Old 03-18-2017, 11:54 AM   #1
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default Transparency (understanding) problem

Hello there!

Right now I am incorporating a freezed icon into the name label of the TCP and have trouble with the alpha channel. The label is tinted with the track color but from my understanding when a pixel in the graphic has zero transparency it can't get tinted in any way. But look at the attachment - the blue is changing it's tone.

Any idea?

Thanks for any hint.
Attached Images
File Type: png transparency problem.PNG (2.2 KB, 272 views)
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 12:07 PM   #2
Lokasenna
Human being with feelings
 
Lokasenna's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
Posts: 6,551
Default

Looks like it's drawing the label background, then your icon, THEN the label tint. Try using the front command for whatever theme element is used for the icon. i.e.
Code:
front mcp.width.label
__________________
I'm no longer using Reaper or working on scripts for it. Sorry. :(
Default 5.0 Nitpicky Edition / GUI library for Lua scripts / Theory Helper / Radial Menu / Donate
Lokasenna is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 12:53 PM   #3
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

The icon is just in the tcp_namebg.png file. I shifted the text with the margin. But as I undestood the whole transparency / tinting thing you can decide per pixel what stays as it is and what let something else through. The blue here should stay the same because in the file these pixels have zero transparency.

Thanks for the suggestion. Didn't worked unfortunately.
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 12:57 PM   #4
Lokasenna
Human being with feelings
 
Lokasenna's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
Posts: 6,551
Default

Mind posting your tcp_namebg.png?
__________________
I'm no longer using Reaper or working on scripts for it. Sorry. :(
Default 5.0 Nitpicky Edition / GUI library for Lua scripts / Theory Helper / Radial Menu / Donate
Lokasenna is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 01:00 PM   #5
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

Voilà

It was edited with Fireworks - in case you have that program you can access the layers. I also converted it to a normal png without the additional data like I always do before publishing but that didn't change anything.
Attached Images
File Type: png tcp_namebg.png (44.7 KB, 174 views)
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 01:04 PM   #6
Coachz
Human being with feelings
 
Coachz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 12,770
Default

Is there a script to do/undo this? This would be nice and discreet.
Coachz is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 01:06 PM   #7
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

Pardon me? Wrong thread maybe? I don't understand. It will become a TCP layout for my theme mod to give some better visual clue when a track is freezed.
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 01:09 PM   #8
Lokasenna
Human being with feelings
 
Lokasenna's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
Posts: 6,551
Default

The icon's pixels are only set to about 80% opaque.
__________________
I'm no longer using Reaper or working on scripts for it. Sorry. :(
Default 5.0 Nitpicky Edition / GUI library for Lua scripts / Theory Helper / Radial Menu / Donate
Lokasenna is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 01:11 PM   #9
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

True. Should have been more clear. The blue! I only want the blue to stay like it is. The rest can go with the track colour a little.
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 01:32 PM   #10
Lokasenna
Human being with feelings
 
Lokasenna's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Calgary, AB, Canada
Posts: 6,551
Default

Okay, I threw your image into my current theme and fiddled for a bit.

"Set track label background to custom track colors" is just drawing a transparent, colored rectangle over the label background. You could try your luck with a bug report, but depending on your TCP layout I'd suggest trying to put the freeze icon in with another element nearby and then use front to place it over the label. Not sure if it'll work, but there you go.
__________________
I'm no longer using Reaper or working on scripts for it. Sorry. :(
Default 5.0 Nitpicky Edition / GUI library for Lua scripts / Theory Helper / Radial Menu / Donate
Lokasenna is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 02:02 PM   #11
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

Thanks for your help. Man that's a pity. When I started theme modding and looked for threads about transparency and tinting I found a lot of complains back in the old days about colour shifts due to wrong implemented tinting in older versions of Reaper. They fixed it they said. Hmm.
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 02:18 PM   #12
Pet
Human being with feelings
 
Pet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Germany
Posts: 1,015
Default

Hi Luster,
it seems that you use a v4 theme where the tcp label is colored. I checked your tcp_namebg in a v5 theme and there it looks as expected.

Check 2: In a v4 theme you have to untick "Set track label background to custom colors".
__________________
If the v5 Default Theme is too bright for you take a gander at my mod of it: Default v5 Dark Theme

Last edited by Pet; 03-18-2017 at 03:56 PM. Reason: typo
Pet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 02:26 PM   #13
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

The Reaborn 2 theme - which my mod is based on - is indeed a v4 theme but I believe I made the transition to v5 by incorporating selective transparency into the png files. Before the tinting was the faulty one which lead to color shift. The original tcp_namebg.png had a color touch but I removed that (turned to some grey tone by completely desaturating) in my current version of the mod. ATM I am not sure if this happened only on my pre-release version on my pc or already in the stash but feel free to try the theme out:
https://stash.reaper.fm/theme/1855/RE...ReaperThemeZip

So my big question is: When you untick "Set track label background to custom colors" how do I tint the label bg nonetheless?
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 04:00 PM   #14
Pet
Human being with feelings
 
Pet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Germany
Posts: 1,015
Default

My answer to your big question is: I don't know... The coloring is obviously an overlay.

The "transition" to v5 is made by the line "version 5" in the rtconfig. This turns this new transparency behaviour "on".
You can (just for fun or for learning) comment that out in a v5 theme with a semicolon and see what happens...it's funny!

But:
It seems that you want to add one more layout for freezed tracks. What if you add the freeze-icon-part in the tcp_bg.png? Use solid colors without transpareny and place it where you want. Adjust the pink lines and save it in a new folder inside your theme-folder (like it's done with the other Layouts from the REABORN theme) and adjust the rtconfig accordingly.

Have fun!
__________________
If the v5 Default Theme is too bright for you take a gander at my mod of it: Default v5 Dark Theme
Pet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 04:45 PM   #15
xpander
Human being with feelings
 
xpander's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Terra incognita
Posts: 7,670
Default

Maybe I'm not understanding the issue, but here's what I got using your tcp_namebg image from the post #5:


So a new folder called "freeze" with only your tcp_namebg image in there. And the layout I added right after the global tcp layout into your Phoenix Mod theme as follows, no other rtconfig changes made:
Code:
Layout "Freeze" "freeze"
set tcp.label.margin [23 0 4 0]
EndLayout ; end layout "Freeze"
xpander is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 06:07 PM   #16
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

Lol. I feel stupid. And I don't know why. At least hopes are high that I will sort that out. Tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback so far.
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-18-2017, 06:27 PM   #17
Pet
Human being with feelings
 
Pet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Germany
Posts: 1,015
Default

You are confused cause the colors in xpanders screenshot are not saturated enough. I modified the tcp_bg.png as I mentioned above, plus added xpanders tweak and colored the tracks with pure RGB colors: 255/0/0 (Red), 0/255/0 (Green) and 0/0/255 (Blue).

Screenshot looks like this: (the tracknames mean nothing, it's my test-project)


See you tomorrow, don't be despaired!
__________________
If the v5 Default Theme is too bright for you take a gander at my mod of it: Default v5 Dark Theme

Last edited by Pet; 03-18-2017 at 06:36 PM.
Pet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 02:57 AM   #18
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

I opened his screenshot in Fireworks and the blue has exactly the same values like the original tcp_namebg.png - but double checking in my portable installation I had the same impression - the tinting only happens or gets visible when the track colour is saturated.
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 09:24 AM   #19
xpander
Human being with feelings
 
xpander's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Terra incognita
Posts: 7,670
Default

I thought the problem was that the background color for the snowflake image (blue) changed depending on colors used for the tcp? The colors I used in my earlier example were not fully saturated but that shouldn't change anything regarding this issue. Since the tcp background images in the Phoenix Mod theme don't have full transparency, they won't show up fully saturated anyway. Same thing for the label background. FWIW, here's another example where I made the TCP background fully transparent except the section on right, and used more saturated colors too.



The snowflake background stays the same regardless of the tcp colors used as it should since it's not transparent. The flake itself as well as the dark frame are not fully opaque but tinting is still minor. Layering those parts on top of a solid background would solve that issue as well.

Again, the theme used was
https://stash.reaper.fm/theme/1855/RE...ReaperThemeZip
and the only edits to it were as described here and in post #15, tcp_namebg image from the post #5.
xpander is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 10:11 AM   #20
Pet
Human being with feelings
 
Pet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Germany
Posts: 1,015
Default

Hm, so what do you think could be the reason?
__________________
If the v5 Default Theme is too bright for you take a gander at my mod of it: Default v5 Dark Theme
Pet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 10:25 AM   #21
xpander
Human being with feelings
 
xpander's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Terra incognita
Posts: 7,670
Default

After bit of testing, I guess unticking the option Set track label background to custom track colors should get rid of this tinting problem.* (Options/Appearance/Track Control Panels.) Default V5 theme doesn't even offer this nor the TCP background tinting option for the users, theme makers will decide the tinting by how they make the images.

*)The Phoenix Mod 0_5 theme doesn't have this option ticked either, so YMMV...

Last edited by xpander; 03-19-2017 at 10:32 AM.
xpander is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 10:28 AM   #22
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

@xpander
Thanks for chiming in. What you describe is my problem. Your pictures raise my hope that I will "fix" that. In the end - on your side it's working like expected (blue stays blue) but not on mine. I double checked with a portable default install and reproduced exactly the same steps like you did and still get the tinting in the blue.

Like you mentioned the rest of the snowflake and it's box has some little alpha values. I experiment with this.

ATM I have no idea where to look at / search for to troubleshoot this - thanks guys for your feedback so far. Maybe @WhiteTie can chime in?

Another idea I had was to misuse the rec button to signal the freeze status because nobody wants to record on a frozen track. But additionally it should be unclickable and I am pretty sure this isn't possible right now. Yeah, I know I could incorporate the icon into the tcp_bg.png but the basis layout of the theme is dynamic, meaning a static icon in the bg would look out of place when the height changes. :/
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 10:36 AM   #23
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by xpander View Post
After bit of testing, I guess unticking the option Set track label background to custom track colors should get rid of this tinting problem.* (Options/Appearance/Track Control Panels.) Default V5 theme doesn't even offer this nor the TCP background tinting option for the users, theme makers will decide the tinting by how they make the images.

*)The Phoenix Mod 0_5 theme doesn't have this option ticked either, so YMMV...
Solved! That's it. I thought that option still has be ticked in the preferences so the labels get some colour but true - it's only needed for old themes. Just the transparency in the file will do it. And that wasn't enough in the empty space.

Thank you very much!
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 10:38 AM   #24
xpander
Human being with feelings
 
xpander's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Terra incognita
Posts: 7,670
Default

You're welcome, glad it got worked out. Thanks to Pet also for testing and questioning things further.

edit: if you want to grey out those options in your theme, uncommenting and using the line "tinttcp 298" (like in default V5 theme) should do the trick.

Last edited by xpander; 03-19-2017 at 10:54 AM.
xpander is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 11:18 AM   #25
Pet
Human being with feelings
 
Pet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Germany
Posts: 1,015
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Luster View Post
So my big question is: When you untick "Set track label background to custom colors" how do I tint the label bg nonetheless?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pet View Post
My answer to your big question is: I don't know...
Obviously I totally missunderstood something here. Of course you can select a solid color of your choice for the label bg...
I thought you wanted the option turned on, but the flake should remain blue/white...

Anyway, solved.
__________________
If the v5 Default Theme is too bright for you take a gander at my mod of it: Default v5 Dark Theme
Pet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 12:00 PM   #26
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pet View Post
I thought you wanted the option turned on, but the flake should remain blue/white...
Exactly. But to achieve a tinting in the track label with the blue around the flock staying as is you have to switch the option off and just work with the transparency. And the transparency in the file wasn't enough to see the track colour coming through. It's kind of counter-intuitive.
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 12:26 PM   #27
Pet
Human being with feelings
 
Pet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Germany
Posts: 1,015
Default

Aaah, now I understand...
__________________
If the v5 Default Theme is too bright for you take a gander at my mod of it: Default v5 Dark Theme
Pet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 12:52 PM   #28
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

It's also very limiting as far as I understand this. Because now I have to make the tcp_bg.png also a lot more transparent so the track label get some colour - you know, it all adds up which is kind of one-sided. Or you choose to force tint everything in that graphic which screws strong colours in the file.
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-19-2017, 07:11 PM   #29
Pet
Human being with feelings
 
Pet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Germany
Posts: 1,015
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Luster View Post
...Another idea I had was to misuse the rec button to signal the freeze status...
I assume you know already that Nick Moritz, the creator of the Reaborn themes, also made the RADO themes and one of them uses this idea. It has a separate freeze button image that perfectly fits to the design of the Reaborn 2. You might use this image.
It also has a complete Freeze-Layout for the tcp, maybe its rtconfig is of some help.

I found this today and just wanted to tell, if you don't have it yet, it's not in the stash, but here: http://www.mediafire.com/?io0xj19yvfwj6wn.
The post with the link is in the RADO V4 Thread: http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php...postcount=1100. Scroll to the line below: "C) PUT NEW FILES IN PLACE"
__________________
If the v5 Default Theme is too bright for you take a gander at my mod of it: Default v5 Dark Theme
Pet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2017, 02:05 PM   #30
Luster
Human being with feelings
 
Luster's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 642
Default

Thanks for reminding me of this earlier work of Nick. This man was a genius. A pity he isn't around anymore. I wasn't aware of the freeze layout and that he already misused the rec button. I will try that out. Right now my problem is - beside the very subtile tinting I get when I only use the transparency in the png - that the labelling in the mixer looses it's track colour completely which is a no-go. So I stick with the old way of tinting the name labels and will give the rec button some blue.
Luster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2017, 02:43 PM   #31
Pet
Human being with feelings
 
Pet's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Germany
Posts: 1,015
Default

Nick is a real "pro" meanwhile: vogerdesign.com.
I agree his themes are great and his rtconfigs still good for learning.
__________________
If the v5 Default Theme is too bright for you take a gander at my mod of it: Default v5 Dark Theme
Pet is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:07 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.