Posted by admin - October 8, 2009 - Tutorials
I was asked to remove the white background from a Patriots logo so that someone could use it as a button. As a Bears fan i struggled with it for a moment and then decided to just do it and get it over with 
. I decided to write this tutorial because i thought it might help others who want to do the same thing.
Open it with fireworks. Click Modify > Canvas > Trim Canvas.
File > Export > Name it FILL and save it to your desktop.
Use the vector tool to create a circle or oval to match the size of the shape.
Change the fill in the properties panel from Solid to a pattern by selecting the vector shape then clicking the drop down arrow and selecting Pattern > Other and then browsing to your desktop and selecting the file you created named FILL.
Now you just need to select the paint bucket tool and adjust the position of the FILL graphic and your done!
Posted by admin - May 8, 2009 - Tutorials
One of the first hurdles i ran into when i started building GUI files was trying to get channel and device logos to match the rest of my buttons. Its a little bit easier to find what you need these days because more of us are building GUI’s and sharing graphics. Once in a while you get lucky and find what you need with a transparent background that allows you to paste it over anything you want. Most of the time your stuck dealing with the white background of a .jpg. If you have the time you can use the eraser tool to cut out the background. This is time consuming and doesnt always look very good.
I have a very simple trick for making custom channel or device logo buttons. You can start with any button you want. Paste a white box on top of it, i added a little inner shadow to give it some depth. Now you can search google images for anything you want. Resize it and knock some of the white edge off and paste it right on top of the white box.
Now all your channel and device logos match the rest of your buttons.
Posted by admin - May 8, 2009 - Tutorials
I started playing around with an old file i created a long time ago and i realized it had a few weak areas. Originally i had a feedback box to show what numbers had been entered. This makes it super easy to crack the code unless you want to create an infinite amount of pages and page flips in an attempt to guess what order they pressed buttons . So i decided to try and perfect it. Let me know if you find a weakness . There are other, cooler ways to do this with RTI but this method works with just about anything.
This tutorial will teach you how to create a faux password protected Setup Menu. I am using an RTI T2-C in my example but this can be done with any (similar) touchscreen remote. I am using 2-4-7-Enter as the password in this example.
Create these pages :
Home Page
Keypad 2
Keypad 4
Keypad 7
Keypad Enter
Setup
I named the keypad pages after the button that needs to be pressed. This will help you remember what the password is when/if the client forgets it.
On the home page, add a button and label it “Setup”. Set the setup button to page flip to “Keypad 2″.
On the “keypad 2″ page, add 12 buttons and name them 0 thru 9 and clear and enter. Now copy all of these buttons and paste them to page “Keypad 4″ and “Keypad 7″ and “Keypad Enter”.
On the “keypad 2″ page, set button 2 to flip to Keypad 4. Set Clear to flip to Keypad 2. (The clear button will take you back to Keypad 2 so you can start the password again if you make a mistake or forget where you are)
On the “keypad 4″ page, set button 4 to flip to Keypad 7. Set Clear to flip to Keypad 2.
On the “keypad 7″ page, set button 7 to flip to Keypad Enter. Set Clear to flip to keypad 2.
On the “keypad enter” page, set the Enter button to flip to the setup page. Set Clear to flip to keypad 2.
Your done. Now you can build as many setup pages as you want (linked to and navigated via arrows or Next and Previous buttons) and they are all hidden via the faux password protected Setup Menu.
Important!
All remotes are different. If you dont have a Home Page hard button be sure to include one or an EXIT button of some sort in the touchscreen area so someone can exit out.
Disable pressed button state feedback and keyclick sounds from all buttons on the keypad pages. These will help the “hacker” figure out the password much quicker.
I put my setup button on the Home Page. You could make it a dedicated/unused hard button or put it on every page if you want. Its completely up to you.
This is the standalone preview .exe :
This is the RTI ID file with the editable pages to see how i did it :
Blackman Customs
Custom Code Crafters
GUIFX.COM
GUILINK
NTDesigns
XCOM-DESIGNS
