I thought I would kick things off by presenting some images of my pink theme, after all ladies first right.. And doesn't Cali Lewis look hot in pink, a woman that knows her tech and beautiful at the same time. Well Enough about Cali, if you want to know more about her check out GeekbeatTv in your google search engine or add the plugins to your xbmc, and you will more then likely agree with me.
As you can see here the folder view is using a nice combination of the default confluence images mixed with folder images taken from the Transparency skin, which is another nice skin worth checking out if your new to XBMC.Thanks Ronie for giving me the right to modify them and add them into my themes.
You may be thinking wheres the fanart. I thought I would present this one without it showing, just to show that one can have a nice looking media center without all the fancy artwork like fanart etc bogging a slower system down, hence the beauty of its light and fluffiness. To those interested I also create all these themes in two different versions, those with default confluence images colorized and lightly modified here and there and the transparency set, with yet more on the horizon, I'm having too much fun.. :P
I'm a bit fond of my orange theme, I think it looks rather nice with our newly added advanced color settings in the confluence lite mod, you can get more information on it in the xbmc forums. All my themes are available from git and is still under development so if you want to try it out expect a few bumps in the road from time to time.
Though if there is any they are quickly fixed.. The themes also work with the confluence lite them which will be available with the next stable release of XBMC.But it wont get as many colors on the main menu as the mod version does. Better yet if you have any know how, or some great ideas sign up at XBMC Forum and join our team. Testers are always welcome, new ideas are always a plus, especially if they come with development skills. But they are not a requirement.
Some of the great features of the Confluence Lite Mod over the standard mod is the ability to add just about everything to the menu, or remove just about everything from it also. Meaning one can make it more child proof compared to other skins. It also shows more of the latest videos added on the main menu with less clicks of the remote. Playlists can be setup on the menu and the videos can be random or recently added, and they can also be clicked and played. I have created playlists for every genre for hulu and netflix and add the shortcuts to my library which makes them appear as though they are in my collection in a nice looking display compared to having to load up a web browser or have them presented in a way someone else wanted them presented to me I have them laid out the way I want them to be. There is also a nice script called Thumbcleaner which will clean the library of old images left behind from things removed from the system. Another one called MyLibrary that adds video from many sites to ones collection to stream. Saves me alot of time having to go from site to site to watch videos. With time I was able to toss out the cable box and stick with my XBMC and over the air Television. And the real fun thing about it is walking into each room and control all devices with an android phone and tablet. Remember the scenes in Star Trek where they were checking the computer from a handheld tablet, we are living those days now. So let your inner geek out and let it play, have fun and meet new and interesting people.
