I have developed a very clean, simple and neat Activity-based configuration, which is also fully functional. It features simple custom graphics and custom-labeled buttons. In addition, it includes my first attempt to develop a transport graphic which was derived from a digital photograph, from one of my OEM remotes. My configuration features 100% .png graphics which all utilize a transparent background, for that custom look. My .pcf features 10 devices on 42 pages. The Yamaha device contains some 30 + discrete codes.

Ever get tired of the same old graphics on your Pronto? My design is theme based: each user can have their own theme! Or, a user can change themes every week or month. The button colors and backgrounds change, but the button placement is the same for all themes. My design has elegant buttons, a simple navigation system, and can be easily customized for any user.

My PCF is a device based design split into parts for two rooms of the house. It is set up to keep all devices in sync regardless of whether discrete codes are available.

Each device maintains a theme of stylized rounded buttons using a conistent layout to make it easy to find controls which are common between devices. Each page has a 'Master Off' button which will turn off all equipment related to the device and take you back to the main home page.

I have demonstrated the use of the ProntoPro's translucent capability by using see-through menus for selecting audio, device, D-pad, and lighting settings.

For the cable box device, the menus slide out from the bottom or sides showing simple animation techniques. It works great on the remote, but the simulator causes the screen to flash when changing pages, making the animation less smooth. Delays were added to slow it down in the simulator. These delays are not necessary on the actual remote. I hope you enjoy the graphics and layout design. It was a lot of fun to work on.

v1.02 Is your computer having trouble opening my PCF file? Here are three alternative smaller versions that might help. Includes a file with only the gallery, a file with everything but the gallery, and a stripped file with only the core system. Same description, devices and screenshots as the above file.

I decided to do something a little different on this PCF! You will find very few buttons that are ovals, circles or rectangles. Each type of button has its own unique shape and shading. Most of the text is on a curve to match its button. Almost every button is semi transparent to some degree using the PNG alpha-transparency. Most buttons have a pressed and released state. The pressed and released buttons are interchangeable, so you could change the color scheme of the PCF by changing these two buttons around.

There are sequences of lightning strikes that can be "animated" into your macros, so it looks like a lightning storm when the macro runs. The cursor buttons are both on the screen and the hard buttons.

My approach to developing the user interface for my ProntoPro NG was focused on practicality and function. The PPNG's utility, in my opinion, comes from its many hard buttons--allowing a user to issue commands without looking down at the remote. My design therefore tries to use the hard buttons for the most common operations: arrow navigation, chapter advance, home page, the "TiVo" button, and so on.

I believe the most practical user interface for an entertainment system is one that focuses on activities rather than devices. The design I've implemented hides the devices that are merely providing "output" (namely the receiver and the television). The activities are roughly analogous to "input" devices (DVD player, DirecTivo, GameCube, and music). However, the user interfaces for these activities are often sparse--limited to only those remote control features I have ever utilized while engaged in an activity. If I'm playing GameCube, I only care about controlling inputs, adjusting the volume, and switching the television aspect.

Where possible, I have tried to keep buttons that provide a given function across multiple activities in roughly the same place. For example, a "Go"... (more)

This ProntoPro NG layout is named 'blasenkammer' after an inspiring picture of bubble chamber experiments I found some times ago in the net. (Blasenkammer = bubble chamber auf deutch.) Parts of that picture, heavily edited, are used as background in this layout.

The usability model of my layout is action or mode based and it originates from my ProntoNEO layout that I have found practical among users of different ages (5 - 77). Use of the hard keys at the bottom of the screen (Firm1-Firm4) differs from almost all of the layouts that I have seen. The middle ones are used in all modes to power up, configure and switch down the whole system. I call these buttons green and red buttons (in fact I painted the hard buttons on my ProntoNEO green and red accordingly). Leftmost hard button is used to accees menu functions for main device in current mode. Righmost is used to go back to home page and to re-select the mode.

To start up the system select first from the home (mode) page what you want to do: watch TV (actually DVB or Digi TV), watch DVD, watch VCR or listen to CD. The selected button takes you to mode pages. Note that the system is not automatically turned on. In order to do... (more)

This time I was inspired by fellow Remote Central Pronto NG community member Lowpro and (in particular) by the way his movie library page functions. I eventually decided to convert my whole PCF to operate in this same manner because it allows me to have all 17 activities and control of my theatre readily at hand without making buttons or text too small. At over 700 PAGES and 300 DEVICES, this design is still simple to use and comes in under 7 megs and 69% free memory! The cosmetics reflect a snazzy PDA / Cell Phone. All of the artwork in the PCF is mine except for a couple of buttons borrowed from Daniel Tonks. PCF includes: complete control of 17 theatre activities; really cool (I think) customized loading pages for each activity; a DVD Library of 500 films (and growing); extensive interactive help screens; cable logo access buttons for Dallas area; an easy to use device teaching menu; X10 lighting control with active graphic of my theatre room and a slideshow area of theatre pictures and family photos. Special thanks and recognition to Lowpro, Lyndel McGee, and the great software upgrades from the Pronto Team. Needless to say, I would never have attempted this without the new shortcuts plus drag and drop provided in the new Pronto Edit software. As Lowpro says, "Enjoy"!

This design is straight forward and flexible and takes advantage of the advanced graphics capability of the TSU7000. The interface was designed to be user friendly for all who may use it. In most cases, each component has one screen containing the most used buttons that keeps ‘screen flipping’ to a minimum. Furthermore, the user can switch from any component to another from any screen in the interface. For example, if you are watching TV and want to switch to the DVD, all you need to do is tap the DVD icon on the top of the page and the TSU7000 will turn off the TV and switch on all components needed to watch a DVD.

What makes this design unique is the presence of the ‘splash’ screens. Splash screens are the ‘animated’ screens that appear while the TSU7000 is performing a lengthy macro. For example, when the TSU7000 is sending the commands to turn on a component, there are many steps it needs to perform. In the 5-7 seconds this takes to complete, this interface will flash through screens updating the user on the status of the task.

NOTE: All hard keys will be used to control VOL+/-, CH+/-,MUTE and DIRECTION PAD for each component interface.

The first screenshot is of the home... (more)

The result of my design: 134 custom-made buttons (not counting spacers & labels)! My favorite button is the volume toggle in the lower right page. Here's what's unique about my configuration:

Consistent frame-based GUI with three button groups in frame:
TOP: device selection with trinary button states - pressing a pressed button in the main page of a device executes a setup macro with auto-power-on, etc.
LEFT: device specific buttons, e.g. TiVo: Favorites, Thumbs Up/Down, Slo-Mo
BOTTOM: “orthogonal” (e.g. X-10 & Amplifier are always needed independent media devices), or common functions (Keypad)

Modifier buttons, when pressed once, lead to an extra screen – when pressed again they lead back to same device

Eye pleasing “soft” design with fairly correct lighting (shadows, etc.) and well balanced colors

Simplicity – one page operation with most common functions

No confusing clutter (I put in time, date & battery for completeness only... I actually prefer it without those items, but it's easier to erase them than to integrate them later)

The activity signal is still visible, though barely taking up any space now

Background is defined on the System page only,... (more)