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Images & Videos thumbnails: Visual differentiator
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:28 pm
by helmut
Currently, when browsing folder with images and videos, it's not easy to tell the videos from the images. I'd like a clear visual indicator in thumbnails that allows me to differentiate videos from images.
Nowadays most digital cameras allow for taking photos and videos, so I'd rate this request as "important".
Other opinions?
Re: Images & Videos thumbnails: Visual differentiator
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 8:53 pm
by oops66
Hello Helmut,
I agree but this is already done since the v1.92.2 beta1.
This is possible by a custom setting into the xnviex.ini file, if needed for example:
BColorFilter01=jpeg, 30 30 30
.....
BColorFilter26=jp2, 237 237 202
....
BColorFilter27=avi, 237 0 202
and
ColorFilter01=jpeg, 0 160 0
...
ColorFilter26=jp2, 237 0 202
....
ColorFilter27=avi, 237 0 202
topic but in French:
http://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.p ... hlight=avi
But maybe as default for all common video files ????
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:20 am
by helmut
Thank you for the hint & link, oops66.
Hmm, the colours are for the labels only - isn't it? Currently I don't look at the colouring and would expect / suggest a symbol or somthing that identifies the movies (e.g. the border could look like a film strip).
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 6:56 am
by xnview
Ok, but which symbol?

Re: Images & Videos thumbnails: Visual differentiator
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:30 am
by XnTriq
Pierre, could we please have the same for animations and multi-page documents as well?
Re: Images & Videos thumbnails: Visual differentiator
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:22 am
by xnview
XnTriq wrote:Pierre, could we please have the same for animations and multi-page documents as well?
Yes but which symbol?

Film, but***
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 1:46 pm
by Clo
Pierre

Hello !
• Like
helmut suggests above, maybe something like this :

?
- With the current height of the <info1.bmp> strip (11 pixels), it's difficult to draw a nice film-strip…
- Another version, a bit wider :

KR
Claude
Clo
w possible icons
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:03 pm
by mostly harmless
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:19 pm
by JohnFredC
IMHO all of these icons are too complicated and, unless placed in a border of the thumbnail, would merge visually with the thumb's image. Plus, they all scale poorly.
The symbol should be just that: a symbol, a flag, an indicator... and
not a narrative subsitute.
Photorealistic icons are more about the narrative that occurs in the mind of the user. They tend to slow interaction down because the recognition process (in the mind) for complex symbology is much slower and more ambiguous.
Something based on
these symbols (scroll down) would be more appropriate, I think.
The simpler, the better. Two highly-contrasting colors only.
A right arrow symbol would work for me, but then I personally would expect that if I clicked the arrow, the movie would play in the thumbnail!!!
Hmmmm....
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:34 pm
by JohnFredC
OK, maybe not "two highly-contrasting colors"
What about something like this example I borrowed from one of the "mostly harmless" symbols (see above) and modified:
It still needs a little fine-tuning at the pixel level, but here are some perspectives:
Simple
Culturally neutral
Familiar shape
Contrasts with dark backgrounds
Can be inverted/tweaked for light backgrounds
OK rescaled to smaller sizes:

OK at 256 and 16 colors, even binary (try it!)
Easily adapted to other color schemes
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:49 pm
by xnview
JohnFredC wrote:
I like it

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 5:45 pm
by XnTriq
These monochrome overlay icons are 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 pixels wide (from left to right) and between 10 and 12 pixels in height:
I wasn't sure if Pierre is planning to have different indicators for different categories, so I made separate icons.
- Movies (AVI, FLV, MPEG, ...)
- Animations (ANI, FLC/FLI, aGIF, aPNG, SWF, ...)
- Presentations (PPT, ...)
- Multi-page (PDF, TIFF, ...)
- Layers (PSD, PSP, ...)
- Multi-resolution (ICO, ...)
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 5:49 pm
by JohnFredC
I like those a lot!
Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:01 pm
by mostly harmless
Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:17 pm
by JohnFredC
A great collection!
There are at least two categories of symbols in iconic GUIs: notifier symbols and action symbols. Sometimes a symbol serves both purposes.
The problem with the "Play"-styled symbols is that they can be confused for interactive controls/buttons.
The initial request in this post implied a notifier symbol.
If Pierre implemented a "Play" action behind the movie-file-type notifier symbol/icon shown in the thumbnail, then great, no problem. Otherwise you'll have quite a few users clicking that little play symbol (because it means "Play movie" in most circumstances) and being confused when the movie doesn't play.
The camera-based and film-strip-based symbols are good as notifiers, though the film strip is an increasingly archaic reference in many cultures. Also, the clapboard symbol implies a modicum of a priori knowledge of the film/video production business... not necessarily a common thing.