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Modern8 - A Metro Inspired Windows Media Center Theme


NeoMesal

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So far I only changed the backdrop and the startup images and the media control bar (made it transparent instead of black or white). I'm thinking about changing the font to roboto condensed but i kinda like what is already there.  

Nice video, I can't wait to see the one you do with modern8. What things did you change?

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Another video using Modern8 slightly modified.

 

 

So far I only changed the backdrop and the startup images and the media control bar (made it transparent instead of black or white). I'm thinking about changing the font to roboto condensed but i kinda like what is already there.  

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  • 1 year later...

Seriously, I'm in total awe of this theme.

 

I cannot believe how professional it looks.

 

The time and attention to detail to put Modern8 is incredible.

 

I was using the Default theme for about a year, but just built a new HTPC and decided to try the Alternative Light theme, along with the Light New Windows Logos.

 

Very good job NeoMasal! I most def tipped your PayPal jar : - )

 

 

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NeoMesal

 

 

Thanks JBL!

 

Glad you enjoy it. :)

 

I've made a few more small improvements since the last update so I'll post a new version in the next day or two.

 

Cheers.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So glad this is still being updated! New update is great, but while the new full screen show info is great, it doesn't fill the entire screen when looking at show info in the scheduled recorded tv. The show profile shading is wider than the center vertical band of stock, but doesn't fill entire 1080p screen. Is there a setting I can adjust for this? Or is this just a glitch? Fixed with the script?

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NeoMesal

It looks like it might be a small glitch. SLIDE.SHADOW.RIGHT.png and SLIDE.SHADOW.LEFT.png are normally able to fill up the rest of the screen, but for some reason they only use about 1/2 of their full width (on a 1080 screen).

 

The original graphics in Media Center are shadows which don't cover the whole screen, so this isn't normally noticeable.

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EDIT: Sorry, now I fully understand what you are telling me. This is probably one of those leftover graphical elements from before Media Center was widescreen and we normally don't see it because program info screen is always centered.

Well the full screen dark transparent mask seems to fill the whole 1080p screen in all scenarios except when accessing a show profile from the recorded tv menu. So it likely isn't a glitch with the new full screen view as a whole, just that one scenario. Would that help narrow down if there is anything that can be done?

Edited by Moolelo
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  • 4 months later...
bitwise

So, I know this thread is old, but I just found Modern8 and really like it.  I also really liked the idea of random backgrounds so here goes:

 

I installed a Chrome plugin called Multi Link Opener and set my browser to automatically download.  You also want to remove the "Lazy Load" option from the plugin.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/multi-link-opener/dbgccfhggnmhkinbapnnfkpgikbdfege

 

Next, I went to the following page and downloaded just about every theme there was using the multi link opener plugin.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13768/windows-desktop-themes

 

From there, after they were all downloaded, I used 7-zip to extract to *\  This caused all the themes to be extracted into their own folders.

 

After that, I used Agent Ransack to search the theme folder for all JPGs.  I use agent ransack because I like it better than the Windows Search.  In the Agent Ransack window, I moved all JPGs to a new folder

https://www.mythicsoft.com/agentransack

 

After installing Modern8, I copied the directory twice and renamed them to "Modern8-Light" and "Modern8-Dark" and renamed the original to "Modern8-Original"  From there I configured the light folder the way I wanted it and did the same to the dark folder (ie, changing the logo to the 8 version).

 

Last, I wrote this script.  It's a VBScript that looks at your new pool of wallpaper, picks a random one, possibly darkens it up (using imagemagick / link below), and then gets the greyscale percentage and compares it to a threshold that you set.  Based on the threshold, it picks whether to use the light or dark theme you setup.

http://www.imagemagick.org/script/index.php

 

 

You could set this as a scheduled task in Windows to run every hour to get a fresh backdrop every so often.

Option Explicit
Randomize Timer

'Change this stuff
Const ImageMagick = "C:\Program Files\ImageMagick-7.0.2-2\"		'Path to the ImageMagick binaries
Const ThemeDir = "C:\ProgramData\Media Center Themer\"			'Path to the Media Center Themer directory
Const Wallpaper = "\\server\wallpaper\"							'Path to directory of wallpapers

'Whether to darken the new background or not. Range is -100 to 100 with 0 being no adjustment. Negative numbers darken the picture
Const AdjustImageBy = 0'-20

'Should not have to change this
Const DefaultTheme = "Modern8"									
Const BackgroundName = "ALLBACKGROUNDS.jpg"
Const GoLightThresh = 70 'The range is 1 to 100
Const ActualThres = 65535

'Do not change below this point
'//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Private oFSO

Call Main()

Sub Main()
	Dim oFile, lRnd, i, sTheme
	Set oFSO = WScript.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
		i = 0
		lRnd = CLng(Fix(Rnd * oFSO.GetFolder(Wallpaper).Files.Count)) + 1
		For Each oFile In oFSO.GetFolder(Wallpaper).Files
			i = i + 1
			If i = lRnd Then Exit For
		Next
		i = ImageMath(oFile)
		If oFSO.FolderExists(ThemeDir & DefaultTheme) = True Then oFSO.DeleteFolder ThemeDir & DefaultTheme
		If i >= ((GoLightThresh / 100) * ActualThres) Then
			sTheme = "Light"
		Else
			sTheme = "Dark"
		End If
		oFSO.GetFolder(ThemeDir & DefaultTheme & "-" & sTheme).Copy ThemeDir & DefaultTheme
		If oFSO.FileExists(ThemeDir & DefaultTheme & "\Images\" & BackgroundName) = True Then oFSO.DeleteFile ThemeDir & DefaultTheme & "\Images\" & BackgroundName
		Call WaitForFile()
		oFSO.GetFile(ThemeDir & BackgroundName).Move ThemeDir & DefaultTheme & "\Images\" & BackgroundName
	Set oFSO = Nothing
	WScript.Echo "The picture was considered """ & sTheme & """ based on a threshold of " & CStr(GoLightThresh) & "%"
	WScript.Echo "This pictures scored a " & CStr(Round((i / ActualThres) * 100, 2)) & "% (" & CStr(i) & ")"
End Sub

Function ImageMath(oFile)
	Dim oShell, oExec, sInput
	ImageMath = -1
	Set oShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
		If AdjustImageBy = 0 Then
			oFile.Copy ThemeDir & BackgroundName
		Else
			oShell.Exec("""" & ImageMagick & "convert.exe"" -brightness-contrast " & CStr(AdjustImageBy) & "x" & CStr(AdjustImageBy) & " """ & oFile.Path & """ """ & ThemeDir & BackgroundName & """")
		End If
		Call WaitForFile()
		Set oExec = oShell.Exec("""" & ImageMagick & "convert.exe"" """ & ThemeDir & BackgroundName & """ -format ""%[mean]"" info:")
			Do While oExec.Status = 0
				WScript.Sleep 100
			Loop
			Do While Not oExec.Stdout.atEndOfStream
				sInput = oExec.StdOut.ReadLine()
				If IsNumeric(sInput) = True Then
					ImageMath = CLng(sInput)
					Exit Do
				End If
			Loop
		Set oExec = Nothing
	Set oShell = Nothing
End Function

Sub WaitForFile()
	Do
		'Loop to make sure file exists
	Loop Until oFSO.FileExists(ThemeDir & BackgroundName) = True
End Sub
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  • 5 months later...
Blacksheep

Hi,

 

I found this theme program for WMC interesting and would love to use it, but I can't seem to figure it out. I downloaded both the themer and Modern8 programs, followed the install instructions. Modern8 is inside C:\ProgramData\Media Center Themer\, now what do I do. I'm not familiar with editing the scripts in windows (Army Paratroopers don't have that as a job requirement), so if I have to work in that environment to get the background changed I will need some guidance.

 

When I installed the programs and restarted WMC the background automatically changed to a foliage pattern but I don't see how to change to the cool bubble background or change the sound.

 

Any help here would be appreciated.

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NeoMesal

Hi Blacksheep

 

It sounds like that Media Center Themer is still using the default theme (the foliage pattern background):

 

You should check to make sure that you copied BOTH the Modern8 folder AND the MCTDefault.xml file into C:\ProgramData\Media Center Themer\

 

You will need to delete or replace the pre-existing MCTDefault.xml file which is part of the default theme of Media Center Themer

 

Hope that helps! :) 

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Blacksheep

Ok I deleted the Themer default file and after a restart I was back to the original WMC background. I reran the Modern8 WindowsSetNewDefaultBeep.reg and restarted, No change. I next copied the Modern8 default file and placed it in the location of the former themer default file, restarted, no change. Next I deleted all Modern8 files including the MCTDefault.xml, downloaded a new Modern8, reloaded everything, restarted, no change. 

 

So either i'm incompetent at doing this (Highly Probable) or the program doesn't work with my computer (could be) what ever the issue any last thoughts before I cancel mission.

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NeoMesal

I downloaded the files to check they're still ok and it works fine on my computer. If the default theme was working on your computer, then Modern8 should work as well.

 

My only other suggestion is that make sure you extract the zip and copy the folder "Modern8" (NOT the folder "Modern8_1.3") into C:\ProgramData\Media Center Themer\

 

Then, in C:\ProgramData\Media Center Themer\ you should have these two items:

 

  • Modern8 (folder)
  • MCTDefault.xml (file)

Futhermore, WindowsSetNewDefaultBeep.reg will only work when the files are in the correct place (but this only changes one of the system sounds in Windows and doesn't affect the Media Center theme)

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