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[sluizer]

I.e. it is in the top left corner of the "Action Window > Tag" window.

You can also just right-click inside "Action Window > Tag" to open the menu.

OK, found it, thanks.

[sluizer]

I'm finding that I am confused about how the rewind button works. Sometimes it seems to do nothing when I press it. Sometimes it restarts the current song. Sometimes it restarts the previous song. Can anyone explain what's going on so it makes sense to me?

Also I am confused about what is supposed to happen when I grab the button on the play bar. Sometimes it allows me to change its location and sometimes it "snaps" back to where it was. Can anyone explain this?

Thanks.

[rick.ca]

I'm finding that I am confused about how the rewind button works.

That should behave according to the option setting for the "Previous button"...

1. Previous track always, or
2. CD player style.

Who knows what a "CD player" is?
Whatever, it seems to mean "restart track, or press twice to start to replay previous track."

Sometimes it allows me to change its location and sometimes it "snaps" back to where it was.

I've never seen that behaviour.

[Alex B]

I think the latter may happen if the next track is already prebuffering. The default prebuffer time is six seconds. Possibly also the set cross-fade time may affect the behavior.

[sluizer]

Open options (press Ctrl + O) and type sort into the search field in the top right of the options dialogue. You should see an option there called "Save changes on list header clicks", untick that option and press OK to save it. Now you can click column headers to sort temporarily, and use refresh to return a list to it's default (saved) sorting.

I haven't been able to find "refresh" anywhere. Where is it?  Thanks.

[Alex B]

View > Navigation > Refresh  (shortcut: F5)

[sluizer]

View > Navigation > Refresh  (shortcut: F5)

Thanks.

[sluizer]

When I click on the top of the MC window, I expect MC to "come to the front". It does that but it also maximizes, which I don't want. Is there some way to prevent this from happening?

This maximization also usually (maybe always, I'm not sure) happens when I "grab" the top of the window to try and move it.

Thanks.

[marko]

When I click on the top of the MC window, I expect MC to "come to the front". It does that but it also maximizes, which I don't want. Is there some way to prevent this from happening?

This maximization also usually (maybe always, I'm not sure) happens when I "grab" the top of the window to try and move it.

Thanks.

The 'maximization' you are describing is standard windows behaviour for a double-click on the title bar. Is your mouse playing up? I've had two Logitech mice in the past that began firing double clicks for single clicks. I bought a third, because I like them, but if this one goes the same way after 18-24 months, I will not buy another!

-marko.

[Alex B]

MC has also the "edge snapping" feature:

From the change log:

14.0.145 (02/15/2010)

1. NEW: Added Windows 7 snap-like functionality to the main application. (snaps to sides of displays, snaps to internal edges of multi-monitor systems, maximizes when snapping to top, works on any operating system)

[Alex B]

Actually, I just noticed that if MC is already touching the top of the screen (i.e. it is snapped, but not maximized) a single click on the title bar maximizes it.

[sluizer]

Actually, I just noticed that if MC is already touching the top of the screen (i.e. it is snapped, but not maximized) a single click on the title bar maximizes it.

Yes, this is the situation. I have it at the top of the screen so that I can arrange my windows so that a piece of the MC always is visible and can be grabbed.

It definitely is not the mouse, because when I grab other windows that are touching the top of the screen, this doesn't happen.

Anyway, is there some way to turn this feature off?

[Matt]

Coming in build 104 (and later):
Fixed: When near the edge of the screen, a click in the title bar area could cause a maximization of the program.

[sluizer]

Coming in build 104 (and later):
Fixed: When near the edge of the screen, a click in the title bar area could cause a maximization of the program.

OK, I just looked at Help > About Media Center and I'm guessing that the build number is the last number in 15.0.95 ... is that right?

[Matt]

OK, I just looked at Help > About Media Center and I'm guessing that the build number is the last number in 15.0.95 ... is that right?

Exactly.

Just check back on Interact occasionally for newer builds.  104 (or newer) should be available within a week.

Thanks.

[wombat66]

Sluizer, you might have known this already but here's something that "newbies who came from iTunes" should know.

Media Center works great with multiple displays. For instance (this is especially good for DJs) you can have one display (i.e. a notebook display) showing your Standard View and then you can "detach" the visualization (I like G-Force) in the action window and move it to a second display and watch it full screen. In my case, my second display is a 2000 lumen 1366x768 projector on a 100" screen. I know I know, I need to upgrade it to a full 1080p... I'm working on it.

[sluizer]

Exactly.

Just check back on Interact occasionally for newer builds.  104 (or newer) should be available within a week.

Thanks.

OK, I get to admit that I have no idea what Interact is or how to check it.

[sluizer]

Sluizer, you might have known this already but here's something that "newbies who came from iTunes" should know.

Media Center works great with multiple displays. For instance (this is especially good for DJs) you can have one display (i.e. a notebook display) showing your Standard View and then you can "detach" the visualization (I like G-Force) in the action window and move it to a second display and watch it full screen. In my case, my second display is a 2000 lumen 1366x768 projector on a 100" screen. I know I know, I need to upgrade it to a full 1080p... I'm working on it.

Thanks, I did know this because of something that another person posted. I'll be playing with it later.

[lepa]

OK, I get to admit that I have no idea what Interact is or how to check it.

INTERACT FORUM > General > Media Center 15 > Post reply ( Re: Guide for newbies who came from iTunes ) 
So yes the Interact is this forum

[sluizer]

Is there any way to get the display to "travel" when the length of what it's displaying is longer than its display area? (I'm not sure what the correct term is, but you see this on iTunes.)

[sluizer]

Is there any way to get the display to "travel" when the length of what it's displaying is longer than its display area? (I'm not sure what the correct term is, but you see this on iTunes.)

Anyone? I'd love to see all the information that I've asked for, not just what fits in the display area.

[sluizer]

Anyone? I'd love to see all the information that I've asked for, not just what fits in the display area.

I've noticed that sometimes this information travels and sometimes it doesn't. Is there any way to make sure that it always "travels"? Thanks.

[sluizer]

I've noticed that when I drag and drop a group of files from a directory (i.e., Windows Explorer) into a playlist in MC, the last file is listed first and then the rest are in the expected order. Why does this happen and is there some way that I could avoid it?

[glynor]

I've noticed this too.

I avoid it by not using Windows Explorer, but I'd be interested to know if someone has a solution.  I think it has to do with the way you highlight the files in Windows Explorer.  I think if you Shift-Select that it returns the object array with the "last item" in the Index 0 position, but I don't really know for sure.

[sluizer]

By accident, I figured out how to avoid this. Select the items in reverse order. So I select the last item, and then I use shift-select on the first item (to get the rest of them), and then they are in the proper order. Is that clear?

[sluizer]

On topic "DJ Use -- simultaneously playing and previewing" it says: "you can also open a second instance of MC and drag files from one MC instance to the Playing Now list in another MC instance. (You must enable the "Allow Multiple Instances" option to do this.)"

I have enabled that option, but when I try and open a second instance of MC I get the following message: "this database will be opened in read-only mode. Any changes will be lost when the program exits." Is this the correct behavior?

[sluizer]

Another question: is there an option that will warn you if you try to add a duplicate item to a playlist? Thanks.

[dcwebman]

Another question: is there an option that will warn you if you try to add a duplicate item to a playlist? Thanks.

I'm not sure of the warning but if you right click on Playing Now, there's the Remove Duplicates from Playing Now option.

[smithy57]

I have downloaded the test version of MC.

I am a long term heavy user of itunes and have reached (some time ago, actually) the point where itunes cannot handle my library adequately. Presently I have 325gb and 66,000 songs, with 10,000 or so ready to add. I am very particular in regard to -

* tagging of artists, track titles, genres, composers, year of release for consistency and accuracy.
* applying individual artwork to tracks eg if a track came out on vinyl, I like to have the label art from the 45 on that track, not the art from the greatest hits CD from which it came.
* rating of each track - because my 160gb ipod can't accommodate all my music, I only load it with 4 & 5 star-rated songs.
* All my songs are mp3s, in one library. No videos, podcasts, photos.

So I've been having a little look at MC tonight, a little bewildered, but certainly impressed so far.

A couple of quick questions -

MC's first scan of a (separate) library appeared to pick up all 2500 tracks and the artwork, but didn't pick up the ratings, which are critical for me. How can I do this? Do I have to work with .xml files (I'm not too experienced with that sort of stuff!)?

I haven't got round to reading the interact posts, but does MC interact with the ipod? ie can I leave itunes alone for good?

On first listen, 60s/70s oldies seem to SOUND better on MC, a cleaner, truer sort of sound. Am I imagining this?

kind regards,

smithy in sydney

[JimH]

Welcome to the forum.  For the best in sound quality, try the instructions here:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Audio_Output_Modes

MC will support older iPods, but not the iPhone and Touch.  Read about the iPhone playlist sync in the MC15 Features thread near the top of the MC15 board.

[smithy57]

me, again.

I've noticed that "year" and "composer" information only seemed to be picked up sporadically.

thanks.

[Duncan]

iTunes doesn't have a separate "playing now" list, which is a fundamental difference to MC. When I use iTunes I am always a bit lost because I can't simply play a track and then add any new tracks from other playlists to the playback queue without creating a dedicated playlist for that.

In MC you have various ways to view, search and filter your media database, various ways to create static playlists or rule based automatic playlists, and in addition at least one Playing Now list that is the actual playback queue. (You can have more than one active PN list if you use the Zones feature. For example, one zone can play to the internal sound card, one can play to a USB sound device, one can play to another computer or device through network, etc.)

Here is a screenshot of Playing Now (it's from MC14 and some things may have changed since I created it):


Click to enlarge.


In the active tab I have Playing Now that shows the queued songs and in the background tab I have a library view. I can quickly switch between the tabs to switch from my media library to the playback queue and back. I have also added several shortcut buttons to the top toolbar. The Back, Forward and Playing Now buttons are very useful for navigation. (Right-click the toolbar area to access its options.)

The skin in this screenshot is Mr ChriZ's "Second Stage": http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=46922


If you have further "iTunes vs MC" questions please post them in this thread so that others can find the questions and answers easily.

It would be good to merge this thread with your "guides for newbies who are used to iTunes" thread: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=59208

Perhaps an administrator could combine the threads.

EDIT

The threads are combined now.

Whilst a great deal easier to use then iTunes, there is one thing I miss and cannot get around. I use Media Centre 14 to sync my music to my ipod classic, and this works great. The problem I do experience however is when syncing compilation albums, the album is no were to be found when browsing by Artists, which is a huge pain. I am sorry to rewake this dead thread as such, but as I saw your screen shot including a Multiple Artists album, I thought despite being a long shot you may have a smart idea to get around this? Im sorry but this is quite an irritant, and i cant find a solution myself. Thanks