Hi guys,

I was inspired by one one the RC members (vbova) to create a splash screen for the ability to customize a UI for anyone who owns a dedicated home theater.

Basically, it is a splash graphic that will work on any size touch panel from the largest sizes (17") all the way down to handheld remotes with 240 x 320 resolution. There are 9 different pre-sized images.

The images are transparent .png and work best on a slightly darker background and all you have to do is overlay text in the marquee portion to read "XXXXXXX Theater" or whatever you like. See the example below.





I also decided to create a countdown timer that was a bit different than the standard ones I have seen. These are available in pre-made animated GIFs that range from 5 to 60 seconds in 5 second increments and come in two sizes (200 x 200 pixels and 300 x 300).



(refresh page to start the timer back at 60 seconds)

All 60 frames are avaialble in HQ PNG for UI editors that utilize animation wizards such as Crestron and AMX where you have to build your own. For the animated GIFs, all you need to do is import the file for the correct time and it will work automatically. URC, BitWise and a few other allow for direct importing of animated files.

The animations are programmed at 1 frame per second and only play once (no looping). Both of these files are now available on the downloads page.

(The one I used for this page is set to loop, however)

If you right click on any of the animated GIFs and select "Open in Internet Explorer" (or your browser of choice), you can view them without loading them to your project and uploading.

Enjoy.

[Link: blackmancustoms.com]

Very cool.

awesome !

The Nixie Tubes are A. May. Zing!

The tube timer is awesome. Nice work, Noel!

Very Impressive! I love the tube countdown timer!

Thanks guys, I thought they would come in handy as a lot of us, and our clients have dedicated theaters. These are nice to use when going to a sales meeting with a demo panel and the splash image is already personilized with thier name on it.

Unfortunately, our customers never say "Wow, this programming is awesome" or know about all the work that goes into making a system actually function. In the end, they only see the front end that controls it all.

The last company I worked for always had me accompany them to initial client meetings with a touch panel in tow. I would sit quietly for hours just listening to the home owner, subcontractors, and our guys discuss all the details.

When the meeting started to go long and the home owner looked like he couldn't take another minute, I would pull out the touch panel and set on the conference table. All the sudden, everyone was interested in what I was doing becuase I haven't said a word yet and there is this cool looking device just sitting there.

I would then sit down next to the client and show him or her what the control system would look like and how it would function, complete with a map of thier house for room selection, fake feedback, preset channel icons, the works.

The homeowner would suddenly perk up and I would have people looking over my shoulder to see what they were all excited about. The most common response was "This is what my touch panel is going to look like?". They were always amazed that someone took the time to put all this together for a job they haven't closed yet.

They put a lot of time and money into having me create a custom demo and flying me in, but I can assure you it goes a long way. It was the extra step that none of the competing companies for the project took. Basically, it was a done deal every time.

On a few occasions, the client kept the touch panel so show to the rest of the family. At that point, we knew they were going to sign and I did exactly what I supposed to. The good news was, most of the touch panel was already finished on the graphical side.

Sorry for the novel, I just thought would share it with you guys. As Kramer would say "You don't sell the steak, you sell the sizzle".

This is standard operating procedure for us. We lost a big job once and won it back by taking an iPad (first week it came out... thanks apple) with the clients floor plans on it and his name on the home page. After he had the iPad for a couple of minutes we got the project back.

Another thing we do is when we send proposals we always include screen shots of the GUI. It helps illustrate the amount of work that goes into THEIR project. It gets people thinking (posted above) "this is what MY touch panel is going to look like".

It's amazing what a little hands on demo will do. That is why I alwys waited until the meeting was into late afternoon and everyone was looking worn out. We never wanted to start a meeting with "Hey, check out this touch panel". It is also nice when the client has direct input on thier own UI. I would always add elements from thier interior on the final design and the client's wife (or partner in some cases) would pick up on them instantly.

While we are on the subject of BSD awesomeness... Your UI for the iPad was/is great. As far as i know you were the first one to come up with this solution and it works very well for rotating portrait to landscape.

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Thanks 39, that was one of those "OMG" moments when I was trying to figure out a solution.

That video needs to be replaced..... Every button and background on that iPad is the old style.... ugh. It even has the old BSD logo. Time to break out the video camera and Windows Movie Maker again.

I was looking for excuse to re-design my home remote, REALLY like the graphics, outstanding attention to detail!

Thanks Lizardking

Getting back to the splash screens (which look great), how do you make them work with Bitwise. I haven't yet been able to do that in any way at all.

Which splash images are you referring to? I can help you out...