New Compact Player Layout

[redwing]

its always using last.fm and flickr

Does that mean now it has less sources, i.e. less varieties?

[Steven]

it is still using htbackdrops and fanart.tv - now only flickr can be disabled

[Bee-liever]

Congrats Steven, the 'Modern' compact player looks really good.
(I do wish it hadn't been at the expense of the old Now Playing tab view, as that was my preferred main view    -  the price of progress I guess)

Being able to embed the displayed artist pic via the right click menu would enhance the current clipboard paste option (IMHO)

[Steven]

(I do wish it hadn't been at the expense of the old Now Playing tab view, as that was my preferred main view    -  the price of progress I guess)

can you be more specific? the only thing about the old Now Playing tab that i can think is different is the visualiser

[redwing]

it is still using htbackdrops and fanart.tv - now only flickr can be disabled

That's relieving. Thanks for clarifying!

Being able to embed the displayed artist pic via the right click menu would enhance the current clipboard paste option (IMHO)

+1
Although there's workaround for that using visualizer, that would be more convenient. Perhaps "Copy Artwork" menu item?

[Bee-liever]

(I do wish it hadn't been at the expense of the old Now Playing tab view, as that was my preferred main view    -  the price of progress I guess)

can you be more specific? the only thing about the old Now Playing tab that i can think is different is the visualiser

Yep. The visualiser and the handling of the Artist pics. I now it's because the compact player is used more in a 'portrait' view and the tab is a 'landscape' view, so it's a juggle to get a good view in both. (and I do appreciate that you already made some changes to address this)

I would also have said the blurring effect but I know you are already making changes with that. Looking forward to see what the result will be.

[Bee-liever]

Yep. The visualiser

I should have also said, I think it's because the narrow visualiser is to small, in relation to the other elements, for the larger tab view

[redwing]

if anyone has any further suggestions about reducing the need to go back to the main player then i will consider but as mentioned i am not planning on putting in full library navigation from the compact player as the layout can be too small

Here is my proposal regarding that.

1. Search box always visible on the top of now playing list, and it searches everything across filters and nodes (including inbox)
2. Right-clicking on search box lists nodes, filters and playlists for easy switch
3. Currently navigating playlists via "open playlists" is not easy due to multiple folder structures. It would be more convenient it just lists all playlists in single level like "Folk\Bob Dylan"

[Steven]

http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_1/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip

- option to disable flickr from artist picture rotation
- right click/ Save Artist Picture to permanently save the current artist picture
- tweaks to the picture sizing/ track information bar as described above
- increase size of the visualiser for the "Playing Track" tab
- a couple of bug fixes

[redwing]

Amazing! It gets looking better everyday. This compact player should be the main picture for MB homepage. This new layout will attract lots of new users to MB. Great job!

[Alexis]

Thank you Steven!

1.  Thanks for making the bar height more dependent on the amount of text.
2.  I can see why it would be difficult to go without a bar, because there are times when i notice that some text overlapped areas in the picture that are the same color of the text and without the bar, would not be visible.
3.  Regarding the blurring.. so far I think this is fine as is.
4.  I was gonna suggest making the bar opaque throughout as you have it for the large album art, but realized that some folks would have a lot of text in that area that could cause chopping off of the artist picture.

So all in all.  I guess right now i have no further suggestions but to say thank you very much

[Bee-liever]

Yep. The visualiser

I should have also said, I think it's because the narrow visualiser is to small, in relation to the other elements, for the larger tab view

Thanks Steven for the update
That was it. The taller visualiser in "Playing Track" tab balances it out. Looks great.
Will you be implementing the 'colour change' from the 'Modern' layout for the visualiser or re-implementing the override:
<element id="NowPlayingPanel.SpectrumVisualiser" fg="180,244,168,204" fg2="120,221,245,197" />
at a later date?

[Alexis]

Actually..
.... If allowing the artist picture to fill the top bar is in the cards at some point.  I think that because there are really no functions on that bar besides the musicbee icon menu options and maximize/min/close.. those could be blended in somehow... yeah.. 'somehow'  so that that everything looks more 'free' above the play bar.

But additionally, when the artist picture has to have a border on the side because of the scale, I think that  that option would further add to the appearance.  If anyone thinks differently, please feel free to let me know what I am overlooking (besides whether or not it can be done.. of if Steven would).

So an image like what you see below would actually find the musicbee icon menu options and maximize/min/close inside that square that came with that image.

[redwing]

You mean like this?





IMO the right one looks better and cleaner. How about mouse-over top border? Would it be possible?
Or you could implement sort of compact full-screen mode that can exit by pressing esc.

[psychoadept]

IMO the right one looks better and cleaner. How about mouse-over top border? Would it be possible?
Or you could implement sort of compact full-screen mode that can exit by pressing esc.

+1