Media Library and assorted thoughts

[balashome]

Paul,

First off, thanks such a lot for providing this build for us to play with. I have been waiting for this far too long - so much so that my wife has been teasing me about having my browser's home page set to the Quintessential forum!

That said, i do think that this build is much more stable than what i had been expecting of from a development build. I am sure most people here would agree that QMP's development build is miles ahead of other development builds of media players that they have us try :)

Now for a few thoughts about the Media Library.

Its plenty hard with the new Media Library and playlist to find out exactly which song or songs you are playing currently. I guess thats my way of saying a 'Now Playing' entry in the Media Library would be very useful.

It is my humble opinion that the Media Library should have comprehensive queueing options without having to resort to plugins. The only option in this line i could see was in the Playlist where you could actually specify songs to play next from the playlist menu (using right click). At the very least, this option could also be provided in the Media Library.

I really do appreciate the extremely detailed Genre list provided with this build. Its got even multiple references to Indian music :) But i should still be able to use my own custom Genre entries. Hang on guys - i know i can still tag entries with whatever entry i want in the Genre field. But did you notice that for preparing an Auto Playlist, your Genre has to fall into one of the values provided in the extensive Genre listing. This is a big annoyance to me and i would be overjoyed if this could be fixed in one of the upcoming builds.

One of the more lovelier features that the old QCD playlist had was the ability to get to the currently playing song by pressing Ctrl+Up/Down (i think so). Can we get this back in the QMP Playlist?

The masstagger provided with the Media Player is very nice and useful. However, can the tag fields listed matched with the tag fields available in the Playlist Tag Editor? Sorry if this sounds like nitpicking detail - it just makes sense to me.

I think the AutoPlaylist feature is one of the features i have wanted in QCD for a long time now. However, i have a few complaints with the way it is implemented. Now, do the autoplaylists automatically refresh with new song entries as and when songs are added? For e.g., if i had an autoplaylist for 'Blues' of a particular Artist, would the auto playlist automatically include a new song in this entry - were i to add a new song satisfying the selection criteria later on? Also, can we have all the tag fields in the Playlist Tag Editor available in the Auto Playlists for selection?

More on the Autoplaylists - how can we use the Dev Fields (1 to 3 provided)? These fields are not available for tagging either in the Tag Editor or in the Media Library columns.

I am using the Crossfade Directsound plugin for plugin and have got all Music ID and Gracenote related features off as well as replaygain off. Often i hear skipping when a new song begins. Has anybody else noticed this?

I have tried to configure the Tag Editor plugin countless times in this fashion - I want QMP to consider all folders as Albums and NOT as Artists. But i have had no luck whatsoever in changing this option - i suspect this was the same with QCD 4.51. What do i need to do to get the plugin to remember my settings - because it promptly goes back to the setting with Artist as the folder?

[INDENT]Sorry for the extra long post :) Can we have the option to add tree nodes as we choose based on any tag field(s) combination?

Thanks again for the build. I am having great fun with it!

[balashome]

Interesting to see that nobody has posted their thoughts on these rants and raves! Would this mean that all these gripes are purely personal preferences? Or are there people in this forum who also share the same thoughts? Would love to know.

[Paul]

I was impressed when I first saw this thread, but haven't had time to reply. I'll do it now.


Its plenty hard with the new Media Library and playlist to find out exactly which song or songs you are playing currently. I guess thats my way of saying a 'Now Playing' entry in the Media Library would be very useful.

True. Consider the builds now an 'intermediate' phase.


It is my humble opinion that the Media Library should have comprehensive queueing options without having to resort to plugins. The only option in this line i could see was in the Playlist where you could actually specify songs to play next from the playlist menu (using right click). At the very least, this option could also be provided in the Media Library.

What queuing features are you after?


I really do appreciate the extremely detailed Genre list provided with this build. Its got even multiple references to Indian music :) But i should still be able to use my own custom Genre entries. Hang on guys - i know i can still tag entries with whatever entry i want in the Genre field. But did you notice that for preparing an Auto Playlist, your Genre has to fall into one of the values provided in the extensive Genre listing. This is a big annoyance to me and i would be overjoyed if this could be fixed in one of the upcoming builds.

Gracenote Playlist uses it's own list of genres because it needs to 'understand' genres in order to do its thing. This wouldn't work if you could enter your own homebrew genres. That said, the list of genres is going to be updated by Gracenote, but Im not sure when.


One of the more lovelier features that the old QCD playlist had was the ability to get to the currently playing song by pressing Ctrl+Up/Down (i think so). Can we get this back in the QMP Playlist?

The hotkeys remain the same for the Playlist. If it worked before, will work now. (However, ctrl+up/down has always been for volume).


The masstagger provided with the Media Player is very nice and useful. However, can the tag fields listed matched with the tag fields available in the Playlist Tag Editor? Sorry if this sounds like nitpicking detail - it just makes sense to me.

The ML info editor and the Tag editor? The fields do match. Maybe I am missing what you are referring to.


I think the AutoPlaylist feature is one of the features i have wanted in QCD for a long time now. However, i have a few complaints with the way it is implemented. Now, do the autoplaylists automatically refresh with new song entries as and when songs are added? For e.g., if i had an autoplaylist for 'Blues' of a particular Artist, would the auto playlist automatically include a new song in this entry - were i to add a new song satisfying the selection criteria later on? Also, can we have all the tag fields in the Playlist Tag Editor available in the Auto Playlists for selection?

AutoPlaylists won't refresh until you 'remix' or reload them. But they will use any new content. Again, Gracenote Playlist has a predetermined set of data it works on and that can't be changed by the application.


More on the Autoplaylists - how can we use the Dev Fields (1 to 3 provided)? These fields are not available for tagging either in the Tag Editor or in the Media Library columns.

Dev fields are not usable, and really, shouldnt even be listed - that's probably their bug.


I am using the Crossfade Directsound plugin for plugin and have got all Music ID and Gracenote related features off as well as replaygain off. Often i hear skipping when a new song begins. Has anybody else noticed this?

That would be from the EQ. Uncheck it in the DSP plugins to fix.


I have tried to configure the Tag Editor plugin countless times in this fashion - I want QMP to consider all folders as Albums and NOT as Artists. But i have had no luck whatsoever in changing this option - i suspect this was the same with QCD 4.51. What do i need to do to get the plugin to remember my settings - because it promptly goes back to the setting with Artist as the folder?

I'll fix that option. But it should be known that unless you move the tag editor to the top of the library plugin list (above ML), then the ML will be used for the data in QMP, not the tag editor.


Sorry for the extra long post :) Can we have the option to add tree nodes as we choose based on any tag field(s) combination?

That is not something I intend to implement.

[acehole]

Gracenote Playlist uses it's own list of genres because it needs to 'understand' genres in order to do its thing. This wouldn't work if you could enter your own homebrew genres. That said, the list of genres is going to be updated by Gracenote, but Im not sure when.

<SNIP>

AutoPlaylists won't refresh until you 'remix' or reload them. But they will use any new content. Again, Gracenote Playlist has a predetermined set of data it works on and that can't be changed by the application.

What do you mean? Gracenote Playlist is an embedded dll or something written by others at Gracenote?

Really you need to be able to type your own string in there for matching to a genre (even though the Gracenote genres seem more comprehensive than at first glance). This seems odd since I'm not really using any Gracenote features AFAIK (not identifying my music etc.), but I am bound by what Gracenote thinks music genres should be.

Another slight problem with auto playlists is the inconsistent handling of a blank 'my rating'. If I say to select songs of, say, *****, there is no problem. If I say songs of greater than *** (in order to get 4* and 5* rated songs), I seem to end up with a few ones with a blank rating (and they seem to be the same ones every time I re-mix the playlist). This is even worse with greater than **, which seems to pick up most if not all tracks in my library with a blank rating. If I try to create a playlist which only selects rated songs, I am unable to get one to work, no matter what logic parameters I attempt (rating between * and *****, 'any of the following' for */**/***/****/*****, not equal to blank rating, etc).

[balashome]

What queuing features are you after?


The queueing feature that i would love to have in the Playlist is to be able to enqueue multiple songs to begin with. Then, it would be cool to be able to quickly remove a song in the queue or bump it up/down as needed. Not to compare - but i do love XMPlay's queueing feature in this regard.

The Media Library currently has no way of queueing up songs - there is an 'Add to Player' but i have not messed with it because it didnt sound to be the feature i am after.

I dont know how you feel but with the current design, the Media Library and the Playlist feel like two entirely different aspects of the program - disjointed almost. One suggestion to enhance the association would be to have an option in the Playlist to locate the currently focussed track in the Media Library (Right click menu?). This can then evolve to locating all songs by the selected Artist/Album/Genre. Let me know your thoughts.


Gracenote Playlist uses it's own list of genres because it needs to 'understand' genres in order to do its thing. This wouldn't work if you could enter your own homebrew genres. That said, the list of genres is going to be updated by Gracenote, but Im not sure when.


That is OK about Gracenote using its own listing. I do recall your post that this whole Gracenote integration is for the beta version. How would the same problem be handled in the final stable build? Because even if Gracenote updates its genre list, there might still be people who use their own phrasing - i am notorious for that!


The hotkeys remain the same for the Playlist. If it worked before, will work now. (However, ctrl+up/down has always been for volume).


Yes, you are right. I remembered wrong - because i had been away from QCD for so long and the hour (when i was testing) was pretty late! It is just the up/down keys - that would bring you the matching songs.


The ML info editor and the Tag editor? The fields do match. Maybe I am missing what you are referring to.


The 'Composer' field is available in the Media Library but not available in the Playlist. I think this is one of those things that was replaced by the Advanced Tab (which is disabled). I used to configure a shortcut key Ctrl+E to bring up the tag editor and quickly edit information - but this would no longer work. The other important field missing from the Tag Editor is the 'Rating'.

Wonder what purpose the Advanced Tab is going to be used for! Is that going to function like Foobar where you are required to type in the Tag Header information and then the Tag Value (like 'COMPOSER' = 'RAHMAN') or something like that?


AutoPlaylists won't refresh until you 'remix' or reload them. But they will use any new content. Again, Gracenote Playlist has a predetermined set of data it works on and that can't be changed by the application.


Paul, would it be too hard to implement the Auto Playlists to automatically refresh and include new songs falling into the specified criteria? Also again the same question crops up - what would happen to this feature in the full and final build when the extra Gracenote features are not going to be there?


That would be from the EQ. Uncheck it in the DSP plugins to fix.


I love the EQ - so that was not an option for me. However i switched to the other DirectSound plugin (Simple) and it works fine now - no skipping whatsoever. There seems to be something about the Crossfading setting here. Would you please take a look at it?


I'll fix that option. But it should be known that unless you move the tag editor to the top of the library plugin list (above ML), then the ML will be used for the data in QMP, not the tag editor.


I do have the Tag Editor above the Media Library and it sill behaves the same way.


That is not something I intend to implement.


OK. But in that case, opening up the Auto Playlist would be the viable alternative for people who wish to segregate songs using any tag field value - other than the ones provided in the Media Library.

I must say that the loooong wait has made things sweeter and can honestly say that i have not used a better beta software utlity - much less a media player. All power to you!

[Protocol]

I dont know how you feel but with the current design, the Media Library and the Playlist feel like two entirely different aspects of the program - disjointed almost. One suggestion to enhance the association would be to have an option in the Playlist to locate the currently focussed track in the Media Library (Right click menu?). This can then evolve to locating all songs by the selected Artist/Album/Genre. Let me know your thoughts.
The Playlist should be able to be docked into an area of the Media Library. This is especially needed when using QMP in large mode. In large mode now, the Playlist just sits on top of the Media Library over the top of the tree.

[Toe]

The Playlist should be able to be docked into an area of the Media Library. This is especially needed when using QMP in large mode. In large mode now, the Playlist just sits on top of the Media Library over the top of the tree.
Matt has already said that this will be changing in the future. :)

[Protocol]

Matt has already said that this will be changing in the future. :)
So that's the answer then. :)

[Qaz]

I love the EQ - so that was not an option for me. However i switched to the other DirectSound plugin (Simple) and it works fine now - no skipping whatsoever. There seems to be something about the Crossfading setting here. Would you please take a look at it?
Try increasing buffer in the crossfading plugin.

[Ragas]

Hi! I'm very happy to see something new about QMP(CD).
the beta version of Qmp is very good. But the gracenote tools, to complete libary information, cause big problems with my main memory because the tools doesn't seem to clear it automatically, now i switched the tool off so everything is ok. for QCD i liked the "Filename Interpreter" very much i hope tools like that will be soon available for QMP.
Is it possible that the new QMP sounds better or is that just imagination?

I'm sorry for my bad english!

[Tokelil]

Is it possible that the new QMP sounds better or is that just imagination?This has been discussed to great length in another thread and the conclussion is that it is due to the new EQ DSP plug-in.

[Willow of Oz]

Gracenote Playlist uses it's own list of genres because it needs to 'understand' genres in order to do its thing. This wouldn't work if you could enter your own homebrew genres. That said, the list of genres is going to be updated by Gracenote, but Im not sure when.

I don't suppose you can elaborate on this?
Is it more than a hierarchical thing? Because I like the idea that metal includes black metal which includes symphonic black metal, and a player that can recognise and make use of it. To someone with no black metal, they could care less about the distinction, but to someone with a lot of both subgenres it can be irritating if your software doesn't let you make the distinction, let alone realise that symphonic black metal is-a black metal. To some extent you can get away with substrings (search for genre = .*black metal), but there are others where this isn't possible (electronica, house, rave, goa, trance, etc).

Further to that, is it likely we'll ever see support for multiple genres? No movie would have just one genre - they tag them as a comedy drama, or a sci-fi horror. If I've got a band called Flametal playing a mix of flamenco and metal it would be nice to be able to tag it with both, such that an auto playlist generator could include it in a flamenco based playlist, or in a metal based playlist.

[Protocol]

Often i hear skipping when a new song begins. Has anybody else noticed this?
Yes. I have. I have submitted a bug report.