Hi, I’d like to start a thread for questions and answers about the XML used in the theme’s xml files.
Does anyone know what keycolor and ignore_keycolor do?
WhackTag wrote:
Does anyone know what keycolor and ignore_keycolor do?
I’ve spend hours trying to decipher the XML-code, and I must admit it is messy as **bleep**!! I am sure that a lot of code is left-over from previous FW (perhaps from before release), which havent been cleaned up yet. I found that you can sometimes remove several lines of code, without any change at all !!
So, the above code might not do anything at all 
You’re right about it being a mess :-/
It seems to me, some of the xml files don’t even belong to the Hub, but to one or more of it’s brethren, like the other WD players or even players from other brands, like Eminent. Some of the xml files in the Legacy package belong to those other players.
BTW
I think I’ve figured out what bg=“1” does:
It’s for static imagery on a page, and it means “Yes, this is a background image”.
Those images are not refreshed, meaning less work to do for the processor, and a speedier interface.
The best thing to do is delete all the xml files and the hidden .wd_tv folder from the hub and start again. As you say some the files are left over from the old firmware and make things confusing.
WhackTag wrote:
You’re right about it being a mess :-/
It seems to me, some of the xml files don’t even belong to the Hub, but to one or more of it’s brethren, like the other WD players or even players from other brands, like Eminent. Some of the xml files in the Legacy package belong to those other players.
BTW
I think I’ve figured out what bg=“1” does:
It’s for static imagery on a page, and it means “Yes, this is a background image”.
Those images are not refreshed, meaning less work to do for the processor, and a speedier interface.
This can be used in the gallery view to have a static background to prevent backdrops from appearing 
I’ve tested it
A: Add a textcolor statement to the mlmenuview command in de file rv_home.xml to change it.
E.g. textcolor=“0xff0000” would make the words Setup, Video, etc. red.
Disclaimer: I’m writing this from memory, as I don’t have access my WD TV Live Hub atm. Need someone to test this out.
What is the best way to view these XML files as they would appear on the hub on a PC (if it is possible), I’m assuming I would need to create a Linux Virtual Environmet on my PC? or is it a case of amend/create and view the result on the Hub, which seems a bit hit and missto me?
Thanks for the help.
Tony
As far as I know a theme simulator does not exist at the moment, so the only way to view the result of any changes you make to the theme files, is to upload and view them to the Hub. For graphics you could use photoshop or gimp and make a multi layered image. That’s what I did.
I have started developing something like a theme simulator, but it’s in an infant stage right now, too early to post here. I hope to find the time to get it working soon, but I can’t promise anything right now.
Thanks for that
I’m assuming the screen/image size in Photoshop should be 1280*720? then just layer the bits you want to move \amend and then upload any changed images and update the relevant XML file(s) accordingly?
yepmop1898 wrote:
Thanks for that
I’m assuming the screen/image size in Photoshop should be 1280*720? then just layer the bits you want to move \amend and then upload any changed images and update the relevant XML file(s) accordingly?
Yup! 1280 x 720 is the size of all pages. When set to 1080i or 1080p mode these pages are just upscaled.
But finding out what theme image goes where in your photoshop document is a lot of work. So we could start a new thread just for the purpose of exchanging theme *.psd files. That way we wouldn’t have to invent the wheel time and again.
It’s just that psd files with lots of layers are usually huge. If I find a place I can upload these files to, I’ll post a link to those in the themes forum.
Here’s a sample of rendering for the MAIN PAGE. This is how I make my renders before to see how they will look.
The file is an .xcf which is Gimps version of psd. I know that Gimp will open psds correctly, but not sure if Photoshop will open xcfs correctly.
Zipped the file is almost 2Mb’s.
Thanks Guys , very useful info.
Tinwarble thanks for the “main Page” example, looks good, but I can see it’s a lot of work, but I’ll give it a go. Just need to exercise the imagination now and come up with something unique
