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[mountainfair]

Has anyone explored creating a set of dj controls for MC that include two now playing lists and a crossfader?  Is this possible as a plugin?  For a future release?

This is one of those features that would help keep MC out in front of the rest, IMHO.

Admins- if this is possible as a plugin and this post is more appropriate there, please move this post or let me know and I will post there.

[jgreen]

You're coming up with a lot of interesting suggestions. 

How would you use dual PN and is there a player out there that currrently does this?  I think I kind of get it, organizationally, at least.  But why would you want to fade between them, rather than just stack up one long PN?

Can I throw the idea of tabs into this?  At least for MC's Alternate Zones, which I'm guessing you've already looked at and don't think go far enough.

[runemail]

Why two playlists? If you want to use MC in a casual DJ set you would want cue-points or something similar.
A way to set cuepoints in tracks would be nice to create even smoother playlists.

MC can never compete with good dj-software.

I have been using traktor for several years, and i still wish there was a easy way to send tracks and playlists from MC to traktor.

 

[mountainfair]

Well,

this topic has been enlightening. 

I have been experimenting with zones, and we will see how it goes.  Just the sort of thing I was hoping to discover as a result of bringing up the subject.

I have also been playing with the traktor demo - thanks for the tip.  Very fun, very complicated - looks like it'll be a while before I become proficient.  Would help to be able to look over someones shoulder.

runemail - what kind of hardware are you using with traktor?  multiple soundcards I assume?  with a laptop? (meaning multiple external sound cards?).  Other custom hardware controls?   When you talk about easier way to send a playlist from MC to tractor, do you mean easier than the export/import routine, or are you talking about smart playlists?  Looking for drag and drop between the two?

So, maybe this sort of plug-in is not appropriate for MC - I quite ignorantly didnt know that the other software out there specific to DJing was so far beyond MC.  Probably should have guessed though.

Ill see what I can do with the zones.  Most of what I thought you would do with the two PN lists and crossfader was preview one while the other was playing, perhaps beatmatch them for the transition, and you could play with overlapping beatmached tracks/mp3 samples. 

Is there other software that people are using for this that is more appropriate (like traktor?).

Is this possible with existing features (is someone doing this with zones?)

There seem to be some clear hardware limitations - you cant preview a track while another is playing without either having a second soundcard or having both the playing and priview in mono (each using one channel on the soundcard).  For anyone that is familiar with digital DJing, I am sure that this is all very ignorant and obvious - please excuse my learning curve.  Hopefully others will learn something interesting as well.

[joelava]

Great news that you are considering this feature. PCDJ www.pcdj.com  is another popular product that will give insight into multi-channel, cue, crossfade, auto-beatmix features. I have reasearched these products for over 18mths If MC were to provide these types of features, you will attract an insane amount of DJ clients. I am a loyal MC user and this would allow me to finally ditch 90% of  my CD's!

[mobyfrag]

I really like this suggestion !!
I already made this suggestion besides.
Another example (famous) : VitualDJ : www.virtualdj.com

Nice day

[negopus]

Media Center has zones that allow simultaneous playback of different playlists, but the feature was never intended for DJ use. There is no support for fading or cueing. Each zone is a perfectly independent entity. It's a design choice.

For DJ use a single playlist is required, and tracks have to be sent alternatively to different decks for playback. There are also other DJ features that MC does not cover, such as cue point, beat detection and so on...

I think that a real DJ software is more appropriate for DJ use. DJ software, however, entirely lack the organizational power MC has, and have no way of integrating with MC (even Replay Gain is not recognized by DJ software). The DJ software I tested is very obtrusive. It pretends to write its own tags (with its own name) into audio files, and there is no way to disable that. This screws up the MC library. The only way to prevent it from writing into files is to use a read-only share. This is not a reliable solution. Playback from the DJ software becomes very stuttering, unsuitable for live use.

So far I see little chance of integration between Media Center and DJ software. But I hope to be wrong, as I enjoy DJ software for playback as much as Media Center for organization.

[joelava]

Two Things:

Short Term Use of MC for DJ: I set both main alt cntls for cross fade/smooth / 7 seconds and can run 60% of my songs for a gig off of MC. It is awesome for that 60%. The 40% that is a struggle comes in the need to preview a song (see if it's simply a good next song) or cue it for appropriate mix/beat. If MC could do this then they crush the DJ sw market because of what you mentioned earlier.....THERE IS NO PRODUCT BETTER THAN MC IN ORGANIZATION and CONTROL!

Long Term USe of MC for DJ: Simply find a way to integrated with external sounds cards (w/multiple channels) The other DJ products do this and leverage hardware like gigaport http://www.esi-pro.com/viewProduct.php?pid=12&page=1 

Maybe it's my ignorance relative to difficulty, but if MC can do this, they win in the DJ world

I have 60,000 songs (still small to many DJ's) and the other products really struggle to manage (especially search) on all the meta-data around songs

These DJ products cost $49 to $500 - so I'd pay a premium for MC to handle this.

[KingSparta]

DJ Controls and options have been brought up many times.

Nothing has ever came from it for the professional D.J.

I am not sure MC is the proper application to add DJ options too.

I do often wonder why JRiver does not expand there market since they are very good in putting a 1st class media application together.

01. Graphics Program To Edit, Draw And Enhance
02. Media Editor With Enhanced Editing
03. New App "DJ Media Center" "Media Center DJ" With Enhanced DJ Options.
04. YADB Released to 3rd Parties Thru a Set Of Dlls For Digital Fingerprinting. With Maybe A Cost To 3rd Parties For Cost Offset\Profit.

Somtimes I think Jim Really Likes That Green (I think was It) A 1946 Pickup truck Or that $500 brown rust bucket.

[hit_ny]

.....THERE IS NO PRODUCT BETTER THAN MC IN ORGANIZATION and CONTROL!

That's the thing that surprises me, its the only reason i use MC yet that makes up a fraction of what it can do.

I think it would be easier for pro DJ software to take these qualities and integrate them rather than expect it in the opposite direction.

[mobyfrag]

So, we are obliged to use 2 software in “parallel”!
Too bad.