Running VBS script from button

[LuciferVisuals]

Quick technical question, not urgent when you have time.

Even having got this project down to almost 10 Megs, It's likely to get bigger, I like graphics. So
Say for example I ha my project as is..... But then in some new sub directories made stargates.

If I packaged for example two skins one with some of the stuff, and another with other stuff, what happens when a recipient unzips them?
Does one over write the other, or do they get merged, in other words so they would have the whole thing? An could just add new parts on an ad-hoc basic if I sent them another RMskin? I'm new to skins and this has only just occurred to me, I hope (and suspect) that it just adds the new stuff and doesn't delete what's already there. Just thinking ahead, it might affect how I arrange my file structure in future.?

Keith

[LuciferVisuals]

Star wars Scrolling text, but not really happy with it, TBH. It doesn't look anywhere near as good as I imagined

Starwars.Zip contains the the images goes in resources

Remote-Credit-Starwars.ini..... Goes in Stargates\Remote-Help. Its standalone I haven't bothered connecting this file to the other parts at the moment, obviously only take a min but I have literally just finished, and not sure if I'll keep it.


Keith

[LuciferVisuals]

Hello Again

I just finished making this, Animated Star Wars Text, for my project. But pretty disappointed with it to be honest, the main problem is its jumpy, so I assume that means I would need even more images.

Starwars.zip goes in resources.

And Remote-Credits-Starwars.ini Goes in Stargates\Remote-Help. I did send you the other images, which I am very please with. Apart from starting again with more images, (which I could do but not sure if it's worth it), Is there any way Rainmeter can run it smoother?

Keith

[Yincognito]

Secondly that method looks increasingly difficult with irregular images.

Exactly. This method works great to lower the size of your resources when you mask things to regular shapes, otherwise you still have to use .png (or .tiff since they also support both transparency and compression, somewhat similar to .png files) to have transparency embedded in the image instead of creating it via the software, aka Rainmeter. I used the former since at that time you mentioned the woosh but you didn't say that you wanted the stargate out of the picture (or if you did, not in an obvious manner). The result is as appropriate as it's the information used to build it. Plus, I'm sure you noticed that there aren't many online sources - if any - that you can take just the woosh from, without the stargate, and building it in an image editor requires considerable effort.

If I packaged for example two skins one with some of the stuff, and another with other stuff, what happens when a recipient unzips them?

If you want the 2nd to "complement" the 1st and merge with it, you'd have to:
- set the same name, author and version when you build the 2 "parts"
- instruct users to uncheck Backup Skins from the Advanced button when installing the 2nd (or the others after the 1st, if there are more than 2)

Starmerges.jpg

Looks like you already took a decision to go with this multi-skin / multi-installer system like you started. It's possible to reduce the size of it by using variables instead of multiple Remote-Active-... .ini files, using plain variables controlling shown images instead of Button meters for buttons, or using tinting or image flipping for the "oracles". Of course, the "water" effect images take the most disk space, but apart from finding or constructing fewer frames versions of the animation (after all, the sole "secret" of it is that the first frame must resemble the first), there's nothing you can do to reduce size there.

[LuciferVisuals]

Actually I tweaked a few settings, only basic ones like size and shape, oh an update, but at least it does look a fair bit smoother.

Any thing I can do to improve it without starting over with more images?

Keith

Below is the improved version

[LuciferVisuals]

I'm sure you noticed that there aren't many online sources - if any - that you can take just the woosh from, without the stargate, and building it in an image editor requires considerable effort.

No I don't think there are any ready to use images, So I was going to do it the hard way, I just thought it was a possibility that you had the images separately. "I just happened to have these lying around" I think those were your words from memory, I realised you were joking but when someone has been doing this for a long time they probably have acquired quite a library of the things that interest them, so I thought I would ask just in case you had previously separated them.

Looks like you already took a decision to go with this multi-skin / multi-installer system like you started.

No haven't made a decision about that, I was 90% certain I was going to make it seperate projects until I received your advice, which made me think again, and lean in the other direction, (Keeping it as one). Then then as soon as I stared playing with the stargate Event_Horizon the size issue made me lean back the other way again.

So no, I'm totally undecided, but what I have decided is to continue in the one project, but to ensure the file and directory structure is easily separable, so keeping my options open.

Originally this was all for my own benefit, to learn something, and put something onscreen that I like the look of, but once you get to the point where you think you have made something useful, obviously you would like to share it with others. What the Remote really needs is a GUI to allow users to set up the buttons without evening opening a code file file. But while that's obviously do-able, I would like to play with something more fun, like the Stargates, at least for a while, because I don't need a GUI to change what a button does. (But at least I tried to make it easy for a complete novice to set up a button).

Keith

[Yincognito]

But pretty disappointed with it to be honest, the main problem is its jumpy, so I assume that means I would need even more images. [...] Is there any way Rainmeter can run it smoother?

There "could" be. As mentioned, the ONLY problem here is that Rainmeter can't do 3D stuff like perspective. BUT, once you have perspective on what you need (text, in this case), you CAN move the image, resize it, and so on. Which means you can animate it.

This is just a VERY unpolished example used only to demonstrate the possibility, take care to not remove the SkinWidth / SkinHeight options from the [Rainmeter] section (or if you do, replace them with a container or such) so that Rainmeter / CPU won't move like turtles because the skin size is too large...

Image, place it in the ...\@Resources folder:

Line.jpg

Skin, whatever its name would be:

Code: Select all

[Variables]
StartX=0
StartY=675
StartW=940
StartH=75

[Rainmeter]
Update=25
DynamicWindowSize=1
AccurateText=1
SkinWidth=940
SkinHeight=750

---Measures---

[Distance]
Measure=Calc
Formula=((Distance+1)%1000)
DynamicVariables=1

---Meters---

[Line]
Meter=Image
X=(#StartX#+[Distance]/1000*#StartW#/2)
Y=(#StartY#*100/[Distance])
W=(#StartW#*100/[Distance])
H=(#StartH#*100/[Distance])
ImageName=#@#Line.jpg
DynamicVariables=1

You'll have to wait one or two seconds for the "line" to appear on the screen since the X, Y, W, H are adjusted in an extremely basic level in relation to perspective formulas, and obviously this is not simulating entirely the effect (I guess H could be decreased slightly faster maybe, and X needs serious directioning), but it comes quite close to it, once positions and dimensions are fine tuned.

Other than that ...

OhMan.jpg

Babala, Cinhonito and Codecode, the three musketeers! You nasty d'Artagnan!

[LuciferVisuals]

There "could" be. As mentioned, the ONLY problem here is that Rainmeter can't do 3D stuff like perspective. BUT, once you have perspective on what you need (text, in this case), you CAN move the image, resize it, and so on. Which means you can animate it.

This is just a VERY unpolished example used only to demonstrate the possibility, take care to not remove the SkinWidth / SkinHeight options from the [Rainmeter] section (or if you do, replace them with a container or such) so that Rainmeter / CPU won't move like turtles because the skin size is too large...

I'll have a play with it tomorrow. Now I have definitely given up on my original idea, which was to has the text start at the bottom of the users screen and to scroll it through the gate. However this preliminary attempt proved that was not going to be practical. Originally the images were more square after I frame grabs stills from the animation, then cropped, resized them, and reduced their quality to reduce the file size. (the directory started at over 60 Mb. But they were still to jittery, I found by squashing it a bit, reducing the height of the image had a big effect, but made it much harder to read. Anyway this proved my original idea was not going to be feasible, so I'll see if I can get something useable out of this, I could get new images, it's like most things once you have cracked the issue in principle, you can do it much quicker second time around I'll see if I can make something usable out of this, It's probably "unusual" for a rainmeter skin.

Also getting the technique down allows grabbing an event horizon from a movie clip, (of which I have got dozens) then working with those images. Obviously it could be used to grab a few seconds of any movie and build it into a skin..... Deep Fake here I come. Lol.

Shorter the clip. the faster you could set the frame grab, and that would help quality quite a bit, but would produce Large sized image files if it was more that a few seconds. I suppose it would also be possible to use a skinless version of Gom player to play a recorded clip, with a rainmeter skin over the top of it producing a short movie clip in a skin, but letting Gom do the image work. (not for what I wanted, but for other uses).

Anyway, thank you again, think I'm having an early night

keith

[LuciferVisuals]

I did say I was dyslexic, the spell checker never picked up on you names for (some some strange reason), So I would have to run the text maker again and get new images if I could get this to the point its useable. Suppose shortening the story would help, more frames of what's left.

I never even noticed the spelling of your names in the original post, it was only when reading it again that I realised.

Sorry

Keith

[Yincognito]

I did say I was dyslexic, the spell checker never picked up on you names for (some some strange reason), So I would have to run the text maker again and get new images if I could get this to the point its useable. Suppose shortening the story would help, more frames of what's left.

I never even noticed the spelling of your names in the original post, it was only when reading it again that I realised.

Sorry

Keith

Nah, it was fun to see our nicknames tormented like this, it actually made my day, so a big thank you. I enjoyed a good laugh at the situation itself, no connection whatsoever to your condition or the harmless typos, hopefully my sincere and self ironical amusement has not been misunderstood.