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[lostvibrations]

Is there any way to have the audio view show all media types, not just audio? Currently I have it set up to organise audio via album artist (grouped alphabetically into letters), then year-album. The details window then shows the files with the file details. If I organise via folder path, then I can get it to show all media types, but this defeats the purpose of having all my music tagged and arranged via album artist.

How can I get it to arrange via album artist, but to show more than just the music files? Thanks!

[zxsix]

Have you tagged the non-audio files?  If you're grouping by year-album, then those files will need to be tagged the same way to be included.
Then, right-click > customize view.
Click on 'set rules for file display'.
Choose 'Media Type' for the field.  Check the boxes for all file types you want to see.
Close out of that window.
Uncheck the box for 'use parent scheme rules for file display'.
Click OK to save.

[lostvibrations]

Wow, given that I've almost 1TB of data, that would take a very long time!

[zxsix]

If they aren't tagged, then you can't expect them to get grouped with the other files, exept when focusing on the file location field.


If they are in the same folders as the audio files, and the folder structure contains the album name, you should be able to make short work of tagging using the Library Tools > Fill Properties From Filename.

[lostvibrations]

Thanks for the info. But that would still take a very long time!

Surely the "best" media management software should allow you to view audio and picture files together, while having the music arranged via artist? Isn't this a kind of basic request? I think most people would like to view their album art/sleeve while listening to the music. Come on JRiver! I thought I had a found music organising/playback software to stick with but it won't even let me do the basics!

[Alex B]

But that would still take a very long time!

Not necessarily if you select all image files and do all albums at the same time (assuming you have the artist and album names available in the folder structure). Though, you may need to handle the various artist albums separately depending on how you have organized them.

Surely the "best" media management software should allow you to view audio and picture files together, while having the music arranged via artist? Isn't this a kind of basic request? I think most people would like to view their album art/sleeve while listening to the music. Come on JRiver! I thought I had a found music organising/playback software to stick with but it won't even let me do the basics!

Why do you think this is "basics"? I'd say that standard "front" cover art is basics and MC handles it quite well.

Actually, I am not aware of other player programs that have similar features for creating all media views. Some can display more than the front cover in a visualization, but in MC you can actually read the liner notes when you pause the slide show and zoom in.

I hope we will get a visualization plugin that can automatically generate a slideshow in the future. It shouldn't be too difficult for the JRiver developers. They have created a lot more complex features. It is probably more a matter of priorities.

Until then one workaround is to right-click one of the album files in a list view or the album thumbnail in a thumbnail view and select Locate > On Disk (inside Media Center). It will open the file location inside MC and show all files. In there it is easy to select and play the files.

[zxsix]

Bottom line is if you create a view based around grouping by [album], then it's looking at tags.  If your image isn't tagged with that value, then you can expect that it won't be included along with the audio files, which are properly tagged.
You can't expect the software to make guesses.  If/then/else is computer logic.  If you don't fill in the album tag for the image files, then they will fall under "else" and not be shown.

if you don't tag the image files album field, and create a view based around grouping by file path, then you'll get everything in the folder regardless of the album tag.

You need to create a view based around how your media is configured and tagged.  Without some work on your part, you can't expect the "group by [album] to work out.

In summary, you'll either need to modify a viewscheme based around the file path field, or you'll need to tag some files in order to base it on the [album] field.

[lostvibrations]

Thanks again folks. How do I select all image files and do all albums at the same time, Alex B?

Another music organiser can store (and label) multiple album art per album, so you can flick through front cover, booklet scans, CD and rear cover. Would be nice to have this ability in JRiver. Maybe a virtual jewel CD case where you can flick through the artwork.

I know it is possible to "locate" the files, though this is not very intuitive, especially for friends who do not know the software.

I tried tagging some JPG files to see if they would show up in my album artist view (with rules for file display: ([Media Type]=[Audio] or [Media Type]=[Image]) ). I tagged the JPG files with the artist, album, year and genre info, though they still do not show up in my album artist view! I even tried restarting JRiver, but the image files aren't there.

Any thoughts?

[zxsix]

Here is the selection criteria for the viewscheme I use for tagging.  It displays all file types.  You should be able to put something together from this that applies to your situation.

Code: [Select]

[Media Type]=[Unknown],[Audio],[Data],[Image],[Playlist] [File Type]=[],[avi],[cue],[directory],[dvd],[ffp],[flac],[gif],[ifo],[jpg],[log],[m3u],[m3u8],[mp3],[mp4],[mpg],[nfo],[pls],[txt],[wmv],[-------------------------] ~sort=[Album]-d,[Album Artist (auto)],[Name],[Filename],[File Type],[Genre],[Filename (path)]

[lostvibrations]

Thanks zxsix, I imported that code into JRiver.

It seems to half-work. By that I mean that if I click on the root view (currently called "new library view"), then the file list shows tracks (apparently organised via folder structure) with all file types shown. However, if I click on an album artist under this new view, then the file list shows the audio files only.

Am I getting there?

[zxsix]

For images I only tag artist/album/genre
Here's a screenshot of my view that might help.  Notice the jog and log files are included below the audio tracks with each album grouping.

[Alex B]

Thanks again folks. How do I select all image files and do all albums at the same time, Alex B?

1. Select a view that shows the images you want to tag (you can create a new view or playlist or use the search to filter an existing view)

2. Select all files (Ctrl+A)

3. Use the Fill Properties From Filename tool (see the attached screenshot). You may want to fill the Album Artist field if you use it in your views and folder structure.

Log in to the forum if you can't see the attachment.

[lostvibrations]

Thanks - I guess there's no way round it; auto-tagging is probably the best way forward for me.

However, my files are organised in JRiver via album artist, then year-album. The auto-tagging based on the folder structure only fills in the album artist and album fields, as the year is not part of the folder structure. This means that the images are still displayed separately when browsing, according to the original year (usually date taken) assigned to the image. Do I have to go through all 1TB of album art and tag the year manually? I know I could change the JRiver view to exclude year but I like having this view.

The other thing; when the auto-tagging is wrong (not all folders are named correctly), then there does not seem to be an option for manually changing the "album artist" of the image file. Displaying "all tags" for an image file brings up artist, but not album artist.

Also - a lot of folders have a .nfo file with information about the album. In windows, you can set it to open these files with notepad (rather than the default system information, which doesn't work). In JRiver they show as files to be opened with system information; can JRiver also be set to open these with notepad, so they can be read?

[Alex B]

However, my files are organised in JRiver via album artist, then year-album. The auto-tagging based on the folder structure only fills in the album artist and album fields, as the year is not part of the folder structure. This means that the images are still displayed separately when browsing, according to the original year (usually date taken) assigned to the image. Do I have to go through all 1TB of album art and tag the year manually? I know I could change the JRiver view to exclude year but I like having this view.

This is tricky. The best workaround I can think of is to tag each year separately. For instance, if you have 80 different years (from 1930 to 2010) you would need to do "only" 80 operations instead of tagging each album separately. You can first tag the Artist (or Album Artist) and Album values and then use the search engine for finding each individual year and expanding the search results to full albums. See the attached screenshot.

The other thing; when the auto-tagging is wrong (not all folders are named correctly), then there does not seem to be an option for manually changing the "album artist" of the image file. Displaying "all tags" for an image file brings up artist, but not album artist.

Hmm... The Album Artist field may be disabled in views that show only Images, but it should be available in a view that can show also audio files. Another option would be to tag Artist and then simply copy the the Artist values to Album Artist with the Move/Copy Fields tool.

In addition to tagging in "Action Window > Tag" you could try adding the the Artist, Album Artist, and Album Artist (auto) columns to an ungrouped list view and tag directly in the view (it works like an Excel spreadsheet). The Album Artist (auto) field and its usage is eplained e.g. here: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=33255 . For selecting files in the list view you can use the right-click lasso (+ crtl key if you want to add to a selection) when that helps to select only certain file groups (MC has also left-click lasso. It can be enabled in Options > Tree & View > Advanced > Allow list lasso with left mouse button).

Also - a lot of folders have a .nfo file with information about the album. In windows, you can set it to open these files with notepad (rather than the default system information, which doesn't work). In JRiver they show as files to be opened with system information; can JRiver also be set to open these with notepad, so they can be read?

I think it would be possible to add .nfo by tweaking one of the configuration files, but it might be easier and more future proof to rename all .nfo files to -info.txt or similar. You could try Flexible Renamer: http://download.cnet.com/Flexible-Renamer/3000-2248_4-28799.html?tag=mncol

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[lostvibrations]

Many thanks for your thoughtful reply. I'm going to take a look at your suggestions and see what I can do. One thing I don't want to do is spend loads of time retagging, and I've been there & done that, and have less free time now than I used to!