Themes - the solution to DP7 to DP8 conversion

[Guitar Gaz]

A few minutes experimentation has solved the custom themes and Ampgui mods. Here's how it works:

The Style.xml file in the DP8 theme package content seems to work in the same way as the Default_Style.xml file in DP7. Rename the Default_Style.xml file to Style.xml and nearly all the colour elements work fine - Andy's Gold Mellow Hybrid appears to work perfectly with this minor change. Don't forget to edit the Info.plist file to change the text from 7.2 to 8.0. Thats it.

The png files work in the same way as previously.
Guitar Gaz
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iMac 21.5 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 12 GB Ram, OSX 10.7.4, DP7.24, Reason 6.5.1, Korg Legacy Wavestation, Line 6 UX1, Pod Farm 2.52, Superior Drummer 2.3, Korg Nano Kontrol, Gibson Les Paul Standard, 1961 Framus Hollywood DC, and lots of other guitars, synths and drum machines.

[James Steele]

Very cool! It seems to work pretty well. Only trouble I had was with the Consolidated Window. When you dock the Control Panel into the Consolidated Window, the theme isn't applied, which makes sense because that's a new feature. Also I had some issues with the Control Panel disappearing when I recalled a Window Set with an undocked Consolidated Window.

Still this is a very workable solution till Andy finds time to tweak with them further.

[Guitar Gaz]

Yes - it works - Andy may well have to finesse some of this - I don't use Consolidated but will have a look as its not perfect. But its up and running and better on the eyes for the most part.

[James Steele]

I'm glad you found this. Works well enough and I don't use Consolidated Windows much anyway!

[toodamnhip]

very cool of you to sus that out.

[amplidood]

Thanks man! I think we can all breathe a bit easier now...

[Guitar Gaz]

Very glad to help - with a little modification your themes can be updated (the Embedded Control Panel seems to be the new thing for the Consolidated). Otherwise pretty much everything else is the same (so far!).DP8 users clearly need your mods!

[James Steele]

Very glad to help - with a little modification your themes can be updated (the Embedded Control Panel seems to be the new thing for the Consolidated). Otherwise pretty much everything else is the same (so far!).DP8 users clearly need your mods!

Yes, thanks Guitar Gaz! That's a big help. I'm breathing easier having my Sharp Flat theme back. (Actually what I call "Sharp Steele" which is my own customized version of Sharp!)

[Guitar Gaz]

Very glad to help - with a little modification your themes can be updated (the Embedded Control Panel seems to be the new thing for the Consolidated). Otherwise pretty much everything else is the same (so far!).DP8 users clearly need your mods!

Yes, thanks Guitar Gaz! That's a big help. I'm breathing easier having my Sharp Flat theme back. (Actually what I call "Sharp Steele" which is my own customized version of Sharp!)

Its a bit like moving to a new home - it looks better when you have your own furniture installed. I couldn't see how or why Motu would make Themes customisation more difficult with DP8 - having spent a fair bit of time customising in DP7 it was the first thing I looked at when I loaded DP8 for the first time last night. It took about 5 minutes to figure out - and glad that Andy's themes don't need too much tweaking.

I have done a few Embedded Control panel changes so they work in Consolidated but they are not a priority as I don't use it. But more of a pain is my Reason outputs all have to be rebuilt one by one as DP8 seems to have lost them when opening a 7.24 file. But the colours are at least back to normal!

[dinobass]

What are the Embedded Control Panel changes, dare I ask? I use the Consolidated Window a lot.

[Shooshie]

First of all, Andy's reconstituted themes for DP8 look great. I see little details that will need fixing, but nothing irritating or even noticeable to the untrained eye. For all intents and purposes you will feel like you're back home in your old favorite theme(s).

Secondly, if you use the installers and put in the wrong password, it will create a folder with what look like the correct files, but which are not. If you use this incorrectly installed theme, it will crash DP in an instant.

How will you know if you used the right password? The theme will have Andy's icon for that theme:

Incorrect Password gets you this:

and



Correct Password gets you this:

and


Maybe nobody else is dumb enough to use the wrong password, but if you're like me and first get the suspicious files, do not put them in DP. They'll crash it the instant you try to change themes, and you may lose important work!

Use the right password, and you've got nothing to worry about.

And one more thing: if you haven't contributed to Andy's work, please do! Remember, this little feature of DP is here because of Andy, and Andy's here because we help to make it possible for him to devote some of his time to our little delight, and the checks help make his wife and family feel like this is not merely some kind of obsession, but a way to help a little with the bills.

Shooshie

[Guitar Gaz]

What are the Embedded Control Panel changes, dare I ask? I use the Consolidated Window a lot.

They still require work by Andy as 7.24 themes don't have them. You can copy them from a new DP8 theme and then customise them in colour at least, but a new control panel is needed to match the customised theme control panel. That will take a bit of work. Those of us who don't use the Consolidated, or indeed the Embedded control panel, are less bothered by this.

[James Steele]

What are the Embedded Control Panel changes, dare I ask? I use the Consolidated Window a lot.

You can now make the Control Panel be a pane inside the Consolidated Window. It will stretch all across the top of the Consolidated Window and includes the performance meter, etc.

[dinobass]

Thanks James, but I should have been clearer in my request. I made the changes to one of the AmpGUI themes to make it compatible with DP8, but in the Consolidated Window none of the tabs show up; they are still there if you click around, but they are invisible. This is true whether the Control Panel is embedded or not. I copied four "embedded control panel" files from a new MOTU theme into the modded AmpGUI theme, but tabs were still invisible. I was wondering what other files I would have to import from the newer themes, or what modifications I might have to make to other files, to make the tabs in the CW visible. I thought maybe Guitar Gaz had a method for this. If not, I'll probably wait for Andy as I don't have any experience working with a Theme's contents folder and wouldn't really know where to start.

[Guitar Gaz]

Thanks James, but I should have been clearer in my request. I made the changes to one of the AmpGUI themes to make it compatible with DP8, but in the Consolidated Window none of the tabs show up; they are still there if you click around, but they are invisible. This is true whether the Control Panel is embedded or not. I copied four "embedded control panel" files from a new MOTU theme into the modded AmpGUI theme, but tabs were still invisible. I was wondering what other files I would have to import from the newer themes, or what modifications I might have to make to other files, to make the tabs in the CW visible. I thought maybe Guitar Gaz had a method for this. If not, I'll probably wait for Andy as I don't have any experience working with a Theme's contents folder and wouldn't really know where to start.

I do have a solution until Andy designs something better. If you copy from the Resources folder of e.g. The Nightman Cometh the file called kTabHeaderBar_PictID.png and paste this into the Resources folder of the Ampgui theme you work in, it seems to work okay - I have done it in my Gold Mellow Hybrid theme of Andy's and you can now see the tabs for the edit windows in Consolidated. The Nightman Cometh theme was best for this set of tabs with my scheme of Andy's, and also my own custom themes as I tend to use dark text on lighter backgrounds (rather than most DP8 themes which seem to be light text on darker backgrounds). Duplicate the file you want to edit, then just experiment.

The Control panel issue still needs sorting out (you can copy an Embedded set of files from a DP8 theme and paste into your DP7 theme).