No Shadows when using WindowBlinds

Ok I have to correct me: the correct version of my WFX seems to be 2.89b[b].003, even though the About panel talks about 3.0. Sorry for the confusion. wOOdy

That is perfectly normal.  Most per pixel WB skins come with shadows, so WindowFX will not add shadows when a WB5 per pixel skin is in use.  If you are using a non per pixel skin with WB5 then shadows should be added.

The version number is correct as its a beta of WindowFX 3.

WindowFX will not add shadows when a WB5 per pixel skin

So if a per-pixel skin with no shadow . . . it won't be shadowed?
If is a per-pixel with a shadow you want to change, you can't?
Is there any plan to update either app to allow for different shadows to be applied via WindowsFX?

WFX has no clue if a per pixel skin has a shadow or not.  The shadows are part of the skin itself.

It is unlikely we will be making WindowFX add shadows to per pixel skins simply because the best place for shadows would be in the skin itself.  Both for performance & for matching the skin.

If there is a WB per pixel skin that does not have shadows, try asking the skin author if they will make a shadowed substyle.

Thanks for the reply Neil.

Windows FX has 10 default shadows. It is unlikely that an author is going to make that many substyles.

I expect that as perpixel skins become more popular, the shadow functionality of WindowsFX will fade into the sunset then. Too bad.

Hi Neil,

how do I recognize a "non per pixel skin"? I really want to have a much more distinct shadow than the usual skin-based shadows provide (Spank-big is my favorite shadow)
It would be great, if the skin-viewer (online as well as the Desktop-client) would have some sort of symbol or icon to note that problem/inconvienience ("no shadows with WindowFX")

OK, I found a workaround:
In WindowBlinds configuration, select the "System Information" page and down at the bottom select the checkbox "Never use per pixel borders on a skin". This does the trick! Some skin loose their border-transparency, but they get a visible shadow in exchange So life is good..

Thanks to Neil for shedding some light on this long-standing issue.

I do think it would be very nice if WFX shadows and WB skins with transparent (either per-pixel or magic pink) could be made to get along better.

The WFX shadows are actually more important to me than the fancy transitions (which cause a lot of apps to have issues; look no further than the WB config screen to see an example), and it has been problematic trying to use WFX shadows with skins with transparent edging.

I don't think it's true that the "best" place for shadows to be defined is in the skin itself; it's nice for the user to be able to pick his/her shadow via WFX, and beyond that adding a shadow to a skin that doesn't have one is beyond most users.

With all the additional skinning functionality that Skinstudio, WB5, and Vista provide, skinning will be more complicated and involved in the future, not less. That's why it would be nice if the ability to have consistent shadows on all their skins could be given to the average user.

If it is too difficult/performance-costly to have WFX handle that, perhaps that's a feature that could be moved from WFX to Windowblinds itself.

Cheers....

So the latest version of FX can't render shadows for the latest skins in Windowblinds. Am I the only one who thinks that this is kind of a problem since the two are packaged and sold together in Desktop X? Per pixel borders is supposed to be a cool feature in Windowblinds, and Windows FX is supposed to be able to add shadows. But the customer who buys both products or Object Desktop Suite will learn after making the purchase that they really can't do what both products advertise. At least, that's what happened to me.

I agree with posters who have said that the main attraction to FX is its shadows. It's amazing how simply adding shadows adds another dimension to the desktop. The other functions are cool for awhile but never quite work properly all of the time. Now with per pixel skins in Windowblinds 5 and FX 3's inability to deal with them, well, let's just say that I'm very disappointed and feel kind of let down. If I'd known ahead of time, I would had only purchased Windowblinds 5 as a stand alone product since that how it functions anyway. For another example of this, try some of the windows dragging features of FX, such as swaying, with per pixel skins and notice the ugly border artifacts.

Also, to say that the best place to add shadows is within the skin undermines the advertised ability of FX. If it is true, this supposed feature of FX should only be mentioned with a disclaimer regarding the latest per pixel skins. I'm opened to the possibility that I'm the only one who sees per pixel skins as a main feature of Windowblinds and shadows as a main feature of FX. I could be alone in my seeing the incompatibility as a major flaw or as false advertising. However, I just noticed today that on WinCustomize an add for Windowblinds listed per pixel skins at the top of its feature list and over at Stardock  shadows was listed as one of three main features in Windows FX. There was no mention of the incompatibility between the two.

Firstly WB + WFX are sold as part of ObjectDesktop, not DesktopX.  DesktopX is another product in ObjectDesktop.

Per pixel WB skins can have shadows as part of the skin and so that is the place for shadows to be defined.  We disabled WFX shadows on per pixel WB skins for performance and compatibility reasons and given the per pixel skins can (and do) have shadows, this seems like a fair compromise.

Both products do exactly what they say they can do.  Even with a WB per pixel skin in use, WFX can still apply menu shadows and shadows to toolwindows.

Dragging animations should work fine with per pixel skins and if you see any problems then please let us know so we can investigate.  A screenshot would be helpful in tracking that down along with letting us know what graphics hardware you have.

Oh and if you have forced Anti Aliasing systemwide then please try disabling it.

Ah yes, ObjectDesktop. Thanks!

I'm using a GeForce 6800GT with driver 87.21 and running XP SP2 along with the latest versions of Windowblinds and WindowsFX. Antialiasing is set to application-controlled, as is typical for me.

Forgive my rant yesterday. I was feeling burned because FX doesn't work well with my favorite skins (Aerial, ClearXP, Smooth Alternative, among others). Many of them, excluding Aerial, don't have shadows and yet are per pixel skins. Also, since I prefer per pixel skins overall and can never go back now after experiencing them, the shadows feature of FX is nearly useless for me. As for menu and toolwindow shadows on per pixel skins, FX doesn't deal with them properly (at least not on my system). It shadows rectangles, not curved corners, making it look like a white box is behind everything shadowed and whose white corners and edges can be seen.

 

My problem with window dragging is similar, except with a black rectangle and much more noticable. It only occures when I'm running per pixel skins and goes away when I disable per pixel borders within Windowblinds. Describing the problem is fairly simple though. Basically, just imagine a black rectangle behind and around the window appearing once the window is grabbed and only going away upon release. On some skins, it only shows on the corners. On others, it surrounds the entire window. I only mentioned this problem with window dragging because the issue is hard not to notice with this feature. However, the black square is present during other transitions as well.

Normal without FX:


Using FX window dragging:



Sometimes, I have problems with transitions, too, where windows will appear in the final rendering with everything jumbled up(?)

By the way, I'm not as bitter today. I think Windowblinds is an excellent program and other parts of Object Desktop are fun to tinker with. I'll just stop trying with FX. Let it go. I'm beginning to learn how to use SkinStudio and ought to just add my own big spanking shadows. Plus, XP is super snappy without transition effects; snappier than OSX, SUSE Linux, and Vista, which can't keep up with my clicks.

Am I correct in assuming that no response to my post means that the above problems with WindowsFX and per pixel skins in WindowBlinds are known problems without current solutions?

After playing around with SkinStudio for a bit, I can now kind of see why. So why not just create a new element in SkinStudio where artists can define a surface/canvas for compatibility with FX and perhaps for adding shadows within SkinStudio? It sounds simple to me, though I'm sure I'm likely way off.