How-to: Cube Edits/mods/creation

[Musicman247]

Alright, this might just need a sticky, but I don't know.

Text File Version At the Bottom of this Post.

Musicman247's HTC Cube Skins Creation How To!

Index
CHAPTER 1: SIMPLE CUBE EDITING
00 CREDITS AND HISTORY
01 INTRO
02 WHAT IS A BRN?
03 BRN EDITING
04 FILE LOCATIONS
4.1 QUICKDIAL SCREEN
4.2 MEDIA HUB MINI
4.3 APP LAUNCHER
4.4 ANIMATIon
05 F.A.Qs

CHAPTER 2: ADVANCED CUBE EDITING AND MOD CREATING
06 INTRO
07 BASIC REGISTRY EDITS
7.1 CHANGING THE PROGRAM PATH FOR A BUTTON
7.2 CHANGING THE ICON (BRN) FOR A BUTTON
7.3 OPENING A WEB PAGE USING A BUTTON
7.4 OPENING A FOLDER USING A BUTTON
7.5 MISCELLANEOUS REGISTRY EDITS
08 ADVANCED REGISTRY EDITS
8.1 ADDING BUTTONS TO THE CUBE
8.2 ADDING SIDES TO THE CUBE
8.3 THE CUBE ANIMATION, INCLUDING THE BINARY DATA
09 F.A.Qs



Latest Version - Created March 14, 2008
This How-To Was Created by Musicman247 after creating many Cube Skins and answering many questions about Cube Skin creation.
I hope that you enjoy it, and I hope that it inspires others to unleash their creativity!
If you have any questions or comments, please visit the thread at forums.ppcgeeks.com or email me directly at
musicman247@musicman247.com




01 INTRO
The HTC Cube is made up of four main programs (Biotouch.exe, QuickDial.exe, MediaHubMini.exe, and APLauncher.exe) and 57
image files (BRNs). The Biotouch.exe program and the Touch.dll are the two things that determine the actions of the Cube and
are not easily editable. The good news is that much of the look and feel of the Cube is determined by the image files (BRNs)
and the registry values associated with the Cube.
From the following statements you will be able to determine what would be the best path for you to start out on: Creating HTC
Cube Mods or Creating HTC Cube Skins
Creating HTC Cube Mods is probably 60% graphics editing and 40% Registry Editing.
Creating HTC Cube Skins is 100% graphics editing.
We'll start with Skins.


02 WHAT IS A BRN?
A BRN is a proprietary image type that is closely related to the BMP format.



03 BRN EDITING
Early Cube Skinners had to edit a BMP image manually (using a Hex Editor) to create a BRN. Now we mainly use the BRN
Converter Tool created by jmathies from xda-developers.com It can be found at
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...93#post1687493
This tool makes Cube Editing a breeze. Simply create a BMP in the exact dimensions you would like, then drag and drop that
image from your file explorer onto the top part of the BRN Converter. It will automatically convert the BMP to a BRN, ready
to use.
The tool also converts BRN to BMP.



04 FILE LOCATIONS
The most important and difficult thing to figure out is what files you need to edit on the Cube to get the desired effect.
Here are all of the image files related to the Cube along with a brief description of each:


4.1 QUICKDIAL SCREEN
The QuickDial screen that is visible on the Cube is made up of just one image:

\Windows\QD_Bkgd.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 320 pixels

The QuickDial "Delete Contact" Screen is also just one image:
\Windows\QD_2_Bkgd.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 320 pixels

Only the Highlighted versions of the Four Buttons at the bottom of the QuickDial Screen have actual image associations:

Phone Button -
\Windows\QD_01_HL.png
Width: 58 pixels
Height: 57 pixels

Call History Button -
\Windows\QD_02_HL.png
Width: 58 pixels
Height: 57 pixels

Contacts Button -
\Windows\QD_03_HL.png
Width: 58 pixels
Height: 57 pixels

Delete Contact Button -
\Windows\QD_04_HL.png
Width: 58 pixels
Height: 57 pixels


The shadow person has three iterations. The Shadow person is the icon that shows up on the QuickDial Screen when a Contact
does not have a picture associated with them.

Normal Shadow Person -
\Windows\QD_DefCon.png
Width: 72 pixels
Height: 75 pixels

Highlighted Shadow Person -
\Windows\QD_DefCon.png
Width: 72 pixels
Height: 75 pixels

Delete This Shadow Person -
\Windows\QD_2_DefConX_HL.png
Width: 72 pixels
Height: 75 pixels


4.2 MEDIA HUB MINI
The Media Hub Mini is made up of 12 images. 6 Normal sized and 6 smaller sized. The smaller sized images appear when music is
playing on the Cube. A set of Music Controls (Play, FF, RW) appears along with the title of the track underneath the Music
button. All of the buttons shrink to accomodate the controls.

Music Button (Top):

Normal
\Windows\MH_01.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 105 pixels

Normal Highlighted
\Windows\MH_01_HL.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 105 pixels

Small
\Windows\MH_2_01.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 74 pixels

Small Highlighted
\Windows\MH_2_01_HL.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 74 pixels

Picture Button (Middle):

Normal
\Windows\MH_02.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 105 pixels

Normal Highlighted
\Windows\MH_02_HL.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 105 pixels

Small
\Windows\MH_2_02.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 74 pixels

Small Highlighted
\Windows\MH_2_02_HL.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 74 pixels


Video Button (Bottom):

Normal
\Windows\MH_03.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 105 pixels

Normal Highlighted
\Windows\MH_03_HL.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 105 pixels

Small
\Windows\MH_2_03.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 74 pixels

Small Highlighted
\Windows\MH_2_03_HL.brn
Width: 240 pixels
Height: 74 pixels


4.3 APP LAUNCHER

The App Launcher is made up of 12 images, two for each button

Top Left Button
\Windows\AL_01.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels

Top Left Button Highlighted
\Windows\AL_01_HL.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels


Middle Left Button
\Windows\AL_02.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels

Middle Left Button Highlighted
\Windows\AL_02_HL.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels


Bottom Left Button
\Windows\AL_03.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels

Bottom Left Button Highlighted
\Windows\AL_03_HL.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels


Top Right Button
\Windows\AL_04.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels

Top Right Button Highlighted
\Windows\AL_04_HL.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels


Middle Right Button
\Windows\AL_05.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels

Middle Right Button Highlighted
\Windows\AL_05_HL.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels


Bottom Right Button
\Windows\AL_06.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels

Bottom Right Button Highlighted
\Windows\AL_06_HL.brn
Width: 119 pixels
hieght: 105 pixels