Custom Themes, anyone? :D (A Guide to CT Custom Theming)

Hey everybody.  Below I'm compiling a list of instructions on creating custom themes for the CT as I figure out each step.  Hopefully, reading this will allow you to make your own theme, and contribute it to the community.  Let me preface this by saying that you'll need at least an hour, Flash experience, and a good SWF decompiler (I haven't found a good free one yet; if you are actually proficient with flash and capable of making a theme but don't have a decomplier, PM me and I'll help you out).  As a disclaimer, I'm sure this voids your warranty and I claim no responsibility for any damages that occur.  Just don't be a fool and screw up your phone.

Limitations:
Because the theme selection is hard coded into the firmware (or at least that's how it looks), every time you want to install a new theme, you'll have to overwrite either the HIFI theme or the SHOOTING STARS theme.

Some of the graphics are also hard coded into the firmware, and cannot be affected by the flash components of the phone (which are able to be decompiled, and thus changed and recompiled).

Changing the Main Menu:
Getting the Files
First, you'll have to connect your CT to Bitpim.  Get the latest version here: .  Open Bitpim and connect your phone.  I like to take out the SD card, otherwise when Bitpim goes to build a filesystem map of your phone it won't get bogged down by all my music, photos, etc.  In Bitpim, click Edit > Settings.  In the dropdown that says "Other Phone Type", select Chocolate 3.  Close that, and click filesystem on the left. (If you don't see it, click View > View Filesystem.  Then click the "+" next to the folder icon.  If it looks like it's hanging, click on log to see if it's still working.  When it's done, go back to the filesystem and expand the Flash directory, navigate to flash > ui > menu.  Now, copy over those files to a folder on your hard drive, and make two copies.  One will be for editing, the other a backup in case something goes wrong.  You can close Bitpim for now.

Hacking
Now, pick one of the SWF files you downloaded to use as your theme.  As of now, I'd say to pick the one that matches your idea for a theme the most, as graphics outside that main menu will be the same.  You'll need a SWF decompiler, now.  SWF files are protected so that you can't see the code inside them, or else it could be stolen.  Same reason why our programs are in EXE files, so we can't see all the code.  We need to decompile that SWF so we can change the images, or even code (I'm not covering that yet, but eventually one could probably add in a clock, extra effects, etc).  I used SoThink SWF decompiler (not free): http://www.sothink.com/product/flashdecompiler/index.htm.  Use whatever program you want to export an FLA wile from the original SWF.  At this point, it's up to your flash skills to edit the theme.  Leave the ActionScript intact, as that is what controls all the "links" for the buttons.  Also, you'll notice that LG's coders are rather inconsistent, there's some extra layers in a few buttons.  Go crazy and change all the button symbols, rotate everything 90 degrees to make a landscape menu, whatever.  Keep in mind that you can resize the buttons however the hell you want, and Flash take care of all the tap mapping all by itself.  LG obviously didn't build these themes with the intention of us editing them, so there is a lot of work in chaning just one button.

Publishing
Publish your SWF in a Flash 8 format with ActionScript 2.0.  Make sure you've got the original SWF backed up, and then overwrite it on the phone with the new edited SWF.  Then just select the theme in the display settings, and you're good to go!

Thanks
Graham

I left the icons at their own sizes.  There's no worry about click mapping or anything, as that is handled by flash.  The "links" are all still the same because I only decompiled and modified the original theme, so there's no worry about the code because the original ActionScript is still there.

The original tap animation was to enlarge the original icon, and enlarge a radial effect behind it through Flash's classic tween.  I just deleted the radial effect, the text under the icon, replaced each icon with the iPhone icons, and edited the tween to make the icon tint when pressed.

As far as I know, it should work perfectly - but I don't want to guarantee anything that I don't yet know about.

My CT had some hanging issues when I first got it, anytime I opened the camera there was a 5 min wait.  Now, opening any apps (camera, pictures, videos, not music though) would crash the phone or cause it to hang.  Couldn't figure it out and it was under warranty, so just waiting on VZ to send the new one.

EDIT:

Finally got my phone sync'd, and success!! Custom themes are now a possibility for the CT.  I only managed to replace that one menu by overwriting the old swf file one the phone, but I'll be researching this further.  I'll edit this topic with the full instructions as soon as I am done.

That was just for the sake of time unchanged.  With access to the fla, we can fully edit everything from the button layout to making it in landscape.

Computer mobo is having problems now (I'm on a mobile)... I'll get a tutorial up soon.


Thanks

I got a tutorial done for editing the main menu; edited the original post.  I'm going to keep working and see how many changeable elements of the theme I can find in the filesystem, and I'm going to finish this theme.

slim, I can upload a decompiled version of the FLA for easy theme making that would cut out half of this tutorial, but I'm not sure of the legality of posting that on here.  Let me know if you'd like me to or not.

EDIT:
I don't think I'll be able to change the home screen icons.  I'm pretty sure they're built into the firmware rather than a swf file, so I can't do anything about that.  As far as I know, I'll only be able to change the swf files, and you can see all those in BitPim under the flash\ui\ directory.

Ok can you explain a little bit of how to edit the files when exported to .fla.  I have never done it before, but i learn fast.  I have the programs to make the themes, just do not know how to edit the files or which files to edit.  Just give me one example and I should be ok.

You can pm me if ya want or email me.