Winamp to QCD 3 beta 1 released

[t_journeyman]

Let me know how it works people!

There are some issues with text color of main window on some skins.
No resize/bitrate support (yet)

oops, forgot the link: http://donnjo.dyndns.org/wa2qcd

[fatal error]

works great

a few tweaks here and there on the converted skin and 'voila'!!!!

nice job dude

[brian]

No such luck for me, I'm afraid - when I try to launch the program I get a message saying:

`The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135). Click on OK to terminate the application.'

Everything else on my system is trouble-free.

[Young Twig]

No such luck for me, I'm afraid - when I try to launch the program I get a message saying:

`The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000135). Click on OK to terminate the application.'

Everything else on my system is trouble-free.
Same thing happens here. Perhaps I don't have the .NET framework. I'm not actually sure. I'm downloading it now, though.

[Young Twig]

Same thing happens here. Perhaps I don't have the .NET framework. I'm not actually sure. I'm downloading it now, though.
Yup. That did it. I suppoe you need the .NET framework then, brian. :)

The program works well.

[brian]

Sorry, I failed to notice the small print telling me I needed to install the .NET framework. It's working now. A few initial comments, please:

(1) I went straight for a batch conversion of about 80 Winamp skins which I've been saving up for the occasion. The conversion largely went through OK, but the program choked on a couple of the skins and had to be closed down each time. Maybe those skins had internal anomalies.

(2) I see that the bitrate display still appears along the bottom of the main player window, rather than in the boxes provided for the purpose to the right of the timer display. This is a little disappointing - can anything be done about it, I wonder?

(3) The search box at the bottom of the playlist window still seems to be inoperative - again, can anything be done about it, please?

(4) The default destination directory is given as QCD 3 - presumably this won't be correct for most users.

Otherwise, many thanks and congratulations for an excellent program!

[t_journeyman]

...a few tweaks here and there on the converted skin...
What tweaks were they? I would like to include as much as possible in the converter.

(1) I went straight for a batch conversion of about 80 Winamp skins which I've been saving up for the occasion. The conversion largely went through OK, but the program choked on a couple of the skins and had to be closed down each time. Maybe those skins had internal anomalies.
If you could send me a couple of the skins that choked, I would appreciate it.

(2) I see that the bitrate display still appears along the bottom of the main player window, rather than in the boxes provided for the purpose to the right of the timer display. This is a little disappointing - can anything be done about it, I wonder?
It is in the works, as per my message below

(3) The search box at the bottom of the playlist window still seems to be inoperative - again, can anything be done about it, please?
That is actually NOT a search box. That is space that was set aside by Nullsoft for a feature that, I assume, never got implemented.

(4) The default destination directory is given as QCD 3 - presumably this won't be correct for most users.
Now that, I can fix!

[fatal error]

just some cosmetic things to make some skins buttons have a little more animation to them

fonts & font colors

custom skinned vis addition instead of stock visual area

playlist resizing

relocation of system message

i'm sure you probably had plans to iron out some of the above. the first item I dont see how you could implement it since it requires editing of the bitmaps themselves.

[brian]

Here are the two skins that snarled up the program:

[Young Twig]

That is actually NOT a search box. That is space that was set aside by Nullsoft for a feature that, I assume, never got implemented.

That space is where Winamp displays the total playlist time... :)

relocation of system message
I would just as soon eliminate system messages. I think I know where everything is on a wa2 skin anyway. :D

[t_journeyman]

Here are the two skins that snarled up the program:Soliloquy Has no playlist bitmap, will have to trap that.
Fused: something with the nums_ex. Will look into it.

[ace2701]

Yup. That did it. I suppoe you need the .NET framework then, brian. :)

The program works well.
I would love to use wa2qcd3 (I'm using the older version now on a Win98SE machine with so-so results). However, I'm a conservative guy and a little leery about getting into the M$ .net thing. Can you or anyone else list the pros and cons of this framework :confused: ?

[t_journeyman]

Posted beta version 2, has skinned vis and resizable playlist.

[refused]

The download link is broken :(

[Rex_Mundi_Incarnit]

What's the fun porting lousy winamp 2 skins to QCD? Don't we all agree that QCD already has the best skins there are? In other words i hate it :mad:

[brian]

I would love to use wa2qcd3 (I'm using the older version now on a Win98SE machine with so-so results). However, I'm a conservative guy and a little leery about getting into the M$ .net thing. Can you or anyone else list the pros and cons of this framework :confused: ?
I have an idea that the .NET framework can only be installed with Windows XP or 2000, but someone else may know more.

[brian]

What's the fun porting lousy winamp 2 skins to QCD? Don't we all agree that QCD already has the best skins there are? In other words i hate it :mad:
Presumably the people who like the program don't think the skins they choose to convert are lousy. There are of course plenty of very boring Winamp skins - I like only 80 or so out of the thousands available. But if you have a taste for simple, rectangular QCD skins, as I do, then you can widen your range of choice by using this program.

[t_journeyman]

The download link is broken The link is fixed.

I have an idea that the .NET framework can only be installed with Windows XP or 2000, but someone else may know more.The framework will run on any windows machine from 98 up.

As for the pros/cons, they are the same pros/cons that applied to the old VB Runtimes. With one minor difference: Both VB and C# use the same runtimes. As far as a performance hit, I don't know that there is one. I do know that they(the runtimes) uninstall very cleanly, even on 98 machines, if you decide you son't like them.

What's the fun porting lousy winamp 2 skins to QCD? Don't we all agree that QCD already has the best skins there are? In other words i hate it The answer, Rex, is two fold. First, there is some really great artwork in Winamp skins. I happen to want to appreciate it without using Winamp.
Secondly, it's one less thing only Winamp users can use (the skins). This makes me very happy because that is one less reason to use Winamp.

[brian]

With skins converted using beta 2, I can't seem to get my chosen visual to be active. What am I doing wrong? Many thanks.

[brian]

Another small point, please: there's a superfluous `K' immediately following the sampling rate.

[ace2701]

I have an idea that the .NET framework can only be installed with Windows XP or 2000, but someone else may know more.
Thanks for the answer brian. I guess I'll have to put off using the new version for now :( .

[brian]

Thanks for the answer brian. I guess I'll have to put off using the new version for now :( .
Please see the later post by t_journeyman in which he contradicts my statement. He will certainly know more about this than I do!

[t_journeyman]

With skins converted using beta 2, I can't seem to get my chosen visual to be active. What am I doing wrong? Many thanks.
I set the visual area of the main window to be a skinned vis. To get your vis to work, use external vis window (which isn't skinned yet, by the way) ;)

[brian]

Yes, it would be good if you could skin the external vis window, please - and keep it resizeable, as it is at the moment.

[ace2701]

The link is fixed.

The framework will run on any windows machine from 98 up.

As for the pros/cons, they are the same pros/cons that applied to the old VB Runtimes. With one minor difference: Both VB and C# use the same runtimes. As far as a performance hit, I don't know that there is one. I do know that they(the runtimes) uninstall very cleanly, even on 98 machines, if you decide you son't like them.

The answer, Rex, is two fold. First, there is some really great artwork in Winamp skins. I happen to want to appreciate it without using Winamp.
Secondly, it's one less thing only Winamp users can use (the skins). This makes me very happy because that is one less reason to use Winamp.
Thanks t_journeyman. I guess I will try the .net after all. As you say, if it messes things up, I can always uninstall it.

[refused]

Here is a skin that has some transparency and rounded corner issues.

[t_journeyman]

Here is a skin that has some transparency and rounded corner issues.
Yeah, I've got all three Indemnity skins. Working on the transparency thing.

[brian]

t_journeyman - what news of further developments, please? Many thanks.

[t_journeyman]

t_journeyman - what news of further developments, please? Many thanks.
Brian,

Transparency: 95% done
Skinned Vis: now stereo and pulling colors from Winamp skin settings
Fixing small problem with nums_ex.bmp of large size

Should be another release this weekend.

[brian]

Excellent - thanks very much indeed.

By the way, one characteristic of converted Winamp skins is that they don't seem to take very kindly to any font other than the `small caps' which is the Winamp default. If I select any other font in the QCD prefs, it comes out either much too large for the skin, or much too small to be readable. Any thoughts on this, please?

[t_journeyman]

Excellent - thanks very much indeed.

By the way, one characteristic of converted Winamp skins is that they don't seem to take very kindly to any font other than the `small caps' which is the Winamp default. If I select any other font in the QCD prefs, it comes out either much too large for the skin, or much too small to be readable. Any thoughts on this, please?
That is because the included font is a bitmap font (just as Winamp's is). I have spent no time trying to get true type fonts working with the converter, as it has not been as important as some other features and different fonts behave differently.

[ashibaka]

Thanks, journeyman! It's too bad it requires .NET, but at least the skins don't ;)

A few bugs:

1) It crashes (non-fatally) when you place it in a directory that contains Unicode characters somewhere in the path.

2) The font size is way too small in both the playlist and main window (I have "international" fonts enabled). Winamp has never relied on its bitmap, disable bitmap fonts in your own Winamp and see it uses TrueType.

2) Some strange transparency problems. I guess this is because you aren't allowed to resize the playlist in Winamp, and you said you are working on the bitrate display.

Anyway, I have to say, KansaiAmp beats MMD any day...

[ace2701]

Well, I got my MIT man to download the .net files to one of my work machines, and then downloaded the latest version of wa2qcd from the site. WOW! It works perfectly now! Converted winamp tubes skin to QCD without a hitch. Next step will be to get .net for my home machine. This is one cool program :cool: .

[brian]

Not quite perfect yet, as the comments in this thread show - but it's pretty darned good, and the next release promises to be even better.

[ace2701]

Just got home, downloaded .net, and grabbed the wa2qcd latest beta. Works great here,too (W98SE) :cool: .

[thesanealien]

So when you click on the link to the WA2QCD website and go to the "Get it" the only download that requires the .net framweork is the beta version right? not the regular one under it?

[thesanealien]

Anyone know how to fix this? It says "RegOpenKey:HKEY_CURRENT_USER:Software\Quinnware\QC D. The system cannot find the specefied file"

[ace2701]

Anyone know how to fix this? It says "RegOpenKey:HKEY_CURRENT_USER:Software\Quinnware\QC D. The system cannot find the specefied file"
I just checked my NT machine, and I have the following: "HKEY_CURRENT_MACHINE:Software\Quinnware\Quintessen tial Player". Nothing in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER section. Don't know what it says in my machine at home (I'm at work now), but I'll check it later and get back to you.

[ace2701]

For thesanealien: Check my last reply in the Winamp2QCD poll. I'm at home now, and searched my registry (W98SE). Got the same key result. No keys like you mentioned are in Current_User. Maybe someone more knowledgeablecan figure this one out for you. Sorry :( .

[t_journeyman]

Okay, folks. I must be insane. I have a live, web-based version of the skin converter up at
http://donnjo.dyndns.org/wa2qcdlive

Go easy on it, as it is meant to be more of a proof of concept than a final release.

[brian]

It seems to work fine. Can we take it that this is in addition to the standalone program, not a replacement for it?

[t_journeyman]

It seems to work fine. Can we take it that this is in addition to the standalone program, not a replacement for it?
That is correct.

[ace2701]

Okay, folks. I must be insane. I have a live, web-based version of the skin converter up at
http://donnjo.dyndns.org/wa2qcdlive

Go easy on it, as it is meant to be more of a proof of concept than a final release.
OK, I tried your site, converted a wa skin to QCD, and it worked perfectly. However, since I got .net in my machine, your downloaded program also works perfectly (some minor glitches in the graphics, but really no big deal). I really can't say what problems the others are having, but I'm thoroughly satisfied with the results so far.

[t_journeyman]

OK, I tried your site, converted a wa skin to QCD, and it worked perfectly. However, since I got .net in my machine, your downloaded program also works perfectly (some minor glitches in the graphics, but really no big deal). I really can't say what problems the others are having, but I'm thoroughly satisfied with the results so far.
Thanks for the positive feedback ace!

The website is primarily for Win95 users or users that are unable to install .NET.

[brian]

I'm with ace2701. I'm now looking for improved handling of rounded corners, and skinning of the external visual window, both of which t_journeyman has said he's dealing with. At some stage in the future I'd ideally like converted skins to be able to handle TrueType fonts the way mainstream QCD skins do.

[t_journeyman]

What's new:

Tweaked skinned vis
Tweaked transparency
Using TTF not BMP for fonts

http://donnjo.dyndns.org/wa2qcd

[brian]

Thanks very much for the latest beta. I'm afraid I've got several problems with it:

(1) About half a dozen skins would not convert, which did convert using beta 2. The error message is `an unhandled exception occurred'.

(2) A few skins for which the conversion appeared to go through smoothly are invisible when I try to apply them, and one skin is cut vertically in half.

(3) The external visual window isn't skinned at all, as far as I can see.

(4) I can't see any difference in the handling of fonts as compared with beta 2.

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong!

[brian]

What news, please? Many thanks.

[t_journeyman]

None, as yet. Real life and additional certfication intrude on my development schedule yet again.

Hope to get some time in the next couple weeks to release a new beta.

[brian]

Thanks very much for updating us - I guess those of us who are keen on the program will have to possess ourselves in patience!

[Todd The Kiwi]

Thanks very much for updating us - I guess those of us who are keen on the program will have to possess ourselves in patience!

getting sick of this crap :brian little children are impatient , and also they copy each others school work, just like ripping a skin off. you guys are making qcd look like winamp ! use friggin winamp if you like it so much !
also you aren't a moderator so telling someone to hurry up will cause laughter not haste . :rolleyes:
:mad: :mad: :mad:

[brian]

Each to his or her own taste, surely? That's precisely the QCD philosophy. I happen to like simple, rectangular skins, and QCD doesn't have too many of those. Winamp has some very attractive ones, and the conversion program enables me to enjoy them with my favourite player, QCD. Seems like a worthwhile bonus to me.

Showing interest in an author's progress pays the author the compliment of knowing that their work is appreciated.

[hedge]

Each to his or her own taste, surely? That's precisely the QCD philosophy. I happen to like simple, rectangular skins, and QCD doesn't have too many of those. Winamp has some very attractive ones, and the conversion program enables me to enjoy them with my favourite player, QCD. Seems like a worthwhile bonus to me.

Showing interest in an author's progress pays the author the compliment of knowing that their work is appreciated.
i gotta agree with that.
I used to use winamp 2 and found quite a few skins a really liked and stuck with for long periods.
When i switched over to qcd i loved the skins it has, but began to miss some of the winamp 2 skins.
So i converted a few over using wa2qcd... nothing wrong with that is there???
We are still admiring the artists work, it still looks the same (or very similar), whats there to complain about??

[Heigar]

i gotta agree with that.
I used to use winamp 2 and found quite a few skins a really liked and stuck with for long periods.
When i switched over to qcd i loved the skins it has, but began to miss some of the winamp 2 skins.
So i converted a few over using wa2qcd... nothing wrong with that is there???
We are still admiring the artists work, it still looks the same (or very similar), whats there to complain about??
there are two ways of looking at this;
converting without permission which in MHO is stealing even if it is for personal use.
and converting with permission in which you let the artist know that his work is appreciated and it gives the artist a compliment in doing so.
IMO I think the artist would take the compliment or the admiration more to heart with the courtesy of people asking for permission than without.
If you get or have permission more power to you.
If you don't then don't be surprised as being labled as a ripper.

[brian]

My remark about paying the author a compliment was in connection with the author of WA2QCD, not the author of a skin. I was responding to Todd's suggestion that authors don't welcome being asked what progress they are making in developing a piece of software.

[Heigar]

brian
Senior Member

Joined: Nov 2003
I hope Matt will take up my suggestion of having a section in the Community part of the forum dedicated to discussing players other than QCD, so that the main parts of the forum can concentrate on what I believe they should be doing, namely improving and supporting QCD and its plugins and skins.



So then what kind of support do you show qcd skinners by converting winamp skins?:rolleyes:none!!!

[hedge]

When trying to convert Syrogenesis_V1.wsz using wa2qcdlive i kept getting a 'server error'.
Happened using both firebird and IE.

ps. Syrogenesis is the sickest skin ever!!!

[brian]

brian
Senior Member

Joined: Nov 2003
I hope Matt will take up my suggestion of having a section in the Community part of the forum dedicated to discussing players other than QCD, so that the main parts of the forum can concentrate on what I believe they should be doing, namely improving and supporting QCD and its plugins and skins.

So then what kind of support do you show qcd skinners by converting winamp skins?:rolleyes:none!!!

Why ask such a question, I wonder? Surely it's clear that the conversion program doesn't support QCD skinners in particular, but that it supports QCD by widening the range of skins available to users. Nobody who likes the conversion program has made any criticism of the existing range of skins or of the people who produced them; nor have they devoted space to discussing the merits or otherwise of Winamp. The focus has been on developing the conversion program itself as an adjunct to QCD.

[t_journeyman]

there are two ways of looking at this;
converting without permission which in MHO is stealing even if it is for personal use.
and converting with permission in which you let the artist know that his work is appreciated and it gives the artist a compliment in doing so.
IMO I think the artist would take the compliment or the admiration more to heart with the courtesy of people asking for permission than without.
If you get or have permission more power to you.
If you don't then don't be surprised as being labled as a ripper.
While I appreciate the sentiment, as a converter WA2QCD is one of the best in that regard. Any notes included in the original winamp skin (readme.txt, notes.txt) are converted to the QCD Notes format. This, I felt, did at least some justice to the artist as it kept his notes (and any contact information) with the skin.

[t_journeyman]

Beta version 4 is now available for download.

It fixes 99% of the transparency/invisible skin issues.

[brian]

Beta version 4 is now available for download.

It fixes 99% of the transparency/invisible skin issues.
Thanks very much indeed for this. I have a few initial comments, please:

(1) Where the conversion goes through, the resulting skins are excellent.

(2) With each new beta, there are a few more skins from my collection where conversion fails, with the `unhandled exception' error message.

(3) The external visual window still isn't skinned, at least not on my system.

(4) I find that the file ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll is needed in order to launch the program. This was included with betas 1 and 2 but not with 3 and 4, so I've had to copy it across from the earlier betas.

(5) Please amend the default destination folder, as mentioned previously.

Many thanks once again.

[t_journeyman]

Thanks very much indeed for this. I have a few initial comments, please:

(1) Where the conversion goes through, the resulting skins are excellent.


(2) With each new beta, there are a few more skins from my collection where conversion fails, with the `unhandled exception' error message.

(3) The external visual window still isn't skinned, at least not on my system.

(4) I find that the file ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll is needed in order to launch the program. This was included with betas 1 and 2 but not with 3 and 4, so I've had to copy it across from the earlier betas.

(5) Please amend the default destination folder, as mentioned previously.

Many thanks once again.
(1) Thank you.
(2) Could you use the online converter for a few of the skins that do not convert? That will allow me to track where they are failing.
(3) Not supposed to be. Yet.
(4) That's my bad. I'll fix that right away.
(5) Will be fixed in next version.

Thanks for the feedback!

[brian]

(2) I've tried converting two skins online: Aiwa Digital One (apparently successful, but the converted skin comes out sliced vertically in half when applied); Epitome (conversion failed). Good luck in sorting this out! Many thanks.

[ace2701]

Beta version 4 is now available for download.

It fixes 99% of the transparency/invisible skin issues.
WELL DONE! Check my results in the Skin Requests thread.

[wanked]

will you ever make a program able to convert the winamp modern skins? those r skins basically made for winamp 3 or 5

[t_journeyman]

See this thread:

http://www.quinnware.com/forum/showthread.php?t=861

[hedge]

it seems there are a few bugs with the converted timer fonts...
The screenshot below shows the lack of the - sign when countdown timer is used, and the lack of : seperating minutes from seconds.
Also, the numbers are too squished together... when viewed in winamp the numbers are definitely further apart.
Also, do you know that from b66 on qcd supports peaks on the skinned resonators??? extend the top of vis1.bmp by a couple pixels and add in the peaks here. Not sure how easy this would be to get to work... but maybe you've forgotten about this new feature???
<whinge>
Also... i hate the playlist font!!! everything capitals... not good :(
</whinge>
Apart from this though, its really looking good!!! thanks for putting in all this effort. :D

[t_journeyman]

it seems there are a few bugs with the converted timer fonts...
The screenshot below shows the lack of the - sign when countdown timer is used, and the lack of : seperating minutes from seconds.
Also, the numbers are too squished together... when viewed in winamp the numbers are definitely further apart.This is primarily due to the difference in how QCD and Winamp handle the timer numbers. Winamp uses separate blocks for the seconds and the minutes, whereas QCD uses 1 field.

Also, do you know that from b66 on qcd supports peaks on the skinned resonators??? extend the top of vis1.bmp by a couple pixels and add in the peaks here. Not sure how easy this would be to get to work... but maybe you've forgotten about this new feature???No, I haven't forgotten. In Winamp, it uses a color-map for the resonators. The converter is interpreting the color map and making bitmap from it. Missing peaks are a known bug.


<whinge>
Also... i hate the playlist font!!! everything capitals... not good :(
</whinge>
Find me a mixed case true-type font that looks good at 7 pixels high and I'll use it. :cool:

[brian]

Find me a mixed case true-type font that looks good at 7 pixels high and I'll use it. :cool:
Yes, I've played around with various other fonts I have on my system, but none of them improves on the one you've supplied. You've done well to find it!

[hedge]

Find me a mixed case true-type font that looks good at 7 pixels high and I'll use it. :cool:
on my blizzard port (which was all started by your prog.) i used tahoma with a height of 11. track buttons ended up being 12 pixels high... so yes it is larger than 7... but using these settings i still manage to fit more tracks in a playlist the same size as a winamp one...

tahoma is open type however... whatever that means.
brings up another question, whats the difference between truetype and open type???

[t_journeyman]

on my blizzard port (which was all started by your prog.) i used tahoma with a height of 11. track buttons ended up being 12 pixels high... so yes it is larger than 7... but using these settings i still manage to fit more tracks in a playlist the same size as a winamp one...

tahoma is open type however... whatever that means.
brings up another question, whats the difference between truetype and open type???
I think, due to your request, I may modify the next version to allow for separate fonts for main body and playlist. I would rather not touch the font for the main body, but I feel comfortable changing the playlist font.

Will that resolve the issue you have with the font?

[brian]

Please note that the present playlist font can't handle accented characters, so it would be good to have one which can. Many thanks.

[hedge]

I think, due to your request, I may modify the next version to allow for separate fonts for main body and playlist. I would rather not touch the font for the main body, but I feel comfortable changing the playlist font.

Will that resolve the issue you have with the font?
Oh hell yeah!!! thanks dude! :p

[hedge]

I find that the file ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll is needed in order to launch the program. This was included with betas 1 and 2 but not with 3 and 4, so I've had to copy it across from the earlier betas.
Hmmm, thats happening to me, anyone have a copy of thsi dll handy, as the wa2qcd zip still hasn't got it in there...

Nevermind... found it, good ol' google.

[countryjoe]

Let me know how it works people!

There are some issues with text color of main window on some skins.
No resize/bitrate support (yet)

oops, forgot the link: http://donnjo.dyndns.org/wa2qcd
how it works? i downloaded it and nothing. do you go to winamps site and download a skin. why does it not put it whee it's supposed to go. i have no idea where to install the skin at. :confused:

[brian]

First you need to get together the Winamp skins you want to convert, and put them in a folder. Make sure they have the .wsz filename extension. Then open WA2QCD. In the dialogue that comes up, enter as the `source folder' the one where you have put the Winamp skins. The skins should then appear in the central window. Select the ones to convert. Enter as the `destination folder' your usual QCD skins folder. Then hit the `begin conversion' button. You should then be able to load the converted skins from within QCD just like any QCD skins.

[t_journeyman]

Hmmm, thats happening to me, anyone have a copy of thsi dll handy, as the wa2qcd zip still hasn't got it in there...

Nevermind... found it, good ol' google.
It's also on the site now as well. Sorry about the delay.

[brian]

t_journeyman, what news of the full Version 3 release, please?

[t_journeyman]

t_journeyman, what news of the full Version 3 release, please?
Still in progress. I've had a couple projects become critical, which has taken away from WA2QCD development.

As always, I will post here when a new release is ready.