Sneak Peek

landbeforetimelover · **on:** November 26, 2009, 03:55:11 AM

Well I didn't think I'd get so far ahead with the design so fast, but 11 straight hours will do that to ya I guess.

It's by no means done...in fact I'm fishing for suggestions and opinions. So, what do you think of the website so far?

FINAL DESIGN:
www.lbtserver.2myip.net/newlbtfinal

This will make Mumbling happy. I've chosen the black theme in my final design. Though I may implement a feature that will let you choose the design you prefer. We'll just have to see. But anyways, what do you think of the final design?

NO PAGES WORK! I'm just testing out design right now NOT content.

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #1 on:** November 26, 2009, 11:22:14 AM

LBTlover, I am envious of you. Why? Because of what you can do with a website that I obviously can't.

The main thing I'm jealous of is those drop down menu links. I've been using Google to search for a freaking guide on it, but nothing. (At least, not what I want.)

So, I'm just going to ask you right here, right now, HTH do you do it? Seriously, there's a number of things I've been wanting to change on my site and it's more than the banner.

So seriously, how do you do it?

Keep up the changes though, I'm loving them!

Mumbling · **Reply #2 on:** November 26, 2009, 12:27:41 PM

I don't like how the (second) banner is so extremely stretched... I never liked that on your site. I do like the one you got on top now though, looks happy.

I prefer the original site you had. These colours just don't fit.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #3 on:** November 26, 2009, 02:56:47 PM

Well, version 2 is up:

http://www.lbtserver.2myip.net/newlbt2

Ever wonder why I ALWAYS stick with a black/dark color scheme for all my websites? Well, the fact that I SUCK at color theory is the #1 reason. The second is the fact that black is easy on the eyes and just looks good.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #4 on:** November 26, 2009, 03:54:41 PM

I made a third version for Mumbling, who doesn't seem to like the color scheme:

www.lbtserver.2myip.net/newlbt3

Mumbling · **Reply #5 on:** November 26, 2009, 04:57:02 PM

*nods* yea, that looks better imo

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #6 on:** November 26, 2009, 08:25:56 PM

FINAL DESIGN:
www.lbtserver.2myip.net/newlbtfinal

This will make Mumbling happy. I've chosen the black theme in my final design. Though I may implement a feature that will let you choose the design you prefer. We'll just have to see.

The slides will change (I've waaaaaay overused these images), but you can get the general idea of where I'm coming from with this slideshow. But anyways, what do you think of the final design?

Pikkutassu · **Reply #7 on:** November 26, 2009, 10:04:47 PM

My opinion is the buttons and headers could maybe use some colour to stand out better and make the site a bit more diverse. And how about a background picture "behind" the site that fades out from the sides... I mean like on this site, I like how it brings life on the site.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #8 on:** November 26, 2009, 10:38:35 PM

The background would have to be of LBT and I don't think I could have an LBT background that would look good without the image including a character. Having text boxes floating over a character's head wouldn't look too good. As for the buttons, the site has to have a color theme/scheme. Having colored buttons would break that. Though I might mess around with their shades a little bit. It's kinda difficult to see the subtle differences in them on a crap monitor or when your viewing angle is off to the side too much.

I've played around a lot, but there's no way to make a decent background image that will work for this. I even have the ability to stretch a background image that will make the image 100% of the screen size on ALL resolutions, but it just doesn't look very good:

The three things I want to accomplish with this is maximum usability, great browser compatibility, and I want the site to be easy on the eyes. I think I'll put a background on the slideshow images though. They just don't look right floating like that.

Mumbling · **Reply #9 on:** November 27, 2009, 02:13:23 AM

Looks awesome... Good job!

pokeplayer984 · **Reply #10 on:** November 27, 2009, 02:35:47 AM

This is looking fantastic!

I could never accomplish something like this.

:

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #11 on:** November 27, 2009, 06:06:54 AM

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm watching TV episodes and getting snapshots of characters to use in the slideshow and other areas of the site. I've got almost everything I need for now. The home page should be completed tomorrow. But for tonight, I'm going to bed. 4:00am here.

EDIT:
Oh and there is another version of the site, but I don't want to put it up. If I updated the version every time I did something, I'd be changing stuff constantly. Basically in the new version a background has been applied to the slideshow and I applied a star background to the entire site. I'll post an update as soon as I've got the other slideshow up and running with all the final images.

Pikkutassu · **Reply #12 on:** November 27, 2009, 07:35:43 AM

Quote from: landbeforetimelover,Nov 26 2009 on 09:38 PM

The background would have to be of LBT and I don't think I could have an LBT background that would look good without the image including a character. Having text boxes floating over a character's head wouldn't look too good. As for the buttons, the site has to have a color theme/scheme. Having colored buttons would break that. Though I might mess around with their shades a little bit. It's kinda difficult to see the subtle differences in them on a crap monitor or when your viewing angle is off to the side too much.

I've played around a lot, but there's no way to make a decent background image that will work for this. I even have the ability to stretch a background image that will make the image 100% of the screen size on ALL resolutions, but it just doesn't look very good:

The three things I want to accomplish with this is maximum usability, great browser compatibility, and I want the site to be easy on the eyes. I think I'll put a background on the slideshow images though. They just don't look right floating like that.

How would the discovery of great valley look, blended to the background color?

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #13 on:** November 27, 2009, 12:18:31 PM

Quote

How would the discovery of great valley look, blended to the background color?

I try to only use images from the newer movies. Why? Well first off, they just look better on the modern web, but that's not the only reason. The newer movies (8-13 & the TV series) were made for DVD and therefore have a 640x480 resolution. But VHS (at least when LBT 1 came out) has only a 240x250 resolution. I would need to stretch the image to 1,100x900 in order to use it as a background. I should be able to fudge it with a DVD snapshot, but not one from a VHS.

Now I know you're probably thinking "LBT 1 is on DVD," but all they did was take the original VHS and stretch the picture in order to put it onto a DVD, therefore the resolution is essentially the same.

One good thing though is that when I post desktop backgrounds, I only have to post them at a 640x480 resolution! I could make them larger, but all that'd do is make the filesize larger. When you apply them as a background, the computer will stretch the image for you. Being able to provide such small images is good for my server bandwidth, the speed of my website (hence how long it takes YOU to view the pages), and it's good for your computer. Older computers will take to a smaller image MUCH better than a large one.

But anyways, I just woke up (about 10:00am here) so I have to start looking for characters in the TV episodes again. I never realized how difficult it was to find Littlefoot alone in the daytime with a happy expression on his face.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #14 on:** November 27, 2009, 05:46:05 PM

The TRUE FINAL VERSION is now up! That's pretty much how it's gonna look. So, what do you think? All I have to do on the home page now is add a couple more links to the navbar. I need a drop down menu for "Special Stuff", "Links", and "About" and I'll probably add a few more things to the existing drop down menu. But other than that, I can FINALLY start building the content! Jeeze......I've spent about 30 hours on it so far.

www.lbtserver.2myip.net/newlbtfinal

EDIT:
Oh, but I gotta write exceptions for IE7. There's a weird white bar on top of the navbar in IE7 and I don't know why. *Shakes Head* Stupid Internet Explorer. I wish it would just DIE already!

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #15 on:** November 28, 2009, 12:12:46 AM

I'm in the midst of remaking the hardest page....the LBT TV episodes page. Not only that, but I'm going to totally re-encode the movies and offer .avi files for download. This will hopefully increase quality and ease of viewing.

Mumbling · **Reply #16 on:** November 28, 2009, 06:03:32 AM

Good luck on that.

Paradise Bird · **Reply #17 on:** November 28, 2009, 06:16:53 AM

If you can make a background picture that would be great. Right now the web doesn't look so decorative and slightly dull for kids.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #18 on:** November 28, 2009, 02:23:49 PM

I'll explore the possibility of a background image, but it's probably not gonna happen.

As to the development of the website, it's going more slowly than I'd like. I can't spend every waking moment on it anymore. I have computers to sell and clients to make happy. I'm writing summaries for the TV episodes right now. I wish I could show you guys, but I don't think I'll show it again until it's TOTALLY finished. So far I've got the home page, desktop backgrounds page, and a large part of the TV episodes page done.

EDIT:
Oh, and quality of the TV episodes has increased dramatically. Now at 80mb-100mb each and in 384kps (both in streaming and download), the quality is REALLY good. I can't wait to finish this website.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #19 on:** November 29, 2009, 03:50:51 AM

Well, I've update it again only because I had a feeling I should back the site up. It's currently stored on a 16gb flash drive while I work on it and I do take that to school....so it's best to back it up. If I lost the code I had worked on so hard, I would be so PISSED!

Anyways, the home page, TV episodes page, song videos page, desktop backgrounds page, and photos page are now complete! I'm guessing only 10 more hours or so and I'll be done. Of course, I still have to remake the backwards videos. That's a HUGE amount of work and about another 2-3 hours. Then I've gotta add more desktop backgrounds. I only have 30 or so on there right now. But the zoom, slide show, and transition effects are pretty cool, huh?

The TV episodes are of MUCH better quality in BOTH the streaming and download versions. Also, the download versions are now in avi format, which will make it easier and more convenient for people to use. The quality is roughly 42% of what a full quality DVD rip would be. It's pretty freaking good! The episodes range in size from 83mb-100mb in both streaming and download versions. They're a bit larger than my old ones, but the quality is about twice as good. My secret? I reduced the frame rate to 24fps. That really cut back the filesize. I also reduced the resolution and increased the bitrate so that helped too.

Sneak Peek - Need Feedback