Ellipsis XBMC Skin W.I.P. Posted by XanTium | February 16 01:53 EST | News Category: Xbox

From Team Blackbolt: [QUOTE] So it's been a while guys, but we've been busy! I've noticed on the forums that there's been a few users complaining that the Ellipsis skin is 'too little, too late', well screw you hippies, we don't give a shit, we're still making it. For the past few years, since finishing MC360 we've all gone our seperate ways, but I've also wanted to finish Ellipsis, just work, etc got in the way. Well finally after a couple of years of nothing much happening, we've gone from a few concepts of the skin to a fully functional skin which is past the mid-point of its development. The shot below is of the skin actually running. Soon I'll change that shot to a video to give you guys a better idea of how ellipsis looks and works. We know most people are beyond XBMC now, but with the windows, mac and linux versions I think XBMC will live on for a long time to come and we wanted to have one last stab at it. Ellipsis will come in a single download, universal for all platforms. It's primary objective is to work in the home theatre enviroment, be simple to navigate and make it as quick as possible to get to the things you want. During our alpha stage we've had a lot of positive feedback and when we get to a good place very soon, we're going to go public so everyone can experience what I've had in my head for a couple of years and what has finally been brought into reality in the past couple of months. [/QUOTE] Official Site: http://blackbolt.x-scene.com

I dont think its to late. I use XBMC almost everyday for watching standard definition movies and tv shows. This skin would probably look really nice on my Samsung. Hope to see it soon.

agreed.
new skins/updates/plugins are always welcome.

delicious!

It's never to late, although mediastream is the skin to beat.

I'll be sure to try it when it's out!



Hmz, not sure about that bit

That looks kool. I don't have a xbox1 but if I did I would love this.
It looks like a PSP theme slash xbox theme. Mabey I should buy one I see them all the time for like 50 or 60 bucks.

I appreciate all the effort that is going into this... and please realise that many of us are still using XBMC on Xbox so dont think it will go unnoticed when you do finally release it.

Really looking forward to trying it.

I've not "moved on" because I've not yet invested in a HDTV. (When second hand ones come down to £60 I'll have one!)

I still use XBMC all the time.

In fact, I would say I've used it far more than I ever used the xbox for playing games.

So I, for one, am quite happy to wait as long as it takes.

I have been looking forward to Ellipsis. I just hooked up my fourth Xbox in the house yesterday. I've got one in the front room, bedroom, kids bedroom, and now the basement. At $35 for the box (friend that works at a pawn shop) I couldn't find much reason not to get one. Now I can watch or listen to whatever I want when I work out. It's great. If I had another TV I'd buy another. Anyway, I'm glad to see an update... because I'm really interested to get using it. I love the looks of it from here.

Team Blackbolt, XBMC is here to stay. Not only will XBMC live on through the ports, but we have a very dedicated userbase. I can't wait to try out your new skin!

I run XBMC on my XBOX, and use it regularly. I have been waiting forever for this skin. I hope it comes out soon

I just bought another xbox and now have 2 just for XBMC so i dam hope it lives on forever.



I got a HDTV and put my xbox through with a monster xbox component cable and now watch everything up scaled to 720

+1 for XBMC still being relevant.

I haven't "moved on", as there is nothing better to move on to!

Can't wait to try this skin. Although Mediastream is quite delicious, I have been interested in Ellipsis for a long time.

never ... well ... at least not until 360s and media boxes reach the price of an original xbox.

I have an original xbox on each of my 3 hdtvs in the house just to stream ... you can't beat the price of a used xbox unit these days. much cheaper than the slingbox types out there still - and has much more functionality.

Dude...been waiting patiently for this one. I use XBMC EVERYDAY! It is my main way to stream movies on my home network. Showed these screencaps to my wife and she can't wait to use it. I don't see myself giving up my Xbox 1 and XBMC any time in the near future. Keep this thing alive...

I echo all the above statements as I use XBMC everyday.
I haven't upgraded my PC to Vista yet so 360 ain't happenin!

Let's see. 1.5TB of TV shows, movies, music, pictures and home videos all in different encoding. My server is far to underpowered to run any kind of live encoding to make the 360 or PS3 a valid replacement. There is nothing like the XBMC library, with synopsis and organization, on anything else. Looks like I'll be keeping the Xbox around for a while.

Hey guys!

I was not aware that a lot of people still used XBMC like I did everyday. I used XBMC every single night, apparently I'm not alone. I use it at 720p with a component cable too and I love it.

Even though Ellipsis isn't finished, I use it all the time now and its making XBMC more enjoyable for me as things are so much more accessible.

I really look forward to getting this skin into peoples hands and even to people modding it and coming up with better ideas for it.

I'll keep you guys updated more.

Yep!!! XBMC plays a very important role in my daily media needs. I use MC360 as my dash skin as it's most user friendly and functions beautifully...no hang ups or freezes!!! Thank you!

I agree that we should keep the xbox1 scene alive as long as possible as it has been revolutionary!

IMO no one should ever complain about something being too little too late when it is free. And yes, it does look very nice on a Samsung, I have a LN46a650 and it is beautiful. The black levels are fantasticle.


XBMC makes the xbox an essential for home theaters

2 XBMC machines are used in my home every single day. I would love to play with Ellipsis on my 2nd box. MC360 is on my 1st, and I doubt that will change. My wife and son are too used to it.

Good work, keep it coming.

If you only knew the amount of people that are just starting to use xbmc!
trust me, even on xbox, this thing will be around for a while.


I myself appreciate the effort, and thank you very much.


xmod

Still using XBMC daily over here! Just bought an xbox for the rents and plan on getting them setup! Keep up the good work!

Will Ellipsis look good at 480p and 4:3? I ask this because all the newest skins today like MediaStream and Aeon are horizontally compressed or have tiny text on my TV. Said television will only go up to 480p and only has a 4:3 screen, but it makes 480p content and MC360 look awesome.

XBMC used everyday without fail - Get home, fire it up. Nothing even close to XBMC on the box.

One in the lounge, one in the guest room, another in the bedroom, all wirelessly (thanks to DWL-G810) streaming SD media upscaled to 720p... Just beautiful...

Currently using xTV, but been looking forward to using Ellipsis for a very long time. Looks great.

XBMC still going strong and will for a long time to come.

I have a 360 and I still use XBMC with my old xbox for any of my video playing needs. The 360 is setup to play all my media through TVersity, but the quality is usually worse than on my old Xbox with XBMC. I'm not sure about all the time, but I know MOST of the time when I play videos through xbox 360, my computer is doing extra converting on the fly to get it to play. This makes it look worse and makes my computer games lag when videos are playing. XBMC doesn't have these problems. XBMC supports all my formats without requiring my computer to convert them while they're playing. XBMC doesn't require a separate media center or separate software; you can just use file sharing protocol. After playing with Windows Media Center Edition and Media Center Extenders, I will probably never buy one and I'll stick with Linux + XBMC for future media expansion (OS price is not the issue here). Xbox is a little obsolete since it cant do high resolution video, but XBMC is far from obsolete. I can't speak about watching TV channels or anything like that, but for watching downloaded videos and playing music, XBMC has no competition. XBMC is probably only still around because without it there would not be any perfect choice for a standalone media player. One day Microsoft will learn to embrace a wider range of protocols and codecs, but until then there is a huge spot for XBMC.

As for the skin: looks Great! I'll try it, but I usually go back to default.

XBMC on an XBOX is just the bet media streaming device there is, hands down. I also use it everyday and yes I too also use it for XBMC more than for games.

I can't wait for this new skin to come out, I've seen that coming soon ad for it for ages and clamor for it's release date.

I use xbmc all the time (daily). I have 4 xbox's (running at 1080i or 720p), and 2 windows based htpc's (running at 1080p)

all are dedicated to xbmc.

(I also have dozens of friends and family members I have gotten hooked on xbmc)

Any new skin is welcome, keep them coming!

My fave currently is still PM3HD

Whoa!!!
Using XBMC is like breathing. We need it all the time, otherwise we die.
I can't imagine myself without my XBMC, hell yeah.

And I also hope for 480i/480p 4:3 support.

Thanks Black Bolt!
Best,
Cospefogo.

Another one to the "Everyday" crowd.

The bedroom TV runs a HALO 1 LE (green) xbox, xbmc @ 480p

The living room HTPC runs 720p XBMC.

My PSP is modded up to be used specifically for an XBMC remote, that we take back and forth between the living room and bedroom, although sometimes we'll just use our laptops. I love XBMC and the web remote if anyone's wondering. What's the best part? the psp works better for an xbmc remote than a Remote Play attachment for the PS3...

Another XBMC user here. I play movies via component @ 1080i up converted. (because i can)

I don't see ANYTHING that duplicates the functionality of XBMC. Don't let the idiot fan boys get you down, they are just pissed their $400 investment results in a crappier media center then our dinosaur XBOXs.

Glad to see this skin still exists
I still use XBMC on my Xbox almost daily, and Ellipsis looks like it'll be a nice addition.

Looking forward to trying out this skin, certainly looks good!

Me and my family are daily users of xbox xbmc and have many scattered through the house, we'll be using the xbox's for years to come! High def video is a very small trade off considering everything else it can do. Xbox's are cheap as chips, tv unit friendly, quiet (depending on fan), can emulate other platforms and play games ALL with the minimum of fuss and configuration. You turn it on and it works. I know plenty of people with high def capable tv's but none of them overly bothered about high def content, myself included. I don't think developers realise just how popular the xbox version of xbmc is, to date I've yet to meet another person who uses the linux, win or osx port of xbmc!

just to say i am also another everyday user,

use it to watch all my TV episodes i get, as sky+ just int for me...
have two of um, if we aint watching films or ghost whispereer etc downstairs me icle girl uses hers everynight to watch episodes or "charlie and lola" or animated films etc ...

we tried using the 360 (we have one) but just never seems as good as xbmc, always files its picky with or goes outa sync etc...
but xbmc works everyday everyfile flawlessly

thanks to all invovled

It is never to late to release a great skin for XBMC! Since the day I modded my Xbox 3 years ago I don't think there has been a day gone buy that the TV was on that the Xbox wasn't. I hope that other people discover what a powerful program it is, and how great it can look and function with awesome skins like MC330.

We have waited with anticipation for Ellipsis for what seems like forever, and I am sure this elegant looking skin will not disappoint!

I, too, use XBMC almost daily. In fact, I just installed it on my AppleTV last night and currently actually prefer it vs Boxee for that hardware since it connects better to my network media server.

I would welcome another clean, professional skin and appreciate all the work you guys have done - esp since this is time taken away from your "real" lives.

Thanks...

That 'Heros' screenshot looks so damn sexy. I have full seasons of prison break on my XBMC box and Ellipsis should be sweeeeet. Will the background be configurable for each program/series etc?

I currently use the MC360, but as i haven't used the xox for serious gaming at all in the past year/s, Ellipsis looks much more media-orientated and less cluttered. Awesome.

I'm very excited about this!

Looking forward to this skin, looks very very nice. I use my xbox and xbmc nearly every day and as I live in the UK I download a lot of US TV shows. The xbox has a 300gb hard drive so I transfer everything across so I can watch at my leisure when I want, no faffing with streaming, tversity etc. As well as tv and movies there's a load of mp3s and lots of retro games as well. So I doubt I will be getting rid of my xbox anytime soon. I have a PS3 and that doesn't come close to xbmc, the only advantage it has is that it plays blu-ray and the latest games. I hope this skin does get released as it looks perfect as I have a lot of tv shows in seperate folders. I'm currently using Horizonz which looks nice but if you don't have thumbs for every single episode it starts to look fugly.

Wow, glad to see so much progress since last NOVEMBER.
This is the DNF of the XBMC world.
I'm not holding my breath.

Oh yeah, a free project that hasn't delivered in 4 months, unacceptable right?
Let me think about any project that got finalised in 4 months: the housemate eventually changing the toilet paper roll, the neighbours complaining about the skip, me having a shower. Yes, you're right, many things happen in 4 months. DNF has been announced 12 years ago, I can't even imagine how you find the comparison suitable. That's like saying "your roller skates suck, I've seen cars going at 200mph+".

I don't even know why I bother replying, you're probably being anal just to get some attention and I'm making your day.

Back to the skin, I told the wife about it, and since we've only got a 20" TV, there's another customer in the house waiting for me to install the skin

*EDIT* since she's not a narrow minded xxxx, she only expects to see it when it's ready.

Edited By Blackbolt: to save you from ban.

I've got three xbox's on 3 different Tv's (all SD 4:3) all streaming from a 2TB server, and I've used it daily for years, my kids don't even know what regular TV is...

Just bought a new Samsung HDTV this past weekend, and was using media stream. Now that I'm actually pumping out full 720p with an HD component cable, media stream is chewing up all my memory. So I'm on the hunt for a new skin that looks great and isn't a memory hog....


Hope this looks great at 61" 720p

Welcome to HD!

The skin does look good in HD, we're just today planning out our new website and when it launches, I'll have a few more shots, in full resolution, of the skin running. It will give you a better idea what you can expect when we release the first public beta.

To little to late! Might as well scap it.....The xbox will be obsolite by the time you finish.

No way! Keep it up BB. You the man, Man!

Hell no. I, and am sure many others as well, will be using the xbox and xbmc for a long time to come. It might not play the latest games or blu-rays but for anything else the xbox kicks ass. I'd love to have an all singing all dancing HTPC but I just can't afford it. My xbox and PS3 have verything covered. This skin looks very promising and I can't wait to try it.

I bet they finish the skin before your spelling and grammar improve....!

@ Blackbolt: I also use XBMC every day, and I'm happy to wait for Ellipsis. Keep up the great work.

I too am a daily user of XBMC on Xbox1. Use 2 Xbox's, bedroom and living room. Both HDTVs. I've been one since the days of XBMP. There's just nothing that surpasses is, expect maybe running it on a HTPC.

What are people 'moving on' to? I have Vista and X360, XBMC still out ranks VistaMC for compatibility.

Just starting using my it for a DVD server now that HD prices have plummeted. I'll be using XBMC for years to come!

I've been looking out for this skin for a while. Can't wait to see it's completion!

Thanks BB!