This may be a really stupid question .... but ....

That is the correct address for the docks. you edited the INI file correctly to what the dock is etc.. sizing, image names used, etc? 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.

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.

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****

Did you check all the ObjectDock tutorials posted here? Wiki tutorials

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.

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.

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, 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??

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.

couldn't have said it better my self

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.

You MUST get permission from the original authors first, save the permission emails as txt files and bundle them with your upload.

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.

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.

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??

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}

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 .....

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...

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.

Which artist/icon?  Link?
Maybe we can help.  WC really is as much about the community as it is about the "stuff".  It just happens that we all came here because of the "stuff". 

I'm not so sure it's all that important really. Honestly, I was just being lazier than all hell. I wanted to use one of the Rubik's Cubes in Mic Controller's RC trash indicator.

However, I realized that probably no one else would be using the Andrea program (which was what I am using it for on my computer) and so, I really don't need to add it to a dockzip. And, I really could build and render a rubik's cube of my own ... I do have the technology .... like I said ... just lazy.

I have put in a request to Stardock to allow me to use the bundled images in my renders. And, I sent a PM to Tiggz to let me borrow his rivet. Yes, I could make a rivet, but gee .... I want the rivet to look just like HIS rivet so the theme all ties together.

Lazy lazy lazy ..... no excuses.

OK ... finally figured out a way to post an example (old website space I haven't used in years). So, the rivet is by Tiggz ... the rest of the image is original by me. It's part of a recycle bin set that I'm doing.

So, I ask permission for the rivet and pray that I get it?? I hope that Tiggz is a giving sort of person, cause it's really going to suck eggs if I have to make a rivet that is original, but looks like his.

If the rest of that is yours, why use someone elses rivet...looks like you could do one on your own. IMHO.

Because I want the images to match the K-TEK wallpaper exactly. Yes, I could make a rivet that looks exactly like Tiggz ... not a problem ... but it is faster to just take a snap of his rivet and stick it in the piece. It looks exactly the same either way, but I tend to be honest about things like this, and to be honest, I grabbed a shot of his rivet rather than make my own.

I'm trying to make a set that really (really) works with the K-Tek theme, and if the rivets don't match, it simply doesn't look as good.

And that's why. It's because I want it to match, and I don't want to take the hours (yes, hours) that it will take to get the silly thing textured and lit so that it's perfect. Each render takes me about 5 minutes, then I have to tweak the lighting or the texture ... and then do it again ... and again. It takes about 10 minutes for each tweak ... and after about 8 passes it just gets old. Especially since I don't have Cinema 4D, so I don't have access to the lighting parameters that Tiggz has (the lucky man). That makes it even harder to match it.

I probably spent a good 8 hours just getting the steel to be as close as I could to Tiggz ... and I'm still not happy with it, but at some point I have to consider the limitations of my program and stop bashing my head against a wall.