im trying to research themes for crestron, and how they work.

what themes can i just load in to the software,
and have everything auto join automatically ?

i tried downloading a free theme from guifx to test how it works.
doesnt seem to load as a theme though, just as a vtpro file with pages in it.

im sure i just dont know how to load it correctly.
any advice ?

the free theme i downloaded:
[Link: guifx.com])


also, does crestron have an emulator so i can see what the panel will look like when operating ?

You can use simulation mode. In VTPro with the file open.. Select Edit/Project Properties/Compile/Check Simulation mode/Compile the file by selecting File/Compile Project.

A folder is created with a bunch of files. Double click the xpanel.exe file. You can only really demo a page flipped file so if your using subpages and joins to drive them you wont see any of that working.

As for themes.. I keep saying it.. they dont exist in the way your thinking. Any themes will be plain vtpro files with a vtt extension. I have yet to see a theme from anyone anywhere ever that you can plug in and have it autogenerate in the way that Destiny does.

dam you destiny !

ok so im watching as many videos as i can online to try and figure out sub pages, and main pages, applying themes to existing projects.

i know you say you cant just apply them, but then . . how do i . . ehh . . apply them!

Get in line.. i am still waiting for an answer.

I will regret this, I'm sure, but here goes. Open an existing vtt file. Open a page. Begin pasting in the buttons/graphics you want associated with that button. Do not delete the button. You copy your graphic on to that button. If you want a completely different button ( that is not a graphic ) you have to scroll down to template data and copy it from the old onto the new.

I'd wager this should take about 3 months to accomplish for every possible source and sub-system.

Then make sure all of the IR and serial files you are using have the cues coded into them so Systembuilder can read them and autogenerate.


Did I just write this on a public forum?

Alan

Alan is dead on.. Code your own GUI and save as a ttf,,, if you have the 3 months Alan talked about.. Keep in within a box and have in down in a week or two IF you know what you are doing and know what SB is looking for...

thanks guys,
i appreciate it.

i still dont 100% understand.
im gonna play with it more and try and figure it out.

if i used a custom template / theme,
would the client still be able to create their own favorite channels ?

I'm guessing you are using System Builder. The answer is yes. You can take a ttf file modify 1 button and save it as a custom and ask SB to use that ttf.

Not sure how many people have ever opened on up beside Alan and myself but there are just a few pages and a few subpages. Been about 3 years since I opened up a ttf... so I'm guessing the 100 pages/subpages has grown since then.

One thing that I've been doing with the Destiny template is just doing a quick them change across the board.

I can't remember exactly how to do it, but build your project then open it in VTPRO, from there you can change the theme across all pages. I haven't messed with this much, but its very easy to just do a background change across all pages.

I find a darker blue background with some texture to it really makes Destiny look much better overall.

Maybe this is off topic, but I don't think so.

I'm hating the destiny template for Bluray Players. I've only done two, but the template doesn't have any of the softkeys that we need. Mainly - Internet, A, B, C, D, Back/return, Popup Menu and maybe subtitles.

Can I just go in and add this to the template page and from there it will assign those everytime, or do I really have to manually redo it every time? It seems dumb to have to create a layout for a device and not be able to save and reuse. Am I missing something?

Your time is better spent learning simpl windows. Once you do.. you free yourself from trying to edit/add/delete/fight/trick System Builder. VTPro should be pretty much a no brainer for you guys by now. The UI editing stuff is similar to RTI and every other UI editor. Similar enough to create buttons and pages anyway.

Once you learn simpl you can create your template with whatever GUI you want.. add in all your pages.. come up with a standard navigation scheme and add all your join numbers.

With each project start from this template and edit your channel favorites.. add subtract source icons and edit room names etc.

Obviously you CAN edit the theme but IMO your going to spend as much time going page to page checking each button as you would if you just continued to do things the way your doing right now.

That's hard to do when they don't offer Prodigy Dealers any training. I guess I could try to figure it out on my own, but I have a feeling that would end up taking WAY more time vs just editing every project as needed.

To add, I just opened the PTX3 Destiny template file and sure enough, there is a Bluray page with all the buttons that I want. So I figured I just had to assign this as the template page for the device.

I opened my file in SB and went to the bluray player, then under General, Template - Add panel pages, then from the drop down....NO BLURAY option??? just DVD, DVD Changer, DvD/VCR...but no bluray?

In fact the only "B" was blinds.

I went to the PTX3 and of course the only Template option is "DESTINY" with a couple different themes.

so the file i got from guifx,
how do i find all the extra graphics like backgrounds, and extra icons that arent showing up VT Pro ?

i dont see them in the folders anywhere. are they embedded?