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Topic: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning? (Read 3754 times) previous topic - next topic
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[Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Hi,

Now I'm creating a new skin for foobar2000 mobile, optimized especially for notch display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio such as recent iPhones.

With the help of many already published nice skins and readme references,
my skins are getting pretty close to my ideal (see a screenshot at the bottom).

I think the current skin is sufficient for use on small displays such as iPhones and Android smartphones,
but more information could be displayed on larger displays such as iPads and PCs.

Therefore, I have a few questions to ask in order to improve the current skin:

1) How can I access and display more detailed tag and playback information including Sample rate, Bits per sample, Bitrate, Codec, Lossless or Lossy, ReplayGain, playback device name, etc.?
I tried googling, but could not find any way to access other than basic information such as song titles, album titles, and artist names.

2) Are there any other "state names" besides "playing" and "classical" that can be used for dynamic skinning with if statements?

3) Are there any general comparison operators or basic functions available for more advanced skinning?
For example, I would like to implement a display that changes according to the song's Sample rate or Bits per sample, or a dynamic change in background color according to the color of the album artwork.

4) Is it possible to add a skin switcher function to the playback screen menu? If possible, it would be great if the feature could be added in a future update.


Any information, no matter how trivial, would be appreciated.
Also, any advice or requests for the skin would be very encouraging to me.

Thanks.

X

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #1 –
Could I have the skin? It looks absolutely lovely!

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #2 –
Im grad you are interested in my skin.

My skin is optimized for 19.5:9 aspect ratio smartphones (e.g., iPhone 14 Pro, Pixel 6Pro), taking into account the iPhone's notch and dynamic island.
Note also that the artist name is displayed by referencing the album artist's tag in my skin.

The design may not display well on screens with other aspect ratios such as Android, WinPC, and Mac.
For example, artwork corners may not be rounded or buttons may be stretched unnaturally. This is because foobar2000mobile automatically adjusts the design.

If you have a request for a skin with a different aspect ratio than 19.5:9, please write the model name and aspect ratio.
I cannot accommodate all, but I may add them to the skin definition file.
I am planning to create 4:3 and 16:10 skins compatible with iPad Pro 12.9" and M2 MBA for personal use.

If you don't mind the aspect ratio problem, I will share the Ver.1.0 skin file (.fbskin) in another post.

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #3 –
Ah. My phone is a Moto G Play (2021) with an aspect ratio of 20:9. It tends to make skins look a little wonky.

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #4 –
I don't know how it will affect it with this skin, so I might as well try it out before asking you to go through the trouble to. Also about finding more information, I highly suggest going through archive.org and what they have on the old forums if you want to look. There may have been a thread with some of the information you were looking for.

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Fishingforpie on
I don't know how it will affect it with this skin, so I might as well try it out before asking you to go through the trouble to. Also about finding more information, I highly suggest going through archive.org and what they have on the old forums if you want to look. There may have been a thread with some of the information you were looking for.

Thank you for information, Fishingforpie.
I have tried archive.org (i.e., waybackmachine). Indeed, there are topics on dynamic skinning and displaying custom tags. However, archive.org does not have archives of their forum pages unfortunately...

Quote from: Fishingforpie on
Ah. My phone is a Moto G Play (2021) with an aspect ratio of 20:9. It tends to make skins look a little wonky.

Ok. I have been planning to add skins for smartphones with aspect ratio of 20:9 (9:20) because I feel that the latest Android smartphones use a 20:9 or nearly 20:9 aspect ratio: Pixel 7, Pixel 7Pro, Moto G Play (you have), Galaxy S22 Ultra, Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G, and so on.

I will publish my skin in another thread after I add skins for 20:9.
Please wait a couple of days.

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #6 –
Okii! Thank you so much. It's good to see skins being made.

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #7 –
Daiki, how are you adding custom fonts?

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #8 –
Quote from: electrolex on
Daiki, how are you adding custom fonts?
I use no  custome fonts in my skin, and I dont know how to implement them into a foobar2000 mobile skin.

Probably, such things should be coordinated between the foobar2000 mobile application and OS.
As far as I know, there are no settings in skinning other than font size, color, and style (italic or bold).

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #9 –
Daiki,

Thank you for the info!
Customizing the fonts is essential... I really dont want to use labels in my skin because they look random most of the time

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #10 –
Daiki, you have a really nice skin... I think the skin designer executable should have a "-help" command by default to see all the options... I tried with no luck... Im sure they will implement new features in the future... Your skin is very nice. I have one remark to say about it... not everyone wants a specific theme... like the one you currently have is very delicate and the colors remind me of the album cover... as you said: it had a theme in mind. Perhaps you can make a more general skin with something more people can relate to like for example: urban/streets/modern or gold/gods/ancient,  etc...

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #11 –
Quote from: Daiki on
Hi,

Now I'm creating a new skin for foobar2000 mobile, optimized especially for notch display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio such as recent iPhones.

With the help of many already published nice skins and readme references,
my skins are getting pretty close to my ideal (see a screenshot at the bottom).

I think the current skin is sufficient for use on small displays such as iPhones and Android smartphones,
but more information could be displayed on larger displays such as iPads and PCs.

Therefore, I have a few questions to ask in order to improve the current skin:

1) How can I access and display more detailed tag and playback information including Sample rate, Bits per sample, Bitrate, Codec, Lossless or Lossy, ReplayGain, playback device name, etc.?
I tried googling, but could not find any way to access other than basic information such as song titles, album titles, and artist names.

2) Are there any other "state names" besides "playing" and "classical" that can be used for dynamic skinning with if statements?

3) Are there any general comparison operators or basic functions available for more advanced skinning?
For example, I would like to implement a display that changes according to the song's Sample rate or Bits per sample, or a dynamic change in background color according to the color of the album artwork.

4) Is it possible to add a skin switcher function to the playback screen menu? If possible, it would be great if the feature could be added in a future update.


Any information, no matter how trivial, would be appreciated.
Also, any advice or requests for the skin would be very encouraging to me.

Thanks.

[attach type=image align=left]23131[/attach]


May I know how you made a skin in the 19.5x9 aspect ratio? Been struggling with understanding the skin software but I am stuck with the native aspect ratios :(

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #12 –

I've made skins with similar limitations and questions, but I haven't been able to find an answer to any of them.
I think it's a big problem that the skin making app doesn't have any updates at all. I waited for a long time but finally gave up.

Re: [Skinning] More advanced information on skinning?

Reply #13 –
Quote from: ManicQuinn on
May I know how you made a skin in the 19.5x9 aspect ratio? Been struggling with understanding the skin software but I am stuck with the native aspect ratios :(

Sorry for late reply.

You can add skins with a:b custom aspect ratio by editing .skindef file and adding text file(s).

1) you need to write the skin information in the .skindef file in the following format:
skin: AAAAxBBBB landscape-a-b-AAAAxBBBB.txt or skin: BBBBxAAAA portrait-b-a-BBBBxAAAA.txt,
where AAAA and BBBB correspond to the number of pixels in width and height, and a and b correspond to the aspect ratio of width and height.
2) you need to prepare a text file containing the specifications for each skin (i.e., position of artwork and title...). Filenames must match those listed in the .skindef file.
Unfortunately, you cannot preview skins with custom aspect ratio in the foobar skinning app.
To test skins with custom aspect ratio, you need to transfer the skin file to your device and check it each time (it is troublesome, but not hard once you get used to it).

The fb2k mobile application seems to automatically determine and display a skin with the closest aspect ratio to that of the device's display.