Rhythm Box and Media Player both do a good job of controlling output but I like the old fashioned media player interface which I now have thanks to a VLC Media Player Custom Skin. The VLC Media Players default skin is very good but I found something better.
I downloaded the full set of about 131 skins from videolan but found only one which worked perfectly on Cinnamon 18.3. That was one called ftouch 100.vlt.
EDIT: I have found that downloading them individually creates no problems.
Ftouch can be dragged to enlarge fully by grabbing the corner.
A double click is the toggle for full screen.
Hover the cursor anywhere on the players screen and scroll volume with the mouse wheel.
Volume scrolls to 200%.
Hover over the progress bar and scroll that also with the mouse wheel .
Best of all you can see the controls from across the room. I can not actually read if the repeat is on but when it is it is blue.
On top are (right to left) Random, Repeat (Loop), Playlist etc..
The Now Playing screen is on the right.
Right click screen for options (see photo).
If you download the whole group of skins do not click on Chaos.vlt as it will cause a problem at least it did for me. see link to my previous VLC thread. If I download that "bad" skin all by itself it is as it should be. So one at a time please.
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=264520
It goes to full screen automatically after a short while so I put the audio visualizations on it. Looks cool but does not span the entire screen. Uncheck "Fullscreen" in Video Preferences if you do not want it to pop up unexpectedly.
The next to last photo is the VLC default player. You can click it twice and actually see the control icons. This is usable but ftouch 100 is far better in my opinion.
Once you have chosen custom skins there is a second default screen. A photo of the default custom skin is below but the controls are not easy to view. (last photo)
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Ftouch 1.00.vlt custom skin for VLC media player showing audio visualizations option
Smallest the player will get
Notice that this Playlist is a good screen fit as opposed to the default (native).
Right click on the header for these options
Default (native) skin
Default (custom) skin
VLC Media Player Improvements on Cinnamon 18.3
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VLC Media Player Improvements on Cinnamon 18.3
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 22 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Re: VLC Media Player Improvements on Cinnamon 18.3
If you wish to have a custom skin you must select it in Tools/Preferences, save that, then restart.
A link to the skin I recommend is found at the link below, they refer to it as ftouch 1.00 Scroll down, it is on the right in the seventh row. Download the skin, extract the contents. The instructions say to extract the files and put them in Local/Share/VLC/Skins2. The ftouch 100.vlt skin is one file. However; I keep a copy in downloads because...
I did find a minor flaw. The player can be made quite small as seen above but it can not be dragged out of your view. If you want it gone you must uncheck "Full screen" and "stay on top" in video preferences. Minimize to the panel.
EDIT: To drag the player off the screen use ALT and left click to drag.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/skins.html
A link to the skin I recommend is found at the link below, they refer to it as ftouch 1.00 Scroll down, it is on the right in the seventh row. Download the skin, extract the contents. The instructions say to extract the files and put them in Local/Share/VLC/Skins2. The ftouch 100.vlt skin is one file. However; I keep a copy in downloads because...
I did find a minor flaw. The player can be made quite small as seen above but it can not be dragged out of your view. If you want it gone you must uncheck "Full screen" and "stay on top" in video preferences. Minimize to the panel.
EDIT: To drag the player off the screen use ALT and left click to drag.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/skins.html
Last edited by Ozo on Tue Mar 27, 2018 9:05 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Re: VLC Media Player Improvements on Cinnamon 18.3
I have had a chance to use the VLC Media Player (Free Version) some more and find it has some qualities I like and which the custom skin does not have. Here is a photo of the default native skin in its smallest size. It can be dragged off the screen leaving just a bit to grab. It also scrolls to 200% audio like ftouch 1.00.vlt.
When the volume panel applet is clicked it shows the album art and sometimes it is displayed in the player screen, cool. It does this when the custom skin is deployed too.
.............................................DEFAULT VLC MEDIA PLAYER IN REDUCED SIZE...........................................
One thing I do not like about it is when the play list is open I have to hold ALT and drag it up to reach the toggle. It is the same in Normal or Double Scale. The ftouch 1.00 skin has a much better way of handling that. The Play List opens in a different window which fits my screen perfectly and can be minimized to the panel. It still fits no matter how many items are there.
It is almost as if this skin was designed especially for Mint 18.3
When the volume panel applet is clicked it shows the album art and sometimes it is displayed in the player screen, cool. It does this when the custom skin is deployed too.
.............................................DEFAULT VLC MEDIA PLAYER IN REDUCED SIZE...........................................
One thing I do not like about it is when the play list is open I have to hold ALT and drag it up to reach the toggle. It is the same in Normal or Double Scale. The ftouch 1.00 skin has a much better way of handling that. The Play List opens in a different window which fits my screen perfectly and can be minimized to the panel. It still fits no matter how many items are there.
It is almost as if this skin was designed especially for Mint 18.3
Re: VLC Media Player Improvements on Cinnamon 18.3
Here it is on workspace #4, there is a video playing visualizations on #1 and #3. They are in motion in this mode. It is fun to watch the workplace screen and listen sometimes. It is dimmed in this mode so is relaxing. This is a big screen so the small videos are plenty. Check out that wild wallpaper. Just to be clear, I do not look directly at the screen.