This may be a really stupid question .... but ....
HELP
Sunday, February 17, 2008 by RickyMaveety | Discussion: Docks
OK ... so I just started using Object Dock, and the other products by Stardock. I've sort of gone nuts regarding Tiggz K-TEK skins, and I've been creating tons of icons for it (which I will gladly share when I've finished them).
Now, here's the stupid question. I would also like to create a steel dock to match the rest of the skin. Tiggz mentioned that he doesn't generally use a dock, and so I guess that's why he's never created one. But I use the docks like crazy ... so I really need one.
I looked at the tutorials about creating your own dock, and it sounds as if all I need to make is two png files and one ini file and put them all in the "backgrounds" folder. Then, theoretically, I should be able to find my dock background in the Object Dock drop down menu.
However .... my new background does not show up at all. So, any ideas as to what I might be doing wrong? I'm putting the folder in My Documents/Stardock/Objectdock Library/Backgrounds ... should the location be different? Or, should I not have subfolders?
Thanks.
Ricky
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HG_Eliminator
Reply #2 Monday, February 18, 2008 5:10 AM
Reply #2 Monday, February 18, 2008 5:10 AM
The best way to learn skinning Docks is to grab one you like and start messing with it. See how each setting in the INI changes the way the dock acts and look.
HG_Eliminator
Reply #3 Monday, February 18, 2008 5:19 AM
Reply #3 Monday, February 18, 2008 5:19 AM
Feel free to PM me with a text of your InI script or post it here and il see if is all ok, from that point 
**sorry about the triple post, were having Forum bug's****
**sorry about the triple post, were having Forum bug's****
Bebi Bulma
Reply #4 Monday, February 18, 2008 5:22 AM
Reply #4 Monday, February 18, 2008 5:22 AM
Did you check all the ObjectDock tutorials posted here? Wiki tutorials
messiah1
Reply #5 Monday, February 18, 2008 7:42 AM
Reply #5 Monday, February 18, 2008 7:42 AM
Make sure that you name the ini inside the ini as to what you want the dock to be called. Also, ensure that each background tag has the proper image name associated with it.
Cavan1
Reply #6 Monday, February 18, 2008 8:46 AM
Reply #6 Monday, February 18, 2008 8:46 AM
Make sure the folder is named the exact same as dock is in the .ini file. The name in .ini is what appears in list but they are ordered by folder name.
RickyMaveety
Reply #7 Monday, February 18, 2008 11:08 AM
Reply #7 Monday, February 18, 2008 11:08 AM
Thank you. I will look at the ini file and see if there are any bugs in it.
And, yes, Bebi, I read all the tutorials. And, they are very good, but none mentioned any of the suggestions noted in this thread. I will go over the ini tonight and see what I can find.
And, yes, Bebi, I read all the tutorials. And, they are very good, but none mentioned any of the suggestions noted in this thread. I will go over the ini tonight and see what I can find.
RickyMaveety
Reply #8 Monday, February 18, 2008 11:12 AM
Reply #8 Monday, February 18, 2008 11:12 AM
And, I like the idea of taking a dock I like and messing with the settings. Now that I know where they are stored, I can play with it from that angle.
As an aside, making all these icons is taking some real work .... I finish about 20 of them, and then I notice something I don't like ... and so I have to go back and re-render them all over again. ARGH! Why oh why can't I notice the "thing" on the first render??
As an aside, making all these icons is taking some real work .... I finish about 20 of them, and then I notice something I don't like ... and so I have to go back and re-render them all over again. ARGH! Why oh why can't I notice the "thing" on the first render??
RickyMaveety
Reply #9 Monday, February 18, 2008 5:27 PM
Reply #9 Monday, February 18, 2008 5:27 PM
THANK YOU!!!
It worked perfectly. I still have to tweak the ini a bit (because I need the dock to look different depending on what side of the screen it's on), but at least I have the bottom one working and it looks pretty good.
Yeah!!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
It worked perfectly. I still have to tweak the ini a bit (because I need the dock to look different depending on what side of the screen it's on), but at least I have the bottom one working and it looks pretty good.
Yeah!!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
messiah1
Reply #10 Monday, February 18, 2008 6:12 PM
Glad we could be of assistance. Anything else you need, just ask. Folks are mighty helpful around here.
Reply #10 Monday, February 18, 2008 6:12 PM
THANK YOU!!!
It worked perfectly. I still have to tweak the ini a bit (because I need the dock to look different depending on what side of the screen it's on), but at least I have the bottom one working and it looks pretty good.
Yeah!!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
It worked perfectly. I still have to tweak the ini a bit (because I need the dock to look different depending on what side of the screen it's on), but at least I have the bottom one working and it looks pretty good.
Yeah!!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
Glad we could be of assistance. Anything else you need, just ask. Folks are mighty helpful around here.
HG_Eliminator
Reply #11 Monday, February 18, 2008 6:47 PM
couldn't have said it better my self
Reply #11 Monday, February 18, 2008 6:47 PM
Glad we could be of assistance. Anything else you need, just ask. Folks are mighty helpful around here.
couldn't have said it better my self
RickyMaveety
Reply #12 Tuesday, February 19, 2008 11:05 PM
Reply #12 Tuesday, February 19, 2008 11:05 PM
Of course, once I got the dock set up, I decided that I really had to do all the dock icons over again ... this is turning into a never ending project.
I hope that packing them up and uploading them to the site takes less time. I understand I need to save the dock to a dockzip, and I would guess that I just need to zip the various dock icons up together?
I made about a third of these myself, but some of the graphics came from the bundled images and one or two were derivatives from downloads I got here. So, how do I go about giving credit where it is due?? Do I just list the people that provided the original downloads??
Also ... is it ok (do you think) that I use the K-TEK name in there somewhere?? The docks and the icons are really meant to go with Tiggz's K-TEK work, so it would be easier for searches if I can.
I hope that packing them up and uploading them to the site takes less time. I understand I need to save the dock to a dockzip, and I would guess that I just need to zip the various dock icons up together?
I made about a third of these myself, but some of the graphics came from the bundled images and one or two were derivatives from downloads I got here. So, how do I go about giving credit where it is due?? Do I just list the people that provided the original downloads??
Also ... is it ok (do you think) that I use the K-TEK name in there somewhere?? The docks and the icons are really meant to go with Tiggz's K-TEK work, so it would be easier for searches if I can.
messiah1
Reply #13 Tuesday, February 19, 2008 11:20 PM
You MUST get permission from the original authors first, save the permission emails as txt files and bundle them with your upload.
Reply #13 Tuesday, February 19, 2008 11:20 PM
So, how do I go about giving credit where it is due?? Do I just list the people that provided the original downloads??
You MUST get permission from the original authors first, save the permission emails as txt files and bundle them with your upload.
RickyMaveety
Reply #14 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 12:23 AM
Reply #14 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 12:23 AM
Oh .... got it. What about the graphics that came bundled?? Do I need to get permission from Stardock? No .... I guess not, since they provide those graphics to anyone with the program.
Are the email addresses in the profiles? I would assume they would be, unless the site itself has some IM set up.
Are the email addresses in the profiles? I would assume they would be, unless the site itself has some IM set up.
messiah1
Reply #15 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 7:17 AM
The graphics that came bundled are still someone elses graphics, in some cases, from members of this community.
Each persons personal site, if they've set one up, should have their email address on it. There is also a personal messenger system on WC. If you click on a persons name, for instance on this forum, you will get a drop down list with options.
Reply #15 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 7:17 AM
What about the graphics that came bundled??
The graphics that came bundled are still someone elses graphics, in some cases, from members of this community.
Are the email addresses in the profiles? I would assume they would be, unless the site itself has some IM set up.
Each persons personal site, if they've set one up, should have their email address on it. There is also a personal messenger system on WC. If you click on a persons name, for instance on this forum, you will get a drop down list with options.
RickyMaveety
Reply #16 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 1:25 PM
Reply #16 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 1:25 PM
That poses a problem then. If the bundled images are someone else's graphics, and I can't tell whose they are, then how do I go about contacting the original artist to get permission??
I'll give you an example. I modified and used feather in the bundled Photoshop icon to make my own icon. However, I don't see any way of identifying who created the original icon. So, how do I go about getting permission??
Most or all of the icons that I downloaded, I can create the same image myself (for example, I downloaded one for PSP8, but opted to use something I made out of the original icon that I got with the program), so I can cross those off my list of need to get permissions ... but some, like the Photoshop feather, I can't do myself because I never had CS2, so I don't have access to an original icon. I have no idea if the feather was part of the original icon or something drawn from scratch by an artist and posted here as an icon.
So, my question is really one of giving credit and getting permissions vs what is practical and can actually be done. If I honestly can't find out who created the bundled images, then how far am I supposed to go to get permission to modify and use them??
I'll give you an example. I modified and used feather in the bundled Photoshop icon to make my own icon. However, I don't see any way of identifying who created the original icon. So, how do I go about getting permission??
Most or all of the icons that I downloaded, I can create the same image myself (for example, I downloaded one for PSP8, but opted to use something I made out of the original icon that I got with the program), so I can cross those off my list of need to get permissions ... but some, like the Photoshop feather, I can't do myself because I never had CS2, so I don't have access to an original icon. I have no idea if the feather was part of the original icon or something drawn from scratch by an artist and posted here as an icon.
So, my question is really one of giving credit and getting permissions vs what is practical and can actually be done. If I honestly can't find out who created the bundled images, then how far am I supposed to go to get permission to modify and use them??
ZubaZ
Reply #17 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 1:35 PM
Reply #17 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 1:35 PM
You can go to stardock for permissions of any icons they packaged. They can either give permission or go to the artist.
Also . . if the original images are alreay available to a OD user . . don't package them. no need to add bytes to a download if the image is on their PC.
And lastly . . if you cannot get permission . . you can't upload. even if you do everything down to knocking on the origianl artists front door (and I don't reccomend that .. . it freaks them out) and they don't answer . . you can't upload. {you can, of course use any modified image for personal use}
Also . . if the original images are alreay available to a OD user . . don't package them. no need to add bytes to a download if the image is on their PC.
And lastly . . if you cannot get permission . . you can't upload. even if you do everything down to knocking on the origianl artists front door (and I don't reccomend that .. . it freaks them out) and they don't answer . . you can't upload. {you can, of course use any modified image for personal use}
RickyMaveety
Reply #18 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 3:03 PM
Reply #18 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 3:03 PM
I'm not actually taking the identical image and packaging it as a dock icon, so it's not a matter of adding bytes to the download.
These are original images (by me) where I have taken some portion of another image, and manipulated it, and run it through my rendering software to get something else entirely.
I really can't show you what I mean without uploading an image .... but for example, I took just the feather from the PS CS2 icon (bundled) ... put it in a new image, gave it a drop shadow, then took that image into Bryce and put it into a steel rimmed button (with glass front) that I modelled and have lit to mimic the lighting on Tiggz K-TEK system animated wallpaper. After I rendered it, the result is nothing like the original image I started from, but clearly it "contains" a portion of that original artwork.
Sort of like when I took an image of the Mona Lisa and merged a cat's head into it (called it the Meowna Lisa). No one is ever going to mistake it for the original, but it contains some of the original. I would think this would come under the fair use exceptions to copyright law, but I understand that Wincustomize can choose to have stricter rules if it wishes and that I might be required to get permission even for fair use.
Also in this vein, I have tried clicking on people's names right left and sideways, and all I get are their personal pages with no email or PM link that I can see anywhere. Obviously I'm missing something here .....
These are original images (by me) where I have taken some portion of another image, and manipulated it, and run it through my rendering software to get something else entirely.
I really can't show you what I mean without uploading an image .... but for example, I took just the feather from the PS CS2 icon (bundled) ... put it in a new image, gave it a drop shadow, then took that image into Bryce and put it into a steel rimmed button (with glass front) that I modelled and have lit to mimic the lighting on Tiggz K-TEK system animated wallpaper. After I rendered it, the result is nothing like the original image I started from, but clearly it "contains" a portion of that original artwork.
Sort of like when I took an image of the Mona Lisa and merged a cat's head into it (called it the Meowna Lisa). No one is ever going to mistake it for the original, but it contains some of the original. I would think this would come under the fair use exceptions to copyright law, but I understand that Wincustomize can choose to have stricter rules if it wishes and that I might be required to get permission even for fair use.
Also in this vein, I have tried clicking on people's names right left and sideways, and all I get are their personal pages with no email or PM link that I can see anywhere. Obviously I'm missing something here .....
messiah1
Reply #19 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 3:11 PM
When I click your name, I get a list of choices...view your profile, email you, private message you, find posts by you, make this user give you all his money...wait, I don't think that ones real...
Reply #19 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 3:11 PM
Also in this vein, I have tried clicking on people's names right left and sideways, and all I get are their personal pages with no email or PM link that I can see anywhere. Obviously I'm missing something here .....
When I click your name, I get a list of choices...view your profile, email you, private message you, find posts by you, make this user give you all his money...wait, I don't think that ones real...
RickyMaveety
Reply #20 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 3:21 PM
Reply #20 Wednesday, February 20, 2008 3:21 PM
I found that as well, but that assumes that the person has posted to a forum. Not everyone has. I would hope that I could click on the person's name at the spot where they posted the icon and reach them that way. But ... no joy there ... just the link to their page ... which in one case shows the artist hasn't been online here in over a year ... so good luck with reaching him.
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Reply #1 Monday, February 18, 2008 5:04 AM