VP8 Interface...

[r]Evolution wrote on 9/16/2007, 9:35 AM
I was hoping to find a 'Slider' or 'Adjustment Controls' for the UI.
You know.... something that would allow the user to Darken/Lighten the UI.
This Bright UI really wears on my eyes. It's like staring into a Light all day. It's so much easier to look at Avid or Premiere for extended periods of time since both of them allow you Darken the UI.
FCP is also taxing on the eyes for long edit sessions as it's Metallic Grey UI is a bit too bright for my tastes too.

The best inception of this is in the Adobe suite. In all their apps you have a 'Slider' that simply allows you to Darken or Lighten the UI. VP8 would look really nice if it were Darker. Imagine that... I nice sleek, easy on the eyes, dark grey UI. (Gets me excited)

In the past I was using WindowBlinds and assigning a Dark Skin to Vegas.

Is there any way to Darken the VP8 UI without changing the entire look of Windows?

Comments

Sab wrote on 9/16/2007, 10:35 AM
Our survey said......

No
megabit wrote on 9/16/2007, 2:24 PM
And I wish the right mouse button could bring me back from full screen preview to the GUI... The right button is commonly used for the Esc button; why not here? Please Sony...

AMD TR 2990WX CPU | MSI X399 CARBON AC | 64GB RAM@XMP2933  | 2x RTX 2080Ti GPU | 4x 3TB WD Black RAID0 media drive | 3x 1TB NVMe RAID0 cache drive | SSD SATA system drive | AX1600i PSU | Decklink 12G Extreme | Samsung UHD reference monitor (calibrated)

TheHappyFriar wrote on 9/16/2007, 5:24 PM
it defaults to using your windows theme. so if you change your windows theme vegas should change with it.
SimonW wrote on 9/17/2007, 7:02 AM
Trouble is that you don't always want or need the entire Windows theme to be dark.

I really think Vegas' interface could do with a bit of a spruce up in terms of looks to make it easier on the eyes.
bakerja wrote on 9/17/2007, 7:30 AM
For switching from full screen preview back to GUI, I use a shuttle pro with one of the buttons programed to ctrl+alt+4. This toggles full screen preview mode.

JAB
TheHappyFriar wrote on 9/17/2007, 7:32 AM
don't forget you can tell vegas to ignore the xp themes. Maybe that will be what you want.

but vegas is just as bright as the rest of windows. I'd figure if it bothered you the rest of windows would.
FuTz wrote on 9/17/2007, 7:57 AM
This topic comes in after each release of Vegas since v.5 ...
Yep, that's lil'bit of a pain but like HapFri said, just go back to older theme in prefs and get the colors you want. I did it with 2 or 3 different themes (with according save/names) that way in the past with mid / darker / black GUIs and was happy with that.
But I confess it'd be a real treat to simply have kind of a slider to adjust it "on the spot"... editing video requires a more darker GUI for the long every day run than Word or another app that we use sparsely here and there during the day.
MPM wrote on 9/17/2007, 9:49 AM
Not what you're after I'm sure, but the LG line of LCD monitors has a number of set-ups you can easily switch between. I normally use Text for something like this -- posting in the forum, have a custom set-up for stills, and use the video set-up in Vegas, switching to my custom set-up for color work.
FuTz wrote on 9/17/2007, 11:52 AM
... a question comes to mind: is it the same with Vista? From what I've seen so far, there's a black GUI with Vista, nope? Or is it just the MediaPlayer that I've seen?
DataMeister wrote on 9/17/2007, 12:04 PM
On Vista it's just Media player and a few of the media programs like the photo browser. But they don't have a full dark theme. Mostly just the control bars. Background is white like the other windows apps.

FuTz wrote on 9/17/2007, 12:40 PM
...bummer...
Anyone tried Windowblinds with XP ? Buggy ? Easy flowing ?


http://www.stardock.com/products/windowblinds/
mjroddy wrote on 9/17/2007, 1:12 PM
VASST, at one time, had some themes to help change the look of Vegas. I wanted to download these themes from them, because I don't know were else I trust the content (themes) enough to download them. However, the link to each theme is now broken, so I couldn't get them.
I fully agree that Premier has "done it right" in allowing the user to choose the look of the UI.
FuTz wrote on 9/17/2007, 1:14 PM
Just tried Windowblinds ("try" version) and, well, with the skins provided with this limited version (tryin' the "ares" theme now) , I still got the white background Explorer window in Vegas 7... : (
Kennymusicman wrote on 9/17/2007, 1:16 PM
What about something like "Windows Blinds" - to completely control the skin and UI look of Windows. That should give you just about complete control over anything and everything you want.

edit: nevermind... can see you just tried it. ALthough a diff. skin?

Ken
[r]Evolution wrote on 9/17/2007, 6:14 PM
Yep... I've been using WindowBlinds to get a Darker UI for Vegas.
The rest of Windows doesn't bother me because I'm not staring at other programs nearly as long as I'm staring at my NLE's.

WindowBlinds has an option for applying a Skin to individual Apps without affecting the rest of Windows too, so you can set up a Skin for just Vegas if you'd like. Currently I'm using Azenus for my entire Windows, but I'm searching for a darker one for the Sony Apps.

It would be awesome if Sony would get some of the UI designers from there (or anywhere else) to design some skins and offer them up to us.
http://www.guichamps.com <-- was a Skin/Icon/etc competition.

The new 'Splash Screens' are looking awesome. Now it's time for the actual Apps to start looking pretty too. I've said it time and time again... I'm tired of the Classic Windows look in the Sony Apps. We're designers/creatives for goodness sake. We need cool looking tools too. That's the whole thing behind Apple. Make it look cool and everybody will flock to it and think it's a must have.

I feel like... it's cool to have a date that knows how to dance... but it's awesome if your date is pretty too.
MJPollard wrote on 9/17/2007, 9:00 PM
Sorry, have to disagree. I'm for consistency. I'm sick to death of every other application I install having its own "better" skin, or worse, some kind of downright screwed-up UI. One of the reasons I love Vegas is that it's a Windows application that's not afraid to admit that, yes, it's a Windows application! (I recently installed Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0, and while the app has features out the ying-yang, its interface is slow as snail snot thanks to the "improved" GUI and skin. This is progress?!)

The minute that Vegas gets a "pretty," resource-wasting interface is the moment I start looking elsewhere.
FuTz wrote on 9/18/2007, 1:35 PM
XP is already a resource-wasting interface... unless you disable animations, etc or go back to old Windows interface look. Now, there you can customize with the colors you want, as said before.
Soniclight wrote on 9/19/2007, 2:51 AM
I'd be thrilled if Sony got some inspiration from Steinberg Cubase SX in terms of track content color-coding. The image is from the older SX3 version press release (now at 4.x). I have v.3 and use for all my in-depth audio creation and production, then import into Vegas.

Image doesn't show that one can also darken the app background (it's white here).
Content colors shown are defaults and can be tweaked up the wazoo.

(BTW, I haven't looked at v.4 so it could be even better; v.3 is just fine for me, so why salivate and burn money :)

FuTz wrote on 9/19/2007, 8:09 AM
woahhh... this Cubase timeline is a Soundscape ripoff ! ;)
On another side, I guess we don't want colors but levels of grey so our eyes aren't influenced by any tint from the GUI while working.
But each one his own...
[r]Evolution wrote on 9/19/2007, 6:14 PM
"we don't want colors but levels of grey"
___________

That's exactly what I need.
Staring into a Bright UI all day gives me a headache. It's like looking into a Flashlight.
I don't want it to look like a Child colored it with a Crayon. I would just like the ability to 'Darken it a bit.

I can just imagine those that stare at MS Word,with its white BG, all day... ouch!

BTW... Windowblinds has NOT hindered my performance at all. Maybe if I was trying to push HD it would... but I'm Strictly DV right now.
Soniclight wrote on 9/19/2007, 7:44 PM
Re: Steinberg example -- as I said, "Image doesn't show that one can also darken the app background (it's white here)." Meaning the white background CAN be darkened, as can background grids, track setting areas, mixing boards, etc. etc..

As to Steinberg "ripping" off anyone, Cubase has been around for a long, long time. They're pretty good at coming up with good ideas on their own. And/but all companies look at products in their general industry to see what works and doesn't.

And what consumers resonate to.
Soniclight wrote on 9/19/2007, 7:48 PM
Seems like the obvious hasn't been mentioned here regarding this thread's topic...
....Turn down the brightness and/or contrast on you monitor/s when in Vegas :)
John_Cline wrote on 9/19/2007, 8:55 PM
I wouldn't mind being able to darken the interface but, otherwise, I don't want the gurus in Madison messing with the Vegas UI at all. It is crisp, clean and functional. The interface in other NLEs, particularly Avid Media Composer or Liquid drive me up the wall.