Here are some skins for those who like to work in style..... if i remember good Trompie said he was gonna drop a tutorial or 2, anyway we all forget so let me not blame the nicca.
Here is tutorial or 2.
And before i forget, this was not written by me, i researched on it and came across this, i don't take any responsibility on any wack a** projects that may spring up from here. LOL.
All i did was copy this and paste it here because i found it useful.
Ya digg....
Links to sites
1.
http://www.sqeetz.com/2. ok this here is my favourite skin.
http://acidrush1.extra.hu/Acidrush-BlackNinja.zip
Here are the pics
Toolbars
Step Sequencer
Mixer
Piano roll
Flanger plugin
here is the pa**word: blackninja
Tutorial
Skinning FL: Designing your Virtual Studio to reflect You
Compiled by Defect 9, with contributions by sQeetz and WhiskeyPriest
If you've ever looked at your FLStudio workstation and thought "I could do a better job with my hands tied to a rabid yak," then this thread is for you. Welcome to the thread about skinning FL Studio, current with version 7. We applaud you for taking this first step.
Table of Contents:
1. The Basics. Where to Start Guide.
2. Breaking the task down to individual sections, with thoughts on each. (under construction)
3. Advanced insights, thoughts, and techniques. (under destruction)
4. Goodies: tools of the trade. (under construction)
Chapter 1. Getting started on the road to skinning.
>Things you will need to start with (these are the necessities):
a) A vision of what you would like it to look like. Without this, you're flying blind, and will either spend a lot of time trying to figure it out, or it might turn out like, well, you know, not really matched. A common theme is always a good start (like, smooth, or shiny, or really industrial, etc.). Make sure you have this, or people may point it out and make fun of you.
b) A graphics editing program that you know how to use. You don't need 10+ years of experience (thought it helps), but you do need at least an understanding of what you're doing in the program, including how to combine several graphics into one, how to work in layers, how to paint/create the ideas you see in your head, working with masks, selection tools, and paying attention to tiny details. Popular programs include Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, and GIMP. If you're masochistic, MS Paint also works (barely), but has no layers (and it sucks). Its perfectly acceptable to put off making your skin to take a cla** or work through a full book of tutorials (yes, the full thing) so you understand your program better. It's also cool to start small by skinning a few basic parts before progressing to a full-on themed custom project to get the hang of it.
c) FL Studio. Yeah, it usually helps to have a copy of the program you want to skin.
d) Time. I've seen skins take upwards of 40 hours (personal experience). Not all skins take that long, but I figured a real number would help emphasize that you don't whip these things out in an hour and get perfection. Skinning is a craft that takes time. If all you want to do is change the step sequencer buttons, or make a couple of meters different hues, then it should go a lot quicker.
Recommended additions include paper and pen/pencils to sketch your ideas out with, coffee/soda/energy drinks/liquid refreshment, and artistic talent. Outside of that, it really comes down to how you work. Stay comfortable, relaxed, and flexible.
>Breaking it down:
FL Studio's skin is composed of many little graphic files, all joined together and overlayed, most are of the .bmp type, and some are .tga or .png, though that won't really change the approach. Yes, there are also parts of FL you won't be able to skin, like most of the Mixer, good sections of the Piano Roll, and the Playlist (because the files aren't opened up to skin). Keep this in mind when designing a skin in your head. If you start studying various skins made for FL, you'll quickly catch on to which parts aren't skinnable.
You're going to need to make a copy of the files you want to modify, familiarize yourself with the default skin layouts, plan out your skinning approach, and then start changing things, making sure everything works together. Here's how you do that.
First, make a copy of your default skin folder and call it something different, like AwesomeSkin or Steve. If you have no idea where your skin folders are located, it's in C:/Program Files/Image-Line/FL Studio/Artwork/Skins. Get familiar with the directory tree (how the folders are stacked) so you know your way around them if you ever get lost.
>Study time. This next part is mandatory. If you skip this, you're gonna hate yourself later when you have to rework your skin idea.
I'm going to define some terms I will use a lot, so i don't have to use descriptive wording all the time. Parts vs. Bits. A Part will be defined as a toolbar or window or whole thing, like the Control toolbar, the mixer, the shortcut toolbar, and the playlist. A Bit will be defined as a single graphic file, like MinClose.bmp, TitleBar_Off.bmp, and ToolBarHandles.bmp. Remember these terms. I'll probably use them in the advanced sections of this guide as well.
Open up your graphics editing program (I'm going to a**ume you aren't using Paint). Open up all the files from your copy of the default skin and look them over. You should recognize where these bits of skin are from pretty easily. For example, the Control Toolbar is made up of several skin bits, MinClose.bmp, MenuItems.bmp, ControlToolbar.bmp, HintIcons.bmp, TitleBar_Off.bmp and bits of ToolBarHandles.bmp. You can even see in the graphic for ControlToolbar that theres a guide showing you how much of the ToolBarHandles is on each side.
You'll also notice that the 'on' and 'off' bits of skin are usually grouped into the same graphic (FXPeakMeter, MenuItems, SSBtns and MinCLose are great examples of this). Some bits have multiple settings, like knobs and numbers. Skinning those are advanced projects though, and probably shouldn't be attempted until you have a good grasp of both your graphics program and your skinning ability, and are usually saved for last. Look them over, too. Study, study, study.
Now that you've done the mandatory part (you did, right?), you'll want to plan your skinning attack. I prefer to begin with the Control Toolbar, as its in the upper left hand side of the screen. Usually the entire theme of the skin is represented here, be it shiny, rough, or made from Edison bits (yes, sQeetz is the man). It's also good for showing off your creative abilities. This is the part where you should have started sketching ideas for your skin. If you haven't, go do that.
>How far do you want to go?
There are many degrees of skinning. At its easiest, you can simply recolor bits of your skin, like making all the meters purple, or changing the menu to a glowing soft green using hue shifting (in Photoshop, select the area you want to change the color of, and go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation). This method can also be taken to some very nice extremes, as exampled by tERMo's blue skin.
The next level is 'bit work' or 'parting out' (personal terms I use, haven't seen anyone else use them). This includes simple changes like swapping out for a better set of steps in the step sequencer (SSBtns.bmp) or changing the look of the faders, on up to advanced things like designing new parts (like knobs or meters) in a 3d program, but not taking on the entire skin itself.
The more advanced skinning techniques usually involve blending a theme or idea into FL and changing the entire look of it. sQeetz' sTeel skin and WhiskeyPriest's soft skin show this off nicely. Advanced themes can be seen in the EdisQin (also sQeetz), and the PianoBlack skin (yes, tooting my own horn, though sQeetz' skins still match the unskinnable parts of FL better). Studying other people's skins is a good way to see things that work, and things that don't, and to get an idea of what you really want to do.
So, how far do you want to go?
>Things to avoid doing. Some ground rules for the Skin Tank (and life in general)
Don't take parts of other peoples skins and use them for your own without permission. It'll earn you a very bad rep and people will yell at you and tell you how much you suck. No matter how awesome that part sQeetz made looks, if you don't even have the decency to ask for permission (and especially if you don't credit them), you don't deserve to skin. Simple really.
Try to not use experimental colors. Bad skins are sometimes marked by attempts to make things colors that dont match very well (hot pink, lime green, neon vomit, wood, etc.). The default hue for FL is a muted blue (Hue 200 or 202, if i remember, with about 2-20% saturation).
Don't expect a lot of people applauding you on your first skin. Though, that doesn't mean you won't do a good job. Some people do very well on their first attempt, and some don't. Some people are also better at it than others, but take hope. You can get better, through practice and patience. Just please try to not expect your social standing to increase over one skin. If you've skinned other programs before and have a pretty good idea of what you're doing, your first FL skin might be good enough to get some good response, though.
Don't half-a** it. Take your time. Plan. Sketch ideas, keep an open mind, and if something isn't working, no matter how much you like it, be willing to let it go. You're making FL your own, not doing a cheapo krylon touch paint job on a beater (which is actually quite fun, though it looks really bad). Do your best. Your best is good enough (disclaimer: "Your best" is defined as you're not saying things to yourself like "I guess that looks good" or "That'll have to do" or "I hope people like this" while you're making it. If you find yourself saying things like "Holy Crap this is awesome" or "Wow, I've really outdone myself", then you're on the right track).
>Things to know while actually making your skin
Make sure you have both FLStudio and your graphics program open at this point. Now, in your graphics program open all the files that go into the Control Toolbar. I already gave you the list of files included in the Control Toolbar several paragraphs ago. As mentioned before, you'll notice some have 'on' and 'off' graphics in the same bit file. I'm sure you've guessed that you'll need to make both an on and an off version for that bit of that part of the skin. You're going to take all the bits of the Control Toolbar, and a**emble them into a layered graphics file (such as Photoshop's .psd file) with everything lining up as it would in FL Studio. You'll need to make sure you line up the 'on' and 'off' bits over each other in their correct spots (I usually have the 'on' above the 'off'). Make each bit it's own separate layer, and name it so you know what it is (i.e: if its the 'on' piece of MenuItems.bmp, call it MenuItems On). If you forget to name parts, it'll really suck later when you want to find things. Trust me.`
Since you have FL Studio open, take a screenshot of it, and load that screenshot into your graphics program. Cut out just the Control Toolbar from your screenshot, and load that graphic into your layered file. This will allow to you make sure everything is lined up in your file, and also as a good layer to draw out some ideas. You could also do some work in the full screenshot to try out ideas and see how they match with all the other parts of FL (in fact, some people do this instead of sketching out ideas on paper).
If you haven't restarted FL since the time when you made the copy of the default skin folder and renamed it to your new skin's name, do so now. From FL, hit the F10 key, and click the General tab on the left. Open up the 'skin' selector (its a dropdown menu) and pick your skin. It should still look like the default skin (you haven't changed anything, after all). Now, whenever you want to view the changes you've made to your skin, you simply pick a different skin, and then pick yours again, and the changes will show up. Yes, I know, basic stuff, but good to know.
Something that is very good to make a habit of is working at the pixel level for a lot of your details. Zoom in really closely so you can see what you're doing, and every now and again check it at normal zoom (100%) to make sure it still looks good. Most bad skins suffer from a lack of attention to detail. If you can see it, we definitely can. If it bugs you, it just might bug us.
Now that you know all that. It's time for you to go do the part I don't actually a**ist in. GO MAKE YOUR SKIN!
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