New User Theming Questions

Hi, I’m not a WDTV Live Hub Media Player owner just yet (wife informs me she will be buying me one next week!), however as with all devices I’ve owned in the past (PS3/iPhones/Desktop I will be creating some themes for the UI. First though I have some probably very common questions but cant find a direct answer to them. Sorry if these have already been aswered:

  1. Can the DVD/Album covers be resized to any size?

  2. Can the DVD/Album covers be moved to any position on the screen?

  3. How are the reflections implimented and can they be adjusted?

  4. Is there a PNG transparency that can be modded so as to be used for undershadows of the covers?

Im fairly new to the whole  xml moviesheet theming options but not so new to creating my own graphics within PS and 3DSmax, so any help would be most appreciated.

Yes to all of the above.

BUT !    *.png at this time cannot  be displayed for “Folders”  (Folders only support real & proper *.jpg)

Files “Natively” only support *.jpg, but you can create a transparent *.png and rename it to *.jpg and it will work.

Transparent “File” icons are achieved by using 3rd Party Software … “Thumbgen”

(You can create a ‘Template’ for your images with any size or placement of transparency)

http://thumbgen.org/

Size and Placement of “File” and/or “Folder” icons is all in the WDTV Live Hub’s Theme Editable XML Code.

Standard Syntax  eg.  X,Y,W,H  (Horizontal,Vertical,Width,Hieght) + extra controls such as

Pan,Scale,Fixratio,Align etc.

A basic understanding of XML is all that is needed for what you ask.

If you do purchase a unit, consider voting for forum member “HomerJ” 's request for Png for Folders.

http://community.wdc.com/t5/Live-Hub-Ideas/Use-png-image-as-folder-jpg/idi-p/161002

http://community.wdc.com/t5/Live-Hub-Ideas/Enable-Proper-use-of-png-Tranparencies-for-Moviesheets-folder/idi-p

/198852

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Hi Joey, Thanks for your reply and clearing a few things up for me, I really appreciate it. Just a couple more question and it may sound stupid but I’m guessing you can choose the amount of DVD’s/covers you display per page yes?, also whats the quality like on the covers/dvd’s?, do they get pixelated at all when the size is increased?

How do I go about voting for HomerJ? - Im abit new here :slight_smile:

You can have as many covers (in theory) on screen as you like (edit the XML code)

However, the more you add, can/could cause the WDTV Live Hub to …

  1. Slow Down

  2. Become Unstable

  3. Crash

Cover Resolution using *.png scales pretty well (because as you may know, png does not use much compression)

…  but not so well with *.jpg

And if you use *.png images the amount of the on screen can/could become sluggish due to there file size …  jpg is much quicker (but not as good qaulity and no transparency, and or mirror effect)

To Vote for HomerJ, click the link, and then click the “Arrow Icon”.

To Sum up:

Quality,Number,Size,Responsiveness,Speed is a balancing act. (you have to experiment)

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Just thought of another couple of questions! :stuck_out_tongue:

Is there a paticular firmware I should install when I get the unit or should I just update to the latest?. I have read that the WDTV Live Hub doesnt have a CFW, does it need one and if so why?

The Latest Official Firmware Version 2.06.10 is the version im currently using.

I personally, would not touch any CFW even if it became available.

Read here:

http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=2215&start=10#p17171

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Joey, Thank you for taking the time to educate me on this, much appreciated :slight_smile: