Add-on:Transparency!

FAQ
A FAQ…..Or at least the questions i would be asking if i had to use this skin.

Post about your problem on the forum, describe the steps to reproduce and don't forget to include a debug log.
 * 01. Nice skin, but it doesn’t work for me. Is this the best you could do?

Just use the left arrow on you remote or keyboard. If you’re using a mouse, navigate all the way to the left side of the screen.
 * 02. I’ve been pulling my hair for 3 days, but i can’t find that Left Menu

You can choose a bigger font: Settings > Appearance > Look & Feel > Fonts (pick one of the ‘Big’ fonts)
 * 03. : I’m using Transparency! on my brand-new 4:3 CRT screen and those tiny fonts are giving me a headache!

Please keep in mind, Transparency! is a 720p skin, so it will never look perfect on a 4:3 screen.


 * 04. You’re clearly a selfish english bastard, if i pick another language all of the buttons are way too small to hold the text!

Nope i’m not, but i do prefer my software to be in english. There are two options to make the buttons wide enough for almost any language.

Settings > Skin Settings > Home Window > Wide Home Menu Buttons

Settings > Skin Settings > General > Wide Side Menu Buttons

The uncompressed sources for all the textures are available here. Please consider posting all your improvements. If i like ‘m i’ll include them in Transparancy!
 * 05. I think the graphics in Transparency! suck! I would’ve done it so much better myself.

You will have to enable it: Settings > Videos > File Lists > Extract thumbnails and video information
 * 06. Media Flagging support, Cool!, but why is it not working for me?

Next, delete you video database and rescan all your movies to the library.

ClearArt will show a transparent icon in the corner of the screen when you pause a tv show or bring up the info window.
 * 07. What the heck is ClearArt?

You can enable this feature in this way: Settings > Skin Settings > General > Enable ClearArt

Put a semi-transparent image of a certain TV Show in the folder of that TV Show. The filename of the image should be: clearart.png

(e.g. /home/xbmc/Media/TV Shows/House/clearart.png)

Note: the names of the ‘tv show’ subfolders on your harddrive need to exactly match the ‘tv show’ names as listed in xbmc.

cdArt will show a spinning cd during playback in the fullscreen info window and on the Home Screen. It’s also used in the Icons view.
 * 08. OK, but what this cdArt you keep bragging about?

This feature is enabled by default (Settings > Skin Settings > General > Enable cdArt) and will use a blank cd if no custom cd images are available.

If you want to use your own images, put a semi transparent cd image of a certain album in the folder of that album. The filename should be cdart.png

(e.g. /home/xbmc/Media/Music/Blink-182/Greatest Hits/cdart.png)

Note: if the cd disappears on the fullscreen info window after a few seconds, just hit the ‘i’ button on keyboard/remote and it will reappear. from now on it will be always visible.

Note: For things to work properly in the Icons view, you also have to enter the path to your music folder.

(Settings > Skin Settings > General > Music folder path)

If your images are located on a network folder, you’ll have to map (windows) / mount (linux/osx) your network share

or you can use this workaround:

1) in the cdart skin settings, enter a local path (doesn’t matter which path, just pick one)

2) exit xbmc

3) open guisettings.xml (it’s in the userdata folder)

4) search for this string:

/home/xbmc/Media/Music/

5) change it to:

smb://servername/Media/Music/

or (depending on your setup):

smb://username:password@servername/Media/Music/

6) start xbmc

7) in case it didn’t work, repeat the steps above, but remove the ending / in the smb path and try again

Just put a disc.png image in each movie folder and it will work.
 * 09. So we have cdArt, why not use something like that for movies as well?

These images are used in the Icons and Item view.

No, but you can use TV Logos if you want.
 * 10. So we have cdArt, why not use something like that for tv shows as well?

Use the TV Show info screen, go to Extras and use the ‘Logo’ buttonto download them.

TV Logo images are used in the fanart view.

Yup, if there’s a trailer available, you notice a special trailer icon in fanart and slide view. Just click it and you’ll be able to watch the trailer in a preview window.
 * 11. You know, i’m really busy and don’t have time to watch a full movie, can’t i just watch the trailer instead?

If you like to see it in fullscreen instead:

Settings > Skin Settings > General > Always play trailers fullscreen.

Just add your Games folder to favourites and use the one of the Custom home menu buttons for this.
 * 12. Hi i’m a gamer and i want a Game Menu button to take me straight to all my favourite games.

Note: you can use the same trick for Emulators

Note: since Programs, Games and Emulators is basically the same section in xbmc, enabling the above has one side-effect.

XBMC always remembers your last position in a certain section, so if you exit Games and next navigate to Programs, it’ll take you back to Games instead. To workaround this, also create a ‘Programs’ folder under Programs and modify these entries in Includes_Home.xml:

ActivateWindow(Programs)

to: ActivateWindow(Programs,Programs)

You can add a Comics button to the home menu as well. Just add your Comics folder to favourites and use the one of the Custom home menu buttons for this.
 * 13. Hi i don’t like games and i don’t understand why the guy above me does. I enjoy reading comics though.

Note: since Pictues and Comics is basically the same section in xbmc, enabling the above has one side-effect.

XBMC always remembers your last position in a certain section, so if you exit Comics and next navigate to Pictures, it’ll take you back to Comics instead. To workaround this, also create a ‘Pictures’ folder under Pictures and modify these entries in Includes_Home.xml:

ActivateWindow(Pictures)

to: ActivateWindow(Pictures,Pictures)


 * 14. This was an old question, that's not relevant anymore today, sorry.

Go to Settings > Skin Settings > Backgrounds > Animated backgrounds it will enable the effects for all the backgrounds on the Home Screen and all the multiple backgrounds (not single backgrounds) in all of the other xbmc sections.
 * 15. I’ve heard those Ken Burns can make you really feel seasick, so i’m eager to try those.

Select Settings > Skin Settings > General > I Hate Transparency!
 * 16. Transparency!... nice name, but those transparent panels make everything really hard to read.

next, use the slider to select the desired value (10%….100%). 20% will increase the ‘opaqueness’ of the skin by 20% and so on…

You can install the Cinema Experience script.
 * 17. My wife always wants to take me to theaters, but i’d rather stay at home... can the Cinema Experience save our marriage?

Next, check Settings > Skin Settings > Scripts > Enable Home Theater Experience script

Enabling this script will add a “Theater” icon to the movie info screen, you can use this icon to launch the script.

Note: you will need to setup the script first!

For long and short-term weather forecasts, use the default weather addon.
 * 18. It’s been raining outside for almost forever, not that i blame you, but will the weather clear up next week?

Settings > Weather > Service for weather information (select weather underground)

Download the Opensubtitle_OSD script addon.
 * 19. I not speaking the english verry good... i need subtitles in my own language please!

After installation, check Settings > Skin Settings > Add-ons > Subtitles - select add-on.

Transparency! is being developed and tested on a pc only, i don’t even own a xbox. The last xbox compatible version of Transparency! was v2.11
 * 20. XBOX rulezzz!!!

That was ages ago...

Settings > Skin Settings > Backgrounds > Movies/TV Shows/Music > Fanart
 * 21. How about a fanart slideshow on the home screen?

by default the skin will use xbmc’s fanart cache folders for this, so it will work right out of the box.

Note: xbmc uses the same folder for Movies and TV Shows fanart.

To get around this, use the script ‘Artwork Organizer’ found in the XBMC Forums. Run the script, go back to Settings > Skin Settings > Backgrounds > Movies/TV Shows/Music > Fanart and click the ‘options’ button. From there you must select the path for both movies and tv-shows where the script stored the fanart.

Settings > Skin Settings > General > Movies/TV Shows/Music – Use extra fanart
 * 22. I have a dozen of fanart images for each movie/tv show/artist and you have to tell me how i can see them all!.

Instead of a static fanart image or visualisation, you can also have a fanart slideshow in the visualisation screen.

You can enable this option on the Music OSD.

To make use of this feature, you’ll have to create an ‘extrafanart’ folder in each Movie/TV Show/Artist directory.

(e.g. /Music/Artist/extrafanart/several-images.jpg)

Settings > Skin Settings > General > TV Shows – Use season fanart
 * 23. I have a dozen of fanart images for each season and you have to tell me how i can see them all!.

you need to store your episodes in separate season folders for this to work. in each season folder, put a fanart.jpg image.

if you enable this feature in Skin Settings,these images will be used when browsing seasons/episodes instead of the default tv show fanart image.

On the music OSD, hit the 'square' button and select the 'Album icons' option.
 * 24. I’m getting bored very quickly by these fanart images in the visualisation screen, can’t we have something else?

To use option, you need to create a directory containing your album thumbs.

You can use the 'Artwork Organiser' addon to create such a folder.

next, select your this custom folder by hitting the 'Path' button.

if you like to do some reading while the visualisation screen is active, you can hit the ‘i’ button on the Music OSD.
 * 25. I’m getting bored very quickly by these Album icon images in the visualisation screen, can’t we have something else?

this will show the artist biography and album review, scrolling across the screen.

Settings > Skin Settings > General > Movies – Use extra thumbs
 * 26. I still want more artwork in my skin, how about those extra-thumbs i’ve seen in other skins?

create a extrathumbs folder in every movie folder, put two images in there: thumb1.jpg and thumb2.jpg

if you enable this feature in Skin Settings, these images are used in the fanart/item/icons views.

Please post all requests in the Transperancy! subforum. I cannot promise to implement your idea, but I can promise to at least read it. Transperancy! has evolved due to the community of people who use skin and want to improve upon it. While I do the coding, it is the users who give constant feedback on what works well, what can be improved, and what sucks.
 * 27. I have a request for something that HAS to be in Transperancy!!

I don’t know, and please... don’t bother to ask. ;-)
 * 28. I’m very impatient, so when will the next version of Transparency! be released?

SVN stands for subversion. Basically, it is a system allowing for code distribution. In other words, when I make daily changes to the skin, people can download those incremental updates and have the most up-to-date skin possible. It’s up to you whether you want to use it or not, but be aware that you MUST have an up-to-date nightly build of XBMC. Transperancy! svn will not run on the latest stable XBMC release. Nightly builds are available on the XBMC mirrors. Another option is to consult the XBMC wiki for more details on compiling your own XBMC. SVN Transparency! should be for users who want to live on the bleeding edge. While the Transparency! code is pretty stable, there ARE bugs present. It is a necessary evil of development. I fix those as quickly possible once they are reported, so do not be concerned if bugs are being unattended to for a few days.
 * 29. WTF is this SVN people are mumbling about?

If you have problems, the first thing you should do is restart xbmc! Other options to try before reporting bugs: upgrade to the latest svn version of Transparency! and also test if the bug is present in other skins. If this doesn’t fix your problem, feel free to post your questions in a new thread and not in the main one, or they’ll get lost. When posting a question, please give as much details as possible. This includes (among others) your platform and xbmc version. A debuglog wouldn’t hurt either. Just telling me ‘it doesn’t work’ is NOT enough ;-)
 * 30. Is that all?? My problem isn’t even listed here….

Special skin features
