How to add background images to VidaBox CQC templates

[Sergio D]

Overview:
This thread will detail how to add new background images to the Vidabox CQC templates.

Prerequisites:

1. A background image size to the resolution of the template it is meant to be used in such as 800x600 for an 800x600 template.
2. The background image needs to be imported in the CQC 'Image Repository'. New images can be imported into the image repository in the CQC 'Interface Editor'.
3. A thumbnail image to be displayed in the coverart browser for theme selection. This is usually the same image as the background image but in a scaled down size. We suggest using an image size of 300x225 for the thumbnail. This image does not need to be imported into the CQC "image Repository'. It will be directly imported in the CQC media repository and stored there.

How to:

1. Open the CQC "Media Repository Manager"
   
   
   
   
2. Select "Backgrounds_Repo" as the repository to manage
3. Change the media type to "Movies"
   
   
   
   
4. From the menu bar select 'Manage -> Add Collection Manually...'
   
   
   
   
5. The first thing that needs to be done is to create a title set.
   1. Click 'Title Set...' button
   2. Enter name of the background
   3. Click 'Save' button
   
   
   
   
6. Next you add the information and image links.
   1. Enter name of the background
   2. Click the 'Arrow' button and select a category for the background
   3. Click the 'Change' button and select an image file (.jpg, .png, etc.) and select an image file on the local hard drive for the thumbnail image to use in the coverart browser. The thumbnail image should be small otherwise the background selection page will be very slow to load as it needs to scale the thumbnail image down to fit. We suggest a size of 300x225 for the thumbnail.
   4. Select 'File Based' from the dropdown list box.
   5. Enter the CQC 'Image Repository' relative path to the full sized background image. This will assume that the background image has already been added to the CQC 'Image Repository' form the 'Interface Editor'. The background image should be scaled to fit the resolution of the template it is to be used in. Meaning, if the template resolution is 800x600, the image size should be 800x600. Make sure that the path is correct otherwise there will be an error when the user selects this background. The path should be the same as if you selected the background image directly for a widget in the CQC 'Interface Editor'.
   
   
   
   
7. You will get a warning that the file cannot be accessed from here. Click OK to close.

You should now see the new background available by clicking the 'Select Theme' button from IV.

[Daveb]

Sergio;
I have been playing around with your background method. I am having trouble with getting the image to pull in from the repository without refreshing the interface. Are you still using the same method with your revised interfaces or have you moved away from the repository method?

[Sergio D]

Originally Posted by Daveb

Sergio;
I have been playing around with your background method. I am having trouble with getting the image to pull in from the repository without refreshing the interface. Are you still using the same method with your revised interfaces or have you moved away from the repository method?

Yeh, I had the same issue you do. So what I did to get around the issue is the following:

1- Use a static image widget for your "background" image. Don't set the template background image. Send this static image to the back and give the widget a name. I guess you can pick a default image for this widget from the image repository.

2- Create a boolean field in a variable driver of some sort. Leave the default value as false.

3- Add a trigger on the new boolean field you just created to fire when IsTrue.

4- Create another field in the var driver that will hold the background image location. So this would be a string field. Set a default image location if you want to.

So the logic flow would be as follows:

1- After a user picks a background they want, I set the var driver field with the new image location that was selected. There is also a command you can send the driver to set the default value for the var driver so that the new background location doesn't change back to the old default when you reboot your system. I think it's something like this:
Devices::SendDrvCmd
P1=CQC_Variables
P2=SetFldDefault
P3=Zone%(GVar:intZone)_Background

Lastly, I set the boolean field in the var driver to true. This then fires an event. I close the pop-up.

2- I then trap that event in the template event system. I read the image location from the var driver. I set the background image widget to the new background image. That's why I had to use an image widget. I have no command to set the background image for the template in the event actions. Lastly, I change the boolean field in the var driver back to false so that it can trigger the next time a change is made.

It's kind of a round about way of doing it but all screens will now update automatically when you select a new background. You can also add logic to present screen/user specific backgrounds very easily using this method. You would just need to create a couple of extra string fields in the var driver for each user and set their default background. Add logic in the fired event commands to decide which background image to use.

[Daveb]

Sergio - Thanks! I actually got it working, using your templates, then it stopped working. I got tied up on the "OnPreLoad" issue in the beta. Dean found the issue and is updating it soon. Actually this makes sense. It worked prior to the recent update, and I never thought about it.

I actually integrated your templates with Squeezebox as the primary music source. It is working well in the rough stages so far. I will keep you posted.

My next step is to integrate it once more with WMC. Had it working at one point, but lost support for the driver I was using. I am going to re-implement it with Marks method. Does his work with Windows 7? I know it was designed for Vista.

Thanks for the explanation above!

[Sergio D]

Originally Posted by Daveb

Does his work with Windows 7? I know it was designed for Vista.

Unfortunately, it doesn't. It requires and update for Win7. I'm not sure if we are going to update it to Win7 or not.

[Daveb]

Hey - there are other methods that I have been using for several years, but it would be a nice integration. With the unfriendly MS architecture, it is not easy!