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Smart/Playlist question

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tlongacre:
I've seen mention on this board and the main one of "sub playlists" or "sub smartlists", but I can't see a feature like this, at least my understanding of it.

Here's what I want --

a "Master" iPod smartlist that would -- limit the total quantity of songs, the file type, the genre, etc.

then, beneath that -- playlists (and smartlists) that I want to include on my iPod but submit to the above restrictions.

I can't see how to make this work. I can include the Playlists in the definition of the "Master" smartlist BUT that has only the Master list show up on the iPod, not the other playlists as iPod playlists. So, I get the songs, but not the playlists.

If I just choose the playlists and smartlists directly (which is what I am currently doing) or I use the master and also select the play/smartlists, then I run into a few problems with going over the size limit, files that are the wrong type, etc.

Is what I am thinking of possible? If so, how could I do it? If not, could this be an added feature?

Thanks.

bjsolem:
See this thread if you haven't already:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=21535

Sub Smartlists aren't an official feature but just a term to describe a smartlist that uses another smartlist as part of its search criteria and adds rules to take a smaller piece of the larger list.

I started the thread above looking to do about the same thing that it sounds like you are trying to do.  I also kept having trouble with the size going over the Ipod size.

I am having much better luck using size limits on each individual Sub Smartlist.  I am making each sub smartlist larger or smaller depending on how many tunes I want for that playlist.

I still use my Fill Ipod smartlist (from the thread above) but without any size limits on it.  It becomes a shortcut for updating the rules of all the sub smartlists that refer to it.

Right now I have Fill Ipod set to get the following:
All mp3's and AAC
All 3 Star and above
No Jazz
and I exclude a few artists

All my other Ipod playlists now include Fill Ipod as well as some other rules that make each one unique.

This way if I want to exclude some more artists or include 2 star songs, I just need to change it one place and all the other smartlists pick up the same rules.  Very Slick!

The size limits on the sub smartlists limit a playlist to the appropriate size and I can make sure that they dont add up to more than the size of my Ipod.  Because the Fill Ipod smartlist does not have a size limit on it, I don't sync it to the ipod, it is ONLY referenced by the other smartlists.

I hope this helps...

tlongacre:
I read your other thread. Thanks.

But I think I must assume that what I'd like must not exist currently. I know how to work around it, but it makes the whole operation much less than automatic.

Steve, any chance for an enhancement?

SteveG:
Perhaps in the future. The whole system of smartlists is predicated on the dynamic creation of a set of songs based on the rules for that smartlist. This request changes that and makes sense but is a broader change than we will do immediately.

Thanks,

Steve

tlongacre:
Yes, I think I can see that.

Another option or way of thinking about it that would achieve what I want, would be to have filters. That way I could construct playlists and smartlists as usual, but when I wanted to synch with the iPod, I could apply a filter to all the playlists/smartlists that I choose to synch.

So, I'd just choose the smartlists/playlist I want to synch, all the songs and lists would then go to the iPod (with the appropriate options selected, of course), but I could apply a filter -- say, no WMA files, none of xx genre, etc. This would work if # of megabytes could be a filter item as well.


Not sure if that helps at all, but I realized that there is more than one way of thinking about what we are wanting to do.

Thanks.

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