Themes Competition! [Finished, New Themes Committed]

Hi,
It’s been a couple of years since Interface Themes were added to Blender 2.5x, firstly as an addon by Crouch, then added to Blender UI Presets/Interface & an .xml file. At the time I ported the old themes to the new system & we tried to find the best we could to fit into our small slot. (5 in Release, 7 in Contrib.)
atm, I’m in the process of tidying up themes that come shipped with Blender & themes shipped with Blender Buildbot builds. (in addons_contrib.) During this process, I’m questioning the current validity of some themes. Themes like max, maya, modo, elsyiun, hexagon are quite old & some may not be up to date with the software they represent’s current version, some could make room for better themes I think.

I’ve had a brief look here: http://www.blendswap.com/category/blender-themes
There’s some really nice themes there as an example.

==COMPETITION RULES==

1/ Themes must be consistent throughout editor/window types.
2/ Themes must work with current version of Blender.
3/ Themes should look good!
4/ Authors should submit a link here to their theme.
5/ Authors should be prepared to update if needed. (When a new feature like Pie Menu’s comes along :slight_smile: )
6/ Themes should be submitted to this thread or uploaded to blendswap.
7/ People may comment in this thread. A simple “+1 Theme: Name” will do.

==Prizes==
1st Prize > The best theme will be added to Blender Release themes presets.
2nd Prize > The next 2 best theme’s get added to Blender User Contrib themes. (available in buildbot builds.)
3rd Prize > WILDCARD! ( the “Toxic” theme in contrib got it last time :wink: ) (“Chocolate” would be a nice challenge)

Some help
When writing a theme, much can be done in a text editor & reload the theme in blender user prefs, blender saves theme presets to: 2.71\scripts\presets\interface_theme, open the file from there & edit the .xml for quick consistent changes.
You can also save the default theme, for some window areas in older themes, this works well. nla editor is one.
Watch out for text colors, header text can be tricky. Open complex files, with images & animations & movies & stuff :wink:
then check all the editors to make sure everything is readable.

Competition ends 7th, Sept. 2014

Good Luck!

EDIT:
graph (new) by vitorbalbio
science lab (new) by yii7
softimage update by aermartin
blender24x update (new) by rrtk

have all been added to Blender Release themes!
A Big THANK YOU to all who participated & Congratulations to the “Winners”

I’m in! I have one I’ve been working on forever, this will be a good place to put it :slight_smile: Is there a time limit?

hi VickyM72,
I think a couple of weeks should be ok.

I have a theme in the repo, softimage, I can be in this competition just to get it up to date, there’s been lots of addition as you said to blender now so I compete only to get it up to date.

this is a great idea!

Here’s my entry. I call it CoolSteel.

3D View:


UV Edit:


Changes:
Sep. 06 - Menu color tweaks.
Oct. 11 - Added some minor shading to faces in edit mode, changed colors of edge info in edit mode.
Dec. 11 - Changed color of progress bar text to make more visible.

Latest Version XML Download:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8KVvS6tGzv_QWxwaDBkMk5mSDA/view?usp=sharing

Graph Theme


1.41 sneak peek with Pies


I’ve been used this theme in my company with great successful. There’s included too a startup file with workspace rework and Graph works better with Matcap but it work just great with “default” Blender too.

Development Thread ( Graph 1.41 is on the way for Blender 2.72 with Pies and minor fixes )
http://www.blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?328050-Theme-Graph-1-40-Release&highlight=Graph

Download

I’ve got one that I have tweaked over a long period of time called Muted Professional. It’s consistent, clear, easy on the eyes, and fixes some of the problems seen in the current default themes:



I’ve tweaked the start up file to fit with my workflow and hopefully you can find it useful as well.

Download theme and start up file: muted_professional_1_0.zip (102 KB)

hi, thanks for all the entries so far!
aermartin, your updates are always welcome. :slight_smile: A consistent light theme could win this. :wink:
VickyM72, I really look forward to what you can bring us next! You got the wild card last time round! can you get it again? :slight_smile:
riveter, vitorbalbio, Jonathan L, thanks for your entries, there’s some really nice stuff going on in many areas. I will test properly & provide individual feedback soon.

Some more notes:
Updates to current themes are welcome too, max & maya really need to be updated to current versions, nodes are weak in many themes, as are the vse nla & movie clip editors…
…I would welcome some area specific themes. If you theme your nodes really well, or have the 3d view themed nicely, these things could be useful too.

keep the theme’s coming!

& thanks!

CoolSteel: in wireframe mode, unselected meshes are nearly invisible. If a non mesh object is selected, your scene looks empty :eek:.

This is what I am seeing. Are you seeing different?


How many cubes are in this scene… without looking at the outliner :smiley:


They are barely visible. It’s a pity, since this theme is very sleek.

Never fear. I will see if this can be improved without compromising the theme. It is a work in progress and I appreciate the input.

I have made the wires easier to see. I think this improves the theme, so we will give it a try.
The link to the XML file is in the first post.


Update:
The lighter wire colors don’t show up well with Display Wireframe turned on. This also applies to GL Render. So I am back to black wire color. I have changed the color of Cameras, Lights, and Empties. I have also changed the grid to a lighter color. This should make mesh objects easier to see.


Now works better. I keep trying it.

Cool idea…hope you gather a lot…my old theme refuses to compete…???..but it got me thinkin’ about the evolution …[ATTACH=CONFIG]329627[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]329628[/ATTACH]

jpb06,
wireframe view in edit mode is indeed an issue for many themes.

keep the themes coming!

ok, here’s mine, based on dark blue gradient by pixaal



In this theme I’ve covered all window areas, everything is consistent & readable so far.
I’m working on object & edit mode atm to finalize this complete blender re-theme.
WIP code is here: https://developer.blender.org/diffusion/BAC/browse/master/presets/interface_theme/dark_blue_gradient.xml
nodes not added yet but will update soon. :slight_smile:

That blue theme is beautiful! I’ll surely be getting this one it is completed. +1 and well done!

here is my refreshed and slightly upgraded blender 24 theme,

file

I’ve been tweaking my previous Slate theme into a darker version, not uploading it just yet though :D: