Updating Shades: 32-Bit to 64-Bit!

Good day!

I thought that this information required a thread of its own, so here it goes:

First, in answer to my own question, "Can anyone answer my question regarding bitmap replacement? Can this task be accomplished globally - or does this task have to be done one-bitmap-at-a-time?" I can now tell you that this operation can be performed "globally" I have done it, and have re-done it numerous times - and all is working as it should!
* I am just waiting to verify if this operation actually does work, to ensure that I am NOT dreaming. Will keep you all updated.

Also, for your interest, SAC contains 257 bitmaps, and SAW contains 261 bitmaps. I have been able to update all of these bitmaps to 64-bit all-at-once!

I have updated the following SAW shades to 64-bit:

Brett's Simple shade
Brett's DirectSun shade
Haps' GreenHouse shade
MicroStudio's ProTools shade
PipeNite shade
Note: This procedure can also be applied to SAC shades as well!

What needs to be done now, is:

1. To verify if this is actually possible - again I want to ensure that I am not actually in la-la land here.
2. That for purchaser's of shades, that you check this out with the developer to determine if this is alright to do.
* The developer's may want to do this themselves and to charge - or not charge, accordingly.
* If it is okay, then send me your 32-bit shade and I will update that 32-bit shade to 64-bit.
3. That if it is alright, if I can charge a small fee to perform this task.
* I could really use the money for updating SAC and SAW to 64-bit.

Anyhow, let me known what Y'all think!!...especially the developer's of the shades.

Great work Dell !
I just saw your other post about private messages, sorry about that I had to reset my whole account on the forum and by default there turned off. Responding now.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mr_es335

Good day!

I thought that this information required a thread of its own, so here it goes:

First, in answer to my own question, "Can anyone answer my question regarding bitmap replacement? Can this task be accomplished globally - or does this task have to be done one-bitmap-at-a-time?" I can now tell you that this operation can be performed "globally" I have done it, and have re-done it numerous times - and all is working as it should!
* I am just waiting to verify if this operation actually does work, to ensure that I am NOT dreaming. Will keep you all updated.

Also, for your interest, SAC contains 257 bitmaps, and SAW contains 261 bitmaps. I have been able to update all of these bitmaps to 64-bit all-at-once!

I have updated the following SAW shades to 64-bit:

Brett's Simple shade
Brett's DirectSun shade
Haps' GreenHouse shade
MicroStudio's ProTools shade
PipeNite shade
Note: This procedure can also be applied to SAC shades as well!

What needs to be done now, is:

1. To verify if this is actually possible - again I want to ensure that I am not actually in la-la land here.
2. That for purchaser's of shades, that you check this out with the developer to determine if this is alright to do.
* The developer's may want to do this themselves and to charge - or not charge, accordingly.
* If it is okay, then send me your 32-bit shade and I will update that 32-bit shade to 64-bit.
3. That if it is alright, if I can charge a small fee to perform this task.
* I could really use the money for updating SAC and SAW to 64-bit.

Anyhow, let me known what Y'all think!!...especially the developer's of the shades.

---

Its cool for you to update them and being a developer as I am of the Pro Tools shade and the upcoming Pro Shade it is IMHO that you would need to ask each developer weather you can charge for doing it. I will be updating all of them on my site for free including my Pro Tools shade.

I would certainly like an updated (i.e. 64 bit) version of pipenite but I can’t remember who created it or whether it was chargeable.

Dominic

Dominic,

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DominicPerry

I would certainly like an updated (i.e. 64 bit) version of pipenite but I can't remember who created it or whether it was chargeable.

---

...The last bit of info that I have is that a from a fellow by the name of "Mark" and/or "ambler" developed the PipeNite shade.

It also looks like this shade was provided for free.

There was also another version called "Pipenite Milano".

Note: It is imperative to understand that a shade that was designed for earlier versions of SAW or SAC, may require some updates to the actual bitmaps. this process can be very time consuming. I know that this IS the case for V3 to V4 SAC shades.

Thank you!

Good day,

Below is a pdf of all of the 32-bit SAWStudio Shades that I am aware of.

This document lists the developer - if known, the name of the shade, and the quantity of that particular shade.
* Note: Some developers made variations of a particular shade.
* There are a total of 86 shades.
* I have all of the shades listed available as well.
* Note: I have made attempts at contacting some of the developers - but to no avail.

Please note the following:
1. If you happen to know of the developer, then please let me know so that the listing can be updated accordingly.
2. Not being a regular SAW user, I am not too sure what changes, if any, exist between the different versions of SAWStudio. If you do know, then please let me know as well.
3. The listings highlighted in yellow are "commercial" shades.
4. The listings highlighted in orange are current forum member's shades.

Thanks in particular go out to Angie Dickinson Mickle of Avocado Productions and Microstudio for the shades they have made available.

Here is the document: Listing of SAWStudio Shades - 32-bit

Finally, as Microstudio has intimated, he will be providing 64-bit updates of some of the above shades. However, if there is one that you would care to have me update for you, then please send me a PM.

Note: Please ensure that you permission from the developer first - if at all possible. This is especially pertinent for "commercial" shades.

I hope that you find this document of assistance to you?

Would VERY much appreciate getting the Vintage Basic shade in 64-bit.

Many thanks.

Roger

I have had a little time to analyze the 32bit vs 64bit shades and one thing I found out is the 64bit shades have 14 more resources than the 32bit and this means there are 14 new graphics for the DAW GUI. I am not sure how anyone can update a 32bit shade to a 64bit without creating these 14 graphics and if some how you can get a 32bit shade to open up in SawStudio64 I would think you will be missing these 14 graphics that the 32bit shades do not have.

The reason I stopped production of my Pro Shades is because I knew the 64bit update was coming and I wanted to wait to see if the GUI would be changed in anyway and it has according to what I have seen.

Maybe Bob can chime in on this?

Microstudio,

Quote:

---

I have had a little time to analyze the 32bit vs 64bit shades and one thing I found out is the 64bit shades have 14 more resources than the 32bit and this means there are 14 new graphics for the DAW GUI."

---

...Micro, have a look at the following:

1. Using Resource Hacker, I first took the v5.7 SAWStudio, 32-bit SAWStudioGraphics.dll file and the v1.0a SAWStudio, 64-bit SAWStudio64Graphics.dll and extracted all the bitmap resources for each of the aforementioned dll files. I then compared the total number of data files between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions. Here is what I discovered:

Attachment 2878

Notice that both directories contain the same number of files, namely 261. Also, I did notice that the 64-bit folder capacity was .2MB larger - 23.8MB to 24.0MB.

2. I then saved the contents of each of the folders to a text file, comparing the size of each the text files.

PS: Though the version for the 64-bit version of SAW is listed as v1.0, it was v1.0a version that was used for this comparison.

Attachment 2879

3. Finally, I copied each of the contents of the text files to a spreadsheet and performed a side-by-side comparison of the actual bitmap filenames. I found that the names in each of the lists were identical.

In conclusing, as far as I am able to ascertain, both the 32-bit SAWStudioGraphics.dll file and the 64-bit SAWStudio64Graphics.dll file contain the same number of bitmaps as well as the same content of bitmaps - that being 261 files in total.

This is the exact same procedure that I have used in the past when moving from an earlier version of either SAW or SAC to a later version.

Is it possible that Micro was comparing an older version of SAW and not 5.7?

Ok I have Sawstudio64 installed and downloaded both shades from the RML site. Classic and Classic64 when I open the Classic shade in RH it shows 247 resources and if you scroll through them there is a graphic for each one. Classic64 has 261 resources which means it as 14 more graphics for the GUI.
I am talking about the .shd files here not the .dll file.

Attachment 2880

Attachment 2881

Which are these 14 resources ??:rolleyes:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ivanoff

Which are these 14 resources ??:rolleyes:

---

They are either an image, border or wallpaper?

Here are to two graphic .dll from Saw32 and Saw64 seen in the property window.

Attachment 2883

Micro,

I checked SAWStudio versions 3.9a, 4.0, 4.4, 5.0 and of course 5.7 all have 261 files.

I then checked the SAWStudioLite versions 5.7 and 4.9 both have 261 files.

Finally I checked SAWStudioBasic v2.6 and this version also has 261 files.

So, ALL versions of SAW contain 261 bitmaps. Now, this IS very interesting, is it not Micro?

Though Lite and Basic do NOT have the Wide Mixer views - the graphics resource still contains 261 files. This MUST mean then that Lite and Basic simply do not see - or use those extra graphics.

From what I have been able to ascertain, the Wide Mixer view graphics use three bitmaps, MIXER_W_MODULE_INPUT, MIXER_W_MODULE_OUTPUT and MIXER_W_MODULE_RTN. So, that accounts for three, so 261 - 3 = 258.

When I made my combo shades for SAC and SAW, I wanted SAW to look like SAC so I used Himhui & Sandman's SAClike Shades 1.02B for SAWStudio. What I discovered was that there were some bitmaps that I did not use, so those resources I never changed. As a result, if I only had to update, say 16 files, then these are the only files that I would include in an actual update - as these are the only resources that required alteration.

Updating only these 16 files would be the method used in a one-to-one update process. However, and this is an important however, if I was going to perform a bulk update - as I have done recently, the I simply include all the bitmaps, even though, as we have seen in the Lite and Basic versions, some of the resources are simply not used.

Just for fun, I removed 47 files - all of the Wide Mixer and Z-Mixer views, updated the SAWStudioGraphics.dll file, and then replaced the existing SAWStudioGraphics.dll file. The then launched SAW and the application failed to load, displaying the following error message:

Attachment 2884

I performed the same operation removing just the IQS_MAIN_BKGRND image, and received the very same error.

Apparently then, the SAWStudioGraphics.dll can contain more resources - but not less.

I do hope that this all makes sense?

I think you are not understanding my post? All of the Saw32 .shd files have 247 resources which are images. Goto the RML site and download both the 32bit & 64bit of any of the shade. Now open each one up in RH and you will see what I am talking about as I show in my earlier post.

SAW32 has 247 images and SAW64 has 261 images in their .shd bitmaps.

I am in no way talking about the SAWStudioGraphics.dll you are talking about I am only taking about .shd files which are what we save are new shades to.

The anyname.shd files are different from 32bit to 64bit files from what I see.

Also I have been able to identify some new images in 64bit SAW .shd You can find them by searching just the resources that start with IQS and you will see there are 18 in the 64bit and only 13 in the 32bit. They have something to do with the title bar and networking.

Micro,

Last time for me....SS Vintage Shade 32-Bit and SS Vintage Shade 64-Bit comparison...

Attachment 2889

...and the SS_Classic Shade 32-Bit and SS_Classic Shade 64-Bit comparison...

Attachment 2890

Here are the fourteen omitted bitmaps:

AUDIO_FILEV_BTN_BAR_Y.bmp
AUDIO_FILEV_CLIENT_Y.bmp
AUDIO_SHOWCTRL_BTN_BAR_Y.bmp
AUDIO_SHOWCTRL_CLIENT_Y.bmp
AUDIO_SHOWCTRL_SHOW_BTN.bmp
AUDIO_USERINPUT_SHOWCTRL.bmp
IQS_TITLEBAR_LOCK.bmp
IQS_TITLEBAR_MAIN_LIVE_INPUT_MODE.bmp
IQS_TITLEBAR_MAIN_NET_MODE_VIEW.bmp
IQS_TITLEBAR_MAIN_NET_OFF.bmp
IQS_TITLEBAR_MAIN_NET_ON.bmp
MIXER_F_SW_AUX_ON.bmp
MIXER_POPUP_FADER.bmp
MIXER_POPUP_FADER_KNOB.bmp

Note: Notice that I used the term "omitted" and not "missing". Regardless of what we might "think", it is imperative that the dll's do contain 261 bitmaps. As a "side note", I discovered that the .shd files are more "forgiving" than the .dll files, in that you can actually "import" .shd files with less than 261 images. However, if you rename the same shade file to SAWStudio64Graphics.dll and then launch SAW, SAW will crash, displaying the aforementioned error message.

Whoever developed the Classic shade must have had a reason for not including the fourteen omitted bitmaps. And until they come forward to explain their reasoning for this omittance, everything that is "said-and-done" is mere conjecture on our part.

The 32bit shades from Bob's site do not have those files either in the .shd file that you download but the 64bit ones do.

Good to know all the new files now people just need to edit them or not and add them to any 32bit skin and it should work.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Microstudio

Its cool for you to update them and being a developer as I am of the Pro Tools shade and the upcoming Pro Shade it is IMHO that you would need to ask each developer weather you can charge for doing it. I will be updating all of them on my site for free including my Pro Tools shade.

---

Great news :-D

Guys... relax... the older shades started with less bitmaps... as SAWStudio evolved more and more graphics were added... the design allowed for the earlier shades to still work because any needed bitmap that was not found in the shade automatically reverted back to the bitmap in the default shade... so that way updates would still work even before or if older shades were ever updated.

Bob L

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bob L

Guys... relax... the older shades started with less bitmaps... as SAWStudio evolved more and more graphics were added... the design allowed for the earlier shades to still work because any needed bitmap that was not found in the shade automatically reverted back to the bitmap in the default shade... so that way updates would still work even before or if older shades were ever updated.

Bob L

---

That is what I figured...thanks!

Good day,

Comprende.

Bob, being a "forward thinker" would have had a contingency plan in in place to accommodate updates.

This is what I was attempting to intimate, but never really got the point across.

Thanks for the clarification, Bob!

How would I go about creating a SAC64 shade, since there don't seem to be any available to edit? I know this is the SAW section, but I imagine the process is somewhat similar to creating or editing a SAW shade.

dbarrow,

Quote:

---

...since there don't seem to be any available to edit?

---

...I am not sure what you mean by "...there don't seem to be any available to edit..."?

You can use Resource Hacker to extract all of the bitmaps from the dll file. Once completed, then you can update the bitmaps as you please.

Also, there are about sixteen SAC shades that I have in my possession...some free, some commercial. These would be all 32-bit shades - but any of these shades can be updated to 64-bit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mr_es335

Good day,

Below is a pdf of all of the 32-bit SAWStudio Shades that I am aware of.

This document lists the developer - if known, the name of the shade, and the quantity of that particular shade.
* Note: Some developers made variations of a particular shade.
* There are a total of 86 shades.
* I have all of the shades listed available as well.
* Note: I have made attempts at contacting some of the developers - but to no avail.

Please note the following:
1. If you happen to know of the developer, then please let me know so that the listing can be updated accordingly.
2. Not being a regular SAW user, I am not too sure what changes, if any, exist between the different versions of SAWStudio. If you do know, then please let me know as well.
3. The listings highlighted in yellow are "commercial" shades.
4. The listings highlighted in orange are current forum member's shades.

Thanks in particular go out to Angie Dickinson Mickle of Avocado Productions and Microstudio for the shades they have made available.

Here is the document: Listing of SAWStudio Shades - 32-bit

Finally, as Microstudio has intimated, he will be providing 64-bit updates of some of the above shades. However, if there is one that you would care to have me update for you, then please send me a PM.

Note: Please ensure that you permission from the developer first - if at all possible. This is especially pertinent for "commercial" shades.

I hope that you find this document of assistance to you?

---

Dell,
Many thanks for all the good work you do for the community !
I made SAWStudio ReMix 01 shade and I would be pleased if you could update it to suit 64 bits format.
By the way, I just saw on your website that you attribute my shade to HapHazzard... It's rather flattering for me :cool:.
Perhaps you could correct this error and color SAWStudio ReMix 01 in orange on your list...
Thanks again!

Philippe,

Quote:

---

Dell, Many thanks for all the good work you do for the community !

---

...It is always my pleasure, Philippe!

Quote:

---

I made SAWStudio ReMix 01 shade and I would be pleased if you could update it to suit 64 bits format.

---

...Thanks for the update, credit due where credit is deserved! Done....[click me for 64-bit version]

Quote:

---

By the way, I just saw on your website that you attribute my shade to HapHazzard...It's rather flattering for me :cool:. Perhaps you could correct this error and color SAWStudio ReMix 01 in orange on your list...

---

...Done...[click me]

Here is an updated document: Listing of SAWStudio Shades - 32-bit, r1.5

Wow, faster than Flash !!!
In France, we could call you Lucky Luke, a famous cartoon western hero nicknamed "the man who shoots faster than his shadow".
Follow my advice, stranger, if you ever meet mr_es335 one day in the streets of Laredo, do not challenge him, if you want to stay alive ...

PS: thanks for the update !

Philippe,

Quote:

---

PS: thanks for the update !

---

...You are very welcome!

By-the-way, nice job on the shade. Actually very pleasing to the eyes.

Attachment 2897

Indeed, that's what I tried to do.
It is based apon one of Terry Gorle's shade for SAC and I redrew it for SAWStudio, changing colours and elements, adding details from other shades that I also like.
I hope that some users appreciate it as I do.
And now, thanks to you, we can equally enjoy it in 64 bits !