GUI changes for v3.0

[Bee-liever]

artist pictures docked in panels are now resizable

very nice, thank you

added support for circular artist pictures

looks like the images are not just being cropped - their quality is also being reduced


can even see minor distortion and pixelisation introduced on default "All Artists" image

[Alumni]

- added support for circular artist pictures

Very cool feature, and I was hoping it would be added - thanks.

I was thinking now that the expanded menu can optionally not display the album cover, it also means you won't see the cover for an album if that artist only has one item under their name (because the menu is flattened). Perhaps something could be done about that?

[Steven]

looks like the images are not just being cropped - their quality is also being reduced

i didnt notice that and nothing is ever straightforward with microsoft libraries. Its now addressed for the next update

[Steven]

- "TabsBar.Tab.Default" bg="" bg2="" -> set the background of the highlighted tab
"TabsBar.Tab.Highlight" bg doesn't work anymore

i am having trouble understanding what you are saying, especially the first line. A screenshot would help
if you are using the centered/UPPSERCASE style menus and the tabs bar is docked in the caption bar, then MB applies some overrides unless you specify values in your skin
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=16643.msg107229#msg107229

[Steven]

It seems some bugs were recently introduced to movie backdrop display feature.
- It doesn't recognize previous mapping, which requires remapping of all soundtrack files.
- When playing track has different movie title (album) but same artist as previous track, it keeps displaying the images of previous movie.

i havent changed anything related to this for ages. You will need to give me more specific information

[KissCool]

i am having trouble understanding what you are saying, especially the first line. A screenshot would help

When I started MusicBee with the last update:

(BTW, It's not the "Now Playing" tab but the "Album Covers" view! . This v3 is really awesome. Thanks Steven!)

Before the update (RIP=green, using it to test if an element is defunct, or not): no green highlighted tab
<element id="AllowCenteredTabInCaptionBar">true</element>
(...)
<element id="TabsBar.Background" bg="black" bg2="" />
<element id="TabsBar.Tab.Default" bg="RIP" bg2="RIP" fg="magenta" bdr="RIP" />
<element id="TabsBar.Tab.Highlight" bg="black" bg2="" fg="white" bdr="" />

After the update: had to change those 2 elements to remove the green highlighted tab
<element id="TabsBar.Tab.Default" bg="black" bg2="black" fg="magenta" bdr="RIP" />
<element id="TabsBar.Tab.Highlight" bg="RIP" bg2="" fg="white" bdr="" />

Tabs bar, Centered Text Layout, no skin override (no caption bar/caption bar centered text/player on top override)

(So, not a big deal since I can fix it myself, but maybe some old skins could be affected).

[redwing]

It seems some bugs were recently introduced to movie backdrop display feature.
- It doesn't recognize previous mapping, which requires remapping of all soundtrack files.
- When playing track has different movie title (album) but same artist as previous track, it keeps displaying the images of previous movie.

i havent changed anything related to this for ages. You will need to give me more specific information

The second one was an old bug that you fixed years ago, but somehow it came back.
Let's say you have two tracks:
Title: track 1, Artist: John Williams, Genre: Soundtrack, Album: Jaws
Title: track 2, Artist: John Williams, Genre: Soundtrack, Album: Dracula

Play track 1 and then track 2, but the pictures are still those of Jaws. To change it to Dracula, you have to close and open the picture element again.

[h0m3r]

what happend with the Artist Picture of Amy Winehouse?



I have tried multiple images in different sizes.
What are the best values for these pictures?
What is wrong?

[Steven]

what happend with the Artist Picture of Amy Winehouse?

let me know if its ok after the next update as i am using a different approach now

[Steven]

I reported this some time ago. There's still a different clicking behavior compared to 2.5 if you rate tracks with your mouse in the expanded panel (Artwork view). At the moment you have to click within the stars which is nerve-jangling, especially when you miss the star rating you aim for, can also happen by clicking exactly in the middle of two stars. In this case it will change the star rating to none. I hope you will make further adjustments for this.

you keep saying this but i cannot reproduce this. What screen DPI are you using

[Steven]

Before the update (RIP=green, using it to test if an element is defunct, or not): no green highlighted tab
<element id="AllowCenteredTabInCaptionBar">true</element>
(...)
<element id="TabsBar.Background" bg="black" bg2="" />
<element id="TabsBar.Tab.Default" bg="RIP" bg2="RIP" fg="magenta" bdr="RIP" />
<element id="TabsBar.Tab.Highlight" bg="black" bg2="" fg="white" bdr="" />

After the update: had to change those 2 elements to remove the green highlighted tab
<element id="TabsBar.Tab.Default" bg="black" bg2="black" fg="magenta" bdr="RIP" />
<element id="TabsBar.Tab.Highlight" bg="RIP" bg2="" fg="white" bdr="" />

Tabs bar, Centered Text Layout, no skin override (no caption bar/caption bar centered text/player on top override)

i think that is for a change i made for redwing. I have adjusted the behavior so let me know if its ok after the next update

[Steven]

what font are you using?
edit:
actually i do find if you are using a larger than normal font then the bottom few pixels is not treated as being clicked on. If you always aim for the centre of the star does it work ok for you? I have corrected that behavior for the next update

[Cypher]

Found some little UI glitches in the Windows Theme.

1. The media buttons in the Artist Picture and Album Color Mix section in compact mode have a white background inside the circles. Which makes the buttons harder to look at compared to the Musicbee3 theme.

Image: http://i.imgur.com/b1aMCG4.png (see the red circle)

2. Borders glitches out when using the Hide Caption bar option in compact mode. This doesn't occur in Musicbee 2.5 using the same theme. Rebooting Musicbee fixes glitching borders, but those reoccur when turning off the Hide Caption bar option. This glitch also occurs in the Album Color Mix and Big Album sections of compact mode.
GIFs: http://i.imgur.com/vKDjdn3.gifv
http://i.imgur.com/78uQfwV.gifv (after rebooting Musicbee 3)

3. If you show the main menu in the caption bar and switch to Theater mode, a part of the main menu caption bar hangs, resulting a white space at the right side of the caption bar.

It's better shown in a GIF: http://i.imgur.com/QGebKoZ.gifv

Note: I have those glitches on Windows 8.1. It might or not occur on other Windows versions.
The Musicbee version is 3.0.5922.

[Steven]

Found some little UI glitches in the Windows Theme.

those are fixed for the next update

[Steven]

I was thinking now that the expanded menu can optionally not display the album cover, it also means you won't see the cover for an album if that artist only has one item under their name (because the menu is flattened). Perhaps something could be done about that?

i have enhanced the panel so it shows a small album cover by the album name - it doesnt change the total space required by the expanded panel