You have all seen the SkinMasters interviews, now welcome to the Creators Creator interviews. This is a new series of interviews with the person(s) behind the applications that have helped keep the customisation community going by supplying us with many amazing programs to help us customize our desktops.

If SkinMasters are the creators, these guys and gals are OUR creators. Without all of these people, there truly would be no customisation community. What are you going to use to customize or help you customize if these people didn't create such amazing things?

I thought it was about time that we all got to know the people behind the applications and what they are all about.


Hello Creators, meet YOUR creators
--------------------------------------

The second interview in this series is with a duo behind one of the most well known applications in the skinning community. If you like using docks, replicating a mac, using widgets etc, then you have very more than likely used this program. The program I am speaking about is of course RocketDock by PunkLabs.

Here is my chat I had with Oren and Tara about them, the program and the future.


First of all, let me say hi to both of you, Oren (aka PolyVector) and Tara (aka Skunkie) . For those who do not know you, let's start with the introductions first ok? ie name, age, location etc.

PolyVector:
Well my real name is Oren Kurtz, although I prefer to go by PolyVector. I'm 25 years old (turning 26 in September) and I've been living in the outskirts of San Diego, California most of my life... Currently in the town of Ramona with my girlfriend Skunkie <3.

Skunkie::
As you've partially given away, my name is Tara (Bellafiore), and I do go by "Skunkie" on the intarwebs. I'm 25 and also reside in the pit of hickville known as Ramoma. I sit probably about 4.5 ft. from PolyVector at all times.


You are most famous for your awesome RocketDock program. There will be the rare few out there who have not heard about RocketDock, can you tell us a little about it? When did you first release it to the world, how long did it take to create and what was your roll in it's creation?

PolyVector:
RocketDock is a fun little application launcher that closely resembles the Mac OS X Dock. It gives you quick access to apps/files/folders through custom looking shortcuts and "docklets" (similar to widgets). It can mark which apps are currently running and even lets you minimize windows into little icons on the dock with a great zooming effect... All around fun stuff. .

It was released into the wild early Summer 2005. We had been developing it for quite a few months and it felt great to finally have something to show for it. I'm the resident coder so I was in charge of the technical end. RocketDock was actually my first real C++ application, and up until then I had mostly used BASIC dialects like QBASIC and PureBasic. The biggest challenge at the start was getting the Zoom/Bubble algorithm to look nice and not jitter when animating. Memory consumption and efficiency were other big issues, not to mention Windows "features" (glitches) that made managing the z-order a real pain.


Skunkie:
If my memory serves me right the first 1.0 release of RocketDock was June 15, 2005. Though, we did have a few months prior of public beta testing. Being the new kids at the time, testing was limited to close friends.

I think my role in RocketDock's development was rather small compared to PolyVector's, seeing as he was the sole programmer. I pushed him into creating it for selfish reasons at the time. I was a Windows dock user and wasn't satisfied with anything that was available. They were either too buggy or bloated. I just wanted a dock for all my shortcuts. The first release of RD was just that, and I was a happy skunk. We figured since PolyVector spent so much time creating RocketDock we might as well put it out there for anyone else who was interested. We never thought it would have gotten this popular. After RocketDock was finally released I headed up support for our forums, wrote the documentation, and did promotion through any contacts I had. It worked out rather well I think.


There is of course other dock applications out there. Objectdock and RKlauncher being the most well known ones, but what would you say sets Rocketdock apart from it's competitors?

PolyVector:
You know it's really a matter of preference, as the case tends to be with software in general. At the time, the available docks were very prone to crashes (and even BSODs) and I think RocketDock raised the bar a bit in that department. Personally I think RocketDock just "feels" more solid than most other docks. The animation is smooth and efficient, it can load themes created for the competition, and it just has tons of customization options. As a side note, I think RaduKing has done a great job with RK Launcher, and I like to think we're on the same side of the freeware vs. commercial software battle, although I know users can be very territorial about which dock they prefer.


Skunkie:
I think the usability of the program really helps it stand on its own, but back when we were only developing RocketDock our support efforts really stood out. I spent more time in the forums helping our users than with PolyVector, and I live with him.


Unlike other program creators in the skinning field, you two are actually more than business partners. What is it like to work with the one you lurvvvvve? :-p What kind of drawbacks and perks does it have? Keep the perks clean lol

PolyVector:
o be honest, it doesn't really feel much like work or a business at all... I suppose the only drawback would be that we don't have any reason to get out much, although we're pretty much hermits anyways so that's not a big deal. I'm sure all the nerds out there can sympathize with wanting to fart around on their 'uters all day... The perks? We get along great, but I'll spare you the details.

Skunkie:
Ha, honestly I don't think I could work with anyone else, I have always been a misfit socially. You will always butt heads on some things, but I would say it has been a very productive partnership though business wise. I mean we have the same goal since we share the same bills etc.

The biggest perk to working with my "lurve" would have to be staying in PJs all day and working with someone who understands me even when I am not communicating my ideas clearly. We all have days like that, I just don't have to worry about making a fool of myself in front of other co-workers.

The drawbacks, I can honestly only think of one. If we do happen to disagree on an idea or feature for a project, it can sometimes be taken a little more personal. Working with anyone who is strong willed can be challenging. We always work it out though.


Do you have plans to add any new features to RocketDock in the near future?

PolyVector:
I have a todo list that reaches the Moon, and most of the features that people pester us about I would love to add in... That said, we're only two people and are always working on multiple projects so it can be a challenge to get releases out as fast as people would like.

Skunkie:
Yeah, we're always cookin' up something.


RocketDock is not the only app you have under your belts though. ConvertIcon and Mutate come to mind. Can you tell us a little about them and your other apps?

PolyVector:
Converticon is a simple online ICO->NG and PNG->ICO converter. It does a pretty good job with alpha-blended icons. Not much to talk about.

Mutate is probably our strangest project... It's basically an avatar editor/creator that allows multiple layers and effects like shadows/colorizing, but it's really so much more... People can submit new "parts" for others to build avatars out of, and "Mutations" (avatars) can be shared and edited... You can even run your own "Laboratory" geared towards creating a specific type of Mutation. Everything created on Mutate is under an open Creative Commons license, so you can use the artwork for whatever you want.

UberIcon is by far our most popular project apart from RocketDock. It adds special effects to Explorer for when you launch/open icons on the Desktop or when browsing through folders. It's plugin-based and there are quite a few addon effects on UberIcon.com. We got the idea from Mac OS X which does an effect like the "iZoom" plugin when you launch applications. RocketDock can actually use UberIcon effects for clicking on dock icons if you allow it to.


Skunkie:
Converticon was actually created out of a necessity from RocketDock's first release not supporting the ICO image format. Its function is simple, it converts a PNG to an ICO and vise versa. Mutate, however, was more of a learning project to get into Flash/Actionscript development. We plan on doing more with Flash in the future.


What is your plans for the future? any new apps in the pipeline?

PolyVector:
We have more plans than we know what to do with! which can be a real problem when you're a 2 person team. We've been toying with the idea of creating free cross-platform app similar to Delicious Library. We have a huge DVD collection (400-500 or so) and there aren't any apps for organizing it that we're 100% happy with. We have some pretty exciting ideas we'd like to put out there, so we'll see how that goes.

Skunkie:
We have some great ideas for that app, but we are still in the beginning stages of developing the idea. I am sure you'll hear more about it if you keep your eyes set on Punk Labs.


Has DeviantART been an influence to you and do any of you actually skin your system? Andreas of Avedesk prefers to create the tools, not the skins, is this the same for you?

PolyVector:
I'm not an artist by any means so I keep my computer pretty standard except for the wallpaper. We've been using Macs for a while now, and I just love the clean look and see no reason to mess with it. One of the users here on DeviantART actually had a huge impact on the design of RocketDock. ZaKaR (zakar.deviantart.com) customized and donated his Shining-Z style icons for RocketDock and I'd like to take this chance to publicly thank him for that. There was a time when RocketDock came with ugly icons designed by me, and as I said, I'm -not- an artist, so thank you ZaKar!

Skunkie:
DA has been an excellent source of wallpapers and icons (by extremely talented artist). I used to customize my system, but I don't use Windows anymore and haven't seen the need to customize my Mac.


You both obviously have a passion for what you do. When your not at the computer, what do you guys like to do? again, keep it clean lol

PolyVector:
You mean there's a world outside? I'll be sure to look into that after the interview! Seriously though, I'm pretty boring. I've been playing guitar off and on since highschool and have been tinkering with composition and mixing a lot lately... a band could be in the works! Other than that, I like cooking and we even grow our own veggies here at Punk Labs... which are quite tasty by the way. I would have said I'm big on viddie games, but our 360 got the dreaded RROD (thanks Microsoft)... so yeah, not much gaming going on. Like I said, I don't get out much.

Skunkie:
it is probably an understatement when I say Polyvector and I spend a lot of time together. Besides working on our various projects we take care of our Chihuahua, Prancer, play video games (if the console works), and watch movies. Of course hanging out with friend(s) is in there somewhere. I tend to do a little blogging now and then also.


Well, I think i've taken up enough of your valuable time. Is there any words you would like to add or say to you fans?

PolyVector:
I'd just like to thank everyone for encouraging us to develop RocketDock, our translators, those who have donated and bought shirts. You're all awesome. It's a really great feeling to know that so many people enjoy our software and care about it.

Skunkie:
We're just glad you all like RocketDock. So, stay tuned for other awesome projects. Thank you and deviantART for having us.

Thank you to both of you for taking the time to speak to me and for giving us a little insight into the labs at punklabs

I think you will all agree that these guys make a really great team with a passion that is undeniable. Go and check out their website and [link] RocketDock.com

Speaking of really great, I have selected just a small collection of skins, here on DA, that is available for RocketDock.