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[sfreema1]

Hello All!

           Currently I use MC primarily in Theatre View on my TV. It works really well for me. I have all of the functionality needed to control MC mapped to a Firefly RF remote (using EventGhost) and have no real issues there either. What I would like to be able to do is assign a shortcut key to enable/disable cross-fading. The scenario is, when i have a super mix going with tons of music queued up, cross fading is needed because it keeps things flowing and makes things sound more like a radio and so on.

The reverse of that is playing an album (a good example would be Dark Side of the Moon) where you would not what songs overlapping. Having to go back to the main interface and disable this option is cumbersome. Is there a hotkey for this functionality? If not, what would be the best way to go about a workaround?

Any advice is really appreciated

Thanks!!

Stu

[JimH]

There is an "alternate playback" mode that can be set differently.  It's under Playback options in MC.

[Matt]

You can also configure multiple zones, each with their own settings.  You can quickly switch zones with Ctrl+T.

[skeeterfood]

If you can program buttons on the FireFly to issue commands, I think you could also do the following:
1) Set the Normal Playback Settings to Cross-Fade (Tools->Options->Playback->Audio)
2) Set the Alternate Mode Settings to Gapless (Tools->Options->Playback->Alternate Mode Settings)
3a) Map a button on the FireFly to issue the following command:
MC12.exe /MCC 10030, -1
OR
3b) Map 2 buttons one with MC12.exe /MCC 10030, 0 and one with MC12.exe /MCC 10030, 1

3a will toggle between the default and alternate playback modes each time you press the button.  3b will allow you to chose either mode depending on the button you push.

For more MCC commands see http://wiki.jrmediacenter.com/index.php/Media_Center_Core_Commands

-John

[skeeterfood]

You can also configure multiple zones, each with their own settings.  You can quickly switch zones with Ctrl+T.

But wouldn't you have to stop play in the cross-fade zone, then switch to the gapless zone reload your items to play and start playing again?  Seems like a lot of work from a remote...

-John

[richard.e.morton]

I've seen this suggested elsewhere, when going from one track to the next track on the same album - one setting is available (gapless playback)
When going between two tracks which are not on the same album, a completely different setting (cross-fade)

MC would automatically adjust to the context.

Any one else up for this?

Rich

[sfreema1]

Thanks everyone!

I went with "the second zone Ctrl+T mapping on the remote" option. It was the best solution for my needs and works like a champ.

Thanks!!

Stu

[sfreema1]

Looks like I spoke a bit too soon. The multi zone solution does work, but introduces a new level of complexity to the interface. Having to manage two libraries and two UI's in Theatre View is not worth the feature.

However, is this not something that could just have a hotkey assigned it? Do you think it would be a big development effort to use an unassigned key combo to toggle through this functionality? You wouldn't need to worry about setting the length of the fade, that would have to be implicitly set from the options menu. This hot key simply toggles the four options under switch tracks in the options/playback menu.

Its a really good option to have, and I can understand why it wouldn't have been given a hotkey, and in any view other than theatre view it wouldn't be an issue. But to effectively use theatre view you have to keep out of the other views as much as possible, and not being able to toggle gapless on/off makes you use the main view.


Thanks again!!

Stu

[skeeterfood]

Looks like there is a keyboard shortcut for toggle alternate playback settings Alt-M that works in TheaterView, so that is probably the easiest method.

Just set up your defaults for Cross-Fade and Alternate for Gap-less and use Alt-M to switch...

BTW, I'd love to see a way to add custom buttons to any TheaterView screen that can be configured to:
1) Issue MCC commands from a nice list
2) Run external commands

-John

[sfreema1]

This worked brilliantly. thanks all for your very helpful suggestions.

-stu

[skeeterfood]

Glad it worked!

I usually play randomized "radio" type mixes to appease the whole family, but for those times I'm checking out a new/favorite album this will be handy for me as well.

-John