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mediaportalMediaPortal is an Open Source application ideal for turning your PC / TV into a very advanced Media Center. MediaPortal allows you to listen to your favorite music & radio, watch and store your videos and DVDs, view, schedule and record live TV as a digital video recorder and much much more. You get MediaPortal as Open Source software. This means you can help in developing MediaPortal or tweak it for your own needs with lots of innovating plugins from our great community. 
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WANTED: New default skins
Written by DMAN, on 10-07-2006

We are looking to have only one default 4:3 and one 16:9 skin for the next release of MediaPortal (0.3.0).

Why are we doing this you may ask... well two reasons actually.

  1. Because we wish to reduce the size of future releases.
  2. For 0.3.0 we plan to have a plugin & skin updater inside MediaPortal to allow you to easily add new features and designs without searching the web page or the forums right from your couch with your remote at your fingertips.

So with this in mind we need you to choose the default skins which will be included in the forthcoming releases.

To facilitate this decision making process we'll run a poll starting next week for a 4:3 skin and the week thereafter a 16:9 poll.

What we need is for all skinners to send in some screenshots of a skin for the voting poll. The screenshots should be of Home, My Music, My Videos and My Pictures at least. Additional screenshot submissions will be accepted. Please outline the name of the skin and the author's details to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The skinner must be committed to working on this skin up until and beyond the 0.3.0 release. If not already the winning skinner/designer will gain SVN access to implement the updates as required.

What will you win? ...well a default skin in MediaPortal of course ;-)

Note: A 'working' or 'near working' skin should be submitted which should be 0.2.0 compatible. We do not wish to receive concepts and artwork. No disrespect is intended to existing skins or skinners in this news item in any regard.

Many thanks and good luck.


Users' Comments (42) RSS feed comment
Posted by michael, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
1. ...
I vote for Project Mayhem III 
 
Its the standard skin in XBMC to, and whit good reason. 
Its the best looking skin that’s I have seen. 
It looks lots and lots better then any menu I have seen, on anything I have seen out there. 
 
I am sorry for the other skin makers and now they put a lot of work in to it but PM III just looks so mouths slicker then the rest, including other (professional) products to.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by zag2me, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
2. ...
I would vote for a more neutral skin, PM3 is very good but not to everyones tastes.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by EMKO, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
3. ...
yea i vote for PM3 aswell it just looks very good and everything fits
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by knutinh, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
4. ...
http://forum.team- mediaportal.com/viewtopic.php? t=14062 
 
I strongly vote for the skin "clarity" posted in the forum. If it is working it looks really cool, mac-like. The kind of thing that I would want in my living.room...
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Bram, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
5. ...
I'm voting for PMIII to. It's one of the best skins and almost the only one with a realy nice looking and very usable basic-homescreen. 
Also, there are numerous people helping develop it and the initiator for this skin and thus the person who did, and does, 99% of the work has made 6 skins before this one. He realy knows what he is doing. 
 
PMIII is my default skin since the first day it's released. My girlfriend loves it too :)
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by ammm, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
6. ...
I vote for nonafo! 
I also like clarity so much 
PMIII is too dark!!!!! 
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by James, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
7. ...
My vote goes to BlueTwo. Although it has its problems. I think it is still the best default skin. 
 
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by petteram, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
8. ...
BlueTwo for me. 
The default skin must say Mediaportal and not X-box. 
I`m also open for something new, but still it should tell you what you are watching.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by olituks, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
9. ...
BlueTwo by default and PM3 optional. 
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by mirk, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
10. ...
My vote goes to 3DMP-blue or clarity, but if one of these skins going to get my vote, the have to relese them so they could be tested first. 
If thats correct that PMIII is a standard skin in XBMC, it should not be used as a defoult skin for MP. I think the defoult skin should be a all MP skin.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Trojkolka, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
11. ...
I vote for Nonafo or any nonafo based skin!
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by JustJ, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
12. ...
Yup BlueTwo does it for me. 
And Nonafo as alternative.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by mofux, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
13. ...
as creator of Nonafo i vote for BlueTwo! Nonafo basicly is a copy of HDeeTV, PMIII a copy of the X-Box Skin and all other skins out there aren't stable enough to really get in for a basic skin. (I really like PMIII as well, but i think a default skin shouldn't be copy of something else!) Blue2 is a very great Skin and the most stable Skin we have and i think people just stop liking it because they use it every day... it would be excactly the same with PMIII or Nonafo included! So having that in Mind i go for BlueTwo!
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by rtv, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
14. ...
very well said - totally agree on this ^^ 
Just polish the OSD of B2 ;-)
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by nemulate, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
15. ...
Have to say 3DMP does it for me, excellent skin and look different to the rest but just needs a little bit of polish :)
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by moullas, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
16. ...
Blue2, good skin all around, and exists in both 4:3 and 16:9 formats...  
Pretty similar to Media Center's default skin but distinctive enough to scream MEDIA PORTAL!!!
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by michael, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
17. ...
@mofux 
I agrea BlueTwo is a good stable skin but it is so so eh ..... Blue :D 
 
For me, sorry but i get to mouths MS feelling whit it. 
 
And PMIII, on the Xbox its even more slick ware the background foto's change slowly all the time its realy a cool skin. 
 
but back to discussion:  
Whats wrong whit ussing a XBMC skin, the XBMC is ware MP got its roots from. 
So why dont we be tru to them.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Poikilotherm, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
18. ...
I think MCE would be a neutral skin. 
My parents wanted this one, because it does not have any extra gimmicks which would take your care, it is clearly structured, stable and it is in size of font and images good enough even for the old eyes of my parents. 
Only con is the sliding text... 
So, I vote for MCE as a neutral default skin.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by marshall, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
19. ...
3DMP would be my vote. It may not be perfect yet, but this is 0.3.0 we're talking about, not next week. BlueTwo is definately stable, but not as visually appealing, and the one that gets picked will certainly get worked on to make it highly stable. 
 
Whatever skin is used, I would propose the same skin in 4:3 and 16:9 versions. One default in two sizes, others downloadable.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Peter, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
20. ...
BlueTwo only becource it is the only one i have seen that have a working top-bar, and i use that top bar a lot...!
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by tomtom21000, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
21. ...
No skin using basic home like projectx, pmiii, nonafo could be chosen, because otherwise users wouldn´t be able to install any plugin!
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by tomtom21000, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
22. ...
more precise: couldn´t see any installed/configured plugin
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Harley, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
23. ...
there is no Problem with Basichomescreen.All Skins have Basichomescreens. I have made the Basichomescreens for BlueTwo, ProjectX and PM III and all have also a normal Homescreens, so the user can use what they want. 
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by RubaDuck7, on 11-07-2006, , Guest
24. ...
Currently I'm using/evaluating Nonafo and PM III, so my vote goes to either one of them. PM III seems to be further along and more stable, but Nonafo just looks so good. ;) 
 
Oh well, I also have the 'too blue' problem with BlueTwo. If you could only pick some other color schemes for it... 
 
The newcomer, 3DMP could definitely be a contender, if we could just see how it's changed from the first beta (hint, hint).
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by rocky500, on 12-07-2006, , Guest
25. ...
I think any skin by Vanessa like 3DMP. She has a natural flare for design. It would be nice if some others could help her to get a final stable skin that can be used as the new default. 
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Tomfrogger, on 12-07-2006, , Guest
26. ...
RAZOR
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by NLS, on 12-07-2006, , Guest
27. ...
Hope a skin editor comes along so that more people can contribute. :| 
 
Also I hope, that changing the skin background should be a generic action supported by all skins and doable by the end user...
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Dureau, on 12-07-2006, , Guest
28. ...
Razor for me as a 16:9 skin. It looks really nice. Clarity would be an option.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Mr.WOP, on 12-07-2006, , Guest
29. ...
I would have to vote for BlueTwo. 
Everyone who knows MP, knows BlueTwo :)
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by marshall, on 12-07-2006, , Guest
30. ...
Mr. WOP, 
Please take no offence, but I don't know if that's a very good reason. I would hope that something that would draw flocks of people to MP would be selected, regardless of what the people who "know" MP are used to. People who "know" Linux use the command line, but it until it has a usable GUI it won't show up on my wife's computer. The skin is all about end-user experience, including those users who know nothing more about MP than that it was magically installed on their machine and hopefully works.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by rudolph, on 12-07-2006, , Guest
31. ...
I go for blue2 as the default skin, because I think it is simple for developers, a skin that is to complex for plugin developers could result in bad looking plugins.  
 
The skin downloader will make the fancy plugins availlable.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by simonsez, on 13-07-2006, , Guest
32. ...
Reality - 16:9 
Nonafo or BlueTwo - 4:3 
 
I'm surprised that nobody has suggested Reality yet. As far as 16:9 skins go, this one is one of the most stable and easiest on the eyes. I try the others and they're pretty and cool looking, but I always come back to Reality. Kind of like my life. :-P
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Jose Aguiar, on 13-07-2006, , Guest
33. ...
My vote goes to BlueTwo
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Nathan, on 14-07-2006, , Guest
34. ...
Razor a clear winner for me in 16:9 format.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by poppy10, on 14-07-2006, , Guest
35. ...
For me it has to be Razor for the default 16:9 skin. It's so beautiful.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by mjg, on 14-07-2006, , Guest
36. ...
Most definitely PM3. 
 
Everyone who sees my Xbox/XBMC is always impressed. In my opinion it has a much better look and feel then all the other usual windows blues looking media centers out there.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by James, on 15-07-2006, , Guest
37. ...
Just remember when voting. This is not just which skin you think is best, but which skin you thing will represent MP to new users. Which means it has to have mass appeal. 
 
Everyone can still install their personal favorite skin after install.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by rd1979, on 16-07-2006, , Guest
38. ...
As long as I can get some of these other skins elsewhere, I'm fine. MCE in particular.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by FruitCake, on 17-07-2006, , Guest
39. ...
MCE is the only one that looks remotely professional. The other skins all look too amatuer'ish and will inturn make the whole project look that way. Sorry.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Barley Moon, on 21-07-2006, , Guest
40. ...
I went through the diff skins when first using MP 2 weeks ago and settled on MCE. To be honest My one gripe with ALL skins is on things like the EPG only like 1/3rd of the screen is used, which winds me up. Similarly when viewing music album or photo thumbs. I appreciate this is done to give an uncluttered air, but some pages (like the aformentioned) could do with a compromise to fit a bit more in.
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Michel, on 23-07-2006, , Guest
41. ...
Blue2 for my family. :-) 
I have been trying a lot of skins but after using them for about 30 mins I always go back to Blue2. The reasons I think are: 
1. Blue2 has an unbeatable wife-acceptance value, it's easy to use.The wife just want's to record all her shows without a fuss. 
 
2. Blue2 = MP = Blue2, I totaly agree with what some have said here earlier, 
 
4. Blue2 is very well balanced, not too many different colors, and the color blue just looks great on the LCD. 
 
 
» Reply to this comment...

Posted by Zeman, on 01-08-2006, , Guest
42. ...
Most widescreen LCD monitors come in 16:10 not 16:9, would it be possible to create a skin for this intead of 16:9?
 
» Reply to this comment...

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mXcomment 1.0.5 © 2007-2008 - visualclinic.fr
License Creative Commons - Some rights reserved
Last Updated ( Thursday, 13 July 2006 )
 






Status Overview

MediaPortal 1:
- Version: 1.0.0.0 RC1
- Status: featurefreeze
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- Status: featurefreeze
MediaPortal 2:
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- Status: in development
Roadmaps:
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