Winamp "Classic Spectrum Analyzer" plugin with MusicBee

[sveakul]

Hello,

Does anyone else have some experience using this vis plugin in MB they could share?  It is still downloadable here:

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?postid=2182482#post2182482

NOTE(4/20/2019):  Starting with MusicBee version 3.3.7049.40483, the GUI Options window can now be called up by a right-click inside its visualiser window!  No need to do manual ini file edits!
(https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=23345.msg158033#msg158033)

NOTE(10/28/2022):  There is now a new version of the plugin from raul available at the MusicBee Plugins page, see the message linked here:
https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=23345.msg205827#msg205827

NOTE(08/06/2023):  Simplified installation instructions for the new version:
https:https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=23345.msg206731#msg206731

Using 7-Zip, I extracted the 3 components from inside the vis_classic10.exe installer (vis_classic.dll, vis_classic.ini, and "vis_classic" folder of settings) into the MusicBee plugins folder--no need to have Winamp installed.  It shows up in the vis selections and seems to run properly with wasapi.  In Winamp you could right-click it, choose Properties and get a very nice GUI window with all kinds of settings--but trying this in MB will cause the whole app to hang/crash.  You can however adjust the settings manually in the main vis_classic.ini file inside Plugins, and the (profile).ini inside its subfolder "vis_classic".  It's tweaks to these that I would be interested in hearing about.

Right now I am using latency=10(inside vis_classic.ini), and the first section of the profile ini I'm using looks like the below; I adjusted for solid bars low freq-hi freq and started with the "blue flames" ini as a root; once you alter the latter a new ini is created called "Current Settings.ini", which is what the plugin will use for its display (Edited 05-12-2018 for equalized with peaks version):

[Classic Analyzer]
Falloff=20
PeakChange=10
Bar Width=6
X-Spacing=1
Y-Spacing=1
BackgroundDraw=0
BarColourStyle=0
PeakColourStyle=2
Effect=0
Peak Effect=0
Bar Level=1
ReverseLeft=0
ReverseRight=0
Mono=1
FFTEqualize=1
FFTEnvelope=20
FFTScale=20 (if used with sys vol control with MB volume at max, use 160-190 here)

...after this section follows the color settings from the profile ini you are modifying.

These settings look like this (GIF): https://imgur.com/pFWxZg0

 It seems hard to find a straight-ahead bars style spectrum vis nowadays so I'm hoping this one can do until something newer comes along.  Thank you for any input.[/color]

[sveakul]

I should add to this rather lonely post that this visualizer does NOT cause the speeded-up tempo change with WASAPI which is a known bug when using most visualizers in WASAPI or ASIO.  Granted, it is a pretty basic spectrum bar display but the control over varying bar colors and peak effects, width, falloff rate, etc is exceptional.  I have it inserted under my Track Information panel in the right sidebar, height can be varied by dragging the header bar.

I modified my settings somewhat in the first post to reflect what I am using now.  The color settings, which are not shown, match the stock "blue flames" ini included in the pre-defined profiles (18 choices) bundle inside the "vis_classic" folder.

[sveakul]

I use this viz to replace the normal spectrum in the Maya Blue Dark Fine-Tuned skin under the Track Information:

[sveakul]

Here are my "dirty notes" on what the settings options mean in the "Current Settings.ini" file inside the "vis_classic" subfolder ("Latency" setting is inside the vis_classic.ini in the main Plugins folder, for which I use a value of 10):

falloff:  bar fall off rate, 20 for MB, 7 for XMPlay, 9 for Winamp (higher is faster)

peakchange(peak indicator change rate of all effects):

0=no peaks displayed
5=(fastest)(good for fall)
10=better for no fall
67=old norm for peaks (slower)

Bar Width=(I use 6)

backgrounddraw:

0=black
1=grid
2=solid color
3=flash
4=flash grid

barcolourstyle:

0=classic
1 through 4 also:  soft flame, fire, solid lines, winamp fire

----------------------------------

peakcolourstyle:

0=fade  (keeps same light peak color across all bars at their peak, and fades)
1=level
2=level and fade (assumes color of zone it rises to, and fades)

effect:

0=none
1=mirror
2=reflection
3=shadow
4=double shadow
5=smoke
6=refelction waves
7=fade shadow

peak effect:

0=normal (does not fall)
1=fall

2=rise
3=fall & rise
4=rise fall
5=sparks


Bar Level= 1 (other?)

ReverseLeft=0  (how to display L/R if not mono)
ReverseRight=0  (as above)
Mono=1 (doesn't mean "mono source", use 1 for single spectrum display from stereo source or "0" for L/R channel combined display)

FFTEqualize=0 (1=Equalize display, both require different FFTScale settings for best display)

-------------------------------

[KangNi]

Hello Sveakul,

did you were able to change the hight of the visualization panel?

I was unable to do that and got stucked with about fixed 250 px but i would like to set around 40 px.
Currently the visualization pannel eats up almost 1/3rd of my screen now   ...




Would be great if anyone could help here.

Greetings

[sveakul]

Hi KangNi, good to see somebody here besides me, haha..  I use the spectrum on the bottom of the Right Sidebar, under Track Information, and find that I can make its window any height I want by just dragging the top bar (Visualiser Header Menu bar) in steps.

However, when I moved it to the Bottom Panel just now, I found the same thing you did--a fixed height and no bar to drag.  I also noticed that it's missing the "Visualiser" header menu--normally that IS the top bar which is draggable, and what you would expect to see where you want a visualiser element to appear.  So, it MAY be that for some reason MusicBee is not correctly including a Visualiser Header Menu (bar) if the element is placed in the Bottom Panel--which might effect ANY visualiser placed there.

Curiousity may have killed the cat, but I felt lucky and tried choosing a "stock" visualiser instead, "Interference", and placed that one in the Bottom Panel above Player controls and status bar, and guess what---no header bar, and same fixed height!  So, it's NOT a fault of the Classic Spectrum Analyzer.

I would consider it therefore a reportable "bug"--when a graphic visualiser element is placed in the Bottom Panel, it ends up at a fixed height with no Visualiser Header Menu bar.  I will report same and we'll see what happens.

[sveakul]

Resize isssue in Bottom Panel was posted as discussed above to the Bugs forum today.

BTW, KangNi what are you using for a "Latency" setting?

[KangNi]

Hey Sveakul,

thank You for your engagement in this and also your investigations and the bug report.  
I already was contemplate that the fixed height is a bug somehow.

My Blue Flame settings are currently as follows ...

[Classic Analyzer]
Falloff=30
PeakChange=67
Bar Width=6
X-Spacing=1
Y-Spacing=1
BackgroundDraw=0
BarColourStyle=0
PeakColourStyle=2
Effect=0
Peak Effect=1
ReverseLeft=1
ReverseRight=0
Mono=0
Bar Level=1
FFTEqualize=1
FFTEnvelope=20
FFTScale=200


By the way, did you now how to easely change the color for [BarColours], [PeakColours] and [VolumeColours]?
If therefor didn't exist any tool I may have to frickel something in Excel  

I suppose [VolumeFunction] allows the logarithmic scaling.?

Greetings and have a nice day.

[sveakul]

The easiest way to change the bar and peak colors is by having access to the GUI--yep the one that crashes MusicBee.  If you can install the plugin in Winamp or in XMPlay, you can right-click the viz window and get a context menu that allows you to select "Properties"--doing that brings up an excellent GUI with full slider-style controls over the colors, settings, etc., and to top it off the changes show up in real-time.  Of course, the best non-color settings are going to vary between MusicBee and the other players, but what you can do is adjust the colors in the GUI within another player, then copy the profile.ini from that player to MusicBee, and replace the settings portion of the ini with what you use for MusicBee.  Of course if you can come up with something in Excel that would be great too, I'm too lazy for that haha..



The GUI has another tab "Flash Function" which allows you to change "linear/log/sine/squared" curve numbers but I don't want to mess with that, I left it at default.

Actually I have no idea what "VolumeFunction" does except that by the content it must also be related to the color changes somehow.  BTW, the setting for "Latency" I asked about is in the vis_classic.ini, not the profile ini.

I noticed that your FFTScale value is different than mine--what exactly does that value change in the spectrum display?

. 

[sveakul]

Re the discussion above, thanks to Steven the visualisation window height for Bottom Panel placement is now adjustable via the added header bar as of MusicBee 3.2.6695.

[ArachneNet]

Hi Sveakul,
I'm a beginner to the whole modding scene and I'm somewhat confused as to how you got the visualizer working. You somehow extracted some dll's and ini files from the .exe installer and put them in the Musicbee plugin folder. and that's where I got lost. now, I couldn't even get the files from the exe but I suspect it needs an actual Winamp install to work. Is that correct? I'd love to know how to do this. Cheers!

[sveakul]

ArachneNet:  Glad to hear you're interested in this visualiser!  Once you've downloaded vis_classic10.zip, unzip it and you'll find the installer, vis_classic10.exe.  To extract the contents from vis_classic10.exe without actually running the installer (or needing to have a Winamp folder), you can use an application like the freeware 7-Zip (https://www.7-zip.org/)

1.   First put the exe into some non-MusicBee folder, then use 7-Zip to extract it;   it will extract it as a folder named vis_classic10;

2.   Inside that extracted folder you'll find a subfolder "Plugins".  Inside THAT folder, you'll find 2 files and another folder:  vis_classic.dll, vis_classic.ini, and the folder vis_classic;

3.  Copy those 3 items--vis_classic.dll, vis_classic.ini, and the folder vis_classic--into MusicBee's own Plugins folder.  It should then show up in the choice of visualisers after restarting MusicBee.

I would recommend copying either my or KangNi's settings in the posts above so you've got a starting point for future tuning to your own preferences.

If you have more questions, feel free to post them.  Enjoy!

[ArachneNet]

Bit crowded but I got it to work! Thanks!!

[KangNi]

Hello Sveakul,

previously you was asking for my latency settings in the vis_classic.ini - currently I use Latency=10.


Furthermore, could You help and explain tu us how a solid background coulour can be set different from black?

BackgroundDraw=0 is black, 2 is solid - but how to set a RGB-value in here?
BackgroundDraw=20 20 20 doesn't work.

Is there a unknown variable like "BackgroundColour" (doesn't work too) or something similar?

By the way - which player do you use to get the option dialog running?

Thank you in advance.

Greetings

[sveakul]

Bit crowded but I got it to work! Thanks!!

You can lower the height of the vis window, making it a lot less crowded, if you update to MusicBee 3.2.6695 or greater;  Steven has added a header bar for bottom pane vis windows where you can drag the bar to any height you want