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Customizing SonicStage

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The R-W!N8r

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I've been trying to customize SonicStage, but so far with not much luck.

I found the image files SS uses and I was able to change the titlebar and the start-up screen.

However, I also edited the Play, pause, stop, ff, rew buttons, but when I start up SS it still uses the default buttons. I used PE explorer to look in the Omgjbox.exe file, but I could find the image files there either. Does SS uses the image files for the buttons from a different location?? I edited the files in the folder found under C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\Image\SourcePlayer\

Anyone knows where I can find the files SS uses, or what I am doing wrong?? B)

EDIT: HERE'S HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOM SONICSTAGE!!!

Background: Create / search for a nice background, preferably in 1024x768 format or greater for better results, in either JPEG or BMP. place this file in the correct folder, probably: C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\Image\Background

Titlebar: probably in C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\Image\Customize. You can edit both the active and inactive titlebar.

Startupscreen: C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\Image\Background\Splash.bmp

Buttons: all buttons can be edited, but this is quite some work: every button consists of 4 states; disabled, hot, normal & pushed. Disabled is the state when the button can't be used, hot is when your mouse pointer is over it (aka highlight), normal is not pushed but enabled, pushed means....well....pushed;)

You can search yourself for the buttons you want to change (opening the bitmap file will make clear what button it is in most of the cases). The control buttons (play, pause etc.) are located here:

C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\Image\SourcePlayer in the corresponding folders

Selectbar: the blue bar that highlights a song or album you clicked.

C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\Image\SourcePanelJukebox\AlbumListView\SelectFrame.png

this file contains the album highlighter (in Icon view). You can give this a cool effect by using transparancy!!

I can't locate the highlighter for songs, you know where it is? let me know and I'll add it here.

Searching the C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\Image\ folder, you can find all image files that can be changed. Just search these to change what you like. Some help with finding what you search for:

-SourcePlayer: contains the control buttons like play and pause

-SourcePanelEMD: contains all the CONNECT Store related buttons

-SourcePanelPD: contains all the transfer-to-device buttons

-SourcePanelJukebox: contains all the buttons from the playlist window, like musicnote icons, album jacket etc.

NOW... TO MAKE YOUR CHANGES WORK!! THIS MUST BE DONE!!

GO TO C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\XML AND DELETE: App.bmp_ THIS FILE CONTAINS ALL IMAGES SONICSTAGE CURRENTLY USES, SO SS WILL NOT LOAD YOUR FILES AS LONG AS IT CAN USE THE FILES FROM THIS PACKAGE.

Thnx to everyone who contributed to this topic and helped solving the "customizing SonicStage" mystery :wave:

some screenies from my attempts:

sonicstage22pt.th.jpg

new startup screen

sonicstage15ou.th.jpg

check out the background, control buttons, album highlighter and titlebar

Edited by The R-W!N8r
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A lot of stuff controlling the UI is set out in .xml files under "C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\XML". looking in those files with an xml editor might reveal where the image files come from. you can change the font, enable cleartype etc. in there too.

It also makes me wonder how else the UI can be customized. For instance, I am using a 1600x1200 LCD on a laptop, which makes all the text very small. But increasing the font size doesn't scale the whole UI up and so the text just doesn't fit in the boxes any more. I don't know enough XML to know how to scale everything up to the larger screen, but I assume it is just a matter of hacking the XML files?

Who knows what else someone else with XML knowledge could do...

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, I was trying to change the SS skin, but with not much luck. I was only able to change the startup screen and the titlebar. I redid the play/pause/stop etc. buttons, but sonicstage keeps displaying the standard buttons (though these files where replaced by the new ones).

So untill someone finds out how to solve this, my attempt is pretty much failed :sad:

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  • 3 weeks later...

If you are customising SS, do you also have a customised Windows? I use a custom theme in Windows XP, nothing elaborate just 'Reluna' from Neowin.net applied using uxtheme.dll. The problem is that it crashes SonicStage when you open the application - just a flickery menu bar is visible but the application will not open properly. Seems SonicStage will only run using default Windows XP themes.

It could be something simple like the font that is used for menus, I will do some experiments with minor changes to the theme if I have the time, but for me this makes SonicStage buggy software. It is the only app of hundreds on my PC that is unable to work within a custom Windows theme.

Edited by eggtimer
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Sonicstage caches the images it loads on exit so when you change them nothing happens because it is still picking up the older cached images.

Delete these files to remove the cache:

for the images/bmps

C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\XML\App.bmp_

for the xml files

C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage\Data\XML\App.xml_

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Had a go myself B)

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If you are customising SS, do you also have a customised Windows? I use a custom theme in Windows XP, nothing elaborate just 'Reluna' from Neowin.net applied using uxtheme.dll. The problem is that it crashes SonicStage when you open the application - just a flickery menu bar is visible but the application will not open properly. Seems SonicStage will only run using default Windows XP themes.

It could be something simple like the font that is used for menus, I will do some experiments with minor changes to the theme if I have the time, but for me this makes SonicStage buggy software. It is the only app of hundreds on my PC that is unable to work within a custom Windows theme.

I haven't had any problems with SonicStage 3.0-3.4 using custom themes on a desktop and a laptop PC.

Used to use ThemeXP but now just an EnergyBlue self instal theme based on Media XP.

f1rick your grey bar & play controls look much better than the standard white ones.

Edited by bogon07
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Guest Stuge

Wow ,This Skin looks nice ..I think now someone should add all the information in the first post on how to customize skin in SonicStage So that newbies can also take benefit from this ... :)

I will also try to Customize SonicStage ..see how it goes . B)

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If you are customising SS, do you also have a customised Windows? I use a custom theme in Windows XP, nothing elaborate just 'Reluna' from Neowin.net applied using uxtheme.dll. The problem is that it crashes SonicStage when you open the application - just a flickery menu bar is visible but the application will not open properly. Seems SonicStage will only run using default Windows XP themes.

It could be something simple like the font that is used for menus, I will do some experiments with minor changes to the theme if I have the time, but for me this makes SonicStage buggy software. It is the only app of hundreds on my PC that is unable to work within a custom Windows theme.

I've just seen this problem. Here is a fix.

Navigate to:

C:\Program Files\Sony\SonicStage

right click on "Omgjbox.exe" and select properties. Click on compatibility and select disable visual themes.

No more problems :)

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