DWJukebox

How do I create a skin?

Chris La Mantia — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:32:14 +0000

Ever wonder how the skins in the Skin Gallery get created? Unfortunately, there is no “skin designer” tool, as I have put all my programming time into the jukebox itself, but that doesn’t mean creating a skin is difficult! I’ve posted a complete Skin Creation Tutorial in the Support Forum that describes the process from start to finish.

Skin: LCARS

Chris La Mantia — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:09:05 +0000

An unusual departure, this skin replicates the LCARS interface used on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Designed by Ben Johnson, I have taken the liberty of modifying the skin to add indicators for modes such as Radio, Loop, etc., plus used the new User Timers function to implement some “blinkies”. This skin requires version 3.4.1 or higher. NOTE: This skin uses graphics, sounds and a font from the LCARS Standards Development Board.

Skin: Wurly Numeric

Chris La Mantia — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:21:59 +0000

This is a modification of Hound Dog’s wonderful Wurly skin, set up to use numeric input rather than alphanumeric. This makes it ideal for use with a media center PC attached to a 1080p HDTV (use aspect ratio 16:10 for best results) and controlled via a remote control. This wide-screen skin based on a Wurlitzer Classic 2100 jukebox. This skin requires sounds from the Hound Dog Sound Pack. Note that the filenames in this skin are not 8.3-safe and will need to be modified for DOS users.

DWJukebox 3.4 Released

Chris La Mantia — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:04:29 +0000

DWJukebox 3.4 has been released. This version includes discrete command buttons (On/Off commands as opposed to simple toggles) for most toggleable features for ease of use with remote controls. In addition, a new User Timers feature has been added for skins; look for upcoming blog articles to describe how this new feature works. In addition, new page change animations are available, and animation in general has been improved and is less likely to cause song stutters. Finally, PNG is now supported in both skins and the Slide Show screensaver.

Here is the full changelist for 3.4:

Added User Timers feature for skins.
Added support for PNG files in skins.
Added support for PNG and BMP files to slideshow screensaver.
Added SlideInHorizontal, SlideOutHorizontal, SlideOverHorizontal, FlipHorizontal, RotateHorizontal, SlideVertical, SlideInVertical, SlideOutVertical, SlideOverVertical, FlipVertical, and RotateVertical animations.
Added SlideShowMaxImageSize to [ScreenSaver] section of JUKEBOX.INI.
Added DisplayOutputFile to [Settings] section of JUKEBOX.INI.
Added AnimationAcceleration to [Display] section of JUKEBOX.INI.
Added page change animations to vertical orientations.
Added additional song polls in animation process to make song play smoother during animations.
Added BTN_SCREENSAVER, BTN_SCREENSAVER_ON, and BTN_SCREENSAVER_OFF.
Added BTN_PAUSE_ON and BTN_PAUSE_OFF.
Added BTN_RADIO_ON and BTN_RADIO_OFF.
Added BTN_LOOP_ON and BTN_LOOP_OFF.
Added BTN_PLAYSTIMULATOR_ON and BTN_PLAYSTIMULATOR_OFF.
Added BTN_FREEPLAY_ON and BTN_FREEPLAY_OFF.
Added a CMD message for every BTN message.
Added MSG_SONGSELECTED when a song is selected by any user action rather than by radio mode or the play stimulator.
Added MSG_START_SKIN when a new skin is loaded.
Added LimitSkipLastToMostRecent setting to the [Settings] section of JUKEBOX.INI.
Changed MSG_START_SKIN to be the default icon action.
Changed default animation speed from 30 to 20 (making page change animations 33% faster).
Changed BTN_COMINGUPSCROLL to loop back to the first page after going past the last page.
Changed condensed font to left-align rather than center if the text is too large for the titlestrip.
Fixed animation smoothness issues for album skins.
Fixed song skip during a screen shot.

As usual, the latest version is available at the download page.

Skin: ZenBox – Orange Backlight

Chris La Mantia — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:12:49 +0000

Inspired by a Zenith console TV cabinet, this skin really must be appreciated in all its high-resolution glory. The small screenshots I use really do not do it justice. It is available in three different types of lighting; this version uses an orange backlight.

Skin: ZenBox – Red Backlight

Chris La Mantia — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:10:30 +0000

Skin: ZenBox – Natural Light

Chris La Mantia — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:06:29 +0000

DWJukebox 3.3.2 Released

Chris La Mantia — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:56:47 +0000

DWJukebox 3.3.2 has been released after a far-too-long delay. The changes in this version are:

Added BTN_COMINGUPSCROLL to page through the Coming Up list.
Added RunawayLimiter to [Index] section of JUKEBOX.INI
Added ignore file support. Any folder containing a “dwj.ign” or “dwjukebox.ign” file will be ignored when searching for songs. The actual content of the file is irrelevant.
Added messages to the log file when a folder is ignored due to being below the maximum search depth.
Added a STRETCH option for MonitorAspectRatio.
Added ScreenSaverRandom to [ScreenSaver] section of JUKEBOX.INI.
Changed MonitorAspectRatio to support either true ratios (4:3, etc.) or decimal equivalents.
Fixed a display big with single titlestrips where the Artist would appear too lo when the condensed font was used for the title.

See the download page to get the latest version.

Life and Other Delays

Chris La Mantia — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:53:06 +0000

Once again I find myself in the position of apologizing for a long absence.

As I am sure most of you know, DWJukebox is made available for free. Part of this is due to the fact that I want it to be; I want to give back to the community that I have taken so much from. I have been working on this project over seven years now, and it really has become a labor of love.

Part of this, however, is due to patent restrictions on the MP3 format which prevent any commercial use. So even if I wanted to, I could not make a commercial endeavor of this as long as I insist on continuing to support DOS. With Windows, I could use Media Player as the “engine” which actually plays the music and get around such licensing issues. But until I decide to do something like that this remains strictly a hobby.

Earlier this year I was laid off from my job, and due to a very unfortnate Non-Compete agreement I have been unable to find another. Thus, all of my time has been going into trying to work on projects that will help feed my family. This is why I have been able to pay so little attention to support and upgrades lately.

I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. I have not abandoned DWJukebox, just been forced to slow down. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

DWJukebox 3.3.1 Released

Chris La Mantia — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:53:12 +0000

DWJukebox 3.3.1 has been released. This is just a bugfix release. The changes in this version are:

Changed skin change to remember the page that skin was last on.
Fixed autoflip during screen saver.
Fixed GUI movement on album skins.
Fixed NEXTALPHA/PREVALPHA and alpha jumps.
Fixed crashes related to Display5 (Album cover display).
Fixed alpha jumps when sorting by album.

See the download page to get the latest version.