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this is a really quick mockup of what i mean - with zune like fonts i think this could look really good (it would optionally have the standard windows border around it)
(http://getmusicbee.com/images/forum/CompactPlayerMockup.png)
one other possibility would be to have a click link that replaces the left side (album picture and lyrics) with a library browser
With this sort of layout it would be easy to have a background texture as well
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The mockup looks quite clean and promising. However, when it comes to background textures, I'd like to have an option to use it with Main Player view as well. That'd be useful for Track Details or Now Playing list when in the middle pane.
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With a library browser I'd certainly take a skinnable (textured) version of the compact player. The only reason I don't use musicbee right now in compact mode is because it takes far too long for me find an album by simply using the now playing list.
I'd still like picture themes over the main player too, but if that's not possible this is still an great feature in my opinion.
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This mockup is really promising. Being able to switch between artwork/lyrics and a library browser sounds like a great idea.
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How does this look as compared with Steven's mockup above?
[link removed]
Of course, this is not a mockup but an embedded TM view I just created.
The point I want to make is that it's already almost possible with the current functionality.
What's needed is
1. ability to hide location bar and Playing Track panel's tabs.
2. ability to display player scroll in this mode.
then it's done.
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I personally appreciate your efforts, but would like to see where you land in the end.
So far, I believe I have a different expectation for what Steven proposed.
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@alexis, can you do a mockup? I still havent started to this so still open to ideas about how it could be done.
My current thinking is along the lines of Zune without the library navigation part - just the now playing list and associated lyrics, artwork, wavebar/ visualiser etc
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@alexis, can you do a mockup? I still havent started to this so still open to ideas about how it could be done.
My current thinking is along the lines of Zune without the library navigation part - just the now playing list and associated lyrics, artwork, wavebar/ visualiser etc
This an idea of what I was thinking you may be doing.. where it has wings that can be expanded/collapsed (They are expanded in your mockup) .
(http://i50.tinypic.com/espams.jpg)
(http://i49.tinypic.com/dg6is1.jpg)
(http://i48.tinypic.com/24doiua.jpg)
(http://i46.tinypic.com/34xqmw1.jpg)
(http://i45.tinypic.com/jaibuo.jpg)
Please disregard the obvious signs of a novice. This is much the result of cut and paste.
The song title and the progressbar could actually be combined
The player controls row could be a whole lot thinner.
I am anticipating the Transparency aspect to remain functional.
The black labels on the side.. you click on those and the relevant feature would expand out or pop up if desired.
The spectrum analyzer could overlap the bottom of the artist image or something like that. If an artist has no image, there could be some sort of visualization in its place or just a default image.
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That is about what I was thinking.. dunno how practical any of this would be... or if they make sense :)
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i haven't done what was requested but i think it looks quite good. It allows a wavebar and visualiser (like the "Playing Track" panel), and the fields in the now playing list can be configured.
I'm going to add an optional lyrics component which will display where the now playing list is and the now playing list would show just a few upcoming tracks (so you dont have 2 separate scrollbars). Also for the next iteration i might look at allowing the now playing list show as a pop-out. I make a link available later today
(http://getmusicbee.com/images/forum/CompactPlayer.jpg)
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here is a link if you want to try it out as it is now:
http://www.mediafire.com/?064acf9ef0k8bz7
to enable the compact player with this layout, set "custom layout" in Layout(2)/ compact player preferences
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Great work! I really appreciate you opened unlimited possibilities for customization. Some observations about the beta.
- <#> field is not available for Now Playing list.
- Did you intend to allow using either embedded or full TM views for this? Then, right-click on left panel under compact player mode opens up wrong configuration pane, and it doesn't work.
- Would be nice if the width of Now Playing list on the right can be adjustable, including completely collapsing it just like the current compact player.
- Sound graph does not pick up skin-specified colors.
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Below is what I get with your current configuration and the custom layout I had for the nowplaying panel. Really looks very good I think. (oops, cannot tell who is singing :) )
(http://i49.tinypic.com/2873oue.jpg)
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- i have improved the picture cropping for different layouts
- you can now configure the right panel to show the now playing list and/or lyrics or neither
- you can now resize the right panel by dragging the mouse when it shows as a vertical splitter (keep in mind you change/resize the fields in the now playing list from the configuration dialog)
i havent had much time to test so i expect there will be some bugs
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
edit:
re-uploaded to fix the lyrics not updating
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this is awesome so far! really interested to see how this develops... the default layout is already looking great.
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The jury is still out for me on this one.
I can already achieve a floating lyrics panel and a 'drag-down' hidden playlist with the current compact player
(http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7405/compactplayer.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/132/compactplayer.jpg/)
(http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/2513/compactplayeropen.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/593/compactplayeropen.jpg/)
I know it's early days yet, but except for the 'Artist Pic' eye-candy, I'm not seeing any of the improved functionality that Steven's changes normally bring. :(
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As I understand, this "custom layout" compact player was no way intended to replace the default compact player. For one thing - and I believe it's the main point - it's skinnable through embedded TM. Isn't that great?
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I can already achieve a floating lyrics panel and a 'drag-down' hidden playlist with the current compact player
true as this may be. achieving what you show above is not obvious and is not elegant. the new compact player is.
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achieving what you show above is not obvious and is not elegant. the new compact player is.
I agree that it's not as obvious, having to set a hot key for the lyrics panel, but I disagree that the new panel is elegant.
(http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/7596/compactplayernew.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/compactplayernew.jpg/)
This shows the new panel, same width as the 2 panels before but a little taller, as that's the shortest the new panel goes too.
Displaying a wavebar and spectrum, with an Artist Pic as an extra. I don't think it's as well laid out and 'elegant' as the current view.
As I said previously, it's early days yet, and with the right Embedded Theater mod, it will probably be great. But don't forget it's supposed to be a 'Compact' player mode, not a 'mini-Theater Mode', too lose the ability to turn the lyrics panel on and off with a key stroke is not an 'elegant' enhancement.
For one thing - and I believe it's the main point - it's skinnable through embedded TM. Isn't that great?
Yes. I do think that's great, as long as the player is kept compact and functionality is enhanced
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thanks for the negativity and non-constructive criticism bee-liever - you might try resizing the window so the artist picture is a normal size for a start
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Just because I didn't slavishly praise your work and agree whole-heartedly with you, Steven, does not mean I was being negative or that my criticism was non-constructive.
Did anybody happen to read my first line in original reply
The jury is still out for me on this one.
you might try resizing the window so the artist picture is a normal size for a start
Why should I resize the window to increase the artist picture size? It's a compact player.
If I wanted larger artwork, I can use Theater Mode in smaller screen
Excuse me for thinking that a 'compact player' was an alternative to full screen mode. To be used while having other windows open, but having a bit more pizzazz than the mini-player.
Obviously the days of having an honest and open discussion on this forum are numbered.
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Constructive criticism is one of the most important reasons for success of MB. I hope this hasn't changed ???
As a long term compact player user I admire its new look However, IMHO concerns about functionality should be raised in every stage of the development.
I know the current build is work-in-progress, so my constructive (I hope) critics is limited to lack of the one function:
As it was mentioned above:
Great work! I really appreciate you opened unlimited possibilities for customization. Some observations about the beta.
- <#> field is not available for Now Playing list.
For me this means no sorting possibilities for now playing list. This is the one and only reason why I hasn't switched for the new Compact Player layout. I hope it could be improved though.
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Please note that Steven already indicated that what he has done is not what was proposed.
i haven't done what was requested but i think it looks quite good....
"
We should always remember to give feedback that acknowledges what a person has accomplished thus far, then offer suggestions for improvement. I also believe that doing mockups of what one thinks may be better would go a long way.
I have been noticing the emergence of a pattern where some members here are rather blunt to almost insulting/degrading when they disagree with others' ideas. That is really not the type of forum I met here. We must always remember that because we do not like or agree with something, does not necessarily make it wrong or no good for others.
This topic has been opened for a long time and Steven asked for suggestions/ideas before he implemented what he has.
"fair-minded words"
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thanks for the negativity and non-constructive criticism bee-liever
Wow, that's really not-deserved.
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I know the current build is work-in-progress, so my constructive (I hope) critics is limited to lack of the one function:
As it was mentioned above:
Great work! I really appreciate you opened unlimited possibilities for customization. Some observations about the beta.
- <#> field is not available for Now Playing list.
For me this means no sorting possibilities for now playing list. This is the one and only reason why I hasn't switched for the new Compact Player layout. I hope it could be improved though.
i will include the <#> field but as it stands with the current version you can only shuffle or restore the playlist order and not sort by columns for example. So i would like to understand why you think sorting is an important feature
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i will include the <#> field but as it stands with the current version you can only shuffle or restore the playlist order and not sort by columns for example. So i would like to understand why you think sorting is an important feature
Well, I've been listening to audiobooks recently. Publishers tend to provide those without a proper tagging. In this case the <#> field is often not enough (but still very helpful!) when you want to sort tracks on the now playing list (eg. supposing an audiobook is released on a couple of CDs, tracks are numbered on each CD separately the easiest way to sort tracks would be to create a custom tag with the <#> field for the whole audiobook, or overwrite the existing <#> fields. I often use another way - just put the proper number before the track title and use sorting by title 8).) Sorting by artist would be useful as well, but if you could include the <#> field and the title field I'd be more than happy :)
Thanks for considering :)
BTW. I'd like to see those improvements, but I don't like being pushy. The old Compact Player still offers almost all I'd ever need and works as expected for me :)
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i would be ok to add a right click/ Sort By menu item for this layout but i dont want to add column headers to clutter the look
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Nice work on this, Steven! I wasn't dissatisfied with the old compact player, but the new one, with redwing's mini Theater Mode, looks really sharp.
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Probably this is an item that should be added to the wishlist. But since Steven is currently working on compact player, I'd like to add this just to here. The only thing impossible with the current Now Playing Assistant is to change a filter. It wouldn't matter if you're using main player, but with compact player it's a different story. Search box too is working only for the current filter. To change a filter, you have to exit compact mode, go to main player mode, change the filter, and then return to the compact mode. It would be great if a right-click menu item of "Open filter" is added to Library tab, just like "Open Playlist" menu item of Now Playing list tab.
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i would be ok to add a right click/ Sort By menu item for this layout but i dont want to add column headers to clutter the look
Sounds reasonable. It would allow more sorting options as well.
+1
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(Copied from redwing's TM thread.)
I don't know if this is a general Theater Mode problem or specific to smaller ones, but it's *really* hard to get line-by-line lyrics scrolling. When I try to scroll the lyrics using the arrows, I can only get the top or bottom. Using the mouse wheel isn't much better. I can only get line-by-line control if I grab the scroll button and drag *very* carefully.
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@scampbll, i have now set a minimum height for the scroll button
these are the things i am planning to do with this panel:
- allow the right panel (lyrics/now playing) to auto-hide (enabled by a setting)
- when the wavebar is enabled, it will display in place of the seek bar down the bottom - at the moment the wavebar is displayed under the artist picture but i think it looks a bit "plonked on" there
- add a right click/ Sort By menu to the now playing list (in this layout only). The # field has already been added for the next update
- add a few settings for skin developers to control the compact player sizing and components that are displayed
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- allow the right panel (lyrics/now playing) to auto-hide (enabled by a setting)
keenly anticipating this one 8)
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Looking forward to those changes Steven.
I like seeing your proposed changes, because I am hoping that this does not necessarily have the same 'feel' or be a mini Theatermode (Thereby TM could remain a somewhat unique component), but that this would be pretty much a reorganization of the current Compact player including a more outstanding art. So looking forward to the plans you just laid out.
One of the reasons I proposed what I did earlier, was because of the suggestion on another thread, about having the player's color adapt to the album cover of each artist. (I am sure not all of us would agree with that.. but fwiw) Not sure how doable it is, but thought if it was to be done.. the best bet would be with compact player.
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=8060.0
To be specific.. captured these from the thread owner, IASC:
(http://i50.tinypic.com/i1fv35.jpg)
So, I am bringing up that post again for possible reference as you plan forward.
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Probably it would be better to use a separate folder for compact player TM views since the view selection box is already crowded with existing embedded TM views, most of which don't fit compact mode, and we'll soon have tons of new views for compact mode only. Besides, TM developers wouldn't have to name new views "Compact something" to differentiate from other embedded views.
And I think now it's time to consider separating the current TM forum board to three: full TM, embedded TM, compact TM views. As anyone can see, the subject of threads have been cluttered with (embedded ...), and it won't help users to browse different types of views and install them properly on the same board. It's really great to see ever-ongoing evolution of TM!
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Probably it would be better to use a separate folder for compact player TM views since the view selection box is already crowded with existing embedded TM views, most of which don't fit compact mode, and we'll soon have tons of new views for compact mode only. Besides, TM developers wouldn't have to name new views "Compact something" to differentiate from other embedded views.
And I think now it's time to consider separating the current TM forum board to three: full TM, embedded TM, compact TM views. As anyone can see, the subject of threads have been cluttered with (embedded ...), and it won't help users to browse different types of views and install them properly on the same board. It's really great to see ever-ongoing evolution of TM!
+1, but I'd add these suggestions to the wishlist as a separate thread.
I'm afraid it won't be noticed in this thread because of new comments about the new Compact Player mode.
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i'll make this available but its barely been tested and suggest you keep a copy of the current musicbee.exe in case there is something you dont like
- the artist picture should fill up the available area more often now (i still need to refine the cases its doesnt)
- the track information section under the artist picture now uses the dominant colour for the bottom area of the artist picture (but i still need to refine the algorithm for this as its not consistent yet and might change it too look at the whole artist picture)
- the now playing list can now be configured to auto-hide
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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Liking the progress Steven. Thank you.
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really liking this progress. the dominant colour picking is an excellent addition, really improves the look. look forward to even more refinement...
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for the sake of matching and consistency... what are the chances of having the color change be applied to the entire skin, as opposed to just the area beneath the artist photo.
If not, then maybe have a much narrower play bar and top border?
Hmm, or maybe extend it to only the top bar, and narrow the play-bar on the bottom?
This is what it looks like now.. i am assuming what I am proposing may be obvious from this.
(http://i47.tinypic.com/nodpv5.jpg)
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The third suggestion is something like this.. hoping we can do something different with the progressbar. The second image is with the progressbar for comparison. With it as thin as the first, then really only the top area would need to be filled out to match the artist background.
The playlist would take the skin of the Play bar, for the sake that depending on what color is generated, the information in the playlist may not be legible. Additionally, it would provide some sort of unity with the playbar when it is in view.
(http://i49.tinypic.com/351e436.jpg)
(http://i47.tinypic.com/1zpifko.jpg)
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I would like it if the spectrum visualization could go all the way across, even if part of it is covered by the album art. It looks very awkward to me, squished in between the album cover and the now playing/lyrics panel.
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By the way, if you try to switch from old compact player to new compact player while in compact player view, this happens:
MusicBee v2.1.4813.32893 (Win6.1), 7 Mar 2013 12:47:
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at #=qiUeDJs04Tu1y7mGNMxMAnZxSnCrviCtt51jDMFwpTUU=.#=qPMDFwSITu2410m29CZQPAw==.#=q$9c_MuaCIVTEThGPiGv6bA==(#=qkM2zzNLNmJqy9G98qhD89V2zhcpMotT6V8dSkqoSMMhBLvl8zWgV4m70ckB0M9_f #=qjUGXXvxiZ$1xxlRyCGxnUg==)
at #=qiUeDJs04Tu1y7mGNMxMAnZxSnCrviCtt51jDMFwpTUU=.#=qGErjP19m5F0pplx$vqnecSl4G5F_0FzMWOxoiITArRk=()
at #=qiUeDJs04Tu1y7mGNMxMAnZxSnCrviCtt51jDMFwpTUU=.#=qsBSgkVeJgII$nifD$kt$7YPAfozv9dH0o_mtjyKJpFE=()
at #=qiUeDJs04Tu1y7mGNMxMAnZxSnCrviCtt51jDMFwpTUU=.#=qJT_xItluJN_KIQN_tHiKHgktlfegvsNAbKVrI0oomX8=()
at #=q09cFGLFqsAgP12IX5PwHzvmrnC8tFEr8pM71g8RKfPsp_dqtPLEa1$QRDw3qTySA..ctor(Point #=qvCIYYI_ToPNLAgs18uhi8gr_jMOyy5oQhOvlOVtgeHk=)
at #=qbkCzRXLQZhCHLacxaZXpk1iEfammngMF4onUrxOJeqQ=.#=qDkG3SM7VGt7S2ErNFfZdX4IAzeNmSAf8BwiXuMnJFWw=()
at #=qkn0XXiZzNGtAf8fkr2jfWL5mBvnVZxWvKQdJiXOKUaQ=.#=qtU4S4YsHClLQLS5hnqUbKuO8SVgQrmzhm3rRbZz3tzOToR8oYWnnL_jSTNdvnN28(Object #=qXrizwljiWEc3KwGmibXVqw==, EventArgs #=qRNs5namwHUJ3FbK9YPkfkg==)
at #=qJk9T$p0BhpZw9OMzGJ7cfRaxq2$8u1RsxwldYIcYnQo8ccZw5DmCnUNwVnFzj_op.#=qKBN_bxwGhHS3EMa2FBRZhQ==()
...and after that, nothing seems to get the new compact player to work again. Old is okay.
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for the sake of matching and consistency... what are the chances of having the color change be applied to the entire skin, as opposed to just the area beneath the artist photo.
i wouldnt know how to do that
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Thank you Steven.. I suppose then possibly the third suggestion demonstrated in the photos?
I think that sometimes expectations on my end tend to be unrealistic. My apologies
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its possible but i would like to see if anyone else comments
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I would like it if the spectrum visualization could go all the way across, even if part of it is covered by the album art. It looks very awkward to me, squished in between the album cover and the now playing/lyrics panel.
yes i agree and i will spend some time to see if i can come up with something suitable. Separately i also plan to replace the seekbar with the wavebar (if enabled) as i dont like how its positioned at the moment
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By the way, if you try to switch from old compact player to new compact player while in compact player view, this happens:
MusicBee v2.1.4813.32893 (Win6.1), 7 Mar 2013 12:47:
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
i cant reproduce this - how did you do the switch?
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I went into compact player mode, then into Preferences and changed to the new version. I think I unchecked all the settings except Auto-Hide Now Playing List.
Maybe it's related to the fact that Theater Mode is disabled for me? If you tell me which file, I'll upload the settings for you. I'm getting that error every time I try to go into the new compact mode, now. It even happens on MB start-up, if it's trying to be in compact mode (but still opens the normal window).
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I would like it if the spectrum visualization could go all the way across, even if part of it is covered by the album art. It looks very awkward to me, squished in between the album cover and the now playing/lyrics panel.
Actually, on the latest version it seems better (I'm on a different installation now than the one with the error). But maybe put it at the bottom, behind the track info?
I realize now it's because I had the Lyrics/Now Playing panel closed. Having more space helped.
Also, I found a little visual problem with the last few bars getting stuck (this is with the Now Playing list open:
(http://i.imgur.com/ZUXx0mg.png?1)
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i cant reproduce the error as you appear to have it but this would probably fix the issue:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
also the dominant colour algorithm has been finalised and should now be stable with its colour selection
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i cant reproduce the error as you appear to have it but this would probably fix the issue:
Hmm. No, it still won't let me go into the new compact mode. Seems to be a slightly different error (on startup):
MusicBee v2.1.4814.36363 (Win6.1), 7 Mar 2013 18:01:
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at #=q5kqygt8zI0MF4ZtkVvbFa2S46l6ieVaTmWz7p07Pe00=.#=q7SoEWbBp$vqdEz5vWBvgew==.#=qdcRR3bv_$hXYrosGqh$94g==(#=qD8F8ecg6sZqh7_No4InT7CfxVZRhGzu$Id$VatKEm3JFmf7kwvug$lZB69sy97uI #=qD3NDpm31Jk_6UhShDxsJow==)
at #=q5kqygt8zI0MF4ZtkVvbFa2S46l6ieVaTmWz7p07Pe00=.#=q6xTTEi1bWADaSkVjA68q1GrYq3Bdikb8NjfM7OG9Wtk=()
at #=q5kqygt8zI0MF4ZtkVvbFa2S46l6ieVaTmWz7p07Pe00=.#=qgkwziMUVlEUez4GlBSuYphuj8MRpwcn8OgAY_Jp8EKs=()
at #=q5kqygt8zI0MF4ZtkVvbFa2S46l6ieVaTmWz7p07Pe00=.#=qst7HCMdnjzo1XJ61c2mUZc_s3BFtte8HcrdNL_fWqJ8=()
at #=qSki_EbvDCqPY7mMhuL7AwDysMhsAPNZOnsxUsgOcVLGqLTjKha66RjxUGNvihleh..ctor(Point #=qAPM07$kQxD3DwXwNZXmdorQDQ$DRd3DJ782A0tfXR7Q=)
at #=ql052sY5u_Ui5dqGmlpmchFE3WiekcCyiMjHKXgPvlmE=.#=qqWwcFdN3wzAnC0LKeMDy2g9eE55Xc5Pd7FOzNOn6xqM=()
at #=qcP1K5C3DawVpZDDyA8HQz3VeM5CEfW5dkfL0i$6nfhw=.#=qGcKoMVC6LlyCY9B16k2Q_ooLKjSdJ_bhdqxDk15a65A=(Boolean #=qIIHeKaD4QJLPXPKMzI8ksg==)
at #=qcP1K5C3DawVpZDDyA8HQz3VeM5CEfW5dkfL0i$6nfhw=.OnLoad(EventArgs #=qbuAFKACycfnl35$7wxVsvg==)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.OnCreateControl()
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl(Boolean fIgnoreVisible)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.CreateControl()
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WmShowWindow(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WndProc(Message& m)
at #=qeLwgYzNVfo3zkrsxm2omXWn7BCXQcY2$R0R5F84SMsuQIFOFELL2jqfZFGVpmB1k.WndProc(Message& #=qSB3Slp8o8AVbkYHFdJbc7w==)
at #=qcP1K5C3DawVpZDDyA8HQz3VeM5CEfW5dkfL0i$6nfhw=.WndProc(Message& #=qs8DzRvOEFdaCc7LMNTXTEw==)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)
Let me clarify:
I can open in normal window, no error.
If I try to go into new compact mode, I get an error and it doesn't work. AND if I then close MB and reopen it, I get the above error.
If I switch the settings back to normal compact mode but don't go into compact mode, the next time I open MB it goes into normal compact mode anyway, as though it had been closed that way.
If I switch the settings back to normal compact mode, go into compact mode, and then back to normal, the next time I open MB it's fine.
It may be that your new version will prevent the error, but just hasn't fixed what got "stuck" before.
Later update: I'm trying to get it fixed so that I can test whether the patch has resolved the problem. Unfortunately, a reinstall over the old one didn't solve it, and so far neither has trying to delete settings files. Don't sweat it too much, this was my test installation so as soon as I get back to that computer I'll trash the whole folder and start from scratch.
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can you send me your settings file
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Will do. It'll be about half a day before I can get to it again.
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(http://i47.tinypic.com/nodpv5.jpg)
I updated to latest beta but can't find how to "trigger" dominant coloring. How can I display something like that snapshot?
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are you also using the last version that Steven has posted above... and did you enable it?
to enable the compact player with this layout, set "custom layout" in Layout(2)/ compact player preferences
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Ok, now it is working. Thanks for your help and sorry for the OT
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No problem at all.
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One thing i am thinking of doing is putting the (larger) visualiser inside the player panel for this layout. However there isnt room so i want to get rid of some of the player controls -they could still be accessed from a right clicked menu.
So i am thinking of removing:
- last.fm button
- equaliser button
- repeat and shuffle buttons?
something like this. Anyone have any comments on that
(http://getmusicbee.com/images/forum/CompactPlayerProposed.jpg)
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I love it! Maybe you could even reduce the volume control to a single button, sort of like the way it is in Windows system tray? Stop button could go too?
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Steven, I really think that a good place for it would be just above the play bar.. similar to what is shown below: Below IF not even overlapping the bottom of the image pane.
(I should have asked if you considered that)
(http://i49.tinypic.com/a09zy9.jpg)
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I love it! Maybe you could even reduce the volume control to a single button, sort of like the way it is in Windows system tray? Stop button could go too?
I was going to make the same suggestion about the volume control, it seems a bit redundant having the level displayed all the time.
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Steven, I really think that a good place for it would be just above the play bar.. similar to what is shown below: Below IF not even overlapping the bottom of the image pane.
one reason i am against it is the background colour in that area will be changing for each new artist so you will get colours that dont work well whereas if its in the player panel the colour is constant
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OK, that makes sense.
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Why don't you reveal shuffle/last.fm buttons when the user mouseover the equaliser?
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Why don't you reveal shuffle/last.fm buttons when the user mouseover the equaliser?
Do you mean mouse over the spectrum visualizer thing in his image?
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Steven,
My only hesitancy for the spectrum visualizer there is that it may force the play bar to be a certain size (little bias of mine)... but considering what you said with regards to the reason you would place it in that position..i think it would look pretty good. (hard to really appreciate it its current contrast)
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My only hesitancy for the spectrum visualizer there is that it may force the play bar to be a certain size
Do you mean width? Isn't it infinitely expandable?
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My only hesitancy for the spectrum visualizer there is that it may force the play bar to be a certain size
Do you mean width? Isn't it infinitely expandable?
It is regarding height of the play bar
If you go to the previous page (third post there) you will see the two images I posted regarding that point
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Oh, gotcha.
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I'm still sort of stress-testing, here. :)
It's supposed to scale artist pictures without distortion or clipping, right? I've always had challenges with artist pictures not scaling correctly, and in this it's especially bad at the smallest resolution.
Here's an example:
(http://i.imgur.com/VIlDuzw.png?1)
On a related subject, perhaps when scaling down artist pictures should be right-aligned so they're not covered by the album art unless necessary?
p.s. color-coordination is wicked cool! Also, I really like the Now Playing Auto-Hide feature. Don't suppose lyrics could be done that way, too?
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i tried putting the visualiser in the player panel but i dont think it works well, so i ended up with a slight variation of Alexis suggestion
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
I still havent done the wavebar so if you use that i suggest you dont use this version. I will probably put it in the middle of the player panel and remove the righthand side controls.
I would be interested in an comments as to whether you think the visualiser works the way its implemented.
(http://getmusicbee.com/images/forum/CompactPlayerProposed2.jpg)
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I hope this is not the result of a bias, but I have to say, that looks VERY sexy. I always preferred this style for the spectrum visualizer than we have in other areas that appear as just vertical lines.. This is soo nice.
A suggestion could be to have some sort of blending/transition between the area the visualizer is in and the color just above it.
It also seems like you have it with some sort of transparency so that an color behind it won't matter.. it simply adjusts.. so maybe in that case, it does not warrant a different background area? If that is agreeable, then one issue may be when others may want to have the visualizer with a custom color later on.
This is really nice. Affects my mood anyway.. in a positive way. :)
After writing this I just realized that the spectrum visualizer is not very distinct for lighter colors.
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After writing this I just realized that it is not very distinct for lighter colors. (I will remove these after a while to avoid clutter)
you mean the visualiser bars right?
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I meant to say that I will remove the pictures I posted to avoid cluttering the thread. And yes, the visualization bars are what I was saying are not very distinct against some colors
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probably just blending that area for a smoother transition may be a good enough fix, if it is possible.
blending the separation line between the spectrum background and the artist picture/album background.
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I like the current view. :)
Sorting command in the List submenu is the only feature I miss for this view.
Replacing the progressbar with the wavebar (if selected) is a very good idea as well.
Small bug reports for this view and MB 2.1.4817:
1. If you click onto the Artwork to save it, the artwork selection window appears always below the New Compact Player window.
You can't access the artwork selection window as it's hidden behind the compact player window. Furthermore, the new compact player window hangs so that you can't move it nor minimize it.
The only solution in this case is closing MB using the tray icon.
2. MB 2.1.4817
When the old Compact Player layout is used and you click onto the Artwork there are no menu options for Artwork used in other layouts (eg. Enable Image Rotation, Save Picture etc.).
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Something i noticed.. If the window is sufficiently big the artwork picture overlaps the wavebar. Would it be possible to make the wavebar appear on top of artwork and/or transparent when this happens?
(http://i.imgur.com/RO05Zmil.jpg)
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I suppose that the transitional effect can be applied to these two lines/borders?
(http://i46.tinypic.com/wcjm7d.jpg)
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i've made the following changes:
- wavebar (when enabled) now displays in the player controls panel (for the compact player only)
- visualiser bar colours are now stronger (Alexis let me know if its still not ok in some cases)
- dominant colour picker has been tweaked
- minimum size is reduced when lyrics and now playing panel are not displayed
- volume button is changed to a button that pops out a bar
- a few bugs fixed
- indirectly related, i have changed the layout for the "Playing Track" tab when docked in the bottom panel so the album picture is bigger and the track info text blends in with the artist picture. The wavebar and visualiser no longer display in this view. When docked in the main panel the new visualiser shows
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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I see you also made it at some point so double clicking the artwork opens artist picture. Cool!
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Thanks Steven.. I think that my issue is that it looks so striking against black/darker backgrounds that it makes one expect the same against the lighter ones, which I do not think is practical. I think I now feel (with my limitations) that there may not be much to do about that.
I certainly appreciate the work and time you have applied to this part of the project.
I should add that I notice the tweaks you have made and they are indeed significant. Thank you.
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i might experiment some more with the bar colours (maybe some different colours rather than black/ white contrast depending what can be automated).
I still havent finished the compact player changes and will consider the other suggestions made on this topic
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- indirectly related, i have changed the layout for the "Playing Track" tab when docked in the bottom panel so the album picture is bigger and the track info text blends in with the artist picture. The wavebar and visualiser no longer display in this view. When docked in the main panel the new visualiser shows
I REALLY like this change. Just looks so much cleaner and seems like you utilized the.. let's call it chameleon option ;D
Looking forward to the improvements.
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i might experiment some more with the bar colours (maybe some different colours rather than black/ white contrast depending what can be automated).
As I was looking at it a bit ago, I thought the colors of the visualizer weren't always clicking and I had two thoughts:
1) Make the background color the same as the rest of the player and the visualizer bars match the font
or
2) If you're going to make the background on the visualizer lighter, make the bars the darker color of the rest of the background. (Except maybe the "cap" for visual pop?)
And I *really* hope you can fix the artist picture scaling problem somehow. :) That's the only thing that makes me think I might not keep using the compact player long term.
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I suppose i am rambling on with suggestions, and sorry if it seems that way, but not many others seem to be voicing... so....
The way you did the playing track for the main player on the bottom tab... I really like the transition effect, and it would be nice if in this compact player view.. one can elect not to have the album cover show and have that effect show up instead. I think it looks very nice.
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i might experiment some more with the bar colours (maybe some different colours rather than black/ white contrast depending what can be automated).
As I was looking at it a bit ago, I thought the colors of the visualizer weren't always clicking and I had two thoughts:
1) Make the background color the same as the rest of the player and the visualizer bars match the font
I was pondering that idea too.. making it the same as the rest of the player... will post a mockup of what I thought again in a min.
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This idea reduces the size of the play bar a bit as suggested earlier. And one of two things can be done.. raise the play buttons and progress bar closer to the spectrum bar, or put the progress bar between and just chop off the lower end. Assume that the area covered by the spectrum bar is same color as the play bar.
I keep wondering though if folks would have a problem with a thinner play bar... which would be heightened with the enabling of the spectrum bar.. if you do it the way scampbll suggested.
(http://i50.tinypic.com/wmnjp4.jpg)
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The way you did the playing track for the main player on the bottom tab... I really like the transition effect, and it would be nice if in this compact player view.. one can elect not to have the album cover show and have that effect show up instead. I think it looks very nice.
Oh, I think that would be SNAZZY. Although I'd want the option to apply it to album art instead. The lyrics could take up the rest of the space.
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The patch 2.1.4818 looks really great! Thanks :)
BTW. The bugs mentioned in reply no. 75 haven't been fixed still.
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Minor observation:
Since I think the word 'classic' assumes being consistent with accustomed looks/behavior, I'd like it if classic compact player had the classic volume control. Not the new fancy one.
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The patch 2.1.4818 looks really great! Thanks :)
BTW. The bugs mentioned in reply no. 75 haven't been fixed still.
1) should be fixed so could you reconfirm that?
2) i probably wont address
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Minor observation:
Since I think the word 'classic' assumes being consistent with accustomed looks/behavior, I'd like it if classic compact player had the classic volume control. Not the new fancy one.
you dont like the name or think it should show the volume bar all the time? If its the name, i'm open to suggestions
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About that volume control, here are my suggestions:
- Drop the arrow
- Make the icon reflect the volume level
- Show the volume slider on mouse over
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The patch 2.1.4818 looks really great! Thanks :)
BTW. The bugs mentioned in reply no. 75 haven't been fixed still.
1) should be fixed so could you reconfirm that?
2) i probably wont address
The first bug seems fixed in most cases, but when the Artwork is not embedded and you right click to SAVE PICTURE after it's found automatically then the bug still exists. :-[
The Artwork window appears below the main MB window as it was described in reply no. 75. Can you reproduce it ???
BTW. I like the 'Classic' name for the old compact player layout :)
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Minor observation:
Since I think the word 'classic' assumes being consistent with accustomed looks/behavior, I'd like it if classic compact player had the classic volume control. Not the new fancy one.
you dont like the name or think it should show the volume bar all the time? If its the name, i'm open to suggestions
'Classic' is good. My point is just that if a 'classic' mode is chosen, I would assume it is absent of less necessary eye-candy, or new or changed behavior from what one would be used to. This is probably a very minor case, but such details and consistencies are some factors for why I appreciate MusicBee.
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I love the new wavebar that can be used to replace the conventional seekbar. My only wish is that the subtle background for the not yet played section that is found in the main player is also transfered to the compact player. It makes seeking much easier. I believe not having the background somewhat defeats the purpose of having a wave bar
Main:
(http://i.imgur.com/2FojQu1l.jpg)
Compact:
(http://i.imgur.com/UbYoJmWl.jpg)
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I love the new wavebar that can be used to replace the conventional seekbar. My only wish is that the subtle background for the not yet played section that is found in the main player is also transfered to the compact player. It makes seeking much easier. I believe not having the background somewhat defeats the purpose of having a wave bar
you think the unplayed colour should blend in more with the player panel?
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I was wondering that if the dominant colour for the 'chameleon' blending algorithm came from the album artwork rather than the artist picture. And it was applied to the whole panel, not just the info section, it would overcome the need to clip the
artwork artist pic. It could just be scaled, centered and aligned to the top (with a small offset)
(http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/4305/compactplayeridea.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/593/compactplayeridea.jpg/)
This is only a quick mock-up, and I haven't done the wavebar or spectro.
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I love the new wavebar that can be used to replace the conventional seekbar. My only wish is that the subtle background for the not yet played section that is found in the main player is also transfered to the compact player. It makes seeking much easier. I believe not having the background somewhat defeats the purpose of having a wave bar
you think the unplayed colour should blend in more with the player panel?
??? Now im really puzzled... On my main screen the background is not visible at all! Just checked on another screen and its there alright.
Well, I'm not home right now but it seems i need to tweak around with my screen colour options because definitely something is wrong
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the wavebar is drawn directly onto the player panel - i think it would look really bad if it was surrounded by a box with a different colour
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the wavebar is drawn directly onto the player panel - i think it would look really bad if it was surrounded by a box with a different colour
only a quick mock-up, and I haven't done the wavebar or spectro.
ummmmm......the wave bar is exactly how it currently appears (version:2.1.4818) when using my 'Faded' skin. It would seem the background colour from the skin element
<element id="Player.Wavebar" bg="18,19,12" fg="193,188,150" fg2="184,174,71" />
doesn't get changed like the foreground colours do.
maybe leaving the foreground override colours unchanged and matching the background colour would be a better way to go?
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the wavebar is drawn directly onto the player panel - i think it would look really bad if it was surrounded by a box with a different colour
I'm not saying otherwise. As I said the problem was with my monitor configuration, for some reason contrast was set to the max.. Now everything is fine. Sorry for the confusion
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About that volume control, here are my suggestions:
- Drop the arrow
- Make the icon reflect the volume level
- Show the volume slider on mouse over
+1 That's how the volume button in Youtube player works, very confortable
BTW there is a rare behavior, if you click out of the slider for hiding it, but the click is done down the slider it changes the volume instead of hiding it
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here is another mock-up using Album Art colour on MB's default skin.
note on this one I have done the spectro but again, have not touched the wavebar
(http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/6476/defaultcompact2.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/546/defaultcompact2.jpg/)
for comparison - the current view
(http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2498/defaultcompactnormal.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/254/defaultcompactnormal.jpg/)
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A few suggestions:
1. Please add a right-click menu item of "Paste Artist Picture" that will overwrite the corresponding dat file in ArtistCache folder with a copied picture. This will also help to address not-properly-clipped pictures by manually replacing it.
2. Ability to move artwork to the right side by dragging it, just as another (right-aligned) layout option.
3. Option to choose the blending color either from artist picture or from artwork (as with Bee-liever's wish).
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A few suggestions:
1. Please add a right-click menu item of "Paste Artist Picture" that will overwrite the corresponding dat file in ArtistCache folder with a copied picture. This will also help to address not-properly-clipped pictures by manually replacing it.
2. Ability to move artwork to the right side by dragging it, just as another (right-aligned) layout option.
3. Option to choose the blending color either from artist picture or from artwork (as with Bee-liever's wish).
I like 1 and 3. but I am nut sure I understand option 2 (I know they are not directed to me, but just curious), is it a function we can do in other forms of musicbee already?)
for #3. I also like Bee-liever's suggestion, but as Redwing suggested, would also like the other option.
for #1 I agree as I still would not want this to become a second theatermode in a sense... because as Redwing has demonstrated, we can achieve some of these things in a theatermode window.
The way I see theatermode, is that it is not something where you are expected to do much (unless customized to do so) but instead, a display of sorts for entertainment/appearances value.
Compact player I feel is a more active window that you would use in place of the regular player window for the sake of size and I guess convenience... well, same thing as the classic compact player, though some degree of reduced function is expected to accommodate what we are striving for. So.... a click-able interface similar to the current compact player, but just more eye candy.
Again, I realize that the same functionality cannot be expected, but hoping to maintain some degree of it.
I hope I made some sort of sense there. :)
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Additionally it would be nice to see an "on-top" option
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Additionally it would be nice to see an "on-top" option
If you rightclick on the menu (Musicbee Icon), there is an always ontop option. is that what you mean?
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Additionally it would be nice to see an "on-top" option
If you rightclick on the menu (Musicbee Icon), there is an always ontop option. is that what you mean?
Yes, thanks
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hmm, it is there for left-click too... did not even realize that.
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I like 1 and 3. but I am nut sure I understand option 2 (I know they are not directed to me, but just curious), is it a function we can do in other forms of musicbee already?)
That's indeed an interesting point. I just checked MB to see what can be moved with drag & drop. Except playlists and tracks, the only element working that way seems to be tabs only.
Interestingly, lots of layout functionality is built upon double-click such as all the panels on the right sidebar and main-to-mini player transition, whereas there's almost no support for moving elements with drag-and-drop. If that's supported, it would be much easier to customize right-sidebar layout (e.g. place of wave bar and sound graph) and could get rid of lots of options in settings pane. Just like Windows taskbar, why not drag main player to the top and bottom?
Hopefully this wish could serve, if implemented, as a starting point for such functionality.
The way I see theatermode, is that it is not something where you are expected to do much (unless customized to do so) but instead, a display of sorts for entertainment/appearances value.
Compact player I feel is a more active window that you would use in place of the regular player window for the sake of size and I guess convenience... well, same thing as the classic compact player, though some degree of reduced function is expected to accommodate what we are striving for. So.... a click-able interface similar to the current compact player, but just more eye candy.
Yes, I agree that TM can't be a match, functionality-wise, for the default compact player. I guess they serve different needs.
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About that volume control, here are my suggestions:
- Drop the arrow
- Make the icon reflect the volume level
- Show the volume slider on mouse over
+1 all three.
Personally, I especially like the idea, if possible, to have the icon reflect the volume level, because I reference my volume level often at a glance (Or just have the option to keep the volume level bar) ... however, i realize that we cannot all have what we want... a compromising mindset is in order.
I am struggling to use the current drop-down arrow for volume, but I figure I would get accustomed to it.
"- Show the volume slider on mouse over.". as lnminente said... YouTube is the reference.
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maybe my final nag :)..
I suppose that the player bar does not necessarily have to be thinner if the top bar is removed. I realize I have been suggesting that the playerbar be thinner.. but I think it was in an effort to have less bar distraction.. but after messing around.. it seems with the top bar gone.. the playerbar is not as bad. It would just appear more like a base/anchor.
Of course the necessary close/minimize/max and menu button would be there on hover or outright.
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2vacaqp.jpg)
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this has the following changes:
- visiualiser colours should be stronger for dim colours and also a better colour match
- artist pictures no longer have any distortion applied to help with fitting into the available space
- if >20% clipping is required and there is space available vertically the artist picture will fill the entire window and the track info written over the picture
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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Nice compromise Steven. Like the blurring and how it compensates.
One thing i actually just realized is that the area that has the track information is as tall as it needs to be to accommodate the information we choose to display. That makes sense.
However, seeing that this is a minimal (I guess) kind of appearance, it would probably ideal to have the option to select what is displayed there separately from what is selected for track details details under 'nowplaying configuration'. EG: you will see I have the file url in my posted images.. I really would prefer the option not to have that in compact player.
(It probably can be done already but I do not know how as yet)
So it would be equally nice that if someone only wants to display one line of track information there.. the area resizes to accommodate that decision.
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Nice! I'm sure there will still be some that are awkwardly clipped, but look at this:
(http://i.imgur.com/pb6BRyu.png?2)
I think I can live with some of the others looking less than perfect.
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like the transparency blending between the artist pic and track info in both normal and full pic. nice work.
still would prefer more colour, but it's not MB's fault that there a lot of arty B&W artist pics out there ;D
+1 for Alexis's suggestion of being able to change what is displayed in the track info area for the compact player, applied to both 'classic' and 'flat' view
NB maybe 'art' or 'artist' or 'plus' view might be alternatives to 'flat' view
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2. Ability to move artwork to the right side by dragging it, just as another (right-aligned) layout option.
+1
I think this would eliminate 90% of the remaining awkward artwork problems. It should be something quick, like dragging as proposed, or maybe a right click menu toggle, since you might want to change it from one track to the next.
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With these changes, taking the blending color from artwork now seems no longer making sense.
But still I would like to see my two wishes implemented.
1. Right-click menu item of "Paste Artist Picture" that will overwrite the corresponding dat file in ArtistCache folder with a copied picture:
For classical music artists, no pictures are the norm, not the exception. And even for some pop artists, users may want to see their favorite pictures than the retrieved one. Currently it's not impossible but it's quite a pain to replace it.
2. Ability to move artwork to the right side by dragging it, just as another (right-aligned) layout option:
Implemented changes has no effect on the composition of the retrieved picture. For many pictures, placing artwork left just don't fit and make it look awkward (Just saw scampbll made the same point).
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Nice compromise Steven. Like the blurring and how it compensates.
It would probably ideal to have the option to select what is displayed there separately from what is selected for track details details under 'nowplaying configuration'.
Considering that you have to go back into "classic" view right now if you want to make any changes to that displayed info, I agree it would be a good idea to have separate controls for the compact player.
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Great thanks for your all works on the compact player, it's really impressive!
1. as for my one suggestion - the whole compact player's look is very minimalistic and skeumorphic, just the way W8 Metro UI is. I like it a lot. Therefore, to stay consistent and logic, there should be no transparency blending/fading (like in scampbll pic) - at least on default. Transparency maybe yes, but without fadeouts. This fading just doesn't match the rest of solid compact player's style, does it?
2. also +1 for the option of change what is displayed in the track info area for the compact player.
3. track info area could be interactive - with option to f.e. rate tracks.
4. but -1 for the current form of volume indicator, as it requires a click more to change the volume. In my opinion it should look just as it looks after the first click in the arrow, but without a border. This is how I'd find it perfect as a default look
(http://i.imgur.com/PUu5FwY.jpg)
(see there's no additional white border around the volume regulator. this border is unnecessary ornament IMO)
5. It would be also great if there could be dots/indicator field (i mean this: http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=5901.0) to choose for managing multiple files in now playing list.
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Couple more suggestions:
1. Right now, displaying the lyrics really takes away from the elegance of the whole thing (see below). How about having the lyrics have the same background and font color as the track details, and blend into the artist photo the same way? The spectrum bar could still go all the way across, too.
2. When you have the lyrics open, the artwork becomes a much more manageable size at the minimum player size (see below). Could we have it scale the same way even without the lyrics? That would also help immensely with awkward artwork problems.
(http://i.imgur.com/6bMgjcH.png?1)
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and some compliting remarks:
(http://i.imgur.com/cEgtrWM.jpg)
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I really like the gradient, but I do think it could stand to be smoother, less abrupt at the start. I would also like to see the background of the spectrum visualizer be faded in, or maybe even be the same as the rest of the player.
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of course, there's nothing not to like - it's a matter of individual prefs:)
however what i wanted to underline is that it's out of the rest layout's style (which is solid and with firm borders everywhere else)
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Yeah, I guess I'm looking at going the other way and having more gradients. In any case, I know that Steven put that there in part because of my complaints about scaling artist pictures at small sizes, so I'm kind of attached to it. :)
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Nice compromise Steven. Like the blurring and how it compensates.
It would probably ideal to have the option to select what is displayed there separately from what is selected for track details details under 'nowplaying configuration'.
Considering that you have to go back into "classic" view right now if you want to make any changes to that displayed info, I agree it would be a good idea to have separate controls for the compact player.
If you take that step and make changes.. it is still applied to the track details on the main player. I realize it comes up under the options when customizing the classic player.. but it is applied across all.. so would like a separation.
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Regarding scaling:
Currently when lyrics or now playing list is open, expanding the window enlarges right panel only.
1. If possible, allow users to drag the vertical center border to the left and right to resize the width of both panels. Then resizing the whole window will keep the ratio for both panels.
2. If that's not possible, make it so that expanding with left-side window enlarges left panel, right window for right panel.
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The bug described in the comments no. 75 and 93 still not fixed.
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i will let you know when i have had a look at it
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just want to voice support of portrait orientated images now filling the whole area with a fade. looks great!
(http://img836.imageshack.us/img836/5248/newcompactplayer1.jpg)
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I think that the fade looks perfect for light images as demonstrated in the above post.
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Sorry if this has been mentioned before (I have tried to read as much of the thread as possible).
We currently have 'Now playing' and 'Lyrics' tabs. I would really like to have an 'Artist Bio' tab added also. I think it would look great and also be one less reason to switch back to the main player. I know the compact player shouldn't get too feature packed and bloated though...
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I think that the fade looks perfect for light images as demonstrated in the above (ie. reply no. 130 - VX) post.
Yes, indeed. Implementing the 'Artist Bio' tab as an option seems reasonable as well. Good suggestions, SimonBRT.
Now that the New Compact Player is almost done, I'd like to suggest one simple feature that I guess would be welcomed.
MusicBee is full of features, but still intuitive and user friendly.
A new view is done. I think the View menu is the place where most users would expect to find it.
IMHO, the current solution for launching the New Compact Player View seems far from simplicity and counter intuitive. To enable it you have to go to Edit/ Preferences/ Layout (2)/ compact player
and switch use classic layout for use 'flat' layout
Don't you think that the option is hidden too deep in the Preferences ???
And why it's called 'flat' in there ???
Instead, I'd rather place this option in the View alongside existing views for easy switching:
- Main Player;
- Main Player (Locked Down);
- Theater Mode;
- New Compact Player - in fact this is something 'compact' between Theater Mode and Classic Player, isn't it ???
- Classic Player
- MiniPlayer (aka Bar Player).
What do you think ???
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A couple of proposals based in my last theater mode :)
Layouts here: http://filebeam.com/f386aae54b14b0dff45c0fed2818d470
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2w6cb47.jpg)
(http://i45.tinypic.com/34pncau.jpg)
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IMHO, the current solution for launching the New Compact Player View seems far from simplicity and counter intuitive. To enable it you have to go to Edit/ Preferences/ Layout (2)/ compact player
and switch use classic layout for use 'flat' layout
Don't you think that the option is hidden too deep in the Preferences ???
I agree with this, but I'd like to suggest a different solution:
Add a right-click menu item of "Switch to classic (flat) layout" to both layouts of compact player.
And "Compact Player Layout" pane needs to have a separate tab for "Display Fields" settings to adjust what fields to display.
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A couple of proposals based in my last theater mode :)
Hi Greb,
I, personally, would like to know what exactly you are proposing. I think I have to make assumptions from the screenshots and there seem to be so many options in what you have presented ;).
On another note...
Unless it is what we are expecting overall, I still hope that this is not mini-theatermode. :(, because frankly, as redwing proposed very early on.. one could achieve a mini version of theatermode that would be similar and just re-size it down... except for the play bar being visible.
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On another note...
Unless it is what we are expecting overall, I still hope that this is not mini-theatermode. :(, because frankly, as redwing proposed very early on.. one could achieve a mini version of theatermode that would be similar and just re-size it down... except for the play bar being visible.
I just checked and found out that this new functionality is now completely independent of TM. With TM plugin disabled, there's no problem using this compact player and opening playing track details tab for bottom pane and tab. And you can't even choose a custom TM view for compact player with TM disabled.
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On another note...
Unless it is what we are expecting overall, I still hope that this is not mini-theatermode. :(, because frankly, as redwing proposed very early on.. one could achieve a mini version of theatermode that would be similar and just re-size it down... except for the play bar being visible.
Well, it IS basically a mini theater mode with a player bar and the playlist.
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But anyway, if you want to make something beautiful and that can't be done by TM, I would suggest something more in this style:
(http://i46.tinypic.com/2nlcn75.jpg)
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I believe you already understood it but just to make sure I'd like to amend my wish regarding "Paste Artist Picture" right-click menu item. If this is implemented, it should save (or overwrite) the picture in Artist picture folder specified in Tags(1); if not, then in ArtistCache folder.
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Another option, made to enjoy big artworks :)
(http://i49.tinypic.com/239n2h.jpg)
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@greb, these things can already be done now by choosing a theater mode skin in the left panel (other than having the now playing list semi-transparent over the image). I am planning to add a few more options for the default layout that will allow something like the original post but anything for custom/ advanced would need to be done via the theater mode skins
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
This has the following changes:
- configure track info fields specifically for the new compact player
- specify whether the now playing list shows using the "track details" or "album and tracks" layout
- option to show the artist biography which can be configured to pop-up from the left window edge
- option to not show the album cover ie. artist picture only
- option to not show the artist picture ie. like the original concept
(http://getmusicbee.com/images/forum/CompactPlayerAlbumOnly.jpg)
Note i have not finalised the colouring details and havent forgotten about some of the earlier requests. Now I have the basic layout options done thats what i plan to do next. Also feel free to re-raise points you made before that you think are important as this topic is quite long now.
Some things off the top of my head that i plan to do
- allow the album picture to me dragged to the right side (this would only be temporary for the playing artist and would revert to the left side for the next artist)
- consider using album for colouring or disabling colouring
- experiment with picture edge blurring
- change the volume control to the youtube approach as suggested
- enable sorting in the now playing list
@VX, the bug you reported should be fixed
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Great mediator :). Nice job.
request:
Artist picture rotation option so that if playing a long album, one does not see the same picture and color for the artist throughout.
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I see a great progress so far. Now this allows the user to do lots of things with highly customizable layout. Scaling was well done too.
Bugs
- Mouse scroll wheel on now playing list with Always on Top bug persists.
- right-click is not working with custom TM views.
Wishes (nothing's new)
- right-click menu item to paste artist picture with a copied picture
- right-click menu item to switch between classic and flat-layout compact player
- fixed-resolution support for custom TM views
- also consider using separate TM folder for custom compact player
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Bugs
- Mouse scroll wheel on now playing list with Always on Top bug persists.
- right-click is not working with custom TM views.
should be fixed now:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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Bugs
- Mouse scroll wheel on now playing list with Always on Top bug persists.
- right-click is not working with custom TM views.
should be fixed now:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
Yes, both were fixed. Thanks!
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@VX, the bug you reported should be fixed
Yes, the bug has gone. Thanks :)
I must admit that I'm impressed with the progress made in 2.1.4824 build. I like the way it looks and how configurable it is. Well done 8)
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(http://i.imgur.com/Wq5RyOg.png)
IMHO, these menu options seem a little bit inconsistent. Imagine sth is "shown" and "hidden" simultaneously... ;D
Ticking these options I could have expected that Artist-Bio and Now Playing List is hidden unless you hover over the panel where it should be visible.
Now it these elements are just hidden, so the settings could be misleading.
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IMHO, these menu options seem a little bit inconsistent. Imagine sth is "shown" and "hidden" simultaneously... ;D
Ticking these options I could have expected that Artist-Bio and Now Playing List is hidden unless you hover over the panel where it should be visible.
Now it these elements are just hidden, so the settings could be misleading.
agree with that.
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IMHO, these menu options seem a little bit inconsistent. Imagine sth is "shown" and "hidden" simultaneously... ;D
Ticking these options I could have expected that Artist-Bio and Now Playing List is hidden unless you hover over the panel where it should be visible.
Now it these elements are just hidden, so the settings could be misleading.
I disagree. I think the options are quite straightforward. You can only select the auto-hide option if you have already selected bio/now playing 'show' option. IMHO that logically means that you want to use the bio and now playing panels but only see them when you hover over them.
Note i have not finalised the colouring details and havent forgotten about some of the earlier requests. Now I have the basic layout options done thats what i plan to do next. Also feel free to re-raise points you made before that you think are important as this topic is quite long now.
don't forget the coloured box around the wavebar when using the over-ride:
<element id="Player.Wavebar" bg="18,19,12" fg="193,188,150" fg2="184,174,71" />
as raised in replies #97,#99 and #100
'cause I agree, the box looks ugly
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As others have already said, some truly excellent improvements in the latest version. The new options menu is great, very customisable and all the options in one place. And thanks for adding the artist bio as requested. Love the new compact player!
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Also, and this is a very minor/trivial thing, but I really like the look of the circle around the play button as shown in this mock-up. Somehow brings the controls to life a little.
(http://i49.tinypic.com/a09zy9.jpg)
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don't forget the coloured box around the wavebar when using the over-ride:
<element id="Player.Wavebar" bg="18,19,12" fg="193,188,150" fg2="184,174,71" />
as raised in replies #97,#99 and #100
'cause I agree, the box looks ugly
what box? if there is one displayed then its a bug - can you let me know which skin is being used
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IMHO, these menu options seem a little bit inconsistent. Imagine sth is "shown" and "hidden" simultaneously... ;D
Ticking these options I could have expected that Artist-Bio and Now Playing List is hidden unless you hover over the panel where it should be visible.
Now it these elements are just hidden, so the settings could be misleading.
I disagree.(...) IMHO that logically means that you want to use the bio and now playing panels but only see them when you hover over them.
That is exactly the point. I wouldn't mind if it behaved the way you have described it as I also find it logical. However, the current development build (2.1.4824) doesn't behave logically when these settings are applied: only lyrics are shown in my case and I'm not able to unhide Artist-Bio nor Now playing list tabs after hovering over it. Perhaps I hover over a wrong place??? It might be a bug or just a minor oversight.
I think implementing SimonBRT's idea from Reply #153 would be a nice improvement.
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Also, and this is a very minor/trivial thing, but I really like the look of the circle around the play button as shown in this mock-up. Somehow brings the controls to life a little.
the reason it wasnt done was player controls bar would need to be widened. I agree though it does look better and i havent rejected doing it
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I disagree.(...) IMHO that logically means that you want to use the bio and now playing panels but only see them when you hover over them.
That is exactly the point. I wouldn't mind if it behaved the way you have described it as I also find it logical. However, the current development build (2.1.4824) doesn't behave logically when these settings are applied: only lyrics are shown in my case and I'm not able to unhide Artist-Bio nor Now playing list tabs after hovering over it. Perhaps I hover over a wrong place???
also using (2.1.4824) and the auto-hide is working fine. need to place cursor just inside RH or LH frame and hold. there seems to be a few seconds hold time needed for the panels to open.
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I disagree.(...) IMHO that logically means that you want to use the bio and now playing panels but only see them when you hover over them.
That is exactly the point. I wouldn't mind if it behaved the way you have described it as I also find it logical. However, the current development build (2.1.4824) doesn't behave logically when these settings are applied: only lyrics are shown in my case and I'm not able to unhide Artist-Bio nor Now playing list tabs after hovering over it. Perhaps I hover over a wrong place???
also using (2.1.4824) and the auto-hide is working fine. need to place cursor just inside RH or LH frame and hold. there seems to be a few seconds hold time needed for the panels to open.
Thanks for the tip, but it still doesn't work for me ???
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I have to say that I have never given the wavebar the attention it deserves because I suppose I always saw it as so unattractive. Thing is, it offers so much more information than just a progressbar, that it really ought to have priority over it.
My question/suggestion: is there anyway to make it look more lively? EG: the spectrum analyzer looks like it is 3d or something of the sort.. crisp... attractive, why can't the wavebar have similar appeal? This compact player has me interested in a better looking wavebar.
(http://i47.tinypic.com/1239z5u.jpg)
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Maybe things along these lines? (do not even know if they are applicable, just going by appearance)
http://graphicleftovers.com/graphic/music-equaliser-wave-red/
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I have to say that I have never given the wavebar the attention it deserves because I suppose I always saw it as so unattractive. Thing is, it offers so much more information than just a progressbar, that it really ought to have priority over it.
My question/suggestion: is there anyway to make it look more lively? EG: the spectrum analyzer looks like it is 3d or something of the sort.. crisp... attractive, why can't the wavebar have similar appeal? This compact player has me interested in a better looking wavebar.
yes i agree, although i dont think i will do what your subsequent post suggests but it definitely can be improved
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Thank you Steven!
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couple of questions:
- do you like that the spectrum visualiser is displayed in a different colour band (artist picture view only) ? I have tried it myself using the same colour as the rest of the fill area and the reason its done the way it is is to make the fill area seem less large
- how do you use the compact player around setting up and maintaining playlists - do you find yourself going back to the main player often to add tracks to the now playing list? Although there is a the "Now Playing Assistant" i am thinking that some sort of library navigation should be more integrated into the compact player (I have some ideas about how to do that when the artist picture is not displayed but i would be interested in comments about the need for it)
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- how do you use the compact player around setting up and maintaining playlists - do you find yourself going back to the main player often to add tracks to the now playing list? Although there is a the "Now Playing Assistant" i am thinking that some sort of library navigation should be more integrated into the compact player (I have some ideas about how to do that when the artist picture is not displayed but i would be interested in comments about the need for it)
The biggest reason I'm constantly going back to main player mode is search box. Others include to change filters, to go to inbox, and to select playlists. Though NP assistant support some of them, it isn't as useful as main player.
My suggestion is to add auto-hide left navigator with search box on the top of it. Artist info panel may be moved to the right as an option with lyrics pane.
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The biggest reason I'm constantly going back to main player mode is search box.
you can activate the search box - right click/ Search/ Text Search (alt-F default hotkey)
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Personally, I would voice that I would prefer the spectrum visualizer to either be (a) the same the same colour as the rest of the fill area, OR (b)that it be incorporated into a taller playbar and have the playbar background.
The good thing with (a) is that the color changes depends on the artist picture, and no matter the skin, there won't be any conflict regarding visibility.
(b) Runs the risk of the skin conflicting with a color chosen by the artist picture... so this would mean that moving it to the playbar would then require removing the spectrum bar color changing feature, unless you can override possible conflicts.
Therefore, the skin makers would determine the color of the spectrum visualizer.
Doing (b), I think would also require the removal of the top skinner bar, so the image looks more free above the playbar, as if they are emerging from the player. Not trapped between two bars.
Regarding navigating the playlist:
I personally have no problems with it (But I may not be the best judge since I am so accustomed to theatermode), but it may not be a bad idea to have the now-playing assistant as an option when one right-clicks on the artist picture area, instead of just 'customize panel settings'. (I know it is also available from the top bar and the bottom)
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The biggest reason I'm constantly going back to main player mode is search box.
you can activate the search box - right click/ Search/ Text Search (alt-F default hotkey)
You mean on Now Playing list? Yes, but probably pressing Alt-J to launch NP assistant is quicker than that.
But still they are not as instant as auto-hide panel and can't search across filters. That's why I rather go back to main player.
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couple of questions:
- do you like that the spectrum visualiser is displayed in a different colour band (artist picture view only) ? I have tried it myself using the same colour as the rest of the fill area and the reason its done the way it is is to make the fill area seem less large
My preference would be for having it the same color as the rest of the player. The different color makes it look tacked on, to me. But I haven't seen it the other way, so maybe I'd agree with you once I saw it. The other thought I had was that if you were going to use a different background color for that piece, you could blend it with a gradient instead of the sharp line. I also think it needs a little bit of a dividing line at the bottom, so that it *doesn't* blend in with the player if they happen to be the same color.
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Another way is to pick up a skin override if it exists, otherwise to use the current colors.
(http://i.imgur.com/Vj7J0Iy.png)
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
has the following changes:
- improved wavebar (still not ideal as it really needs skin overrides for more interesting colours and i had one song that had some funny visual effects but most are better)
- experiment with the visualiser background colour (colour band effect removed)
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- improved wavebar (still not ideal as it really needs skin overrides for more interesting colours and i had one song that had some funny visual effects but most are better)
- experiment with the visualiser background colour (colour band effect removed)
I like the new wave bar, has a sense of 'movement' to it. Almost like it's vibrating
I wonder what the visualiser would look like if you incorporated it into the top of the player bar, but still used the current colour picking for the visualiser bars themselves? Would the player bar be to 'chunky'? Or is it possible to generate a colour that is somewhere between the player bar background colour and the colour generated from the Artist pic?
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Really like the latest changes!
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Thank you Steven!
The removal of the background bar seems to be the right decision. Looks sooooo much cleaner.
I am not sure on the wave bar as yet.. it seems a bit fuzzy to almost affecting the eyes, but definitely an improvement imo over the previous.
I know that you have the capability but I just wanted to share an image so that I know we are all seeing the same thing.
Man, the spectrum visualizer looks sexy here:
(http://i47.tinypic.com/fyinlw.jpg)
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...don't suppose there's any way to apply replay gain tags to the waveform, so they're all about the same size?
Also, now I find that I miss the gradient on the artist images that don't have it. Maybe you could do a smaller gradient right at the bottom of those?
There've been a couple of cases in which the bars of the spectrum visualizer seemed a really random color, but aside from those tiny kinds of things, it all looks great.
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There doesn't seem to be as much variation in colour with the bars on the visualiser in 2.1.4825 as before,
but when it it does work out right - it certainly works out right (http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Respect/respect-054.gif)
(http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/4720/itsjustright.jpg)
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I am guessing this looks like poo because it is copy and paste work, and you guys knowing more about the wave bar may feel different, but aside from the color.. any thoughts to a bar type enhancement sorta like what is shown below?
(http://i45.tinypic.com/23ifeb8.jpg)
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...don't suppose there's any way to apply replay gain tags to the waveform, so they're all about the same size?
Sorry, whilst I understand your logic here scampbll, I have to -1. The size of the wavebar says a lot about how the track was mastered which is one of my main reasons for using it.
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Just voicing my probably more 'Spartan' personal opinion;
I liked the 'old' wavebar for it's no-nonsense clean looks.
It also fitted the rest of the layout very well.
I feel the latest suggestions (and implementation?) are not consistent with the current clean look and feel, and are mainly eye-candy and not an improvement or a solution to any problem.
A big + for all work, efforts and suggestions, but a -1 for the current outcome.
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Just voicing my probably more 'Spartan' personal opinion;
I liked the 'old' wavebar for it's no-nonsense clean looks.
It also fitted the rest of the layout very well.
I feel the latest suggestions (and implementation?) are not consistent with the current clean look and feel, and are mainly eye-candy and not an improvement or a solution to any problem.
A big + for all work, efforts and suggestions, but a -1 for the current outcome.
Respectable feedback.
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It seems that part of fuzziness of the new wave bar comes from a possible bug.
Resizing the player window makes the shape of bar much clearer, which is probably what Steven originally intended.
(original + after resizing)
(http://i.imgur.com/TZTPqqO.png)
Aside from the bug, I'd like to see more contrast between fg & bg color.
Edit: If that's not a bug but a resizing effect, then I would still prefer the resized bar shape since it's much cleaner and clearer.
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I should voice that one of the things I liked when looking at the wave bar, is the ability to actually look at it and gather some information or assumptions. I encouraged enhancing this feature for something that looks good indeed, but also shows more crisp information.
The downside is that we are trying to put this thing in a compact player, so I am lead to believe that because it is more compressed, enough information will not show up, but would be nice to see a better indication of spikes etc (absent in my original post of such).
Please also note that I am not necessarily asking for color. (if one looks at my skins, you will notice they are simply black or white, but I respect that individuals have different taste)
The information i have posted are really for the sake of clarity, without the colors necessarily. (If I am making any changes for my skins, you will likely see them in a combination of black and white)
I indicated that the improvement made was better than the original because I saw some details with respect to spikes etc, but it really was somewhat blurry and spiral and not giving the details i hoped for. (I know it is unfinished). The former appeared to me as a smudge of sorts.
Either case, I am thankful for the vast amount of improvements made to the player thus far and realize and respect that we all want something different.. because... we are different.
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Aside from the bug, I'd like to see more contrast between fg & bg color.
If that's not a bug but a resizing effect, then I would still prefer the resized bar shape since it's much cleaner and clearer.
Agreed.
I appreciate jistme's feedback as well: I always prefer functionality to bells and whistles, but I can see a huge progress with the current development. Thank you :)
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seeking anyone else with comments on this:
- how do you use the compact player around setting up and maintaining playlists - do you find yourself going back to the main player often to add tracks to the now playing list? Although there is a the "Now Playing Assistant" i am thinking that some sort of library navigation should be more integrated into the compact player (I have some ideas about how to do that when the artist picture is not displayed but i would be interested in comments about the need for it)
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seeking anyone else with comments on this:
- how do you use the compact player around setting up and maintaining playlists - do you find yourself going back to the main player often to add tracks to the now playing list? Although there is a the "Now Playing Assistant" i am thinking that some sort of library navigation should be more integrated into the compact player (I have some ideas about how to do that when the artist picture is not displayed but i would be interested in comments about the need for it)
Definitely an easier library navigation would be welcomed.
Update
I've just realized that the way I add tracks to the now playing list most of all is through filtered folders in the Computer section on the left. I think compact player would be very convenient if that was allowed. Just have a look how popular so called "Folder Players' are among Android Apss and you'll see that this simple and effective functionality really matters.
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seeking anyone else with comments on this:
- how do you use the compact player around setting up and maintaining playlists - do you find yourself going back to the main player often to add tracks to the now playing list? Although there is a the "Now Playing Assistant" i am thinking that some sort of library navigation should be more integrated into the compact player (I have some ideas about how to do that when the artist picture is not displayed but i would be interested in comments about the need for it)
I always go back to the main player. I forget the playing assistant is there, to me it is just easier to go to the main player and have access to my inbox and playlists if I need them, plus I don't really like list views like the playing assistant displays as.
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seeking anyone else with comments on this:
- how do you use the compact player around setting up and maintaining playlists - do you find yourself going back to the main player often to add tracks to the now playing list? Although there is a the "Now Playing Assistant" i am thinking that some sort of library navigation should be more integrated into the compact player (I have some ideas about how to do that when the artist picture is not displayed but i would be interested in comments about the need for it)
I always go back to the main player. I forget the playing assistant is there, to me it is just easier to go to the main player and have access to my inbox and playlists if I need them, plus I don't really like list views like the playing assistant displays as.
same here - I go back to the main player.
some option for easier managing playlist in Compact would be nice, however, as I'm heave playlists user/manager, I assume I will be coming back to Main PLayer anyways.
What I was thinking about are 2 things:
1. another tab in right Playlist panel, next to Now Playin | Lyrics | Bio | (f.e.) Playlists
clicking on Playlist tab would expand the list: Music, Inbox & user's playlists. Clicking on any of them (fe. Music) would send us to that playlist, therefore the name of that tab would change to the name of that playlist. So after clicking on Music, instead of:
Now Playin | Lyrics | Bio | Playlists
we'd have:
Now Playin | Lyrics | Bio | Music
or
Now Playin | Lyrics | Bio | Inbox
etc.
Of course the view of tracks in that playlist mode would be as minimal as it is right now in Compact PLayers Right Panel view.
2. autohiding Left Panel with playlists/folder tree but only for drag+drop operations.
ANOTHER THOUGHT
I don;t know how it is with other users, but I treat Compact Player as an option for "calm" enjoying of music. As I said before - I'm a heavy user of playlists, so when I WORK ON MUSIC (managing playlists for my dj/radio purposes), I have a great Main PLayer.
However, when all work is done and I just want to listen to and enjoy music, Compact Player comes along.
So maybe we should keep in mind not to overload it with functions? Cause eventually we'll end up with just different layout of Main Player called Compact Player.
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I liked the 'old' wavebar for it's no-nonsense clean looks.
It also fitted the rest of the layout very well.
I feel the latest suggestions (and implementation?) are not consistent with the current clean look and feel, and are mainly eye-candy and not an improvement or a solution to any problem.
As for the new Wave Bar - I agree with jistme. I prefered the old one as well, not only because it's minimalism was more consistent with the whole aesthetics, BUT ALSO because it was more readible. Right now it's much harder to find the actual position of the track!
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There've been a couple of cases in which the bars of the spectrum visualizer seemed a really random color, but aside from those tiny kinds of things, it all looks great.
the colours arent random but when the background is dark, there can be subtle shades that get exaggerated when chosing a contrast so i have flattened the contract colours for the next update
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the colours arent random but when the background is dark, there can be subtle shades that get exaggerated when chosing a contrast so i have flattened the contract colours for the next update
Ah, gotcha. That explains the royal purple, then. :)
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tweaked wavebar and tweak to visualiser colours:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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Look at the recent changes of wave bar.
(http://i.imgur.com/g1ciqYy.png)
This time subtleness was almost gone due to too much contrast and the return to the original bar shape.
I miss the second sleek one (after resizing) and its color, hopefully with just a little more contrast.
(http://i.imgur.com/kZUw0iQ.png)
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(http://i.imgur.com/Bow0UIb.png)
For the tiny differences in height, the two views almost look like different players.
I wonder if something can be done to improve the right one which looks flat and almost unfinished.
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The first suggestion by HHM (reply #186) deserves a closer look. That could be very convenient.
As for the autohiding, it doesn't work for me in Compact Player view and I don't know why.
As far as the recent changes of the wavebar, I share redwing's opinion (reply #191).
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seeking anyone else with comments on this:
- how do you use the compact player around setting up and maintaining playlists - do you find yourself going back to the main player often to add tracks to the now playing list? Although there is a the "Now Playing Assistant" i am thinking that some sort of library navigation should be more integrated into the compact player (I have some ideas about how to do that when the artist picture is not displayed but i would be interested in comments about the need for it)
the main reason i go back to main player is to access my playlists so easy access to saved playlists would be a welcome addition.
i personally like the newest change to the wave bar.
edit - am loving the new compact player layout. thanks.
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In that recent changes to the wavebar.. the median line helps give the bar character. not sure if it was there before and hope that skinners will be able to manipulate it.
It has a cool fish-bone type appearance.
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For the tiny differences in height, the two views almost look like different players.
I wonder if something can be done to improve the right one which looks flat and almost unfinished.
This is why I suggested applying a small gradient to the bottom of artist images even when they're not cropped.
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Anybody having problems queuing tracks in the compact layout? Last night it did the thing where it queues the first track I started playing music with instead of the one I was on, then today it won't queue any at all.
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Wave Bar is great right now, both in Compact and Main Player!
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Anybody having problems queuing tracks in the compact layout? Last night it did the thing where it queues the first track I started playing music with instead of the one I was on, then today it won't queue any at all.
i see i havent implemented it for the new compact player and will do so for the next update
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Comparing the marked improvement I think I am seeing with the wavebar:
BEFORE:
(http://i48.tinypic.com/2j0jcl1.jpg)
NOW:
(http://i45.tinypic.com/suzm84.jpg)
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Because I listen to many artists that are not well covered, I would like to request the possibility to populate the image area with something if there is no artist picture available, so that one is not looking at something like this:
(http://i48.tinypic.com/29e6892.jpg)
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seeking anyone else with comments on this:
- how do you use the compact player around setting up and maintaining playlists - do you find yourself going back to the main player often to add tracks to the now playing list? Although there is a the "Now Playing Assistant" i am thinking that some sort of library navigation should be more integrated into the compact player (I have some ideas about how to do that when the artist picture is not displayed but i would be interested in comments about the need for it)
the main reason i go back to main player is to access my playlists so easy access to saved playlists would be a welcome addition.
I find myself hitting the bee icon and then 'open playlist' a lot. its actually pretty convenient as it is. there is no particularly intuitive way to queue specific songs but i have no problem using the now playing assistant for that.
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Because I listen to many artists that are not well covered, I would like to request the possibility to populate the image area with something if there is no artist picture available, so that one is not looking at something like this:
Agreed. I like redwing's idea of being able to paste an artist photo, but at least having a placeholder in the meantime would be nice, too.
Actually, what I think would be really cool in this view is if MB could detect whether it found album art and/or artist photo and adapt accordingly.
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Actually, what I think would be really cool in this view is if MB could detect whether it found album art and/or artist photo and adapt accordingly.
I thought the same thing, but did not know how doable or practical it would be.. but I do know that with MusicBee... it is easy to populate all of one's library with album art.. and I can say that every one of my artists have album art, so that would be convenient.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- some minor tweaks to the wavebar
- vertically oriented artist pictures that have too much (>75% height) cutoff are now sized so the height fits the panel
- new option to show a smaller album cover (so it doesnt spill into the artist picture like the larger album cover)
- tweaked the "Playing Track" tab in the main panel - its more like it used to be (except the visualiser)
- a few bugs fixed
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Because I listen to many artists that are not well covered, I would like to request the possibility to populate the image area with something if there is no artist picture available
Maybe MB could default to Album Art if no Artist pic is found?
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The small artwork option is exactly what was needed to make the smallest size look just right. Awesome!
(http://i.imgur.com/o3ivpVi.png?1)
Adjustment for vertical pictures is much better, too. Thanks!
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for someone like me that use a single line of text, the small album art, which I totally agree was needed, is not looking so hot here with regards to the text... lots of blackout space under the title.. yet there are some tracks where said background is transparent so does not look as bad, but the text is just too high.
Sorry Steven, I am sure we will be slowing down soon.
By the way.. when selecting small picture.. if one leaves the small picture checked and unchecked album picture, it still remains on the player.
(http://i50.tinypic.com/15eh0s9.jpg)
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the text is just too high.
Leave the first two fields empty and enter a space in their prompt box. This way you can adjust its height.
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Thank you redwing. Looks better but I end up with this (ignore the adjoining title) :
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2rxijhk.jpg)
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- vertically oriented artist pictures that have too much (>75% height) cutoff are now sized so the height fits the panel
Maybe something similar can be done for horizontal pictures too?
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- some minor tweaks to the wavebar
works nicely with custom colours now (http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Respect/respect-048.gif)
I prefer the visualiser from 2 updates ago « Reply #170 (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=9126.msg53864#msg53864), the visualiser seems to be just shades of grey for the majority of cases now
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The normalizing effect by resizing remains the same as unimplemented.
(http://i.imgur.com/783gzgm.png)
I'm sorry but I really wonder on what grounds someone would prefer the top to the bottom.
The top looks fuzzy, unnecessarily complicated, and makes it hard to discern where the divider is with all those spikes.
If it's technically impossible to implement the bottom, I'd understand. But if it's possible, please let me understand the rationale behind it. I know I've been repeating the same thing, so this will be last time I'd voice regarding wave bar.
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I prefer the visualiser from 2 updates ago « Reply #170 (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=9126.msg53864#msg53864), the visualiser seems to be just shades of grey for the majority of cases now
Yeah, but sometimes the colors it picked were *way* off.
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Yeah, but sometimes the colors it picked were *way* off.
But I'd take the *way* out purples and eye-watering yellows over the bland greyness of the moment :)
Alexis post with Rod Stewart and mine with Linda Ronstadt, with the blue and red (respectively) visualisers look great.
Surely there's a happy medium somewhere?
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I find myself hitting the bee icon and then 'open playlist' a lot. its actually pretty convenient as it is.
I've only just noticed this, it's actually a much nicer way to browse the playlists than viewing them in the main panel, very handy indeed.
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I'm sorry but I really wonder on what grounds someone would prefer the top to the bottom.
The top looks fuzzy, unnecessarily complicated, and makes it hard to discern where the divider is with all those spikes.
I prefer the top one by a long way. The smoothed out version is misleading to me. As someone who is involved in music production and is used to looking at waveforms I prefer the ability to see all the peaks if they are there. The bottom one is ok for a vague overview (which I understand is what this is really) but I find it hard to see how you would prefer the smoothed out version.
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I'm sorry but I really wonder on what grounds someone would prefer the top to the bottom.
The top looks fuzzy, unnecessarily complicated, and makes it hard to discern where the divider is with all those spikes.
I prefer the top one by a long way. The smoothed out version is misleading to me. As someone who is involved in music production and is used to looking at waveforms I prefer the ability to see all the peaks if they are there. The bottom one is ok for a vague overview (which I understand is what this is really) but I find it hard to see how you would prefer the smoothed out version.
I know what waveform means and how important those peaks are when I edit sound files. But you're not editing sound with compact player, right? If I'd like to see those detailed peaks and spikes, I would use a big wave bar like TM (probably another software), not compact player. And, with the bottom, you're still getting most information the top offers. Besides, this is not just a look but a functionality related issue since that hampers usability of the divider. Don't you feel it looks fuzzy?
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I'm just saying which I prefer and giving you the reasoning behind it as you requested.
I don't know what divider you're talking about. No, I don't think it looks fuzzy, in fact I think the smoothed out version looks fuzzy. I do quite like the smoothed version but I wouldn't use it myself if I had the choice, there is a lot of information that is lost in the example you posted. I often look at the waveform to get an idea of what the mastering is like and how it was done but the smoothed out version completely destroys any information you can get about that. It may be a useful version of the waveform but to me it is very inaccurate and not particularly useful.
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Thanks, you've been quite helpful to understand different perspectives about the matter.
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I find myself hitting the bee icon and then 'open playlist' a lot. its actually pretty convenient as it is.
I've only just noticed this, it's actually a much nicer way to browse the playlists than viewing them in the main panel, very handy indeed.
hadn't actually noticed that myself so scratch that request. love the new small artwork option, i previously only had the artist picture showing as the artwork covered to much.
Yeah, but sometimes the colors it picked were *way* off.
But I'd take the *way* out purples and eye-watering yellows over the bland greyness of the moment :)
i have to agree with Bee-liever, i personally think the more ostentatious colors just added to the look.
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There was a recent question from someone about the 'inner fish bone' of the new wavebar. (can't find it back)
I'm also curious if there is information on that? Is it showing something about dynamics, or frequencies or anything like that?
Would it be possible to disable this 'two-tone' look through skinning?
I'm impressed with how the new compact player turned out.
Very tasteful and smartly done.
PS.
I don't quite understand the designation 'flat layout' for it.
Wouldn't something like 'modern' or 'deluxe' be more fitting or descriptive?
Edit: copied from here (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=9206.msg54078#msg54078)
(my apologies jistme, if this is not where you meant this post to be)
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PS.
I don't quite understand the designation 'flat layout' for it.
Wouldn't something like 'modern' or 'deluxe' be more fitting or descriptive?
I still lean towards "Plus" layout:
it's the "Classic" layout...
plus colour enhancements
plus lyrics
plus Artist pic
plus Artist bio
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There was a recent question from someone about the 'inner fish bone' of the new wavebar. (can't find it back)
I'm also curious if there is information on that? Is it showing something about dynamics, or frequencies or anything like that?
Would it be possible to disable this 'two-tone' look through skinning?
I'm impressed with how the new compact player turned out.
Very tasteful and smartly done.
PS.
I don't quite understand the designation 'flat layout' for it.
Wouldn't something like 'modern' or 'deluxe' be more fitting or descriptive?
Edit: copied from here (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=9206.msg54078#msg54078)
(my apologies jistme, if this is not where you meant this post to be)
When you're right, you're right ;-)
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Steven,
just wanted to let you know the new patch fixed the queue issue and the new visualizer looks great with the blending.
Thanks again for all the hard work on this program.
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- new option to show a smaller album cover (so it doesnt spill into the artist picture like the larger album cover)
It's great there's option to choose the size, however I think the "larger" one right now is muxh smaller than it used to be. Previously it was just all right to admire the cover without doubleclicking it, right now it recquires doubleclick to see the details. So I guess there should be 3 sizes of cover picture to choose : small, medium & large.
EDIT: the large one shouldn't be bigger that it used to be in previous layout though!
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I just found out an alternative compact player mode using playing track tab.
(http://i.imgur.com/yjMQ9S2.png)
Great thing about this is that you can do pretty much everything you can do with main player (of course, it's a minimized main player): auto-hide left navigator, switch between tabs, search box, toolbar buttons, etc.
I wonder if some options like small (and no) artwork can be supported for playing track tab too.
Edit: So usage-wise, this is basically activating compact player as a tab in main player.
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I'm very pleased with the changes in the wavebar and other improvements in the 2.1.4827 dev build. Congratulations :)
A sorting function for now playing list in this view and an easier way to switch to the Classic view (as suggested above) are the only things I miss to find the current development stage fully functional.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- the new compact player layout is now labeled as "modern" layout rather than "flat" layout
- artist images can now be set to rotate - they are retrieved from your artist artwork folder, htbackdrops, fanart.tv, last.fm, and when that has exhausted from flickr
- MB will now retrieve multiple artist pictures from the artist artwork folder (set in Tags(1) preferences) - the files need start with the artist name eg. "Anika.jpg", "Anika_2.png" etc where "Anika.jpg" would be used if artist picture rotation is not enabled
- you can directly paste a clipboard image into the artist artwork folder (it overwrites the primary picture only): right click/ Paste Artwork
- if no artist picture is found, the album cover is used instead
- i've removed the flattening of colours for the visualiser and some tweaks to the background colour picker and artwork cropping/ scaling
- when configured to show small album covers, the track information is now aligned to the bottom of the album cover
- right click in the Now Playing list/ List/ Sort By if you need to sort the now playing list by one of the displayed fields
- quite a few bug fixes
- i experimented with putting a circle around the Play button but it doesnt work well unless the player panel height is increased so i havent done that
- i dont think i will integrate library navigation directly into the compact player as the layout is too small
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Looks like you've done quite a lot improvements. Thanks a lot especially for implementing artist picture related wishes!
I just tried pasting and rotating pictures, and it worked flawlessly.
Regarding this,
- you can directly paste a clipboard image into the artist artwork folder (it overwrites the primary picture only): right click/ Paste Artwork
when clicking on Paste Artwork, how about opening, instead of confirmation dialog, standard file browser dialog with cursor on the filename for Save As? Then the user could either just press enter for a primary picture or append "_number" to the filename for additional pictures.
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Thank you very much for the sorting option and other improvements with the latest development build. :)
Compact Player looks really great, but what is worth mentioning is that most visual improvements introduced for the New Compact Player are applicable for other layouts (ie. Classic Player) as well. Well done! 8)
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- the new compact player layout is now labeled as "modern" layout rather than "flat" layout
- artist images can now be set to rotate - they are retrieved from your artist artwork folder, htbackdrops, fanart.tv, last.fm, and when that has exhausted from flickr
- MB will now retrieve multiple artist pictures from the artist artwork folder (set in Tags(1) preferences) - the files need start with the artist name eg. "Anika.jpg", "Anika_2.png" etc where "Anika.jpg" would be used if artist picture rotation is not enabled
- you can directly paste a clipboard image into the artist artwork folder (it overwrites the primary picture only): right click/ Paste Artwork
- if no artist picture is found, the album cover is used instead
- i've removed the flattening of colours for the visualiser and some tweaks to the background colour picker and artwork cropping/ scaling
- when configured to show small album covers, the track information is now aligned to the bottom of the album cover
- right click in the Now Playing list/ List/ Sort By if you need to sort the now playing list by one of the displayed fields
- quite a few bug fixes
- i experimented with putting a circle around the Play button but it doesnt work well unless the player panel height is increased so i havent done that
- i dont think i will integrate library navigation directly into the compact player as the layout is too small
WOW! Awesome work on all of this. I've already had the artist photo rotation and pasting functions working to great effect. Just one question: is there any way to exclude a picture, if you don't want it in the rotation anymore?
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Just one question: is there any way to exclude a picture, if you don't want it in the rotation anymore?
that isnt supported
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- i have changed the paste artist picture to open the windows "file save as" dialog as suggested so that makes it easier to add multiple pictures
- when there are multiple pictures, it now chooses one at random as the first picture (rather than the primary picture only as before)
- also put in some handling so the rotation is not reset on resizing or saving settings as before
- if you have no artist picture configured to be displayed (ie album cover only), then the Bio tab will now include an artist picture
if anyone has any further suggestions about reducing the need to go back to the main player then i will consider but as mentioned i am not planning on putting in full library navigation from the compact player as the layout can be too small
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Just one question, is the new compact layout the default layout? If not, why? IMO it looks much better than the old layout and new users won't immediately know that a modern "better" layout exists as well. Personally I never used the old compact player because I found it kinda ugly and limited, but now I keep using the new one all the time.
Opinions?
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it will be the new default - i havent done that yet, but it would only apply for people who start with MB v2.1
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it will be the new default - i havent done that yet, but it would only apply for people who start with MB v2.1
ok, cool :)
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Thanks a lot! Now it's quite easy to save multiple pictures for artists.
With some tests, I found these:
1. For secondary pictures, filename need to start with artist name following by any character other than alphabets and numbers.
2. If there's no primary picture but only secondary pictures in artist picture folder, MB won't read them. (Is this intended?)
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artist picture rotation is a great addition and i love the way the visualizer changes color with the artist picture change.
one question though, is it possible to set the artist artwork folder as the only source for the artist picture rotation?
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one question though, is it possible to set the artist artwork folder as the only source for the artist picture rotation?
just to clarify why im asking is because when your dealing with lesser know bands and artists you get some very strange pictures which have nothing to do with the band.
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artist picture rotation is a great addition and i love the way the visualizer changes color with the artist picture change.
Yes, indeed. :) The new compact player is even better than I expected when I saw this idea for the first time.
This is now my default layout for MB. In case someone was interested, this is very simple to do:
set MB to minimise to compact player and start minimised in the Preferences.
Really great work Steven! :) Thank you very much!
The only reason why I go back to Main Player view is to choose what to play.
if anyone has any further suggestions about reducing the need to go back to the main player then i will consider but as mentioned i am not planning on putting in full library navigation from the compact player as the layout can be too small
IMHO, a full library navigation (or filtered folder navigation at least) could be added to the compact player the same way as Now Playing List but with auto-hide option enabled by default.. That wouldn't clutter the GUI, yet allowing for an easier navigation.
Just enable album and tracks and auto-hide options for now playing list in compact player layout preferences and have a look how comfortable it works.
I'm sure a Library navigation implemented this way would be very comfortable too.
I guess wide-screen monitors and resolutions are more and more popular these days, so it seems worth considering.
one question though, is it possible to set the artist artwork folder as the only source for the artist picture rotation?
It would be great option, especially when no internet connection is established.
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one question though, is it possible to set the artist artwork folder as the only source for the artist picture rotation?
just to clarify why im asking is because when your dealing with lesser know bands and artists you get some very strange pictures which have nothing to do with the band.
i would think that comes from flickr, so maybe just the option of disabling flickr might be a better approach otherwise just using your own pictures for rotation would be quite limiting to the majority of people
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View> Visualizer> Artist Picture Settings menu disappeared?
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There was a recent question from someone about the 'inner fish bone' of the new wavebar. (can't find it back)
I'm also curious if there is information on that? Is it showing something about dynamics, or frequencies or anything like that?
- Would it be possible to disable this 'two-tone' look through skinning?
Bump
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thanks for the major improvements Steven.
I still think that would like to see something different with the transition from the artist information area to the artist picture.
For some images it is a sharp divider and others faded. (I gather it becomes faded when there is scaling or filling out involved from something you did earlier).. I think I would lust like to see some more consistency there.
Actually, it almost would seem that from the automatic color adjustments you have in place, the bar for the text could remain somewhat transparent, if at all present.
I am assuming that the idea of having those bars was to have a background to make the text as well as the visualizer visible, no matter what background the artist picture has. But with the auto color adjustments, is that still necessary?
(http://i47.tinypic.com/20sw09l.jpg)
(http://i48.tinypic.com/14n02zm.jpg)
(http://i48.tinypic.com/2075g84.jpg)
(http://i45.tinypic.com/qn8pba.jpg)
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There was a recent question from someone about the 'inner fish bone' of the new wavebar. (can't find it back)
I'm also curious if there is information on that? Is it showing something about dynamics, or frequencies or anything like that?
- Would it be possible to disable this 'two-tone' look through skinning?
Bump
I am the one that asked this question but removed it because I gathered it was evident that it was more of a reflection of the outer edges (After observing it for a while), and thought it looks rather nice, affording much customization later on... and so I removed the question.
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Ah, I can stop doubting my searching capabilities ;-)
Still curious, since the inner fish bone seems not always consistent with the outer. (I believe you also made some screenshots about that).
If it indeed is no indicator of anything specific, I'd like to be able to disable it through skinning.
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Ha. Sorry.
I think actually that the images I posted were what answered my questions as they showed that it is adaptive to the outer edges. It is compressed when the wave is thin and more expanded when the wave is wide.
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congratulations steven. this has come so far in a very short time. what an amazing addition to musicbee.
one quick (and probbably very dumb!) question: in some of the images posted above, the shuffle button appears next to the volume indicator. i don't have that and can't figure out how to get it there!?
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There was a recent question from someone about the 'inner fish bone' of the new wavebar. (can't find it back)
I'm also curious if there is information on that? Is it showing something about dynamics, or frequencies or anything like that?
- Would it be possible to disable this 'two-tone' look through skinning?
its mostly visual effect but it reflects the deviation of the peak energy levels vs the average. So if the gap is wider then it means there is more variation and if its close then the peak and average are similar. I will add a skin element in the next few days
I still think that would like to see something different with the transition from the artist information area to the artist picture.
For some images it is a sharp divider and others faded. (I gather it becomes faded when there is scaling or filling out involved from something you did earlier).. I think I would lust like to see some more consistency there.
Actually, it almost would seem that from the automatic color adjustments you have in place, the bar for the text could remain somewhat transparent, if at all present.
I am assuming that the idea of having those bars was to have a background to make the text as well as the visualizer visible, no matter what background the artist picture has. But with the auto color adjustments, is that still necessary?
this has been bugging me as well - i've decided to get rid of the blurring effect (i know some of you like it but to me its not fitting in with the overall look), but for the small album picture layout there will always be a solid semi-transparent bar. It does mean that for some pictures more will be cropped than now.
For the large album layout, it will always be a solid colour ie. no overlap between the track info and the picture - reason being is the album cover will cover less of the artist picture
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View> Visualizer> Artist Picture Settings menu disappeared?
So where is it now?
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What would it look like if the edge of the background bar was just with a tight/narrow blur.. just to soften the hard line where there will be one?
(http://i46.tinypic.com/2yplv7n.jpg)
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View> Visualizer> Artist Picture Settings menu disappeared?
i have removed it ie. its always using last.fm and flickr, but now i will add an option from the compact player to remove flickr. I wont add back in the option from the artist visualiser menus, but it will respect the same setting
What would it look like if the edge of the background bar was just with a tight/narrow blur.. just to soften the hard line where there will be one?
have a look at the new way and if you and others still feel its better with some blurring then i will reconsider
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have a look at the new way and if you and others still feel its better with some blurring then i will reconsider
Sounds good. Looking forward t it.
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its mostly visual effect but it reflects the deviation of the peak energy levels vs the average. So if the gap is wider then it means there is more variation and if its close then the peak and average are similar. I will add a skin element in the next few days
Thnx for clarifying, I had some hunch about it but couldn't put the finger on it.
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its always using last.fm and flickr
Does that mean now it has less sources, i.e. less varieties?
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it is still using htbackdrops and fanart.tv - now only flickr can be disabled
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Congrats Steven, the 'Modern' compact player looks really good. (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-gen078.gif) (http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php)
(I do wish it hadn't been at the expense of the old Now Playing tab view, as that was my preferred main view :'( - the price of progress I guess)
Being able to embed the displayed artist pic via the right click menu would enhance the current clipboard paste option (IMHO)
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(I do wish it hadn't been at the expense of the old Now Playing tab view, as that was my preferred main view :'( - the price of progress I guess)
can you be more specific? the only thing about the old Now Playing tab that i can think is different is the visualiser
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it is still using htbackdrops and fanart.tv - now only flickr can be disabled
That's relieving. Thanks for clarifying!
Being able to embed the displayed artist pic via the right click menu would enhance the current clipboard paste option (IMHO)
+1
Although there's workaround for that using visualizer, that would be more convenient. Perhaps "Copy Artwork" menu item?
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(I do wish it hadn't been at the expense of the old Now Playing tab view, as that was my preferred main view :'( - the price of progress I guess)
can you be more specific? the only thing about the old Now Playing tab that i can think is different is the visualiser
Yep. The visualiser and the handling of the Artist pics. I now it's because the compact player is used more in a 'portrait' view and the tab is a 'landscape' view, so it's a juggle to get a good view in both. (and I do appreciate that you already made some changes to address this)
I would also have said the blurring effect but I know you are already making changes with that. Looking forward to see what the result will be.
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Yep. The visualiser
I should have also said, I think it's because the narrow visualiser is to small, in relation to the other elements, for the larger tab view
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if anyone has any further suggestions about reducing the need to go back to the main player then i will consider but as mentioned i am not planning on putting in full library navigation from the compact player as the layout can be too small
Here is my proposal regarding that.
1. Search box always visible on the top of now playing list, and it searches everything across filters and nodes (including inbox)
2. Right-clicking on search box lists nodes, filters and playlists for easy switch
3. Currently navigating playlists via "open playlists" is not easy due to multiple folder structures. It would be more convenient it just lists all playlists in single level like "Folk\Bob Dylan"
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- option to disable flickr from artist picture rotation
- right click/ Save Artist Picture to permanently save the current artist picture
- tweaks to the picture sizing/ track information bar as described above
- increase size of the visualiser for the "Playing Track" tab
- a couple of bug fixes
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Amazing! It gets looking better everyday. This compact player should be the main picture for MB homepage. This new layout will attract lots of new users to MB. Great job!
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Thank you Steven!
1. Thanks for making the bar height more dependent on the amount of text. :)
2. I can see why it would be difficult to go without a bar, because there are times when i notice that some text overlapped areas in the picture that are the same color of the text and without the bar, would not be visible.
3. Regarding the blurring.. so far I think this is fine as is.
4. I was gonna suggest making the bar opaque throughout as you have it for the large album art, but realized that some folks would have a lot of text in that area that could cause chopping off of the artist picture.
So all in all. I guess right now i have no further suggestions but to say thank you very much
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Yep. The visualiser
I should have also said, I think it's because the narrow visualiser is to small, in relation to the other elements, for the larger tab view
Thanks Steven for the update
That was it. The taller visualiser in "Playing Track" tab balances it out. Looks great.
Will you be implementing the 'colour change' from the 'Modern' layout for the visualiser or re-implementing the override:
<element id="NowPlayingPanel.SpectrumVisualiser" fg="180,244,168,204" fg2="120,221,245,197" />
at a later date?
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Actually..
.... If allowing the artist picture to fill the top bar is in the cards at some point. I think that because there are really no functions on that bar besides the musicbee icon menu options and maximize/min/close.. those could be blended in somehow... yeah.. 'somehow' so that that everything looks more 'free' above the play bar.
But additionally, when the artist picture has to have a border on the side because of the scale, I think that that option would further add to the appearance. If anyone thinks differently, please feel free to let me know what I am overlooking (besides whether or not it can be done.. of if Steven would).
So an image like what you see below would actually find the musicbee icon menu options and maximize/min/close inside that square that came with that image.
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You mean like this?
(http://i.imgur.com/damcxXx.png)
IMO the right one looks better and cleaner. How about mouse-over top border? Would it be possible?
Or you could implement sort of compact full-screen mode that can exit by pressing esc.
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IMO the right one looks better and cleaner. How about mouse-over top border? Would it be possible?
Or you could implement sort of compact full-screen mode that can exit by pressing esc.
+1
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You mean like this?
Thank you so much. Absolutely!!
Pardon my ignorance, but did you crop that or something... or were you actually able to produce that in the real thing?
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You mean like this?
Thank you so much. Absolutely!!
Pardon my ignorance, but did you crop that or something... or were you actually able to produce that in the real thing?
Of course it's a mockup. I love the idea!
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Just my thought...
As I said earlier, I think this new look has a great potential to change the typical impression about MB: good organizer, manager, versatile features, but no mention about the look. Now this will change that for good.
I think probably there are much more people out there who are looking for a simple, lightweight, good-looking music player, with no concern about organizing and managing music files. To them this new look will have a huge appeal.
I'm thinking to the point that maybe this could be a default mode of MB. Main player mode can be an extended layout for more "advanced" users. Yeah, I know, the real strength of MB lies in its amazing organizing/managing ability, but they could find it later.
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First of all regarding the new changes, whilst I was a fan of the 'blur' effect, the new version with its clear division of the transparency is actually much cleaner and I agree with this choice completely. It looks great. I will say however, that whilst this new approach always looks great with the small cover artwork option, it works less well with large cover art. If you use large cover art and get a landscape orientated artist picture, the solid block of colour you are left with below can be a little jarring. I think i preferred this case with the blur effect.
Second, and sorry to repeat my earlier post, but I really want the shuffle button visible in the player bar (as can be seen in redwings image/mockup a few posts back). I do not have this, just the volume button, and cannot figure out how to make it appear!
Last, I use MB on a low-res laptop (1366x768) and run into the issue shown below with the new compact player preferences menu. The 'Apply/Save/Close' buttons disappear below the windows taskbar and are only (just) pressable by dragging the menu as high as possible. Could the menu be split somehow to avoid this?
(http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/9361/menuresolutionissue.jpg)
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Someone may be able to help you better, but do me a favor please if you can and and just click once in the area it is supposed to be. If it does not show up, right-click in that area and select it from the drop down menu and see. . I stumbled upon it myself, so curious to see what you get.
(I tried responding from my phone but the text went all over the place.)
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Thanks Alexis, tried clicking the area where it is supposed to be and it does indeed toggle shuffle on and off. The button is just not drawing then? Tried switching to the default skin to see if my skin was the problem but still no luck... Right-clicking brings up the mini-menu as it should but does not get the button to show itself!
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Second, and sorry to repeat my earlier post, but I really want the shuffle button visible in the player bar (as can be seen in redwings image/mockup a few posts back). I do not have this, just the volume button, and cannot figure out how to make it appear!
It's really complicated and should be sorted out properly.
1. Go to main player mode and open right panel.
2. Double click on Now Playing list header and you will see a compact player shape floating window.
3. Right click on it> Customize panel settings> and tick "show all player controls"
4. Change to modern layout and you will see the shuffle icon back.
Currently the option is grayed out in classic compact player mode.
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Hooray! Thank you redwing, thats done the trick. Very glad to have the problem solved but that is pretty convoluted. Hopefully this can be made a little more straightforward at some point.
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Hooray! Thank you redwing, thats done the trick. Very glad to have the problem solved but that is pretty convoluted. Hopefully this can be made a little more straightforward at some point.
You're welcome.
I think the following points deserve some consideration.
1. Whether to allow, as current, two players (along with top/bottom player) visible and usable in main player mode such as side players and that "pseudo" compact player. Personally I don't see the point of allowing that.
2. Too many access points to "Now Playing layout configuration" pane, and each route shows slightly different visible/available options with little consistency. More importantly, some settings are not respected when accessed and saved from different access points.
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Last, I use MB on a low-res laptop (1366x768) and run into the issue shown below with the new compact player preferences menu. The 'Apply/Save/Close' buttons disappear below the windows taskbar and are only (just) pressable by dragging the menu as high as possible. Could the menu be split somehow to avoid this?
i had the same problem, i had to hide the task bar to hit 'Apply/Save/Close' buttons but since the latest patch i can no longer see the buttons at all even when dragging the panel up as far as possible.
(http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/401/nonameap.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/705/nonameap.png/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
with regards to the random picture during rotation - disabling flicker has stopped all the completely random pictures appearing but there are still a lot of album covers and band related posters coming up as well but it is a big improvement on before for more obscure bands.
the compact player just keeps getting better. thanks for all the work.
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IMO the right one looks better and cleaner. How about mouse-over top border? Would it be possible?
Or you could implement sort of compact full-screen mode that can exit by pressing esc.
+1
+1
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A wish, and a suggestion for the new compact player.
- I've grown very accustomed to having the player controls on the right side in my skins.
I would really appreciate if there was the option to place the player controls on the right side in the compact player too.
- Could be nice to have the option to have a clean floating view of the artist picture uncropped when double clicking it.
(the same as is possible with album covers)
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(http://i.imgur.com/damcxXx.png)
i really like the way the picture on the right looks.
apologies if this was discussed earlier in the thread but what do people think about stretching the visualizer the whole way across when the right panel is open. the left picture is the current layout, the right is the proposed change.
(http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/183/noname1k.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/109/noname1k.png/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
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apologies if this was discussed earlier in the thread but what do people think about stretching the visualizer the whole way across when the right panel is open. the left picture is the current layout, the right is the proposed change.
Yup, I suggested this a couple of times. :) Although I think it wouldn't work well unless the side panel is specifically coordinated with the rest of the player (which I also think should be done).
Last, I use MB on a low-res laptop (1366x768) and run into the issue shown below with the new compact player preferences menu. The 'Apply/Save/Close' buttons disappear below the windows taskbar and are only (just) pressable by dragging the menu as high as possible. Could the menu be split somehow to avoid this?
i had the same problem, i had to hide the task bar to hit 'Apply/Save/Close' buttons but since the latest patch i can no longer see the buttons at all even when dragging the panel up as far as possible.
I've struggled with this as well, including the Now Playing settings from the main player. My taskbar is on the right side of the screen, but it's still a tight squeeze.
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Request:
Since the wavebar does not show for the streaming music.. is it possible to have the progressbar be populated when streaming? Like right now i have an addiction to the wavebar, so the progressbar is not visible..... but when streaming, there is no progressbar or wavebar.
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Since the wavebar does not show for the streaming music.. is it possible to have the progressbar be populated when streaming? Like right now I have an addiction to the wavebar, so the progressbar is not visible..... but when streaming, there is no progressbar or wavebar.
+1
A general comment related to the "modern" compact player and skins: I think, given the limited amount that skins affect the compact player, that it needs to be skin independent, or somehow skinning needs to work differently with the compact player. Certainly everything except for the border and player controls should be matched to the rest of the player, like the sidebars/pop-ups. Maybe skinning could just be optional for the compact player.
If people really want a specific skinned look for the compact player, there's still Theater Mode. Otherwise, I think people will be discouraged from using colorful skins that may clash with the ever-changing compact player. I stopped using Darknight Blue in favor of a neutral-colored skin for exactly that reason (well, and the fact that with the spectrum visualizer already skin-independent, it took away the biggest attraction of Darknight Blue, the firey-looking visualizer).
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A general comment related to the "modern" compact player and skins: I think, given the limited amount that skins affect the compact player, that it needs to be skin independent, or somehow skinning needs to work differently with the compact player. Certainly everything except for the border and player controls should be matched to the rest of the player, like the sidebars/pop-ups. Maybe skinning could just be optional for the compact player.
If people really want a specific skinned look for the compact player, there's still Theater Mode. Otherwise, I think people will be discouraged from using colorful skins that may clash with the ever-changing compact player. I stopped using Darknight Blue in favor of a neutral-colored skin for exactly that reason (well, and the fact that with the spectrum visualizer already skin-independent, it took away the biggest attraction of Darknight Blue, the firey-looking visualizer).
Sounds like I lost a big fan to new compact player :D You made valid points, but I think still there's a plenty of room for colorful skins to fill with new compact player layout. I tried all different kinds of skins for the compact player, and each gives a different look and feel via border color, player background color and wave bar color.
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Hooray! Thank you redwing, thats done the trick. Very glad to have the problem solved but that is pretty convoluted. Hopefully this can be made a little more straightforward at some point.
it was a bug thats now fixed
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i have added "Player.Wavebar.Inner" to override the colour of the inner part of the wavebar where you set fg and fg2 like the "Player.Wavebar" element. Its in the next update
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i have added "Player.Wavebar.Inner" to override the colour of the inner part of the wavebar where you set fg and fg2 like the "Player.Wavebar" element. Its in the next update
That is indeed working now in Compact Player, but it has no effect on the wavebar in the Now Playing panel in the main window.
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The only reason why I go back to Main Player view is to choose what to play.
if anyone has any further suggestions about reducing the need to go back to the main player then i will consider but as mentioned i am not planning on putting in full library navigation from the compact player as the layout can be too small
IMHO, a full library navigation (or filtered folder navigation at least) could be added to the compact player the same way as Now Playing List but with auto-hide option enabled by default.. That wouldn't clutter the GUI, yet allowing for an easier navigation.
Just enable album and tracks and auto-hide options for now playing list in compact player layout preferences and have a look how comfortable it works.
I'm sure a Library navigation implemented this way would be very comfortable too.
I guess wide-screen monitors and resolutions are more and more popular these days, so it seems worth considering.
A later thought about this:
Solving the problem as it was described above would be a good idea if modern Compact Player view is allowed in a full screen view.
If not, what about enhancing a Quick Track menu from the tray icon ???
It could be more usable not only for Compact Player.
When you select Artist, Album or Genre from there, now playing list is cleared, but perhaps an option to append tracks/albums form there to the current playlist would meet most user's needs when Compact Player view is used ???
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this should speed up reloading an artist picture on resizing, tweaked the colour picker so it should be more consistent with picture resizing (and faster) and a couple of fixes:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i do plan to look at creating a progressive wavebar for web-files, although i am not sure what could be done for radio streams that dont provide any notifications. I might look at an option for having no window borders.
after that i think that will be it with this new player for a while
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tweaked the colour picker so it should be more consistent with picture resizing (and faster)
Thanks Steven
Seems to be working great, with much less colour changing on resizing
but the visualiser seems to have lost the bright colours again and has gone back to being predominately grey shades :(
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i have added "Player.Wavebar.Inner" to override the colour of the inner part of the wavebar where you set fg and fg2 like the "Player.Wavebar" element. Its in the next update
I noticed this element is now working and gives plenty of room for customization. Is this the only new skin element regarding new compact player, or you are planning to add or adjust some more elements for skinners?
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@ Alexis
That was quick! I was just replying to you and your post disappeared :)
Would you please check your Rod Stewart view to see if still have the blue visualiser, as I no longer get the red one with Linda Ronstadt
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but the visualiser seems to have lost the bright colours again and has gone back to being predominately grey shades :(
nothing has been changed with how it sets the visualiser colour in relation to the chosen background colour and in my tests i dont see much difference
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@ Steven
My mistake. I think it was from the previous change to the blending of the track info area and I didn't notice it. Linda's picture now doesn't extend behind the info area, so I'd say MB doesn't read the same part of the pic it did before to get the red. No problems.
@ Alexis
Thanks for checking. No need for the image as I understand why your still getting the blue and I don't get the red
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this should speed up reloading an artist picture on resizing, tweaked the colour picker so it should be more consistent with picture resizing (and faster) and a couple of fixes:
Great improvement in resizing! No annoying spinning icon any more.
Not sure working on volume control is still in your to-do-list, but I noticed whatever actual volume level is, the volume icon looks the same even when volume level is zero. It's consistent with the current flat-layout main player, but now the bar is hidden so it can be misleading at times.
Edit: Actually the problem is deeper than that. The following pics of volume control for both modes are all wrong.
(http://i.imgur.com/0zWjkoS.png)
So it seems currently volume icon responds only to clicking on it for mute function, but not to any move of slide bar.
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Thank you very much for the improvements and fixes :) Version 2.1.4834 works really great!
I'd like to mention that MB retrieves different Artist Pictures depending on how the same Artist (Album Artist) name was filled: 'Name_Surname' gives different results than the same 'Surname_Name' (tested with Artists' names written Cyrillic though).
How about using both variants at once ??? That would be useful for auto-tagging as well!
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- reverted to the old colour picker algorithm as i dont think the new one was working as well overall
- wavebar box is displayed for web streams
- wavebar is reloaded on resize
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Working well for me Steven..
I see what you mean by wavebar box also. Thank you very much.
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reverted to the old colour picker algorithm as i dont think the new one was working as well overall
Yah-oo! Linda has the red visualiser back :)
On the the idea of 'Modern' being the default view for MB, for that I think you need quick access to all the player bar settings from the current main view. So here is a mock-up suggestion for that:
(http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/3568/contrlclosed.jpg)
remove the shuffle button and replace with a panel access icon, clicking on which collapses the wavebar, creating room for all the controls:
(http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4070/contrlopen.jpg)
hit 'close panel' and the wavebar reverts back to normal view.
I thought this might be achievable now as
- wavebar is reloaded on resize
Regardless, I do think the auto-play action needs to be added to the shuffle button as per the main player panel
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Regarding rotate artist picture setting,
(http://i.imgur.com/QQCmkKa.png)
I don't see the point of listing web sources that are not configurable. And I'd like to have an option of disabling all web sources, not just flickr.com. How about giving just one option "web sources": if it's ticked, then MB rotates custom + web pictures; if unticked, only custom pictures.
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Curious...are you saying that you have local pictures for all your artists? If so, that is amazing to me. Isn't that Hard? By the way, you remember why he enabled the option to uncheck flicker...the results it was returning?
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Curious...are you saying that you have local pictures for all your artists? If so, that is amazing to me. Isn't that Hard?
Don't get why you're saying such a thing. It's about limiting sources for "rotating," not for "showing." If there's no custom artist pics, MB would retrieve one just like when rotate option was unticked.
By the way, you remember why he enabled the option to uncheck flicker...the results it was returning?
What was requested originally was the ability to run sort of "custom gallery" without web sources. But it was replaced with option to disable flickr.com only. This was why.
one question though, is it possible to set the artist artwork folder as the only source for the artist picture rotation?
just to clarify why im asking is because when your dealing with lesser know bands and artists you get some very strange pictures which have nothing to do with the band.
i would think that comes from flickr, so maybe just the option of disabling flickr might be a better approach otherwise just using your own pictures for rotation would be quite limiting to the majority of people
What I want is not just less variety by disabling one source but complete control of what's showing when rotate option is ticked. If you have many obscure artists that results in wrong pics, you wouldn't want the rotate option ticked. Also you can't exclude some occasional horrible web pictures with the current option. Then what's the point of building custom pics library?
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@Redwing,
Thank you and forgive me if it appears as anything but a sincere question for the sake of learning. Though I have been using MB for a while now, a LOT of things about it go over my head. Do not assume I know what may appear as the obvious :).
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@Redwing,
Thank you and forgive me if it appears as anything but a sincere question for the sake of learning. Though I have been using MB for a while now, a LOT of things about it go over my head. Do not assume I know what may appear as the obvious :).
That's OK.
BTW if some people prefer the current option, making each source tickable could be a better option, if possible. Then unticking all would rotate custom pics only.
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So the compact player is default view now? Will the other view still be available?
Will you be releasing this version on the Beta channel Steven or keeping it in this thread til the next full release? I haven't yet tried it because I'm happy with the last beta, but if this is stable at the moment I'd switch over just to see.
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So the compact player is default view now?
Not at the moment. It's only been suggested as a possibility.
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Regarding empty rows in track info display,
1. When row span is two, the field always occupies two rows regardless of actual length of value. It doesn't look good with an empty line in the middle. Would it be possible to make the meaning of row span as maximum, not as reserved?
2. When a field is empty with if or isnull function, remaining values are going up, which is good; but it leaves an empty line at the bottom. Can this empty line removed?
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Some observations about the current right sidebar:
<Now Playing list>
1. Search box is not displayed most time when clicking on "text search" (bug). Also when clicking on "text search" command, now playing list gets hidden and shows lyrics instead, if the place of the command happens to be outside of right sidebar (auto-hide mode).
2. If you right click on the area where text search box should be displayed, selecting "Customize panel setting" opens up classic compact player settings pane (bug).
3. Even when sorted by other fields, search by typing always works for title field. Cannot find a way to search for artist by typing.
4. When lyrics pane is disabled, the width of now playing list (auto-hide mode) is about two-thirds of the whole window. But when lyrics pane is enabled, it's the same as the width of lyrics pane. This makes sense aesthetically, but not efficient functionally. If you have set up more than two fields for now playing list, then you have to adjust right sidebar to read now playing list. How about making the width of now playing list consistent regardless of whether lyrics pane is enabled?
<Lyrics pane>
Artist pane and Now Playing list can be auto hidden, but not for lyrics pane. This makes it hard to open and close lyrics pane. Currently it requires four mouse clicks. How about offering a right-click menu item of "open/close lyrics pane" that has the same effect as ticking "show lyrics" option in configuration pane?
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<Lyrics pane>
Artist pane and Now Playing list can be auto hidden, but not for lyrics pane. This makes it hard to open and close lyrics pane. Currently it requires four mouse clicks. How about offering a right-click menu item of "open/close lyrics pane" that has the same effect as ticking "show lyrics" option in configuration pane?
I would much rather have lyrics as the left panel auto-hide than bio. But a right click item would be an improvement, definitely.
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As seen in most of the images I have posted.. I really like having the artist information on a single row.problem: It s not possible to have star rating stars on the same row.. when I try to add rating, it is converted to a number.. so if a track is rated 5 stars, it would show up as a number figure 5. show a5. if no rating, it will show text 'No rating'
Request: The ability to populate it with rating ' stars' the same way it would appear if I added the stars on a separate row.
Advance thanks.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
the following changes:
- you can now auto-hide any of the right sidebar components - now all of them popup from the right side
- some improvements to the layout of the track info as requested by redwing (not the star rating request from Alexis)
- the now playing panel stays in focus (so when you type text the find text panel opens)
- the shuffle button now toggles to the auto-dj mode the same as the main player
- this version also contains substantial reworking of the artwork display caching and should work better now with radio streams if you have artwork set for the radio station, and should work better with artwork for web-files when used between the Theater Mode and Compact Player, as well as more efficient internal handing. Same for the lyrics handling.
Although the artwork and lyrics handling has been tested quite a bit, I suggest you keep a copy of MusicBee.exe handy in case there is an annoying bug with that.
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Thanks a lot for the improvement!
Just a few quick observations:
1. Handling of row span improved, but leaves empty rows at the bottom. Can these be removed, too?
2. To make the new auto-hide lyrics panel useful, its width should be the same as that of open mode. Currently it's too wide.
3. Column width adjustment for now playing list is not working properly.
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Just a few quick observations:
1. Handling of row span improved, but leaves empty rows at the bottom. Can these be removed, too?
2. To make the new auto-hide lyrics panel useful, its width should be the same as that of open mode. Currently it's too wide.
3. Column width adjustment for now playing list is not working properly.
1. working fine for me - perhaps you formula has some spaces?
3. working fine for me - can you be more specific about how it is not working properly
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Just a few quick observations:
1. Handling of row span improved, but leaves empty rows at the bottom. Can these be removed, too?
2. To make the new auto-hide lyrics panel useful, its width should be the same as that of open mode. Currently it's too wide.
3. Column width adjustment for now playing list is not working properly.
1. working fine for me - perhaps you formula has some spaces?
3. working fine for me - can you be more specific about how it is not working properly
1. My request of #2 was perfectly implemented. But regarding #1 when row span is more than one, it now leaves empty rows at the bottom, instead of in the middle.
3. Adjusting the width of each field by dragging mouse in configuration pane has no effect.
Edit: One more thing, text search box is still not visible.
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I had weird behavior with the Now Playing list, too: on first updating, with title and artist columns, it had both columns spread out and a non-skinned scrollbar showing at the bottom. Turning auto-hide off and then back on seemed to fix it.
Thanks for making the lyrics hide-able, Steven!
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Maybe I should be clearer about what I am requesting to avoid any rework and to hear other users' opinions.
(http://i.imgur.com/S03luTi.png)
Top left is the current open-mode lyrics panel, while top right is current hidden-mode.
But even if lyrics panel becomes narrower, if it looks like bottom picture, it won't be much useful.
I'd like left panel to resize when hidden lyrics panel is open, so it would look the exact same as open-mode (top left).
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I don't know that the picture needs to be adjusted, but it would be nice if the auto-hide panel had some kind of resizing control.
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I have to say that I am thankful that the decision was made to go with a spectrum visualizer that adjusts to the artist picture color. really keeps the element interesting.
One thing I would like at some point though.. and I am sure we will be able to do that when skinning, so no big deal.. but fwiw, would be nice to adjust the height of the visualizer. I see myself at times wanting it to be taller... but at times happy it is the size it is.
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A minor annoyance:
Settings pane always opens up completely covering compact player, which makes it almost impossible to see the effect on the layout by adjusting each setting. So I drag and move the pane to the left or right, but next time it covers again. Would it be possible to make it not to cover or remember its last position? Thanks.
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How to color volume icon and volume slider for compact player? Can't find a way to do that. Any of PlayerSidebar.Volume, PlayerSidebar.VolumeButton, PlayerSidebar.VolumeSlider elements doesn't work.
Edit: Never mind. Found it.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- the visualiser height can now be adjusted
- the popup window size should now consistently set to the same size as when displayed in the right panel
- fields width adjustments in the config dialog should now always update
- fixed bug with album artwork rotation
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- the visualiser height can now be adjusted
- the popup window size should now consistently set to the same size as when displayed in the right panel
- fields width adjustments in the config dialog should now always update
- fixed bug with album artwork rotation
Thanks for the updates! I like having the ability to set the visualizer size.
Unfortunately, the pop-up resizing doesn't work correctly because when the right panel is open, the whole window has a slightly larger minimum size than when the panel is hidden. If I adjust the size, put it in auto-hide mode, and then minimize the window, the pop-up ends up a smaller size than I set it to.
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can you show a screenshot as it works fine for me
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LOVE LOVE LOVE the visualizer resizing. THANKS! THAT is nice!
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can you show a screenshot as it works fine for me
Panel open with window minimum size:
(http://i.imgur.com/WRI03FT.png?1)
Pop up with window minimum size:
(http://i.imgur.com/Zj32rDg.png?1)
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if you resize the window then the popup scales in the same way as it is displayed in the main panel, however i will see if i can make a change to account for the smaller minimum window size allowed if nothing is displayed in the right panel
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I think I don't understand what you're saying about the main panel. Why would the pop-up be resized when it's in auto-hide mode?
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
updated with tweak to auto-hide panel width
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re-uploaded it with a correction to the artwork handling
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updated with tweak to auto-hide panel width
Awesome, thanks! I did finally figure out what you meant. This looks great.
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Cameleon player background color as an option:
- As a picture changes, colors of player background, wave bar, player control all change to look nice all together.
- This would definitely make an eye-catching feature along with Alexis's proposed top-border-collapsed view.
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@redwing
Can you confirm that the bugs mentioned in reply #316 are fixed for you ???
If not, could you post them in the Bug reports topic:
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=9188.60
It would be easier for Steven to find it there.
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dunno if it was on purpose or not, but with "small picture" of album cover the Track Info panel is transparent, while after selecting "larger picture" option, the Track Info panel gets opaque.
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Like anybody else here I enjoy the new 'modern' compact a lot.
I only wish before reaching some 'final' status we can have the trusted volume control back. The new one in my opinion is not an improvement, having no instant view on current volume, and the need for two extra clicks for adjusting.
And I really miss the equaliser button...
Considering the mainly horizontal orientation of the player, available space isn't an argument, and the wavebar in my opinion is currently taking more 'front stage' than necessary.
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Consider to add the option to select and enable visualizer in new compact player mode other than artist picture. In case this becomes the default mode of MB, the fact should be considered that many people out there are quite accustomed to use visualizer while playing music with WMP, AIMP, etc.
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Support for full-screen mode:
- Add a right-click menu item of "full-screen mode" to enable the exact same mode as the current full screen visualizer mode
- People with a big screen as well as others would welcome this feature.
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Smaller album art and no album name for album & tracks Now Playing list.
And use different font for each field since it's not configurable.
<current> <proposed>
(http://i.imgur.com/9ujMH8e.png)
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Like anybody else here I enjoy the new 'modern' compact a lot.
I only wish before reaching some 'final' status we can have the trusted volume control back. The new one in my opinion is not an improvement, having no instant view on current volume, and the need for two extra clicks for adjusting.
And I really miss the equaliser button...
Considering the mainly horizontal orientation of the player, available space isn't an argument, and the wavebar in my opinion is currently taking more 'front stage' than necessary.
+10
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I only wish before reaching some 'final' status we can have the trusted volume control back. The new one in my opinion is not an improvement, having no instant view on current volume, and the need for two extra clicks for adjusting.
Just want to voice support for the new volume control. I have never used MB's volume control (its always set to max and volume is controlled via the amp that my laptop plugs into). For people like me the old volume control has always been a waste of space and the new one is far superior.
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I only wish before reaching some 'final' status we can have the trusted volume control back. The new one in my opinion is not an improvement, having no instant view on current volume, and the need for two extra clicks for adjusting.
+1 & 100% support, I mentioned the same issue a while ago. Now you cannot see the volume level at once and you nedd 2 clicks to change the level. Not ergonomic.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- when artist pictures are displayed there is now an option to extend the picture into the caption bar so it fills the entire window. It doesnt activate if you have anything displayed in the right panel ie. the Now Playing list, Lyrics and Bio need to be set to auto-hide
- you can disable automatic colouring so it only uses the skin colour
- when showing album pictures without any artist picture, you can have the panel automatically colour based on the album picture
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- when artist pictures are displayed there is now an option to extend the picture into the caption bar so it fills the entire window. It doesnt activate if you have anything displayed in the right panel ie. the Now Playing list, Lyrics and Bio need to be set to auto-hide
- you can disable automatic colouring so it only uses the skin colour
- when showing album pictures without any artist picture, you can have the panel automatically colour based on the album picture
This looks absolutely stunning!! :)
One thing that would feel natural now since the caption bar is gone is the ability to drag and move the window by clicking on the artist picture (or anywhere inside the window). What do you think?
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you can move the window by dragging the top part where the caption bar was.
Also i just reuploaded the link to fix a bug
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you can move the window by dragging the top part where the caption bar was.
Also i just reuploaded the link to fix a bug
Yes I know. But since visually the caption bar is missing it would be nice to be able to move the window no matter where you click. If that's easy to implement it would be great imo :)
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Yep. The visualiser
I should have also said, I think it's because the narrow visualiser is to small, in relation to the other elements, for the larger tab view
Thanks Steven for the update
That was it. The taller visualiser in "Playing Track" tab balances it out. Looks great.
Will you be implementing the 'colour change' from the 'Modern' layout for the visualiser or re-implementing the override:
<element id="NowPlayingPanel.SpectrumVisualiser" fg="180,244,168,204" fg2="120,221,245,197" />
at a later date?
@ Steven, taking into account this:
- you can disable automatic colouring so it only uses the skin colour
have you any thoughts on the <element id="NowPlayingPanel.SpectrumVisualiser"/> future or will the custom skin colours from <element id="Player.SpectrumVisualiser"/> be able to be used?
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Steven, this is REALLY very nice. Thank you so much for implementing this. Makes the player look sooooooo much 'lighter' and free.
Feedback:
1. It would be nice if the close/maximize buttons were also autohide like the musicbee logo.
2. The outer edge/border of the player is not reflecting the color of the parent skin even when 'change panel color for each displayed picture' is unchecked. For me, it goes to a deep black in dark skins and a gray in lighter skins that in the case of my skins, I know are not present. Makes the skinning on the playbar seem off in that respect..
3. Regarding 2 above, I understand that the edge/border color will match the color of the displayed picture when enabled (and I like it), but I think that the parent skin should retain the color of its border around the playbar as indicated below... thus making the playbar seem as a true base and prevent color conflicts. If it is not east to keep it around the playbar, then let the skin control the color of the entire edge... though I would prefer the former.
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Just a couple of questions about this, because I'd love to try it but I'm a bit confused with all the talk of defaults and such (and the fact the regular beta was updated without a lot of these changes).
If install this version, will my main player settings remain the same? Are all the changes present only for the compact player? Is it still possible to open musicbee by default to the main player?
And to Steven, any idea when this might be released in the Beta releases?
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the new option to extend artist picture into the caption bar looks stunning!
perhaps when checking/enabling this option however it needs to be made clear that it will only work if you have 'skin window borders' checked in the view menu. i initially didn't and didn't realise why it was not working. could be confusing for newer users.
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If install this version, will my main player settings remain the same? Are all the changes present only for the compact player? Is it still possible to open musicbee by default to the main player?
As far as I can tell, 'yes' is the answer for all questions above. You can install the patch with no worries. This view is going to be default one when a new stable version is released (and for new installations only, but I might be wrong about this).
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@VX Thanks, I'll try this out then.
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Excellent work! Looks really clean without top bar!
I agree with Alexis on the wishes about
- auto-hide other buttons,
- outer borderline not enclosing player bar,
- coloring outer borderline with skin color when "change panel color" is unticked.
One more wish:
- when "change panel color" is ticked, make all the buttons transparent only to display text, icons and borderlines with mouse-over.
Edit: Well, if other buttons auto-hide too, button colors won't matter much since it's only shown with mouse-over.
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- when artist pictures are displayed there is now an option to extend the picture into the caption bar so it fills the entire window. It doesnt activate if you have anything displayed in the right panel ie. the Now Playing list, Lyrics and Bio need to be set to auto-hide
Thanks for the update. While enjoying new enhancements I realized that auto-hiding could be smarter.
When Artist picture is in portrait orientation there are usually empty spaces on the sides. Then when you want to unhide Now Playing List or Bio it usually covers an Artist picture partially, leaving empty space on the other side.
I suggest Artist picture to be moved to the side in such cases, so that Now Playing List or Bio don't cover it.
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perhaps when checking/enabling this option however it needs to be made clear that it will only work if you have 'skin window borders' checked in the view menu. i initially didn't and didn't realise why it was not working. could be confusing for newer users.
forgot about that - i have made a change so it handles windows borders ie. doesnt show them
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Just a question, is there anything I can do to make the artist picture change automatically in the main player as it does in the new compact player?
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Just a question, is there anything I can do to make the artist picture change automatically in the main player as it does in the new compact player?
Not possible yet natively. But you can run embedded theater views that support gallery element.
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With the new no-top-bar mode, displaying lyrics becomes a problem without affecting artist picture. How about supporting floating window for it? Just like right sidebar of main player, double-clicking on the tab floats the window and closing down the window returns to the original panel would be great.
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2. The outer edge/border of the player is not reflecting the color of the parent skin even when 'change panel color for each displayed picture' is unchecked. For me, it goes to a deep black in dark skins and a gray in lighter skins that in the case of my skins, I know are not present. Makes the skinning on the playbar seem off in that respect..
i assume you are referring to when the artist picture is extended into the caption bar - i believe its working as intended. Its based on the skin fill colour (which is based on the Playing Track panel colour settings) and the border made a darker shade is so there is a distinct border
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Horizontally-oriented pictures are not being cropped properly. The right one should be zoomed out. Vertical pictures are fine.
(http://i.imgur.com/PORLMEs.jpg)
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2. The outer edge/border of the player is not reflecting the color of the parent skin even when 'change panel color for each displayed picture' is unchecked. For me, it goes to a deep black in dark skins and a gray in lighter skins that in the case of my skins, I know are not present. Makes the skinning on the playbar seem off in that respect..
i assume you are referring to when the artist picture is extended into the caption bar - i believe its working as intended. Its based on the skin fill colour (which is based on the Playing Track panel colour settings) and the border made a darker shade is so there is a distinct border
You are right in that the extended into caption bar is checked, as you can see in the image. What is NOT checked is in this image is 'change panel color for each displayed picture"
Note that the black borderline which is not visible in the skin if both of those options are unchecked. The skin has a softer black. You can find the skin here http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=7368.0 (You can also see the black borderline in redwing's images):
(http://i45.tinypic.com/1i0o6o.jpg)
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You are right in that the extended into caption bar is checked, as you can see in the image. What is NOT checked is in this image is 'change panel color for each displayed picture"
Note that the black borderline which is not visible in the skin if both of those options are unchecked. The skin has a softer black. You can find the skin here http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=7368.0 (You can also see the black borderline in redwing's images):
i am sorry but i am really failing to see what is wrong - you are using a dark skin and the borders will be a darker shading of the main player Playing Track panel fill colour. Does the colour stay the same for each artist afterwards?
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
updated to handle extending the artist picture into the caption bar when using non-skinned window borders.
Also now allows you to drag the window from the artist picture when in this mode
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I believe this is what Alexis meant and I too wish to see (left: current, right: proposed)
(http://i.imgur.com/EV89cLu.png)
This would illustrate the point better.
(http://i.imgur.com/K3PhWtD.png)
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What redwing posted. THANK YOU redwing. :)
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I have one request, could it be possible to 'skin windows borders' in compact view (which I think looks great and gives menu button) but not have that option selected for the main player (which I think looks less cool, and takes away windows snap functionality)?
Also, in compact view, how can I search my library? I'd love to have Musicbee in compact view, but I don't see how I can select an album without flicking constantly between main and compact players. I'd really love something like the 'fade to compact view' discussed in the other thread.
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Also, in compact view, how can I search my library? I'd love to have Musicbee in compact view, but I don't see how I can select an album without flicking constantly between main and compact players. I'd really love something like the 'fade to compact view' discussed in the other thread.
Currently what I do is to add all tracks in now playing list and use search box there. But I agree the transition needs more thoughts and works.
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Also, in compact view, how can I search my library? I'd love to have Musicbee in compact view, but I don't see how I can select an album without flicking constantly between main and compact players. I'd really love something like the 'fade to compact view' discussed in the other thread.
Currently what I do is to add all tracks in now playing list and use search box there. But I agree the transition needs more thoughts and works.
How do you get the search box up in compact mode?
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Open now playing list, click on any track, and then type what you want. Then search box will open at the top of the list. Looks like, for album & tracks list, it searches only for artist name.
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- you can disable automatic colouring so it only uses the skin colour
By the way, this is a very cool touch. Thanks again Steven.
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@9cupsoftea, i am planning to add some library search capability. In the interim you can use the "Now Playing Assistant" which can be opened from the bee icon or hotkey
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@9cupsoftea, i am planning to add some library search capability. In the interim you can use the "Now Playing Assistant" which can be opened from the bee icon or hotkey
'Quick track' command on MB icon in the tray could be useful, provided that there were an option to append selected Albums/tracks/Artists/genres to the Now Playing List. The current behaviour is that Now Playing List is cleared after something is added with 'Quick track' - that's why it's not as useful as it could be...
Should I post it to the Wishlist ???
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@9cupsoftea, i am planning to add some library search capability. In the interim you can use the "Now Playing Assistant" which can be opened from the bee icon or hotkey
Great! And thanks to others for the tip. (And I didn't know I have a menu on the bee icon in non-skinned borders mode, cool).
@9cupsoftea, i am planning to add some library search capability. In the interim you can use the "Now Playing Assistant" which can be opened from the bee icon or hotkey
'Quick track' command on MB icon in the tray could be useful, provided that there were an option to append selected Albums/tracks/Artists/genres to the Now Playing List. The current behaviour is that Now Playing List is cleared after something is added with 'Quick track' - that's why it's not as useful as it could be...
Should I post it to the Wishlist ???
Yes I agree with this, something like a 'send to playlist' for now playing. Also, in main player my 'now playing' list is always my entire library because I shuffle by album, whereas in compact mode only the current album is in the list. Would be nice if compact player had the same behaviour as main in this regard (for me, anyway!).
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I really like the new compact mode but is there a way to have the player controls on top?
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Dang, this artist photo in the caption bar looks awesome. Great work, Steven!
I really like the new compact mode but is there a way to have the player controls on top?
How would that work with the buttons at the top?
What crossed my mind was what if the player controls had an auto-hide mode, too?
- you can disable automatic colouring so it only uses the skin colour
It seems like this should make it use the skin's spectrum visualizer settings, too, and it doesn't.
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I really like the new compact mode but is there a way to have the player controls on top?
Asking out of curiosity: Would just want the layout flipped? I ask this because I am not sure how it would look just the controls at the top.
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I'm not using artist pictures ;) I want player controls at the top because for me are more comfortable
the main reason is that the progress bar is not very comfortable to use with player controls at the bottom
(http://i50.tinypic.com/m9rltz.jpg)
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Actually I created a top-player-bar compact TM a while ago. Let me know if you want to try it.
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Thanks but I don't use TM plugin ;)
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Thanks but I don't use TM pugin ;)
No problem :)
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the main reason is that the progress bar is not very comfortable to use with player controls at the bottom
I agree with this - if you're going to interact with the progress bar, having it at the very bottom of the window is unhelpful. One of the first things I did when I started using MB was move the player to the top. Now I have in the right panel, but never at the bottom.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- depending on the horizontal space available, the volume control starts as a button only, when enough space is free shows the full slider and if the wavebar is displayed and enough space free also shows the equaliser button
- when the panel is configured not to change colour and the artist picture is extended into the caption bar, the border colour is now based on the player panel
- tweaks to the panel auto-hide popup timing and made the hot-spot area a little wider when the right panel has something displayed
- fixes a bug for native window borders
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- when the panel is configured not to change colour and the artist picture is extended into the caption bar, the border colour is now based on the player panel
Thanks for implementing this! Actually a little darker than panel? But it doesn't matter. Looks great.
My only remaining wish regarding this layout is windows buttons' color on the right top corner. If you have no intention to auto-hide them, please make the button bar completely transparent when "change panel color" option is unticked. With most pictures and skins, they look grey and dull, and take the whole elegance out of otherwise fascinating layout.
(http://i.imgur.com/4p7MgtP.png)
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I like how the the musicbee icon auto-hides when the window loses focus. Since both the MB icon and the text autohide they seem as single unified element (does that make sense?). Currently only clicking on the icon opens a menu. Wouldn't it make more sense if both icon and text could be clicked to open the menu?
(http://i.imgur.com/i0NKONJl.jpg)
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- depending on the horizontal space available, the volume control starts as a button only, when enough space is free shows the full slider and if the wavebar is displayed and enough space free also shows the equaliser button
- when the panel is configured not to change colour and the artist picture is extended into the caption bar, the border colour is now based on the player panel
- tweaks to the panel auto-hide popup timing and made the hot-spot area a little wider when the right panel has something displayed
- fixes a bug for native window borders
I might be the only one here, but I don't like this change. The wavebar looks more cramped now after the volume control has expanded in size. I almost never use the volume control and this change has made my experience worse.
I suggest that the volume slider is made to appear vertically instead of horizontally, but instead of having to click to open the control you just mouse over and it instantly appears.
Also related to the same problem, I would like to see a way to disable the equalizer icon (again never used and takes valuable space from the wavebar)
Thoughts?
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@ma_t14, i agree about the wavebar size and for the next update i have increased the width before the volume level and equaliser button show
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- depending on the horizontal space available, the volume control starts as a button only, when enough space is free shows the full slider and if the wavebar is displayed and enough space free also shows the equaliser button
- when the panel is configured not to change colour and the artist picture is extended into the caption bar, the border colour is now based on the player panel
- tweaks to the panel auto-hide popup timing and made the hot-spot area a little wider when the right panel has something displayed
- fixes a bug for native window borders
Thank you so much for the changes! :) IMHO, this is one of the best patches for Modern Compact Player view.
I'm glad the Equalizer button is back. As far as the Volume button, I'm happy with the latest change too, though I can understand @mat suggestions. I think vertical volume slider is worth to try out - it could be a good compromise.
The only issue I'd improve with the current development build is sth I've already reported:
While enjoying new enhancements I realized that auto-hiding could be smarter.
When Artist picture is in portrait orientation there are usually empty spaces on the sides. Then when you want to unhide Now Playing List or Bio it usually covers an Artist picture partially, leaving empty space on the opposite side.
I suggest Artist picture to be moved along in such cases, so that Now Playing List or Bio don't cover it.
Let's see:
(http://i.imgur.com/sdSmt68.jpg)
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While enjoying new enhancements I realized that auto-hiding could be smarter.
When Artist picture is in portrait orientation there are usually empty spaces on the sides. Then when you want to unhide Now Playing List or Bio it usually covers an Artist picture partially, leaving empty space on the opposite side.
I suggest Artist picture to be moved along in such cases, so that Now Playing List or Bio don't cover it.
I once suggested a similar wish but now think it won't work. Auto-hide is not just for compact player but for main player as well. As long as the main panel in main player does not resize with auto-open sidebars, artist picture in compact player cannot resize. I would wonder, then, why floating window feature upon double-clicking on a tab or header doesn't work for compact player. Floating now playing list and lyrics window would be a good option without affecting artist picture.
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Big thumbs up for majority of changes in latest patch.
One problem for me is the "framing" of smaller artist pics. Preferred when the background colour went all around the pic.
(http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/5827/boxedp.jpg)
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I like how the the musicbee icon auto-hides when the window loses focus. Since both the MB icon and the text autohide they seem as single unified element (does that make sense?). Currently only clicking on the icon opens a menu. Wouldn't it make more sense if both icon and text could be clicked to open the menu?
+1
that would be not only comfortable but also consistent with Main Player view
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I like how the the musicbee icon auto-hides when the window loses focus. Since both the MB icon and the text autohide they seem as single unified element (does that make sense?). Currently only clicking on the icon opens a menu. Wouldn't it make more sense if both icon and text could be clicked to open the menu?
+1
that would be not only comfortable but also consistent with Main Player view
+1
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- depending on the horizontal space available, the volume control starts as a button only, when enough space is free shows the full slider and if the wavebar is displayed and enough space free also shows the equaliser button
This is a smart and elegant solution.
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Big thumbs up for majority of changes in latest patch.
One problem for me is the "framing" of smaller artist pics. Preferred when the background colour went all around the pic.
i did change the handling but should still be the case that it does, so if you have the picture could you send it to me
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Requesting one more small artwork-related function: how about a right-click menu item to force going to the next image?
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- when the wavebar is displayed the player now needs to be wider before volume slider and equaliser icon shows
- artist pictures now always rotate but can be restricted to rotate local pictures only
- you will need to reset the flickr.com option if you want to include it for artist pictures
- artist pictures now also automatically rotate in the main player (Playing Track Tab and when docked on the bottom of the main panel)
- tweaked the colouring and transparency of the close/ restore buttons
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- artist pictures now always rotate but can be restricted to rotate local pictures only
nice! that almost negates my preceding request (though it could still be useful sometimes)
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- when the wavebar is displayed the player now needs to be wider before volume slider and equaliser icon shows
- artist pictures now always rotate but can be restricted to rotate local pictures only
- you will need to reset the flickr.com option if you want to include it for artist pictures
- artist pictures now also automatically rotate in the main player (Playing Track Tab and when docked on the bottom of the main panel)
- tweaked the colouring and transparency of the close/ restore buttons
Thanks a lot for implementing all these! Great improvement both in layout and in functionality!
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Big thumbs up for majority of changes in latest patch.
One problem for me is the "framing" of smaller artist pics. Preferred when the background colour went all around the pic.
i did change the handling but should still be the case that it does, so if you have the picture could you send it to me
PM sent
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one of my comments was related to the fact that with 'change panel color for each displayed picture' checked, the beautiful border which goes around the player, tends to go around the skinned play-bar. I am aware that this is really trivial, and other things should take priority.
I do not even know if it is possible or worth it to do what I am trying to propose (From my little skinning experience, I am do not think the height of the edge can be split for two colors joining as I am presenting, but just food for thought).
So, showing my thought for comparison.
First image is the current, the second is the proposed.
The focus is on the color of the edges on the bottom and the right of the play-bar. If the play-bar was say pink, then the edge down there would be same pink. In other words, all the edges of the play-bar keeps the original skin color setting.
(http://i48.tinypic.com/280l0tl.jpg)
(http://i49.tinypic.com/ea2t4y.jpg)
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@alexis, your proposal works for dark skins but not for other skins
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I love the latest changes. It makes the compact player view almost perfect in my eyes.
1. Now the only part that looks somewhat out of place is the right pane when on auto-hide. When it shows it doesn't look so "classy" as the rest of the elements.
Here is what I would suggest, when the right-panel is on auto-hide mode and you mouse over to make it show the window control buttons ( (http://i.imgur.com/tomWIvSl.jpg) ) should disappear so that the right panel takes over the whole space (and return when the right panel disappears).
Also it would look more pleasing to the eye if the right panel had a very subtle transparency.
Something like this maybe:
(http://i.imgur.com/Jg8VbuVl.jpg)
I'm really bad with mockups but hopefully you get the general idea :P
Additionally it would be ideal if the headers (now playing, lyrics, etc) took the whole horizontal space of the panel and were centered to make their clicking area larger and thus easier to access
2. Here is another idea I have just come up with. Why does the auto-hide/auto-show should be only triggered when you mouse over to the edgle? I personally find this inconvenient in that it requires the user's attention/concentration to move the cursor to the edge.
What do you say to the change that whenever the mouse pointer is ANYWHERE inside the window the panel is shown. This goes by the logic that when you have your mouse inside the window you are about to do some work (queue tracks, change order etc) so you need the Now Playing list visible. This seems as a more natural behaviour in my eyes
EDIT
I now realize that my 2 requests clash. There wont be a way to click any of the window control buttons if both suggestion are implemented exactly as how I described them. Alternatively instead of the second suggestion I would like to see a slight increase in the area that triggers auto-show of the right panel as I find the current area too thin
Opinions?
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+1 for the #1 transparency idea.
But I would prefer current way of unhiding. After Steven made it easier, I have no problem with it. If the panels are auto-open whenever you mouse over, it would neither look good nor serve any additional functionality. The panels already stay open when you mouse-over them e.g. for lyrics.
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But I would prefer current way of unhiding. After Steven made it easier, I have no problem with it. If the panels are auto-open whenever you mouse over, it would neither look good nor serve any additional functionality. The panels already stay open when you mouse-over them e.g. for lyrics.
To be honest I find it a bit "irritating" having to concentrate to hover my pointer to the edge. Regarding it not looking good (?) that will only happen when your cursor is inside the window which normally only happens when you are trying to change or do something. At all other times when your cursor is away the window will look exactly the same as now.
I just think it is a simple and elegant solution. In practice I think it would perform better than it sounds ::)
Nevermind, see my original post
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Thanks for the improvements in the latest patch. I appreciate all of them :)
- artist pictures now always rotate but can be restricted to rotate local pictures only
- artist pictures now also automatically rotate in the main player (Playing Track Tab and when docked on the bottom of the main panel)
Where can it be configured (restricted) ??? I can't find a proper setting in the (Modern) Compact Player Layout configuration window.
+1 for the first mat's idea.
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nice changes in the new patch, thanks.
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Thanks for the improvements in the latest patch. I appreciate all of them :)
- artist pictures now always rotate but can be restricted to rotate local pictures only
- artist pictures now also automatically rotate in the main player (Playing Track Tab and when docked on the bottom of the main panel)
Where can it be configured (restricted) ??? I can't find a proper setting in the (Modern) Compact Player Layout configuration window.
Unticking "rotate web pictures" restricts to local pictures only. Playing Track tab follows the same setting.
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Unticking "rotate web pictures" restricts to local pictures only. Playing Track tab follows the same setting.
Thanks redwing :)
I think this info should be visible in the configuration panel. Most users won't use the option not being aware of.
There is enough room in the Compact Player Layout window to do that.
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@alexis, your proposal works for dark skins but not for other skins
Thank you Steven. I updated the examples just to make sure we are on the same page.
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@alexis, your proposal works for dark skins but not for other skins
Thank you Steven. I updated the examples just to make sure we are on the same page.
Steven has a point.
(Edit: mockup removed)
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ahhhh, ok, i see what he means now. Makes sense (err). Thanks for the feedback.
update:
Actually, the point of that example you posted would indicate that one would have had that same problem with those skin regardless of whether it was used on compact player. Again.., I sincerely appreciate the feedback.
update 2..
I take that update back :).. mainly because in compact player mode, one would likely have it on top of other applications, so.. it makes sense that there could be conflict in this mode while not in the main player mode, and so a dynamic border indeed could help resolve that.
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so... movable player controls are planned? ;)
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1. Now the only part that looks somewhat out of place is the right pane when on auto-hide. When it shows it doesn't look so "classy" as the rest of the elements.
Here is what I would suggest, when the right-panel is on auto-hide mode and you mouse over to make it show the window control buttons should disappear so that the right panel takes over the whole space (and return when the right panel disappears).
Also it would look more pleasing to the eye if the right panel had a very subtle transparency.
This. My priority would be on making the panel take up the full window height, as shown. Transparency is nice, but not as important.
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so... movable player controls are planned? ;)
just the ability to put the progress bar above the player controls and maybe to add rating and/or last.fm love button to the player controls
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- slight transparency to the auto-popup panel but only when all panels are auto-hidden
- increased height of auto-popup panel
- slightly increased margin to hover the mouse for the popup to appear
- option to set the progress bar above the player controls
remaining things i am planning to do:
- allow rating and last.fm love button the player controls
- library, filters, inbox explorer and playlist navigator (it will auto-popup on the left side)
feel free to make more suggestions or comments and i might do them but maybe not until them until a future date
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- option to set the progress bar above the player controls
Thanks! This makes a nice dividing line between the player controls and the compact mode display, which helps to separate it from the skin, too.
- library, filters, inbox explorer and playlist navigator (it will auto-popup on the left side)
Looking forward to this. :)
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wow! the new look auto-hidden right hand panel now looks amazing. great call on the slight transparency and increased height.
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wow! the new look auto-hidden right hand panel now looks amazing. great call on the slight transparency and increased height.
;)
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Steven,
This is regarding the same right panel.
For Theatermode, you have this option to pin items that were designated as autohide. Would it be awfully difficult to implement such pinning for individual tabs in this compact mode? The pins can be just dots so as to be minimal.
It would be quite convenient if one wants to toggle between autohide . There are many reasons one may want to toggle, such as quickly resizing the viewing area, another would be if one just wants lyrics displayed for the duration of a single track.
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Is it possible to color the top corners like the right one when pictures are extended over top bar?
Or is this something skinners have to take care of? Currently borderlines in corners look too thin.
(http://i.imgur.com/QQZqaW7.png)
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feel free to make more suggestions or comments and i might do them but maybe not until them until a future date
Since you're asking, and it might slipped attention before, allow me to repeat a request:
I would really appreciate having the option to locate the player controls on the right side.
When using (and being used to) a skin with those controls on the right side, it is quite off-setting when changing to Compact player, they are suddenly at the left.
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Two observations:
With the Ebony & Ivory skin the border appears yellow, while I'm pretty sure there is no yellow in this blackish and whitish skin.
The displayed photo is also b&w, so I wonder?
(http://i.imgur.com/DQA71All.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/DQA71Al.png)
With the Jistme the Bee skin the outer wavebar color disappears with the background:
(http://i.imgur.com/kw36y9nl.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/kw36y9n.png)
(http://i.imgur.com/JMQAH8pl.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/JMQAH8p.png)
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With the Jistme the Bee skin the outer wavebar color disappears with the background:
That's because you used the same color for fg2 of Player.Wavebar as player background. And this:
i have added "Player.Wavebar.Inner" to override the colour of the inner part of the wavebar where you set fg and fg2 like the "Player.Wavebar" element.
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thanks for the new patch. what are the chances of getting support for milkdrop in the compact player?
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With the Jistme the Bee skin the outer wavebar color disappears with the background:
That's because you used the same color for fg2 of Player.
Yes, but those were deliberate choices for how I want to have the player background and the wavebar displayed in the main panel.
It would not be very desirable to have to check existing skins for such problems, and try to find compromises so it would look o.k. for both situations.
Maybe this will require new separate skinning elements?
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Maybe this will require new separate skinning elements?
I'd welcome that too. Currently I am trying to adjust bg value of wavebar for main player, but it's not always working. If I can add one more request, I'd like to color player background and track info with different colors for classic compact player.
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I'd still like to see the spectrum visualizer take the skin's color settings if "change panel color" is unchecked.
Also, perhaps making the minimum artist photo dimensions configurable would be helpful to some?
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I may be a bit OT, but this nice video (of an upcoming iPhone tweak) shows quite a nice layout!
http://player.vimeo.com/video/63643713
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It's a fine video, but yeah, not sure what it has to do with the compact player. It's a phone player, which is a different animal.
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Also, perhaps making the minimum artist photo dimensions configurable would be helpful to some?
+1
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I may be a bit OT, but this nice video (of an upcoming iPhone tweak) shows quite a nice layout!
http://player.vimeo.com/video/63643713
Actually one thing I do like in that is having a tracklist laid over artwork. That could be a nice option for the compact player - to have a transparent track listing permanently open and use the artist pictures as a backdrop.
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1. As being accustomed to dragging the window from any part of artist picture in extended mode, I am frequently finding myself dragging the window in other modes too and find it cumbersome to have to click on top bar. Would you make it working in other modes too?
2. I think a little more transparency would be nice with auto-open panels in extended mode. What do you guys think?
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I may be a bit OT, but this nice video (of an upcoming iPhone tweak) shows quite a nice layout!
[vimeo]http://player.vimeo.com/video/63643713[/vimeo]
Actually one thing I do like in that is having a tracklist laid over artwork. That could be a nice option for the compact player - to have a transparent track listing permanently open and use the artist pictures as a backdrop.
What is nice too is that all font colors are automatically themed to match the background art.
(http://i.imgur.com/jgqYNrwl.png) (http://imgur.com/jgqYNrw)
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Just to show it would be welcomed if this panel could be adjusted through skinning.
(http://i.imgur.com/SlhMILCl.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/SlhMILC.png)
In this example the grey's are just not fitting with the rest of the skin:
(http://i.imgur.com/cBrR4t0l.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/cBrR4t0.png)
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for the skinning requests, that is one of the last things i will do
is there any interest in a layout like the following? It shades according to the skin colour (could be changed to the dominant picture colour but that doesnt work well in some cases). There are a few things to work out and limitations with it (lyrics and bio need to be auto-hidden, small album cover only - also i might widen the rows and make the font larger for the now playing list), so i dont want to spend more time on it unless people are interested. Also it looks ok most of the time but other times not so good
MusicBee default skin:
(http://getmusicbee.com/images/forum/CompactProposal1a.jpg)
"Dark" skin:
(http://getmusicbee.com/images/forum/CompactProposal1b.jpg)
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Looks great!
Just a couple of questions to clarify:
1. Will this layout option available for extended mode (no top bar) too?
2. So the user can show lyrics or bio like that as well instead of now playing list, right?
So I understand we would, if this is implemented, have three options for right sidebar layout: "always show," "auto-hidden," and "overlaid," of course except for "closed."
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I'd have that one as my default if it was implemented. The only thing I'd prefer is for artist pictures to extend a bit lower all the way to the playing bar, with the album art in front of it, as it does in the current version.
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Look at the colors for MusicBee menu button text (top left) and time duration (bottom right).
(http://i.imgur.com/YrcMXoL.png)
It would be great the former follows fg value of MenuButton.Default, while the latter follows fg value of PlayerSidebar.Control.Default.
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is there any interest in a layout like the following?
definitely interested! looks good...
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I am honestly pleased with the player at this stage, except for two things I feel just seem like nags to me.
The min, max close button persistence, as well as the delay in hiding the musicbee menu button on the left.
They just do not feel 'right' to me.
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I am honestly pleased with the player at this stage, except for two things I feel just seem like nags to me.
The min, max close button persistence, as well as the delay in hiding the musicbee menu button on the left.
They just do not feel 'right' to me.
same here. i like the player as is except for the not hiding the min max buttons.
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when i able to spend time on this i plan to
- auto hide the control buttons along with the menu
- be able to temporarily pin the auto-hide panel open
- some form of library/ playlist navigation on the left panel (via an auto-open panel)
- skin colouring overrides
not much time is available at the moment though
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when i able to spend time on this i plan to
- auto hide the control buttons along with the menu
- be able to temporarily pin the auto-hide panel open
- some form of library/ playlist navigation on the left panel (via an auto-open panel)
- skin colouring overrides
not much time is available at the moment though
great, thanks. no hurry anyway.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- option to show the track rating and/or last.fm love button in the player controls bar
- option to overlay the right panel onto the artist picture - the only limitation is you can only show one tab in the right panel (the others can be accessed via the auto-open mechanism)
- the overlay colour mask is always set to black - it didnt look good using the skin colour for neutral colour skins in a lot of cases
- changed auto-hide settings so that it can only be done for all panels not displayed (before they could be done indiviually) - this is to simply the configuration settings
- the auto-open popup panel can be temporarily pinned open
- tweaked the display of the menu button and control box when the artist picture is extended into the caption bar
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Nice changes indeed!
The only thing that is still bugging me is that the wavebar looks a bit crammed even after the recent changes unless you increase the size of the window to a large enough size that its no longer considered "compact". The classic progress bar can be put either on top or bottom of the player controls. Steven what do you think about giving the wavebar the same options? I think it would be a lot more practical..
The "pin now playing list" function is lovely. A small improvement I'd like to see is to give the now playing list focus just by moving the pointer over it without the need to click.
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The jury is still out for me on this one.
Well, the jury's verdict is finally in, and I have to say that you've done it again Steven.
Despite my earlier misgivings, the 'Modern' compact player has turned out to be a beautiful and functional addition to MusicBee.
Can I please have an extra big scoop of ice-cream with my humble pie? :)
BTW:
some of the pics and colour combinations look so good, is it possible to have a key-stroke combination to temporarily pause the rotation until the end of the track?
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i've added a hotkey to suspend artwork rotation:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
it should reset on the next artist
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i've added a hotkey to suspend artwork rotation
wow - that was quick
thank you
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I have not been following this topic very closely, so forgive me if I am addressing something what has been discussed and agreed on already.
There is the option 'hover mouse on the right window edge to open panels not shown'.
When I have the Now playing list shown, and not the Bio and Lyrics panels, those two panels do not appear when hovering over the right side? (which I would expect)
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is anyone else having problems with the right panel auto-open functionality not working?
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is anyone else having problems with the right panel auto-open functionality not working?
Please don't think I didn't check several times with different and delicate mouse placings before reporting, but now suddenly it is working as expected...
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I just updated to the new beta release - how come this new compact player is still a separate patch? Seems to me like it is solid and feature heavy enough to be included with the beta releases now.
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it has been included with the last 2 beta updates but for people already using musicbee the default would remain the old compact player so they need choose it from the Layout(2) preferences
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In my opinion the track's Rating stars should be moved back to the Track Info panel. They are not controls like volume or wavebar, but the part of the track info, so it's place is a among other information, not on the Control Panel.
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the ratings can still be displayed in the main player and can be clicked
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Small request:
I'd like to see "progress bar on bottom" option at the bottom. Confusing when adjusting progress bar.
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the ratings can still be displayed in the main player and can be clicked
didn't notice that, thx for a notice:)
EDIT: However Rating is not editable when displayed in Track Info field.
EDIT 2: Morever, it won't refresh when I change the rating. F.e. if I rate a currently playing track, it's rating displayed in the Track Info field stays unchanged (unlike any other tag - they change instantly). It needs a replay to show the rating change.
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tick "show track rating" in the track info section - its working fine
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- tweaked the player controls layout very slightly and the minimum width requirements
- when the right panel is overlaid onto the artist picture, the album picture is now shaded as well so its not too bright compared to the rest of the panel
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Thanks for changing the order of the option!
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Really love the pinning option and the full hiding of the window buttons Thanks!
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I've encountered a problem, when you set "overlay the right panel onto the picture" and NOT set "extend pictures into the caption bar" you'll get this
(http://i38.tinypic.com/339n9k4.jpg)
I have latest beta version (2.1.4860)
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tick "show track rating" in the track info section - its working fine
OK, I wasn't precise enough. I did it as you suggested, the thing is, I have rating column set in Now Playing right panel, so that I could rate tracks even when they are not being played at the moment. That
However, rating the currently played track IN THE NOW PLAYING right panel doesn't cause the change of it's rating in the TRACK INFO panel.
Think the print screen would show what this small bug is about:
(http://i.imgur.com/WDR9d2v.png)
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
I've encountered a problem, when you set "overlay the right panel onto the picture" and NOT set "extend pictures into the caption bar" you'll get this
thats fixed now (only applies if you have unskinned window borders)
also when the right panel is overlaid onto the artist picture and the artist picture doesnt take the full window width, now its left aligned and slightly blended on the right side of the picture which i think looks better
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- the last version had a bit of debug code that muted the volume on startup which has been removed now
- some tweaks to the layout of the player controls for when people use this with a not-so-compact size
- and some bug fixes for when the right panel is overlayed onto the artist picture
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When manually adding lyrics to songs, compact player does not accept pasted lyrics. Gives you the option to, but nothing happens.
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Working fine for me. Copy lyrics> right click lyrics panel> select "Paste Clipboard lyrics into Music File."
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Working fine for me. Copy lyrics> right click lyrics panel> select "Paste Clipboard lyrics into Music File."
Hmm, that is what I have been doing for a while now and has not been working.. was waiting for the program to get more mature to mention. Hmmm
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What's your compact player setting?
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Hmm, this is strange (Been testing it since your response), it seems to be working. Maybe it is song specific. next time it happens I will post the track as well as everything else.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i have redone the Now Playing Assistant so you can now search any library filters, the inbox, radio stations etc
For the new compact player it now pops open when hovering on the left window edge (i havent provided a way to disable that just yet).
I can be pinned to stay open if required.
I would be interested in any feedback around this and whether it is sufficient to stop the need to go back to the main player window to build/ amend the Now Playing list
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i have redone the Now Playing Assistant so you can now search any library filters, the inbox, radio stations etc
For the new compact player it now pops open when hovering on the left window edge (i havent provided a way to disable that just yet).
I can be pinned to stay open if required.
I would be interested in any feedback around this and whether it is sufficient to stop the need to go back to the main player window to build/ amend the Now Playing list
So is this going to replace Now Playing list on the right side panel? It should since they overlap a lot. Also it's better because right side is enough for lyrics and artist bio. Under that assumption, some observations and wishes:
1. I'd like to have All node that includes both music library and inbox node.
2. Would be great if there's back and next button to easily navigate between nodes and playlists.
3. Unlike other nodes, selecting a playlist does not show included tracks. After that, search box should work for tracks in that playlist not for playlist names (understandably it's not a now playing list yet).
4. Now Playing highlight option for playing track does not work (the same as above).
5. It's impossible to select another node while a track is playing.
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@Steven
I like it.
I would like to see auto-dj included in that node. I use that a LOT. Not the auto-dj that is with the shufflebar. (Which i stated sometime ago that i really never quite understood.. especially since my autodJ is usually related to exFm etc)
This is pretty much all I use for autodj, so would like to be able to change the genre for example there while in compact mode.
(http://i41.tinypic.com/59v6l2.jpg)
@redwing:
As usual, I personally appreciate that your wheels are always turning with ideas to make things better. I must add that regarding replacing the nowplaying list... I am not sure that is ideal. Best case it could be an option.
Main reason, among many others: The right side addresses 'what's going on' while the left side addresses 'what can I do now?'
I think that nowplaying list is part of what's going on. So, this is ongoing processes vs tasks.
I personally would not want them mixed.. would be confusing I think.
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there is no plan to use this to replace the now playing list or move this to the right panel - it is what the now playing assistant was and still is - a way to add to, rearrange, or quickly jump to tracks in the now playing list.
@redwing, i have no idea what you mean by point 5 and for point 4, its not a replacement for the now playing list so it wont replicate the functionality
@alexis, i have a look at that but the width constraints are likely to be a problem and i dont want to create a solution that is too specific to your needs only. I will see if something reasonable can be done
One thing i do plan to do with this is enable it to be more album oriented selection by enabling the hybrid artwork view like in the right sidebar now playing list
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OK, that's fine. I'm not insisting to make this as a replacement, just suggesting make it not overlap with Now Playing list.
Regarding #5, if you reopen left panel, then you can select another node. But while you stay on the panel, selecting another node is not possible while a track is playing.
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I think this is good, but I don't think it completely replaces the main window for arranging your now playing list.
1. It works for accessing your library effectively, but not so much for browsing (as I imagine a lot of people do). If you don't know exactly what you want and just want a quick overview of your library it's not so effective. Perhaps allowing an artwork view would make this better?
2. Aranging your now playing list is ok if you do it by track, but if you do it by album - or any bunch of songs at a time - it's a bit fiddly to have to shift/ctrl click all the time.
I think this is good enough for compact view though. I don't see how you could cram much more into it and still keep it as refined clean-looking as it is.
Personally I would still very much like a 'fade to compact player' option that would automatically put musicbee into that view after playing music for a minute or so. We're always going to use main player for tagging and syncing - and the only problem now with compact view is that I have to remember it's there and put musicbee into it manually.
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Personally I would still very much like a 'fade to compact player' option that would automatically put musicbee into that view after playing music for a minute or so. We're always going to use main player for tagging and syncing - and the only problem now with compact view is that I have to remember it's there and put musicbee into it manually.
In preferences, I have MB set to minimize to compact mode. So I simply hit minimize to get to compact mode, and maximize to go back to main.
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Personally I would still very much like a 'fade to compact player' option that would automatically put musicbee into that view after playing music for a minute or so. We're always going to use main player for tagging and syncing - and the only problem now with compact view is that I have to remember it's there and put musicbee into it manually.
In preferences, I have MB set to minimize to compact mode. So I simply hit minimize to get to compact mode, and maximize to go back to main.
Yeah I know, I edited my own button to put it into compact mode. But I still forget to do it most of the time. I just hit play on an album and let musicbee go, because I'm usually doing other stuff when listening to music. I find that I often forget compact mode exists.
Not to mention, I think it would be a lot more sophisticated than the need for a compact button, or taking away a minimisation option, and then consciously clicking.
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Currently double-clicking on MusicBee button on the top left works as maximize/restore, which overlaps with the middle Windows button on the top right. How about making it work as switching between main/compact player? Then maximize/restore Windows button would simply reduce/enlarge the current player view without switching to another player view.
(I think that Redwing alluded to something like this in the past)
When I mentioned main/compact player earlier, my point was to suggest making compact player as default layout of MB (out of the box layout when installed) regardless of its size.
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Personally I would still very much like a 'fade to compact player' option that would automatically put musicbee into that view after playing music for a minute or so. We're always going to use main player for tagging and syncing - and the only problem now with compact view is that I have to remember it's there and put musicbee into it manually.
In preferences, I have MB set to minimize to compact mode. So I simply hit minimize to get to compact mode, and maximize to go back to main.
Yeah I know, I edited my own button to put it into compact mode. But I still forget to do it most of the time. I just hit play on an album and let musicbee go, because I'm usually doing other stuff when listening to music. I find that I often forget compact mode exists.
Not to mention, I think it would be a lot more sophisticated than the need for a compact button, or taking away a minimisation option, and then consciously clicking.
I totally agree and want that option too and think Steven mentioned that he was gonna do that, so no contest to that . Was just making sure you are aware.
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Nothing to apologize.
Steven mentioned that he was gonna do that, so no contest to that .
What option are you referring to?
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i have redone the Now Playing Assistant so you can now search any library filters, the inbox, radio stations etc
For the new compact player it now pops open when hovering on the left window edge (i havent provided a way to disable that just yet).
I can be pinned to stay open if required.
I would be interested in any feedback around this and whether it is sufficient to stop the need to go back to the main player window to build/ amend the Now Playing list
Thank you very much for the improvements! :) I like the changes.
The only thing I miss for Modern Compact Player layout is Folder View for Now Playing Assistant. Otherwise it's great!
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i have redone the Now Playing Assistant so you can now search any library filters, the inbox, radio stations etc
For the new compact player it now pops open when hovering on the left window edge (i havent provided a way to disable that just yet).
I can be pinned to stay open if required.
I would be interested in any feedback around this and whether it is sufficient to stop the need to go back to the main player window to build/ amend the Now Playing list
Some observations regarding the new changes,
I would like to see a way to resize the new now playing assistant and then have it pinned side by side with the now playing list on the right. It would be very convenient to be able to drag and drop tracks to the now playing list.
There seems to be bug if you pin the right sidebar and press the alt + J shortcut to bring up the assistant and then pin it, the whole interface freezes on some occasions.
Finally it would be nice to see the same transparency on the assistant as found on the right side bar, for the sake of consistency as well.
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there are 3 reasons its on the left:
- so you can drag tracks from the NPA into the now playing list (assumming its displayed on the right) - you wouldnt be able to do that if its another tab on the right
- there isnt enough room for the tab headers if you have a smallish compact player size and have all tabs enabled
- having it on the left is more consistent with having the main player navigation
so i am not planning to change it to the right
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What I'm saying is basically this. Nowhere did I say I wish to see the now playing assistant on the right though
(http://i.imgur.com/UEyBk1Il.jpg)
EDIT
We are saying the same thing basically ;D
For some reason it was not possible to drag and drop before, now it works ::)
But it sometime always freezes the whole interface if you make the left and right panels appear side-by-side, as I mentioned before. And I would like to see a way to resize the width of the now playing assistant + some transparency would be nice for the sake of consistency
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
1. It works for accessing your library effectively, but not so much for browsing (as I imagine a lot of people do). If you don't know exactly what you want and just want a quick overview of your library it's not so effective. Perhaps allowing an artwork view would make this better?
i've added a setting to enable browsing by Album which displays artwork in the same was as when enabled in the right panel now playing list
for the bug where both the left and right panels are pinned, it wasnt my intention that could be done. It now closes the other panel so only one can be open. I accept there is one use case for having both open (if your now playing list is hidden and you want to drag files from the left panel to the right panel)
I will look at resizing the Now Playing Assistant panel and some of the other suggestions
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Now it doesn't seem possible to drag tracks from the assistant to the right panel :(
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Now it doesn't seem possible to drag tracks from the assistant to the right panel :(
i usually spend quite a bit of time testing things, so its usually some specific setting or way you are doing things that is the problem - "its not working" doesnt give me enough information
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I mean, now that the two panels can't be set side by side the drag and drop functionality is gone... I hope you change it so it can be done in the future :-\
I was just repeating what you said, that you changed the behaviour so that only one panel can be open at any time
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
1. It works for accessing your library effectively, but not so much for browsing (as I imagine a lot of people do). If you don't know exactly what you want and just want a quick overview of your library it's not so effective. Perhaps allowing an artwork view would make this better?
i've added a setting to enable browsing by Album which displays artwork in the same was as when enabled in the right panel now playing list
for the bug where both the left and right panels are pinned, it wasnt my intention that could be done. It now closes the other panel so only one can be open. I accept there is one use case for having both open (if your now playing list is hidden and you want to drag files from the left panel to the right panel)
I will look at resizing the Now Playing Assistant panel and some of the other suggestions
This works great! I don't have the problem with drag and drop - I'm using the now playing list overlaid onto pictures.
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This works great! I don't have the problem with drag and drop - I'm using the now playing list overlaid onto pictures.
It only happens when you have the overlay option disabled
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This works great! I don't have the problem with drag and drop - I'm using the now playing list overlaid onto pictures.
It only happens when you have the overlay option disabled
I tried it that way and it still works for me. Do you mean that if you have the right list not displayed, auto open then pin the right now playing list, the left side list doesn't auto open (and vice versa)? Because that's what happens for me.
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This works great! I don't have the problem with drag and drop - I'm using the now playing list overlaid onto pictures.
It only happens when you have the overlay option disabled
I tried it that way and it still works for me. Do you mean that if you have the right list not displayed, auto open then pin the right now playing list, the left side list doesn't auto open (and vice versa)? Because that's what happens for me.
Yes, exacly
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I think that double-clicking the artist picture should do something with regards to the size of the player window.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i have redone the Now Playing Assistant so you can now search any library filters, the inbox, radio stations etc
For the new compact player it now pops open when hovering on the left window edge (i havent provided a way to disable that just yet).
I can be pinned to stay open if required.
I would be interested in any feedback around this and whether it is sufficient to stop the need to go back to the main player window to build/ amend the Now Playing list
Finally had chance to play around with this. I love it! With this in place I can definitely see myself leaving MB in the gorgeous compact view on a more permanent basis. Only really need to switch back to main player to tag or do some library management, which is completely fine.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- option in the main General application preferences to automatically switch to the Compact Player after playback has started (set to 5 seconds)
- when auto-switched to the Compact Player this way, on restarting MB the main musicbee application opens
- the Now Playing Assistant (left panel) can now be pinned at the same time as the right-auto hide panels
- the left and right autohide panels should not overlap any more
- fixed a couple of bugs
edit:
just uploaded the new version, so anyone who downloaded it already will need to re download it
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Steven,
You recently set it to where the musicbee icon/menu and the min/max buttons hide immediately when one is no longer hovering over the player.
Thanks you for that.
Currently, if one pins the right popup list, say nowplaying list.. the musicbee icon/menu goes back to the delay before hiding as opposed to show on hover, hide when not hovering over player.
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Thanks for the patch. :) Consider adding an option to show right panel as a floating window.
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the last version has a bug with the mouse wheel handler after editing tags that causes MB to freeze. This should fix that:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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Thank you very much for the 'switch to compact' option Steven, it works great.
There is one issue though where upon restarting musicbee it opens the main player then switches to compact after a few seconds despite no music being played. I've played around and I think it happens when musicbee opens with a song paused instead of fully stopped.
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the link has been updated with a fix for that
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Following up from the discussion here:
A couple of bugs
When you select "overlay the right panel onto the picture" it also overlays the album cover which I believe it shouldn't be doing. In my opinion it should be only applying the "blur" onto the right panel similar to the way found in Greb's theater mode.
Here's a video demo: http://screencast.com/t/D8EwRmSmy
And second, also somewhat visible in the video, is that the settings panel always appears to the far right of the screen no matter what. I think optimally it should appear right next to or right on top of the compact player.
the first is intentional as some album covers were looking way too bright compared to the rest of the window
I believe the overlay option is great but I don't like the fact that the "blur" is also applied to the album artwork. Personally I would prefer seeing all my artworks as they were intended with no colour changes. I will agree that some artwork would look too bright if no blur was applied on them in the current implementation. So here is what I suggest:
(http://i.imgur.com/0dWyFpYl.jpg)
I kinda failed with the colours and the transition effect in my edit, but basically I suggest that the blur starts getting lighter starting from the left edge of the now playing list, like a gradient. That would allow the artwork to remain unchanged and not look so bright compared to the rest of the interface.
Original (with overlay):
(http://i.imgur.com/aUl2ocnl.jpg)
With overlay option unchecked:
(http://i.imgur.com/JKfuPZvl.jpg)
Thoughts?
Edit:
Another idea would be to remove the blur altogether and use something similar to the ones used in theater mode:
A very bad mockup of this idea :P
(http://i.imgur.com/MAGS0P2l.jpg)
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I think that double-clicking the artist picture should do something with regards to the size of the player window.
My thoughts exactly. Restore to main view maybe?
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I think that double-clicking the artist picture should do something with regards to the size of the player window.
Make this optional if implemented. I'd rather change Artist picture to another one when double-clicked. This action seems more expected by an average user.
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I'd rather change Artist picture to another one when double-clicked. This action seems more expected by an average user.
+1 or a right click option to move to the next picture.
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+1 or a right click option to move to the next picture.
+1, would still really like option to move to next picture.
I've caught myself double-clicking the artist picture to try to make it bigger, like the album art, a couple of times. That feels most "consistent", but I'd rather have move to the next picture, functionally speaking.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- when the right panel is overlaid onto the artist picture, the album cover is now dimmed 50% less
- right click/ Next Picture if you want to skip an artist picture (it may take some time to load the next picture)
for the double click, i guess if its being consistent with album pictures it should show a full size artist picture.
Does anyone see value in the compact player having a full screen mode? (i know alexis you want to be able to toggle 2 sizes)
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- when the right panel is overlaid onto the artist picture, the album cover is now dimmed 50% less
- right click/ Next Picture if you want to skip an artist picture (it may take some time to load the next picture)
for the double click, i guess if its being consistent with album pictures it should show a full size artist picture.
Does anyone see value in the compact player having a full screen mode? (i know alexis you want to be able to toggle 2 sizes)
nice changes/additions.
I personally would like to have the option for this mode to go full-screen. As the laptop I use has a relatively low resolution, i have limited screen real estate. because of this, I tend to keep all my programs maximised and use vista switcher to quickly change between them. plus, this mode has become so good looking that i think it deserves to get shown off full-screen!
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- when the right panel is overlaid onto the artist picture, the album cover is now dimmed 50% less
- right click/ Next Picture if you want to skip an artist picture (it may take some time to load the next picture)
for the double click, i guess if its being consistent with album pictures it should show a full size artist picture.
Does anyone see value in the compact player having a full screen mode? (i know alexis you want to be able to toggle 2 sizes)
Thanks Steven! The overlay option looks much better and is now my default view :)
As for double click, I was thinking more about making it change to the main player view instead of full screen. To be honest though I have no strong preference, but I'm not sure if I would ever use the compact player in full screen. Maybe make it configurable (main player view/full screen/artist picture)?
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- right click/ Next Picture if you want to skip an artist picture (it may take some time to load the next picture)
that was quick, thanks for that.
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that was quick, thanks for that.
Yeah, really glad to have that feature, thanks!
I also understand the consistency argument of making the picture bigger, but maybe making the player bigger would be accomplishing both... so hmmm...Kill two birds with one stone.
I think it's not so much about making the picture bigger as it is seeing the whole picture, which is not always possible even when you resize the player.
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Steven, still no plan to theme fonts colors too?
(http://i.imgur.com/jgqYNrwl.png) (http://imgur.com/jgqYNrw)]
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- auto dj selectable from the now playing assistant
- double click on aritst picture to view it in full size
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Thank you Steven.
I gotta say, I think I really like what you did with the double click. What this is offering from my experience is a suspend picture of sorts, in that if i like to see the current artist picture, instead of suspending rotation, I just double-click the image, because it pops it out while the rotation continues. I think that this keeps it interesting and interactive
Thanks for the autodj too!
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Regarding the double-click. There is a lack of consistency with regards to what is clicked on and what pops out. As if the double-clicking sees something different to what is displayed.
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are you saying its displaying the wrong picture? Its not something i can reproduce
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its working fine for me and i cant see any reason why it wouldnt work so it will stay unsolved for you
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No problem.. Thanks for looking into it.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- contrast settings for the displayed text fields (so you can de-emphasise any of the displayed text)
- new progress bar in the middle of the player panel setting. When displayed this way, the stop button doesnt display and it puts circles around the player buttons (metro like)
(http://getmusicbee.com/images/forum/CompactPlayerProgressBarMiddle.jpg)
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- contrast settings for the displayed text fields (so you can de-emphasise any of the displayed text)
- new progress bar in the middle of the player panel setting. When displayed this way, the stop button doesnt display and it puts circles around the player buttons (metro like)
nice changes. thanks. really like how the circles around player buttons look. is there any plan to do the same for when the wave bar is displayed?
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ok, i guess that can be done as well
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ok, i guess that can be done as well
great, thanks steven.
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this has the same metro type buttons for the wavebar and fixes a bug with the progress bar displayed in the middle:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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looks great, thanks for that.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i noticed on one of the screenshots the font was too large for the player position when the progress bar is in the middle - this should fix that
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And I was just about to write a request for the font size. You're quick!
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Would be nice if "modern" layout of main player can get "progress bar above play controls" option for when docked at bottom and "no stop button" option that will give these new fancy three buttons.
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Would be nice if "modern" layout of main player can get "progress bar above play controls" option for when docked at bottom and "no stop button" option that will give these new fancy three buttons.
+1
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i've done most of the things i plan to do in this phase for the new compact player - i might do another spectrum visualiser style (zune like) or things people are really missing.
So would people wanting skin overrides send me their list of requests (i know some requests have been made in previous posts but you might not consider them relevant any more)
Could you send post them on this topic:
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=7173.0
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One minor improvement suggestion:
when you double-click onto the Artist Picture it's displayed in a full size, which is great feature.
However, there is no Save Artist Picture command, which is available for pictures in Compact Player.
I think it would be useful to add this option for full-sized pictures.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i've changed the main player to be a bit more consistent with the compact player - you can now set the progress bar to be above the player controls or show a wave bar in the player panel. Some of the skins will need overrides for the wavrbar colours which i havent done just yet.
Additionally next i will look to add another option to display the progress bar in the middle with Metro type buttons
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you can now set the progress bar to be above the player controls
Wow, I've wanted the ability to do this for so long, thank you so much. The wave bar in the main player bar looks great as well.
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you can now set the progress bar to be above the player controls or show a wave bar in the player panel
I love this, too! It seems like MB has trouble switching between them until you restart it, FYI. I get all kinds of funky positioning and clipping problems.
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@ scampbll
steven has moved the bug report to http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=9653.msg57498#new
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i have added in options for docking the progress bar to the middle of the main player control panel and it draws metro type play control buttons, with no stop button.
Likewise when displaying a wave bar, so now the layout displays between the new compact player and main player should be similar.
You will need to reset the wavebar in the main player if you had that set.
It also fixes a couple of GUI glitches around the new layout options
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Thanks for implementing this! This is a great improvement of the modern layout player.
One minor thing about metro buttons. When first loaded, looks fine. But when you click on Play, the outer circle of the play button sort of blurs. Only happens with main player.
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nice changes, especially the wave bar being centered now.
since the artist and track name are removed with the wave bar showing what do people think about displaying it within the wave bar. i did a quick mock up.
(http://i.imgur.com/SwhhEo3.jpg)
a new skin element would probably be required so it doesn't clash with what ever colours people have the wave bar.
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I don't really use the wave bar, but I like how that looks.
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I don't really use the wave bar, but I like how that looks.
i really like the wave bar in the player panel but without the artist and track info i would probably stick with the progress bar.
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i really like the wave bar in the player panel but without the artist and track info i would probably stick with the progress bar.
My thoughts exactly
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nice changes, especially the wave bar being centered now.
since the artist and track name are removed with the wave bar showing what do people think about displaying it within the wave bar. i did a quick mock up.
(http://i.imgur.com/SwhhEo3.jpg)
a new skin element would probably be required so it doesn't clash with what ever colours people have the wave bar.
+1
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nice changes, especially the wave bar being centered now.
since the artist and track name are removed with the wave bar showing what do people think about displaying it within the wave bar. i did a quick mock up.
(http://i.imgur.com/SwhhEo3.jpg)
a new skin element would probably be required so it doesn't clash with what ever colours people have the wave bar.
this might work ok for some skins (dark ones) and if the wave bar is not narrow - i will try it out and see how well it works but not promising anything.
I figured people could see the now playing information elsewhere in the player if they want to use this layout option
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what do you think of this approach?
(http://getmusicbee.com/images/forum/PlayerPanel.jpg)
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I like it, given that it will scroll if the text is too long.
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Like it as well
Maybe swapping it round so the artist/track info is on top, so that if you don't have the ratings showing the track times are centered underneath?
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I figured people could see the now playing information elsewhere in the player if they want to use this layout option
This was what I thought as well. No objection to the proposal, but the space might be too short.
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i've tried the proposal and i dont think it works so i am going to leave the wave bar as is
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i've tried the proposal and i dont think it works so i am going to leave the wave bar as is
no problem, thanks for giving it a shot anyway.
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Not a bad idea to have the play-bar blended in as an option:
(http://i41.tinypic.com/2pzw4gp.jpg)
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Not a bad idea to have the play-bar as optional:
love it. +11111111111111111111111
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I'm absolutely agree with Alexis , it is a great idea .
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Not a bad idea to have the play-bar as optional:
love it. +11111111111111111111111
+1
Seems a bit open to interpretation, but any kind of blending would be awesome I think. I'd even like to see something like that in the main player.
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One of the things we discussed earlier was how to handle the image display when they do not fill out the screen. The solution was geared towards avoiding clipping and filling out the sides with a similar color. Obviously, we arrived at a conclusion, evident in current build.
However, I have been struggling with this a bit and wondering if I would prefer the magnification of the image, keeping it in proportion, and allowing some clipping. I have not been pleased with images results like what is seen below with the color on the sides.. I think I may even prefer an image that is not proportionate instead ofthis, but I am not sure. Just thoughts.
(http://i40.tinypic.com/4lhkkl.jpg)
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However, I have been struggling with this a bit and wondering if I would prefer the magnification of the image, keeping it in proportion, and allowing some clipping. I have not been pleased with images results like what is seen below with the color on the sides.. I think I may even prefer an image that is not proportionate instead ofthis, but I am not sure. Just thoughts.
I'm glad you're not sure, because I would definitely hate to go back to either skewing the aspect ratio or major clipping of images. There are just too many different ways photos are laid out, and a cropping that works great for some photos can reduce people to their chins or their ears in others. The really awkward moments aren't entirely gone, but they're few and far between now.
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i personally dont like it when the photo doesnt fill the panel either but i dont have any good suggestions for that layout. Anyone else have some bright ideas?
It might be better to use the overlay option for which I have been making some changes to that layout, so you can now have the overlay enabled with nothing displaying in the right panel - it now also shows the track information and spectrum visualiser directly on the artist picture (not in the version available yet). With the overlay option enabled the picture is left aligned (it does look better if you have one of the panels displayed in the right though).
As to the suggestion further up i will look at extending the artist picture into the player controls but anything like the screenshot above is way beyond the time i would have available
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Perhaps you could allow for themes to control what occurs in the background space? Something like a texture, or pattern?
I often see people use background images when they're working with cropped images or video, so maybe using shaded album art as a background is an idea also. Another suggestion perhaps is to use a shaded patchwork of multiple artist pictures as a background, but I don't know how viable that is really.
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IMHO just the darkened stretched image is too distracting by itself
stretched to fit - 80% darkened
(http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/1328/backgroundstretch80dark.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/10/backgroundstretch80dark.jpg/)
but if it could be blurred or altered in some way
diagonal blur - 66% darkened
(http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/2992/backgroundblur66dark.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/59/backgroundblur66dark.jpg/)
otherwise a texture or pattern, as suggested by 9cupsoftea gives good results
dried mud - 80% darkened
(http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6900/backgrounddriedmud80dar.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/195/backgrounddriedmud80dar.jpg/)
brown paper - 80% darkened
(http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/4218/backgroundpaper80dark.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/507/backgroundpaper80dark.jpg/)
bricks - 80% darkened
(http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/6465/backgroundbricks80dark.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/855/backgroundbricks80dark.jpg/)
Just don't know how easy (or hard) they are to implement
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IMHO just the darkened stretched image is still to distracting by itself
stretched to fit - 80% darkened
(http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/1328/backgroundstretch80dark.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/10/backgroundstretch80dark.jpg/)
How about something like this one, but instead of using a stretched image, maybe a random 'confetti-like' display of artists album art that one has in one's library, dimmed similar to what is done here?
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So, something like this, but the background images would be dimmed like above.
Envision as Steven mentioned earlier that it may go all the way down to the play-bar.
(I know this looks relatively ugly and busy as is, so some imagination is required here)
(http://i42.tinypic.com/2ymhm5g.jpg)
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i think the gallery of album pictures is working ok - its going to take some time to get everything working properly
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Steven, still no plan to theme fonts colors too?
(http://i.imgur.com/jgqYNrwl.png) (http://imgur.com/jgqYNrw)]
+1. I'd really like to get this too!
One of the things we discussed earlier was how to handle the image display when they do not fill out the screen. The solution was geared towards avoiding clipping and filling out the sides with a similar color. Obviously, we arrived at a conclusion, evident in current build.
However, I have been struggling with this a bit and wondering if I would prefer the magnification of the image, keeping it in proportion, and allowing some clipping. I have not been pleased with images results like what is seen below with the color on the sides.. I think I may even prefer an image that is not proportionate instead ofthis, but I am not sure. Just thoughts.
(http://i40.tinypic.com/4lhkkl.jpg)
Well, I'm not really concerned since I'm using only local pictures (with a 16/9 ratio for all the pictures). But in your case, I think it would be nice to have few options about this in the setting panel of the compact player. Something like this:
- default option: Auto (work like it does ATM)
- then options like in Win8 (Sorry, French Win8 Edition):
(http://imageshack.us/a/img542/6983/pictureratio.png)
That way, everyone could choose what's better for him.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i think the gallery of album pictures is working ok - its going to take some time to get everything working properly
i will listen to feedback on this change works as i am not 100% convinced about it - also keep a copy of your current musicbee.exe in case there is an annoying bug (i have tested and should be ok)
It only adds the gallery of album pictures for the small album cover layout. For large album covers it just has a colour fill like, except in the compact player the artist picture is more aligned to the right when it is too narrow for the whole window.
Also if you like a dark tint effect, the 'overlay right panel' option now supports not showing any of the right panels.
Additionally when the overlay panel option is selected, the picture is extended so the spectrum visualiser displays over the picture
I still plan to do an layout where the player controls are overlaid in the picture (zune like)
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That was quick. I think this is a major improvement over the blank sides. I think it would have a better effect once the artist image is extended down as you mentioned. Additionally, maybe if the album covers were softened by the dominant color from the artist picture, it would look more uniform.
For later on, if this works out for all, I suppose that one would also like to see relevant images in the background, so that it not only looks good but is relevant... one may notice an artist image that they had not played in a while or something like that.
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i will listen to feedback on this change works as i am not 100% convinced about it
1.) I don't like the left-align of the artist picture with the album cover mosaic on the RH side. I think it detracts from the artist picture.
Centered (as in previous .exe) and overlaid over mosaic of album covers - quite possibly a yes
2.) when not using 'extend pictures' but using small artwork, artist pic is still left-aligned, but RH side just fades away - no album cover mosaic. Maybe this 'fade away' effect could be used on the smaller artist pics, rather than using the proposed album cover mosaic, allowing the pic to flow into the surrounding colour, rather than having a sharp contrast edge
3.) I do like the placing of the artist pic to the RH side when using large album cover
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I think I also agree with centering the image
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1.) I don't like the left-align of the artist picture with the album cover mosaic on the RH side. I think it detracts from the artist picture.
Centered (as in previous .exe) and overlaid over mosaic of album covers - quite possibly a yes
thats how i feel as well but if the picture is centred having the album covers on the left detracts from the current album cover. I might try with heavier background colour blending as suggested by Alexis
2.) when not using 'extend pictures' but using small artwork, artist pic is still left-aligned, but RH side just fades away - no album cover mosaic. Maybe this 'fade away' effect could be used on the smaller artist pics, rather than using the proposed album cover mosaic, allowing the pic to flow into the surrounding colour, rather than having a sharp contrast edge
can you confirm your settings - it should always show the mosaic for small album covers unless you are overlaying one of the right panels
edit:
i dont think the heaver background blending really works - i'll try one of the earlier suggestions of using a shaded heavier cropped version of the artist picture as background
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can you confirm your settings - it should always show the mosaic for small album covers unless you are overlaying one of the right panels
I didn't have 'overlay' on when testing with large artwork, but I did have 'show lyrics' selected
edit:
i dont think the heaver background blending really works - i'll try one of the earlier suggestions of using a shaded heavier cropped version of the artist picture as background
maybe a mosaic of artist pictures would work? It could look as though the current playing artist pic has been selected from a 'wall' of artist pics.
edit:
maybe with a thin border around the pic that is generated like the visualiser colours
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Well, I'm not really concerned since I'm using only local pictures (with a 16/9 ratio for all the pictures). But in your case, I think it would be nice to have few options about this in the setting panel of the compact player. Something like this:
- default option: Auto (work like it does ATM)
- then options like in Win8 (Sorry, French Win8 Edition):
(http://imageshack.us/a/img542/6983/pictureratio.png)
That way, everyone could choose what's better for him.
+1
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Well, I'm not really concerned since I'm using only local pictures (with a 16/9 ratio for all the pictures). But in your case, I think it would be nice to have few options about this in the setting panel of the compact player. Something like this:
- default option: Auto (work like it does ATM)
- then options like in Win8 (Sorry, French Win8 Edition):
(http://imageshack.us/a/img542/6983/pictureratio.png)
That way, everyone could choose what's better for him.
+1
BTW, here an english version:
(http://imageshack.us/a/img202/7537/englishko.jpg)
About compact player, could we have this feature: auto-hide the player bar (like it does for the left and right panel)? IMO, would be perfect for a show off mode:
(http://imageshack.us/a/img59/1364/autohide.jpg)
One click on the visualiser will show up the player bar. Another click will hide it. (would be faster than mouse over bottom then pin the bar)
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sorry if i have missed it but is there a way to disable this option. i have spent a lot of time downloading my own artist pictures which for the most part fill the compact player so i have rotate web pictures disabled but in some cases im getting results like this.
(http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/7984/nonamesi.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/823/nonamesi.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
i realise that this option is a work in progress and will only get better but i would hope that it would be optional.
thanks
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@ KissCool - Thanks for the great idea!
IMHO, an option to auto-hide the player bar (as shown at the picture above) would be very welcomed :)
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@ KissCool - Thanks for the great idea!
IMHO, an option to auto-hide the player bar (as shown at the picture above) would be very welcomed :)
+1
That would be so sleek
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maybe a mosaic of artist pictures would work? It could look as though the current playing artist pic has been selected from a 'wall' of artist pics.
edit:
maybe with a thin border around the pic that is generated like the visualiser colours
same problem - the gallery distracts from the artist picture. Also i dont think filling the area with a different version of the artist picture works well (i think people pictures are quite difficult to deal with).
I have one idea with a texture pattern that might work but will take some time
@iasc, i have for now restored the centering behavior for the next update with no fill for now
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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@iasc, i have for now restored the centering behavior for the next update with no fill for now
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
thanks steven. i do hope this feature works out and seeing as this is music bee how about a honeycomb texture for the backround.
(http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/4217/testili.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/560/testili.jpg/)
(http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/3922/test2f.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/266/test2f.jpg/)
(http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/1856/test4mt.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/521/test4mt.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
[IMG=http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/1856/test4mt.jpg]http://[/img] (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/521/test4mt.jpg/)
(http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/7052/test3go.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/6/test3go.jpg/)
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iasc, would the matching be acceptable to you though when the dominant color extracted from the artist picture is pink, aqua or lime green or something like that?
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@iasc, i cant see your pictures from work so i cant comment on them just yet.
But one idea i am considering now is to fill the window with the next picture and then scroll them across like a slide show (sort of like the Artist Photos tab in the main player Playing Track tabs but much slower)
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@iasc, i cant see your pictures from work so i cant comment on them just yet.
But one idea i am considering now is to fill the window with the next picture and then scroll them across like a slide show (sort of like the Artist Photos tab in the main player Playing Track tabs but much slower)
YES! Would love to see how that turns out.
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@Steven - sounds interesting, look forward to seeing it.
@Alexis - merely a suggestion. as i only use local pictures that i have downloaded which fill the compact player this may be a feature i wont be using so i am just making suggestions to try help out. in response to your question though, once a back round picture or texture was chosen it may just be a case of applying a hue to the picture that is taken from the dominant colour. only steven can say if this would be possible with music bee.
(http://i.imgur.com/6ciC3Y2l.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Anr95aql.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/5JJdswal.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/WWgJkPdl.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/9ySikVgl.jpg)
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- Fixed-size support for compact TM has not been implemented yet.
- Would it be possible to support artist picture, artwork and lyrics-handling functionality for TM too? For instance, double clicking for enlargement, right-click menu items for editing lyrics and searching artwork, etc.
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@iasc,
I know it was a suggestion and did not see it as anything more. What is sad is that I did not or could not envision what you just demonstrated, so now I see what you mean.
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About compact player, could we have this feature: auto-hide the player bar (like it does for the left and right panel)? IMO, would be perfect for a show off mode:
+1
Would be a really nice added touch as an option in current configuration indeed.
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About compact player, could we have this feature: auto-hide the player bar (like it does for the left and right panel)? IMO, would be perfect for a show off mode:
+1
Would be a really nice added touch as an option in current configuration indeed.
+1
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i have given up trying to make the player scroll pictures when they are too small as its too hard to get working well.
What i have done is tweaked the layout and fill the main picture section with black when the picture doesnt fill. I think it works ok this way but if people still dont think it works well then the last thing i will try is still keeping the fill area black but putting in a subtle fill pattern using the dominant picture colour.
Also there is now an option to auto-hide the player controls
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What i have done is tweaked the layout and fill the main picture section with black when the picture doesnt fill. I think it works ok this way but if people still dont think it works well then the last thing i will try is still keeping the fill area black but putting in a subtle fill pattern using the dominant picture colour.
While I also think the black fill is OK in the compact player, these changes also affect the 'Playing Track' tab in the main panel, and the large areas of black don't work as well there (IMHO), especially with light skins.
Maybe the fill pattern will be the effect that works for both areas, otherwise, I think reverting back to the coloured fill (maybe darkened a bit?) would be the best compromise.
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from my perspective the new changes don't work. i only use local pictures for rotation and some of the pictures which mostly filled the compact player before now only fill a small area. i guess this is going to be a case of not being able to please everyone. if necessary i can always delete these pictures anyway.
(http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7905/nonameam.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21/nonameam.jpg/)
(http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/3540/noname2de.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/211/noname2de.jpg/)
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
@iasc, it should have been resizing the pictures when there is a significant gap but i see there was a bug so hopefully it works better now
additionally i have further tweaked the colouring used to fill the gap areas along the lines suggested by beeliever
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ok. ill try it now and let you know. thanks.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
@iasc, it should have been resizing the pictures when there is a significant gap but i see there was a bug so hopefully it works better now
additionally i have further tweaked the colouring used to fill the gap areas along the lines suggested by beeliever
that did it, picture size is back to normal. thanks
(http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/4994/nonamei.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/402/nonamei.jpg/)
just wanted to ask is it intentional that there is no opacity on the area with the track details/album art?
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can you post a link to the source picture jpeg file
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can you post a link to the source picture jpeg file
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57309914/The%20Strokes.jpg
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never mind - could you try this version:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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never mind - could you try this version:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
sorted. thanks again
(http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/2481/nonamenv.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/29/nonamenv.jpg/)
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
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Not to detract but seeing as how all the talk of new versions goes on in here...
When are we likely to see a stable 2.1 release? I know there is some more work getting the compact layout refined/done but is there a good point to lock in changes and put out a 2.1 exe?
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Also there is now an option to auto-hide the player controls
Thank you!
Maybe the fill pattern will be the effect that works for both areas, otherwise, I think reverting back to the coloured fill (maybe darkened a bit?) would be the best compromise.
+1, but not darkened: you end up with 3 gradients of the same color (main picture background, visualiser backround and track info overlay). IMHO, 2 is enough.
All the corners of the compact player are squared. Thx. But it doens't fix the main player top corners. Those are still rounded. Also noticed this on top compact player corners:
(http://imageshack.us/a/img826/4899/cornery.png)
Not so important since you don't see this dark pixel without zooming in. Just wanted to mention it
"<element id="UseArtworkBorders">false</element>" doesn't affect compact player and "now playing" view (tab or bottom):
(http://imageshack.us/a/img571/3598/borderff.jpg)
Same thing for the scroll bar of the compact player (setting: overlay the right panel onto the picture, show lyrics)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img195/2166/scrollf.png)
<element id="ScrollBarMargin">7</element>, <element id="Panel.ScrollBarBackground.Default" bg="" bg2=""/>, <element id="Panel.ScrollBar.Default" bg="" bg2=""/>, <element id="Panel.ScrollBarThumb.Default" bg="" bg2="" fg="" bdr=""/>
None is working. Even tried those ones:
<element id="Controls.ScrollBarBackground.Default" bg="" bg2=""/>, <element id="Controls.ScrollBar.Default" bg="" bg2=""/>, <element id="Controls.ScrollBarThumb.Default" bg="" bg2="" fg="17,17,17" bdr=""/>
And last but not least, one more wish! ;D
(http://imageshack.us/a/img189/4362/compactk.jpg)
Could we have a setting for the transparency of the overlay (setting: overlay the right panel onto the picture)?
Something like the one for "application window":
(http://imageshack.us/a/img197/849/optionm.jpg)
But starting from "none" (no overlay) to opaque.
(or at least a really lighter overlay. IMO, it's too opaque atm)
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Maybe the fill pattern will be the effect that works for both areas, otherwise, I think reverting back to the coloured fill (maybe darkened a bit?) would be the best compromise.
+1, but not darkened: you end up with 3 gradients of the same color (main picture background, visualiser backround and track info overlay). IMHO, 2 is enough.
the new behavior is already implemented in the link above. Depending on the layout and picture size, if the track info is not overlayed into the picture then it shows as a slight linear gradient between the spectrum and the picture gap fill colour which is slighly darkened as compared to the spectrum colour
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
Could we have a setting for the transparency of the overlay (setting: overlay the right panel onto the picture)?
Something like the one for "application window":
it can now be set in the 2nd tab of the compact player settings.
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When are we likely to see a stable 2.1 release? I know there is some more work getting the compact layout refined/done but is there a good point to lock in changes and put out a 2.1 exe?
I would say i will close off development in this version after doing the Album Oriented track details view, which i would guess will be another month off. Then i will leave it another month for any bugs to be fixed so probably mid to late July.
But i think you are quite safe using the beta versions from the first topic on the forum
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it can now be set in the 2nd tab of the compact player settings.
Thank you.
But it seems that the overlay override the lyrics. The overlay should be applied on the main picture only. Lyrics (cover and track info too) should be on top.
And could the panel overlay start from 0 instead of 0.40, please?
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Nice work Steven
Like the latest version, especially the implementation of KissCool's overlay transparency adjustment suggestion.
I still can't help wondering what this would have looked like:
the last thing i will try is still keeping the fill area black but putting in a subtle fill pattern using the dominant picture colour
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just have to say that the latest changes with the player controls auto-hiding and the ability to adjust the transparency of the right panel overlay are really amazing. this thing looks unbelievably good now! thank you steven and all who contributed feedback and ideas along the way.
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But it seems that the overlay override the lyrics. The overlay should be applied on the main picture only. Lyrics (cover and track info too) should be on top.
?? i am not sure what you mean exactly as theright panel such as lyrics will be displayed on the picture in this mode. If its what i think you mean then it can not be accomodated
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I still can't help wondering what this would have looked like:
the last thing i will try is still keeping the fill area black but putting in a subtle fill pattern using the dominant picture colour
i would prefer not to do it, but if you have paint.net i was thinking of using the Divots pattern. For myself i am quite happy with how it works now
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?? i am not sure what you mean exactly as theright panel such as lyrics will be displayed on the picture in this mode. If its what i think you mean then it can not be accomodated
Well, sorry for my crappy english :-[
Let's make a SS ^^:
(http://imageshack.us/a/img542/4176/overlay2.jpg)
Both colors got the same RGB code. So dunno if the lyrics are under the panel overlay like the main picture or if the transparency setting is applied to the lyrics too.
Track info and cover is a lil' bit altered too but not as mush as the lyrics.
Of course, this feature should be implemented as an option. Those who don't want it could turn it off.
Another idea that came in my mind this night: since Musicbee act like a slideshow in compact mode, why not creating few SlideShow transition effects?
And when MusicBee is in idle mode (no music played), it could act like a regular SlideShow: it could show random artist pictures from your artists folder or another folder that you can set in preference.
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i was thinking of using the Divots pattern. For myself i am quite happy with how it works now
Thanks for the info. I really like how it is currently working, but I can now visualise that other option and would agree that it would be a lot more work, with the most likely result being that what we have now is the best result.
As the old musical saying goes
"If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it"
(http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/userpics/10172/groansmileyf.gif)
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When are we likely to see a stable 2.1 release? I know there is some more work getting the compact layout refined/done but is there a good point to lock in changes and put out a 2.1 exe?
I would say i will close off development in this version after doing the Album Oriented track details view, which i would guess will be another month off. Then i will leave it another month for any bugs to be fixed so probably mid to late July.
But i think you are quite safe using the beta versions from the first topic on the forum
Oh yes, for myself personally, I've been updating with the patches in this thread.
It's just that I wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone now and it's much too hard to explain to the not so computer savvy how to unzip a patch and put it in the Musicbee folder (not to mention unblock .dlls or whatever.)
Thanks for the timeline.
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Is it possible to re-order the layers so that the visualiser is the last?
That way, it doesn't lose any of it's vibrancy when 'overlay the right panel on the picture' is used
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I don't not recall if we discussed this before.. but since it is possible to have items change color depending on the dominant color:
Is it possible to remove the background strip for the artist title etc, and just have the text color fluctuate maybe white or black depending on the background behind the text? That way it is always visible? That way we would lose one more background and the only issue left to have a background for visibility would be the spectrum visualizer.
edit: Actually it does it already, but wondering if there could be a tweak that would allow the removal of the bar.
Side note: I know this is likely turning into a project that has endless requests, but I suppose it is better to throw them out there before it is considered finished, since we cannot read each mind.
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Is it possible to re-order the layers so that the visualiser is the last?
That way, it doesn't lose any of it's vibrancy when 'overlay the right panel on the picture' is used
thats already the case. It needs the black tinted background when you reduce the overlay opacity so what i have done is maintain the black tinted background (and for the track information) - not available yet.
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I don't not recall if we discussed this before.. but since it is possible to have items change color depending on the dominant color:
Is it possible to remove the background strip for the artist title etc, and just have the text color fluctuate maybe white or black depending on the background behind the text? That way it is always visible? That way we would lose one more background and the only issue left to have a background for visibility would be the spectrum visualizer.
edit: Actually it does it already, but wondering if there could be a tweak that would allow the removal of the bar.
Side note: I know this is likely turning into a project that has endless requests, but I suppose it is better to throw them out there before it is considered finished, since we cannot read each mind.
no i wouldnt even know how to do that. The usual approach i believe is to surround the white font text with 1px of black (then the font doesnt look so good). As you say the visualiser would still be a problem. I am doubtful i will look into this for the current release
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thats already the case. It needs the black tinted background when you reduce the overlay opacity so what i have done is maintain the black tinted background (and for the track information) - not available yet.
Oh. (http://smileys.emoticonsonly.com/emoticons/i/ive_got_it-1379.gif) The visualiser is semi-transparent and picking up the increased opacity from the layer below. OK
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i've made quite a lot of tweaks particularily for when the panels are overlayed onto the artist picture.
For the picture overlay setting, when the opacity is set < 0.6 it fills the right hand panel with semi-transparent black so you can see the text better. Its still not ideal for low opacity settings but i am not planning to change that.
Also someone made a comment about the wavebar being slow for large songs and suggested it updates while the data is being processed. The reason i dont do that is because the graph is scaled at the end when the maximum value is know (otherwise many graphs would be too small for the narrow display area available). What i have done is made it multi-threaded so if you have >3 cpu's then it uses 2 cpus to create the graph, so halving the time.
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i've made quite a lot of tweaks particularily for when the panels are overlayed onto the artist picture.
For the picture overlay setting, when the opacity is set < 0.6 it fills the right hand panel with semi-transparent black so you can see the text better. Its still not ideal for low opacity settings but i am not planning to change that.
IMHO,it doesn't look really good. It was really better with the previous patch.
About the lyrics, ATM, MusicBee apply a transparency to the text. That's why it's not really readable in some cases. It's not 'cause of the overlay opacity.
So, something like this would be better:
layer #1: background (fanart) -> opacity=100%
layer #2: overlay -> opacity=0-80% (can be set in option)
layer #3: album cover, track info, lyrics and visualiser (without background) -> opacity=100%
layer #4: player bar, MusicBee icon and menu, Windows close, restore, etc. buttons
So, dunno if the lyrics are on the layer #2 or if you apply the transparency setting on the overlay and the lyrics, but I think something like this would be better:
1st picture: previous patch, opacity=40% / 2nd picture: last patch, opacity=60% / 3rd picture: how I think it should look like
(http://imageshack.us/a/img41/3073/29528400.jpg) ----> (http://imageshack.us/a/img197/3651/atmsn.jpg) -----> (http://imageshack.us/a/img153/3991/mypointofview.png)
As you can see on the third picture, lyrics are readable even without overlay. Just added a shadow effect to the fonts (since border effect doesn't look good in MusicBee). So, you should try to get ride of this transparency on the lyrics. Just my 2 cents
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About the lyrics, ATM, MusicBee apply a transparency to the text. That's why it's not really readable in some cases. It's not 'cause of the overlay opacity.
yes i am aware of that, although and as i said in the previous post i am not planning to change that as its too much to do.
If others dont like the semi-transparent black behind the right panel (which currently kicks in if the opacity < 0.6) then i will remove it
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
if you have win 7+ the overlay panels setting for small album covers now shows the visualiser and track info using a blurred glass effect.
I have removed the black background from the right panel in this mode but it means for low opacity settings you can hardly see the now playing/ lyrics/ biography text
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Well, I still prefer what you did here, before these two last patch:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
Could we have a setting for the transparency of the overlay (setting: overlay the right panel onto the picture)?
Something like the one for "application window":
it can now be set in the 2nd tab of the compact player settings.
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Is it possible to re-order the layers so that the visualiser is the last?
That way, it doesn't lose any of it's vibrancy when 'overlay the right panel on the picture' is used
thats already the case. It needs the black tinted background when you reduce the overlay opacity so what i have done is maintain the black tinted background (and for the track information) - not available yet.
I'm really sorry I mentioned this (the above), Steven, as the latest changes (IMHO)
if you have win 7+ the overlay panels setting for small album covers now shows the visualiser and track info using a blurred glass effect.
I have removed the black background from the right panel in this mode but it means for low opacity settings you can hardly see the now playing/ lyrics/ biography text
have undone all your hard work on the background for smaller pictures. The darker bands left for the visualiser and track info detract from the great work you did on getting the colour-blending right.
Please, please, please return it to how it was before.
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Well, I still prefer what you did here, before these two last patch:
i dont know what you mean - the only substantial difference is the blurred black band for the track info
have undone all your hard work on the background for smaller pictures. The darker bands left for the visualiser and track info detract from the great work you did on getting the colour-blending right.
Please, please, please return it to how it was before.
i actually like it more but i will see if anyone else offers an opinion. I do think it needs a darker band for when the opacity gets lower so i could start showing the band only for low opacity settings
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Well, I still prefer what you did here, before these two last patch:
i dont know what you mean - the only substantial difference is the blurred black band for the track info
Last patch
(http://imageshack.us/a/img580/46/lastpatch.png)
previous one:
(http://imageshack.us/a/img818/9162/previouspatch.jpg)
What I like here is that you have a really clean layout. Would be perfect for me without the overlay.
That's why I asked for a transparency setting starting from 0 'cause I just wanted to get rid of this overlay for this view.
If I untick the overlay in the settings, I can't get that (visualiser doesn't override the fanart and doesn't have transparency, dark overlay between fanart and track info).
If I don't care about the lyrics and just want a show off mode, I set the opacity to 0%.
Just bought a new album? Wanna read the lyrics? Then I just have to set the opacity to 60-80%.
Another wish (for compact player and main player):
Can you get rid of the scroll bar when the lyrics are synchronized? IMO, quiete useless since the lyrics auto scroll.
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My only opinion on the overlay effect is that if it looked the way it does in KissCool's third image - the shadow on the font - I might actually use it. (Added: I also observed the awkward overlays as shown in KissCool's most recent post, when I checked it out just now.)
I'm REALLY happy to have the auto-hide for player bar, thanks! I only wish that the MusicBee button and window buttons were full opacity, since they hide so quickly now. It looks weird when they should be the same color as the player bar and aren't.
My main concern at the moment is images like this.
(http://i.imgur.com/Duqi2CT.png?1)
I'm not sure I entirely understood the changes to background fill, but I'm perfectly happy with the single-color background.
This looks really weird, though. Shouldn't the photo at least be scaled to the full window? I see others that are displaying correctly with the image behind the track info, but only when they fill the whole window. I assume it's intended, but it seems inconsistent, and with a *compact* player to begin with, I don't want the images scaled down more than necessary.
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what it is doing is resizing the picture above the album cover/track info bar when the width of the picture doesnt extend to go over the album cover - before you could have the album cover, a gap and then the picture so it looks disconnected and in my view doesnt look good especially when the track info starts in the gap and extends to the start of the picture.
But i take your point about the fact that the compact player can be small so reducing the picture size is not great.
I am near to calling time on the compact player for this release though but i will have a look and see what can be done. It seems others didnt mind the old behavior and maybe its just me!
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The same as scampbll , some of the discussion as to the exact nature of recent changes has gone over my head. All I will say though is that i have also experienced the strange artefacts shown here by kisscool
(http://imageshack.us/a/img580/46/lastpatch.png)
For this reason alone I preferred the previous patch.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i've undone most of the changes made (not fully tested). I cant say i think it works that well when pictures are not full size. I also think some of the examples above are either bugs or extreme cases shown that fit the point being made but might not apply to a wider range of pictures.
Let me know if i missed anything out.
I might have another look at this but probably not as i think its time to call it a day with this
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You've forgot to remove the track info overlay (opacity=0.3-0.5).
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You've forgot to remove the track info overlay (opacity=0.3-0.5).
its intentional
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You've forgot to remove the track info overlay (opacity=0.3-0.5).
I've been following the discussion and I can't figure out how to make this show up. Someone help please?
Nevermind, found it. It seems it only appears when the album art is set to small size. Any particular reason a black bar is shown instead when the artwork is set to large size?
I like the overlay and I can imagine times that it would not work if it wasn't there so I am with Steven on this one. But as I said I would love to see this overlay for when the album artwork is set to large picture. As it is now with the black bar a large part of the artist background kinda goes to waste
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its intentional
Arf.. Well, I'll have to set the opacity to 0.51 ;D
I like the overlay and I can imagine times that it would not work if it wasn't there so I am with Steven on this one. But as I said I would love to see this overlay for when the album artwork is set to large picture. As it is now with the black bar a large part of the artist background kinda goes to waste
From my point of view, u already have a view with just track info overlay (untick the overlay boxe option).
When you tick the overlay boxe option, this view already got a global overlay. So adding one more for the track info isn't necessary. Then having the abilities to set the opacity of the overlay in the options start to become useless: if you want a light overlay, then it adds a second darker overlay. Excactly the opposite of what your looking for. Make no sense, IMHO.
But I'm agree with you about the bigger cover view. Would be nice (same for the now playing panel when docked in tab).
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Here's an example of an artwork background where not having an overlay would probably not work:
Transparency set to 30
(http://i.imgur.com/2zd3c9n.jpg)
So my opinion on the matter stands
For some reason though the now playing list is barely visible and that should NOT be happening
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Here's an example of an artwork background where not having an overlay would probably not work:
Transparency set to 30
So my opinion on the matter stands
For some reason though the now playing list is barely visible and that should NOT be happening
it's not readable because of the overlay but because of transparency applied to the lyrics. Check this:
(Track info aren't affected, Steven may have set the opacity to 0.95 I guess)
About the lyrics, ATM, MusicBee apply a transparency to the text. That's why it's not really readable in some cases. It's not 'cause of the overlay opacity.
So, something like this would be better:
layer #1: background (fanart) -> opacity=100%
layer #2: overlay -> opacity=0-80% (can be set in option)
layer #3: album cover, track info, lyrics and visualiser (without background) -> opacity=100%
layer #4: player bar, MusicBee icon and menu, Windows close, restore, etc. buttons
So, dunno if the lyrics are on the layer #2 or if you apply the transparency setting on the overlay and the lyrics, but I think something like this would be better:
1st picture: previous patch, opacity=40% / 2nd picture: last patch, opacity=60% / 3rd picture: how I think it should look like
(http://imageshack.us/a/img41/3073/29528400.jpg) ----> (http://imageshack.us/a/img197/3651/atmsn.jpg) -----> (http://imageshack.us/a/img153/3991/mypointofview.png)
As you can see on the third picture, lyrics are readable even without overlay. Just added a shadow effect to the fonts (since border effect doesn't look good in MusicBee). So, you should try to get ride of this transparency on the lyrics. Just my 2 cents
And here the Steven' answer:
yes i am aware of that, although and as i said in the previous post i am not planning to change that as its too much to do.
I'm not trying to convice you. And that's why I didn't asked Steven to make a lighter overlay but I asked him if we could have a transparency setting. This way, everyone could be happy. Those who want a dark overlay for having the lyrics always readable can set the opacity to 0.80. Those who just want a clean layout can set the opacity to 0.30.
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it's not readable because of the overlay but because of transparency applied to the lyrics. Check this:
(Track info aren't affected, Steven may have set the opacity to 0.95 I guess)
I'm talking about the now playing list not being visible. Is that somehow connected to the lyrics?
Additionally when I said not having an overlay would probably not work I was talking about track info and the extra overlay applied there. I was referring to your post here:
...
When you tick the overlay boxe option, this view already got a global overlay. So adding one more for the track info isn't necessary.
...
It appears to me that in the screenshot I posted if the overlay on the track info wasn't there it would result in the track info not being easily readable.
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kisscool is correct but i am going to make one more attempt at it so it draws the text directly on the picture.
As to filling the panel with the artist picture when overlaying the panels and using the large album cover, i agree and will change that
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Loving the last update VERY much regarding just how clean it is with overlay.
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kisscool is correct but i am going to make one more attempt at it so it draws the text directly on the picture.
As to filling the panel with the artist picture when overlaying the panels and using the large album cover, i agree and will change that
I know what kisscool is trying to say about the all-window overlay and I agree.
What I am not sure about is the extra overlay on the track info area and whether removing it will work. Steven are you implying that you will remove that overlay as well if you manage to make the text to be drawn directly to the picture?
I'm not one to quickly come to conclusions whether it will work or not. If it indeed works on track info as successfully as seen on kisscool's mockup for lyrics I am happy with that. I just feel that the overlay on the track info area is kinda necessary to separate the two sections (track info/background)... I guess I will wait and see ::)
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it's not readable because of the overlay but because of transparency applied to the lyrics. Check this:
(Track info aren't affected, Steven may have set the opacity to 0.95 I guess)
I'm talking about the now playing list not being visible. Is that somehow connected to the lyrics?
Additionally when I said not having an overlay would probably not work I was talking about track info and the extra overlay applied there. I was referring to your post here:
...
When you tick the overlay boxe option, this view already got a global overlay. So adding one more for the track info isn't necessary.
...
It appears to me that in the screenshot I posted if the overlay on the track info wasn't there it would result in the track info not being easily readable.
1) Yes, it's connected. Lyrics, Now Playing and bio are sharing the same panel. so do the transparency.
2) I understood and that's why I said "Track info aren't affected, Steven may have set the opacity to 0.95 I guess". So, if you remove the second track info panel, you aren't going to have the same result as the now playing list (track info font opacity around 0.95, now playing font opacity around 0.30):
(http://imageshack.us/a/img542/4176/overlay2.jpg)
As you can see, track info is a lot more readable than the lyrics, even without this second overlay.
So again, I'm not trying to convice you that a second overlay is better or not. We have our own opinion about this.
I just wanted to highligh the fact that, on the pict. u posted, the track info is more readable than the now playing list because of the different transparency settings applied to the font (and of course, the second overlay help but not as much as the opacity of the font).
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My screenshot was specific in that it included a white background. That's why I was trying to imply it wont work in only specific cases.
As long as it works and it is visible at all times it's fine by me. Let's wait and see what Steven comes up with :)
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My screenshot was specific in that it included a white background. That's why I was trying to imply it wont work in only specific cases.
I saw, and that's why I avoided to quote my last SS (black background ^^).
Anyway, you made me doubt about a white fanart. So I made a lil' test. Installed one of the previous patch (the one that allow me to get ride of the 2nd overlay). If you are interested, here the result:
Original picture (no overlay, white=255,255,255, so i can't get more white ;))
(http://imageshack.us/a/img705/347/originalum.jpg)
With the overlay (i can't go under an opacity of 0.40 with this patch)
(http://imageshack.us/a/img6/774/whiteoverlay.jpg)
And finally with the last patch (opacity 0.40):
(http://imageshack.us/a/img547/5103/2overlays.jpg)
No need to tell me wich one you prefer^^
And I'll don't argue anymore too!
Just wanted to show those pictures, so everyone can make his own opinion.
And like you said, anyway, it's up to Steven ;)
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Thanks, Steven! The latest changes look great the way I have it, which is without the overlay. I see you tweaked the buttons, too.
One last comment re: transparency, which is that since the overlay option is available, maybe the pop-up transparency isn't necessary either? I think it looks inconsistent with the Now Playing assistant on the other side, but if others are still attached to it, I can live with it.
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Though I am sure we are all impressed and thankful for how far this feature has come forward and so impressed each time it gets polished, I would still like to see a few more features added:
1. An option to allow the Artist picture to go all the way through the playbar, even though I appreciate and like the autohide of the playbar.
b. I would add here that the contents of the playbar could then also be dynamic in color as the visualizer, but the jury is out on that even in my mind
2. The possibility of having the same or similar background (if any at all) to the MB menu and close menu as is behind things like the visualizer as well as the song title bar. I suppose if the artist picture is extended all the way to the playbar (1 above), that such a background would also be needed there as well. I think that just because things autohide, when they do show up, they should not be such distractions.
3. Would like to see the same transparency effect to the nowplaying assistant/library explorer on the left side as we have in the nowplaying list etc on the right side.
4. Regarding the autohide of the playbar, it would probably be nice to be able to pin that.
AND:
Regarding the transparency of the overlay by KissCool.. sometimes I think i am following but other times I am just not sure.. so much of this is going over my head... but if the idea is that doing something with the overlay may offer a solution to the issue with having the background to text etc, then would be interesting to see what could be worked out.
But I am more convinced that he is saying bluntly that he wants the full transparency of the overlay as opposed to the limitation on the lower end, so he could see the visualizer go up Lady Gaga's legs :), since this feature allows the image to extend lower. However, maybe request #1 above would accommodate the latter without the overlay. Either case, it would still make sense if possible to give one the powerful option of full transparency.
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One last comment re: transparency, which is that since the overlay option is available, maybe the pop-up transparency isn't necessary either? I think it looks inconsistent with the Now Playing assistant on the other side, but if others are still attached to it, I can live with it.
Which pop-up are you talking about?
3. Would like to see the same transparency effect to the nowplaying assistant/library explorer on the left side as we have in the nowplaying
+1 For consistency
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Alexis and I are referring to the same thing, just in opposite direction. I'm saying no transparency on either, rather than on both.
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Alexis and I are referring to the same thing, just in opposite direction. I'm saying no transparency on either, rather than on both.
I figured that was probably it but you got me confused with the part about the overlay. I don't think the pop-up is transparent when you have the overlay option enabled (well, it is if you don't enable any panels but then again why would you do that ::) )
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
now when panels are overlayed onto the artist picture, the text is written directly on the picture. So that means the text is clearer for lower opacity settings. However its still not very readable a very low opacity settings and i am not planning to do anything more about that. One downside of the new way is that scrolling a panel that is displayed on the picture is a bit slower and can lag a bit (not much on my machine but perhaps others will notice more).
Keep a copy of your current musicbee.exe file in case there are any unexpected bugs (i have tested a fair bit so should be ok).
@ma_t14, the right panel popup does not have any transparency if another panel is permanently displayed on the right - this is because with any transparency the text clashes with the popup panel.
I pass no comment at this point on the new changes requested
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I know, I was just pointing it out
p/s
Sorry, about the edit.. I accidently hit modify instead of quote... Sorry :-\
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Synchronized lyrics are really readable now. Well done.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img96/7079/newpatche.jpg)
Unsync lyrics, now playing and bio aren't really readable with an opacity set to 0.2. But I think it have nothing to do with the overlay transparency.
You should get rid of the filter you apply on those fonts (dunno which filter you're using but i guess it's the one you call "contrast" in the settings).
(by doing this on the track info too, you could get rid of the 2nd overlay. Just saying ;D)
This way, everything should be as readable as the hilighted lyrics on the picture I posted.
Don't have any "lag".
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the only difference with synchronised lyrics is they are dimmed except for the playing line. Otherwise its exactly the same
I have made some further tweaks so the overlay now has gamma adjustment, so it wont "dull down" the picture as much
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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the only difference with synchronised lyrics is they are dimmed except for the playing line. Otherwise its exactly the same
Exactly what I wanted to say. If the now playing, bio and track info aren't dimmed and look like the playing line, then everything would be redeable, whatever the overlay transparency setting (from 0.2 to 0.85).
Gonna try your new patch.
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the change is unrelated to the font readability for which i am not planning to make any changes (the change might make it a little worse in some cases if anything) but the picture now looks less dull at higher opacity settings
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This last update is really pretty good imo. At level .5, the backdrop for the information and and visualizer are totally gone. Nice!
The picture no longer makes me feel like my cataract is acting up :)
Thanks for implementing the transparency on the left side.
This is for who may not yet be using overlay:
(http://i43.tinypic.com/alq6f6.jpg) (http://i42.tinypic.com/orv1mx.jpg)
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the only difference with synchronised lyrics is they are dimmed except for the playing line. Otherwise its exactly the same
Misunderstood what you said. On the last picture I posted:
Playing line -> white (255,255,255)
track info (bio, now playing) -> gray (192,192,192)
overlay (opacity=0.2, picture artist=white) -> gray (217,217,217)
White font will always be readable since u'll never have a perfect white background cause of the overlay.
a gray (192,192,192) font on another gray (217,217,217) background lack of contrast:
It's not really noticeable with the track info cause you added a 2nd darker overlay. But if we compare e.g sync lyrics with bio:
(http://imageshack.us/a/img703/3848/whitegray.jpg) ----> (http://imageshack.us/a/img811/3209/graygray.jpg)
But maybe I have a display bug since, with your latest patch, here what I have (check on the right of the album cover in the now playing list, "lenght" is darker):
(http://imageshack.us/a/img22/4826/bugvv.jpg)
Edit: forget this. Think it's cause i'm using png cover with transparency and MusicBee seems to don't like that. got to test it.
the backdrop for the information and and visualizer are totally gone. Nice!
I'm finally not the only one to dislike this backdrop! ;) maybe a box to tick in the settings to enable it or not in higher transparency?^^
BTW, sorry for the late answer but the font I'm using is Good Time and Good Time RG (you can't use the 1st one in MusicBee). if you're using winXP->Win7, all good for you. But if you're using Win8, dunno why, it doesn't look as good. Got this issue with few fonts since I'm using Win8.
That sucks, loved my rainmeter skin with those fonts...
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i expect you will a lower contrast set in the preferences for the "length" field. When overlay is enabled, 128,128,128 is used as the contrast base hence why its grey
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i expect you will a lower contrast set in the preferences for the "length" field. When overlay is enabled, 128,128,128 is used as the contrast base hence why its grey
All apologies. you're right. Usually never using this setting. Dunno why i did it^^
Thx.
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Fwiw, I think this is a MAJOR accomplishment, considering the gamma-thingy that was also done to the images. White was the only risk (since we are utilizing white text) but now the text can be seen on white backgrounds because of the overlay and the pictures are pretty good because of the G-thingy. :)
Well done imo!
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Thanks for the font response.
Regarding the backdrop, I think we have been trying to figure that for a while now, but the hurdle is the color conflicts.
You would know if you went through the previous posts, but that is far too much to ask of anyone.. which is why I periodically remove posts I have made that are either no longer needed or just unnecessary. The thread is getting very long.
Like these letters as you know would not have been legible without overlay.
(http://i44.tinypic.com/i1mqmb.jpg)
I read all the post of this Topic. But, yeah, I don't remember all of 'em^^
I don't get it about the picture you posted: there's not the second backdrop under the track info! So, u're just proving that what I'm saying is true: you don't need this second backdrop. Was talking about this, not about the full transparency I asked for.
About the full transparency, I'm agree. Sometimes, you just couldn't read anything unless you're applying a shadow effect to the font. But I already talked about this with Steven.
My point about the full transparency is that you're not always in front of your screen, reading the track info, lyrics, bio or whatever.
Sometimes, u just start a playlist and go away. Then having in the room a screen in background that display some nice pictures while u're just listening your music isn't a bad idea IMO. Back to your PC? then u just have to adjust the transparency setting.
Not to mention that any of the other view offer the features of the compact player in overlay mode:
- ThaterMode: no local artist picture rotation, no cover rotation, the equaliser seems "laggy"
- Artist Picture visualiser in a Tab: no local artist picture rotation, picture aspect ratio is altered
- Now Playing in a tab: no equalizer transparency, no track info backdrop transparency, fanart is too much cropped
But, well, i'm just trying to give some ideas and I'm aware that Steven can't please everyone. And That's why all the new features I'm asking for, I'm asking for 'em to be implemented as an option if doable. Don't like it? Just deactivate it.
White was the only risk (since we are utilizing white text) but now the text can be seen on white backgrounds because of the overlay and the pictures are pretty good because of the G-thingy. :)
Text is grey, not white:
Playing line -> white (255,255,255)
track info (bio, now playing) -> gray (192,192,192)
overlay (opacity=0.2, picture artist=white) -> gray (217,217,217)
White font will always be readable since u'll never have a perfect white background cause of the overlay.
a gray (192,192,192) font on another gray (217,217,217) background lack of contrast:
It's not really noticeable with the track info cause you added a 2nd darker overlay. But if we compare e.g sync lyrics with bio:
(http://imageshack.us/a/img703/3848/whitegray.jpg) ----> (http://imageshack.us/a/img811/3209/graygray.jpg)
Forgot to mention that the artist picture is white (255,255,255) and then become gray (217,217,217) with the overlay.
On the left, "true" white text
On the right, the color you're calling white
It's not a mockup. The new overlay doesn't change anythig here (altough i prefer the new one for other reasons).
So, white isn't the only risk. Gray is.
Anyway, as you said:
I am sure we are all impressed and thankful for how far this feature has come forward and so impressed each time it gets polished
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'the gamma thingy' - brighter pictures even with the overlay. fantastic work.
been following this thread from its start 40 something pages ago, definitely not followed every discussion along the way, but the sometimes steady, sometimes dramatic progress and improvement has been remarkable. quite the accomplishment indeed. as this new mode draws toward completion, lets step back from some of the more minor quibbles/discussions and recognise this as the brilliant new addition to MB that it is!
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@KissCool,
I think we are having a communication gap and that is ok. Keep doing what you are doing but this is where I step back. But for what it is worth, I was not countering your point.
If you felt offended, it wasn't my aim. Sorry for that.
Didn't wanted to annoy ppl with my posts.
So, I guess it's better for me to just shut up.
Just one last word for Steven:
Again, thank you very much for this awesome music manager and player.
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Misunderstood what you said. On the last picture I posted:
Playing line -> white (255,255,255)
track info (bio, now playing) -> gray (192,192,192)
overlay (opacity=0.2, picture artist=white) -> gray (217,217,217)
White font will always be readable since u'll never have a perfect white background cause of the overlay.
a gray (192,192,192) font on another gray (217,217,217) background lack of contrast:
It's not really noticeable with the track info cause you added a 2nd darker overlay. But if we compare e.g sync lyrics with bio:
the colours used are: 200,200,200 but when the opacity is < 0.5 it uses 230,230,230 in the right panels
now the pictures are gamma adjusted and text drawn directly on the pictures i think it can made higher so i have changed it to a sliding scale from:
200,200,200 to 225,225,225/(250,250,250 in the right panels)
When a contrast setting is applied, it was using black as the base but thats too extreme for the overlay mode so its changed to use 128,128,128 as the base.
also the aspect ratio should now be fixed with the artist visualiser (it still does a small aspect ratio change to fit the window if the difference with the window is very small)
I will make a link available later today
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
has the changes to text colouring as described above.
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Thanks for the update.
Steven, not to distract from what you have accomplished thus far, but discovered something a moment ago that I would like to share just in case it matters at all or is good enough, but seeing that Google Music is not yet globally accessible, not sure who all here would have observed this:
While listening to Google music on my phone, I noticed that they use white text and thumbs but have a shadow so that even with identical white on white, they are visible. Just thought I would share. (the picture is chopped in the view because it oscillates)
(http://i40.tinypic.com/33f6nt3.jpg)
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
for the lyrics only (for now depending on comments) i have added a slight contrast band around the text so it should be clearer at lower opacity settings. I am aware that for low opacity settings, synchronised lyrics on grey backgrounds can still be a little hard to read but i think it should be a minority of cases and only for low opacity.
This version also fixes a lyrics display bug from the last patch
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think the contrast on lyrics works well when not sync lyrics. with sync lyrics the highlight text is now very similar to main body (of lyrics).
maybe highlight text colour could be same as changing colour from visualiser?
liking all the other changes. gamma adjustment has even increased colouring to visualiser when using overlay :)
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
for the lyrics only (for now depending on comments) i have added a slight contrast band around the text so it should be clearer at lower opacity settings. I am aware that for low opacity settings, synchronised lyrics on grey backgrounds can still be a little hard to read but i think it should be a minority of cases and only for low opacity.
This version also fixes a lyrics display bug from the last patch
Any thoughts on making the contrast band lighter to almost unnoticeable.. or would that just not have the desired effect at all when needed?
I do not have or use synchronized lyrics so cannot speak on that.
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I like very much the new layout, but I found a bug, with some artists (ex: King Crimson) MusicBee displays for them a wrong picture that belongs to another band. Perhaps there's a need of a blacklist command for some pictures, what do you think? :)
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untick "flickr.com" from the preferences. The other sites used should have accurate pictures - flickr.com can have some very interesting ones but sometimes is wrong
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i've added a contrast band around all text when panel overlay is enabled. It now no longer displays a solid contrast band in the track information area that used to display for lower opacity settings
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Nice job.
Maybe adding a medium album cover size to the existing "small" and "larger" settings would be not that bad.
My skin setting "<element id="UseArtworkBorders">false</element>" is ignored, as you can see on the picture. Is it intended?
(http://imageshack.us/a/img4/4199/perfectlp.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/a/img4/4199/perfectlp.jpg)
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one last change specific to the compact player - it now transitions the artist picture as the artist picture changes
I have tested but it might pay to keep a copy of your current musicbee.exe just in case i have overlooked something
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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Wow! just simply wow :o
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Awesome.
All the features I asked for are now implemented! What can I say? Thank you very much.
(Gonna call you Santa Claus ;))
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First of all, the new transitions look amazing. Fantastic addition.
One negative note however. I really hate to bring negative feedback in at this point, so if everyone else is happy feel free to ignore this. But I dislike the new area of contrast around overlaid text. Particularly on lighter backgrounds (which I know are the problem this was trying to solve). I just dont think it looks great. Additionally, this has allowed the track details overlay strip to be removed. This however leads an invisible and slightly jarring cutoff in scrolled lists where the edge of the darker bar used to be (see screenshot)
Sorry to moan, and like I said, if everyone else is happy then ignore me, but I preferred how it was before, even if it was a little hard to read at times (it was never that bad).
(http://imageshack.us/a/img221/1871/compactplayercontract.jpg)
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On another note, I am experiencing a slight problem with the transitions. If MB (in compact mode) is in the background, it jumps to the foreground as the picture transition takes place. Only for the length of the transition, it then reverts to being a background application.
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I am in support of SimonBRT regarding the shadow overall. :(
I have wondered if making it lighter (More subtle) would make a difference or if it is possible to give each letter its individual shadow so that it is then less pronounced. If it is possible to do to individual letters, then the shadow could be very small as I suspect any indication of a shadow would be good enough to easily see the text over the background.
It is actually fine with the artist title area etc.. the issue really to me seems pronounced in the contents of the right panel..
Update:
I have to take the opacity all the way to the full .85 to get rid of the shadow, so I would like to think a level of around .50-.55 (if not lower) may be better for the shadow instead of apparently .85.
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But I dislike the new area of contrast around overlaid text. Particularly on lighter backgrounds (which I know are the problem this was trying to solve)
I am in support of SimonBRT regarding the shadow overall. :(
I have to disagree. We've gone from an 85% overlay over the entire pic, to a band that covered between 33% to 25% (depending on album art size and other settings) to a shadow that effects around 1%-2% of the pic.
I think it's a great improvement and looks good as well
(http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Respect/respect-054.gif) (http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Respect/respect-054.gif) Steven
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i will make the shadow effect optional and then not enabled will use the older behavior
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the picture transition is a great addition and i think the shadow works well.
my only issue with the overlay panel onto picture option is the resulting transparency on the spectrum visualiser but other than that im really happy with the compact player as it is now.
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also the aspect ratio should now be fixed with the artist visualiser (it still does a small aspect ratio change to fit the window if the difference with the window is very small)
Forgot to say thanks for this too.
I have to disagree. We've gone from an 85% overlay over the entire pic, to a band that covered between 33% to 25% (depending on album art size and other settings) to a shadow that effects around 1%-2% of the pic.
I think it's a great improvement and looks good as well
(http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Respect/respect-054.gif) (http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Respect/respect-054.gif) Steven
+1
i will make the shadow effect optional and then not enabled will use the older behavior
Great. This way, it should please everyone!
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As this is almost finalised, would it still be possible not to display 'No lyrics' when the track is tagged as such
That way, if you have an instrumental track in your mixed playlist, you don't have 'No lyrics' sitting there detracting from the artist pic
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As this is almost finalised, would it still be possible not to display 'No lyrics' when the track is tagged as such
That way, if you have an instrumental track in your mixed playlist, you don't have 'No lyrics' sitting there detracting from the artist pic
+1
This is one of the major reasons I don't use lyrics overlay. Too many pieces either without lyrics in fact or that don't have lyrics online.
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Maybe have it show no lyrics briefly?
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i will change it so no status message displays
@SimonBRT - i dont get the same behaviour with the fade in transition but i have made a change - if i havent subsequently posted an update to the 2.1 beta link could you try this version:
http://www.mediafire.com/?se40floc1cyxb3z
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Maybe adding a medium album cover size to the existing "small" and "larger" settings would be not that bad.
+1
I say this because I realize that many of us use this as more than a small compact player. On that note, I still would like to see an option to make this window bigger by clicking something as opposed to stretching manually.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
This has made the text shadowing optional - you will need to enable it to get the shadowing effect.
When overlayed on the artist picture, the lyrics dont display any status info ie. they only display if there are any lyrics
not directly related but synchronised lyrics has smoother scrolling. If you do find any problems with it the version from a couple of posts ago doesnt have this new functionality (I have tested it and it should be ok).
I will probably do the medium size album cover
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I was thinking that the playbar could still be thinner as in the image below. (I mentioned this a while back)
I also have other thoughts, but I have to think that it is getting close to the point where Steven as well as others are ready to step back and have a panoramic view of this thing, so will hold off.
This has come a tremendous distance from the first few pages of this project. Thank you Steven.
(http://i41.tinypic.com/xriwk.jpg)
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@SimonBRT - i dont get the same behaviour with the fade in transition but i have made a change - if i havent subsequently posted an update to the 2.1 beta link could you try this version:
Neither this version nor the new beta (from a couple of messages down) seem to have the problem. Whether it was what you changed or maybe I had some strange combination of programs open previously, its not happening now. Thanks Steven.
Also very much appreciate now having the option to turn off the text shadowing, thanks for that also.
With the latest beta I had this problem with the now playing list overlaid.
(http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1839/compactplayer3.jpg)
Part of the of the image was getting misplaced. However, have switched back and forth on what the overlay panel displays (lyrics or bio) seems to have fixed this when I set it back to now playing list again.
The scrollbar also does not always draw.
(http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/6669/compactplayer4.jpg)
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On another note, I am experiencing a slight problem with the transitions. If MB (in compact mode) is in the background, it jumps to the foreground as the picture transition takes place. Only for the length of the transition, it then reverts to being a background application.
just installed the latest patch and im having this problem now.
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it only happened for a few tracks and then stopped on its own. its a bit strange but it seems to be ok now. should it happen again i will let you know.
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Just happened to me as well.
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Just happened to me as well.
did it persist for long, can you recall doing anything to make it stop.
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Nothing special. I saw your post and after opening MusicBee in compact player view I noticed the same as well. After maximizing and moving back to compact it's gone
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its a strange one. i installed the latest beta thread and then re installed the latest patch to see if it would happen again but it didn't. tried playing the same tracks i was playing when it happened and no repeat of the bug so i dont know.
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just so we are all on the same understanding - you mean you have another application running that partially or fully obscures the compact player and when the transition happens you see the fade effect in the other application?
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i had chrome full screen and the compact player running in the backround. when the picture transition happens the compact player fades through chrome the fades back away again to the backround. its not there for long, just for the picture transition.
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i had chrome full screen and the compact player running in the backround. when the picture transition happens the compact player fades through chrome the fades back away again to the backround. its not there for long, just for the picture transition.
That was exactly the same for me (it was chrome also). Cannot get the problem to recur though.
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what i have done is disable the fade in transition if the MB window is partially or fully obscured by another window:
http://www.mediafire.com/?6s1kojbd8vxg05i
also this should fix the graphics glitches with the scroll bar
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- medium album cover size
- improved lyrics scrolling for synchronised lyrics and also some tweaks to the colouring to highlight the playing lyric line when not overlayed on a picture
- no scroll bar displays for synchronised lyrics when overlayed on a picture
- left and right popups now close when you move the mouse more than 50px to the left or right outside of the compact player window
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- medium album cover size
- no scroll bar displays for synchronised lyrics when overlayed on a picture
Thank you very much.
Dunno if I'm the only one, but the part of the fanart behind the equaliser do not have a "fade out" slideshow transition (got this issue with the previous patch too):
(http://imageshack.us/a/img10/240/fadeout.jpg)
And since the last patches, the album cover isn't centered anymore in the right sidebar of the main player (Now Playing layout configuration / Show track information / Track details / Show Artwork above field). Is it Intended?
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does it happen if the player bar is not auto-hidden? if it is open right at the start of the transition and then closes then i can imagine why it wouldnt work.
and for the second can you PM me a screenshot of the main player now playing configuration
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does it happen if the player bar is not auto-hidden?
No, it doesn't. Just a 1 second "lag" of the visualiser but the transition effect is applied.
and for the second can you PM me a screenshot of the main player now playing configuration
I'll do in few minutes.
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for this second this might fix the isssue:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
for the first i cant reproduce - i suspect its something about your windows environment or machine. I dont plan to look any further into this unless its reported by others as well
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for this second this might fix the isssue:
Fixed. Thank you.
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- left and right popups now close when you move the mouse more than 50px to the left or right outside of the compact player window
this is an excellent addition, thanks. i had actually disabled the now playing assistant auto-open, have happily now re-instated it.
- medium album cover size
not sure what i am doing wrong, but i don't see any difference between the small and medium sizes. are there certain conditions when they would be the same size?
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the small is minimum 60px, the medium is minimun 120px but sized to the track info if greater than the value. If you display a lot of lines in the track info then you might already be exceeding the minimum size
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Minor thing: If there's no scrollbar, why not let the Now Playing List have the full width?
(http://i.imgur.com/q1K8hIi.jpg?1)
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the small is minimum 60px, the medium is minimun 120px but sized to the track info if greater than the value. If you display a lot of lines in the track info then you might already be exceeding the minimum size
This makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.
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feel bad making a request a this stage as this is near completion but!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
is there a way of making the spectrum visualiser more prominent when overlay panels onto picture is selected. really like this option but a lot of the time the spectrum visualiser is barely visible.
thanks for the new update and have to say the compact player has been a spectacular success.
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the visualiser colours are already near maximised for saturation and brightness when drawn on the picture.
Perhaps some who knows more about colour handling might be able to add some comments but i think your only choice will be to either increase the panel opacity or set the opacity to less than 0.5 with text shadowing disabled so the black band displays (thats one of the reasons why i prefer to have the black band displayed)
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fair enough. i think i just wont use the overlay panels onto picture option. just love the vibrant colours the spectrum visualiser can produce to much.
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the visualiser colours are already near maximised for saturation and brightness when drawn on the picture.
If we're talking HSV (hue, saturation, value) or HSB (hue, saturation, brightness), the third value needs to be reduced by about 40%.
the white/black balance is to close to the white end of the scale without the black band
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(http://imageshack.us/a/img10/240/fadeout.jpg)
is the bottom part of the picture the next artist or the current ending artist?
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is the bottom part of the picture the next artist or the current ending artist?
it's the next one.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i've added a slight contrast to the visualiser when drawn on a picture and no black band is displayed. Additionally the higher bars are less transparent to make them a bit more solid.
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The visualizer is astounding! Unless I am missing something, this is a marked improvement.
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I agree that it's a great improvement on the visualiser when used with the overlay
(http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/6727/brightnow.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/191/brightnow.jpg/)
but IMHO, it still needs to have the brightness adjusted
brightness adjusted down 30%
(http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/9376/brightdwn30.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/833/brightdwn30.jpg/)
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@Bee-liever, i tried that but it only works for some pictures and is worse for others. One last thing i might try is making it more solid but with a sort of fizz effect (like the zune visualiser) when drawn on a picture
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@ Steven, I've been playing around with the brightness value and came to pretty much the same conclusion. The 30% reduction works great with lighter backgrounds but really sux on darker ones, and the majority of artist pics seem to have darker backgrounds.
I still think about a 10% drop in brightness value works across the full range of backgrounds in reducing the "sherbert lolly" look of the visualiser colours, but I will be content with how it is now if the "fizz effect" doesn't work out.
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The change for the visualiser is a big improvment, thanks for looking into it.
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I can see a lot of great improvements here. :)
Congratulations and thank you for all who contribute to make Modern Compact Player one of the best and original features of Music Bee. When taking into consideration the initial idea and the current development state, the progress is absolutely huge!
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
a couple of bugs fixed
i dont think the visualiser effect i had in mind will work on pictures so i have made only really minor tweaks to the colours
@kisscool, this might address the fade in transition for you
this is the last update i am planning for the compact player in this MB version
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thanks steven and all who contributed to the compact player, it has been a major success.
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Really a great job Steven. Congratulations and thank you.
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i've added new elements to adjust the colours on the new compact player
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=2499.msg58709#new
also fixes a bug when changing configurations using a non-skinned window border, and the right panel scroll bar has been tweaked for when the right panel is not displayed on an artist picture
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Found a bug, when I set large album cover, at the restart it returns to the medium one
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could you post a screenshot so i can see your layout
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this is the last update i am planning for the compact player in this MB version
A 'Thank You' to everyone that has contributed to this. Whether through ideas, criticisms, or bug-testing, it's that input that shaped the compact player to what we have now.
And a big 'Thank You' to Steven, who was able to pull these often disparate ideas together for this great addition to MB
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could you post a screenshot so i can see your layout
ok
http://i44.tinypic.com/2gyads9.jpg
with this configuration, if I set large cover, after I restart MB I always get medium cover
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thats fixed for the next 2.1 update. I will post a link later
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
this has the large album cover size fix and also now includes all artists in the picture gallery when there are multiple artists
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I really very content with the compact player.
What I really would like is the ability to uncheck the shadow for the for the text and still keep what I have now without getting the backdrop back. Right now, if I uncheck it, I either get the backdrop or I have to dim the image by adjusting the overlay transparency... But I just like what I have now as is except that text shadow.
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i am not prepared to add another option for this but i have tweaked the opacity level so the black contrast band now kicks in @ < 0.4 rather than 0.5 as before:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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Thank you very much Steven.
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Modern Compact Player has been my default view since it was created.
I have a small enhancement suggestion if it's not too late.
To verify and report a bug I need to know which MB version is used.
When I'm in Compact Player I have to click 'Maximize' button, then click onto 'MusicBee icon' in the top left corner, then 'Help' and finally click to 'Info' to see the version number. Then click 'OK' button and click 'Minimise' button to restore Modern Compact Player View.
IMHO, too many clicks, don't you think ???
I suggest to show the current MB version number for Compact Player view, which I'm sure would be a default one for many users.
Have a look at the screenshot:
(http://i.imgur.com/h1vP8oI.png)
The current version number should be shown only if 'MusicBee' icon on the top left corner is clicked.
That would require just 1 click to see it and another one to restore to Compact Player.
When implemented this way, it wouldn't occupy too much space.
Thanks for consideration :)
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@kisscool, this might address the fade in transition for you
It didn't. But it's not a MusicBee bug.
Just made a fresh Win 8 install and everything is fine.
Sorry for the false bug report :-[
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@Alexis, i am sure you made a request but perhaps you deleted it.
While i wont be doing anything for this version i still plan to enhance the compact player - for example i already have in mind to allow a custom background in place of the artist picture so you can acheive a zune type look.
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Steven,
You are correct... I did but the reason I removed it was because I no longer thought it was a valid solution and did not want to distract the board with it. Some looked good that way but I later found after the fact that there were others that were represented poorly... So went back to the drawing board. I like your idea.
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I wouldn't mind having a custom background BEHIND the artist picture, so that when it does not fill out, one could have something that one would consider appealing behind it.
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I wouldn't mind having a custom background BEHIND the artist picture, so that when it does not fill out, one could have something that one would consider appealing behind it.
+1. i had been thinking about suggesting that as well.
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I wouldn't mind having a custom background BEHIND the artist picture, so that when it does not fill out, one could have something that one would consider appealing behind it.
Maybe add a solid/gradient background in color(s) matching image displayed (there is something like this fe in Directory Opus filemanager internal viewer).
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Steven,
You are correct... I did but the reason I removed it was because I no longer thought it was a valid solution and did not want to distract the board with it. Some looked good that way but I later found after the fact that there were others that were represented poorly... So went back to the drawing board. I like your idea.
i have tweaked the colour selector to weight more on the right hand side of the picture when the right panel is overlayed onto the picture.
I will post a link later
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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I am not sure I understand. I am sure you mean with the overlay that contains lyrics or nowplaying list? If so, that still looks good to me. Thanks
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I have not been following this thread most attentively so maybe I missed it, but...
Am I correct in thinking that the spectrum visualizer in the new compact player cannot be color adjusted through skinning?
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I have not been following this thread most attentively so maybe I missed it, but...
Am I correct in thinking that the spectrum visualizer in the new compact player cannot be color adjusted through skinning?
thats right - the spectrum visualiser takes its colours from the artist or album picture depending on the user preferences
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Any chance you are willing to make it skinnable?
To my personal taste it can sometimes display a little bit too 'candy cane'.
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i've been doing some more with the Compact Player and now has support for a RDIO style background (see the RDIO style theater mode from redwing) and now extends the spectrum across the entire panel. Currently i am looking at how to do the player controls so they draw directly onto the artist picture (optional) - i will probably do it so the controls only show when you mouse-over the window. One question i have for anyone who is interested in this: do you think its important to always show the player progress bar and time position? ie. if i auto-hide the player controls, then the progress bar/ time would only be shown when you mouse-over the panel, or should the progress bar and position be permanently displayed.
I guess it could always show the progress bar right down the bottom and the auto-hidden player bar displays where the spectrum visualiser is
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I guess it could always show the progress bar right down the bottom and the auto-hidden player bar displays where the spectrum visualiser is
+1
In my opinion progress bar at the bottom would be enough as you described without time position.
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And I guess the player controls can be a bit bigger. Since switching to a higher-resolution display with bigger fonts, MB's player controls look so small as compared with other music players.
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I have been wanting this enhancement so much since the beginning, so this is exciting.
I think the progress bar should always be visible in one form or another. The bottom edge sounds great.
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the new changes your planning sound good. my preference would be to have the progress bar visible at the bottom.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- new option to use album colour mix (similar to redwings RDIO style theater skin)
- when the right panel is overlaid onto the main panel picture, you can now have more than one tab displayed
- option to overlay the player controls panel onto the main panel picture
- the spectrum visualiser now displays across the whole panel when the right panel is not overlaid onto the main panel picture and you are using medium or large album covers with the panel picture
- the number of controls displayed in the player panel for the compact player has been reduced and those extra controls (shuffle, repeat, equaliser etc) are now accessible from a single icon. That icon is now available for the mini-player as well
To be done:
- improved support for the Album Cover only background feature (it works as-is for the old settings but doesnt make use of the new features fully yet)
- integrate the library into the compact player rather than having the Now Playing assistant popup. It would work by clicking the search icon and would toggle between the Now Playing mode and library mode
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Thanks for all the improvements! Looks great!
Some bugs and wishes when the player controls are overlaid and hidden:
- volume control doesn't work
- player controls don't show up after settings button(shuffle, repeat, etc.) was clicked
- player controls show up only when the mouse pointer is above some pixels from the bottom of the player. Would be great they immediately show up if the pointer is anywhere on the player including borders.
- Would be great player controls disappear immediately when pointer is out of the player. Currently they stay for a few seconds.
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- player controls show up only when the mouse pointer is above some pixels from the bottom of the player. Would be great they immediately show up if the pointer is anywhere on the player including borders.
that was intentional so you can click the progress bar without the player control suddenly popping up but i will see if there is any other feedback on thar
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- player controls show up only when the mouse pointer is above some pixels from the bottom of the player. Would be great they immediately show up if the pointer is anywhere on the player including borders.
that was intentional so you can click the progress bar without the player control suddenly popping up but i will see if there is any other feedback on thar
Ah! I see. Not a big deal.
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Sincerely, I like the old button layout better. Back/Play/Fwd on the left (and without borders), and volume and other buttons on the right.
For the overlaid controls option, it would be nicer if they were on the right, like the old Zune player. IMAGE 1 (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10773406/Screenshots/zune1.jpg) IMAGE 2 (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10773406/Screenshots/zune2.jpg)
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For the overlaid controls option, it would be nicer if they were on the right, like the old Zune player. IMAGE 1 (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10773406/Screenshots/zune1.jpg) IMAGE 2 (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10773406/Screenshots/zune2.jpg)
As seen in the images in the quoted post, I really thought this was the direction we were going, regardless of whether we use album color mixer or not.
Thank you as usual Steven, but I think I misunderstood the direction the changes were going.
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I like the new layout. One request I have is to allow a fully opaque background picture (no darkening) with the overlay panels view.
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Also, as I indicated a while back, I still see the Menubar, maximize, minimize buttons in current configuration as major distractions. But happy to see some work done to the playercontrol in that direction. However, I really do not think that the background for the visibility of the player-control is really as necessary. They will likely be visible on every background in one form or another.. some just not as good as others, as is the case for some other players.
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Thank you as usual Steven, but I think I misunderstood the direction the changes were going.
you need to enable "overlay player onto the background feature"
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I did, which is why I said that part is going on the right direction. Thanks.
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Also, as I indicated a while back, I still see the Menubar, maximize, minimize buttons in current configuration as major distractions. But happy to see some work done to the playercontrol in that direction. However, I really do not think that the background for the visibility of the player-control is really as necessary. They will likely be visible on every background in one form or another.. some just not as good as others, as is the case for some other players.
All of those can be configured thru settings:
(http://i.imgur.com/55TmmGM.png)
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Also I'm not a fan of the thin progressbar on bottom. Whenever I have to use it I end up clicking too high or too low, making the resize cursor appear or even clicking on whatever window is behind :P
I feel like it requires too much precision, which is not good for an action that shoud be fast and unwitting. Also not good for modern touch devices.
If you want to keep it on the bottom, my opinion is that it shoud be thicker.
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Redwing,
But note that they become visible on hovering .
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Sincerely, I like the old button layout better. Back/Play/Fwd on the left (and without borders), and volume and other buttons on the right.
yes i agree - it was a bit experimental but i have changed it back to left aligned for the non-transparent player controls bar, but with the new search and controls icon instead of the 4 buttons previously. I will post a download link later
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Also I'm not a fan of the thin progressbar on bottom. Whenever I have to use it I end up clicking too high or too low, making the resize cursor appear or even clicking on whatever window is behind :P
I feel like it requires too much precision, which is not good for an action that shoud be fast and unwitting. Also not good for modern touch devices.
i doesnt look good with it thicker. What i will do is increase the click height
But note that they become visible on hovering .
i agree its better if the close/restore buttons are permanently displayed and drawn onto the picture. As to the menu button on the left i will probably set it to permanently display but keep the solid background
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What I'm missing the most is shuffle button (when overlaid). Now turning it on and off is not easy.
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I was expecting overlaid, auto-hiding controls to be like this...
(http://i.minus.com/ibmv5dghCd3lWh.gif)
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i like how you have laid out the player controls but where would you put the track position?
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What I'm missing the most is shuffle button (when overlaid). Now turning it on and off is not easy.
i'm reluctant to add it back in as it would likely make layout of some configurations harder (space constraints)
is it mainly because it requires 3 clicks as opposed to 1 click? and how often would you change it?
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What I'm missing the most is shuffle button (when overlaid). Now turning it on and off is not easy.
i'm reluctant to add it back in as it would likely make layout of some configurations harder (space constraints)
is it mainly because it requires 3 clicks as opposed to 1 click? and how often would you change it?
The frequency depends on what I'm playing e.g. a filter vs. an entire album. I could use a hotkey for shuffle, but there's no indicator either to show the current shuffle mode. Probably I would return to main player to adjust the shuffle setting and come back.
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i like how you have laid out the player controls but where would you put the track position?
Something like the new miniplayer?
(http://i.minus.com/iyHy88NKu3XMP.gif)
You can even reuse the code, and it should make the interface more uniform across different player sizes.
Also depending on the width of the right sidebar you could fit more/less icons, like the new miniplayer interface.
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What I'm missing the most is shuffle button (when overlaid). Now turning it on and off is not easy.
i'm reluctant to add it back in as it would likely make layout of some configurations harder (space constraints)
is it mainly because it requires 3 clicks as opposed to 1 click? and how often would you change it?
The frequency depends on what I'm playing e.g. a filter vs. an entire album. I could use a hotkey for shuffle, but there's no indicator either to show the current shuffle mode. Probably I would return to main player to adjust the shuffle setting and come back.
i'm not really getting this and why its too much to do 3 clicks to toggle the state, but i know others will make the same complaint so i will look to do something but without adding in the button.
If you click the controls button it currently shows if Shuffle is enabled or not because its ticked when enabled. I will change it so it indlcates the Auto-DJ mode with some text eg. "Shuffle [DJ]". Currently you then need to click on that menu item to open a sub-menu to toggle it and see the available settings if you wanted to enable it. I guess i could split the shuffle settings, so you only need to click directly on the Shuffle menu item to toggle it, so saving that extra click.
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i'm not really getting this and why its too much to do 3 clicks to toggle the state, but i know others will make the same complaint so i will look to do something but without adding in the button.
Maybe adding the buttons on the popup menu?
(http://i.minus.com/il2VQ4QjQ4ewF.jpg)
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Another version, based on your original concept...
(http://i.minus.com/ibpHdiCw4kBqn4.gif)
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i have tweaked the auto-hidden close/ minimise/ restore buttons. For the MusicBee menu, it doesnt really work very well just showing text, even with shadowing so i am not sure what i will do with that. The player buttons are now returned to their original left orientation for the permanently displayed player panel.
This version also fixes a couple of bugs with the controls menu
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
edit:
i decided to display a bee icon and "MusicBee" text where the menu button used to display
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Maybe adding the buttons on the popup menu?
yes i think thats a good idea that i should be able to implement - you can see the state of all the buttons and would be able to click the button to toggle
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Steven,
Thank you very much.
I think this is a major improvement on the menu/min/max etc buttons. It just feels so much lighter and clean.
With the play-bar always showing, I think it is a very nice looking implementation but its background could be a bit lighter so that there is not such a sharp distinction between that and the main background (Unless this is what you are going after).
In cases like below, the smoother transition should prevent it from feeling like 'something is wrong'.
(http://i43.tinypic.com/2qcgvpu.jpg)
When the visualizer is visible, the visualizer space background could be more subtle. (It seems as though we had overcome this issue in the previous setup, but I do not recall). The gradient used there seems a bit rough, but I do not know if we could overcome that.
(http://i42.tinypic.com/jjmfko.jpg)
When the playbar is auto-hidden and the visualizer is in use, I realize that when one hovers it feels as if the player has frozen, because of course the visualizer is buried and not frozen.
Finally, I thought I would post these images below to see if there is anything we can pick up for handling transitions with lighter colors.:
(http://i43.tinypic.com/2i1p5ht.jpg)
(http://i44.tinypic.com/mrqlqs.jpg)
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Just want to note that with the transparency added to the play-bar, I may not even want to have it auto-hidden. Just thinking maybe a bit lighter or a a bit more transparency, whichever is the case.
(http://i40.tinypic.com/11j52rq.jpg)
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a lot of the new changes look really promising. one issue i would like to raise is with the spectrum visualiser. my favourite feature about the compact player was the vibrancy of some of the colours of the spectrum visauliser. because this was discussed earlier in this thread i know that was only possible when a black background was displayed behind it which no longer seems to be the case. is there a way to bring this back? i have posted a before and after to show the difference.
Before
(http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9541/xi14.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/138/xi14.png/)
Now
(http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/2940/w8wd.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/819/w8wd.png/)
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- player controls don't show up after settings button(shuffle, repeat, etc.) was clicked
It's working better, but the controls still don't show up if the button is clicked but no menu item is selected, i.e. the user opens up the menu by clicking on the button, but does not select any menu item, and then clicks on desktop background to close down the pop-up menu (the only way), which makes MB lose focus. After that controls don't come back.
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liking the these changes except for the search icon always being displayed
since the minimalist route has been taken for the player bar, IMO it's an unnecessary duplication to have it show unless I have the "disable auto-open" option for the now playing assistant checked in Settings(2). Even then it should be relegated to the same level as "shuffle", "repeat", etc. i.e. one click down.
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one issue i would like to raise is with the spectrum visualiser.
I havent changed the algorithm to select the colous - the pictures dont look the same size which can affect the colours selected.
Is that a medium or large size album cover?
Also the first image looks lighter - one thing i was planning to change back was the ability to extend into the windows caption bar even when 'overlay panels' is not enabled, which i suspect is what you were using before.
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- player controls don't show up after settings button(shuffle, repeat, etc.) was clicked
It's working better, but the controls still don't show up if the button is clicked but no menu item is selected, i.e. the user opens up the menu by clicking on the button, but does not select any menu item, and then clicks on desktop background to close down the pop-up menu (the only way), which makes MB lose focus. After that controls don't come back.
i am not able to reproduce that. Is that something you can reproduce just doing those steps only?
You can click anywhere on the application window or press escape to close the popup.
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Can we please have the option to display a solid color behind the lyrics? Sometimes it can be hard to read with certain backgrounds.
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disable "overlay panels on the background feature"
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disable "overlay panels on the background feature"
(http://i.imgur.com/jiu2CjBl.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/jiu2CjB.jpg)
Actually the new 'overlay' layout mode already does this but only when the aspect ratio leaves too much empty space on the side.
MusicBee automatically puts a solid color here, my wish was for it stay this way when the window is re-sized, overlapping the picture.
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Another two concepts...
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10773406/Screenshots/normal.gif)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10773406/Screenshots/eq.gif)
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the pictures dont show.
I do plan to consider your other suggestion but i will not be able to look at it until the weekend
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Could the "always display progress bar" be set as an option plz?
Or maybe something like this:
settings = auto-hide the player panel AND progress bar on bottom -> auto-hide the player panel but not the progress bar
settings = auto-hide the player panel AND progress bar in middle -> auto-hide both
This last setting was the one I used until now and I was fine with it.
A visualiser background? Was fine without!
@endeavour1934
I really like what you did here:Another version, based on your original concept...
(http://i.minus.com/ibpHdiCw4kBqn4.gif)
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one issue i would like to raise is with the spectrum visualiser.
I havent changed the algorithm to select the colous - the pictures dont look the same size which can affect the colours selected.
Is that a medium or large size album cover?
Also the first image looks lighter - one thing i was planning to change back was the ability to extend into the windows caption bar even when 'overlay panels' is not enabled, which i suspect is what you were using before.
the album cover size is medium, i only use local pictures for rotation so its defiantly the same picture. i don't know why its lighter now. i have posted another example below and my settings. on a side note i have circled a small display bug on the settings picture.
before
(http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/4571/p43l.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/p43l.png/)
now
(http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/4361/835r.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/716/835r.png/)
(http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/3959/jhte.png) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/713/jhte.png/)
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@iasc
It's 'cause of the new Visualiser background.
With the "old" compact player, if you're playing with those settings:
- overlay panels onto the picture (Display a solid color background behind the visualiser if ticked, hide it if unticked)
- change panel color for each displayed picture
You end up with different visualiser colors.
With the "new" compact player, you can't display or hide this solid background anymore. Instead, you have this new grey gradient background, whatever your settings are.
This new background can look really ugly with some pictures (click to enlarge):
(http://imageshack.com/a/img196/7990/ieto.jpg) (http://imageshack.com/a/img196/7990/ieto.jpg)
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@KissCool
Ah, so that's what it is!! I felt we had resolved this, but I thought I was mistaken.
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Two suggestions:
- The artist picture attenuation layer shoud use the window bg color, this way we can have light and dark skins. An alternative is changing the attenuation slider to " white ----------- none ----------- black"
- Buttons background / EQ background should use a color obtained from the image (the same which is currently used to fill the rest of the background when the picture uses a different aspect ratio). Alternative: Black/white using the attenuation slider, just as above.
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@iasc, I expect you used to have "overlay panels" not ticked and "hide caption bar" ticked - i have put back in support for that combination along with the way the track information is displayed and the artist picture sized for medium sized album covers. You will need to redo your settings. As mentioned the colour picker is unchanged but it is sensitive to the cropping on the picture.
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
@redwing, i have incorportated endeavour1934's suggestion for the shuffle/ repeat buttons. If you still have problems with the menu refusing to popup then let me know, but i will need step-by-step instructions
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@redwing, i have incorportated endeavour1934's suggestion for the shuffle/ repeat buttons. If you still have problems with the menu refusing to popup then let me know, but i will need step-by-step instructions
Thanks! I appreciate it. Can't check it right now since i'm away. I'll be back in a week.
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@KissCool - i realise that. as i said in my original post it has been discussed before. what i was asking was to have this option back.
the visualiser colours are already near maximised for saturation and brightness when drawn on the picture.
Perhaps some who knows more about colour handling might be able to add some comments but i think your only choice will be to either increase the panel opacity or set the opacity to less than 0.5 with text shadowing disabled so the black band displays (thats one of the reasons why i prefer to have the black band displayed)
@Steven - thanks for that, the spectrum is now back to its beautiful best.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
has the following changes:
- new player layout (when displayed directly on the main picture, that is not final - see below)
- button to open/ close the right panel - hovering on the right panel to pop up the panel is no longer supported
- you can now hide the windows caption bar even when the right panel is not overlaid onto the picture
- visualiser now extends into the spectrum visualiser when the right panel is not overlaid onto the picture
- tweaks to the picture sizing and borders when the right panel is not overlaid onto the picture - i am really happy now with how that looks
to be done:
- i will look at displaying the player panel onto the main picture similar to how its done with Zune as i do think that layout makes the most sense, especially when you have the spectrum displayed and the player panel is not auto-hidden.
However with Zune, they use heavy tinting of the main picture and so the controls are clearly visible. In MB's case, i dont think people would want heavy tinting, so i will experiment with drawing shadows around the controls but not sure how well that will work out and look.
- search button to display library directly onto the main panel rather than open the Now Playing Assistant
@iasc, with your config the picture now extends into the visualiser - i think it looks much better, but it does mean the cropping size has changed and hence the colours may change, and additionally because in that config the visualiser is not drawn on a solid colour the contrast might not be as great.
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- button to open/ close the right panel - hovering on the right panel to pop up the panel is no longer supported
I must say that I'm not liking this change.
My set up was to have the lyrics only displayed. With a quick hover on the RH side I could bring up the now playing panel or artist bio. If I was playing a classical/instrumental work, there was nothing but the image displayed. It was clean, elegant and intuitive. Now, if I want to be able to access now playing or bio quickly from the RH side, I have to have the tab headers always displayed.
Everything else looks good, especially the overlay of the player onto the background (although the progress bar isn't showing up ?)
Please re-consider the RH pop up panel removal.
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i will see what others say. At minimum i will change the button to toggle between showing the default (eg. lyrics), then alternative (eg. now playing/ bio), then hiding the panel
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Thank you. That would be a fair compromise.
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I must say that I'm not liking this change.
My set up was to have the lyrics only displayed. With a quick hover on the RH side I could bring up the now playing panel or artist bio. If I was playing a classical/instrumental work, there was nothing but the image displayed. It was clean, elegant and intuitive. Now, if I want to be able to access now playing or bio quickly from the RH side, I have to have the tab headers always displayed.
Everything else looks good, especially the overlay of the player onto the background (although the progress bar isn't showing up ?)
Please re-consider the RH pop up panel removal.
I'm using the same set up.
So +1
But I like this new button for hiding quickly lyrics when I don't want 'em
Why not a toggle between hiding panel, then showing the default.
Hiding Panel = hovering on the right panel disabled
Showing the default = e.g. showing lyrics but with hovering on the right panel enabled (would work like the previous compact player version)
Few bugs:
- The auto-hide scroll bar feature for sync. lyrics doesn't work everytime. If you change the layout (e.g. only displaying the lyrics, then adding bio and/or now playing list), then the scroll bar isn't auto-hidden (same if you hide/display the sync. lyrics with the new button). Restarting MB solves the issue
- when 2 tabs or more are displayed in the right panel and "overlay panels onto background feature" is enabled, you can't click the minimize, maximize and close buttons.
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Just discovered this. I've never really bothered with the compact player before, but this is very nice!
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@iasc, with your config the picture now extends into the visualiser - i think it looks much better, but it does mean the cropping size has changed and hence the colours may change, and additionally because in that config the visualiser is not drawn on a solid colour the contrast might not be as great.
the new changes work well. there is still a lot colour in the spectrum so i am happy with it. thanks
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Hi Steven,
Very nice work on this compact view.
1) Can the |> control bar be adjusted between the bottom and top of the compact overlay view like it can on the main view ?
2) Can this compact window allow for desktop level layer "z order" so that icons etc. can remain on top of it (i.e. Always on bottom) ?
3) Is there a way to adjust the transparency of the find bar ? (Sorry if this has already been asked)
Thanks in advance.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- The auto-hide scroll bar feature for sync. lyrics doesn't work everytime. If you change the layout (e.g. only displaying the lyrics, then adding bio and/or now playing list), then the scroll bar isn't auto-hidden (same if you hide/display the sync. lyrics with the new button). Restarting MB solves the issue
- when 2 tabs or more are displayed in the right panel and "overlay panels onto background feature" is enabled, you can't click the minimize, maximize and close buttons.
these should be fixed now
I have also implemented the extra toggle for the panel open button so you can alternate between the primary displayed panel and the other ones
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Just got around to trying this out. The transparent player panel looks cool!
Took me a little bit to figure out where the Now Playing Panel went. I agree with Bee-liever and KissCool. I would like to have only lyrics displayed, and the Now Playing List as a pop-up. In fact, I would be happy to have it all as a pop-up.
Also, is there any chance of getting the Love/Ban icon back in the player panel? I tried displaying it in track details, but it didn't seem to work right and I didn't like the way it bloated the layout.
Edit: Testing new version now...
Update: No new comments, except I'm getting some really erratic behavior with the show/hide right panel button in settings. I haven't figured out the specific pattern yet, but sometime panels are showing up when they're not selected and the button has to be pressed twice to get it to work. Oh, I see that that's the toggle feature. Could there be a better way to indicate what's happening in the settings?
And there's a display issue with the pause button. It's kind of fuzzy.
The main thing is that until I can easily love/ban again, ideally in the player panel but at least with a pop-up now playing list, this new setup makes the compact player not worth it for me. As pretty as it is. :)
Final update: screenshot of pause button issue
(http://i.imgur.com/09xnedx.png?2)
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A few bugs:
- Sometimes the overlay controls don't show (sorry I can't point the cause)
- When they show, they are over the album art. I undestand their current location is not definitive?
- The icon switches on the gear submenu don't change appearance to reflect the current state
- There are a lot of BG artist pictures in vertical format that have margins on both sides, which don't blend with the background. I think that this kind of images should be aligned to the right, and always blend them with a gradient to the BG fill color.
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- Sometimes the overlay controls don't show (sorry I can't point the cause)
- When they show, they are over the album art. I undestand their current location is not definitive?
could you post a screenshot
- The icon switches on the gear submenu don't change appearance to reflect the current state
can you give a specific example as i cant reproduce any issues. How are you changing the current state and which control specifically are you refering to
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The toggle through the RH panel states is great! I think it may even be better than the original hover/pop-up panel!! I can now quickly turn off the lyrics with well known tracks. Very happy with this :)
I also see that the progress bar is now showing with the "overlay player" setting on. Thank you.
Just a suggestion if it's possible, maybe just having the progress button visible would be a better look here, rather than the solid bar.
Added:
and I also like the default to Rdio style cover view if no artist pics can be found.
Truly excellent work.
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1)
When you cycle through the right-hand pane, if you chose to display the lyrics and bio as tabs, the 2nd click just displays a blank panel.
2)
My mini player uses the 'modern layout' with the 'Windows Theme' skin, and all the graphics (buttons, sliders, rating, icons, visualiser, progress bar) are suddenly corrupted. Classic layout works fine though. I'm not sure if this is related to the work being done on the compact player, but I've only just noticed the problem after downloading the patch that is four posts above this post.
Can anyone else confirm similar corruption, or is it just my installation?
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@ Anti
with 1): only tested with "track with thumbnail" and not having that problem. Now playing shows on second click.
with 2): yes. I can confirm the button images are corrupted in the Mini player when using "Windows Theme" skin
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- Sometimes the overlay controls don't show (sorry I can't point the cause)
- When they show, they are over the album art. I undestand their current location is not definitive?
could you post a screenshot
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10773406/Screenshots/Overlay.gif)
- The icon switches on the gear submenu don't change appearance to reflect the current state
can you give a specific example as i cant reproduce any issues. How are you changing the current state and which control specifically are you refering to
Sorry, my fault. I don't know which skin color controls the disabled icon.
Also, about the BG artist picture, now it shows like this:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10773406/Screenshots/original.jpg)
maybe it would be better like this (or aligned to the left to avoid being overlaid by the right panel)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10773406/Screenshots/proposed.jpg)
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Changes looking good so far. How about alternating list colors for the regular compact layout?
(http://i.imgur.com/yc1C9Tf.jpg) (http://i.imgur.com/yc1C9Tf.jpg)
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- Sometimes the overlay controls don't show (sorry I can't point the cause)
because of the way windows works and i have implemented, the overlay player will only draw on the artist background. Its possible i might change that when i look at the album cover-only layout
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1)
When you cycle through the right-hand pane, if you chose to display the lyrics and bio as tabs, the 2nd click just displays a blank panel.
i cant reproduce any issue - the toggle goes from main panel, secondary panel and no panels displayed
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Default view:
(http://s9.postimg.org/5bsu6wkcv/Snap_2014_01_07_at_09_39_15.png)
1st click (note that 'lyrics' and 'bio' have been chosen in the 'customise panel' settings)
(http://s9.postimg.org/4xmwtkavj/Snap_2014_01_07_at_09_39_27.png)
2nd click (right panel is now blank)
(http://s9.postimg.org/f6fdzdyxb/Snap_2014_01_07_at_09_39_39.png)
However, If I deselect either 'lyrics' or 'bio' from the 'customise panel' settings, then whatever I deselected appears on 2nd click.
> yes. I can confirm the button images are corrupted in the Mini player when using "Windows Theme" skin
Thanks for the confirmation. I'll fill out a separate bug report for that issue.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
@Anti, this should fix your bugs
@scampbll, i have put back in support for ratings in the player panel
@endeavour1934, i will probably do what you suggest about right aligning the picture (not done in this version though) and will also look at the colouring of the controls on the popup menu
this version also tweaks the compact player layout settings to (hopefully) make the new way the right panels are used clearer
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Confirmed: all bugs fixed. Thank you very much. Compact and mini players are looking fantastic.
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Hi Steven,
have my suggestions been overlooked ?
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1) Can the |> control bar be adjusted between the bottom and top of the compact overlay view like it can on the main view ?
2) Can this compact window allow for desktop level layer "z order" so that icons etc. can remain on top of it (i.e. Always on bottom) ?
3) Is there a way to adjust the transparency of the find bar ? (Sorry if this has already been asked)
1) will look at supporting the progress bar above but not the wavebar or in the middle
2) i dont know what you mean
3) i will see if that can be addressed but not promising
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
@endeavour1934, i will probably do what you suggest about right aligning the picture
I actually prefer the current smaller picture aligning. You don't get the RH panel (when opened) obscuring the image this way.
Maybe a little more blending on either side of the image so that the edge is not so noticeable?
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I actually prefer the current smaller picture aligning. You don't get the RH panel (when opened) obscuring the image this way.
Maybe a little more blending on either side of the image so that the edge is not so noticeable?
Current version shows the image aligned to the left if the right panel is displayed.
If all the right panels are closed, the image appears centered without gradients, and this is what I think should be changed to be aligned to the right with a gradient fade-out.
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Thanks, Steven! Sorry if I was a little rough. This works great, and the changes to the configuration panel are really helpful.
p.s. In the download, the MusicBee Default skin is in the main directory rather than Skins.
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@endeavour1934, i will probably do what you suggest about right aligning the picture (not done in this version though)
this was a really good suggestion as it has been on the back of mind how to get a better result when the picture doesnt fill the panel. Its only done for the compact player, but is left aligned if there is a solid right panel displayed. If the right panel is overlaid, it still right aligns the picture as i felt the picture shouldnt jump around when hiding the overlaid panel and it still looks good in my opinion, although i am willing to change it so the picture remains left aligned when right panel overlaid is enabled.
I will post a link later
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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@endeavour1934, i will probably do what you suggest about right aligning the picture (not done in this version though)
this was a really good suggestion as it has been on the back of mind how to get a better result when the picture doesnt fill the panel. Its only done for the compact player, but is left aligned if there is a solid right panel displayed. If the right panel is overlaid, it still right aligns the picture as i felt the picture shouldnt jump around when hiding the overlaid panel and it still looks good in my opinion, although i am willing to change it so the picture remains left aligned when right panel overlaid is enabled.
I will post a link later
When the right panel is open I think the picture should be left aligned, like it was before. Thanks to the gradient and BG color, all the background feels like an entire image, so the change it's not a nuisance at all, it just feels like it's part of the photo framing.
The change in alignment is not a problem as long as it's not inmediate when you press the button to open/close the panel.
EDIT: Maybe the gradient should be wider? 1.5-2x the current one?
EDIT 2: Sometimes a 1px line of the image appears on the left side of the gradient
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a picture to illustrate my viewpoint
(http://i.cubeupload.com/cha4v8.jpg)
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i have changed it to adjust the left or right orientation according to whether anything is displayed in the right panel.
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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Hi Steven,
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner.
Thanks for looking into these :)
about item 1 - excellent. and yeah, just the controls - not the wavebar etc.
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about item 2 - this idea comes from Rain Meter where a window settings position can be set (see selected dropdown in image 1).
(http://i.imgur.com/YpxjGTe.png)
If MB compact view had its own "On desktop" then MB could be underneath any type of other window ...
image 2 shows a mock use of this where the RM clock is on top of MB without being on top of other windows.
(http://i.imgur.com/Sy1aaHm.png)
Ideally, there would be a button next to the _ x window controls that was "pin", "send to back", "bring to front".
Hmm, in fact now I'm writing this, perhaps I should look for a window manager - lol
2b) The compact window could do with a RM style draggable (aka Pin) to prevent accidental movement.
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about item 3 - sure, thanks for taking a look
I've kind of talked myself out of the number 2, but i'll leave it here in case it is silly easy to achieve. The issue is MB looks so damn nice with the artwork, but I want to fit it within my RM stuff on the desktop where I don't need to control it, but simply just look at how pretty it is instead. It would make a really nice desktop background tho, one where you can control it, but the window doesn't come to the top of other windows. I hope I make sense.
Thanks again.
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@mrad - item 2 - the idea of the compact player effectively becoming the desktop (albeit interactive) is actually pretty amazing. wouldnt work for people using lots of desktop shortcuts but personally my desktop is largely clear (i use the amazing launchy). no idea how difficult this might be to implement or how many others might be interested but definite +1 from me....
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Hello Steven
Would it be possible to minimize MB to the tray when minimizing it from the Compact Player?
Currently, it does only minimize to the Task Bar, where the MB icon stays active in addition to the icon in the systray. Isn't it one too many icon here? :)
Thanks
Olivier
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@klint - not at home so can't check, but isn't there an option to minimise to system tray in preferences that should work?
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@simonBRT
Yes there is, but the idea I forgot to mention (my bad!) was to set this parameter to "switch to Compact Player on minimize" there, so that one can easily switch between Normal Player and Compact one without using the menu.
And with the parameter set like this, minimizing the Compact Player not not minimize to Systray anymore :)
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the same drop-down menu has the option to minimise to compact player already. I suspect I am missing your point here a little. Are you suggesting that 'minimise to' can be set separately depending on whether the main player or the compact player is active?
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@SimonBRT
Maybe I can explain what I would like to obtain :)
- minimizing the Full Player should display the Compact Player
- minimizing the Compact Player should minimize to Systray (to keep the task bar clean)
That's all.
Unfortunately, using the "Minimize to" setting allows to do either of these 2 things, depending on the value, but not BOTH.
Maybe a new option could help, like "Minimize to Compact Player, then Systray"?
Cheers
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I can see your logic. as you've already created a wishlist request we can close the discussion here. :)
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i have changed it to adjust the left or right orientation according to whether anything is displayed in the right panel.
Thank you for this Steven.
Is it possible to have the blending that is on the LH side of the image when it is right-aligned, be used on the RH side of the image when it's left-aligned?
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Is it possible to have the blending that is on the LH side of the image when it is right-aligned, be used on the RH side of the image when it's left-aligned?
can you post a screenshot where its not doing that as it should already be the case if there is a gap (i suggest you use the latest version in case something has already been changed)
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I don't know, Maybe the gradient on left side of the image (when it's right-aligned) needs to be even wider. Now it works very good with some images, but with others it's still a bit odd. Adding more gradient may be bad for the images that now look good, but good for the ones that look bad. I think it needs more testing and more opinions from other users.
About the change in alignment when you press the right panel button...
The change in alignment is not a problem as long as it's not inmediate when you press the button to open/close the panel – just change it on the next image (on previous versions it worked this way)
I still think this should be considered. Of course that would cause a problem: if the rotation is paused, the alignment would never change. More users should give their opinion, but if Steven is tired of working on this, an alternative to all the problems would be aligning always to the left.
BTW Steven, please fix the vertical margin between the controls and the album cover (on small and medium cover sizes) to be the same as the left margin.
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Is it possible to have the blending that is on the LH side of the image when it is right-aligned, be used on the RH side of the image when it's left-aligned?
can you post a screenshot where its not doing that as it should already be the case if there is a gap (i suggest you use the latest version in case something has already been changed)
I worked out what is happening. I use the Sizer app (introduced by Greb before fixed TM's were possible) to keep the compact player in the same 16:10 ratio as my screen.
If a narrow image is displayed, whose RH side ends close to the center of the panel, very little to no blending is applied to that RH edge. If I resize the player to a 4:3 ratio, so that the RH side of the image is closer to the RH side of the panel, more noticeable blending is seen.
I am assuming this is the nature of the blending used and is designed to be the best all-round solution for the majority of cases. I can live with that. :) It would also explain endeavour1934's observation that it works better with some images more than others
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@redwing, i have incorportated endeavour1934's suggestion for the shuffle/ repeat buttons. If you still have problems with the menu refusing to popup then let me know, but i will need step-by-step instructions
Just checked out the latest version and saw it's working great. No popup bug anymore, and the buttons under control button are very convenient. Thanks!
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[moved to bug reports]
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BTW Steven, please fix the vertical margin between the controls and the album cover (on small and medium cover sizes) to be the same as the left margin.
can you use the latest version as there have already been a number of small tweaks.
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
if you think its still wrong, can you post a screenshot
About the change in alignment when you press the right panel button...
The change in alignment is not a problem as long as it's not inmediate when you press the button to open/close the panel – just change it on the next image (on previous versions it worked this way)
I still think this should be considered. Of course that would cause a problem: if the rotation is paused, the alignment would never change. More users should give their opinion, but if Steven is tired of working on this, an alternative to all the problems would be aligning always to the left.
I am inclined to leave it as-is, but will see if there are any more comments when its been posted on the beta update topic
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Now Playing Assistant button is located at the rightmost, but the panel opens up on the left. Besides, I never liked the panel covers half of the screen hiding track info. How about making the Now Playing Assistant panel appear over the right panel upon clicking on the button, given that the assistant panel is used temporarily?
BTW, if the right panel can no longer be auto-opened, I think, Now Playing Assistant should follow that for consistency.
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Mock up of player bar at top of window...
(http://i.imgur.com/QUUZVYr.png)
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Now Playing Assistant button is located at the rightmost, but the panel opens up on the left. Besides, I never liked the panel covers half of the screen hiding track info. How about making the Now Playing Assistant panel appear over the right panel upon clicking on the button, given that the assistant panel is used temporarily?
BTW, if the right panel can no longer be auto-opened, I think, Now Playing Assistant should follow that for consistency.
please check the posts from the last week and you will see what is going on.
The search button will soon open in the player panel, something like this mockup:
(http://getmusicbee.com/images/forum/SearchPanel.png)
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Now that I see those screenshots... there is something on the compact player that needs to be fixed: scrollbars.
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please check the posts from the last week and you will see what is going on.
The search button will soon open in the player panel, something like this mockup:
OK. I'll wait and see the new feature implemented.
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Regarding fonts:
1. How about making the font size of now playing list and artist bio follow that of lyrics, which is the only customizable one? That would be useful especially to those who use high resolution display.
2. This is a minor annoyance. If I choose Segoe UI "light" font for custom font, the font selection is empty when I reopen the font selection box unlike any other fonts or styles. So I have to find and select Segoe UI again. Maybe it has something to do with that "light" comes before "regular" style?
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
this has the new search panel. Clicking the search button no longer opens the left panel now playing assistant but if you still prefer it, it still can be invoked by hotkey
I havent included Radio in the search choices and will only add that is its requested
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very schmick Steven! nice work
and I see you have tweaked the narrow picture blending too. I like very much. Thank you :)
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Great addition!
A few bugs and suggestions:
- Playlist selection under "other" doesn't work properly. Only first selection works, but from the second the list doesn't change.
- If I select a playlist via MusicBee icon on the top left> Open Playlist, MB just starts playing the playlist, having no effect on the search panel. Was this intended?
- When search panel is open, I cannot drag and move the player. Maybe clicking on top border could allow that.
- When search panel is open, right panel button is grayed out. I'd like it working immediately exiting from search panel upon clicking without having to click on search icon again to exit the panel.
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A few bugs and suggestions:
thanks for that redwing, i appreciate you taking the time to try out and report problems
- playlist selection is fixed
- i'm not really sure if MB should do anything more than the action the user did and try and guess what the further intention is with the search screen so i will leave as-is
- i actually thought that was already tested and working but seems not - its fixed now and you can drag the header section
- the current behavior was intentional as you cant see the results of that action so i thought it was better just to disable the button
i might post a fix later but otherwise its in the next update
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Wow! That is looking nice indeed!
Love the capitalised headers on each section and and use of bold to highlight. The grouping of 'Album [Year]' really really works too. Great stuff.
I would absolutely love to see playlists added as another section for the thumbnail browser. I listen by playlist more than any other method and the current implementation of the pop-up menu under OTHER feels a little clunky/out of place with the rest of the design here.
I know lots of people (myself very much included) do not have a flat directory structure for playlists which does pose questions...
Perhaps the thumbnail browser column could show folders (e.g. for me this includes folders such as New music / Artist compilations / Multi-artist compilations / etc.) and we could simply re-use the default icon used for genres. Then selecting a folder on the thumbnail browser could show the actual playlists and contents in the right hand panel It could use a similar grouping to albums currently (i.e. playlist name = album / playlist tracks = album tracks). A double click on a grouping header (playlist) would play that playlist and a double click on an individual track would play all tracks in that folder of playlists.
Sorry this got a little wordy! A picture would probably have been better.. ???
This view is making a strong case for going full screen in my opinion...
P.S. One small bug: Using DarkRedMETRO (Cyan) skin, the scrollbar background on the thumbnail browser displays bright red as if a skin value is missing. Not sure if this is actually a bug or an issue with the skin?
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MB could do what is done for other places such as auto-playlists where it includes the folder name(s) with the playlist name
eg. My Favourites/Rock
The reason its lumped under "other" was because with narrow configurations there isnt enough room to include all the choices. My energy level is quite low with this now and i still have some changes in mind for the album-picture only layout but i will consider doing something with your suggestion and if other people vote for it then that will help as well
By the way, i dont claim credit for the use of bolding and captilisation - that comes from looking at how Zune tackled this
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By the way, i dont claim credit for the use of bolding and captilisation - that comes from looking at how Zune tackled this
...well, nothing wrong with borrowing an idea or two, so long as you borrow the best ones!
MB could do what is done for other places such as auto-playlists where it includes the folder name(s) with the playlist name
eg. My Favourites/Rock
this could work...
The reason its lumped under "other" was because with narrow configurations there isnt enough room to include all the choices. My energy level is quite low with this now and i still have some changes in mind for the album-picture only layout but i will consider doing something with your suggestion and if other people vote for it then that will help as well
no problem. i'm well beyond thinking every suggestion i make should be implemented. all additions to mb at this point are purely icing on the cake. (i'll still hope the idea gets a few +1's though! ;) )
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I would absolutely love to see playlists added as another section for the thumbnail browser. I listen by playlist more than any other method and the current implementation of the pop-up menu under OTHER feels a little clunky/out of place with the rest of the design here.
I know lots of people (myself very much included) do not have a flat directory structure for playlists which does pose questions...
Perhaps the thumbnail browser column could show folders (e.g. for me this includes folders such as New music / Artist compilations / Multi-artist compilations / etc.) and we could simply re-use the default icon used for genres. Then selecting a folder on the thumbnail browser could show the actual playlists and contents in the right hand panel It could use a similar grouping to albums currently (i.e. playlist name = album / playlist tracks = album tracks). A double click on a grouping header (playlist) would play that playlist and a double click on an individual track would play all tracks in that folder of playlists.
Not sure that kind of big change would be really necessary when thumbnail browser already helps browsing contents in a playlist. My suggestion is to show the playlist selection box upon clicking on the name of playlist on the top left under menu, which currently shows up only when a playlist is selected. Then "OTHER" could change just to "Audiobooks."
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i've changed playlists handling so the left navigator shows the playlists and the right the tracks:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i'll just mention this here in case anyone wants to object, but i am thinking of changing the Now Playing Assistant to use this same search panel, maybe defaulting to the Tracks view. I havent fully decided about that though
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i've changed playlists handling so the left navigator shows the playlists and the right the tracks:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
Hello Steven
Would you consider to add podcasts in the same way, under the "Other" section? The left navigator would show the subscriptions and the right one the episodes (either only the downloaded ones, or all... not sure)
Thanks
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Hi Steven,
I think you misread my suggestion which involved...
1) Can the |> control bar be adjusted between the bottom and top of the compact overlay view like it can on the main view ?
And the mockup image that I added to clarify the suggestion...
(http://i.imgur.com/QUUZVYr.png)
you thought I was asking after the wavebar/progress bar.
thanks in advance.
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(http://i.minus.com/il2VQ4QjQ4ewF.jpg)
when clicking on settings button, there is only repeat on/off - no repeat1 ???
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On search panel, I'd like to be able to select a library filter under "Music" node so that only tracks in the selected filter display on the thumbnail browser. Would be useful to people using filters when listening to music.
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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
- new option to include your own custom background. I have included one of the skins from Grebs' theater mode packs so you can see how it could look
- album cover only layout now supports the "hide caption bar" setting
- when panels are overlaid on the picture you can now set a custom font for the Now Playing List, Artist Bio, Lyrics
- Repeat One is now supported on the player controls popup
- the search panel has been beefed up to support Library Filters, Podcasts, Playlists, Radio [and the Now Playing List/ Play queue from Theater Mode screens, and the Now Playing Assistant]
Thats pretty much all i have planned for this round of enhancements to the Compact Player - i have decided not to make any further changes to the layout when the player panel is overlaid on the background.
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- the search panel has been beefed up to support Library Filters, Podcasts, Playlists, Radio [and the Now Playing List/ Play queue from Theater Mode screens, and the Now Playing Assistant]
Thanks a lot, Steven, for beefing up the search panel :)
By the way, on the podcast search, there is a slight graphical glitch with the highlighted row background as you can see here: http://vvcap.net/db/cDBD0p6m32olsm7JvjUw.htp
Cheers
[Edited] new screenshot, more explicit
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- Repeat One is now supported on the player controls popup
Thank you for adding that.
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Excellent work! Thanks for adding all those great features!
A minor glitch:
(http://i.imgur.com/FqAI3ic.png)
With custom font of Segoe UI 12 pt, custom background selection box is not drawn correctly.
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By the way, on the podcast search, there is a slight graphical glitch with the highlighted row background as you can see here: http://vvcap.net/db/cDBD0p6m32olsm7JvjUw.htp
i cant reproduce that. Can you PM me a link to your settings file (help/support/view settings) and also let me know what DPI resolution you run your screen at eg. 96DPI
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that should be fixed now:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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Regarding selected node:
1. No indicator that shows what node is currently selected: For instance, compact player is playing a playlist or a filter with shuffle on. But no way to figure out the currently playing node.
2. Selected node remains locally in each type of player. If you switch to main player, selected node in left navigator is not necessary the same as the currently playing one. It's the node you selected before when you're using main player.
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that should be fixed now:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
It is. Thanks :)
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There's a bug where you cant click other nodes (music, inbox) once you open the "Other" dialog.
(http://i.imgur.com/LDZhdhx.gif)
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the only restriction i find is when the context menu is open, clicking on Music or Inbox requires a second click - is that what you mean?
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Yes. If the clicks are not clicked quickly in succession it won't go away. If you click in the main panel it goes away instantly though
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this should fix the issue:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_3/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
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As one of background feature options, I would like to enter a search term on the settings panel that would retrieve pics from Google image site and display on compact player. For instance, I could enter "Norma opera" and enjoy retrieved pics while I listening to the opera for 3 hours instead of rotating a few saved/retrieved artist pics. This would also allow to retrieve more varied pics for soundtracks and artist pics than those currently available, and people could easily expand their local pics collection.
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Hello and thanks for the improvements on the compact mode, as i use it more and more, i decided to give this new version a try.
I love the "hide windows caption bar", it allows me to have a nifty player that merge perfectly with my blackish desktop.
But... when i'm using "album cover only" option, the player background doesn't remain black as it did in previous version.
(http://imageshack.com/a/img716/2971/a90z.jpg)
I don't want to use album color mix neither, it's not dark enough for me, even with "darken background" slider playing.
The only way for me to have a plain black background is by using a custom black background, but if i do this, the "hide windows caption bar" option doesn't work anymore, and the cover art is shrinked.
(http://imageshack.com/a/img716/9351/sfq7.jpg)
Would it be possible to have the windows caption bar hidden, and a bigger cover art in custom mode ? Or maybe just no recoloring in "album cover only" mode ?
Also, the "row span" options in the second option tab still doesn't work for me (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=11611.msg70659#msg70659) on this version. :(
Redwing told me that it was intended to not work, is that true ?
Thanks ;)
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I like very much the new layout, but I found a bug, with some artists (ex: King Crimson) MusicBee displays for them a wrong picture that belongs to another band. Perhaps there's a need of a blacklist command for some pictures, what do you think? :)
untick "flickr.com" from the preferences. The other sites used should have accurate pictures - flickr.com can have some very interesting ones but sometimes is wrong
Sorry to come back with this. They are accurate but sometimes they can be crap, bad photo, poor resolution... A possible blacklist would be great.
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Sorry to come back with this. They are accurate but sometimes they can be crap, bad photo, poor resolution... A possible blacklist would be great.
Search for "ban picture" in the forum.
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I found the function to ban a picture, but they still appear. I wonder why.
Edit: It's good now, just need to restart musicbee.
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Well, as I said here, I'm not a big fan of the "always display progress bar" feature:
Could the "always display progress bar" be set as an option plz?
Or maybe something like this:
settings = auto-hide the player panel AND progress bar on bottom -> auto-hide the player panel but not the progress bar
settings = auto-hide the player panel AND progress bar in middle/top -> auto-hide both
This last setting was the one I used until now and I was fine with it.
- People like me that don't want the progress bar at the bottom can't auto-hide the player panel. I have the choice, but between 2 options that I don't want: progress bar on top but no auto-hide or auto-hide but progress bar at bottom.
- I like the clean layout of the compact player and I don't want/need an always apparent progress bar. Mouse hover over MB is enough for me (OK. It's just a personnal feeling and I can understand that other could want this feature)
- But I think that everyone gonna be agree with this last point: if your using/creating a theater skin that already have his own skinned progress bar, here the result: two progress bars.
(http://imageshack.com/a/img835/8286/tmxl.jpg)
So, could you reconsider the "always display progress bar" as an option, please? Thank you!
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So, could you reconsider the "always display progress bar" as an option, please? Thank you!
I would be glad to see that too !
+1
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This was suggested a few pages back but i can't figure out if the idea was ever considered or not (if it was, my apologies)
Basically, an option to move control bar up top.
(http://i.imgur.com/jKduZZq.jpg)
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I'm very sorry for so stupid question but is there still any selector that allows to switch back to the old Compact Player layout. It appears to me that some kind of selector was there at least in version 2.* or maybe even 3.1. But for now I can't find it.
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In Compact Player view/mode can you add an option to show the toggle Equaliser on/off button next to Lyrics button, in the bottom right corner.