...to The Stick v3 beta... now at beta 3 in scraps.
Check the comments for details of stuff fixed up/changed.

Still plenty left to do...

Phew!

22 Months it's been since my last entry - quite a while - and I thought some sort of update would be good, even if it's just for my benefit!

I haven't been literally absent for all that time - I try and check in at least once a week to see what's happenin' and catch the latest goss (yeah, right... I'm such a socialite ). The sad fact is I don't have much time to spend doing stuff here and elsewhere these days. Well, such is life.

Anyway, with what time I can muster I have been steadily working on version 3 of my WMP skin, The Stick.
It's coming along nicely, but has suffered a serious bout of "feature overload" (i.e. I keep thinking of things to add) so it's taking even longer to finalise than I expected!
Still, it's closer than ever and I'm quite pleased with the result. I'm hoping to have a test version ready in a week.
So, if by some major miracle anyone reads this, and is interested, let me know and I'll send you a beta to try.
Don't worry ~DylanD and ~Stelaxy, you're already included; but if you're not interested let me know.
I've posted a sneak preview of the v3 poster in my scrapbook later, so check it out if you're so inclined.

A big to all those ppl who haven't a clue what I'm on about, but read my entry anyway - I hope you're doing well.



Ciao for Now!

It's been a while since I've done any kind of update here, so what the devil has been happening...?

Well, I got me a blog on ModBlog and that has taken up a lot of my *ahem* spare time at work.

Oh, and I've been busy at work too - hence the neglect.

Anyway, I thought I'd do an update and show that I'm not dead yet!

So what of my pet project - The Stick skin for WMP - well, the next version is coming along nicely.

I've got pretty much most of the new features sorted - I just need to finish the new graphics and rework the scheme switching code and we're there!

Here's a roundup of what's coming up...

New Graphic Schemes
I'm reworking the Night and Silver schemes to improve the look, and I've added 2 new schemes Aqua and Chrome (no prizes for guessing what they look like) plus I'm going to add another called Ebony (or something similar).
Hopefully the new schemes will be considered better than the old ones, and the variety should cater for different tastes and moods!

New Features
Well, quite a few new features this time round as well, so there's plenty to play with:

• As promised, a WinAmp-style thinger with access to:
  
  • Settings
  
  
  • Mini-Visuals
  
  
  • Detached Visuals/Video
  
  
  • Detached Playlist
  
  
  • Minimise
  
  
  • Open Media File
  
  
  • Quick Access Menu


• Colouring options, with a choice of a custom colour or a preset for:
  
  • Track text colour
  
  
  • Mini-effect colour
  
  


• For colourable schemes, a custom hue/saturation or a choice of presets can be applied


• Different cap end styles (silver/black/none)


• Alarm and sleep functions:
  
  • An alarm can be set, so that the player will start playing at a set time (if it's stopped) - and the volume can be faded in over a set time
  
  
  • A sleep time can be set, so that the player will stop playing at a set time (if it's playing) - and the volume can be faded out over a set time


• The player can be snapped to the top/bottom/left/right of the screen - although left and right are probably not that useful right now (they may be later!)

There are probably a couple more things, but you get the general idea - quite a few extra features there. That should be enough for most people!

I'm going to post up some screenshots as WIP scraps, so if anyone's interested, take a looky see...

TTFN

Been giving the next version of the Stick some thought.

A recurring comment has been the lack of a minimise button. I deliberately left it out 'cause it would have meant making the skin bigger, and I wanted to keep the size reasonable.

So my plan is to create a "thing" button (a-la WinAmp) to keep the size down, but provide more functions.

Strangely, someone said they thought it should be bigger!?

Also, I've done a few additional colour schemes, recently uploaded as WIP. Please comment.

Pretty please?

With sugar and a cherry?

And whipped cream?

I have to say the contact I have had over the last few days with people here at DA has been really kickass!
I shall do my best to give something back. Funny, but I've really been inspired to contribute stuff other than WMP skins, like some of my digi photos, and even poetry! (thanks to ~jenstarr). I'm not sure about going ahead - a bit scary, so we'll see.
Well, I'm listening to a bit of Republica and trying to work out some details for my next round of modifications to The Stick.
*Sigh* why oh why did MS. in their infinite wisdom, decide that subviews can be programmed to move, but not to be resized - and of course with views it's the opposite . Such a PITA!!