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Author Topic: If you're bored...  (Read 27164 times)

Pink Waters

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #50 on: August 07, 2003, 06:44:03 pm »

Quote

the mouse from the PARC Labs


one can mean that for a good reason! :)
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kiwi

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #51 on: August 07, 2003, 06:49:27 pm »

Just some general notes:

I'm not a huge fan of the new bar, it doesn't look nearly as good as the previous bar, but I understand that it's being worked on.

There should be a better way of displaying rules for smart lists.  When you have multiple rules or longer rules, it is very hard to edit as they extend off of the single line.  Maybe having a separate window pop up.  Or having the list rules in the left hand pain.  I would love to have a small window and be able to control the rules much as they are done in mail programs for filters.  Or, have an easier way of actually editing and viewing the rule.

My problem is that in order to view it, I have to select "edit by typing" and then use the right arrow to get over to the rest of the rule.

kiwi
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Matt

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #52 on: August 07, 2003, 06:54:15 pm »

Quote
i have a good idea that might help in the new interface of the playbar..
just a small button down the stop or pause button that closes the library window and clicking again to close the library window..


mini-me is our "Player Mode".  I think adding another mode on top of that doesn't give us much.  An easier or more obvious way to get to mini-me may be useful though.
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Matt Ashland, JRiver Media Center

Pink Waters

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #53 on: August 07, 2003, 06:59:57 pm »

Quote
Just some general notes:

I'm not a huge fan of the new bar, it doesn't look nearly as good as the previous bar, but I understand that it's being worked on.

There should be a better way of displaying rules for smart lists.  When you have multiple rules or longer rules, it is very hard to edit as they extend off of the single line.  Maybe having a separate window pop up.  Or having the list rules in the left hand pain.  I would love to have a small window and be able to control the rules much as they are done in mail programs for filters.  Or, have an easier way of actually editing and viewing the rule.

My problem is that in order to view it, I have to select "edit by typing" and then use the right arrow to get over to the rest of the rule.

kiwi

I Dont get what the point of rule...!:)
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Omni

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #54 on: August 07, 2003, 07:01:26 pm »

First, to all you self-appointed critics out there:  shame on you.  After all, Matt did state in the very first post:

Quote
The top bar of the program has been rearranged.  Expect it to change more before things are finished.  Once the design is finalized, the skins will be cleaned up for the new look.  For now, we know it doesn't look or work optimally.


He also stated...

Quote
It's a work in progress.  Don't try it if bugs, crashes, and half-finished features will upset you.


(For the above, please note that I only speak for myself and my own personal interpretions of the posts so far.  I'm sure JRiver appreciates all feedback, so don't take me too seriously. :))

Second, WOW!!!!  We can now view the playlist and media library at the same time!  Kudos and accolades, guys!  This is an awesome milestone.  :D ;D :D

Omni
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Pink Waters

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #55 on: August 07, 2003, 07:02:52 pm »

Quote


mini-me is our "Player Mode".  I think adding another mode on top of that doesn't give us much.  An easier or more obvious way to get to mini-me may be useful though.


i mean closing the library window.. not a playmode!
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Pink Waters

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #56 on: August 07, 2003, 07:07:16 pm »

Quote
Second, WOW!!!!  We can now view the playlist and media library at the same time!  Kudos and accolades, guys!  This is an awesome milestone.  :D ;D :D

Omni

iam talking about another topic from the first place which is the closer look of MUSICMATCH..
thats what i noticed in the first place!:) nothing more..
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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #57 on: August 07, 2003, 07:31:23 pm »

Great work guys. The direction is good and I have a feeling you'll make all the needed "polish" as quickly as you can code it. So, I have no suggestions just yet on how the new stuff should work, other than making "quick click" iconic tabs to switch between the six "Item To Show" options. No text, to save space, just tooltips to further describe to newbies what each tab icon switches to.

Also, on a related "change the interface" vein: it's my opinion that the "Media Center Display" area that currently shows above the Playing Now area should actually show *below* it now. This would keep the top sub toolbar at the very top, so that the browsing back and forward buttons are always in the same place on the screen. Currently, all other areas within MC show the back and forward in that same place, but you have to go hunt them down when in Playing Now.

Again, awesome direction guys!
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Pensive_Chimp

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #58 on: August 07, 2003, 07:32:32 pm »

Oh, and those quick click iconic tabs should probably be along the bottom of the new active window thing, that way they don't move when the area resizes itself.
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Matt

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #59 on: August 07, 2003, 07:51:58 pm »

Just to explain the playerbar layout: it's as it is so we could play with some other internal redesign concepts where this layout makes more sense.  It's too early to say whether these ideas will see the light of day.

And there are still a lot of things to hammer out with the "Action Window".  I'll list some of the challenges.  Any ideas on how to improve any of them would be welcome.  ( as always, the "make some options" answer will make us grumpy :P )  One key is that we want it as clean as possible, so in "Image" mode, it only shows a thumbnail preview without any other clutter.

  • Auto-sizing -- when we watched people use it before, they were always having to manually move the properties splitter.  Auto-sizing fixes that and it gets rid of clutter from splitters.  The challenge is to make it smart enough without making it feel like it's always moving.

  • Smart item switching -- it makes sense to show a simple, graphical "Burn CD" page when the user says they want to burn a CD.  The same holds for building a playlist or Playing Now.  However, we don't want to always be shoving it in peoples faces.  When should it show up / auto-switch items?

  • Manual item switching -- already mentioned this, but we need to expose the tools and modes that are available but want a very clean look.  Right-click, auto-hide, or one button that opens a menu (like the Windows Start button) are some ideas.

  • Other helpful pages -- what other things could be in the action window that would be helpful?  We've thought a "Tools" page that listed tools with an explanation and "Run Tool" button on it may be helpful.  Any other ideas?

  • How the "hidden" mode should look -- when the properties are minimized, what should it do?  If you put it in "Drag, Drop, & Go" it works just like the old Drop Target.  If it's in "File Properties", it's worthless.  Should it switch to "Drag, Drop & Go" in hidden mode, or is there some other slick thing we could do.

    Thanks for any help and the positive attitude everyone has had :)
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Matt Ashland, JRiver Media Center

digitaltrapper

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #60 on: August 07, 2003, 08:31:51 pm »

Quote
Just some general notes:

There should be a better way of displaying rules for smart lists.  When you have multiple rules or longer rules, it is very hard to edit as they extend off of the single line.  Maybe having a separate window pop up.  Or having the list rules in the left hand pain.  I would love to have a small window and be able to control the rules much as they are done in mail programs for filters.  Or, have an easier way of actually editing and viewing the rule.

My problem is that in order to view it, I have to select "edit by typing" and then use the right arrow to get over to the rest of the rule.

kiwi


I second that. Don't know the best way to implement this, but I have lots of playlists with lots of rules, and it is hard to modify them once I create them (cause I can't see all of them at once)
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Soundman

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #61 on: August 07, 2003, 09:03:58 pm »

Matt wrote:
Quote
Manual item switching -- already mentioned this, but we need to expose the tools and modes that are available but want a very clean look.  Right-click, auto-hide, or one button that opens a menu (like the Windows Start button) are some ideas.


Here is how I think this should work: At the top (or bottom) of the Action Window should be a label that says which of the six "Items to Show" you are currently viewing.  This should be shown both as an icon and as text.  When I click (left-click) on this bar, it should drop down a list of all six choices so I can quickly switch to another one.  I would like this much more than iconic tabs that try to show all six modes at once, but relying on tooltips to find out what they actually mean.

Quote
Other helpful pages -- what other things could be in the action window that would be helpful?

The pending list of stuff to burn to CD or download to device could go here.

For video file, a list of bookmarked positions in the file (like DVD chapters) could go here.  This provides a quick way to jump to them.

Drag, Drop, Go
I absolutely love Drag, Drop, Go.  It needs to be easier to change the drop target.  A big help would be a MRU to quickly switch between a few recent drop targets so you dont have to keep drilling way down the tree.

You probably already are planning this, but when the drop target is a playlist, shouldn't it list the files currently in that playlist, as it does for PN?

Multiple Action Windows
If you show the Action Window as a separate Window, then you need to be able to open as many of them as you want.  That way, you can have a bunch of drop targets on the screen at a time and need no switching between them.  Also, I really want to have file properties, a drop target, and Playlists open all at once.  Switching between views is what I want to avoid.


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Soundman

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #62 on: August 07, 2003, 09:18:55 pm »


ToMy00 wrote:
Quote
i have a good idea that might help in the new interface of the playbar..  
just a small button down the stop or pause button that closes the library window and clicking again to close the library window..
 

...and Matt replied:
Quote
mini-me is our "Player Mode".  I think adding another mode on top of that doesn't give us much.  An easier or more obvious way to get to mini-me may be useful though.


Matt, you are right, of course. However, ToMy00 has touched upon a need that I have felt but not expressed before.  That is, I want a simple mini-me skin that looks and feels just like mega-me (PixOS) but just excludes everything but the stuff at the top of mega-me.  Why?  Because I hate mini-me skins.  They are irregular shaped, have confusing buttons, etc.  As a user, I don't want to have to learn a whole other UI; I just want to trim the familiar one to its minimum when I switch to mini-me mode.

Also, on the subject of skins, I think I asked this before but never got a reply - why is it that metamorphosis (the mini-me skin engine) allows scripting with Automation sdk, but megamorphosis (the mega-me skin engine) does not?  This is not consistent and seems arbitrarily restrictive to me.
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kiwi

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #63 on: August 07, 2003, 10:02:07 pm »

Quote

mini-me is our "Player Mode".  I think adding another mode on top of that doesn't give us much.  An easier or more obvious way to get to mini-me may be useful though.


I liked the idea of having a Mini-me skin that looks like just the top bar of the Mega-me skin, with an easy icon to switch between the two.

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Jynx

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #64 on: August 08, 2003, 12:12:05 am »

Would it be possible to add the ability to drag and drop nodes of the Media Library tree onto a tool bar at the top (or bottom) of the screen, doing this would create a shortcut to that section of library on the toolbar?

This would allow you to add a shortcut to your CD drive or to your favorite playlist or to the playing now section etc without having to navigate your way through the tree, which I find a little frustrating.  I also think if by default you included a link to the CD drive it would make it easier on non MC experts as it would then be really obvious where you go to just play a CD.  At the moment access to your  CD drive is tucked away in the tree and is much more difficult to find than in say RealOne or MusicMatch


Jynx
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nila

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #65 on: August 08, 2003, 01:15:26 am »

Quote

  • Auto-sizing -- when we watched people use it before, they were always having to manually move the properties splitter.  Auto-sizing fixes that and it gets rid of clutter from splitters.  The challenge is to make it smart enough without making it feel like it's always moving.

I like seeing a dividing line between the media library and the properties though - not too into 'seemless blends' on things that are different.
I personally like setting it to a size and then leaving it there - I would suggest an option to have it 'auto resize' like you have for columns but no options so cant suggest that. Changing size just makes me uncomfortable as I cant get used to it being in a specific screen location

Quote

  • Smart item switching -- it makes sense to show a simple, graphical "Burn CD" page when the user says they want to burn a CD.  The same holds for building a playlist or Playing Now.  However, we don't want to always be shoving it in peoples faces.  When should it show up / auto-switch items?


Properties pane right now is limited to displaying A OR B OR C - to me this has always been a BIG limitation and forcing me to bounce between all the different screens meaning I rarely use most of them.
The ability to view two or more at a time would be a BIG improvement.

When I saw the big white space under the 'properties' pane I thought this was going to be the new drop target and to me it appeared perfect - a nice big zone to quickly drop files onto. Later I realised it wasn't and I have to again change out of properties to get to the drop target - why not let it be this white space?? Why make us use two seperate views for it?
Quote

  • Manual item switching -- already mentioned this, but we need to expose the tools and modes that are available but want a very clean look.  Right-click, auto-hide, or one button that opens a menu (like the Windows Start button) are some ideas.

If you mean switching between 'properties', 'playlists' etc then this I feel NEEDS to be just a bunch of buttons/tabs or SOMETHING that shows all available screens so we can just click on any of them to change - no right clicking, no hiding the available options - make all of them visible - this will REALLY help to make new users aware of the other options and will make it a LOT more intuitive and faster to use.
Also - as was suggested - if we could right click on the button for Drag, Drop and Go for instance to chose where it sends it to.

Quote

  • Other helpful pages -- what other things could be in the action window that would be helpful?  We've thought a "Tools" page that listed tools with an explanation and "Run Tool" button on it may be helpful.  Any other ideas?

What would the "Run Tool" do? I dont understand that one.
A page for Allowing us to display 'single panes' would be a VERY nice addition to allow us to use the list type from windows other than Media Library. At least that way we could tag one list type field at a time - better than none :)

CD Burning picture there is ugly :) lol - just had to say - I know its just a temp pic :)
The CD Burning should show a list of files in it - just like the other targets do so we can re-arrange them etc.

Also - some buttons appearing for these other modes would be VERY nice - 'Clear CD Playlist' 'Burn CD' etc - when sending to cd burner. would be great time savers allowing us to control this from elsewhere in MC other than just the 'Burning Window'.

Quote

  • How the "hidden" mode should look -- when the properties are minimized, what should it do?  If you put it in "Drag, Drop, & Go" it works just like the old Drop Target.  If it's in "File Properties", it's worthless.  Should it switch to "Drag, Drop & Go" in hidden mode, or is there some other slick thing we could do.


Hidden mode should just move it down to the bottom with a button saying: 'Show Properties' at the top - and a drop target maybe under that. Clicking on the 'Show Properties' button will instantly bring it back up to size and having a visible option on screen like that will help beginners not get worried when it disappears the first time.


Not sure what ur planning to do with the top but I DEFINITELY prefer the buttons to the left - track info in the middle.

Also DONT like having volume and position slider as two lines the same size under each other - its just not clear enough.

The buttons for Shuffle, Repeat etc also seem to be so non existant as to almost be invisible now - they need to be more prominant.

We also have buttons for next track - previous track - but what about fast forward rewind etc?

Quote
Changed: Pane splitter resizing more intuitive.

Got excited here thinking u meant panes resized :(
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NoCodeUK

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #66 on: August 08, 2003, 01:16:03 am »

Jynx.

Have u tried the Favourites menu?  I think you'll find it does exactly what you want...You canhave it as a drop down on your toolbar.  Right click the toolbar, customize and add the Favourites icon.  I think you can just drag and drop locations to it or right click in the tree and select add to favourites.

Adam
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Jynx

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #67 on: August 08, 2003, 02:03:05 am »

Quote
Jynx.

Have u tried the Favourites menu?  I think you'll find it does exactly what you want...You canhave it as a drop down on your toolbar.  Right click the toolbar, customize and add the Favourites icon.  I think you can just drag and drop locations to it or right click in the tree and select add to favourites.


Thanks for this Adam, I had no idea this was there.  This favorites option pretty much does what I want, my only gripe is that it should be made easier to find & use.  

I would suggest not making an icon that you have find and add to the toolbar, but maybe make it a menu item instead so that it is more like the IE favorites menu that most people are familiar with.  It would also be great if you could drag & drop items into the menu and also if  “Add to Favorites” was one of the options when you right-click on an item in the Media Library tree


J
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nila

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #68 on: August 08, 2003, 05:06:41 am »

Quote

3) In the Action window you included Playing Now.

I dont seem to have this? Unless u mean first changing to the drop target - then 'add to playing now' - in which case I definitely think this should just be made as a main option:  ie:   Item To Show/Playing Now

Quote

That's ok, but the basic functionality of the property window has not really improved - just cosmetics.
Why are you so reluctant to group the fields according to media type and name them properly (audio, images, video as in Media Library)? And why are you so reluctant to have our own grouping as so many have asked for?


I agree with this. I know a lot of work has gone into it and I'm sure it's only half done but so far I've lost all the old buttons we used to have - I LIKE buttons - I dont seem to understand why MC seems to be based on few or no buttons = good.
If it's not then thats great but it seems to be.

Also - using the properties panel itself hasn't become any easier. I'm still stuck with the same grouping for which fields I can display and the grouping as it currently is just isn't helpful or particularly useful.

If we're not going to be aloud to make our own custom groups then I personally feel it would make a LOT more sense to just scap the idea of groups here - I seriously doubt most people remember what fields are in each group - If I'm wrong sorry.
They're just not logical though - If you go to file info group - Filename and Filepath aren't even there - they're in calculated - sure they're calculated fields but they're File Info fields more importantly.

If we cant customise groups it would make a LOT more sense to just have a toggle button: All Fields/Current View - with a check box for: Show Read Only fields - make the options visible by means of a GUI.
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Herakles

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #69 on: August 08, 2003, 05:40:03 am »

I like the new drag, drop & go, but wouldn't it have been more user-friendly and powerful to just add a button in the location bar allowing the associated view to be opened in it's own window?? That way you could be in Playing Now with a couple of playlist opened at the same time! That would be really useful! Oh and including the appropriate location bar in the new window and allowing drag & drop between windows would be nice too!

I know that the drag, drop & go can be opened in it's own window but you can only have one and a new user would have to dig too far to just know that the drag, drop & go is for and getting to playing now list is 3 menu deep...

Please feel free to develop on the idea...
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Pink Waters

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #70 on: August 08, 2003, 05:51:00 am »

Quote


I liked the idea of having a Mini-me skin that looks like just the top bar of the Mega-me skin, with an easy icon to switch between the two.


yeah iam with you.. and with trans color we can play with the interface as mini-me appearence...

and it would be better to click the same button again to get it compacted more and give us a toolbar mode with a hight bigger than the player button a while.. and be placed upper the start menu bar... with button to open the library too :)
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BuiltToSpill

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #71 on: August 08, 2003, 07:12:34 am »

Quote
and it would be better to click the same button again to get it compacted more and give us a toolbar mode with a hight bigger than the player button a while.. and be placed upper the start menu bar... with button to open the library too  


ToMy00-
I think this is a really great idea.

To expand on that, maybe an icon in the systems trey could be added so that when clicked on, expands this "mini-me" top bar, and when clicked on again, minimizes it to the systems trey.  


Another thing i thought would be interesting is an icon in the system trey that when hovered over, displayed a box with the "Playing Now" information and maybe...... maybe an option that lets you go to the last or next track?  

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modelmaker

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #72 on: August 08, 2003, 07:47:19 am »

I think the placement of the player controls and the icons are counter- intuitive.

Player controls on most audio and video devices are at the bottom or to one side (in a mini mode or like a car deck). Is it really neccessary for everyone to have to relearn a behavior that has become "natural" - just to be  different?                                                                                                                                                                         The same goes for the position and volume bars, they were perfectly fine next  to each other and above the player controls. It's too easy now to move the wrong slider now, which would mean an unpleasant change in volume or inadvertant interruption in our listening pleasure.

I also don't get why the tool icons are separated from the tool tabs (File, Edit, Tools View & Help). It seems to make more sense to have all the "tools" grouped together.

For an "advanced" newbie (me!), MC is  very powerful, but sometimes a bit intimidating in it's complexity, why add to that by changing some of these basic controls that we've all gotten used to. I guess I just don't see where these changes improve the functionallity or the look of this great program.

Just one "opinion".
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knickelfarz

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #73 on: August 08, 2003, 08:21:40 am »

Quote
  • Auto-sizing...
  • Smart item switching...
  • Manual item switching...
  • Other helpful pages...
  • How the "hidden" mode should look...

Mmh, that's a long "wish list"... ;)

I'm really wondering how all those things (together with 'building a playlist or Playing Now / "Tools" page  / "Burn CD" page') should ever be squeezed into that small "Action Window" - possibly without more than one button, without tabs, without text or icons that display what's opened currently...
I'm afraid that it will be only as "clean as possible" when it's hidden :P

As JimH always says: "NOTHING IS SET IN STONE" ... what about the vertical splitter?
I think it's OK to have something like this







Playerbar
--------------------------------------------
Tree|
------------------| Library or Playing Now
Action Window |

when only little content is shown in the "Action Window" (properties or an image, for example). But if there are shown tools and especially lists, wouldn't it be nice if the "Action Window" could expand ("auto-sizing"...) not only to the top (inside the tree area) but also to the right - like below?







Playerbar
--------------------------------------------
Tree| Library or Playing Now
--------------------------------------------
Action Window

Does it make sense? Impossible? Or is it far too much work for 9.1 ?  ;)
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mkutsen

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #74 on: August 08, 2003, 08:45:15 am »

1)Dragging the scroll bar in the options menu changes the appearance of the scroll bar from MC skin style to the default windows style and back, making scrolling very jerky.  This bug has been there forever!  
   
2)When one uses ASIO for streaming web content, switching stations causes stuttering and occasionally crashes.  

3) MC downloads *.rm files instead of streaming them    
This is an old bug.  
     
3) I also liked selective text for tool bar buttons.  
 
4) Double-clicking on empty space in Hairstyle doesn't switch you bakc to MEGA-ME anymore.
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clout

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #75 on: August 08, 2003, 08:45:39 am »

knickelfarz wrote:
Quote
when only little content is shown in the "Action Window" (properties or an image, for example). But if there are shown tools and especially lists, wouldn't it be nice if the "Action Window" could expand ("auto-sizing"...) not only to the top (inside the tree area) but also to the right


I like this idea. As we now have the "Action Window" how about looking at Knickelfarz's suggestion from the "split panes" thread".
Quote
http://www.futurehome.de/mc/split_view.htm
.
This to me seems to be the ideal solution.
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nila

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #76 on: August 08, 2003, 09:08:42 am »

woah

nice screen shot - VERY nice work on that.

I LOVE how it looks :)
Love the tabs.
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DJ_Hazelwood

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #77 on: August 08, 2003, 09:21:57 am »

Hi!

I've played around with the new version and here are my first impressions:

:( The playerbar at the top looked better in the previous versions. It was well arranged, now it looks a little bit 'nervous'. But it is a work in progress ...  :D

;D The changed properties-area with the new 'Drag, drop ,go'-view is great. Now we can see what we play and search in the library at the same time. That's what a DJ needs  8)

I think you're on the right way.

Thanks very much for your work.


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clout

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #78 on: August 08, 2003, 09:40:40 am »

Quote
The changed properties-area with the new 'Drag, drop ,go'-view is great. Now we can see what we play and search in the library at the same time. That's what a DJ needs  

I think you're on the right way.


I agree. But.
As a DJ also I need to see more fields than casn show in the "Action Window" in particular "Genre" & BPM, so I can quickly scan to find an appropriate spot to drop a particular song into the playlist.
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jleerigby

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #79 on: August 08, 2003, 10:16:14 am »

Suggestion to improve the look:

The toolbar buttons are really colorful but ONLY if you hover over them.  The rest of the time they are grey or white and bland looking.  MC would look so much better if the buttons were permanently colored.

All skins are like this making me think it's not something the skinners have any control over.  Hopefully this would be a simple change.
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gkerber

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #80 on: August 08, 2003, 10:29:20 am »

Couple of questions for those that have been playing with this for a while.

I can't seem to get properties up at all.  I had it once.  I highlight some tracks, and press alt-enter and the playing now display goes away, no properties.  Alt- enter again and the playing now comes back.  ?

Is undocked properties still there?  

How do everyone enter properties in that little docked properties area in the lower left of the screen under the tree?  I can't see all that am entering.
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nila

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #81 on: August 08, 2003, 10:57:48 am »

gkerber - U have to right click on that 'playing now' window - one of the options in the right click lets you change it back to properties.

It's not particularly intuitive right now - but as they said - its a work in progress.

Also - when we right click on a file and choose 'properties' - it should ALWAYS take us to the properties pane - that is what we are chosing - making 'Drag Drop and Go' appear is not what we wanted to do - we chose properties.
ie. whenever we chose to open properties - it needs to change to this screen if it's open and needs to open on this screen if it's hidden.
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dragyn

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #82 on: August 08, 2003, 01:22:24 pm »

Quote


Looks fantastic and good idea!


That's the way I would like to see it. Files in that little window doesn't do anything for me. The only
thing I would use it for would be for images.

I liked the drop target at the top like in 226. I can see where things would go, imported files, etc.





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ChrisRainman

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #83 on: August 08, 2003, 01:51:42 pm »

Great development so far! I don't want to comment presently existing bugs (you probably know most of them) - I have just three small suggestions which might be easy to implement:

1. The options for saving views you improved a lot during the last releases. What about an additional option to lock views. Especially this would prevent me from changing my sortings accidentally by clicking on a column header.

2. When organizing duplicates I somtimes would love an option to copy all tag fields to another file. Something like copy tags / paste tags would be great.

3. You've made a change for tag searches not long ago. When searching from within a view scheme you display an option to search the full database.
Couldn't you display this option for all cases I don't search through the whole database? I mean, I could have found one file in the current view scheme but overall this artist exist 10 times. So I would like to say "ok scan the rest" in an easy way.

One more suggestion:
After finishing the 9.1 release why don't you start a marketing campaign involving all these enthusiastic users like myself?
8)These users are from all over the world. MC is less popular as it would deserve (at least in Germany). There are lot's of online-magazines who test this kind of software every view months and often users are publishing their favorite pieces of software. Request your users to have a good word for you and support your public perception! I am sure there is a large potential!

By the way: the http://www.futurehome.de/mc/split_view.htm suggestion is great!
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Polonio

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #84 on: August 08, 2003, 01:56:11 pm »

Quote
http://www.futurehome.de/mc/split_view.htm


I don't know if it is necessary say it. But I obviously like this "Drag, Drop, and Go" GUI.

As anyone else.

Of course.

PS: Probably it is the first (and last) time MC crew agree in something.  :)
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NoCodeUK

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #85 on: August 08, 2003, 02:05:46 pm »

Chris,

You can already do 1

The reason your views are changing when you resort is probably cause you have the option set in Tree and View settings to save all changes.  Unchek this, set the scheme how you want it then right clk one of the columns and select save view scheme.

I think you can copy and paste tags too using CtrlC and CtrlV but dont quote me on that one!!

Adam
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Quisp

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #86 on: August 08, 2003, 02:07:34 pm »

Quote

By the way: the http://www.futurehome.de/mc/split_view.htm suggestion is great!


I agree, is there any way this type of interface could be developed as a plug-in similar to what Rhino has been doing with AV? The top part is a little busy but the bottom is instantly intuative and demonstrates the power and possibilities of MC very simply and eloquently.

There are so many problems solved (for the endu$er, this one anyway...) with this one little picture, quite amazing.
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ChrisRainman

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #87 on: August 08, 2003, 02:34:27 pm »

Quote
You can already do 1
The reason your views are changing when you resort is probably cause you have the option set in Tree and View settings to save all changes.  Unchek this, set the scheme how you want it then right clk one of the columns and select save view scheme.


Maybe I did not explain exactly. I mean just to be able to deactivate all view related functions by checking a new menu entry ("Lock View") in the view schemes.

But in the end it's a matter of preferences. Your suggestion is another possibility to deal with it.

Copying tags is not possible. One after another is possible but not a solution. My cases are like the following: There is one song you stored at two locations. I decide to delete one of them (bad quality) but for this file I've done my tagging. So I want to copy all tag fields to the new one and finally delete the first file.

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Jaguu

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #88 on: August 08, 2003, 02:40:23 pm »

Quote
decide to delete one of them (bad quality) but for this file I've done my tagging. So I want to copy all tag fields to the new one and finally delete the first file.

Chris,
you can do that. There is a function "Copy/Move fields". You select the fields you want to copy or move and then do it in one go!
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Cindy_B

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #89 on: August 08, 2003, 02:52:14 pm »

Quote
Smartlists seem to have stopped working. Every smartlist returns a list of everything in the Media Library.

I'm using Windows XP, MC v9.1.228

The system info option under help keeps giving an invalid argument error.


Same problem using Windows 2000.
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NoCodeUK

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #90 on: August 08, 2003, 02:57:27 pm »

If you click back then forward they work okay...
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ChrisRainman

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #91 on: August 08, 2003, 03:09:13 pm »

Quote

Chris,
you can do that. There is a function "Copy/Move fields". You select the fields you want to copy or move and then do it in one go!


Am I blind??? There is such a function but only for using it within one file which is a rare application case. I mean copying tags from one file to another. Are you sure this is possible?
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Rands

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #92 on: August 08, 2003, 03:33:30 pm »

http://www.futurehome.de/mc/split_view.htm

That gets my vote except that I'd put it beneath the status bar so it can appear and disappear without affecting the rest of the GUI (aka. kind of like QuickTime's drawer at the bottom).

I know it probably won't happen but this looks nice, clean, effective, and scalable.
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Cindy_B

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #93 on: August 08, 2003, 03:50:56 pm »

Quote
I just noticed that you can't re-order items in the Playing Now split pane. You can choose where to drop them, but once they're there, there's no moving them without going to the real Playing Now. I hope that'll be addressed.


I can move songs around, however it's does not update until the next song starts playing.   The both ("Drag & Drop" & "Playing Now") lists are then updated.

It's very difficult to find the current playing song on Drag & Drop playlist.  A highlight or arrow on the current playing song would be great.

You guys are awsome!

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RemyJ

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #94 on: August 08, 2003, 07:06:01 pm »

Just downloaded to see what would cause this thread to go over 100 in such a short time.

At first glance...

Like the new properties window and search location.

Don't like the new player window.   The old way was a much better use of real estate and would have been perfect with the move of the search box.
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DJ_Hazelwood

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #95 on: August 08, 2003, 11:05:59 pm »

Quote

It's very difficult to find the current playing song on Drag & Drop playlist.  A highlight or arrow on the current playing song would be great.

I think this depends on the used skin. I am currently using ToMy00's Windows-Media-Skin, where the actual song is highlighted in green.
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Ingo

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #96 on: August 09, 2003, 01:03:26 am »

gets my vote.....

multi column properties would probably be a great plus

Ingo
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chezchas

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #97 on: August 09, 2003, 03:02:08 am »

Quote
Smartlists seem to have stopped working. Every smartlist returns a list of everything in the Media Library.

I'm using Windows XP, MC v9.1.228



I'm having the same problem. Same configuration.  

(I'm a new user. MC 9 is awesome!!!! Hands down, it's the best, easiest, most comprehensive media tool out there.)
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jleerigby

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #98 on: August 09, 2003, 03:15:19 am »

Quote
Great work guys. The direction is good and I have a feeling you'll make all the needed "polish" as quickly as you can code it. So, I have no suggestions just yet on how the new stuff should work, other than making "quick click" iconic tabs to switch between the six "Item To Show" options. No text, to save space, just tooltips to further describe to newbies what each tab icon switches to.

Also, on a related "change the interface" vein: it's my opinion that the "Media Center Display" area that currently shows above the Playing Now area should actually show *below* it now. This would keep the top sub toolbar at the very top, so that the browsing back and forward buttons are always in the same place on the screen. Currently, all other areas within MC show the back and forward in that same place, but you have to go hunt them down when in Playing Now.

Again, awesome direction guys!

Oh, and those quick click iconic tabs should probably be along the bottom of the new active window thing, that way they don't move when the area resizes itself.

I think Pensive Chimp has summed it up rather well.  This release shows MC moving in the right direction.  Just a bit of polish needed now.  What I'm really looking for to improve usability is to be able to quickly access the options you need WITHOUT right clicking.  Some tabs or icons to change the items in view in teh action window would be ideal.  I also think that the list of available toolbar buttons needs to be extended considerably - to include for example virtually all those functions that are currently available from the right click menu like shuffle, clear playing now etc.

Great work.  Thanks.
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Pink Waters

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Re: If you're bored...
« Reply #99 on: August 09, 2003, 03:44:21 am »

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