coz
July 28th, 2007, 02:21 PM
hello all,
I generally don't do this sort of thing but here goes
There are just a few steps to get reflections on window borders working correctly.
First the images;
You can use any resolution image from 1024x1024 to 256x256. It is possible that they can be larger or smaller as well but anything larger has the potential of bogging fusion down, and anything smaller is just to darn difficult to work with.
The images I use are all 256x256. This is an easily manageable size, BUT the best looking images are of 1024x1024 for clarity , sharpness, and a nicer looking design.
Once you have an image created, and I have a package with about 15 images ready to go, the first thing you have to do is open emerald , go to the theme you are using ... hit the Edit Themes tab...then the Frame/Shadows tab and move all four sliders down , actually I believe all you need to do is move the Oapcaity slider down but I figure while I am there I'll move them all :)
The reason for the above is , if the shadows are enabled with the Reflections plugin, it will spill over onto to shadow of the window, etc, and look rather gloopy, and fuzzy , basically unattractive.
With the shadow turned off, the reflection texture is held within the boundaries of the window frames.
Also be sure that the theme you are using has a transparent window border, or just set some transparency in the edit themes tab of emerald.
Now all you have to do is go to the Reflection plugin... browse to your reflection image and load it. Now enable the refection plugin. You can add or change the image on the fly with the plugin enabled first. I have seen no problems with this.
You will notice that there are three tick boxes in the plugin; "Reflection for Windows"... "Reflection for Decorations"... and "Moving refection".
The "Reflection for Windows" will add the reflection to the terminal, for example, if it is slightly transparent but will also add it to your screenlets shadows and transparent clock faces, etc, and that is not always attractive. you be the judge for that tick box.
The "Reflection for Decorations", of course, is for the window borders and you probably want this one enabled.
The "Moving reflection" tick box is similar to the animated skydome in the sense that it allows the texture to animate slightly. On some textures, however, the difference with this enabled or disabled is difficult to see.
There is also the "Alpha Dependence Threshold", what a name!. Essentially this will make your image transparent if moved down and more opaque if moved up! :)
That's it ! :)
Oh , by the way, if you are using nvidia card with this enabled , the chances of black window bug is very high, so go easy on it !")
Also if you contact me on irc #beryl or #compiz-fusion, I can upload the package of reflection images. These can get you started without the hassle of creating an image.
I generally don't do this sort of thing but here goes
There are just a few steps to get reflections on window borders working correctly.
First the images;
You can use any resolution image from 1024x1024 to 256x256. It is possible that they can be larger or smaller as well but anything larger has the potential of bogging fusion down, and anything smaller is just to darn difficult to work with.
The images I use are all 256x256. This is an easily manageable size, BUT the best looking images are of 1024x1024 for clarity , sharpness, and a nicer looking design.
Once you have an image created, and I have a package with about 15 images ready to go, the first thing you have to do is open emerald , go to the theme you are using ... hit the Edit Themes tab...then the Frame/Shadows tab and move all four sliders down , actually I believe all you need to do is move the Oapcaity slider down but I figure while I am there I'll move them all :)
The reason for the above is , if the shadows are enabled with the Reflections plugin, it will spill over onto to shadow of the window, etc, and look rather gloopy, and fuzzy , basically unattractive.
With the shadow turned off, the reflection texture is held within the boundaries of the window frames.
Also be sure that the theme you are using has a transparent window border, or just set some transparency in the edit themes tab of emerald.
Now all you have to do is go to the Reflection plugin... browse to your reflection image and load it. Now enable the refection plugin. You can add or change the image on the fly with the plugin enabled first. I have seen no problems with this.
You will notice that there are three tick boxes in the plugin; "Reflection for Windows"... "Reflection for Decorations"... and "Moving refection".
The "Reflection for Windows" will add the reflection to the terminal, for example, if it is slightly transparent but will also add it to your screenlets shadows and transparent clock faces, etc, and that is not always attractive. you be the judge for that tick box.
The "Reflection for Decorations", of course, is for the window borders and you probably want this one enabled.
The "Moving reflection" tick box is similar to the animated skydome in the sense that it allows the texture to animate slightly. On some textures, however, the difference with this enabled or disabled is difficult to see.
There is also the "Alpha Dependence Threshold", what a name!. Essentially this will make your image transparent if moved down and more opaque if moved up! :)
That's it ! :)
Oh , by the way, if you are using nvidia card with this enabled , the chances of black window bug is very high, so go easy on it !")
Also if you contact me on irc #beryl or #compiz-fusion, I can upload the package of reflection images. These can get you started without the hassle of creating an image.