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Topic:
NT Designs Tahoe iPad template problems
This thread has 8 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Wednesday February 15, 2012 at 12:09
AZCS
Long Time Member
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Hi guys,

We purchased the Tahoe package from NT Designs and we are having some issues with the template. So I don't get jumped, I have left 5-6 voicemails at various times over the last month and have not heard back from anyone there...So I am coming here to see if anyone has any experience with their products.

The problem we are having is that, no matter which way we set up the panel, landscape or portrait, if we copy a page so we can add another device the new page graphics are distorted (they end up being for the opposite style. Meaning, if we have the panel set up in landscape and copy paste the new page then it ends up in portrait. It is very frustrating. I am not sure if we are doing something wrong or missing any configuration.

Also, whenever we try to open the template we get an error message and the template does not load. We are using the most current version of VTpro. Our work around for this was using the first panel we made using the template ( still has the original graphics problem) and just rename it to our current working file.

Does anyone have any experience with this particular template package or have any advice on what we may be missing? I appreciate any help or direction anyone can provide. We have several upcoming iPad projects so I would love to find out what the problem is.
Post 2 made on Saturday April 7, 2012 at 05:25
gwstudios
Senior Member
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I just came across this thread. I was wondering if you got in contact with Aaron? I talk to him every once in a while on the phone and we send the occasional emails back and forth. He is good guy and a talented UI designer.

The Crestron iPad & iPhone templates are very unique as the app stretches images when you change the orientation. I got so tired of trying to figure everything out, I simply created a separate landscape and portrait version.

I haven't heard from him in a while, but I could try to give him a call as I have his mobile number. I figured I would chime in because there were no responses to your post and I may be able to help you out.
Post 3 made on Saturday April 7, 2012 at 10:01
Audible Solutions
Super Member
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On April 7, 2012 at 05:25, gwstudios said...
The Crestron iPad & iPhone templates are very unique as the app stretches images when you change the orientation. I got so tired of trying to figure everything out, I simply created a separate landscape and portrait version.

Not to hijack this thread but I've been dealing with this issue. I've designed my iPad for portrait as it's what I believe works best for the devices I control. I'd rather have space for long lists of items than to spread buttons across the page. But clients insist on rotating and it has been a real issue irrespective of anchoring the graphic. I'm uncertain if this is because clients find landscape easier to use or because they like entropy. There is a new feature in VT-Pro properties called Anchor: where you can force the aspect ratio to static and more or less lock the position. The problem is that there is not enough length in landscape to fit the layout I use in Portrait.

There is an extension in Simpl Windows in the ipad symbol called rotation. Right click on the ipad symbol and select add extension: page orientation. I have not looked at it yet because I haven't had the chance to redraw the graphics for landscape. What I expect is to that based on the value from this extension is to be able to conditionalize which subpage pops up based upon the orientation.

In theory, you could do what EJ has done with his Command Fusion GUI and offer very different functionality based on the orientation. Currently I'm just looking to fix the layout issues rather than offer additional, different functionality based upon the page orientation. There does not seem to be a simple solution to this problem save to offer 2 versions that pop up according to orientation. If there is I'd certainly love to here about it.

I have had similar issues with the iPad--and I'm not using the graphics package you are. I don't know why your template is not loading. That is new. It could have been corrupted. This might have to go into TB. Or you may need to begin from scratch with the template. I have had issues where I could not copy a page or adjust properties at the default maximum page sizes. VT-Pro insisted that the maximum page length for portrait was 768 and would not allow any alterations to the page till this was fixed. Of course, this meant that the page occupied only 2/3 of the available space. All I could do was create a new page and copy from the old the graphics. I have not had this issue in a few months.

Image aspect ration based on rotation is an issue with Crestron's software as currently deployed. It is very possible that this was an unknown issue when the template was offered for sale. It's not hard to fix the issue on your own--but that assumes you can open the file. My guess is that this is not the designer's fault but it is possible you may need to download a new version if TB cannot repair the file.
"This is a Christian Country,Charlie,founded on Christian values...when you can't put a nativiy scene in front fire house at Christmas time in Nacogdoches Township, something's gone terribly wrong"
Post 4 made on Saturday April 7, 2012 at 11:23
39 Cent Stamp
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I haven't even looked at it in months. What a pain in the gui. Pick one orientation and stick with it.

Anchor works our really well if you are willing to sacrifice the length in portrait. Design your panel as if you can only use the 768X768 square in the center. Use the remaining space at either end for subpage/navigation bars.

This way when you rotate everything has an equal amount of space to end up at in either orientation.
Avid Stamp Collector - I really love 39 Cent Stamps
Post 5 made on Monday January 7, 2019 at 16:16
gwstudios
Senior Member
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1,371
As a follow up to this post, it turns out NTDesigns has closed up shop. His website was 404 a couple months ago, and now the domain leads to nothing. Haven't heard from him in years, and I was talking to one of the Crestron techs. They get a lot of calls about him regarding themes, etc...

The funny thing is, his site has remained up for years, but a lot of people said they got no response from calls or emails since 2012. A couple of overseas template suppliers have also gone dark.

I'm still going strong, and as a matter of fact, I just released a new Crestron template a couple months ago. Not a theme, but an actual set of templates with pre-made pages. I use one of the stock themes as the base (Neo-CT), and overlay all of my own icons. It has worked out great and dealers seem to love it so far. You don't have to install anything and anyone can open each others projects. Themes are kind of a pain to deal with and maintain, so I went a completely different route than everyone else.

Check them out if you like: [Link: blackmancustoms.com]
Post 6 made on Monday January 7, 2019 at 16:24
Duct Tape
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5,295
hmm, I've known Aaron (NTDesigns) since my car audio days.  Haven't seen him on Facebook in awhile.  I just checked and he doesn't seem to be on it anymore or he unfriended me.  :(

I hope he's alright.
[Link: facebook.com]
Post 7 made on Monday January 7, 2019 at 18:13
kgossen
Super Member
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3,026
I purchased 2 graphics packages from him and they've been great. I don't worry about templates as I design my own but loved their graphics.

Purchased mine around 2015/16
"Quality isn't expensive, it's Priceless!"
Post 8 made on Thursday January 10, 2019 at 12:42
gwstudios
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On January 7, 2019 at 16:24, Duct Tape said...
hmm, I've known Aaron (NTDesigns) since my car audio days.  Haven't seen him on Facebook in awhile.  I just checked and he doesn't seem to be on it anymore or he unfriended me.  :(

I hope he's alright.

I had spoken to him several times over the years. We got along great, even thought we were in "competition" with each other. I got out of Crestron after Core 3 / smart graphics were introduced way back when, so we really didn't have any of the same products.

That all changed last year when I was brought in to create custom UIs for a South Florida company who had just got rid of AMX and brought in Crestron. I had a crash self taught course in Studio to create my own themes, and had to learn VTPro-e all over again. So many properties for everything compared to before.

That is why I jumped back into the Crestron template world. Most people were selling themes, where as I wanted full blown pre-made pages just like all of my other offerings.
Post 9 made on Thursday January 10, 2019 at 18:32
Mac Burks (39)
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Smart Graphics pretty much killed guijaboard. It took about 100 hours to get my first template "done" and i just didn't have the same kind of free time to start allover. To this day i haven't created any smart graphics. Our programmer converted the company theme (my day job) so that it would work with smart graphics/core 3 and then i went in after him and updated the graphics to give it a new look.

My guess is that Aaron got out of the industry and found something better to do. That or he took a job with someone like Pantech or RTI.
Avid Stamp Collector - I really love 39 Cent Stamps


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