The VUmeter Plugin is available to download -
VUMeterInstallationOpen Musicbee
Hamburger Menu->Edit Preferences->Plugins->Add Plugin
Browse to the zip file and click open
If you already have the 3DBee plugin installed the Add Plugin method will most likely state a file permission error. If this happens just extract the zip file to the Musicbee\plugin folder.
Once installed go to -
Musicbee->View->Arrange Panels
In the available elements panel you should have a vumeter option. Drag this to whatever panel you want to display the VU Meter.
Adjust the panel to suit the size of the selected skin. The aspect ratio of the image is currently locked and based on the width so set the desired width first and then adjust the height so it fits.
Right clicking the VUMeter screen will give you some options.
Skins – Change the current skin
Linear – Checked by default, this is the method used to calculate the position of the needle. You may find some skins are more accurate and/or look better with this unchecked.
Rescan Skins – When you add a new skin, click this for it to appear in the skins menu.
Rolling the mouse wheel over the VUMeter screen allows you to adjust the decibel level (kind of, it’s not overly accurate). While it does alter the range of the needle it also makes it a bit more erratic.
I have included a few sample skins including one made by Hiccup (AcuVU). As the name suggests, Hiccup’s skin is accurate when the Linear option is ticked. I also included a second skin I found (Night Bars) that is accurate. Most of the available skins are not accurate at all, they have been designed for aesthetics not accuracy.
One of you creative folk should make a skin like Night Bars but with Light Sabers.
Currently the plugin supports AIMP skin formats found at the link below, Just click on the image of one you like on this page and it should take you to the post to download the zip file.
https://www.aimp.ru/forum/index.php?topic=52865.0You need to unzip these into the Plugins\VUMeter\VUSkins folder. The easiest way is to save the zip file into Plugins\VUMeter\VUSkins, right click the file and select “extract all” then click extract. This will create a folder for that skin with the necessary files inside. The Plugin uses the skin folder name as the skin name in the right click menu.
You can delete the zip file after it’s extracted. Make sure to check the Skin.ini file in the skins directory as a lot of them do not have the correct settings, I found the MinLevel setting was quite often incorrect.
As of version 1.2 the plugin supports zipped skins so you can just drop the zip file into Plugins\VUMeter\VUSkins and it will work.
If the “Add Plugin” method worked above and you are using the installed version, the VUSkins folder will most likely be located in a path similar to this
C:\users\username\AppData\Roaming\MusicBee\Plugins\VUMeter\VUSkins
In the portable version they will be located in a folder similar to this
C:\Musicbee\Plugins\VUMeter\VUSkins
Issues-
This doesn’t work with WASAPI exclusive mode. - Fixed from version 1.1 and latest patched version of musicbee
- There is a resizing issue if you use VUMeter in the floating window panel. The height adjustment seems to be upside down so it limits how big you can make it. I will discuss this with Steven.
- The image files are scaled to fit the window, because of the scaling there can be some anomalies with the image where things might not line up perfectly. Especially if the skin is using low resolution images. If you encounter any slight visual problems, adjusting the size of the panel slightly will probably fix it.
- I had an issue with the Night Bars skin where there was a small notch moving up and down with the bar. When I opened the images in an editor this notch did not exist. I re-saved the files and this made the notch disappear.
- As previously mentioned. A LOT of the skins are not accurate at all. The Linear option mimics AIMP’s implementation. Unchecking this option provides a logarithmic calculation of the needle position. I probably wasted a lot of time trying to work that out under the impression it was a better way to do it but really, AIMP’s implementation is probably best. The real issue is the skins have not been created to be accurate. I have left the option in place as it does make some skins somewhat more accurate and/or look better.
If you want accuracy you will need to use AcuVU/Night Bars, create your own or modify an existing skin to make it accurate. If you just like seeing a needle flick back and forth there is quite a lot of skins available on the page I linked. I might keep a list of accurate skins in the thread as they are found.
- I haven’t tested that many skins so if you find one isn’t working properly, let me know and I will try and get it working correctly. Note – This is in regards to the needle flying out of view or other display issues, it doesn’t include meters that are not accurate. Make sure to check the correct settings are in the Skin.ini file before reporting problems.
- If you also use 3DBee you might find sometimes when you resize the Vumeter window that 3DBee will start displaying in the same size window as VUMeter while the rest of the 3DBee panel is frozen. I don’t know what causes this, it must be some cross contamination with OpenGL being used by both plugins, Resizing the 3DBee window or restarting Musicbee should fix it.
I’ll provide some more info later for people that want to create their own skins.
