DesktopX - a dark art?
Tuesday, August 17, 2004 by _Martin_ | Discussion: WinCustomize News
As soon as people say "scripting" people tend to run a mile if they are primarily "graphical" people rather than "technical" people. This is the reason that I personally believe that the graphical standards on DesktopX is relatively low.I can say this safely as I know that I am one of the worse culprits. I'm not trained in any of the packages and I tend to use whichever side of the brain is concerned with this stuff less. If you look at a lot of the Mac influenced widgets in Konfabulator and Dashboard, they have a lot of shine. DesktopX can do what they can do, and much more, but this isn't always apparent. People want eye-candy and functionality.
As such, this is an appeal to those graphically minded folk out there. Even the most complicated scripted DesktopX objects have an image at heart. You can completely change the appearance of an object without having to even worry about the script. Go on - give it a go - the rewards are worth it!
Frogboy
Reply #2 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:05 PM
Reply #2 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:05 PM
That's an interesting idea. We could even take this up a notch by allowing people to create Skinning Teams.
_Martin_
Reply #3 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:05 PM
Reply #3 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:05 PM
My key point is that they don't need the coders, they don't need to touch the code, just amend the graphics.
_Martin_
Reply #4 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:07 PM
Reply #4 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:07 PM
... however if anybody wants to add fancy graphics to my code - go ahead, and just give me a shout if you have questions.
NightTrainthedark
Reply #5 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:14 PM
Reply #5 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:14 PM
I want on Martin's team. 
Animated wallpapers- I know it's a little off topic but they are simple to make with DX. There are hundreds /thousands of wallpapers that could be enhanced that little bit by a small animation effect.
Example-Frogboy's castle wallpaper. There are currently only 4 in the library. I guess I would like to see more like that.
Animated wallpapers- I know it's a little off topic but they are simple to make with DX. There are hundreds /thousands of wallpapers that could be enhanced that little bit by a small animation effect.
Example-Frogboy's castle wallpaper. There are currently only 4 in the library. I guess I would like to see more like that.
lilstarfish
Reply #6 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:19 PM
Reply #6 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:19 PM
Hi _Martin_!
I think the solution is simpler than you can imagine.
A lot of us graphics people(me included) learn quickly
through what we "see", meaning that learning photoshop
and other graphics packages, including 3D applications,
usually goes pretty fast when you can follow a step-by-step "tutorial"
that "shows" the steps taken to reach a certain goal.
When a user has gone through such tutorial/s he/she
has grasped the "use" of some tools and then his/her
brain automatically starts to see new uses for the same tools.
I firmly believe that it's the same with ObjectDesktop,
DesktopX etc. etc. If there was one or more nice tutorial/s
on how a certain app/widget/iconxthingie was put together
that would then spark the creativity on many users who
now can't "see" how they should go about things.
Sorry, but we gfx dudes/dudettes have brains that weren't built
to understand things quickly unless we "see" things actually
being "done".
But after that initial step we can usually crank out cool stuff
pretty fast
Just a lil thought.
I think the solution is simpler than you can imagine.
A lot of us graphics people(me included) learn quickly
through what we "see", meaning that learning photoshop
and other graphics packages, including 3D applications,
usually goes pretty fast when you can follow a step-by-step "tutorial"
that "shows" the steps taken to reach a certain goal.
When a user has gone through such tutorial/s he/she
has grasped the "use" of some tools and then his/her
brain automatically starts to see new uses for the same tools.
I firmly believe that it's the same with ObjectDesktop,
DesktopX etc. etc. If there was one or more nice tutorial/s
on how a certain app/widget/iconxthingie was put together
that would then spark the creativity on many users who
now can't "see" how they should go about things.
Sorry, but we gfx dudes/dudettes have brains that weren't built
to understand things quickly unless we "see" things actually
being "done".
But after that initial step we can usually crank out cool stuff
pretty fast
Just a lil thought.
_Martin_
Reply #7 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:30 PM
Reply #7 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:30 PM
Ok lilstarfish. Do you see a DX object you'd like to play with for the first tutorial?
lilstarfish
Reply #9 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:57 PM
Reply #9 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:57 PM
_Martin_:
I havn't checked what objects are out there since I'm not running DX at the moment(due to current project and waiting for the 2.2 update).
I'm not picky, any thingie that could be handy would be ok as the first test.
Is there any object/thingie that you feel should get more attention?
I havn't checked what objects are out there since I'm not running DX at the moment(due to current project and waiting for the 2.2 update).
I'm not picky, any thingie that could be handy would be ok as the first test.
Is there any object/thingie that you feel should get more attention?
JoeWang
Reply #10 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:58 PM
Reply #10 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 5:58 PM
yeah, some tutorials would be great. And is there a complete scripting reference? I mean some document where all DX Objects are described with their properties and methods..
_Martin_
Reply #11 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 2:54 AM
Reply #11 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 2:54 AM
There is a complete scripting guide available with the DX install or at www.desktopx.net/resources.
When I have a few minutes (hours/days) I will start going through some of my objects and create an associated guide for them. This will be a fair task, but in the end will be worth it. I'll try to make it for artists and coders alike.
Martin
When I have a few minutes (hours/days) I will start going through some of my objects and create an associated guide for them. This will be a fair task, but in the end will be worth it. I'll try to make it for artists and coders alike.
Martin
retiredmaster
Reply #12 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 4:08 AM
Reply #12 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 4:08 AM
I'd really like a tutorial on the DX media thingy. I want to have a stab at a DX media player skin!
...and a few extra hours in the day to make one.
...and a few extra hours in the day to make one.
Frogboy
Reply #14 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 10:51 AM
Reply #14 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 10:51 AM
I think more docs need to be available as web pages instead of just as PDFs.
NightTrainthedark
Reply #15 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 1:15 PM
Reply #15 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 1:15 PM
The important thing when doing a tutorial is to dumb it down as much as possible. Even the most basic "techie" terms and thinking will still confuse some people(myself). I don't think people know just how easy it is to make a DX theme or change the images of certain scripted objects. Remember that what is second nature to the programmers is new knowledge to us mortals.
danioc
Reply #16 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 2:06 PM
Reply #16 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 2:06 PM
Yeah, i would love some tutorials cause i'm a novice at DX2
GreenReaper
Reply #17 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 11:04 PM
Reply #17 Wednesday, August 18, 2004 11:04 PM
I agree - a PDF is fine for printing, but that's not what I want to do with my documentation. Something like MSDN help or, yes, HTML would work better for me.
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Reply #1 Tuesday, August 17, 2004 3:38 PM
In the Winamp Modern community, there are quite a few collaborations between graphic artists and coders, with each doing the parts they excel in.
Perhaps if some excellent graphics artists here got together with the DX coders ...