Juke's Joint

[hiccup]

Juke's Joint

This skin was inspired by the upcoming Jukebox mode that is going to be available when MusicBee 3.4 is released.
(don't ask, there is no timeline for that release)

But the jukebox tweaks aside, this is a fully functioning skin for the current MusicBee 3.3 release.


This is how it would look in a normal configuration:






And this is how the 'guest edition' could look using a layout optimized for 'jukebox usage':





Note that the Jukebox view for the main panel as shown in this second screenshot at this moment is not available in the official and stable MusicBee releases.
So there's no need to try and find configuration settings for it.

The Jukebox view/mode is currently only available in the alpha version of 3.4 that is currently under development.
If you are interested in testing it you can do a forum search to find the latest 3.4 alpha release, and setup a separate, portable MusicBee installation purely for testing purposes.

---

I have created two versions of this skin:

The first one, called Juke's Joint is a fully functioning version intended for day-to-day use.

The second one is slightly different, and is called: Juke's Joint (guest)

The differences for the 'guest' version are:

The 'Now Playing' panel is (almost) white, so it will look like the second 'Jukebox' screenshot, making it more obvious what is cued for playing.

The following buttons were removed from the player panel:
(well, made 'invisible' actually)

Shuffle
Repeat
Last FM
Equaliser
Rating
Loved
Previous track

The purpose of this is when you have guests over in some party setting and want to allow them to use your precious MusicBee to play and select songs, you will probably want to limit the chances of them accidentally changing settings, or file tags such as 'loved' or rating.

Together with possibly activating 'locked mode' this should give you some piece of mind in regards to that.

While the buttons for repeat, shuffle etc. were removed, there are four small white indicator dots that will indicate when one of these modes is activated, so you are notified of that:



They are only intended as indicators, not as buttons to change settings.
If shuffle, repeat, equaliser, scrobble are not activated, no buttons or indicators will be visible.


note:

For the Artist and Title texts aligning perfectly in the Main Player panel's Jukebox card I suggest to set it's font to Segoe UI Semibold 14.
Other fonts and sizes may also work but you'll have to try that out.

If the second text line in the middle of the jukebox card does not show:
Right click on the main player panel > Panel Layout > check 'Show Track Details on Multiple Lines'

In case you want to simulate authentic jukebox cards that usually have the artist and title in all caps (as in my screenshots), you could use virtual tags like these:




download Juke's Joint



How to install:
Download and extract the .rar file, then copy the .xmlc skin file to your: MusicBee > Skins folder.

[phred]

Very nice. I'm working on rearranging my panel layout, but until then I notice a couple of missed elements...

[hiccup]

Very nice. I'm working on rearranging my panel layout, but until then I notice a couple of missed elements...

Thanks phred.
I can't find the blue text in my setup, and I can't colour-pick your screenshot because it's a jpg.

Could it be it is a highlighting rule you have set yourself?
If not, can you give me the rgb value or a png screenshot?

[phred]

I can't find the blue text in my setup, and I can't colour-pick your screenshot because it's a jpg.

Could it be it is a highlighting rule you have set yourself?

Yes, it's a highlighting rule. But I was referring to the background color(s) of the panel and not the text. It seemed to me that it should have some colorization and currently it looks like it was missed. If the bg is how you intended, I'm okay with it. I noticed that it and the VU meter -appear- to have be missed. Just doing my job as a faithful observer/reporter.

[hiccup]

But I was referring to the background color(s) of the panel and not the text. It seemed to me that it should have some colorization and currently it looks like it was missed. If the bg is how you intended, I'm okay with it.

I started creating the skin for the purpose of it being used as a jukebox with guests using it too.
Big knobs, as few panels and options as possible in sight.
When you look at the second screenshot, you'll see that it indeed looks clean, and the white now playing panel makes it very clear what is cued in the playlist.
Guests can touch the white.
But should stay off the green...

But, when using the non-guest version as a normal skin the white panel is probably not that nice or useful.
I'll keep using it myself as my day-to-day skin for a while, and I'll then probably change it.

[phred]

Understood.

I've been playing around with the panel arrangements of late. Trying to give up what I've been using for quite some time and get to something more 'sleek.' It could be weeks before I find something I really like. And at that point Juke's Joint could be the skin I use.

Thanks.

[hiccup]

Updated

Corrected a couple of oversights (podcasts, devices, VU meter, and some more), changed the Now Playing panel (for the regular version only) to a matching green colour (thanks phred), fine-tuned some colouring here and there, and improved some icons in the player panel.

I am fairly confident it has no more flaws, but feel free to report any, or if you notice oversights or room for improvement.
 

 

[phred]

Corrected a couple of oversights (podcasts, devices, VU meter, and some more), changed the Now Playing panel (for the regular version only) to a matching green colour (thanks phred), fine-tuned some colouring here and there, and improved some icons in the player panel.

Thanks for the fixes. Both jukebox and regular views are looking good.

[hiccup]

Updated

Fixed a minor regression and reduced the filesizes.

[phred]

Updated

In the 'normal' view, how are you getting the title and artist positioned on the card in the player controls panel? They appear as expected in the main panel.

[hiccup]

In the 'normal' view, how are you getting the title and artist positioned on the card in the player controls panel? They appear as expected in the main panel.

The main player panel has it's own font settings.

Since this is such a specific player panel design, it's much more critical what font size you have selected for the main player panel.
I suggest using Segoe UI Semibold 14, but other fonts with a similar height will probably work well also.

(this info is mentioned in the startpost b.t.w., but it was updated probably after you read it)

[hiccup]

The main player panel has it's own font settings.
Since this is such a specific player panel design, it's much more critical what font size you have selected for the main player panel.
I suggest using Segoe UI Semibold 14, but other fonts with a similar height will probably work well also.

Adding to that, for those who are looking for the authentic jukebox card feel, obviously a typewriter font is best.
Windows has Courier New included which somewhat resembles a typewriter that you could use:




Other members perhaps have good suggestions for even more realistic typewriter fonts that work well here?
 

[hiccup]

"zai_TriumphTypewriter" looking good:

[hiccup]

updated

A couple of tweaks and refinements done, and some tips added to the startpost.

[hiccup]

Updated

Fixed some oversights, improved the contrast on some text items.