The Tournament Director Forums
Main => Templates, Layouts and Sounds => Topic started by: nlowell on November 08, 2010, 08:59:24 PM
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Hi Everyone, I'm a new member and just purchased Tournament Director.
I built a new table a couple of months ago and am just getting around to customizing a layout to suit my needs.
The table has 2 19" flush-mounted LCDs which will be running TD in mirror mode so that everyone sitting at the table can see the information they need to without craning their neck to the projector somewhere.
Pictures are here:
Game Room - http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/file/978265803_BKGyf-XL.jpg (http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/file/978265803_BKGyf-XL.jpg)
Poker Table 1 - http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/file/978265932_DshkF-XL.jpg (http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/file/978265932_DshkF-XL.jpg)
Poker Table 2 - http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/file/978266471_BwWKG-XL.jpg (http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/file/978266471_BwWKG-XL.jpg)
Carbon Fiber Rail - http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/file/978266207_gFT8Z-XL.jpg (http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/file/978266207_gFT8Z-XL.jpg)
Tournament Director - http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/file/979188692_DNLkm-XL.jpg (http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/file/979188692_DNLkm-XL.jpg)
Automatic Shuffler - http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/photo-1/984047339_PHCS7-XL.jpg (http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/photo-1/984047339_PHCS7-XL.jpg)
I used AMCQ10's layout as a start (http://www.thetournamentdirector.net/forums/index.php?topic=755.0) and started hacking from there (I use hack because I'm not 100% sure how to do this the right way)
Lots of trial and error. Resolution is 1280x1024.
I attached the graphic I used as my background and the TD export of where I am currently at.
Other pictures:
Background Image - http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Computers/TD-Layout/AllAces12/1083585916_Qo7Mu-O.png (http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Computers/TD-Layout/AllAces12/1083585916_Qo7Mu-O.png)
Layout - http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Computers/TD-Layout/NealsLayout/1083584037_SiDQR-XL.png (http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Computers/TD-Layout/NealsLayout/1083584037_SiDQR-XL.png)
On Table 1 - http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Computers/TD-Layout/photo-1/1083593398_7fGHu-XL.jpg (http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Computers/TD-Layout/photo-1/1083593398_7fGHu-XL.jpg)
On Table 2 - http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Computers/TD-Layout/photo-2/1083593356_WCJuP-XL.jpg (http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Computers/TD-Layout/photo-2/1083593356_WCJuP-XL.jpg)
Here is what I am hoping to get help with:
- The left clock won't go down far enough because of the layout
- The text isn't quite right in the boxes
- I'd like to change the text to be two columns so that I can add some other information like "Average Chips"
Beyond that, I was hoping for some forum feedback since this is new for me. What other information could be useful in that box? Any feedback on the font? I want something blocky and high tech looking but Stencil was all I found.
Thanks for any help! My first game with the new table is this weekend and I want it to look good :)
-Neal
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Average chips should fit to the right of your rounds, in the box, another.. cell try calibri font
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Very cool. Can you be a bit more specific on what you want to do?
- The left clock won't go down far enough because of the layout
I assume you mean the vertical clock. The steel bar looks centered vertically. And the clock within it looks right-aligned, like the other clocks. What's the issue?
- The text isn't quite right in the boxes
More specific?
- I'd like to change the text to be two columns so that I can add some other information like "Average Chips"
I'm sure this could be done, but I'd need to see the layout itself. Why don't you post that file and perhaps we can help tweak it directly.
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Thanks Cory.
No matter how I align the left column clock, it won't push down any more. I think its because its running into the bottom row, but I'm not sure how to fix that without screwing up the bottom row.
That's pretty much my major issue. I think I can add another column within the boxes for additional data and continue to play with alignment...I've been just using nbsp; and <BR> statements to adjust items...probably not the most ideal and a lot of trial and error.
I attached the .tlo file to the original post. That is the layout file you're referring to right?
Thanks in advance for any help!
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I know this may not be what you want to hear, but to be honest, I would go in a completely different direction. This highlights something I'd like to add: a free-form layout mode, where you can create elements, size them, and drag them around the screen to exactly where you want them. Someday...
Anyway, this "mode" of designing a layout makes a lot more sense for your layout. What you are trying to do essentially is put some elements on top of a background picture, and those elements need to be in specific places to make things look right. You can actually do this today, it's just more of a manual process.
So, instead of adding columns and rows, and tweaking things to make them line up exactly where you want them, I would create some cells and make the contents of those cells positionable anywhere, then position them at exact coordinates. This will only work for specific screen sizes, but your background image really only works for specific screen sizes anyway (meaning, if you set this up for 1280x1024, it's not going to look right for 1024x768, or 1920x1080, etc.)
Unfortunately I don't have time to do the whole thing right now, but I've gotten you started. See the attached layout. I have created a new screen and 4 new cells. I have labeled the screen and the cells starting with the letter "Z" just to differentiate them from your existing cells and screens and group them together. The background is 1280x1024, so the screen I created is designed for that size exactly. Basically, each cell I created can go anywhere in the layout, because the contents of the cell "detach" and position themselves in a specific location. For example, the contents of the cell for the blinds on the left are:
<div style="position: absolute; top: 100; left: 30; height: 610px; width: 100px; overflow: hidden; text-align: center">
<div style="filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.BasicImage(rotation=1); text-align: center; width: 610px">
<nobr>Blinds - <smallblind> / <bigblind><br>
<div style="font-size: 15pt">
<nobr>Next - <nextsmallblind> / <nextbigblind><br>
Break in <nextbreak format="clock" showSeconds="false"> minutes</nobr>
</div>
</div>
</div>
The outer div sets the location and exact size of the contents. The next div rotates the contents. Then we have the actual contents.
If you want to have a better look at what's going on, try adding this style:
<div style="position: absolute; top: 100; left: 30; height: 610px; width: 100px; overflow: hidden; text-align: center; background-color: red">
<div style="filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.BasicImage(rotation=1); text-align: center; width: 610px">
<nobr>Blinds - <smallblind> / <bigblind><br>
<div style="font-size: 15pt">
<nobr>Next - <nextsmallblind> / <nextbigblind><br>
Break in <nextbreak format="clock" showSeconds="false"> minutes</nobr>
</div>
</div>
</div>
See what that does, then add another one:
<div style="position: absolute; top: 100; left: 30; height: 610px; width: 100px; overflow: hidden; text-align: center; background-color: red">
<div style="filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.BasicImage(rotation=1); text-align: center; width: 610px; background-color: blue">
<nobr>Blinds - <smallblind> / <bigblind><br>
<div style="font-size: 15pt">
<nobr>Next - <nextsmallblind> / <nextbigblind><br>
Break in <nextbreak format="clock" showSeconds="false"> minutes</nobr>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Hopefully that will be enough to get you started.
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Great, thanks again Cory!
I'll play around with this tonight. Like you said, should give me enough to figure it out!
Great customer service!
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P.S. I live in San Diego but was in Zurich, Switzerland last month for work. A buddy and I traveled to a casino in Baden, Switzerland to play in a poker tournament where, lo and behold, they used Tournament Director on wall mounted TVs to keep track of their two tournaments and ~12 tables in play. Cool stuff :)
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Ok, I updated the layout using your suggested method. All is well, except one thing. Do you know why the font aliasing is messed up when using the ImageTransform call? I noticed for the bottom clock when using rotation=0 the font goes blurry. Removing the ImageTransform clears up the font. Any suggestions or is this as good as it's getting? :) Thanks again!
Notice the top, bottom, and left text are identical
(http://nlowell.smugmug.com/Computers/TD-Layout/NewLayout/1087471041_5yJ4q-XL.png)
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Ok, I updated the layout using your suggested method. All is well, except one thing. Do you know why the font aliasing is messed up when using the ImageTransform call? I noticed for the bottom clock when using rotation=0 the font goes blurry. Removing the ImageTransform clears up the font. Any suggestions or is this as good as it's getting? :) Thanks again!
This has to do with certain color combinations, when a filter style is applied, and also where you set your colors. Seriously. It's an enormous pain to deal with. And sometimes you simply cannot get IE to render something like this with nice anti-aliasing/cleartype/font smoothing, or whatever it uses.
For example, if you give the top blinds cell a white background, I bet it will smooth out the font. I've dealt with this in the layout by applying the background color in an outer element and the drop-shadow filter in an inner element, but I have yet to find a consistent way to correct this issue.
Here's a nice example. Using the default layout (BlueAndGreen), edit the clock cell and change the HTML to this:
<div style="filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.BasicImage(rotation=2); height: 0px"><clock></div>
Now the clock is upside down, but it still looks good. Now uncheck the "Shadow" checkbox in the font section and press Apply. Shadow goes away, clock text still looks nice and smooth.
Now change the Background color to "black" and press Apply. Again, still looks good.
Now change the Background color to "white" and the Foreground color to "black" and press Apply. Boom. Font no longer looks good.
Now set the background color using the DIV (change the HTML to this) and press Apply:
<div style="filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.BasicImage(rotation=2); height: 0px; background-color: white"><clock></div>
Now it's a black text on a white background and it looks good again.
What does it mean? If the font is dark (and I don't know what exactly defines "dark"), then the element with the filter must also have a background color (not "transparent"). If the font is light, it doesn't matter. Maybe. Or maybe not. Your mileage may vary.
Bottom line is you'll have to do a lot of playing around with this to see if you can get it to work.
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Haha, nice. Will play around with that. Thanks!
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I fixed the one on the left. Instead of the Microsoft Transform, I used IE's "writing-mode" call.
writing-mode: xx-yy;
xx-yy
lr-tb – This is the default value, left to right, top to bottom
rl-tb – This flows the text from right to left, top to bottom
tb-rl – Flows the text vertically from top to bottom, right to left (I used this one for the text on the left. Renders True Type font great)
bt-rl – bottom to top, right to left
IE8+
ms-writing-mode: xx-yy;
tb-lr – Text flows top to bottom, left to right
bt-lr – Bottom to top, left to right
lr-bt – Left to right, bottom to top
rl-bt – Right to left, bottom to top
Now I just need to find a solution for the upside down text :)
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Now I just need to find a solution for the upside down text :)
No rotate command available? (not a programmer, so idk)
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Now I just need to find a solution for the upside down text :)
No rotate command available? (not a programmer, so idk)
Nope. That's why there's only a "Rotate 90 degrees" checkbox, and not options for 180 and 270 degrees.
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Ok then.... What about copying characters from the character map? Haven't looked in there, but if there's upside down characters, wouldn't that suffice for the upside down text, if there?
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I ran my first tourney a month or so ago and every other round I would get a big black box/void covering most of the screen. It only affected odd number rounds. Went back to normal for even number rounds. Any ideas on what this would be? I have another tourney tomorrow and I need to fix this.
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Sounds like your odd and even rounds aren't matched up the same for the layout setup. I would probably suggest copying what you have for each cell for the even rounds to the odd rounds, and see if that clears it up any.
EDIT - It's what I had to do for a row of buttons I use that weren't working properly, and after doing such, it's working without incident.
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Thanks for the reply. Sorry to be dense, I'm still new to this software...how do I "copy what i have for each cell for even rounds to odd rounds"?
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No need to apologize, I've been there myself, and am glad to help when I'm able to :)
To copy the cells isn't too difficult, just time consuming. You'll want to be displaying the layout tab. Double click a cell to bring up its properties (if you're using 2.6.b4, right clicking and selecting properties for the cell seems to be broken, but if using 2.5, you can disregard this note). Odd rounds work, so in property sets, you want to select Odd Rounds, or default if it's not displayed. From there, click on contents, select all the text, and copy. Then go to the odd rounds (or default if not there), and in the contents there, paste it in. I would do it for all the sets that show up. Another thing I would do is to look at the font settings for the Odd Rounds, and make them uniform by using the Font dialogue box.
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No go...I see where the odd round setup is. Even if I setup the odd round to be the same, it doesn't work.
Oddly enough, some of my elements (buttons, rounds, and prizes) stay in the even rounds, everything else is removed.
I just tested on a new machine and the layout I posted on page one exhibits this display. Any way I could talk you into opening the TLO and seeing if I'm missing something silly?
Thanks a bunch in advance!
Neal
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nlowell, if you post your layout and explain what you want, I should be able to repost the fix for you to take back, if you would like?
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I found that if I delete the other two screens listed and set the screen set default to the main page that removes 90% of my issues.
Now I just have a black box in the very middle on even rounds I can't get rid of.
_4.tlo is the original I was having issues with
_6.tlo is the one I removed all screens but the main
Thanks Magic...you rock!
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;D ;D
GOT IT!! lol
using the -6 version, it turned out to be 'empty cell 3' that needed a little tweaking. Here you go!
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Hmm....can't seem to load that layout file.
What change did you make to empty cell 3? I will just make the change.
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Using 2.5.11 I get error loading layout on two different machines.
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Nevermind...I'm stupid....I saw it.
Thanks for sticking with me!!
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Glad you saw it :) almost clicked on "post" for what I did :) Hope all goes well for you tomorrow!
By the way, it didn't work cause I'm using the beta version... Ah well.... between the two of us, we gotcha going :D