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[tombert]

looks nice but sucks a gig memory out of my system ...
no further comment

[Matt]

The next public build dynamically switches texture resolutions like a game does and uses a lot less memory.

[kosiobg]

Make it like iTunes or similar.

[)p(]

Interesting, looks a lot like the 3d wheel view in my emulator frontend 3darcade.

Instead of the box model it might be fun to have different models, like cd jewel cases.

You could then create all kinds of interesting skins. Here is an example we did with diskettes for a Commodore c64 skin:



Here is a video how it works:
http://www.i-modernist.com/temp/c64.avi


By the way the caroussel did hang after a while rotating, but this was with a large library of 200 cd's.

peter

[newsposter]

is 3D browsing using OpenGL, DirextX/D3D, gtk+ or???

[hit_ny]

Big companies tried this 10 yrs ago, feeling it to be the final frontier.

Given that in 2008, the majority of us still uses a 2D browsing environment..

..my guess is not much came of it.

[Matt]

Big companies tried this 10 yrs ago, feeling it to be the final frontier.

Given that in 2008, the majority of us still uses a 2D browsing environment..

..my guess is not much came of it.

Let's keep the party going.

[AoXoMoXoA]

Let's keep the party going.

Yes, let's.
I think it only fitting to use the opportunity provided by the power of modern computing to create a 3d virtual world such as a record shop, library, fantasy world, etc to browse. This can go well beyond the manual sorting through physical record albums or CD cases which PC audio has replaced for many of us, creating a richer experience in many ways. It is limited only by one's imagination.  Whether it has 'caught on' prior is of little matter to me.
Keep up the great work. JRiver ROCKS!

[Mr ChriZ]

The trouble lies that 99% of us are still using 2D VDU's!

[benn600]

That's really a good way for MC to innovate and surpass the competition.  Create a theater view skin that is fully 3D with things flying all over the place.

[park]

It looks like it will be nice as a new view method in theater view.
It could be powerful if it were combined with the panes (or other kinds of filters). But if not, then it would be as pretty, and as useless as itunes cover flow.

[idea]
One way you could combine the filtering with the view method could be to have the albums grouped in (artist) bubbles. Those bubbles could in turn be grouped in (genre) bubbles and each genre could be spread out in space. You could just look left and right  up and down to see the bubbles and then press enter to zoom in on one. (I'm thinking of the way mario moves through space between planets in super mario galaxy)
[/idea]

[moan]
Either way, I'd still prefer the current view methods to be perfected before starting any new ones. Switching between list styles jumps you all around the list, making quick switches between albums and that album's songs a distant dream. Also, the lack of grouping sorting means that when you switch between album thumbnails and details (grouped) you have to scroll all through the list to find the album you were looking at. The thumbnail slider behaves in a similar way with images, not zooming in on selections, making you scratch your head about where the image you wanted to see went.

I dont mean to be negative, but rather than introducing new view styles at the end of a software version, how about focusing on the user experience "as a whole", and working to unify it so that it is as comfortable as possible to flick between view styles/ panes/ library view etc. This means not having to start the browsing experience anew each time you switch a view style. It means you should be looking at the same files as you were before.
[/moan]

[neFAST]

I tried that carousel view but it completely slows down my computer! It's totally unusable. (PIV 3Ghz - Radeon 9600XT - 2000 albums)

[newsposter]

with everyone and their brothers trying to 'patent' 3D and 'multitouch' interfaces, it's a pretty big bandwagon to be jumping onto at this point.

That's why I ask about things like OpenGL and gtk+.  There are some interesting (and free) 3D interfaces that run in those environments.

[)p(]

I tried that carousel view but it completely slows down my computer! It's totally unusable. (PIV 3Ghz - Radeon 9600XT - 2000 albums)

Yeah I made a mistake above, not 200 but 2000 albums here and it totally locked up the pc for a while.

peter

[)p(]

Big companies tried this 10 yrs ago, feeling it to be the final frontier.

Given that in 2008, the majority of us still uses a 2D browsing environment..

..my guess is not much came of it.

Although I wrote something similar, see above, I tend to agree. If you want to select something efficiently from a large database these kind of 3d views are really not very functional. Or at least I have not seen one yet. They can be useful with smaller lists. And the fun factor may outweigh their functional limitations in some cases. But to be honest, I also really don't see the point in either the standard view or theater view for an app like mc.

peter

[newsposter]

the 'problem' is that generally speaking, the human brain is very good at extrapolating a 3D 'view' from stereoscopic (two eyes) vision.  Most of us do it without too much trouble, most of us are good at it and can get to be very good with some simple exercises.  Not only are we as humans good at 3D, we do it in the space of just a few cubic inches, namely the size of our brains.

Have a look at useful 3D imagers, they take up quite a bit of real estate in 3 dimensions.  Not too many of us want to dedicate that kind of space on our desktops (or the living room) and still have to think about where/how to drag and drop selections.

Until affordable technology gets better than what our brains can put together, 3D viewing is going to be limited to very large scale stuff like geologic and medical imaging and things like air traffic control.

[brossmac]

I like that JR is taking a stab at this.  I'm a TOTALLY visual person and one of the most important aspects of MC to me is the ability to really browse my albums visually in a simple and intuitive manner.  I haven't found another player that comes close to this.

I love the iTunes/iPhone cover flow view (but that's about all I love about iTunes...).  It's simple and straightforward, especially on the iPhone where you can flip the cover over and get the songlist on the back.  There's a plugin for Songbird that does this as well.

One suggestion for the current Carousel view is to have the album at the front of the carousel actually take up more of the interface.  To me it seems scrunched down at the bottom of the view.  The center of the display is the infinite line of cubes curving at the horizon.  Make the albums more prominent at front and center.

Also, the spinning is kind of cool visually, but it's confusing from an interface perspective.  While there are some albums I know well enough to recognize visually while they're spinning in three dimensions, a lot of albums don't register instantly, making the browsing awkward.

I like the "bubbles" idea mentioned above.  The trick to making something like this work is to come up with a metaphor that makes the interface hang together in a coherent way.  Maybe you should expand the "stacks" idea in a more 3-dimensional way....

Also, I agree that something like this is truly useful when you can filter it so you don't have to go through your whole library.  I use my genre fields ALL the time.  Being able to skim through my jazz, new wave, ambient, etc. would be fan-bloody-tastic!

Keep up the great work.!

[AoXoMoXoA]

Every time I use the Carosel feature I find myself wishing it was speed-adjustable, and that
there was an outer ring around the covers showing the first letter of the album-artist's name so I know where I am in my collection.

[JimH]

I've removed some off topic posts.