Question: Do you want us to post bugs and wishes regarding Theater Mode in this thread, the Bug Reports forum (for bugs, even minor ones) or continue doing so in this thread: 'screensaver' playing view mode for HTPC plasma/lcd displays (http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=5699.0) ?its probably best to post here and the other thread now has a misleading title
When Theater Mode is activated and MB screensaver kicks in (I.e after x secs), when moving mouse to go back to Theater mode, the theater mode isn't refreshed. It does not refresh on F5 either. Only thing that works is to use next or previous track.that should be fixed now
#2. Bug: Cover Art does not obey the settings of the artwork retrieval order. That is for example sometimes artwork is shown in MusicBee for tracks without associated files because there is picture file, *.*, in the same folder. However in Theatre Mode/ScreenSaver it shows as "no cover art".its a bug on the plugin API and will be fixed for the next MusicBee update
In customizing the fonts, how do you set a font for Bold Italic? For the style, I can use "Regular" "Bold" or "Italic" but don't see a way to set Bold Italic. I've tried "Bold Italic" "Bold-Italic" and "BoldItalic" with no luck. Is this possible?"Bold,Italic"
I love the Theater Mode as screensaver because it allows me to see all my great album art at a huge size (presently set to 500 min and 700 max).
Hi.thats not so straight forward so i'm not sure whether i would probably not do this in the current iteration of changes
It would be great if lyrics were displayed in Theater mode.
#8. Bug: Rating, RatingAlbum and RatingLove does not show at all in the latest version unless they're used as child elements. Applies to both Theater Mode and Screen Saver. Using MB 2.0.4467.Can you send me the xml you use for those fields as i cant reproduce the incorrect behavior and see no reason from the code
This simple xml works with the previous version but in the latest no element is shown:#8. Bug: Rating, RatingAlbum and RatingLove does not show at all in the latest version unless they're used as child elements. Applies to both Theater Mode and Screen Saver. Using MB 2.0.4467.Can you send me the xml you use for those fields as i cant reproduce the incorrect behavior and see no reason from the code
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<root>
<settings enableScaling="false" />
<element type="Field" id="Rating" x="200" y="200" fg="255,255,255" ></element>
<element type="Field" id="RatingAlbum" x="200" y="400" fg="255,255,255" ></element>
<element type="Field" id="RatingLove" x="200" y="600" ></element>
</root><element type="ArtistPicture" x="1" y="1" widthDock="Panel" width="-2" heightDock="Panel" height="-2" fade="0.3" ></element>
<element type="Block" xAnchor="AlbumCover.Left" x="-15" yAnchor="AlbumCover.Top" y="-15" widthDock="X:Panel.Right" width="-330" height="390" bg="210,0,0,0"></element>
see: TheaterMode.Settings(ArtistBackgroundPictureExample).xml in the download pack
<element type="ProgressButton" style="Diamond" width="12" height="12" fg="250,250,250" ></element>
TheaterMode.Settings.xml
TheaterMode.Background.jpg
TheaterMode.Rotation\
TheaterMode.List\
xxxxx.jpg
xxxxx.xml
xxxxx.Rotation\
yyyyy.jpg
yyyyy.xml
yyyyy.Rotation\
so when a TheaterMode.List folder exists the Theater Mode menu would open a list of choices
Theater Mode ->
Default
xxxxx
yyyyy
Need a bit of help.
Everytime I try to enable theatre mode Musicbee crashes. Any ideas on how to stop this?
And please keep answer simple i'm not very savvy on complex coding thanks
How do you get the artist picture not faded at all? (even with fade="0" it fades it)yes that is how it is done at the moment but i will change it so 0 really doesnt fade at all
BTW, is it possible to make the artist picture rotate?
yes that is how it is done at the moment but i will change it so 0 really doesnt fade at all
is it possible for you to do a mockup of what you have in mind with the rotated artist picture - it should be possible but it will help to see as it might need additional attributes
Yeap, of course, extract this in the TheaterMode.List folder (it uses the Open Sans fonts):i think i was taking what you meant by rotate literally as in rotate in angle
Also the artwork of the previous track and the next one could give some eye candyif it literally showed the album cover of the previous and next track then that wouldnt work well, so it would need to be the album cover of the prior and next album.
i think i was taking what you meant by rotate literally as in rotate in angle
if it literally showed the album cover of the previous and next track then that wouldnt work well, so it would need to be the album cover of the prior and next album.I don't know if it would be more confussing with the next album cover than the next track cover. I didnt tried it before.
And another thing (sorry for double posting). Would be it possible to use backgrounds from internet the same way artist picture is used?i like this suggestion and think it works well - this has the new feature as a Gallery element
I'm thinking, for example, in something like using flickr or picassa with a keyword (as, for example, 'landscape').
<element type="Gallery" x="1" y="1" widthDock="Panel" width="-2" heightDock="Panel" height="-2" keepAspectRatio="false" fillColor="200,0,0,0" interval="60" tags="Landscape" ></element>
thats fixed now
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2/TheaterMode_Plugin.zip
<element type="Field" x="100" y="100" size="10" fg="235,235,235" font="Segoe UI">
<child id="RatingAlbum" size="13" />
<child> </child>
<child id="Album" />
</element><element type="Field" x="100" y="100" size="10" fg="235,235,235" font="Segoe UI">
<child> </child>
<child id="RatingAlbum" size="13" />
<child> </child>
<child id="Album" />
</element>.Ext, Album [Year], BPM, Channels, Conductor, Date added, Date modified, Decade, Encoder, Keyword, Kind, Last played, Lyricist, Origin, Path, Play count, Size, Skip count, Tempo, Quality, Year (yyyy)Just as Landscape, could the artists pictures be full screen.. as in taking up more of the screen space??change:
Not sure if this is a bug or if I'm reading the instructions correctly.if you are using todays update and you are editing the default layout then it is now located in Plugins\TheaterMode.List\Default.xml
I want to remove the borders from TheaterMode. I commented out the following section:
<theaterMode>
<settings bdr="128,128,128" />
</theaterMode>
Yet TheaterMode still shows borders.
if you are using todays update and you are editing the default layout then it is now located in Plugins\TheaterMode.List\Default.xml
trying it now it doesnt show if that element is removed
if you are using todays update and you are editing the default layout then it is now located in Plugins\TheaterMode.List\Default.xml
trying it now it doesnt show if that element is removed
Got it. Sort of.
First off, I had downloaded today's update, but I didn't overwrite the old files. Now that it's been done, and the folder structure reorganized as you indicated, I need some clarification. With the borders element commented out I enter TheaterMode in full-screen there are no borders other than the menubar/border at top. When the window is minimized, there are borders on all four sides. Is that the correct behavior?
Regarding greb's post, I really like your work. But your question is why I have also backed off of your plugins...I like what is now available by default, and did not want to lose any of it. I remember asking you that same question when I saw your plugins.
I guess I'm wondering how others are dealing with this. Or is everyone just accepting the default, or the default of a new layout, and sticking with it?
Regarding greb's post, I really like your work. But your question is why I have also backed off of your plugins...I like what is now available by default, and did not want to lose any of it. I remember asking you that same question when I saw your plugins.
why not either call the modification something else other than Default or alternatively going forward only extract the updated .dll file from the zip?I do both. And before I try new tweaks, I copy the settings.xml somewhere else so I can go back to it without having to remember what changes I made. I also make incremental backups as I try new settings.
everything is displayed in the order you set in the file, so make sure the <Block> element is before the album cover elementYou Greb already helped me to :)
Question: Would it be possible to use my own artist artwork instead of having images taken from the internet? Sometimes I have a dodgy internet connection so Musicbee cannot grab anything. Also, I have some nice images that I would like to use.an artist picture is downloaded just once and saved in the windows application folder
However, this is a cache, and there are circumstances the cache is cleared eg. you can manually reset the cache and i recall there is a artwork setting change in the Tags(1) preferences that can reset the cache. But as long as you have a backup you could use it on that understanding.I suppose many of us have a file structure like "my_own_path\artist\album\track.mp3". Due to the fact, that the automatic found pictures usually are not so brilliant to be shown in full screen mode, I'd prefer a solution similar to the covers:
<element name="#LyricsStatus" type="Text" xAnchor="Panel.Right" x="-20" yAnchor="Panel.Bottom" y="-63" font="Arial" style="Bold" size="9" fg="0,79,24,22" fg2="230,230,230">L</element>
fg="215,215,215" fg2="255,255,255" allowPinning="true" autoOpenLyrics="true" resizePictures="true"
- and others for the suggestions
yes indeed, and the credits have been updated nowThanks :) Working on a new Theater skin :)
Although you haven't said anything I noticed that coloring of RatingLove is a little bit different now. Earlier when using RatingLove as a child-element and only defining fg2, the love symbol would only show for loved tracks. However using the latest Theater Mode the love icon displays in white for all tracks that are not loved, and in the color defined as fg2 for those who are.i realise the mistake now and needs to be corrected for the next update which i will do later. I dont think the correction i make will affect you
Would be it possible to make objects dependant from sidebars?- elements now re-position when anchored to an autoHide element. If you want the picture to resize as well i recommend using the existing autoHide attribute: resizePictures="true" and that way the picture will only resize when the autoHide panel is permanently on display and wont resize when the user has the autoHide panel temporarily open
updated plugin:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2/TheaterMode_Plugin.zip
fix for the now playing assistant:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zipWould be it possible to make objects dependant from sidebars?- elements now re-position when anchored to an autoHide element. If you want the picture to resize as well i recommend using the existing autoHide attribute: resizePictures="true" and that way the picture will only resize when the autoHide panel is permanently on display and wont resize when the user has the autoHide panel temporarily open
In the end it always something stupid on my part. It works beautifully now. Thanks!
if you are referring to the sidebars closing when pictures change from a rotation folder then this update should fix that (as opposed to downloaded pictures changing which should already work fine).
Also its a bit smarter about how it remembers pinned sidebars on restart where there are multiple sidebars
Also has a couple of other bug fixes
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2/TheaterMode_Plugin.zip
John Denver.. If u need the tracks for experiment, I can upload.i suspect flickr might have been temporarily out of action as there are 49 matches for john denver. But i made a change so it resets to last.fm if that happens
Glen Campbell too... among others of course.
updated plugin:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2/TheaterMode_Plugin.zip
fix for the now playing assistant:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zipWould be it possible to make objects dependant from sidebars?- elements now re-position when anchored to an autoHide element. If you want the picture to resize as well i recommend using the existing autoHide attribute: resizePictures="true" and that way the picture will only resize when the autoHide panel is permanently on display and wont resize when the user has the autoHide panel temporarily open
Issue: Adding theatermode view works.. it adds it next to the 'panel Layout' icon. However, when I restart Musicbee, it disappears. Using version 2.0.4487 with the theatermode from today.if you also assign the command a hotkey it should work, but i will fix that for the next update.
In the end it always something stupid on my part. It works beautifully now. Thanks!
I guess that what would be great is a feature that would be the combination of PlayingList Assistant and List of Songs as right now 2 different features concern almost same functions. What do you think?The list of songs is something that Greb has done specifically for his theme. The main difference to the Now Playing Assistant is the look fits in with the rest of the theme, but of course lacks any of the playlist manipulation functionality which is the point of the Now Playing Assistant. Maybe you could ask Greb to consider a way to open the NPA from the list of songs panel.
the help text at the end of the Default.xml that comes with the latest zip has most of the thingsThanks! You like my new orange theater? It doesnt has the amount of features as Greb or Beefanatics files yet
also all changes have been listed on this topic
The list of songs is something that Greb has done specifically for his theme. The main difference to the Now Playing Assistant is the look fits in with the rest of the theme, but of course lacks any of the playlist manipulation functionality which is the point of the Now Playing Assistant. Maybe you could ask Greb to consider a way to open the NPA from the list of songs panel.
For the NPA, i am making some minor changes and will include the request so it automatically jumps to the playing song when opened
can you explain some more as i am not sure what you mean.
if you have multiple autohide panels on the same sidebar, as it stands now only one can be open at any point in time if thats what you mean
And BTW, 'Time' and 'Progression' can't be in different panels, located in different places.Time as in the duration of the track ie. you want to split <ProgressPosition> (progress/ duration) into separate parts? or you mean having the <ProgressBar> element separate from the <ProgressPosition> element (which i am surprised you cant do that)
Now check the 'Media Center II' option. Bio, for example, doesn't work, but if you press 'Last.fm bio' (that opens another panel with another Artist Info element) it works, though lateral bar is useless.this should fix the issue, and also fixes a case where lyrics would not load in the plugin (depending on what you do with the lyrics panel in the main player)
<autoHide name="#LeftSidebar" ... disableHotPoint="true" >
rating of streamed songs is not really officially supported and wont hold as the song will eventually get removed from the cache
does anyone still use the Screen Saver menu item that comes with this plugin?I do sometimes. Why? I have two screens and I use one more or less only for MusicBee. The Screen Saver mode lets me go from Screen Saver to Main Player with only one click. Then I go back to Screen Saver using a short-cut so I have no need for the menu option. Maybe it can be moved in to View > Theater Mode as a first option above all views?
MusicBee v2.0.4495.32919 (Win6.1), 23 apr 2012 3:51:
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object..
at MusicBeePlugin.Plugin.TheatrePanel.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
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)Maybe it can be moved in to View > Theater Mode as a first option above all views?that is what i will do
...no that is not supported in the current version of the plugin. I've finished with the plugin for the time being (bug fixes excepted) but can revisit at some point down the track
don't know if this possible? i really have no idea what i am doing when it comes to an xml file!
...i had an idea how you could implement this. You could permanently display the artist info panel (i would have thought it almost always has something) but dock its height to the lyrics autohide panel. Set the lyrics autohide panel to the bottom half of the right sidebar, and if that opens the artist info panel should take up only the top half of the right sidebar.
don't know if this possible? i really have no idea what i am doing when it comes to an xml file!
SimonBRTJust tell me the style you are using that you prefer to see it in. Or you can go to this page and I can help walk you through the tweaking there if I can.
In theatermode, an idea like where there is 'view, control, help'..add a one click visible main player button or word.
<element type="Text" x="0" y="15" width="30" font="Arial" style="Regular" size="28" fg="215,215,215" onClick="CloseWindows">?</element>
Can someone help me on this one: I am trying to install the plugin, but when I try to enable it in Musicbee it says I have to unblock it in the properties of the .dll file itself. So I do that, but when I try to enable it again in Musicbee it still says I have to unblock it. When I go back to the properties of the .dll file, I can unblock it again. It looks like Windows doesn't save the unblocking. I did clicked 'apply' before I saved and tried multiple times, also when Musicbee was off. I can also unblock the 'mb_TheaterModePlugin.dll.config' file, do I have to do that as well?
I had to do the same thing to enable the Android Remote plugin, but it worked then. Any suggestions how to fix this?
this has the following changes:
- fading transition when artist picture in a gallery changes or landscape changes
- dimming/ fading transition when next artist starts playing but for gallery pictures and if a single artist picture is not cached that can take a while sometimes, in which case a loading indicator displays
- improved filtering for larger pictures but with limitations if last.fm is the only source - see post above for instructions to remove existing cached single artist pictures
- right click settings menu on the panel to
- start the theater mode in full screen
- enable the screen saver: note that previously the screen saver was enabled from settings in the default.xml file, and although the settings will be loaded from that file the first time, any changes should be made via the right click menu going forward
- support in the skin file to set the window to a fixed size (for grebs recent files)Code<settings fixedWidth="300" fixedHeight="100" />
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
i unzipped file to theatre mode.list folder. after this what to i do to activate this.
i unzipped file to theatre mode.list folder. after this what to i do to activate this.thanks a lot works great
you should know have a folder called "Musical News". move the .xml files out of that child folder into the theatre mode.list folder proper. There is also a "Shared Artwork" folder inside "Musical News", move the jpg's inside to the existing "Shared Artwork" folder.
Delete the "Musical News" folder.
They should know be available in the selection list when in "Theater Mode
In 2.1.4770 Beta, the screensaver doesn't "kick in" even when " <screenSaver>
<settings idlePeriod="20" />. If activated in file - view menu, it works fine until exited.
Have I missed some new settings?
that was changed ages ago - its now set in the right click context menu in the theater mode window
Is there are way to display the tracks in a currently playing playlist in a panel in Theater Mode? Right now all I'm able to to show is a list of songs in the album of a song currently playing from that particular playlist.
Example:
A Celine Dion song is playing. The right-hand column lists the songs in the album in which the currently playing song is from. In the bottom right corner, you can see what song in the playlist will play next. Instead of having a list of songs in the current album (most of which are not in the playlist), I'd like to have a scrollable list of the songs in the playlist ... kind of like an integrated Now Playing Assistant.
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1/nzcn.jpg
For the new theater mode elements, consult the following thread:Thanks so much! I figured out how to incorporate the MouseOver text color change. Is there a way to set the currently playing song (and the speaker icon) to a different color from all of the other songs in the playlist or album tracklist in Theater Mode?
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=8102.0
3. Would it be possible to color the current playing track differently (Album Tracks type too)?
the pictures are probably in the Artist pictures folder as defined in the Tags(1) preferences. You can put your own pictures in that folderThe ones in that location are in a sub folder called "thumbs" that have small artist pictures for every artist, but these are completely different photos from the photos that are used as backgrounds in theater mode.
No, not the Thumb folder. Its parent folder.Nothing at all is in the parent folder.
Is there a way to clear the cache for the artist pictures that are displayed in theater mode? There are newer, higher-rated photos up on fanart.tv but these aren't being displayed for artists who already have pictures associated with them in theater mode. The "reset album artwork cache" has no affect on the artist photos.
Then they must be all retrieved ones.It's weird though. Any artists that have been played before, their artist picture loads instantaneously (ie: it's stored somewhere). For new artists that I haven't played before, it takes a little into the song before an artist picture is displayed. For subsequent plays, the picture then loads instantaneously.Is there a way to clear the cache for the artist pictures that are displayed in theater mode? There are newer, higher-rated photos up on fanart.tv but these aren't being displayed for artists who already have pictures associated with them in theater mode. The "reset album artwork cache" has no affect on the artist photos.
I'm not sure TM's working with the cache at all.
as i said you can override the pictures by putting pictures in the artist pictures folderThanks! That's the path I needed to delete the .dat files to retrieve the new artist photos.
if you dont want to save prefered files there, you would need to manually delete the pictures from
c:\users\<your id>\appData\Roaming\MusicBee\InternalCache\ArtistBackdrops
Is there a way to set the currently playing song (and the speaker icon) to a different color from all of the other songs in the playlist or album tracklist in Theater Mode?
fg2 to color playing track differently
Hmmm, I updated to the new MusicBee version Steven posted in that thread. I'm still not seeing the results. I would simply put fg2="x,x,x" after fg="x,x,x" in my <element type="AlbumTracks" ... line, right?Is there a way to set the currently playing song (and the speaker icon) to a different color from all of the other songs in the playlist or album tracklist in Theater Mode?
It's now supported:fg2 to color playing track differently
It should work (except the speaker icon). If it's not working, post your entire code for the album tracks type.<autoHide name="#RightSidebarAlbumTracks" xAnchor="Panel.Right" x="-281" y="1" width="281" heightDock="Panel" height="-2" bg="250,20,20,20" fg="215,215,215" fg2="255,255,255" allowPinning="true" resizePictures="false" >
It's working for me. Make sure you have updated MB to the latest version correctly.Bizarre. I just re-downloaded the latest version of MusicBee (2.2.5051) ... still no change in color for the now playing track. Only the mouseover effect is working.
mb_TheaterModePlugin.dll file should be 187,392 byte, correct?Correct! Everything appears to be up-to-date.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<root>
<settings enableScaling="true" />
<element type="Line" xAnchor="Panel.Right" x="-260" yAnchor="Panel.Top" y="65" width="247" height="2" bg="78,177,186"></element>
<element type="Field" id="Album" xAnchor="Panel.Right" x="-262" y="35" width="250" font="Dosis" style="Bold" size="12" fg="220,186,255" ></element>
<element type="Field" id="Artist" xAnchor="Panel.Right" x="-262" y="68" width="250" heightDock="Panel" font="Dosis" style="Regular" size="14" fg="157,182,249" bg="250,20,20,20"></element>
<element type="AlbumTracks" xAnchor="Panel.Right" x="-281" y="95" width="281" heightDock="Panel" height="-2" fg="215,215,215" fg2="78,177,186" allowPinning="true" resizePictures="false" mouseOverFg="78,177,186">
<child width="10" />
<child id="Speaker" width="30" />
<child id="TrackNo" />
<child>. </child>
<child id="Title" width="225" />
<child id="Duration" />
</element>
</root>
This is a test view made from your own code. Save it as an xml file and have a try.Nope, still no change for the Now Playing track.
Are you sure you have the latest dll file under Plugins folder?Okay, I think I have the problem. I have the latest dll file; however, there was an older version also in the folder. After deleting the old file, the test xml file we just made worked. And so does my Artist Showcase xml file. Not sure why MusicBee was reading the old dll file when it had a name other than the default dll file.
Yes, that happened to me as well with another plugin a while ago. I don't know why but that creates a problem. Anyway glad you sorted it out!Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it!