Endless Paradigm

I have created this tutorial to help people make a 01-12.bmp that will have 30 High-Resolution wallpapers in it, like in some of the themes that I have released ;)

Firstly I would like to thank Vegetano1 for his support all this time!!

In the attached zip file you will find:-
- tutorial in txt format
- tutorial screenshots (for offline use)
- base jpg (used to make each image proper size)
- bat files (used to compile the 12 or 30 images into a 01-12.bmp)
- my batman 01-12.bmp(30images) and 4 (single image) 01-12.bmp files (use this before you start to test if your theme can handle it with the resources you have, also make sure your vshmain is set to correct 01-12 size and image count, see step 13 for this)

Things you will need:-
- Photoshop CS2 or higher for image making etc
- Hex Workshop (latest version) for hex editing
- Dynamic Prx Editor (by blessedhands) for hex editing
- your vshmain.prx file, and obviously 30 wallpapers you want to use!

[ for the purpose of this forum, I have shown the file names of the screenshots in the zip file incase the image host I am using goes offline or deletes the images ;) ]

Step 0
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when testing the 01-12.bmp files included in the zip, you can determine which resolution is best to use with your themes without loosing any icons ;)



Step 1 (01 - images.jpg)
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your 01-12 folder should end up looking like this when you are finished ;)




Step 2 (02 - imagesize.jpg)
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size up a wallpaper you want to 400 x 227 in photoshop
(click on image on the top and select image size)




Step 3 (03 - save for web.jpg)
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once resized, click on file then (save for web)




Step 4 (04 -  select jpg.jpg)
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select the jpg preset here




Step 5 (05 - optimize file size.jpg)
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click that little arrow and select optimize file size




Step 6 (06 - file size optimized.jpg)
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this is what your screen should look like next


put (32) in the box so it reads 32K
set matte to (none)

then hit ok and it should look like that in the screenshot

Save your file as 01.jpg



------important steps begin here------



Step 7 (07 - searching hex jpg.jpg)
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open up hex workshop and open base.jpg with it
then open up 01.jpg with it

click on 01.jpg tab and scroll all the way to the bottom
then see where the position ends



Step 8 (08 - highlight in hex.jpg)
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go to base.jpg tab and copy all the 0s that are missing in 01.jpg
make sure it is exactly the ones that are missing in 01.jpg




Step 9 (09 - paste in hex.jpg)
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paste what you copied into the 01.jpg area




Step 10 (10 - after pasting.jpg)
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notice how what you pasted is in red

now make sure as in the screenshot that it is same as base.jpg
the ending point must match for both!



Step 11 (11 - save and close.jpg)
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save and close the file




Step 12 (12 - same file size.jpg)
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if you notice now the file size for both base.jpg and 01.jpg will be the same!




-----Do this until you have reached file 30.jpg-----



Step 13 (13 - vshmain hex edit.jpg)
-------
open up your vshmain.prx with hex workshop

load up the bookmark for it
look at where it says the blocksize for 01-12
set that to 32766
and make the picture count to 30 if you are using 30 wallpapers

save and close your vshmain.prx


Now double click on (Merge 30.bat) to create the 01-12.bmp

it should be something like 959kb in size

put that in your resource folder and test out your theme!



NOTE: you can make the last image full quality! so you can have 1 image at high quality :) the rest optimized!


NOTE: some images may have really low colors like a lot of black for example, so it is best to avoid those as you will padding and copying a lot of 0s and it might not even be possible to do with some of them.


NOTE: not all wallpapers may work and may halt when you test your 01-12 in (Color) section in xmb, showing a blank white page, so that would mean there is a problem with that wallpaper which is stopping the rest of the wallpapers from showing ;)


NOTE: I have included some test 01-12.bmp files(thanks v1) in the zip file so please use those to test your theme out before you start, this will save you a lot of trouble and time. For example if you try the 300x171 single image 01-12.bmp and it displays fine then you can have 12+ images in your 01-12.bmp, but if it doesn't display then you can't use a 01-12.bmp :(  best thing to do is free up resources, get rid of subicons, etc.


NOTE: you can also make the brightness -20  and  contrast +20  for the images for maximum results and make it easier to hex later on :)


Thanks for reading, hope that helps out!


A guide by Dliug.

Stickied! nice tut thanks! ;)

for some reason, whenever I would try to make a custom 01-12, i would never work. Good tute though!

Hmmm, thanks to vegetano1 dealing with my Endless PM's here @ EP lolz...  I know how :D  But this is a really nice tutorial!!!

Very nice guide!!

One tip for those attempting this...rather than build up all 12 or 30 images and THEN test, you should just make one and name it 01-12.bmp, flash it, set your month to january and then see the results.  Doing this you will need to play with the image resolution and sometimes even the color count depending on how intricate the icons in the theme is.  Even though you are padding the files to get them to 32766 if you have heavy gradients or intricate colors you may have to go below the example resolution of 400x227 if your icons are taking up too much ram.  

Its a pain in the butt...but what looks better than a nice wallpaper with some waves over it :D

SchmilK Wrote:Very nice guide!!

One tip for those attempting this...rather than build up all 12 or 30 images and THEN test, you should just make one and name it 01-12.bmp, flash it, set your month to january and then see the results.  Doing this you will need to play with the image resolution and sometimes even the color count depending on how intricate the icons in the theme is.  Even though you are padding the files to get them to 32766 if you have heavy gradients or intricate colors you may have to go below the example resolution of 400x227 if your icons are taking up too much ram.  

Its a pain in the butt...but what looks better than a nice wallpaper with some waves over it :D

i have helped a little,. and i know there are 4 test 01-12.bmp's for the month januari,. 480x272, 400x.., 350x... and 300x.. in the download,..

if 400x.. works i would always go for this resolution,.. but yes some pics have to many colors,.. and the quality of the jpg could become bad,..
every last pic in the 01-12 can be full quality,. (both are in the notes i just noticed,. ;p )

very nice tutorial bro dilug thanks. but iv'ed been trying this long ago it is very complicated! padding this 12 wallpapers is still depends on other resources that you use on your XMB like glows, shadows, icons,sub icons, infobars and waves because they are related to each other. so since i like most is the infobar and waves i always end up with one wallpaper.

well thanks again for this tutorial bro i might give it a try.

thanks very nice tut, I could've never gotten this, I'll try it out tomorrow.

great :) I really wanted to make my own after seeing the ones in your themes

thank you for tuto

I would like to have some clarification on is the need to remove all the icons displayed, regardless of the file 01-12.bmp test that I am trying, it still lacks icons, even while working on a new Installation

sorry my bad English