1. dimm0k's Avatar
    Any tips out there for increasing performance and file size of themes? Is it safe to say one can drop the number of frames to 1 in composer when creating buttons if all I want it to do is make the button show a different image when it's highlighted and when it's not?
    12-09-09 12:25 PM
  2. izzyncade's Avatar
    i'd say to use png files and not jpegs...and size things yourself, don't make the phone do it for you.
    12-09-09 12:59 PM
  3. kylegelliott's Avatar
    Yeah, PNG is the way to go. Izzy is right, when I first started making themes I would let the phone resize things for me, now I make sure to make whatever item the exact same size as the default image would have been.
    12-09-09 01:48 PM
  4. mastamoon's Avatar
    Ive used this program PNGGauntlet - PNG Compression Software | BenHollis.net to compress/optimize my PNGs... some files compress pretty good, others dont.
    12-09-09 02:07 PM
  5. Rockdog97's Avatar
    i've also read that if you use a lot of TruType fonts selected for your theme, that slows it down. Something to do with the TTf that gets rendered as an 'image' as opposed to the stock /default BB fonts.

    Also, if you have images for Home screen/App screen/ Incoming calls / outgoing calls these all add up to a larger file size.

    I'll have to try that png compression program...

    regarding fonts: this is from Blackerry:

    Best practice: Using fonts effectively in themes

    Limit the number of fonts used: To achieve a consistent look throughout your theme, you should try to use fonts that are from the same font family, and make minor adjustments to color and size, where appropriate. With the Plazmic� Theme Builder, you can set a default font for use across the theme, so you need only adjust font characteristics such as size and color. You then have to set the font family only in those cases where a different font style is appropriate.

    Be aware of the legibility of the text: Consider how the font properties affect the user�s ability to read the text. For most fonts, you can set the following four properties:

    Color: As with images, you should use a limited color palette for fonts. Consider the background color as well; text becomes illegible when displayed on a background of a similar color or brightness. Consider using the same color for highlighted text on all controls.

    Bold: You should use bold text when text needs added emphasis, such as in a highlighted menu item.

    Italics: Italicized text can interfere with readability; you should use it sparingly.

    Anti-alias: Anti-aliasing smooths the font edges, typically improving the appearance and legibility of the font; however, it also increases the size of the theme file. Note that with very small fonts, anti-aliasing can create a blurred effect, and can actually decrease the legibility of the font.

    Limit the number of TrueType fonts used: With the exception of BB Alpha fonts, the BlackBerry� device does not support TrueType� fonts. The Plazmic Theme Builder converts all the glyphs in other TrueType font sets into a series of bitmaps. Any changes to the properties of a TrueType font requires its own complete set of bitmaps. For example, if you use the same TrueType font in a menu but specify different colors for the highlighted and normal text, the Plazmic Theme Builder must generate two complete sets of bitmaps.
    Last edited by Rockdog97; 12-09-09 at 03:34 PM.
    12-09-09 03:29 PM
  6. Rockdog97's Avatar
    Here is a link to the Blackerry web site that has some good tips and help topics:

    Using fonts
    12-09-09 03:36 PM
  7. shankeith's Avatar
    Any tips out there for increasing performance and file size of themes? Is it safe to say one can drop the number of frames to 1 in composer when creating buttons if all I want it to do is make the button show a different image when it's highlighted and when it's not?
    Dropping frames helps the speed as well

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com
    12-09-09 11:32 PM
  8. dimm0k's Avatar
    Thanks for the fonts, png and frames tips!

    shankeith: is 2 the absolute maximum number of frames you can drop to without Theme Builder messing up?
    12-09-09 11:37 PM
  9. zcyclist's Avatar
    i know this forum doesn't get as much attention from mods as something like "storm OS discussion" but......THIS THREAD SHOULD BE STICKIED!!!

    also, i'm not sure i understand this frame thing? i know that frames are a component of animation in composer, but that's about all i know.
    is it possible to accidentally have extra frames? even if you haven't made an animation?
    i ask because lag and leak have plagued some of my themes, and asside from the font tip that rockdog mentioned, i've followed all the other tips on this thread, but still get lag and leak. i'm a little stumped:/
    12-10-09 08:40 AM
  10. dimm0k's Avatar
    I believe when you first create something in Composer there's a little time line that has a default of 100 frames. Also when you create a button, if you go into Edit mode for that button there's four sections with frames of I believe 10 frames each.
    12-10-09 09:57 AM
  11. zcyclist's Avatar
    interesting...i'll have to check that out. if you delete the button frames, is there any risk of ruining the function the button is supposed to execute?
    12-10-09 10:35 AM
  12. dimm0k's Avatar
    I may be wrong here, but I believe you should keep at least 2 frames for things to still work.
    12-10-09 10:38 AM
  13. BBThemes's Avatar
    I may be wrong here, but I believe you should keep at least 2 frames for things to still work.
    i always go for 2 frames, and it always works for me, tbh i watched the flick an slide video when i frist started out, and it advised there that 2 was best, so thats what iv been doing ever since
    12-10-09 08:23 PM
  14. shankeith's Avatar
    i always go for 2 frames, and it always works for me, tbh i watched the flick an slide video when i frist started out, and it advised there that 2 was best, so thats what iv been doing ever since
    for my classique theme i have it set to 1 and everything works fine (except for buttons, because of some animations), alot of people compliment me on how smooth and fast it runs
    12-10-09 09:11 PM
  15. zcyclist's Avatar
    ok, i attempted to figure out how to do this last night, but couldn't really figure it out. i couldn't find frames relative to buttons.
    also, when trying to delete frames on the animation bar, it seemed to want to delete them from the front, which was worrying to me. maybe i'm missunderstanding what you guys are talking about.
    would somebody be willing to explain these processes in more detail?
    12-11-09 09:17 AM
  16. BBThemes's Avatar
    hi there, select the button in the objects list on the right (you can click on the button itself but objects list means you dont accidentally move it) then just below where you can click to make a new document (top left of screen) there is a button saying `edit` click this
    now you can see the timeline of you button, and both the focusin and focusout images, first things first, if you cant see the image in the focusout state, then delete the focusout state from the objects, this just keeps the size down a little.
    now on the bottom you will see the timeline section, which will be 1-10 then 1-10 then 1-10 then 1-10 again. this is what we want to change, select the first section (leftmost) of the timeline and click on the ten, now you`ll notice the bar just above the timeline has 1 on the left and 10 on the right, go ahead and change the right value to 2 (delete the 10 then type in 2), then hit enter, this will change the first of the four sections to 2 frames, it changes this one because we highlighted it, then just do the same for the other 3 sets of 10, now your done, just hit `scene` which is at the top of the screen just left of centre, which will take you back to the scene view (normal view)

    repeat with all the buttons ya have, an you should be away
    12-11-09 10:10 AM
  17. zcyclist's Avatar
    thanks daveastra!!
    i'll check this out tonight!
    12-11-09 10:29 AM
  18. dimm0k's Avatar
    daveastra: what of the timeline when you first enter Composer? The default is set to 100... did you leave that alone or change it to 2 or some other value?
    12-11-09 10:36 AM
  19. zcyclist's Avatar
    well,
    i spent all weekend upgrading/renovating some of my themes with the suggestions posted here in the forums. i made sure all my images, pics, icons, etc. were in png format. i made sure they were all sized properly, i changed all fonts to BB fonts, i went through my svg's and deleted extra frames from all buttons and timelines.
    and the result.....
    STILL LEAKS MEMORY
    in every case, the memory would seem stable, it would sit within a mb of boot up for 2-4 hours, but then, as always, would slowly, steadily drop until reboot.
    i did notice that one of my themes was improved. it has 21 icons on the home screen, all svg. so it made since that using daveastra's frame removal method would have a larger impact due to the sheer number of buttons/frames. but even so, the same scenario occurred, seemed steady for awhile, then a slow, steady sink to the bottom of the pool. it's better than it was though.
    12-14-09 08:38 AM
  20. mastamoon's Avatar
    Ive also noticed if you make alot of changes in composer, adding then deleting images, etc... I dont think they get flushed out when you finally build the .svg. Ive made 2 identical themes.. the first one had a large file size and I wasnt sure why so I rebuilt it in composer and made sure I saved everything to a different folder and didnt add and remove images i didnt need. Cut the file down a good amount.
    12-15-09 10:04 AM
  21. BBThemes's Avatar
    another thing i do, if im adding a large image, is convert it to a .gif file, this saves alot of space, for example an image of 480x360 that i had was 185Kb in a png format, in .gif it was 57Kb, i also always make the callscreen backgrounds in a .gif image due to the original bugs in the 8900/9630 where the bottom bar wouldnt show correctly, you do have to be careful with the gif though as it doesnt do having see thru bits lol
    12-15-09 06:42 PM
  22. holster27's Avatar
    the best way to think about how a theme is gonna act and how big the file size will be is to start with the stock theme when you first open Theme builder. Everytime you change anything at all, fonts, images, meters, icons (especially icons), buttons, svg, the little blue up and down arrows, that adds more size to your theme. PNG's are the best way to go, never tried the compression thing, but, I am sure it will work. I once was building a storm theme with an animated homescreen and changed EVERYTHING!!! When I went to export it, it gave me the "your file is too damn big" warning message. Duplicating backgrounds on different screens, or using the same font throughout, or using same images for specific things like menu backgrounds will help. Just remember - everytime you add something new, that adds to the file size and in turn can also slow the theme down.
    12-16-09 03:33 PM
  23. snaganalf's Avatar
    two frames for operation is correct.
    The images for the frames are stored in the images folder inside your svg folder
    01-04-10 04:37 PM
  24. tdmsna523's Avatar
    i also found out that if you export your svg to much it causes it to be slow and if you export your theme to much it will also be slow try rebuilding everything from scratch in composer and theme builder that might solve your problems
    01-18-10 03:34 AM
  25. StaticFX's Avatar
    just a note on GIF files - even though they are considerably smaller, if the image has any sore of detail... gif will ruin the look. Gif's are limited to 256 colors therefore making images like a face or gradient look horrible. Use this wisely.
    01-18-10 08:56 AM
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