getmusicbee.com

MusicBee & Add-Ons => Customizations => Skins => Topic started by: hiccup on April 29, 2016, 07:26:11 PM

Title: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on April 29, 2016, 07:26:11 PM
This one started as just some personal 'experimenting sketchbook', but it kind of got out of hand and I thought to finish and complete it, and share it just for the fun of it.

(http://i.imgur.com/50xmXA5l.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/50xmXA5.png)


download The Blue Bee and the Sea (https://rebrand.ly/skin_The_blue_bee_and_the_sea)


maybe good to mention:
the plane controls 'mute'
the sailing ship controls 'volume'
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: phred on April 30, 2016, 09:48:48 PM
Love the color scheme, but even better than the colors is the creativity that went into this skin.  And the progress bar marker is the kicker!!!

I have found one inconsistency in the 'playing/selected' buttons where the one in the track information element is has no gradation, while the ones in the artwork and lyrics elements do have the gradation.
(http://i.imgur.com/hNxpyTz.jpg)
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on May 01, 2016, 01:29:11 PM
Thnx phred!

And yes, you are perceptive, the playing/selected switch doesn't match as well as it should.
But it's colors are currently auto-generated by MB. There already is a request out for an override for it:
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=18111.msg110193#msg110193
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: Bee-liever on May 03, 2016, 12:27:13 AM
nice work and very clever hiccup!
I personally would like symbols rather than words for the player controls banner, but still looks good :)
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on May 03, 2016, 05:29:57 PM
Thnx Bee-liever!

I thought an aerial banner with play/stop icons would look a bit weird ;-)
I am not completely happy with the font on 'the banner' though. I might try to improve on that a bit before long.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on May 06, 2016, 03:46:31 PM
Improved the player control buttons to make them look more lifelike.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: Roadrunner on May 07, 2016, 02:46:23 PM
Hi hiccup

Thx for the very nice, well designed skin with the funny beach sceen! However, I liked the first wavier banner with the small visible border more than the new one... It also leaded the eyes easier to the buttons.

Concerning text or symbols in the banner: Text might look more realistic, but as a disadvantage, it is always English, even if the rest of MB is in another language... Therefore I agree with Bee-liever at least for giving it a try!

Independently of that small things, great skin! :)

Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: phred on May 07, 2016, 05:04:47 PM
Thx for the very nice, well designed skin with the funny beach sceen! However, I liked the first wavier banner with the small visible border more than the new one... It also leaded the eyes easier to the buttons.
I agree that the banner looked more realistic on the previous version.  And while I can understand others wanted to see icons on the banner, I think that would make it look odd.  But bringing back the original banner border is sorely needed.  IMHO.  This new one just doesn't really look like it's being pulled.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: Roadrunner on May 08, 2016, 08:56:04 AM
And while I can understand others wanted to see icons on the banner, I think that would make it look odd.
I'm not sure either, if I would like the icons more, it would be just a try to prevent untranslatable words. Maybe they could be combined with the word "MusicBee", so that there is still some ads in the banner..., something like "« || [] MusicBee > »" or "MusicBee « || [] > »" Maybe I could do a mockup this evening.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on May 08, 2016, 09:11:30 AM
Thanks for the input guys, that's great.

I might crumble under international pressure, and make it a banner with icons.
That would probably look like this:

(http://i.imgur.com/RVyGbLk.png)

I am curious about any other suggestions or mock-ups, so please feel free to do that, and I will wait for that before I continue.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: Steven on May 08, 2016, 10:00:20 AM
@hiccup, i have added an override for the Playing/Selected button
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on May 08, 2016, 01:30:36 PM
@hiccup, i have added an override for the Playing/Selected button

Great, thank you.
I uploaded an updated version, fixing a minor issue, and now using this new element.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: phred on May 08, 2016, 02:01:47 PM
I uploaded an updated version, fixing a minor issue, and now using this new element.
+1 for the text and the override.
However, while I can see the banner outline if I put my face an inch in front on the monitor, I think there should be more contrast between the outline and the background.  Perhaps a white or off-white would make it more visible.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on May 08, 2016, 02:16:52 PM
+1 for the text and the override.
However, while I can see the banner outline if I put my face an inch in front on the monitor, I think there should be more contrast between the outline and the background.  Perhaps a white or off-white would make it more visible.

It might perhaps be best to have two editions, one with icons, and one with text.
Was this earlier text version o.k. for you?

(http://i.imgur.com/JC0FIAT.png)
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: phred on May 08, 2016, 03:36:50 PM
Yes, that's the keeper for me.  I'd be happy to have this version again.

I suppose an international (icon) edition in additional to a text version wouldn't be hard to maintain once you're done tweaking.  But we all know tweaks are what drives us.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: Roadrunner on May 08, 2016, 07:00:29 PM
Hi hiccup!

Thanks for giving it a try (sorry, pressure was not intended ;-) ). I like your international version (with the right line in K-form like the text version), I would definitely use it!

Just to show what I meant this morning (just a quick draft), but your international example is probably better...:

(http://www.imagenetz.de/img.php?file=09d575dcb0.jpg)
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on May 09, 2016, 08:26:47 PM
Updated the skin with new player controls.
I followed Roadrunner's suggestion to use icons so to keep it more universal:

(http://i.imgur.com/wJbv3U8.png)

(the download link is in the start post)
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: Roadrunner on May 11, 2016, 04:32:19 PM
Great, thx!
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on May 11, 2016, 04:40:27 PM
Thnx, I am happy with the result too.
But I am not quite satisfied with the shuffle/repeat/volume buttons, so hopefully someday some inspiration will hit me for those, or perhaps you or others have suggestions for those...
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on March 11, 2017, 12:27:34 PM
A couple of minor oversights were fixed.
The download link has been updated.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on May 20, 2017, 03:38:54 PM
A sailing ship has been added.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on June 04, 2017, 09:54:11 AM
Updated with some minor improvements.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on July 29, 2017, 02:53:06 PM
updated

(and probably final for MB v3.1)

the download link is in the startpost
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: Bee-liever on October 26, 2017, 11:45:57 AM
found this tonight
(http://i.cubeupload.com/rbsaLL.jpg)
(isn't it usually "greenies" on your skins?)  ;)
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on October 26, 2017, 01:23:28 PM
(isn't it usually "greenies" on your skins?)  ;)

Thanks!
Yes, those used to be greenies indeed.
Hm, I'm probably a bit less consistent then I thought I was ;-)


(on second thought, for this skin I probably used some other skin of mine as a starting point, which had a red iconmask, and then I missed modifying it)


Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on October 26, 2017, 07:43:53 PM
Updated.
Fixed an anomaly when tabs are located in the caption bar.
(thanks Bee-liever)
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: Rodi on March 02, 2018, 11:55:08 AM
I only registered to say: this skin is absolutely fun and amazing.
Thank you for it!
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on March 04, 2018, 02:42:42 PM
Thanks for the appreciation Rodi.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on September 03, 2018, 06:15:03 PM
updated
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on January 01, 2019, 08:05:21 PM
Updated, several small improvements.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on April 07, 2019, 06:41:08 PM
minor update
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on December 25, 2019, 01:39:41 PM
Updated, minor tweaks, device icons added.

(these device icons will only show up in MusicBee v3.4> which is not yet available at this moment)
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on December 25, 2019, 01:41:45 PM
Updated, minor tweaks, device icons added.

(these device icons will only show up in MusicBee v3.4> which is not yet available at this moment)
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on December 27, 2019, 07:09:55 PM
Updated again, the Mini Player has been improved.
(needs MB 3.3.7299 or up to display as intended)

My apologies for this forum bomb (again ;-) , but it's probably useful to users of these skins that have subscribed so to get notifications on updates.
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on June 21, 2020, 12:30:04 PM
updated

Main changes:
- The Jukebox view is skinned.
- The readability/contrast of sub-text fields in 'Album and Tracks' view and in the Expanded Album panel is improved.

note: both these updates only function under MusicBee 3.4
(which is currently under development and in alpha release state)
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on April 11, 2021, 09:54:26 AM
updated

improved the contrast/legibility of the text in the status bar
Title: Re: The Blue Bee and the Sea
Post by: hiccup on October 23, 2021, 09:22:53 AM
updated

The last.fm scrobble button can now be hidden.
Some minor tweaks.