Xion... A new skinnable media player
skin it with just a .psd !!!
Monday, September 25, 2006 by BoXXi | Discussion: WinCustomize News
A new skinnable media player arrived on the scene in August, say hello to Xion. This is a very capable little player, but by far the most interesting thing about it is it's skinning format. To skin this player you simply create the interface in Photoshop, making sure all the different elements are on individual layers, (which many of us do anyway) and then you give the layers specific names and just dump the .PSD file in the skins folder of the player...... That's it!!!! The software does the rest and converts your layered .PSD into a skin.
This is surely a step forward for ease of skinning. No code to write, no XML to battle through, NO SLICING UP OF IMAGES!
I made two skins within an hour of downloading the software, and they work perfectly. So well done to r2 Studios, the creators of Xion, they really have an innovative Player AND skinning system here. It even supports animation too.
I hope some of you guys will support this player and make a few skins for it. They deserve to have some success, and I think you will enjoy skinning it.
This is surely a step forward for ease of skinning. No code to write, no XML to battle through, NO SLICING UP OF IMAGES!
I made two skins within an hour of downloading the software, and they work perfectly. So well done to r2 Studios, the creators of Xion, they really have an innovative Player AND skinning system here. It even supports animation too.
I hope some of you guys will support this player and make a few skins for it. They deserve to have some success, and I think you will enjoy skinning it.
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Justin Rhoades
Reply #22 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 12:45 AM
Reply #22 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 12:45 AM
ok i downloaded it and it keeps on crashing and i cant figure out why can anyone help
Keikonium
Reply #23 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 1:29 AM
Reply #23 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 1:29 AM
Downloaded fine, installed fine, loaded fine, audio quality = no difference.
To me, foobar and Xion sound the exact same. I have replygain, and a bunch of configured settings in foobar however. But all that configuration is a given if you plan to use foobar... Out of the box, Xion is pretty nice
. It uses almost 20 MB of memory for me tho 
. Foobar is a small 4 MB.
I'll stick with foobar, but thanks for the link. Nice little program ^__^.
To me, foobar and Xion sound the exact same. I have replygain, and a bunch of configured settings in foobar however. But all that configuration is a given if you plan to use foobar... Out of the box, Xion is pretty nice
. It uses almost 20 MB of memory for me tho 
. Foobar is a small 4 MB.I'll stick with foobar, but thanks for the link. Nice little program ^__^.
LoveSensualityDevotion
Reply #24 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 2:21 AM
Reply #24 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 2:21 AM
My system info (without all the bells and whistles of software list) :
Computer Type ACPI Multiprocessor PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer 7.0.5700.6
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name
User Name
Logon Domain
Date / Time 2006-09-26 / 00:06
Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4 630, 3000 MHz (15 x 200)
Motherboard Name Asus P5AD2-E Premium (3 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Dual Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)
Motherboard Chipset Intel Alderwood i925XE
System Memory 2048 MB (DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM)
BIOS Type AMI (03/23/05)
Display:
Video Adapter Radeon X1900 GT Secondary (256 MB)
Video Adapter Radeon X1900 GT (256 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon X1900 GT (R580)
Monitor Model DELL 2407WFP
Multimedia:
Audio Adapter C-Media CMI9880 @ Intel 82801FB ICH6 - High Definition Audio Controller [B-2]
Audio Adapter Creative SB Live! 24-bit (SB0410) Sound Card
Storage:
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801FB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2652
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 266F
Storage Controller ITE IT8211 ATA/ATAPI Controller
Storage Controller Silicon Image SiI 3114 SoftRaid 5 Controller
Storage Controller VAXSCSI Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Generic Flash HS-CF USB Device (117 MB, USB)
Disk Drive Generic Flash HS-COMBO USB Device
Disk Drive ST3400832AS (400 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA)
Disk Drive ST3400832AS (400 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA)
Disk Drive ST3750640AS (750 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Disk Drive USB2.0 CardReader CF RW USB Device
Disk Drive USB2.0 CardReader Combo USB Device
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8525B SCSI CdRom Device (52x/32x/52x CD-RW)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8164B (16x/52x DVD-ROM)
Optical Drive KA2711H PQV908H SCSI CdRom Device
Optical Drive PLEXTOR DVDR PX-716AL (DVD+R9:6x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/4x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/24x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK
Input:
Keyboard Logitech PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse Logitech HID-compliant G5 Laser Mouse
Network:
Network Adapter Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (X 2)
DMI:
DMI BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.
DMI BIOS Version 1005.002
DMI Motherboard Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer INC.
DMI Motherboard Product P5AD2-E-Premium
DMI Motherboard Version Rev 1.xx
Ok, this is a lot of info but when you have problems installing software, it might be a good idea to give out some info about your system (OS, Ram, Processor and so on) so that somebody can help you out to figure your problems..
I installed this Xion in 5 different computers and one of those computers has Window Vista RC 1 (Build 5600) : while other players game me a hard time on Vista (consider the same WMP 11 crashes all the time on Vista !!!), this installed and played really smooth on all systems)...
Computer Type ACPI Multiprocessor PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer 7.0.5700.6
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name
User Name
Logon Domain
Date / Time 2006-09-26 / 00:06
Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4 630, 3000 MHz (15 x 200)
Motherboard Name Asus P5AD2-E Premium (3 PCI, 2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16, 4 DDR2 DIMM, Audio, Dual Gigabit LAN, IEEE-1394)
Motherboard Chipset Intel Alderwood i925XE
System Memory 2048 MB (DDR2-533 DDR2 SDRAM)
BIOS Type AMI (03/23/05)
Display:
Video Adapter Radeon X1900 GT Secondary (256 MB)
Video Adapter Radeon X1900 GT (256 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon X1900 GT (R580)
Monitor Model DELL 2407WFP
Multimedia:
Audio Adapter C-Media CMI9880 @ Intel 82801FB ICH6 - High Definition Audio Controller [B-2]
Audio Adapter Creative SB Live! 24-bit (SB0410) Sound Card
Storage:
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801FB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2652
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801FB/FBM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 266F
Storage Controller ITE IT8211 ATA/ATAPI Controller
Storage Controller Silicon Image SiI 3114 SoftRaid 5 Controller
Storage Controller VAXSCSI Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Generic Flash HS-CF USB Device (117 MB, USB)
Disk Drive Generic Flash HS-COMBO USB Device
Disk Drive ST3400832AS (400 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA)
Disk Drive ST3400832AS (400 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA)
Disk Drive ST3750640AS (750 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Disk Drive USB2.0 CardReader CF RW USB Device
Disk Drive USB2.0 CardReader Combo USB Device
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8525B SCSI CdRom Device (52x/32x/52x CD-RW)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8164B (16x/52x DVD-ROM)
Optical Drive KA2711H PQV908H SCSI CdRom Device
Optical Drive PLEXTOR DVDR PX-716AL (DVD+R9:6x, DVD+RW:16x/8x, DVD-RW:16x/4x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/24x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK
Input:
Keyboard Logitech PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse Logitech HID-compliant G5 Laser Mouse
Network:
Network Adapter Marvell Yukon 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (X 2)
DMI:
DMI BIOS Vendor American Megatrends Inc.
DMI BIOS Version 1005.002
DMI Motherboard Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer INC.
DMI Motherboard Product P5AD2-E-Premium
DMI Motherboard Version Rev 1.xx
Ok, this is a lot of info but when you have problems installing software, it might be a good idea to give out some info about your system (OS, Ram, Processor and so on) so that somebody can help you out to figure your problems..
I installed this Xion in 5 different computers and one of those computers has Window Vista RC 1 (Build 5600) : while other players game me a hard time on Vista (consider the same WMP 11 crashes all the time on Vista !!!), this installed and played really smooth on all systems)...
Cliff Cawley
Reply #25 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 3:53 AM
Reply #25 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 3:53 AM
Hi all!
Sorry that some of you are experiencing problems downloading a running Xion Audio Player, hopefully I can help you out.
It shouldn't matter which browser you use, in fact I use FireFox all the time and not IE and the link seems to be working fine. It's possible that the server is under a bit of pressure with all of the recent downloads so it might be worthwhile hitting download again.
As for the crashes, I'm not sure what would be causing this. It is possible that drivers are causing the issue, so if you could ensure you have the latest sound drivers for your card installed, then we can cross that off the list.
The official Xion forum can be found at http://xion.r2.com.au/community/ . If you are still experiencing crashes after updating to the latest Sound Drivers, then please come by and let me know so that I can work with you to fix the crash.
I'm glad that you are all enjoying Xion and in response to LoveSensualityDevotion, yes I do plan to upgrade those components in the future. I will be releasing a component SDK which will also open up the field for component developers to create new and fantastic components.
Hope to see some great skins from you all!
Warm regards,
Cliff
r2 Studios
http://www.r2.com.au/
http://xion.r2.com.au/
Sorry that some of you are experiencing problems downloading a running Xion Audio Player, hopefully I can help you out.
It shouldn't matter which browser you use, in fact I use FireFox all the time and not IE and the link seems to be working fine. It's possible that the server is under a bit of pressure with all of the recent downloads so it might be worthwhile hitting download again.
As for the crashes, I'm not sure what would be causing this. It is possible that drivers are causing the issue, so if you could ensure you have the latest sound drivers for your card installed, then we can cross that off the list.
The official Xion forum can be found at http://xion.r2.com.au/community/ . If you are still experiencing crashes after updating to the latest Sound Drivers, then please come by and let me know so that I can work with you to fix the crash.
I'm glad that you are all enjoying Xion and in response to LoveSensualityDevotion, yes I do plan to upgrade those components in the future. I will be releasing a component SDK which will also open up the field for component developers to create new and fantastic components.
Hope to see some great skins from you all!
Warm regards,
Cliff
r2 Studios
http://www.r2.com.au/
http://xion.r2.com.au/
BoXXi
Reply #26 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 5:00 AM
Reply #26 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 5:00 AM
Hi Cliff, Can we upload skins to the official Xion site, or just DeviantArt? If you let me know how to get them on the official site I will send some over. Thanks for a great skinning system, has it been used in any other applications? Did you develop it, and if so how did you make the player use .PSD files?, I'm fascinated by this! 
FordGT
Reply #27 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 5:42 AM
Reply #27 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 5:42 AM
The idea of skinning with PSD's is excellent, however this player just isn't doing it for me at all. the Library and Playlist menu's aren't very informative at all, unlike Foobar2000. My computer isn't the newest, but it does run at 1.5Ghz and whenever a move a window around or close a window the music hangs/skips in Xion which sucks. Another issue for me is that when you display the Xion player itself, everything else in teh background freezes and you can't control any of it unless you minimize the Xion player. Terrible! Why is it like that? I've already made a skin for it and it works almost perfectly. Still some adjustments to make on that. When it isn't skipping/hanging it sounds excellent, but I'll continue to use Foobar.
Cliff Cawley
Reply #28 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 5:48 AM
Reply #28 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 5:48 AM
Hi BoXXi,
Yes you can send them to me using the Contact page. Just choose 'Skin Submission' from the drop down box and attach your skin file.
Thanks for the great feedback on the skinning system
No it hasn't been used in any other applications. Yes, I developed it from scratch for use with Xion. To figure out the PSD file format, I managed to find some old version 3.0 publicly released file format documents and from there I just figured out the rest by trial and error.
All up the development of Xion has taken about 4 years of my spare time development. The skin system taking up the most time.
I coded Xion in pure Win32 using C++.
Cliff
Yes you can send them to me using the Contact page. Just choose 'Skin Submission' from the drop down box and attach your skin file.
Thanks for the great feedback on the skinning system
No it hasn't been used in any other applications. Yes, I developed it from scratch for use with Xion. To figure out the PSD file format, I managed to find some old version 3.0 publicly released file format documents and from there I just figured out the rest by trial and error.
All up the development of Xion has taken about 4 years of my spare time development. The skin system taking up the most time.
I coded Xion in pure Win32 using C++.
Cliff
Cliff Cawley
Reply #29 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:03 AM
Reply #29 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:03 AM
Hi FordGT,
Which version of Windows are you using?
Did you see my response to your forum post on the Xion forums?
Cliff
| Another issue for me is that when you display the Xion player itself, everything else in teh background freezes and you can't control any of it unless you minimize the Xion player |
Which version of Windows are you using?
Did you see my response to your forum post on the Xion forums?
Cliff
L
Reply #30 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:07 AM
Reply #30 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:07 AM
its a bit buggy but otherwise its pretty coo! i got the skin with the wobbly speakers and it is so cute! looking forward to creating a skinning for it in PS, what a great concept that is! I can't wait for stardock to implement PS formats for skins too
Cliff Cawley
Reply #31 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:19 AM
If you find any bugs, could you let me know by posting in the official forum
I hope to keep on improving Xion in the future and with your feedback I will be able to do just that.
Cliff
Reply #31 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:19 AM
| its a bit buggy but otherwise its pretty coo! |
If you find any bugs, could you let me know by posting in the official forum
I hope to keep on improving Xion in the future and with your feedback I will be able to do just that.
Cliff
Gregory2001
Reply #32 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 8:58 AM
Reply #32 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 8:58 AM
Sounds good! Looks good! I am having a problem playing CDs, though. What am I doing wrong?
Surj
Reply #33 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 10:23 AM
Reply #33 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 10:23 AM
what a clever idea. designers can actually create something without knowledge of the often confusing code backend?
BoXXi
Reply #34 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 4:24 PM
Reply #34 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 4:24 PM
Cliff, Is there anywhere that I can purchase a Pro version of Xion, or at least donate to it's development in some way? I really like the work you've done on this thing, and would like to help out. I will also be sending some (hopefully, high quality) skins in the near future. Keep up the good work, I will certainly keep spreading the word.
FordGT
Reply #36 Wednesday, September 27, 2006 2:13 AM
Reply #36 Wednesday, September 27, 2006 2:13 AM
OK, I just submitted my skin! It's my very first skin for anything. Finally, a program that's easy to skin for 
Xenon101
Reply #39 Thursday, September 28, 2006 1:51 AM
Reply #39 Thursday, September 28, 2006 1:51 AM
I LOVE THIS PROGRAM ITS WHAT IVE ALWAYS WANTED!!!!!!!
Cliff Cawley
Reply #40 Thursday, September 28, 2006 5:46 AM
Reply #40 Thursday, September 28, 2006 5:46 AM
Hi everyone!
I'm glad you are all enjoying my player and skin system!
Thank you! I am thrilled to hear that you would like to send a donation. You can do so on my Donation page.
I run r2 Studios is my spare time, and every little donation helps me to keep it up and running and providing quality freeware for everyone!
Thank you all!
Warm regards,
Cliff
I'm glad you are all enjoying my player and skin system!
| Cliff, Is there anywhere that I can purchase a Pro version of Xion, or at least donate to it's development in some way? |
Thank you! I am thrilled to hear that you would like to send a donation. You can do so on my Donation page.
I run r2 Studios is my spare time, and every little donation helps me to keep it up and running and providing quality freeware for everyone!
Thank you all!
Warm regards,
Cliff
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Reply #21 Tuesday, September 26, 2006 12:40 AM
ModVer: 0.0.0.0 Offset: 616c6975
Here is the error code^^
Man this sucks Ireally wanted to play with this
Speedy