ackey
November 4th, 2009, 01:06 PM
I absolutely love the effect of the "stacked background" space theme in Karmic. I couldn't find a description anywhere of how to do it, so I thought I'd share what I've figured out.
I don't know if this will work in any version of Ubuntu before Karmic.
When you go to System->Preferences->Appearance and click on the background tab, you see a panel of available backgrounds. A default one on Karmic is a space background, which has a different type of icon than the other ones. If you select it an arrow appears and you can see all of the pictures in the stack. I was happily surprised when a bit after selecting the background I saw my wallpaper change.
This affect is done through an xml configuration file. If you try to "drag" the icon for the space wallpaper to your desktop, it appears as an xml file. You can modify this with your own pictures.
The beginning of the file looks like:
<background>
<starttime>
<year>2009</year>
<month>08</month>
<day>04</day>
<hour>00</hour>
<minute>00</minute>
<second>00</second>
</starttime>
<!-- This animation will start at midnight. -->
<static>
<duration>1795.0</duration>
<file>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/cloud.jpg</file>
</static>
<transition>
<duration>5.0</duration>
<from>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/cloud.jpg</from>
<to>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/comet.jpg</to>
</transition>
I think you can ignore the first part about start time - I just left it as it is. The important part is the static and transition tags. Each <static> tag defines one of the pictures that will show. Insert the location of the file you want to use in the <file> tags. The <transition> tag then defines the transition that occurs as one image rotates to another. On my system I didn't see a change in behaviour due to changing the duration length. Taking out the transition tag seemed to make it not change at all. The last <transition> should come back to the first image, like so:
<static>
<duration>1795.0</duration>
<file>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/whirlpool.jpg</file>
</static>
<transition>
<duration>5.0</duration>
<from>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/whirlpool.jpg</from>
<to>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/cloud.jpg</to>
</transition>
</background>
Make sure you close the tags out at the end. I've attached a version I've modified that should be a good starting point.
Now, to add it as a background, go to the appearance preferences where the backgrounds are listed. Near the bottom is a button labeled "Add..." and go to the location where you have saved the xml file. You won't be able to see it initially - you need to look for all files. Above the "open" button is a drop down menu that is set to images as a default. Select "All files" and now you should be able to see the xml file.
Select the xml file and now your stack should be available as a background.
I'd imagine that there are more things that can be done in the xml file, but all I know is what I saw in the file to define the space background. If anyone else has knowledge on this, I'd love input!
I don't know if this will work in any version of Ubuntu before Karmic.
When you go to System->Preferences->Appearance and click on the background tab, you see a panel of available backgrounds. A default one on Karmic is a space background, which has a different type of icon than the other ones. If you select it an arrow appears and you can see all of the pictures in the stack. I was happily surprised when a bit after selecting the background I saw my wallpaper change.
This affect is done through an xml configuration file. If you try to "drag" the icon for the space wallpaper to your desktop, it appears as an xml file. You can modify this with your own pictures.
The beginning of the file looks like:
<background>
<starttime>
<year>2009</year>
<month>08</month>
<day>04</day>
<hour>00</hour>
<minute>00</minute>
<second>00</second>
</starttime>
<!-- This animation will start at midnight. -->
<static>
<duration>1795.0</duration>
<file>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/cloud.jpg</file>
</static>
<transition>
<duration>5.0</duration>
<from>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/cloud.jpg</from>
<to>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/comet.jpg</to>
</transition>
I think you can ignore the first part about start time - I just left it as it is. The important part is the static and transition tags. Each <static> tag defines one of the pictures that will show. Insert the location of the file you want to use in the <file> tags. The <transition> tag then defines the transition that occurs as one image rotates to another. On my system I didn't see a change in behaviour due to changing the duration length. Taking out the transition tag seemed to make it not change at all. The last <transition> should come back to the first image, like so:
<static>
<duration>1795.0</duration>
<file>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/whirlpool.jpg</file>
</static>
<transition>
<duration>5.0</duration>
<from>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/whirlpool.jpg</from>
<to>/usr/share/backgrounds/cosmos/cloud.jpg</to>
</transition>
</background>
Make sure you close the tags out at the end. I've attached a version I've modified that should be a good starting point.
Now, to add it as a background, go to the appearance preferences where the backgrounds are listed. Near the bottom is a button labeled "Add..." and go to the location where you have saved the xml file. You won't be able to see it initially - you need to look for all files. Above the "open" button is a drop down menu that is set to images as a default. Select "All files" and now you should be able to see the xml file.
Select the xml file and now your stack should be available as a background.
I'd imagine that there are more things that can be done in the xml file, but all I know is what I saw in the file to define the space background. If anyone else has knowledge on this, I'd love input!