Topic: Amazon Cover Art Plugin (Read 19075 times)

gekkomna · « **on:** November 22, 2005, 10:38:46 am »

Hello,

Personally I find that the internal cover art search function for Media Center is really not that usefull as the database never has the images for your CDs - when it does it works great though.

I ran accross this tool that automatically grabs images from Amazon, yahoo and some other sites.

Does anyone want to write a plugin that does the same for Media Center?

I think it would be a significant improvement over the existing album art functionality...

Any opinions?

edbro · « **Reply #1 on:** November 22, 2005, 10:47:30 am »

Atagger plugin already does it very well.

gekkomna · « **Reply #2 on:** November 22, 2005, 10:52:32 am »

Where can i find it?
I've scoured the plugins section of the website and ive not seen anything called Atagger!

gekkomna · « **Reply #3 on:** November 22, 2005, 10:53:13 am »

nevermind! :-)

its only about 8 posts below mine!

Nolonemo · « **Reply #4 on:** November 23, 2005, 03:55:48 pm »

I use and love atagger, even sent alan a donation. But doesn't atagger get the cover art from allmusic.com? Aren't those images only 200x200 or so? Correct me if I'm wrong.

The latest Tag & Rename will grab cover art from Amazon, which is 300x300 or 500x500 for newer releases.

I think an MC plugin that grabs Amazon coverart would be cool.

LonWar · « **Reply #5 on:** November 23, 2005, 04:28:19 pm »

Quote from: Nolonemo on November 23, 2005, 03:55:48 pm

I use and love atagger, even sent alan a donation. But doesn't atagger get the cover art from allmusic.com? Aren't those images only 200x200 or so? Correct me if I'm wrong.

The latest Tag & Rename will grab cover art from Amazon, which is 300x300 or 500x500 for newer releases.

I think an MC plugin that grabs Amazon coverart would be cool.

King Sparta used to have a plugin that got this from multiple sources.... Wonder if it's still around.

Myron · « **Reply #6 on:** November 23, 2005, 04:52:02 pm »

Quote from: Nolonemo on November 23, 2005, 03:55:48 pm

I use and love atagger, even sent alan a donation. But doesn't atagger get the cover art from allmusic.com? Aren't those images only 200x200 or so? Correct me if I'm wrong.

The latest Tag & Rename will grab cover art from Amazon, which is 300x300 or 500x500 for newer releases.

I think an MC plugin that grabs Amazon coverart would be cool.

Allmusic art does come in quite small files. I usually grab art from Amazon manually, since it's usually a higher rez image.

Having an automated way to do this would indeed be cool, expecially if it let you select the highest quality image.

KingSparta · « **Reply #7 on:** November 23, 2005, 05:10:24 pm »

Quote

King Sparta used to have a plug-in that got this from multiple sources.... Wonder if it's still around.

No, It Stopped Working Most likely Due To Web Site Changes

The Way I Was Getting Art Was Very Low Tech Using There Search Engine And Then Hunting And Pecking The Resulting Html Page.

It did get Art From Amazon.Com, Amazon.de And WalMart.Com

KingSparta · « **Reply #8 on:** November 23, 2005, 05:50:06 pm »

Something that may help

Create Web Page: C:\scripts\AmazonSearch.html

Quote

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title>Amazon Search</title>
</head>
<script language="JavaScript">
var searchURL = new String("http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/external-search/mode=blended&keyword=");
var w = window.external.menuArguments;
var d = w.document;
var s = d.selection;
var r = s.createRange( );
var term = new String(r.text);
window.open(searchURL + term);
</script>
<body>
</body>
</html>

Create A File Called: Register.reg

Quote

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MenuExt\[Search Amazon]]

@="c:\\scripts\\AmazonSearch.html"
"contexts"=dword:00000010

Run Register.reg

It will register this script

then start up IE, display a web page highlight a word on that page, right click on it, you should see "Search Amazon" in IE click on it

I Actually Have Two Stores That Use Amazon

www.2thumbsupmall.com And www.favoritetvshowhits.com

Fabrice · « **Reply #9 on:** November 25, 2005, 03:10:11 pm »

Actually, the 2 great things about the Kingsparta plug in were (1) the manual selection of the art which could dig up different covers for the same album and especially the option to look at European and US cover sources, and (2) the integration within MC...

I will look into the Tag & Rename suggestion above

KingSparta · « **Reply #10 on:** November 25, 2005, 05:21:29 pm »

Quote from: fl01uk on November 25, 2005, 03:10:11 pm

Actually, the 2 great things about the Kingsparta plug in were (1) the manual selection of the art which could dig up different covers for the same album and especially the option to look at European and US cover sources, and (2) the integration within MC...

I will look into the Tag & Rename suggestion above

That Plug-In Got The Information From My Server Not Amazon. I Still Have It Here And It Still Works.

I took It Down because It sometimes would lockup (for about 10 mins) and prople thought it was media center 11 that caused the problem.

I will work on it a bit soon.

Mr ChriZ · « **Reply #11 on:** November 26, 2005, 04:21:18 am »

Quote from: KingSparta on November 25, 2005, 05:21:29 pm

That Plug-In Got The Information From My Server Not Amazon. I Still Have It Here And It Still Works.

I took It Down because It sometimes would lockup (for about 10 mins) and prople thought it was media center 11 that caused the problem.

I will work on it a bit soon.

Out of curiosity, where did your server get them from? or is that a trade secret

KingSparta · « **Reply #12 on:** November 26, 2005, 05:58:23 am »

Well after i thought about it there is one part that does get it from amazon.

the rest of the images came from other users who used it. the plaug-in not only sends images to the user, but also takes from the user any images they may have.

i need to go to work, but i do plan to work on it today and tomorrow when i get back and fix a few things in it and re-post it to my site.

KingSparta · « **Reply #13 on:** November 26, 2005, 10:02:53 am »

I Got A Headache Looking At The Code It Looks Like A Pile Of Spaghetti

KingSparta · « **Reply #14 on:** November 27, 2005, 04:16:01 pm »

FYI: i did start working on a new version from the gound up

It uploads images not already on the server at this point with a new FTP Control From Chilkat Software

http://www.chilkatsoft.com/products.asp

broncodan · « **Reply #15 on:** November 28, 2005, 03:25:13 pm »

King - Awesome! Any idea when the new one will be ready?

Fabrice · « **Reply #16 on:** November 28, 2005, 04:59:35 pm »

Absolutely fantastic! looking forward to try out!

KingSparta · « **Reply #17 on:** November 28, 2005, 06:38:05 pm »

Well Today I Got It To Download, Along With A Size Of Art Your Looking for.

also it reads the New MC settings for where the art is stored so it will save just like mc settings are in the cover art folder, as folder.jpg, and next to media file as artist - album.jpg etc...

what i need to do is add view all images

and add a search and drop (maybe better) than i had it working before in the old version.

thru some testing the ftp control is a lot better 2 seconds per image on my cable connection.

maybe i may have something ready by the end of the week end for someone to play with.

there is currently no images on the server however and they would need to be uploaded by users\beta testers.

When Going Thru The Code I Found Out The MC Is Not Creating A Cover Art Folder Like It Use To Do, So What The Plug-In Will Do Is Get The MC Cover art Path, And Then Make Sure It Is Created When The Plug-in Starts Up. I Am Not Sure If This Is A Bug In MC Or They Just Oped Not To Create The Folder Until MC Tries To Put Something In It, And At That Point It Could Create The Folder. I Have Not Tested That Yet, but I Figured I Would Just Make Sure.

KingSparta · « **Reply #18 on:** November 29, 2005, 06:24:37 pm »

Today I Got The List All Images To Work, And Found Out Something.

It seems MC stores images into the ID3 tags in the orginal format so i can not assume the type of file is JPG, so when i export the images out of MC i must check the image format.

at any rate it works and will display all images in a folder on a web page.

next is a search for amazon images, and drag and drop save from the pages

i think thats about it.

LonWar · « **Reply #19 on:** November 29, 2005, 08:16:26 pm »

Hey King...

Anyway to allow a user to specify size? ie 200x200

Thanks

KingSparta · « **Reply #20 on:** November 29, 2005, 09:10:49 pm »

well there could be, but that would require for them to be downloaded.

KingSparta · « **Reply #21 on:** December 04, 2005, 02:20:10 pm »

I Am Going To be Looking For Beta Test Victims Soon

I Just Demoed It For My Wife And She Said Cool So I Guess It Is Ready.

Anyone Want To Play With It (You Must Have Lots Of Art) Since There Is No Art On The Server.

lOth · « **Reply #22 on:** December 04, 2005, 03:13:49 pm »

Got the art, got the courage and will to test.

KingSparta · « **Reply #23 on:** December 04, 2005, 04:07:24 pm »

I Just Hooked It Up To My Online Store, Where It Will Search For Cover Art. It Has All The Cover Art Amazon.Com Does And you Can Drag And Drop Images Into A Drop Bucket To Save The Images To Your Media File And The Cover Art Server.

It Has A Option To Show You All The Art For That Artist, Album, And Song That Is On the Server In Manual Mode. On A Web Page So You Can Easily Compare Them. And Then Drag The Images To A Drop Bucket To Save It To Your Media File.

You Can Also Delete Images From The Server

You Can Tell it What Sizes Of Art You Want (In Kilobytes)

Some Images Of The Plug-in Can Be Found Here: http://www.spartasoftware.com/MC-Plugins/index.html

Still Working On The Help Pages, And Creating A Build With All Needed Support Files. Should Be Ready Soon If I Can Find The Time In The Next Few Days.

Tonight I Am Going To Run A Full Batch Test On 24,000+ Files.

dcwebman · « **Reply #24 on:** December 05, 2005, 10:19:57 am »

Quote from: KingSparta on December 04, 2005, 02:20:10 pm

Anyone Want To Play With It (You Must Have Lots Of Art) Since There Is No Art On The Server.

Just curious. What happened to all the cover art we provided to your plug-in last time?

KingSparta · « **Reply #25 on:** December 05, 2005, 11:30:00 am »

well it is saved a bit difrently and got mixed with other images and data. i have since lerned that was a bad idea.

the test i am running so far has uploaded 24,000 images it is about 50% done

zxsix · « **Reply #26 on:** December 06, 2005, 11:15:06 am »

I have about 1200 album art images saved as folder.jpg.
I have about 6 albums that are missing art.
I'll have time tonight to test this if you make it available to me.
At the very least I can give back some covers for all the lyrics I've leached from you, lol.
I've downsized all mine to 200x200 though, so if that's a problem let me know.

KingSparta · « **Reply #27 on:** December 06, 2005, 11:43:53 am »

It Does Not Matter Of The Size, The Program Will Allow A User To Select Larger Or Smaller.

There Were Some Problems With The Current Version, I Made Some Modifycations And Will Be Re-starting A Batch Test. I Should Have Something Maybe this Weekend If All Works Ok Now.

broncodan · « **Reply #28 on:** December 06, 2005, 03:12:17 pm »

Hi King,

I would be willing - I have 35K+ albums - most of them have art - but due to your older plug-in I know that there are some that have the incorrect art - I think these are mostly albums that have multiple artists - which always seemed to slow the previous plugin down - I can exclude those or is does your program double check the validity against files on hand? - It would be cool if it did that - and it would also be cool - if a better image (i.e. size - quality) that it would subsitute the one on your server - I don't know how to tell - file size? Anyway let me know.

KingSparta · « **Reply #29 on:** December 06, 2005, 05:32:03 pm »

Quote

I can exclude those or is does your program double check the validity against files on hand? - It would be cool if it did that

There is really no way of doing that.

Quote

and it would also be cool - if a better image (i.e. size - quality) that it would substitute the one on your server - I don't know how to tell - file size?

Well it does but it is based on file size (bytes) not by width and height so if it compared 10 files and all were Jpg files and one was a larger file size the chances are that it will be larger or at least clearer.

KingSparta · « **Reply #30 on:** December 08, 2005, 01:23:56 pm »

If anyone wants to test this beta version the link is here

Let me know the following

1. Does it install
2. any problems with it
3. what needs to be added

Test it on a few test files first to make sure

there is only 75,000 images on the server so the more obscure the artist the less hits you will get. so if you have alot of covers let it upload them.

I used a program i bought today to make sure all the files that need to be in the install is in the install package.

http://www.spartasoftware.com/MC-Plugins/index.html

jgreen · « **Reply #31 on:** December 08, 2005, 01:55:17 pm »

Kingo--
I just tried this (briefly), and I like it a lot. Typical of SpartaSoftware, simple where it should be simple, and complex where it ought to be. Typically also, almost imposssible (for me) to find the "GO" button. Any objection to a big green "GO" button?

Great tools for analyzing cover candidates, but I never found the kb size listed with the picture while in your browser. Assuming these are all thumbnails (??), maybe a properties window that would list the numerical size?

I like the "select search level". If I click on "artist (looser)", does that mean that it will first search for album, then name, then artist, all in the same pass? Or do I need to make three passes? If so, maybe a batch function....

Great looking plugin. You are definitely the king, king.

KingSparta · « **Reply #32 on:** December 08, 2005, 02:10:28 pm »

Quote

but I never found the kb size listed with the picture while in your browser.

The File Name Is How Many Bytes Are In the File (So basically The More Bytes The Larger The Cover Art (In Most Cases)).

If you go in using manual mode and press The "Artist" button it will show all art for that artist. then if you press "view all art" it will download all of the art, then generate a web page and display the art. then you can just drag the art to the drop bar at the top and that art will be saved according to your MC 11 art saving settings in MC.

Quote

I like the "select search level". If I click on "artist (looser)", does that mean that it will first search for album, then name, then artist, all in the same pass? Or do I need to make three passes? If so, maybe a batch function....

Well basically "Yes"

Option1: Look At Album Only
Option2: Look At Album First, Then Song Name
Option3: Look At Album First, Then Song Name, Then All Art For That Artist

If You Have Art, The Program Will Check The Server For It, If It Has It It Will Not Upload It, If It Does Not Have It It Will Upload It To the Server Under Your Album Listing, then the Song Name, then The Artist.

If You Have Art and You Have Always Download Art Selected. It Will Upload Your Art First, Then It Will Look to See If There Is Art in the Sequence Of The Settings "Album", "Song name" And "Artist" If There Is Some Thing Larger Or Smaller (Depending On Your Settings) It Will Download The Larger Or Smaller Art. If The Image Is The Same It Will Not Download It Again.

It Would Not Be Wise To Select The Loose Settings And Select Always Download, Since That Will Get Anything That Is Larger From That Artist No Matter What. There Is An Option To Delete Art From The Server If You Find A "Mary Poppins" Cover Under "Beatles" (Hey it Happens).

You Are Getting Art What Others Have On There System In The Way They Have It. So Manual Mode Is Always the Best Way To Go.

jgreen · « **Reply #33 on:** December 08, 2005, 02:31:33 pm »

Alright, King--
So I'm doing a batch of loosest search. While the batch chugs away I open up the manual window and watch it do it's work choosing. Great. Only when it chooses a file it displays it for .0000001 ms and then defaults back to the "no art" screen. any way to get that pic to hold still until the next one in auto mode? That way I'd have an idea how it's going.

Secondly, and this may be really out there, is there any way to add a suffix in the file names you're creating, that would identify the file as the result of a tight, loose or looser search? That way you could periodically re-work your cover art to upgrade it globally.

KingSparta · « **Reply #34 on:** December 08, 2005, 02:35:44 pm »

Quote

So I'm doing a batch of loosest search. While the batch chugs away I open up the manual window and watch it do it's work choosing. Great. Only when it chooses a file it displays it for .0000001 ms and then defaults back to the "no art" screen.

Well It Only Displays The No Art When There Is No Art In The Currrent File it is working on. Since it is batch mode most people would not want to slow it down, since they would want it to finish in the lest amount of time.

Quote

Secondly, and this may be really out there, is there any way to add a suffix in the file names you're creating, that would identify the file as the result of a tight, loose or looser search?

It tells you where it is getting the art in the Event Log

Besides the art for "Artist", "Album" And "Song" are not mixed they are in folders of there own, and if you look at the event log you will see it in the path name.

jgreen · « **Reply #35 on:** December 08, 2005, 02:45:37 pm »

Okay, I have 2 tracks listed, one where I got the exact ablum, another where I got a hit on artist only. When I look at the "image file" column, both paths go into "cover art" and then according to "artist - album" of mine. But the second one I might want to upgrade, and the event log doesn't mean anything a year from now. Is there any way to configure either the lower path or the filename to include info on what kind of hit it was? The best would be "[filename] - Artist" or "[filename] - Album", so that I could search on that keyword.

I only sugget this because you've gotten a lot of requests from folks who are interested in upgrading cover art. This might make it even more powerful, although it's plenty powerful as it is. Good one, king!

KingSparta · « **Reply #36 on:** December 08, 2005, 05:48:10 pm »

the program searches on fields artist, artist & album, and artist & song name

it will not change unless there was a fingerprint id that I can not generate unless I spend about $5000 a month on (i asked a few companies that do finger printing) and that just will not happen.

I have asked J river and they are not willing to allow that information or access out the door since it is worth money and a trade secret.

so your stuck with filling out the fields properly per the CD label.

KingSparta · « **Reply #37 on:** December 09, 2005, 07:19:27 am »

I Am Guessing That The Project Is Installing Without Problems For All Users. There Has Been About 30 People That has Used The Plug-In But Only One Person Has Made Any Comments here.

Anyone Having A Problem?

bennyd · « **Reply #38 on:** December 09, 2005, 08:15:53 am »

No problem for me, working fine.

One question though: I have the following artist/album with the tags correctly filled in:

Artist : Enya
Album : Amarantine

It doesn't find the album art on your server, but if I surf to your server:
http://www.2thumbsupmall.com/

and search for the album, it does find it.

How come it doesn't find any coverart then for this album ?

jgreen · « **Reply #39 on:** December 09, 2005, 08:17:28 am »

Hey King--
Yes, it installs and runs great for me. Looks and feels like a finished product.

Regarding that $5,000 a month, maybe you could negotiate them down to something closer to $4,000 a month.

zxsix · « **Reply #40 on:** December 09, 2005, 09:27:59 am »

Ok. I let it run in batch mode last night. The event log says I received 2 and sent 7899.

I checked my folder.jpg files by date to see which ones it added or replaced.
Here's the results:

The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody had correct album art before.
The plugin incorrectly replaced it with The Everly Brothers - All Time Original Hits.

KingSparta · « **Reply #41 on:** December 09, 2005, 10:02:07 am »

Quote

The Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody had correct album art before.
The plugin incorrectly replaced it with The Everly Brothers - All Time Original Hits.

thanks for the art

you can go back in manual mode and get the correct one back.

what settings did you use?

it should not have replaced any art if you did not have the option "Always Get Art" checked and you already had art.

the plug-in gave you what another user had there art taged incorectly. it is the user not the plug-in, but like i said users can go in and clean up the database if they wish.

KingSparta · « **Reply #42 on:** December 09, 2005, 10:08:40 am »

Quote

How come it doesn't find any coverart then for this album ?

No Clue

Got A Copy Of The URL it Sent?

bennyd · « **Reply #43 on:** December 09, 2005, 11:24:38 am »

Quote from: KingSparta on December 09, 2005, 10:08:40 am

No Clue

Got A Copy Of The URL it Sent?

Connected...
Looking For: E/enya/Album/amarantine/*.*
DisConnected...

KingSparta · « **Reply #44 on:** December 09, 2005, 11:44:06 am »

thats to my Cover Art Server not to my 2thumbsupmall.com site

I will look into it however.

lukecro · « **Reply #45 on:** December 09, 2005, 06:59:47 pm »

I'm looking forward to trying out the Beta of your new Cover Art Finder, King Sparta... I just downloaded it....

I'm having some problems with the new versions of MC 11.1 suddenly not showing all of my cover art in the various view schemes (hundreds of images are showing up, but a lot just result in little red X's in the Display screen and no thumbnail in the regular views), so I'm hoping this plug-in will bring in images that are more MC friendly... But if not, I'm sure I'll figure out that problem later or a future MC will correct the bug.

(It's always a pleasure using your plug-ins, regardless. Like I've said before, you're plug-ins and advice on the forums are among the top reasons I keep paying for MC upgrades instead of just using iTunes or whatever. Of course, the fact that MC is a great, tweakable program doesn't hurt, either).

KingSparta · « **Reply #46 on:** December 09, 2005, 07:35:01 pm »

Not Sure Why You Would Be Seeing Red X's Mine Showed Up Fine With The New Betas.

Are They External Art?

If So Your Path To The Image Is Broken Or The Image Has Been Deleted This Could Happen If You Moved The Art Folder Path Or You Deleted Something You Should Not Have (I Did That Last Night With My Raid Drivers).

Fabrice · « **Reply #47 on:** December 11, 2005, 04:26:33 am »

well, I've been using the new plug in for a couple of days now.
First of all, I think that it is great overall. While it did not find any new covers for me yet, it did upload quite a few covers onto the site already.

I'm particularly keen on the manual search options.

I have made the following observations:
(1) overall speed: the batches run quite slowly in my case: maybe 10 seconds or more per song in my "playing now" directory. Looking at the log file tab, the PC seems to disconnect then reconnect between each query. I therefore ran my batches overnight. Is that normal?
(2) small comment: when I search for artwork on your web site, if it cannot find a match, it usually comes up with 238k hits instead of saying something like "sorry, no luck this time"
(3) window resizing: would it be possible to reduce the displayed size of your web page when searching on your site? It usually displays 2 albums side by side, but I have to scroll to see them both, which can get time consumming when you have to scroll down, then accross, then down again and so forth to look at a whole page.

Fantastic job!

KingSparta · « **Reply #48 on:** December 12, 2005, 06:12:58 pm »

Quote

the PC seems to disconnect then reconnect between each query. I therefore ran my batches overnight. Is that normal?

Yes, But I Am Going To Change It And Log-In Only Once In A Batch. Manual It Will Log-In And Then Out. It Only Takes About 2 Seconds For Me.

(2) Try It Now

(3) Try It Now

KingSparta · « **Reply #49 on:** December 14, 2005, 05:42:58 pm »

3.0.1 Added: Drag And Drop Delete
3.0.1 Changed: Batch Mode Does Not Log-In And Out Of The Server All the Time.
3.0.1 Added: If Some How The Program Gets Disconnected It Will Attempt To Re-Connect

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: Amazon Cover Art Plugin (Read 19075 times)