Hints of Leopard UI in Final Cut Server?

m01etym01ety
Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Apple frequently tests new OS-wide user interface themes in isolated applications -- Aqua back in iMovie on OS 9, and whatever's going on with iTunes 7...



I'm utterly convinced that the new "unified", UNO-esque thing Apple has done in the latest build of Leopard is not indicative of the extent of the changes that we will see, and looking at the new promo pages for Final Cut Server, I spotted a new theme I really like, which is different from the already existing Pro theme.



Have a look:















Even if this isn't a template for an upcoming Leopard theme, I really like it... It would be lovely if some enterprising community member made this into an Aqua replacement for Tiger.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    That would be the "#&(*! Writing cross-platform UIs is a real bitch! Look at the crappy font kerning. And where the heck is my menu bar?" theme, also known as #WCPUIIARBLATCFKAWTHIMMB 1.0.



    Its colors are nicely subdued, but they were clearly in a rush with this rebranding of artbox.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chucker View Post


    That would be the "#&(*! Writing cross-platform UIs is a real bitch! Look at the crappy font kerning. And where the heck is my menu bar?" theme, also known as #WCPUIIARBLATCFKAWTHIMMB 1.0.



    Its colors are nicely subdued, but they were clearly in a rush with this rebranding of artbox.



    Honey and lemon, and a Disprin®.



    @ m01ety, you want to see what I think Leopard will look more like, take a look at iTunes.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    m01etym01ety Posts: 278member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chucker View Post


    That would be the "#&(*! Writing cross-platform UIs is a real bitch! Look at the crappy font kerning. And where the heck is my menu bar?" theme, also known as #WCPUIIARBLATCFKAWTHIMMB 1.0.



    Its colors are nicely subdued, but they were clearly in a rush with this rebranding of artbox.



    What's artbox?
  • Reply 4 of 10
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by m01ety View Post


    What's artbox?



    The company Apple acquired to deliver Final Cut Server



    http://www.proximitygroup.com/



    and product



    http://www.proximitygroup.com/page.p...tbox_workgroup







    Apple certainly did bolt on a new UI. You may have a point..why did Apple go with the FC Server UI that they did?
  • Reply 5 of 10
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    This UI is very much what I would associate with a pro video app UI, largely because it reminds me of the Discreet/Autodesk apps like Flint, Combustion, the now-discontinued Edit as well as, to a lesser extent, Shake. There are probably a few others that I'm forgetting. This was probably was the look that artbox was attempting to mimic, and it looks like Apple just took it an cleaned it up.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    david_ocdavid_oc Posts: 90member
    Apple has a separate interface style it uses for its Pro apps, such as Final Cut Studio. It doesn't (yet) transfer to the main interface or to consumer level apps.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by david_oc View Post


    Apple has a separate interface style it uses for its Pro apps, such as Final Cut Studio. It doesn't (yet) transfer to the main interface or to consumer level apps.



    Yes, but this is yet another separate style. In fact, there are (at least) six different styles for Pro apps alone: the Pro app style, as used by Soundtrack (and Soundtrack Pro), Aperture, DVD Studio Pro, Motion, Compressor, LiveType and others, as well as individual styles each for Final Cut Pro, Color, Shake, Logic and now Final Cut Server. None of the latter five use the Pro app style.



    Now, it's certainly possible that, once we have a resolution-dependent UI, Apple will merge all of those into one new unified style, but for the time being, it is incomprehensibly non-uniform.



    I do like the blue and grey shades in those screenshots, but 1) I don't understand why the Pro apps weren't adapted to this, if this is to become the new UI (the only explanation being that it was rushed, just like I said), and 2) the lack of menu bar and awful font kerning and anti-aliasing are inexcusable for a Mac app.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    m01etym01ety Posts: 278member
    Thanks for the explanation, guys.



    I myself love this new theme, and hope it will become the new, official Pro App theme. And I still would love for someone to make this into an UNO theme, or something -- I think it's very attractive.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    Wow – now that is a beautiful theme!
  • Reply 10 of 10
    dacloodacloo Posts: 890member
    I seriously doubt it will be used as a generic GUI.



    The dark look is excellent to view colourful information on. Images, video.

    By making the GUI dark, there's more focus on the actual content.

    The GUI "helps" you by being dark.



    This is why Aperture, Color and FCP Server use this new dark scheme (however, it is quite inconsistent still). I think it's fantastic for Color; look at the app! Its beautiful and easy on the eyes.



    I hear you think: "hey, FCP doesn't has a dark GUI and it deals with video!"

    The Pro-app look (FCP, SoundTrack) is dated. As you can see only the older apps (updated recently or not) use the Pro-app look. But hey, look at the play/stop controls in FCP. It looks so 90s. My guess is that Apple will change the looks eventually (also because the Pro-app GUI isn't resolution independent) and only applies the dark theme for newer apps.



    Quote:

    Now, it's certainly possible that, once we have a resolution-dependent UI, Apple will merge all of those into one new unified style, but for the time being, it is incomprehensibly non-uniform.



    I do like the blue and grey shades in those screenshots, but 1) I don't understand why the Pro apps weren't adapted to this, if this is to become the new UI (the only explanation being that it was rushed, just like I said), and 2) the lack of menu bar and awful font kerning and anti-aliasing are inexcusable for a Mac app.



    Exactly. I guess because it's the first version and they are glad they got it out the door.

    I think FCP will have a different GUI, perhaps even in a 6.x version upgrade, when Leopard is out.
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