folder art or is that too deep in the Kodi code for the skin to do?

Keep up the good work anyway, it's looking very good

Hi, glad you are liking it so far.

In terms of folder icons, are you able to provide a screenshot/schematic of what you are trying to achieve? Is this is in the file or library view? What did it look like in Jarvis? Is there another skin that already has this feature?

If you can provide that then maybe we can come up with something.

Thanks

[DarrenHill]

It's in file view mode (I've got my shows and movies split into pairs of folders each for family-friendly and non-kid stuff, and access them via 4 favourites pinned to the menu ribbon).

I'm using the standard list view. Under Jarvis if I remember correctly it just showed the list with the background, but now in Krypton it tries to show an image too on the left hand side beside the list. But that is just showing up as a the standard generic grey folder icon, which looks ugly. I'd prefer Amber to use something other than that, based on the show the folder actually contains. In the TV shows section I have some top-level folders for different categories (and so those folders contain sub-folders, each of which are the individual show folders), but those could be covered by a <foldername>.jpg file. It's the image for individual show folders that doesn't look pleasing at the moment.

I'll try and grab a screenshot later if I have time to illustrate what I mean.

[DarrenHill]

Here's a few screenshots to illustrate what I mean (two for TV shows and two for movies):

Movies:




TV Shows:



For the movies, you can see the sub-folder (the "superheroes" category) with the boring grey icon displayed, and the content of that folder which is showing up nicely with fanart and thumbnail.

Similarly for the TV shows we have the top level folder (with the image, made using a folder.jpg file) and the sub-folder inside it ("Glastonbury") which again has the boring folder icon.

It would be nice if that boring icon could automatically be replaced by something if a folder.jpg file isn't present, similar to the thumbnail in the movies example or the folder.jpg image in the TV show one (the gig picture). For example for the Glastonbury one it could be a miniaturised version of the fanart, or possibly some of the other artwork available by the metadata. I appreciate in a general situation like the superheroes movie folder it could be much more difficult, but that could be covered again by a folder.jpg file.



Also one thing I have to comment - the new black text for the selected line doesn't show up at all well. For me that's a backward step from the older version, which is much clearer and easier to see what is active. The lack of a background for the icons on the add-ons home shelf is something similar that I equally miss from the old version, now I've had more time to play (I use a mainly white background, so the new text gets very lost, plus note how unreadable the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" entry is at the bottom of the list in the first image).

Same goes for the OSD - it's nowhere near as nice to use as the Jarvis version was (and how are you supposed to access the three-line settings menu in the OSD from the gears icon?)

Should probably add this is on a Pi3 running LibreElec 7.9 0.005 and the Kodi repo version of Amber (3.0.4).

[mjbxx]

Also one thing I have to comment - the new black text for the selected line doesn't show up at all well.

That looks to be that the Amber background color stripe for the black text is missing from what I remember. Wanting to join in but had dismal stability issues with Krypton Beta 1 on the Shield TV. How is Krypton Beta 2 working stability wise with Android TV (Shield TV) at this time?

[DarrenHill]

No idea there - I'm on a Pi3 and it's working fine there (via LibreElec)

[joethepartylion]

For the movies, you can see the sub-folder (the "superheroes" category) with the boring grey icon displayed, and the content of that folder which is showing up nicely with fanart and thumbnail.

Similarly for the TV shows we have the top level folder (with the image, made using a folder.jpg file) and the sub-folder inside it ("Glastonbury") which again has the boring folder icon.

It would be nice if that boring icon could automatically be replaced by something if a folder.jpg file isn't present, similar to the thumbnail in the movies example or the folder.jpg image in the TV show one (the gig picture). For example for the Glastonbury one it could be a miniaturised version of the fanart, or possibly some of the other artwork available by the metadata. I appreciate in a general situation like the superheroes movie folder it could be much more difficult, but that could be covered again by a folder.jpg file.

Hmm, not sure what can be done about this but I'll have a look to see if I can find anything.

Also one thing I have to comment - the new black text for the selected line doesn't show up at all well. For me that's a backward step from the older version, which is much clearer and easier to see what is active. The lack of a background for the icons on the add-ons home shelf is something similar that I equally miss from the old version, now I've had more time to play (I use a mainly white background, so the new text gets very lost, plus note how unreadable the "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" entry is at the bottom of the list in the first image).

Same goes for the OSD - it's nowhere near as nice to use as the Jarvis version was (and how are you supposed to access the three-line settings menu in the OSD from the gears icon?)

Yes, the black text/OSD should have an Orange/Yellow background, I've just tried the official repo and it works fine here, may be best to uninstall/reinstall Amber to see if that works. Also check the kodi.log file to see if there are any texture related errors as I'm only testing on Windows here although the case looks fine in the code.

The popup icons should be accessed by the up arrow, would it be better if it was a click action instead to activate & focus the menu?

Thanks for the feedback, it's always helpful.

[DarrenHill]

I'll give it a go with that particular Pi over the weekend as I'm travelling at the moment on a business trip.

I have my Pi Zero with me though also with Amber and Krypton on it, so will check if that has the same issues or not. Both systems are upgrades from Jarvis, so it could be down to that. If the zero replicates I'll try a fresh reinstall of Amber.

Concerning the OSD - I'm generally running things with the TV remote via CEC, so whilst I can access the gears icon for settings via the up-arrow, I can't actually work out how to access the menu itself as pushing up arrow again seems to send the selection back down to the play/pause/rewing/ffwd line. I will have another play tonight on the zero and see what I can get again and will let you know.

[DarrenHill]

OK the menu view on the Pi zero has backgrounds (but still had the ugly folder icons like in the above images), but on the LibreElec config add-on the menu text is missing for the left hand main menu and the WiFi list (it's all there and perfect under Estuary).

So I think a reinstall on both machines is the next step. I can't do it now on the zero as the web viewer add-on also seems to have problems so i can't log into the hotel WiFi with it.

[joethepartylion]

I'll give it a go with that particular Pi over the weekend as I'm travelling at the moment on a business trip.

I have my Pi Zero with me though also with Amber and Krypton on it, so will check if that has the same issues or not. Both systems are upgrades from Jarvis, so it could be down to that. If the zero replicates I'll try a fresh reinstall of Amber.

Concerning the OSD - I'm generally running things with the TV remote via CEC, so whilst I can access the gears icon for settings via the up-arrow, I can't actually work out how to access the menu itself as pushing up arrow again seems to send the selection back down to the play/pause/rewing/ffwd line. I will have another play tonight on the zero and see what I can get again and will let you know.

That is odd, tested here on windows and up definitely moves control to the settings list.

[joethepartylion]

OK the menu view on the Pi zero has backgrounds (but still had the ugly folder icons like in the above images), but on the LibreElec config add-on the menu text is missing for the left hand main menu and the WiFi list (it's all there and perfect under Estuary).

So I think a reinstall on both machines is the next step. I can't do it now on the zero as the web viewer add-on also seems to have problems so i can't log into the hotel WiFi with it.

The font issue is because addons cannot define their own fonts so have to rely on those defined in the skin. We did add some definitions from Estuary to the Amber fonts definitions but it seems we need to add some more e.g. font23_title and if they aren't defined in the active skin then the text doesn't show, therefore a reinstall won't fix it, I'll see if I can get a pull to Jester soon to add them

[DarrenHill]

Thanks. I'll reinstall on the pi3 at the weekend and let you know if it improves things for the main issue.

It's still useable for now, but the pull request is most welcome.

[joethepartylion]

Thanks. I'll reinstall on the pi3 at the weekend and let you know if it improves things for the main issue.

It's still useable for now, but the pull request is most welcome.

I've added some more font definitions, could you try the latest Krypton testing branch here https://github.com/joethepartylion/skin....e/Krypton8 and let me know if that works OK for you.

[DarrenHill]

Will look at it over the weekend.

Any more thoughts about the original question, or am I stuck with ugly grey folder icons for many of the views (or trying a full reinstall or other solution)?

[mjbxx]

Any more thoughts about the original question, or am I stuck with ugly grey folder icons for many of the views (or trying a full reinstall or other solution)?

I'm of the same opinion about the grey folder icons as they are far too bland. I created Kodi folder icons for Jarvis that look pleasant to me throughout the Amber skin. They were created using the [Windows] Kodi - Texture Tool (.xbt). I will be updating the Amber folder icons when I finally move forward to the Krypton version if anyone is interested in having them.