[ubuntu-art] Having fun with installer slideshow!

[Kenneth Wimer]

Hello Dylan,

As you mentioned there is a spec for including a slideshow. We discussed this 
idea with the Ubiquity developers and it seems like we will get something 
like this in intrepid. Once they contact me again I'll add you to the 
discussion since you seem interested :-)
--
Ken

On Thursday 05 June 2008 06:01:13 Dylan McCall wrote:
> Hello art team!
>
> It's been a while since I blabbered about this, and it's come some way
> since then. I am working on a slideshow system for Ubuntu to work
> alongside the installation progress bar in Ubiquity (the Live CD
> installer). My goal is to unobtrusively give users an introduction to
> Ubuntu. Something I have noticed with a lot of issues people have is
> that people have simply not noticed the way things are done in Ubuntu.
> Case in point, installing software, for which a shocking number of
> people seem to try downloading source code /before/ noticing Add /
> Remove Applications. I think having a slideshow that goes over all the
> bits and pieces Ubuntu has available will do very good things for the
> user experience. In addition, many of the most unique and powerful
> features we have, such as custom fonts for applications, are hidden away
> in very modest little corners. They have the potential to delight
> people, but may never be noticed.
>
> To put it simply, I have been browsing Ubuntu's support forums and
> taking mental notes (should have been hard notes, in retrospect) about
> all the great things people miss without being pushed in the right
> direction first. The goal here is to give those people the right
> pointers from the start in a way that does not stink. Obviously, I can't
> do this without help, so contributions of any form are welcome.
>
> The project itself is still very quiet, however I have set up the
> necessary stuff in Launchpad and I have rearranged how this is done.
> Most importantly, I dropped that horror of an idea that was using Glade
> for slides. Instead, I am using SVGs! This means it's going to be very
> nice for people to contribute to, assuming said people can work their
> heads around Inkscape. (More on that later :o [1])
>
> So now that I have decided on a decent file format, and said format is
> (-should be-) dead easy, I may as well bring this up as something people
> can contribute to Right Now!
>
> At the moment, there is no solid plan for the slideshow itself other
> than slide dimensions: 700x420 pixels. In terms of the software for
> displaying the slideshow, it is coming along. (I over-engineered it 5
> times. How many of me does it take to change a light bulb? Believe it or
> not, at least 2; I would probably create a clone of myself for the
> task). Nothing visible on that end at the present time, but since these
> slides are just simple graphics, said program doesn't really have to be
> played with anyway. It should be sufficient to consider that the slides
> will be displayed one by one, without user interaction, switching on a
> timer. A slide should be readable in a very short time. They should also
> all be consistent in general design.
>
> The project for the slideshow is, as mentioned,
> ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu on Launchpad. Just head over to
> https://launchpad.net/ubiquity-slideshow-ubuntu for the working files,
> blueprints, etc.
> As a quick example to get thoughts moving, I have some example slides up
> there now. Two versions: One with a bland brownish background, one with
> the Hardy Heron simple wallpaper... which actually does not seem a bad
> effect. Those are in bzr as SVGs, and I have also uploaded an archive of
> raster images
> at http://dylanmccall.googlepages.com/Ubuntu_Slideshow_Example.tar.gz
>
> The ideal situation is that lots of ideas get invented and one of them
> gets so much love that the slideshow magically builds itself. In other
> words, turn on your brains, start inventing slideshow templates and some
> slides to go with them. and then get posting!
>
> Sounds like fun!
> If you somehow need an extra push of encouragement, consider that doing
> this is roughly the same task as creating mockups for GTK themes,
> without the work involved in implementing them. (Please don't stop
> making themes, though).
>
> If you still need more encouragement, take a look at the design I made
> myself. Awful, eh?
> Now, if you want to see that horrific artwork razed from the universe,
> get cracking!
>
>
> Bye for now,
> -Dylan
>
> [1] One issue while I am here: The SVGs I have rolled out work only in
> Inkscape. The thumbnailer, Eye of GNOME, and even Mozilla render them
> completely wrong.
>
> PS: Be aware that this is not a normal artwork task; I just know all the
> best artists are here! Indeed, there is no telling whether this can
> actually make it into Intrepid... so nobody let your hopes up. I want to
> make that a stronger possibility by having some good artists help out
> here and by having some more hands poking at it so that time is less of
> an issue.