Author Topic: Now Playing Assistant enhancement (Solved)  (Read 6213 times)

Alexis

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I almost always use theatermode when playing my music.  However, I am feeling  quite a bit of 'something is missing' when trying to use nowplaying assistant.  Please know that I really do not know if anything I ask for is practical, doable or whatever, but just wanted to throw the  thoughts out for whatever it may be worth.  If there are already ways to do any of these, please excuse my ignorance.  

I decided to post these  thoughts/requests after considering the  question.. why would I need to back out of theatermode so often?  But if none of these are addressed, I am sincerely still quite satisfied  :)

1.  Maybe NPA could have customizable options in the preferences panel, because I am sure there are folks that simply love it just the way it is.  

2.  When i double click on a song in NPA, I do not want the NPA window to close, because I often want to do something else.

3.  When I initiate NPA, I would like it to take me and have highlighted the song that is playing.  (OK, I just discovered I can do this already.. I forgot to check that option again after my Last reinstall... is it not ideal to have this as the default behavior?)

4.  I would like the option to access playlists.

5.  I am not sure I understand the nowplaying list  there, as it seems to populate itself from  actions in the main player window,  and keeps that order or setting when one switches to theatermode.  EG, if in main player I select a song from my main library to play,  the nowplaying list will be populated with  my entire library.. as expected.  I then move over to theatermode, and that list stays there, no matter what i queue etc.

Maybe all of these issues arise out of user ignorance/ridiculous expectations  :-\

Last Edit: June 08, 2012, 05:02:03 AM by BeeFanatic
They are not lazy... just more efficient.

Steven

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3.  When I initiate NPA, I would like it to take me and have highlighted the song that is playing.  (OK, I just discovered I can do this already.. I forgot to check that option again after my Last reinstall... is it not ideal to have this as the default behavior?)
in the latest weekly update it should jump to the current playing song irrespective of the Now Playing preference so can you confirm you are basing the comment on an older version?

also for point 5, i dont really understand the point you are making. You already have the now playing list fully populated from the main library and then you go to the theater mode panel. You then open the NPA again, it would show the now playing list still with every song in the library - you choose one of songs and hit queue next? In that case it should show a number by the song you queued next and it should play that song next, and after that resume to the next song (or next random song if in shuffle mode)

edit:
or are you saying the theater mode panel is not changing the Up next... song to reflect that - if so, i expect it wouldnt and something that would need to be fixed in the theater mode panel itself

edit2:
thats definitely the case whether or not its what you meant - i have fixed that:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
Last Edit: April 26, 2012, 09:41:15 PM by Steven

Alexis

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Sorry, did not have notify on for this topic.
(For clarity, just reiterating that I am speaking of theatermode NPA only and what is visible in it))

(I am using musicbee 2.0.4496, which comes with  the latest theater mode.  I just confirmed again that it does not work if the follow etc is  unchecked.) <-------- Ignore this please.

I should add that it follows it in the nowplaying tab when such is checked but not the library tab.


Your explanation of point 5 is exactly my experience also.  I think what I am wanting is, if i go to the library tab, and sort by  genre, and select the first track in that genre to be played... when i look at the nowplaying tab, i should see that play order reflected there and so the next song in the genre list should be up next.  Instead what it would do is simply play said selected song, then continue about its business.  
I can understand and would expect that behavior if I am using the queue function.
Last Edit: April 26, 2012, 10:10:04 PM by BeeFanatic
They are not lazy... just more efficient.

Alexis

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Obviously I overlooked a version or two.  I truly apologize man, it is working now with  that  unchecked.  I thought I was keeping up with Every version update.  Now using version .4499.

Maybe I am on a few too many computers this week.  :-[

 Either case, It seems like we should be able to determine what populates the entire nowplaying list while in theatermode, as opposed to going back to  the main library.
Last Edit: April 26, 2012, 10:06:53 PM by BeeFanatic
They are not lazy... just more efficient.

Steven

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Either case, It seems like we should be able to determine what populates the entire nowplaying list while in theatermode, as opposed to going back to  the main library.
i'm not understanding what you mean by that comment unless its covered by this:
- i will change it so the NPA dialog has a tickbox that enables the dialog to stay open after selecting a track
- the theater mode panel now immediately reflects what you queue next or play now from the NPA - that was fixed in the release just above
- i might add the ability to open a playlist but need to think about how to do it without cluttering the dialog

Alexis

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Thank you.  I think you have decoded my rambling.  8)  Thank you very much Steven!  I like those very much.

Hmm, amending this response below for clarity.
Last Edit: April 27, 2012, 01:52:39 PM by BeeFanatic
They are not lazy... just more efficient.

Alexis

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Sometimes a I have a hard time expressing what i want to say with clarity, so, let me try for a final time to make sure we are on the same page.

If one takes the NPA name literally, it would indicate that what I am looking for is likely not consistent with its intentions, and maybe this is why I may be confusing. By the name, assistant,  I suppose it is indeed just an assistant to what is already established as nowplaying and if so, then it is fine as is.  If this is the case, then no need to read any further... however, if not, then consider what follows.

Point:  My observation is that the NPA functions different to the main player area.  All one can do in the NPA it seems, is queue a song or a group of songs to  be inserted  into the already nowplaying list..whether by playnow or queue next..  therefore, one cannot generate a new nowplaying list while in NPA, but rather, make adjustments to what is already established.   


However, if one wants the flexibility of remaining in theatermode, mini player mode or whatever without going back to get a new assortment of what comprises nowplaying, then  it seems the NPA has to be able to do more.

I have composed a set of images to demonstrate my observation of the difference the mainplayer has on nowplaying list vs the  NPA.  (This is without shuffle enabled)

So,I start up the player and selected  a jack Johnson as the song i want to play...  immediately it populates the nowplaying list on the right in the same manner, and it will continue to play his songs in the order indicated followed by any song that follows after him.


So next, I  select a different artist:  Lionel Richie, and you will see it does  the same thing  it did for jack Johnson.. Looking at the nowplaying list, you will see I will not hear any more jack Johnson.



I then sort my list by Star rating, and select one of the songs there and looking at the nowplaying list, you can see that I will be  hearing just my star rated songs, and if at this point  Lionel Richie  or jack Johnson are not in that star rating, they won't be played.  Not at this juncture anyway.


NOW....I then switch over to theatermode as MB is playing the star rated songs,  and  open the NPA.. and of course, it reflects the last change made and is focused on my star rated songs.



I then go to the library tab of the NPA and select an unrated artist, just like i would in  eh main player,  and look what happens...  the list does not change, but the song i selected is inserted BETWEEN the already established list.  So it will play and the list will then continue as it was




So, to sum up, after all of this..  the result of the queue or playnow  that is demonstrated in the last one is fine to an extent, but if i want to change  the nowplaying list, I have to back to the main player to do that and then return to theatermode.

They are not lazy... just more efficient.

Steven

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not sure why i did it the way it was done for the Library tab. I think i will change that to make it consistent with the main player

edit:
actions in the Library tab have been changed to be consistent with the main application
the change also includes right click on the files panel/ Open Playlist (Now Playing tab only)
Last Edit: April 28, 2012, 10:50:45 AM by Steven

Alexis

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Thank you very much Steven.   This was really my last stump regarding theatermode and I certainly appreciate your time and implementation.  Sorry it took me so long to explain.
They are not lazy... just more efficient.


Alexis

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Perfection!  Thank you very much Steven.
They are not lazy... just more efficient.