ObjectBar capabilities + what do you think

Ha. It's me again. Playing with photoshop 'cause I'm too lazy to learn skinstudio. Again

anyways, see this screenshot here http://nite.nitesade.net/GlowOS.jpg. Is this possible with current ObjectBar? (I mean the not-square menus and the fact that almost everything is see-thru-click-thru transparent.)

And, what do you think? Should I even try to make that a skin, or what.

(I can hear pjpowell say: "oh, there that guy goes again with those transparencies. so what, I'm obsessed )

\Nite - "can't rain all the time"
4,542 views 11 replies
Reply #1 Top
Is there any plans to trademark ObjectBar?
Reply #4 Top
the link has a dot '.' character on the end. take that off manually once you have clicked on the link at it works fine.

how can you tell the bar and its menus are transparent? all i see is while text on a black background.

OB does support transparancy, although i think you need win2k / winXP for it to work, same as winfx.

i beleive OB supports rounded edges, so a menu with sloping edges should be creatable. i am not sure how OB would handle lining them up though.
Reply #5 Top
You could do it with some modifications. The white bars would be spaced a little farther apart though.
Reply #6 Top
I hate when my links do that
umm. just noticed that the transparency is not very clear in the image it's a bit dark, but the Black is supposed to be a dark-blue grainy wallpaper...

I'll try to come up with clearer image. maybe even tomorrow. (it's about 8 pm here.)

Well, guess I'll have to start looking at SkinStudio... is it terribly difficult to do the actual skin, when the "reference" image is available? like, do I have to make 100+n different images for every "thing"? (tabs, menus, bars, etc.)

\Nite - "can't rain all the time"
Reply #7 Top
Here's a good tutorial on what you can do with OB; http://baren.comdotorg.com/objectbar/

I would think you could make that design work but if for any reason it won't it would certainly work as a DesktopX theme.
Reply #8 Top
maybe, but I'm not a fan of DesktopX... It hates my multiple monitors and (at least the 1.0x versions were) way too restrictive resolution-wise. On the best (worst?) of days, I'll have to change my resolution from five to ten times a day, and having DesktopX is a Bad Idea(tm). to have then.

If, in the future, DesktopX will work with multiple monitors and multiple desktops and, most importantly, does not get in a very bad mood whenever one changes the resolution, I'll go for it.

\Nite - "can't rain all the time"
Reply #9 Top
If a theme is set up correctly a change in resolution should not cause any problems. Basically if you create a theme in the smallest resolution it can expand tyo the largest. However if there isn't physically enough room on screen for the objects you will run into problems.

Multi monitor support is still being looked into I believe.

OB can certainly do odd shaped menus and could cope with most of that theme. The menu's however would not be lined up as you have it in that pick. Because of the sloping lines the menu would have to move right if you clicked any of the top items. The transparency would be doable but the click through is a DX feature not OB.

\pjpowell - "You don't live in the UK do you?"
Reply #10 Top
thanks for the info everyone. Maybe I'll have to re-establish my prejudices with DesktopX
sounds like it'll work fine as long as the theme in question is designed well... and that leads me "back to the old drawing board" and to learn how to theme/skin DesktopX

pjpowell, thanks for the laugh (that "signature") I needed that.

\Nite "no, pjpowell, I don't"
Reply #11 Top
I made another image( http://nite.nitesade.net/GlowOS2.jpg ), which should show the transparencies a bit clearer. Also a "background" in one menu. (obviously, with the background, it isn't click-thru anymore)

But, with or without the background?
And... how do one "skin" DesktopX? is there any good tutorials, which would start with the basics of "how things are done in DesktopX", but wouldn't go into "what is a skin" I like to think I can handle photoshop pretty well (maybe it doesn't show in the images but the process of image-to-skin is an inch away

\Nite - "can't rain all the time"