tvisorBuilder

tvisorBuilder supports the creation of highly configurable skins for MPlayer.

introduction

This tool is aimed at advanced users who want to either create new skins or fine tune existing skins which were build with tvisorBuilder. Look here for some example skins, but note that they only differ in the layout of the control window. You can do a lot more with the builder.

documentation

Documentation is sparse at the moment, but the program itself is not that complex either, just don't expect a fully blown GUI. tvisorBuilder has a commandline interface and you need to edit a configuration file to really make use of it. Also the configuration file is normal python code. There is no special error handling, so if you screw up the config you will end up with a python exception.

This is just a short tutorial to get you started.

installation

tvisorBuilder is written in Python and build on top of the Python Imaging Library (PIL). Make sure having both installed. I am currently using Python 2.3.4 and PIL-1.1.4 and didn't check the code with older versions.

Download and unpack the tvisor archive. Open the example config config/laforge.py and change the font paths near the end of the file, to an existing truetype font on your system.

fonts = { "font_ctrl": ("/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/truetype/verdanab.ttf", 15, ),
          "font_name": ("/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/truetype/verdanab.ttf", 16)
          }

usage

Change to the tvisorBuilder directory and give it a shot:

tvisorBuilder> ./tvisorBuilder

usage: tvisorBuilder [options] CONFIG_FILE

options:

-l, --layout LAYOUT      Override default layout.
-p, --print-layouts      Show available layouts.
-c, --char-codes         Show char codes used in layouts.
-e, --exec EXPRESSION    Execute python code in config namespace.
-q, --quiet              No informational output.
-v, --verbose            More informational output.
-d, --debug              Enable debug output.
-h, --help               Show this help message.

Okay, so we need to provide a config file:

tvisorBuilder> ./tvisorBuilder config/laforge.py

Start MPlayer and open the skin browser. You will find a new skin named laforge.

But there are other layouts to build out of the box. You can take a look at them from the command line:

tvisorBuilder> ./tvisorBuilder config/laforge.py -p

* bar:

  =uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu=
  =fpsSP-+<>bbbvvvvvvme?O_X=

* big:

  =tttttttttttt=vvvvvvffSSPPeeOX=
  =nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnffSSPPeep?=

* min (default):

  ttttttttttttfpSPe?OX
  =nnnnnnnnnnnnvvvvvv=

* ori:

  ttttttttttttfpsO_X
  nnnnnnnnnnnnSP-+<>
  lllbbbvvvvvvme?===
...

If this doesn't make any sense to you:

tvisorBuilder> ./tvisorBuilder config/laforge.py -c
+  skip forward
-  skip backward
<  previous file/chapter
=  grabber
>  next file/chapter
?  preferences
O  fullscreen
P  play/pause
S  stop
X  quit
_  iconify
b  balance
e  equalizer
f  open file
l  MPlayer logo
m  mute/unmute
n  filename display
p  playlist
s  load subtitle
t  timecontrol
u  timecontrol, filename display
v  volume
|  grabber

For every control element there is a character which represents it in the layout. You can arrange multiple instances of the same character in any rectangular form to create elements spanning multiple cells.

Use the -l option to checkout a specific layout:

tvisorBuilder> ./tvisorBuilder config/laforge.py -l bar

Restart MPlayer or just switch to another skin in the browser and back again.

If you take a look at the config file, you will see that there are lots of other parameters to play with. If you know their names you can also change them on the fly like this:

tvisorBuilder> ./tvisorBuilder config/laforge.py -l min -e "cellSize = (32,32)"

Another config value you might be interested in is menuStructure, but this is better edited in the config file itself.

Besides the config file, there is the configs template directoy laforge.kit. Some files in there are pretty much the same as in a normal MPlayer skin directoy, others a little more tricky. If there is demand, i write more about this soon.

download

If you have a question or want to help, please send suggestions, bug reports, patches, etc. to aku at planepla.net.

license

tvisorBuilder - a skin builder for MPlayer

Copyright (C) 2003,2004 Andre Kuehne - aku at planepla.net

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA