MPC-HC GUI Discussion Thread

[stax76]

Maybe it's time to drop that C and just call it MPHC.

C could also stand for Contemporary, a solution would be offering a Classic and a Contemporary theme and on the first start the user would be asked which theme to use. There are already some alternative buttons, now only the sliders and background color need work, might be doable within a day, there is some code for a custom drawing MFC slider at codeproject.

[grizzly666]

The current gui is not perfect, since it copies media player 6.4 it also copies some of its design faults.
i do think that we need to update the gui in some small area's,

The changes that might occur are minor, like moving things areound a few pixels, nothing huge.

We are open to a more modern looking gui, but only if its scientifically simple and usefull and improves performance (or is at least on par)

Keep in mind that mpc-hc is intended as a quick lightweight player, all the "playlist-esque" features are not the main goal.

I agree with tetsuo55 that it is only a few minor tweeks that is needed for the gui.

The biggest i see is the seekbar autohide,popup when a remote is used (play,pause,skip,ff,etc).

And also there is a part missing since the "homecinema" name was added.
I remember that when i did read about the mpchc i thought yes finally a good player with a simple browser or any other simple way of starting a file with a remote.

But ever since then i have been dissapointed since there should atleast be a simple,nice way to start files with a remote.

That is what i associate "homecinema" with (optimized for remote).

What i would like is some kind of simple file browser like the one in zoomplayer where you could browse all your hds and find the file you want to play (not like in xbmc,wmc,etc,etc) only a simple text file browser.
One wish is that you should be able to delete file,files using the file browser but that is not a requirement only a wish to be included.
When deleted if it is to the Recycle Bin or not dosen't matter at all to me, but i can see that many wants it in the Recycle Bin.

How to display the file browser like in zoomplayer or by osd dosen't matter much as long as you can see what your doing and that starting files and optionally also delete them.
It could be in black and white if it atleast get added.

What is in zoomplayer is perfect for me since i do not save 90-95% of the files i watch i do not see the need to create any playlist for them.
Only browse to the file play it (mayby a couple) then delete the file,files using the file browser with the remote.

I do now that gomplayer,kmplayer,pot and one more i can't find remember the name of have file browser in them.
I don't get any of them to play as good as zoomplayer does and mpc does play even better then zoomplayer.

So is there any other players with a file browser in them i could play with a while?

Or is there any skin,mods to xbmc,windows media center or any of all the other programs that do give me a simple file browser?
And not all the flashy useless crap that they do have from the start
I don't care about all the posters,info and have to rename or add a nfo to many,many files to get the scanners to find the right poster,info so the RIGTH movie,series show up in the gui:devil::mad: and then after i have watched it delete that file.

Its only seems like much work and no gain at all to me.

[DrNein]

XBMC can have all the scraper stuff disabled and be set to start at the Video menu (optionally blank background) so it is a relatively simple browser. The main downside is that CPU utilization of the GUI is very high -higher than when the GPU is actually decoding BD video. Anyway, the DSPlayer build can be configured to launch MPC-HC and with some minor changes to "Keys", remote control is seemless between the two (using MCE IR receiver).

[Hypernova]

@grizzly666 Just curious, why don't you just use "open file" dialog for that? It's essentially a windows explorer. Maybe the font is not big enough?

[iron2000]

Someone at Neowin posted a seekbar and volume bar modded version:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/931044-mpc-hc-seekbar-volumebar-hack/

[sidi0us]

He also posted in another thread the tutorial for the volume bar (which is easy to do).

Using a hex editor locate hex 05BF20 at offset D7342 and change to 05BF10 (I used notepad++ with hex addon and searched with ctrl-f "05BF20" and changed to "05BF10" then saved).

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo154/sidi0us/volume.jpg

The only problem that remains is the seekbar slider...

[bobdynlan]

Resource hacking an open-source program like MPC-HC, that sounds like fun :) Well, I took a different path. Learned some stuff in the process - it's not that easy for a newcomer. So here is an image preview of my work:
http://drop.io/download/public/aibakehym4xdgudx2ggl/0659d8b4456efaa141e952d562d87893daaa432b/Asset/44243482/v3/large_thumbnail (http://drop.io/bobdynlan/asset/hc-bars-png)
Features:
- dark background, the thing I needed the most
- new volume control, interacts with mute on/off
- new progress control, active/inactive visual aid
- new toolbar buttons

It's a work in progress, but I like the current visual feel, so I will not change it too much in the future.
I will start working on the playlist and the menu also, to see how they blend in, and then provide also a binary for you to try it out.
Right now, the buttons, volume control and progress control are following the Control Panel 3D-objects colours, but I'm thinking on adding customizable colour - as the simplest "skin engine" if possible.
http://drop.io/download/public/aibakehym4xdgudx2ggl/c835430b83153f96371ed7899f1b263932ff645b/Asset/44248551/v3/large_thumbnail (http://drop.io/bobdynlan/asset/hc-bars2-png)

All work was done with custom draw - GDI stuff.

[tetsuo55]

thats just amazing......


So you didnt resource hack that? its a real code patch?

[leeperry]

It's a work in progress, but I like the current visual feel, so I will not change it
it doesn't look like windows 95 anymore, the "Classic" team will whip you for that :p

together w/ the hack to get a real volume slider and a nicer looking seeking locator, MPC might actually start to look posh...well done!

[Keiyakusha]

Wow it would be nice to see actual binary! Looks good!

p.s.
hey, I can see volume slider now!

p.p.s.
I don't think this is hacking. looks too great to be it. But even if so - it should be possible to transform changes into patch :Р

[Px]

So here is an image preview of my work
Looking good :)

[burfadel]

The dark background does look ok, but the buttons are too small and don't suit it. I think the 'blue crystal' theme from earlier in this thread looks good, the buttons are of reasonable size. The modifications to that I would suggest is to have the dark background feel, and to have the play button green, stop button as red, pause as orange, and the step/speed buttons as something else anyway...

The progress bar in the dark theme looks good, does the end bit light up when the mouse cursor is over it? It makes things easier when doing things quickly :) The volume button from the 'blue crystal' theme is good, and good in the current colour, although the volume level should be changed to that showed in the dark background theme.

btw, the other day I had to convince someone it was a good player, as they thought it was really old (and all old things are apparently crappy!). I then gave her the exact same version but with the two files for the blue crystal themes, and apparently the player was much better. The picture and sound quality was also better :)

Psychology plays a big part in what people think of things, the old interface of MPC-HC just makes people think its old.

[khagaroth]

The blue crystal buttons wouldn't suit this at all, and they are ugly on their own anyways. And colorful play/pause/stop buttons? Yuck. It's perfect as it is. It doesn't look like something from the dark ages, but it's still simple and clean.

[Steveo08]

i really asking me for what a new gui, because i always start my movies in fullscreen mode.

[Superb]

@bobdynlan: the first one (http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/3462/hcbars.png) looks great!

[jeremy33]

Yes the first one is very good !

[burfadel]

The blue crystal buttons wouldn't suit this at all, and they are ugly on their own anyways. And colorful play/pause/stop buttons? Yuck. It's perfect as it is. It doesn't look like something from the dark ages, but it's still simple and clean.

I hope you were referring to the dark background one, as the interface for MPC-HC really is from the dark ages at the moment! It truly looks like something from early Windows 95 days, or even Windows 3.1. The truth is, it is! and in terms of computing that is the dark ages! The original MPC (and current look) was an aesthetical copy of the original Windows Media Player that shipped with Windows 95. Windows 95! So the interface design in MPC-HC is at least 15 years old... (not saying MPC is that old, the design, since it was a direct copy of the original WMP design).

On looking back at the options, now the blue crystal changes do sound a little bright. I wouldn't say yuck though, I do like it at the moment because they're decent size buttons and modern. I hate small buttons, I'm sure people hated that about winamp :) The actual button icons themselves shoudl be about the diameter of the standard mouse pointer IMO, and spaced nicely. it makes for easy clicking, and easy to see what you're doing. A gui is not about just about looking nice, its about ease of use too.

The dark one with bigger buttons would be nice.

[Keiyakusha]

i really asking me for what a new gui, because i always start my movies in fullscreen mode.
Answer: for those who don't start movies in fullscreen mode. And gui is used in fuliscreen too, you know...

[Steveo08]

Answer: for those who don't start movies in fullscreen mode. And gui is used in fuliscreen too, you know...




well, i would say not really, just a little......

[Roobaj]

Is there a skin support in MPC-HC? instead of changing the GUI I thought maybe adding support for skins would be better.

Anyway, my perfect GUI is WMP12 now playing mode, clean and simple.

[xdes]

Resource hacking an open-source program like MPC-HC, that sounds like fun :)

You cant resource hack the mpc to look like this. at least i dont know how. (and i am quite familiar with reshacking because i reshacked my whole windows and a lots of programs i use.) or if i am completely mistaken, how did you do it?

btw i was the one who hacked the volume bar and the seek slider. my topic on neowin:
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/931044-mpc-hc-seekbar-volumebar-hack/

i even was able to do something like this:
http://noob.hu/2010/08/24/untitled2.PNG
(yes, that line is moving with elapsed time.)

anyway, here are some help you may need.

the status bar is the dialog 10021.
the seek bar is the dialog 10022.
and if i am not mistaken the dialog 10020 is the controls bar.

however you cant do much with these with reshacker except than resizing it. :( it is complicated than that unfortunately. it requires hexediting to alter these parts. or you need to modify the source code and recompiling the whole program.


btw here is my reshacked and hexedited mpc:
http://noob.hu/2010/08/19/mpc-hc.png

[khagaroth]

I hope you were referring to the dark background one...

I wouldn't say yuck though...
Yes I was referring to the dark one of course.

And the "yuck" referred to that stupid proposal to make the play button green, pause orange and stop red.

Yes, the dark design with a bit bigger buttons (I would say 24px is optimal) and possibly with customizable highlight color (but no stupid tricolor please, one color for all) would be nice.

[Keiyakusha]

You cant resource hack the mpc to look like this. at least i dont know how. (and i am quite familiar with reshacking because i reshacked my whole windows and a lots of programs i use.) or if i am completely mistaken, how did you do it?
Perhaps if you will read the whole his post, you'll notice "Well, I took a different path" and "All work was done with custom draw - GDI stuff" and other important things.

[xdes]

Perhaps if you will read the whole his post, you'll notice "Well, I took a different path" and "All work was done with custom draw - GDI stuff" and other important things.
yes, but it just confused me a little bit. because he also said that it is a working progress, and he mentioned also reshacking.
he could have that gdi stuff before the reshacking process as a blueprint or something like that.
ok, sorry.

[RNiK]

@bobdynlan - Nice work! ;)

[tetsuo55]

Are none of the skinners here interested in the logo and icons contest? http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=156694

[bebert]

AutoHotkey MPC-HC control floating bar with popup menus for panscan numpad, audio, subs etc..
script currently under development.

screenies:
http://i53.tinypic.com/24ypzqd.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/2w7ekgp.jpg

slim version:
http://i51.tinypic.com/s0x11v.jpg

all functions invoked by 1 left mouse click only !
may be of interest to the MPC-HC community :)


best in a dual monitor set up

[cyrilp]

If i may tell... this is rather Ugly !

[Dark Eiri]

http://thumbnails6.imagebam.com/9780/6c478f97796143.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/6c478f97796143)

This is a nice skin. That up there, sir, is not.

[chros]

http://thumbnails6.imagebam.com/9780/6c478f97796143.jpg (http://www.imagebam.com/image/6c478f97796143)

This is a nice skin. That up there, sir, is not.

Is this an MPC-HC skin? If it is, where can I find it?

Thanks

[Dark Eiri]

That is the KMPlayer default skin. And I don't see the need for multicolored giant buttons everywhere in yellow, green, pink and orange. Less is more, guys. Keep it simple, keep it functional.

[tetsuo55]

Taste if personal, if bebert wants his player to look like that then he should be able to do it.

bebert, go ahead and post how you did that.

[Dark Eiri]

I'm talking about a new "default" GUI. That wouldn't work.

[tetsuo55]

Yes, default gui has to be minimalistic.

[bobdynlan]

http://drop.io/download/public/aibakehym4xdgudx2ggl/675b36668f690cfcb7a635dbf49bcf70fede00e8/Asset/45668691/v3/large_thumbnail

Download: x86 build vs2008 (http://drop.io/bobdynlan/asset/mpc-hc-7z-8) and x64 build vs2008 (http://drop.io/bobdynlan/asset/mpc-hc64-7z-8) and source code
(http://drop.io/bobdynlan/asset/mpchc-bobdynlan-7z)

I have only tested old rev, but this build is with latest svn. Will test later when I steal some time. Don't laugh at my code, I'm just starting doing stuff like this. And I put quite some work against that *#&$ MFC that does not let you do what you want how you want.

Tip: check Tweaks
bebert : psychedelic!

[nevcairiel]

I briefly looked over the code, and it doesn't look as bad as you claim it is. ;) Surely there are some hacks in there, but working with MFC is always rather painful.

I'll try to run it later.

[Ger]

bobdynlan's r2575 mod works great here. :thanks:

I've gotten used to bigger buttons, so here are a couple of alternative screenshots, using bobdynlan's exe and round black 32x32 toolbar from here (http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/mpc-hc/wiki/Toolbar_images).

Windowed:
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/134/windowqq.th.png (http://img266.imageshack.us/i/windowqq.png/)

Full screen:
http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/5175/fullscreen.th.png (http://img822.imageshack.us/i/fullscreen.png/)

EDIT: By the way, if longinus525 happens to be reading this, any chance you could make a version of your glossy toolbar that looks better with the dark background? The dark buttons are barely visible now.

[mariush]

Maybe you guys can get "inspired" by some Winamp skins... if I may suggest (of course, maybe not so tiny but scaled up a bit I think they'd look pretty well):

http://download.nullsoft.com/customize/component/2006/1/7/S/large_image/CleanAMP_v2.jpg
http://www.winamp.com/skin/cleanamp-v2/146899

http://download.nullsoft.com/customize/component/2007/10/25/S/large_image/Milk_v1.jpg
http://www.winamp.com/skin/milk-v1/171470

http://download.nullsoft.com/customize/component/2007/3/20/S/large_image/Charcoal.jpg
http://www.winamp.com/skin/charcoal/163390

http://download.nullsoft.com/customize/component/2008/1/29/S/large_image/Easy_Listening.jpg
http://www.winamp.com/skin/easy-listening/192687

http://download.nullsoft.com/customize/component/2006/5/20/S/large_image/Neuramp_Blue.gif
http://www.winamp.com/skin/neuramp-blue/147713

... and these ones mostly for the actual button design

http://download.nullsoft.com/customize/component/3/2004/8/2/S/large_image/Multipass.jpg
http://www.winamp.com/skin/multipass/142635

http://download.nullsoft.com/customize/component/3/2003/3/22/S/large_image/Minima.jpg
http://www.winamp.com/skin/minima/131340

http://download.nullsoft.com/customize/component/3/2002/8/29/S/large_image/MoodLogic_Skin.jpg
http://www.winamp.com/skin/moodlogic-skin/120121

[Midzuki]

http://drop.io/download/public/aibakehym4xdgudx2ggl/675b36668f690cfcb7a635dbf49bcf70fede00e8/Asset/45668691/v3/large_thumbnail

Download: x86 build vs2008 (http://drop.io/bobdynlan/asset/mpc-hc-7z-8) and x64 build vs2008 (http://drop.io/bobdynlan/asset/mpc-hc64-7z-8) and source code
(http://drop.io/bobdynlan/asset/mpchc-bobdynlan-7z)


:goodpost: :thanks:

[bobdynlan]

For those not having the heart to try it out:

This is an almost plug&play mod. I've high-jacked the "Don't use XP-theming..." to enable or disable it at runtime without restart (but some leaks may still be present so don't abuse it). This pnp thing took more than the actual design :) but the gain in usability was worth the trouble. So you will be switching it on or off from the Tweaks Page. Note that off is not 100% the same as the non-mod, because I have removed some borders. Two overall colours can also be selected in Tweaks, face and outline. The custom toolbar.bmp resource uses (0,0,0) for button face and (128,128,128) for button outline - those two will be replaced with your own. The seek bar will use them in the same matter, but the volume control will use them as left/right (could be undesirable sometimes, but it is fine as default).

Next (main) feature is the seamless gradient background between the toolbar and the seekbar. The toolbar also uses custom glass-like highlight. I would say it's better than default W7 because it aligns the mask to the center of the buttons and it better highlights selected buttons. Also it tries to blend in the separators. Disabled buttons are painted only on the outline. The volume control is redesigned. Ditched the thumb. Has different looks for mute/play and uses the custom colours for selected/not selected areas. Ditched the thumb from the seek bar, too. Useless when you can click anywhere on the channel. An added (or removed in some pov's) functionality, is that it will update media to position only after mouse drag ends. The default behaviour killed my speakers most of the times when used with a touch-pad. And feels choppy with mouse anyway.

Some cosmetic changes applied to the status and info bars. Blend in with the toolbar by removing the 3dframe. Will hide most of the white flicker on the right+down sides when window is resized from the left. The playlist has only the background and default text color updated and the borders around reduced. Did not want to mess with sizecbar component. Changed noaudio/mono/stereo images also. Pleasant sound waves should never be drawn as straight lines, better of without them :)

As Ger pointed out, this mod can be used with your custom toolbar buttons, it will not update those.
And this concludes my mod. Please keep mod-related bugs out of main thread, use this one instead.

About performance now: I've cared about looks first, and less code added second. Many things could be improved, but don't expect wonders. tetsuo55, nothing can beat performance-wise the 3(three) GDI lines that create the default volume control. Not even dots, as those are even more taxing :) Something may be squished from the gradient fill, uses default function that should be hwacc (but not for the seekbar - uses an offscreen dc because I had some bad experience with flickering on W7 basic theme).

http://drop.io/download/public/aibakehym4xdgudx2ggl/280163f422de59451283c2220e53113b682910b5/Asset/45791045/v3/large_thumbnail
I use this one on my ageing crt, helps reduce screen afterglow and does not burn my eyes on popup :) Presenting the very first easter egg: pure pink color (RGB 255,0,255) is used as a mask color and will be painted transparent.

[Keiyakusha]

bobdynlan
Ohh you did great job! And its compatible with toolbar styling... Thanks!

[iron2000]

The black GUI is looking real slick.

Is it possible to make it so that the menu bar can be hidden without hiding the window frame?

[phoenix_fr]

problems gui mpc hc for me

http://www.zimagez.com/miniature/avant137.jpg (http://www.zimagez.com/zimage/avant137.php)

1/ statut bar: that uses too much space to the need

2/ seek bar: ugly worthy of Windows 3.1, my idea that there is no need to hide something nice, then revamp the bar, and the need to hide it faster than his shadow appeased for all

3/ menu bar: no point, everything is accessible via right-click on player

------------------------------------------
as it should be for my taste

http://www.zimagez.com/miniature/apres77.jpg (http://www.zimagez.com/zimage/apres77.php)

------------------------------------------
for seek bar customs


why not do as what is permitted in "SuperCopier 2.2" with progress bar of transfer files

------------------------------------------

for buttons bar,

are used almost as next and previous chapter.
Play / Pause takes one click on the area of the video itself (touchscreen or mouse)
and "stop" is useless.
fast forward and rewind, are useless if the seek bar is present

personally in windows usage (not full screen) I head button bars, and use those of the Windows7 taskbar

[Mercury_22]

For those not having the heart to try it out:

This is an almost plug&play mod. I've high-jacked the "Don't use XP-theming..." to enable or disable it at runtime without restart (but some leaks may still be present so don't abuse it). This pnp thing took more than the actual design :) but the gain in usability was worth the trouble. So you will be switching it on or off from the Tweaks Page. Note that off is not 100% the same as the non-mod, because I have removed some borders. Two overall colours can also be selected in Tweaks, face and outline. The custom toolbar.bmp resource uses (0,0,0) for button face and (128,128,128) for button outline - those two will be replaced with your own. The seek bar will use them in the same matter, but the volume control will use them as left/right (could be undesirable sometimes, but it is fine as default).

Next (main) feature is the seamless gradient background between the toolbar and the seekbar. The toolbar also uses custom glass-like highlight. I would say it's better than default W7 because it aligns the mask to the center of the buttons and it better highlights selected buttons. Also it tries to blend in the separators. Disabled buttons are painted only on the outline. The volume control is redesigned. Ditched the thumb. Has different looks for mute/play and uses the custom colours for selected/not selected areas. Ditched the thumb from the seek bar, too. Useless when you can click anywhere on the channel. An added (or removed in some pov's) functionality, is that it will update media to position only after mouse drag ends. The default behaviour killed my speakers most of the times when used with a touch-pad. And feels choppy with mouse anyway.

Some cosmetic changes applied to the status and info bars. Blend in with the toolbar by removing the 3dframe. Will hide most of the white flicker on the right+down sides when window is resized from the left. The playlist has only the background and default text color updated and the borders around reduced. Did not want to mess with sizecbar component. Changed noaudio/mono/stereo images also. Pleasant sound waves should never be drawn as straight lines, better of without them :)

As Ger pointed out, this mod can be used with your custom toolbar buttons, it will not update those.
And this concludes my mod. Please keep mod-related bugs out of main thread, use this one instead.

About performance now: I've cared about looks first, and less code added second. Many things could be improved, but don't expect wonders. tetsuo55, nothing can beat performance-wise the 3(three) GDI lines that create the default volume control. Not even dots, as those are even more taxing :) Something may be squished from the gradient fill, uses default function that should be hwacc (but not for the seekbar - uses an offscreen dc because I had some bad experience with flickering on W7 basic theme).

http://drop.io/download/public/aibakehym4xdgudx2ggl/280163f422de59451283c2220e53113b682910b5/Asset/45791045/v3/large_thumbnail
I use this one on my ageing crt, helps reduce screen afterglow and does not burn my eyes on popup :) Presenting the very first easter egg: pure pink color (RGB 255,0,255) is used as a mask color and will be painted transparent.

Can you make the toolbars (menu & controls) auto hide in windowed mode too and transparent ?

[mariush]

http://drop.io/download/public/aibakehym4xdgudx2ggl/280163f422de59451283c2220e53113b682910b5/Asset/45791045/v3/large_thumbnail
I use this one on my ageing crt, helps reduce screen afterglow and does not burn my eyes on popup :) Presenting the very first easter egg: pure pink color (RGB 255,0,255) is used as a mask color and will be painted transparent.

I just have four observations to make about that picture, on first look:

1. The contrast is kind of low - older people don't differentiate shades of gray so well but still enjoy colorful movies - also keep in mind a relatively large percent of people are colorblind and for some of these it manifests in seeing that as a blob of gray

2. The buttons seem to close together - it's not obvious how far to the left and right of each icon center user can press so they'll force themselves to click in the middle, which degrades the user experience. With the standard MPC-HC you can notice when use moves mouse over buttons they raise up - don't see how it's in your version.

Nowadays most people have at least 1280x720 screens so they could be a bit more spaced out - even at normal size most videos are now at least 640x480 so the player width will be around that.

3. The seek bar is too thin - you'll just annoy people with low quality mouse or shaky hands by making them click on the picture pausing the movie instead of clicking on the seek bar.

4. It's not really clear how the volume works - for lots of people clicking on that sound icons means muting the video. If it's meant to click on it and have a slider pop up than that's a downgrade in efficiency and interface design - you're forcing someone to do two clicks now and concentrate and moving mouse from the first click to the volume slider ...

[Keiyakusha]

bobdynlan, is it possible to also make custom frame with window controls? Currently I'm using your modded version with captions&menu off...

[Kado]

@bobdynlan
Your mod is actually quite nice! Hope it gets integrated in mpc-hc project. Is it possible to either hide the "top" menu or change it's color as well, to match the bottom? Also what's up with that dash in the middle of the control bar?
Cheers

[bobdynlan]

The reason I started on doing this was this: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1378249#post1378249
I never used the default light gray background from windows themes. Whenever I changed that from default, the toolbar buttons did not follow the colour setup in CP for 3d objects. So I had to use the hack of no xp-theming that fixed it, but made ugly buttons. My only complain about the default gui was this bug, and I have only wished for a dark background as a feature add. Hitting an wall on that, decided to fix it myself.

My goal was never to pimp it up with some fluffy bitmaps. It's not even hard to do that. Looking at the source code for the - awesome in it's simplicity - default volume control, motivated me to learn about custom draw, gdi and mfc in general. Well, it's not the ideal ide for media player gui creation. You can create bloated ribbon bars as easy as 1-2-3, but when it comes to things like a volume control, not even MS can do it well, look at the result in Windows 7, the slider does not even match colour with the triangular shape from the right side. MPC-HC is already filled with hacks in the gui area, and this makes a simple thing like choosing a darker solid colour background for the toolbar not trivial. You need to change source code in several places. Get around things like client and non-client areas, controls repositioning & etc.

One thing lead to another, but the deviations are slim. Some custom buttons to go well with the dark background. Better highlighting. Volume control that keeps the triangular shape. Seek bar - pff that was a pain. If you take a close look, you will see I was only interested in the basic controls used in fullscreen as that's the mode I use it the most. Mercury_22, I personally hate WMP's hiding of controls in windowed mode, and MS hates it too, but surrendered to the "mob", against basic accessibility guides. You should forget about transparency until the gui is ported to something designed for that i.e. directx.

Keiyakusha, I've always used 0 Border Padding in Color and Appereance settings and that makes it less ugly. I don't see the point of re-adding borders to the frame-less mode. I even hide the status bar frame (it was also the reason for the white flicker on resize). I do however think that adding a close/switch back button is a must. Try closing MPC-HC from frame-less mode, when auto zoom is on and audio is playing... by just using the mouse.

Kado, the menu bar is another one of those "tabu" things like the toolbar. I guess will be just a litle harder to do. Anyway it's one of those items that should really match the OS. MS seems to think this way. But hiding the menu bar could be an option, as long as an revert button is provided.
That dash is a separator, it always have been there but was painted over. I actually liked it in full screen, halving that empty area, and did not attempt to remove it.

But the interesting part is under the hood. Because I was learning on the go, I've commented and delimited everything out. Code added, even if it's bad, should not sound alien as it's based on default. It can be used as a proof of concept or at least as motivational. I never put my hopes on seeing it on mpc-hc and you should not either. But some change is needed. If you look back, almost all players got several face-lifts. Dev's should acknowledge that there is a close competition even if you did not signup for the race. I would hate to see this project gone.
Thank you.

[Kado]

@bobdynlan
If auto hide could be eventually implemented the same way Explorer does in Windows 7, menu appears when you press "ALT" in the keyboard. And having and option like "Enable menu auto hide".

[tetsuo55]

But the interesting part is under the hood. Because I was learning on the go, I've commented and delimited everything out. Code added, even if it's bad, should not sound alien as it's based on default. It can be used as a proof of concept or at least as motivational. I never put my hopes on seeing it on mpc-hc and you should not either. But some change is needed. If you look back, almost all players got several face-lifts. Dev's should acknowledge that there is a close competition even if you did not signup for the race. I would hate to see this project gone.
Thank you.We're not against changes like these, polishing the existing gui is a good idea.
Our main concern however is time-to-first-frame-displayed.
So when you open the player by opening a video in explorer, how long does it take for the 1st frame to be displayed.
Thats the benchmark that we want to be nr1 on.