NightframeSDDM

NightframeSDDM is a custom dark cinematic SDDM theme built with Qt6/QML.

V4 introduces preset identities that are visually distinct at a glance, not only numerically different.

It keeps wallpaper visibility high, uses a minimal login surface, and includes SVG power controls with optional video background support.

Features

• Identity-driven presets (default, night, rain, pixel)
• Stable image-first mode (default, night, rain)
• Optional video background mode with safe fallback (pixel)
• Automatic fallback to image when video fails
• Modular QML architecture for maintainability
• Preset system via presets/*.conf
• SVG icon power controls (sleep, reboot, shutdown)

V4 Preset Identities

• default: balanced urban-anime baseline, teal-cyan accent, clean readable spacing
• night: deeper premium cinematic blue, sharper radii, restrained compact controls
• rain: softer atmospheric grey-blue, rounder panel geometry, calmer cozy spacing
• pixel: neon arcade mood, compact squarer controls, video-first with robust fallback

Presets Preview

Default	Night

Rain	Pixel

Project Tree

NightframeSDDM/
├── assets/
│   ├── backgrounds/
│   ├── fonts/
│   ├── svg/
│   └── video/
├── components/
│   ├── Auth/
│   ├── Background/
│   ├── Common/
│   ├── Power/
│   ├── Session/
│   └── Widgets/
├── docs/
│   ├── customization.md
│   └── structure.md
├── presets/
│   ├── default.conf
│   ├── night.conf
│   ├── pixel.conf
│   └── rain.conf
├── scripts/
│   ├── install.sh
│   └── test.sh
├── Main.qml
├── metadata.desktop
├── qmldir
├── README.md
└── theme.conf

Dependencies

• SDDM with Qt6 greeter (sddm-greeter-qt6 preferred)
• Qt6 QML runtime
• Qt Multimedia (only required for optional video mode)

Local Testing

Preset-driven testing:

./scripts/test.sh --preset default
./scripts/test.sh --preset night
./scripts/test.sh --preset rain
./scripts/test.sh --preset pixel

Enable authentication debug overlay during preview:

./scripts/test.sh --debug-auth
./scripts/test.sh --preset night --debug-auth

List available presets:

./scripts/test.sh --list-presets

Reduce local multimedia warning noise:

NIGHTFRAME_QUIET_TEST=1 ./scripts/test.sh --preset pixel

Install Workflow

Install to the standard SDDM location:

./scripts/install.sh

Install with preset:

./scripts/install.sh --preset default
./scripts/install.sh --preset night
./scripts/install.sh --preset rain
./scripts/install.sh --preset pixel

Custom target path:

./scripts/install.sh --target /usr/share/sddm/themes/NightframeSDDM

Image vs Optional Video

• Image mode is the safe default.
• Video mode is opt-in.
• If video decode/backend/media fails, the UI remains usable and falls back to image rendering.

Configuration and Presets

• theme.conf is the active runtime config.
• Preset=<name> indicates the intended style preset.
• presets/*.conf are complete config variants that can be applied via scripts.

Primary V4 style keys:

• UiFont
• ClockFont
• AccentColor
• SecondaryAccentColor
• OverlayStrength
• OverlayTint
• PanelTint
• PanelOpacity
• PanelRadius
• ControlDensity
• ClockScale
• TitleOpacity
• SubtitleOpacity
• BottomControlsOpacity
• PanelHorizontalOffset
• PanelVerticalOffset
• SessionStyle
• TransitionProfile
• ControlSpacing
• PanelBorderStrength

See:

• docs/structure.md
• docs/customization.md

Notes on Multimedia Warnings

Warnings about FFmpeg, VAAPI, VDPAU, Bluez, or device sample formats in test mode are usually environment/runtime warnings, not necessarily theme logic errors.

Authentication Preview Limitation

sddm-greeter --test-mode is a theme preview path and does not validate real PAM password authentication. Use installed SDDM runtime for end-to-end authentication testing.