The name is derived from one of my favorite beers, Three Floyds Alpha King Pale Ale. The design makes heavy use of Alpha channel transparency, allowing every button and panel to take on the color and texture of the main background image. This allows a user to completely change the look and feel simply by changing one background graphic – zero button modifications required. The idea is to have quick and simple modification without having to redesign every single graphic. Included are multiple button designs (flat and rounded) in a large array of sizes and shapes. Shadow effects make the buttons appear to float above the panel; the buttons appear to sink when depressed.

The Alpha King Brew design also shows “the art of the possible” for the Pronto Pro should Philips decide to expand the feature set. This design includes mock-ups for potential features, such as 2-way control of Windows Media Center (with Cover Art download) and Sonos (through uPnP) as well as the ability to read RSS News Feeds from any Internet source. Also included is a mock-up of a PC application that parses Internet Movie Database results and sends them to the Pronto Pro (assuming that Philips releases 2-way communication protocols to third party developers.)

A complete system XCF file, including German satellite logos.

A retro, sci-fi-inspired interface featuring:

• Eye popping, colorful 3D graphics!
• A variety of button shapes and sizes.
• Multi-colored background to mix things up.
• Button templates to help maintain constant button placement.
• Intergraded channel logo buttons.
• Greeble and gizmos accents to help customize and make every page unique.
• Background accents to help define logical user spaces.
• All original Photoshop, Illustrator and Lightwave files available to customize even further.

FIFTH RUNNER UP! Most small systems consist of only a few devices like a receiver, cable/sat box, DVD player, CD Changer and a video game system. There are included pages for lighting control, audio, and video adjustments as well. You can quickly program this template for your own system or for one of your customers and is self explanatory using activity buttons that are highlighted on each source page so you will always know where you are.

By placing the activity buttons on every page, this design takes advantage of systems that may not include an RF base. If you choose an activity and the IR command didn't get to the device, you can simply choose the activity a second time without having to back to the home page and select the button again. This design is very customer friendly and was intentionally designed to have less buttons on the source control pages by using the only the most commonly used commands for each device. There are additional sized buttons to copy and paste in case you need to include more functions or change a device page.

THIRD PLACE WINNER! Aura is a very flexible design that can be used for personal projects as well as professional programmer’s clients. You can create any background you like to customize the template or choose one of ten different colored backgrounds I made especially for this design. There are extra pre-made pages for Blu-ray, HD-DVD, QWERTY keyboard, plus an alternative to the Lutron page for lighting control for those who like to use the IR codes.

Adding buttons or creating new devices is very easy, there are eight pages of different size, dual state buttons and extra device icons which are pre-arranged that you can simply copy and paste into the correct position for a newly created activity. This design uses as much of the page as possible while minimizing the negative space between buttons and the need for multiple pages.

I really love the sleek design of the new Pronto TSU9600 and wanted to come up with a configuration file that complements its clean, edgy look, but is straightforward and easy to navigate.

In the design, I have tried to simulate commonplace yet modern materials and textures and use them in an otherworldly context. A sense of space and motion add to the realism that I wanted to achieve in the file, but more importantly, I hope your imagination is fired by what I’ve come up with. My planned future addition of .wav files will hopefully heighten the sense of “unreal reality”.

Apart from the .wav files the file isn’t fully realized (focus on the Cinema and Audio options when you’re testing it out...). I’ll be working hard to get the configuration finished, but in the meantime, I hope you’ll give Black Magic a go on your simulator (or the real thing if you’re lucky enough to already have one...) and enjoy the direction I'm heading!

An update to my Pronto Professional contest entry with changes made to the buttons transparency so they work correctly. The buttons worked perfect in the emulator, but not on the actual remote as 100% transparent areas are ignored. This caused 10% of the buttons in Simplify to not respond. All have been fixed and tested to work perfectly. If you have any questions, please let me know.

The basic concept for this configuration is to mimic drop-down menus. Any device can be accessed and controlled from any page on the remote. This method is very straight forward and universally understood by anyone who used a computer making it very easy for friends, family, or children to pick up and use with little instruction.

As the rules suggested, I focused on graphics and navigation rather than making sure it had working codes and macros everywhere. All graphics were done with Photoshop and with a couple of master PSDs, adding or changing graphical elements is very easy. I attempted to place the most commonly used commands on hard buttons to avoid using the screen as much as possible.

I had planned on using recorded voice-overs instead of text for “HELP” prompts, but ecided to skip this for now as the simulator will not play them back. I also no longer think it’s necessary, as this configuration is “Drop-Down Simple”!

This is the highly anticipated and much talked about “RGBCYM Everything” remote template that everyone has been waiting for. ;-) This template file is large because it is filled with over 1900 buttons! The buttons are set in six different colors, three different sizes, and two different shapes. These buttons have been created using “Crystal Button”. If anyone would like the “Crystal Button” templates for these buttons, download the file and get my Email address from the “INFO” page.

This remote template has been designed with speed of programming in mind. You do not need an image editor to change backgrounds or button images. While other remote layouts may look fancy, they may also take a long time to customize when your customer wants to add just one more piece of equipment. The buttons are organized so that you can either copy/paste or ctrl/drag the button to the page you are designing. Since there are three button sizes, you can scale the button to match the needs of the page. Color coding of the buttons is an essential element to a well designed touchscreen. With this template, a visually pleasing color schemes is easy to layout so that task groups within the page can be... (more)

FOURTH RUNNER UP! This .XCF is designed to be a file that would be delivered to an end user. It is all activity based with only the buttons and functions available that are required for using the system.

It controls a simple 2 zone audio system and is an actual working file. All control of the video display is performed by macros, there is no need for a receiver or TV control page as their functions are accessed by punch through commands or the macros themselves. All items not considered critical to the daily use of the system have been hidden.

It uses the serial extender and is operating both the Lutron Radio Ra system and an Escient fireball. The Escient unit is duplicated in order to allow operation in 2 different zones with different macros and volume codes for each zone. When in the Fireball interface, pressing menu takes you to a page using the standard video interface and IR commands for advanced functions such as recording, random play modes, setup, options and more as those functions are not available in the pre written interface. All power is switched on using the activity macros. The power button on the remote accesses a power page... (more)