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Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 1:34 pm
by ferez21
Hi,
I made a slightly tweaked version of the dark skin to better suit my taste, and be easier on my eyes. It's a work in progress, let me know if anyone finds it useful for them, then I will upload it.
The changes so far include:
- overall slightly lighter tones, especially the arrangement background
- the illusion of flat buttons on tracks and transport by adjusting their background tones
- less harsh muted channel texture (channels 3 and 5 in the screenshot)
- flat piano roll keys
- green piano roll notes (yellow when played)
- more obvious which track is selected by a lighter track selection tone (not visible in the photo since Mixcraft was not in focus)
- redesigned step recording button
- mixcraft skin.JPG (408.73 KiB) Viewed 11292 times
(right click on the photo above, the choose "open image in new tab" to see the full photo)
The uploaded photo is atrociously compressed, please ignore the artifacts and blurriness, they are not visible in the actual skin.
I made more changes but for some reason they didn't take effect, not sure why.
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2021 6:55 pm
by pbognar
Nice. Assume you started with the dark theme - I prefer the light theme. Just saying.
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2021 3:59 am
by ferez21
pbognar wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 6:55 pm
Nice. Assume you started with the dark theme - I prefer the light theme. Just saying.
Yeah i started off with the dark as the base, it is simply just too dark, and i also didnt like some elements like the "mute" texture, which looks like an optical illusion of the clips bending
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2021 9:16 pm
by Guaresneider
ferez21 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 1:34 pm
Hi,
I made a slightly tweaked version of the dark skin to better suit my taste, and be easier on my eyes. It's a work in progress, let me know if anyone finds it useful for them, then I will upload it.
The changes so far include:
- overall slightly lighter tones, especially the arrangement background
- the illusion of flat buttons on tracks and transport by adjusting their background tones
- less harsh muted channel texture (channels 3 and 5 in the screenshot)
- flat piano roll keys
- green piano roll notes (yellow when played)
- more obvious which track is selected by a lighter track selection tone (not visible in the photo since Mixcraft was not in focus)
- redesigned step recording button
mixcraft skin.JPG
(right click on the photo above, the choose "open image in new tab" to see the full photo)
The uploaded photo is atrociously compressed, please ignore the artifacts and blurriness, they are not visible in the actual skin.
I made more changes but for some reason they didn't take effect, not sure why.
Your effort was great, the result in my eyes, oh well...poor. Mixcraft needs a new face and this is not exactly the way, however, it is valid your effort in trying...
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2021 10:14 pm
by ferez21
Guaresneider wrote: ↑Sat Jun 12, 2021 9:16 pm
ferez21 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 1:34 pm
Hi,
I made a slightly tweaked version of the dark skin to better suit my taste, and be easier on my eyes. It's a work in progress, let me know if anyone finds it useful for them, then I will upload it.
The changes so far include:
- overall slightly lighter tones, especially the arrangement background
- the illusion of flat buttons on tracks and transport by adjusting their background tones
- less harsh muted channel texture (channels 3 and 5 in the screenshot)
- flat piano roll keys
- green piano roll notes (yellow when played)
- more obvious which track is selected by a lighter track selection tone (not visible in the photo since Mixcraft was not in focus)
- redesigned step recording button
mixcraft skin.JPG
(right click on the photo above, the choose "open image in new tab" to see the full photo)
The uploaded photo is atrociously compressed, please ignore the artifacts and blurriness, they are not visible in the actual skin.
I made more changes but for some reason they didn't take effect, not sure why.
Your effort was great, the result in my eyes, oh well...poor. Mixcraft needs a new face and this is not exactly the way, however, it is valid your effort in trying...
Thanks i guess
It's not supposed to be an eye candy, I'm still pretty much limited by what Mixcraft allows to change, but i can confidently say that this is much much easier on the eyes and easier to work with and tell things apart, maybe the photo doesn't do it justice.
This may not be a big deal for the older users who go way back with Mixcraft, which seems to be the main demographic of the users, but it seems to be that Mixcraft has an issue attracting new younger crowds, and it's because things like that. I'm a new user, and I almost gave up on Mixcraft too just because of the interface (i admit, judged it too quickly initially), but managed to modify it to at least make it usable. I agree that they should definitely rehaul it asap.
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:30 pm
by RollingStone
hehe, with time goes by there are more and more users that obviously can't deal with the new skins in v9.
your skin is better than the original ones in v9, which are the reason i'm still using mixcraft 8, but as you said there are still too many limitations when creating an own skin.
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:35 am
by Acoustica Greg
RollingStone wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:30 pm
your skin is better than the original ones in v9, which are the reason i'm still using mixcraft 8, but as you said there are still too many limitations when creating an own skin.
I'm sure I've probably mentioned this, but Mixcraft 9 has a Mixcraft 8 skin. Display Preferences > Visual Themes.
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 12:54 pm
by ferez21
Acoustica Greg wrote: ↑Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:35 am
RollingStone wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:30 pm
your skin is better than the original ones in v9, which are the reason i'm still using mixcraft 8, but as you said there are still too many limitations when creating an own skin.
I'm sure I've probably mentioned this, but Mixcraft 9 has a Mixcraft 8 skin. Display Preferences > Visual Themes.
Hi Greg, is there a way to change the color of the grid lines in the arrangment? Couldn't find it in the skin setting file.
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 1:14 am
by RollingStone
Acoustica Greg wrote: ↑Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:35 am
RollingStone wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:30 pm
your skin is better than the original ones in v9, which are the reason i'm still using mixcraft 8, but as you said there are still too many limitations when creating an own skin.
I'm sure I've probably mentioned this, but Mixcraft 9 has a Mixcraft 8 skin. Display Preferences > Visual Themes.
yes. but even if you name it "mixcraft 8 skin", it doesn't look like mixcraft 8 indeed.
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 4:04 pm
by ferez21
Improved arranger background (and minor/major markers) and some other minor tweaks:
- image_2021-07-03_070333.png (109.43 KiB) Viewed 10888 times
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 4:12 am
by philippanico
Hi Ferez So how are these changes made. sorry if you've already mentioned this.
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 6:15 am
by ferez21
philippanico wrote: ↑Thu Jul 22, 2021 4:12 am
Hi Ferez So how are these changes made. sorry if you've already mentioned this.
Hi,
In your Mixcraft's installation folder (in Program Files usually) there is a file named "mixskin.ini", and a subfolder named "mixrez" - the ini file defines all the settings and colors related to the skin, and the "mixrez" folder contains all the graphical elements of the skin (usually in the form of .png files).
Open "mixskin.ini" in a text editor, and you'll immediately start seeing how it works, but the problem is that some sections and parts of it are not 100% clear on what they are for, so it takes a bit of trial an error to figure out what some settings actually affect. It also helps if you have some kind of tool that can tell you color values in textual RGB form, I'm simply using the color picker of my graphic editing software.
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Sat Jul 31, 2021 3:32 am
by ferez21
Updated the skin with a dark toned pianoroll, easier on the eyes and looks more coherent, you can download it from here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nwl0O3 ... sp=sharing
Installation notes:
I suggest to
backup the current "mixskin.ini" file and the "mixrez" folder that are in your Mixcraft installation folder before applying the new skin.
Then, simply copy everything from the zip file into Mixcraft's root installation folder, overwriting all the current similar files.
- image_2021-07-31_183549.png (106.69 KiB) Viewed 10604 times
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:46 am
by CologneKeys
I love Mixcraft but the skins are p.i.t.a. - sorry - they make me feel depressed
My problem is: I have no skills to make it much better - what are your ideas to make it better? Is there an example in known DAWs that could be a model for Mixcraft? I think Cubase isn't bad - but IMHO it could be even better than that. Does anybody know if there are plans for improvement in Mixcraft 10? I want to stay with Acoustica but the look and feel has to be much better!
Re: Mixcraft 9 Skin
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:58 am
by ferez21
CologneKeys wrote: ↑Mon Aug 02, 2021 1:46 am
I love Mixcraft but the skins are p.i.t.a. - sorry - they make me feel depressed
My problem is: I have no skills to make it much better - what are your ideas to make it better? Is there an example in known DAWs that could be a model for Mixcraft? I think Cubase isn't bad - but IMHO it could be even better than that. Does anybody know if there are plans for improvement in Mixcraft 10? I want to stay with Acoustica but the look and feel has to be much better!
My ideas to make it better? Well, that was pretty much the whole purpose of the skin that i have created
This is not perfect in any way, but within the limitations, I'm much more comfortable using Mixcraft with my modified skin, it is easier on the eyes and makes much more sense to me.
As per Mixcraft 10, Acouatica have mentioned on multiple occasions that a GUI overhaul is a major priority, so yes, we will definitely see an improved user interface in the upcoming version.