AlienFX Theme Sharing

All,

Checking on this...

Chris, mine's an M17x. Would my themes also be suitable for the M11x and M15x? I would have thought they all share the same controller software.

AFX themes are platform specific and can only be shared with like systems. So if you tried to load one from a M17x to a M15x, an error message that the theme is not compatible with the system will appear and you will not be able to apply the theme.

Thanks for the clarification Chris. It looks as though my sharing FX idea is as popular as a cockroach in the kitchen!

On another forum I found they were actively swapping AlienFX themes for each model. Of course I downloaded a few for the M17x. Most of them were absolute rubbish because users either used plain colours rather than exploring the possibilities of morphing, or they had a preconceived idea that morph timelines should be exactly the same length for all sectors of the keyboard. As a reasonably experienced Flash designer I can tell you that you can get some amazing effects by purposely using different timelines for each zone because that way they overlap. What I mean is that while one timeline has completed and is restarting, another timeline has yet to complete. And don't be afraid to edit the tempo!

What did get me, and I'm hoping Chris may be able to help me here, is that the majority of themes I downloaded seem to have been created with the M17x R1 because their zones were numbered differently. Even so, they do work on the R2. But, what I can't understand is how they achieved colour change from left to right on the front speaker vents? Even attempting to edit their themes brings me no closer to an answer. I'm beginning to think that the command center of the R1 was possibly more advanced than that of the R2. Here's some examples for R2 owners to see what I'm talking about (password is M17x).

Not only do they have left to right speaker morphing but they can also morph the touchpad, start button, Alienhead logo, and dashboard. And if that isn't already enough, they seem to have been able to add and remove zones too!

I do not know. I can tell you that engineering will not test this. They already more or less said no to using different model themes.

Do you not have access to an M17x R1?

Nope.

Here's mine for the m17x, the keyboard sweeps from right to left, managed to make it work with all colors (i think).  The numpad alternates between solid white to blinking red every 3 blocks of solid white.

Speakers and main logo morphs all colors.

http://d01.megashares.com/index.php?d01=a6fba45

That's quite daring SilverLeaf!
I wish I could get the left to right speaker morphing that others seem to have achieved. Yours has given me some inspiration if I could alternate pulsing from left to right on the speaker vents. If you have not yet seen the left to right morphs on the speakers, try this one.

Fix0r'd. However, much more distracting now that its all blinky and chasing. Use the above one when working, it just blends across the keyboard but the chasing isn't obvious and uses more colors. This one has Red Blue Green Yellow  chasing across the keyboard in left to right, with the 'alienware' under screen alternating quickly between colors and then blinking red/blue/green/yellow every 5 morphs. Speakers morph slowly into many colors and then blink. Don't understand what you mean by making speakers chase and morph, both speakers are controlled by same lights and cannot be changed independently, both speakers must be same color together. Which is all good and well cos then I can make them blinky. May consider one where keyboard lights zigzag and give a more random feel. One direction has been done to death already.

http://d01.megashares.com/index.php?d01=b12abc6

M17x Chasing Lights

You didn't try the ones I provided SilverLeaf because if you had you would have seen and understood how the left and right speaker vents have separate FX. I have to be honest, I don't like the blinking (pulse) effect because I find it very distracting. There again, I only use my machine for business so I'm one of those rare exceptions.

I learned yesterday that the reason we can't build wild FX like the ones I recently posted is because the original command center had far more flexibility but was liable to crashing. Since the R2 was released Dell changed the command center for a more simplified version which not only removed the FX available to several zones but also prevented a smooth morph transition. Indeed, since I first got my M17x I instantly remarked how poor the transition was and once I downloaded the themes created with the previous CC I was amazed at the fluidity they had achieved.

Let's hope that Dell address this and provide an improved CC sometime in the near future. Chris, please can you pass this comment on to whoever is responsible for the development of the CC.

Reason why I couldn't load yours is because the site hosting it gives me (on a shared dynamic ip) lots of problems. And half the alienfx themes I DL'd still isn't compatible with mine.

But lol why are u using an alienware for business?

These should work on yours because as far as I'm aware we both have R2's. If you have been unable to download them I can put them on another server for you. Just let me know.

My business activities require me to do some 3D modelling together with Photoshop and Flash all open at the same time. This has been a pain the proverbial backside with my Inspiron due to consistent crashing. I was forced to buy another machine and had the choice between a Mac or a Dell Precision. While the Mac would have been the perfect solution, I cannot have it built to my requirements (English O/S and Italian keyboard). This meant going with Dell and although the Precision is an absolute beast, it's 1000 euros more expensive than a top-end Alienware M17x. The Alienware looks nicer too and on paper will do everything I need so, what would you have done in my position?

Its fine thanks pretty happy with my current theme.