Customizing Themes (again)

[Rick Cornish]

Hey gang……
I am looking to customize some of DP's themes (mostly changing colors) to work better with my new display and tired old eyes.

I have the basics… right-click the theme in the Finder, select "show package contents" and open style.xml in Text Edit.

I looked through a lot of the old posts here (the AmpGUImods guy was a great resource). Most of them go back to the early aughts, which doesn’t really matter, because the theme architecture hasn’t changed.

I’ve started mapping the various color settings, but have been unable to find which one sets the color for the counters (among other things).

Does anyone know if anyone ever mapped the entire style.xml file (or even part of it)?

It would be great to save some of the trial-and-error if someone has already done it.

Cheers….

[Guitar Gaz]

I also did a lot of modding and posting about this - having predominantly moved to Studio One, I haven't touched this modding for a while. But I did a lot of deep modding including the counters. If I remember you can change them in the png file using a paint or graphic editor - I certainly changed mine, and the transport buttons etc. But you have to experiment - there was a lot of posting and various themes (including mine) given free to forum members.

[Rick Cornish]

I also did a lot of modding and posting about this - having predominantly moved to Studio One, I haven't touched this modding for a while. But I did a lot of deep modding including the counters. If I remember you can change them in the png file using a paint or graphic editor - I certainly changed mine, and the transport buttons etc. But you have to experiment - there was a lot of posting and various themes (including mine) given free to forum members.

Thanks, Gaz. I did come across some of your old posts as I was searching around. I hadn’t considered that the PNG files might hold the key to counter colors, so I’ll check that out.

[monkey man]

Yup, I was a culprit too, Rick.

I just used Preview to change the colours, being a luddite. It was more-powerful in this regard back in the day IIRC, but you can still change saturation, hue and whatnot in the High Sierra version I'm on now. Can't speak for newer OS version.

[Rick Cornish]

Yup, I was a culprit too, Rick.

I just used Preview to change the colours, being a luddite. It was more-powerful in this regard back in the day IIRC, but you can still change saturation, hue and whatnot in the High Sierra version I'm on now. Can't speak for newer OS version.

Good to know, thanks MM.

I broke down and got PhotoShop a little while ago, so I’m guessing that will take care of any changes I decide to make to PNGs. I’m also thinking of swapping images out from other themes.

[monkey man]

For sure that'd be the Rolls-Royce solution Rick.

I'm just a luddite so I made Preview work for me.

[Guitar Gaz]

I was particularly proud of the Aladdin Sane picture I had on the top of the playback wiper (kGEPartsIconSet_PictID@2x.png). The png's need several sizes depending on your screen resolution. Copy an existing theme you like and then experiment!

[Rick Cornish]

Well, after a couple days of fiddling with themes using my DP template on my new monitor, I have come up with something I'm starting to like. I'm going for a dark theme with lots of contrast to make it easy to find what I'm looking for.

I started here with MOTU's theme None More Black…

And a few days later, ended up here with "Hi-Con Black."



You might want to look at these full-screen to get an idea of what I'm seeing. My monitor is running at 3360 x 1890 @ 60.00Hz.

I'm still debating the highlight color and a few other things, but it's starting to work for me on this screen.

Any suggestions?

[bayswater]

The main thing I didn't like about MOTU's themes is the lack of a clear indicator telling you which tabs are active. You've dealt with that effectively. The other things I added was different shades and transparencies for the fader knobs to tell you the status of a track (mute, solo, record, etc). I also made big ugly velocity icons for the MIDI editor, but MOTU seems to have dealt with that in recent updates.

[Rick Cornish]

The main thing I didn't like about MOTU's themes is the lack of a clear indicator telling you which tabs are active.

I agree. I’d like to also find a way to widen the white rim on the active window pane a bit, as well. As our screen sizes have expanded, that visual marker has not. I haven’t found anything in style.xml that controls that. Perhaps it’s in some of those “invisible” resource PNGs (?)… otherwise it might be hard-coded into the app.

The other things I added was different shades and transparencies for the fader knobs to tell you the status of a track (mute, solo, record, etc)

Oooh…. That gives me an idea.

[monkey man]

Tasteful job Rick; well done mate!

[sayatnova]

I still am on 9.52 and using AmpGui mod «Mellow». It is truly perfect for me. I am about to update my studio machine to a new Mac mini when they come out and am really lamenting the loss of that mod in advance. The stock ones from Motu are just not great. I always settle for whatever is least offensive, but I am not happy about that. Visuals are incredibly important for me, and this mod has been a main reason that I have stayed in 9.52 for so very long (that, and everything has been solid for me)... I have tried to get in touch with Andy to see if he would update the theme to work on newer DP versions, but, sadly have had no luck getting a response. I respect his privacy and decision, but it is truly a shame!... He did such a superlative job with that.

[monkey man]

Indeed he did mate.

Shooshie would've been lost without them IIRC.

[Guitar Gaz]

You can update AmpGui's Mellow - I did it myself - it works in DP10 for sure. But you need to provide some of the png's as 2x the size. It takes a bit of work - Andy certainly didn't want to update it which is fair enough. I was willing to send him mine for his approval and release if he wanted to - I don't think I got a response. And I wouldn't give it to anyone else without his agreement.

[labman]

Nice work Rick. What is the lighting like in your room?