1src Forums - Making VG & SB skins for the NX series

01-15-2003, 10:18 PM	#1
GSC3D Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 57	Making VG & SB skins for the NX series Okee... There seem to be a lot of questions here about how to make Virtual Graffiti and Status Bar Skins for the NX series. In learning how to do this, Ive created a PSD template which can be used with other Apps to make them. I suggest NXskinGen. It is by far the easiest, and you dont really have to try hard to dither your images to make them look good if you use Photoshop. Anyway, Im attaching the PSD file Ive made. Im writing a tutorial on how to do it all step-by-step. This PSD has mask layers for all the important areas (buttons etc) as well as guides showing proper areas for the Virtual Graffiti area. Anyone who knows how to use Codewarrior, NXskinGen or PRCedit will understand all this once you open the file. Anyone who is making their first skin should do some searching here, or on Google... or wait for my tutorial. (prolly tomorrow or the next day as im about to go to bed) This file as I said, is one I used for my own skins, so you wont see the standard SS, or SB graphics... I may add those as I make the tutorial, I dunno. File is Winzip with PSD (6.0) inside. 453k Since I think the max size of attachments here is 204k heres a link to the file on my server... General_GSC3D_Skin_Template_4_SS_and_SB.zip

01-15-2003, 11:20 PM	#2
GSC3D Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 57	Okee... I decided to make a really quick Tutorial on the VG skin making... Ive had too many beers to finish the SB tutorial tonight, or to proofread this one. Here it is anyway... really simple... i may do more detail later, but it shows just how easy making the VG skin really is. Its hosted on my site GSC3D.COM because I dunno if there is a way to upload it here... Heres the link to the VG tutorial: How to make Virtual Graffiti Skins for an NX series Clie with PS6 and NxSkinGen Like I said, Ive had a lot of Beer... so I may want to change a few things or make this a bit more clear later. Ill try to do the SB tutorial tomorrow.

01-16-2003, 03:08 AM	#3
cbulock Moderator Bronze Contributor Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Michigan, USA Posts: 3,116	Hey, thats really cool. I have been writing a tutorial for this for a couple of days now, I just finished it tonight. I really like the skins you have made so far and can't wait to see what else you have coming! __________________ -Cameron

01-16-2003, 06:14 AM	#4
pcmommy I hate programming Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Moorhead, MN USA Posts: 116	Can't access the page!! Your server is down, darn! __________________ Toni Fettig "College is my life"

01-16-2003, 07:23 AM	#5
Jun Global Source PDA Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Charleston Posts: 405	GSC3D! YOU REALLY DID A GREAT JOB! AWESOME! CAN YOU POST SOME OF YOUR SKINS AT THE SKINS SECTION OF CLIESOURCE? http://www.cliesource.com/sdownload...wfiles&catid=16 CHEERS!

01-16-2003, 07:59 AM	#6
bobster Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cary, NC USA Posts: 22	My hats off to both GSC3D and cbulock! You both did a fantastic job!!! Many thanks for helping to demystify this issue! Cheers, Bobster __________________ The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're professionals. We cause accidents. - Nathaniel Borenstein

01-16-2003, 12:33 PM

GSC3D

Member

Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: Ohio

Posts: 57

Quote:

Originally posted by msgate
GSC3D!

YOU REALLY DID A GREAT JOB! AWESOME! CAN YOU POST SOME OF YOUR SKINS AT THE SKINS SECTION OF CLIESOURCE?

http://www.cliesource.com/sdownload...wfiles&catid=16

CHEERS!

Done, I uploaded both the VG and SB skins with background in the appropriate sections of the download area.

Thanks.

01-20-2003, 03:21 AM	#8
clieboy Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 11	Erm, looking forward to your SB Tutorial.. when is that coming? Or is it abandonware?

01-22-2003, 01:01 AM	#9
GSC3D Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 57	nope... working on it. A bit more complicated though. If you wanna try it, the process is the same as for the VG area... you just have to paste in your own image for every part of the BMP template generated by NxSkinGen. That VG tutorial was really quick and not so clear... im taking longer on the SB tutorial because I want it to be a lot easier to follow. Ill let you know here when its done. If you could follow the VG tut... you can do it without my help though. All the areas and guides are in my template for the SB skin making process. __________________ 3,7-Dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione :: C8H10N4O2 GSC3D.COM My NX Skins NxSkingGen Tutorial

01-22-2003, 06:36 AM	#10
bobster Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cary, NC USA Posts: 22	One thing I am totally mystified by and would appreciate any clarification you could make is how the battery and VG arrow are updated by the OS. I.e when I stick my NX in the charger a little lightning bolt appears on the battery icon to indicate it is charging. Yet on the Black Okey SB skin the battery is sideways and much smaller, and sure enough the little lightning bolt is too! How is that accomplished? When I create a skin for the SB how do I allow for that if I resize or alter the "standard" elements like battery, memory stick and VG arrow? Thanks in advance! Cheers, Bob Porter __________________ The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're professionals. We cause accidents. - Nathaniel Borenstein

01-22-2003, 08:38 AM	#11
rldunn Michigan Mod Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Brighton, MI USA Posts: 2,275	I'll explain this using the battery icon. There's not one battery icon with a charger overlay. There are actually 13 (I think) battery icons. One of them is for charging status, and then the rest are for different charge levels. The OS just notes when the battery meets a certain discharge level, then tells the status bar to display the bitmap that corresponds to that level. The same thing happens with the arrows; there are actually three arrow bitmaps (up, down, and not available).

01-22-2003, 08:57 AM	#12
bobster Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cary, NC USA Posts: 22	That makes sense and is what I suspected, but how do I update or replace 13 battery graphics with my own? I assume they have to be placed in the prc file, sort of like a .res file in C but does NxSkinGen take care of that for you? Thanks! Bob Porter __________________ The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're professionals. We cause accidents. - Nathaniel Borenstein

01-22-2003, 12:49 PM	#13
GSC3D Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Ohio Posts: 57	hey, NxSkinGen takes care of it for you... as long as you make the graphics for each state. Run NxSkinGen and export the BMP template for the SB... youll see a little representation of all the graphics you will need. For now you could follow my tutorial (link in my sig) and follow the same steps to make it work with a SB. Heres what you end up needing to paste in for a fully functional SB: 1 image for the full SB background 2 each for the Apps, Find, Menu, and Silk Buttons 15 for the Battery states 15 for the memory card states 6 for the show/hide VG area button and 1 for the area behind the clock. theres one more lil graphic... but i dont think its actually used. anyone know? __________________ 3,7-Dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione :: C8H10N4O2 GSC3D.COM My NX Skins NxSkingGen Tutorial

01-22-2003, 01:29 PM	#14
bobster Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cary, NC USA Posts: 22	Ahhh! Lightbulbs and Lightning are striking, between this thread, your tutorial and some playing with NxSkinGen I think the methods are all starting to make sense! Thanks! Bob __________________ The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're professionals. We cause accidents. - Nathaniel Borenstein

01-22-2003, 01:51 PM	#15
CrakerZ Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 63	OK, my lightbulb is burned out. I've no problem seeing the VG in NxSkinGen. I can even see the SB down on the left, and ll the controls on the right. What I can't #%@* see is the SB in the top BMP, or even how to import/export it! Help? Please? Anybody with more wattage than my humble brain?