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[locust]

Would be cool if possible though.... Probably require immense fore planning to do, and some development within J River, perhaps a colour system like you said, with moods & colours actually built into the software...

I think to do that moods would have to behave a bit like tracks.. I mean like the Genre/Style setup, All moods would have a baseline mood e.g. sad, happy etc. and others could stem away.. I think for happy, the baseline colour would be the darkest colour and gradually getting brighter the more you stem away. I think the opposite of that would work best for the baseline of sad, i.e starting as a fairly bright colour, then the more you branch away from sad the sadder it gets and thus requiring a darker shade..

Yeah play doctor would be great like that... Maybe in the future MC could offer councelling,because it could know if a user were listening to sad songs excessively lol...

Hey you never know.. The goverments might recruit you J River, it's allready happened to the hairdressers in Japan
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8100441/Hairdressers-recruited-to-tackle-Japans-soaring-suicide-rates.html

Nothing is impossible lol 

Potentially, MC could know more about someone because of the music they are listening to than a hairdresser ever could..

[locust]

Hi Rick

Quote from: vagskal on November 11, 2011, 05:40:07 pm
Clever! And I see you took a course at the same graphic arts school as Brian.

Critics! Perhaps, but *I* passed. But that's no excuse for my sloppy work. I've revised my colours, using a colour wheel to select triads for the base colours of the three items. Still, not much can be done about clashes that still may occur because each of the three varies. But I hope you're happy now.

I admit I'm not that artistic lol... I definitely didn't pass on the artwork

Could you please post the updated code for you're much nicer colours?

I've already changed mine according to your code blow, the Album Artist is far too dark to read, the Album looks good

Code:
<font color="20Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, If(Compare([a.Bitrate], >, 320), 15, Math(([a.Bitrate]) / 25)), 1)F80">>[Artist]<//b><//font>
<font color="4060Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, Math(([Year] -1932) / 5), 1)F">[Released] >[Album]<//i><//font>
<font color="Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, Math([a.Rating] * 4 - 5), 1)F2040">>[a.Rating.x]<//b><//font>

Is it just the numbers in front of mid I should change?? The "20" & "4060"? I like your colours but I still think an album rated 5, should have gold stars, "FFD700".

Maybe 5=Gold, 4=Silver, 3=Bronze.. Precious metals lower than that look kind of silvery anyway maybe precious stones for a rating 2 & 1... I don't know how that would ultimately look, but for a definite 5 stars should be gold.

I think the fade out approach you've gone for would look cool for the precious metals. I imagine it would be quite hard to do that fade out effect you've done but with differing colours..

I've got a Flag: Artist field that is relational to the Artist, which can have the value of favourite artist in it.. In the image below you'll see that the first entry is a favourite artist because the album artist name appears between little golden musical notes  ...

[locust]

Hey I've done something else you might be interested in

I've got my Flag: Artist field that is relational to artist..

Here is the code for my grouping field
|| Replace([Album Artist], ;,/ & ) || [Album] || [Year] || Mid(★★★★★,0,[{Album Rating}])If(IsEqual(Right([{Album Rating}],2),.5),☆,) if(isequal([{Flag: Artist}],Favourite Artist,8),  || Favourite Artist ||,if(isequal([{Flag: Artist}],Don't Like,8),  || Don't Like Artist ||,))

Not that I don't like the marked artist, this is just for illustration purposes..

You could do all sorts of things if you have flags for other purposes i.e. Ripped from disc or music for car etc.

[rick.ca]

Could you please post the updated code for you're much nicer colours?

Code: [Select]

<b>
<font color="33Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, If(Compare([a.Bitrate], >, 320), 15, Math(([a.Bitrate]) / 25)), 1)F99">[Artist]<//font>
<font color="9933Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, Math(([Year] -1932) / 5), 1)F"><i>[Album]<//i> /([Released]/)<//font>
<font color="Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, Math([a.Rating] * 4 - 5), 1)F9933">[a.Rating.x]<//font>
<//b>
As mentioned, I simply picked a "triad" (colours separated 120 degrees around the colour wheel) to reduce nausea.

I think the fade out approach you've gone for would look cool for the precious metals. I imagine it would be quite hard to do that fade out effect you've done but with differing colours.

It would be easy enough to set a different colour for every rating. What needs to be varied after doing that? I think the result would be too "busy," however. I prefer varying one shade. Even that's a bit much.

I've got a Flag: Artist field that is relational to the Artist, which can have the value of favourite artist in it.. In the image below you'll see that the first entry is a favourite artist because the album artist name appears between little golden musical notes

I generally find it easier to delete the music I don't like. Or if it must be there for some reason (e.g., "historical significance"), rate it one star and hide those using Access Control.

[locust]

So is it just the parts in bold that I'd change to get different colours?

<font color="33Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, If(Compare([a.Bitrate], >, 320), 15, Math(([a.Bitrate]) / 25)), 1)F99">[Artist]<//font>
<font color="9933Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, Math(([Year] -1932) / 5), 1)F">>[Album]<//i> /([Released]/)<//font>
<font color="Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, Math([a.Rating] * 4 - 5), 1)F9933">[a.Rating.x]<//font>
<//b>

Think I'll have to settle for one colour especially if I want to optimise my library now, shame to go to all this trouble and having it act sluggish, well it took about 6 months of basically constant work to get to this stage & I am
. I've nearly got all my music tagged perfectly, just combing over some of it and fixing it.. It should be easy from there then on in.. I still haven't tried scraping metadata from allmusic, I figured I tagged most of it manually might as well finish it that way. May try that when I've got new music combing in.. Feel like I've got carpel tunnel now, bit on an insomniac as well lol 5:29 need to sleep. Need to backup the library now, what programs if any do you use to backup your library??

Can J River backup it's own library, using date created & modified etc (Can't wrap my head round it now, need to think about it later..)

I agree about deleting music you don't like, I was just using that as an example, I don't know what I'll use that for bar else for Favourite Artists, I can't use it for the car one, I can't drive lol...

Thanks for the help Rick

[MrC]

You might try replacing your expression segment:

   If(Compare([a.Bitrate], >, 320), 15, Math(([a.Bitrate]) / 25))

with the faster:

   math(min([a.Bitrate] / 25, 15))

This reduces two function calls (the If() and Compare() calls) and places everything in the math() function.  It does the same thing essentially (there's a minor sliding of the colors).

To answer your question about which parts to change to change colors, the colors are a triad of RGB values, specified as RRGGBB where.  Each RR GG and BB value ranges from 0 to 255, but they must be specified in hexadecimal, so that's 00 to FF.

So, your expression (with my change above) would look like:

<font color="33Mid(0123456789ABCDEF,      Math(min([a.Bitrate] / 25, 15)), 1)F99">[Artist]<//font>
<font color="9933Mid(0123456789ABCDEF,  Math(([Year] -1932) / 5),           1)F">[Album]<//i> /([Released]/)<//font>
<font color="Mid(0123456789ABCDEF,         Math([a.Rating] * 4 - 5),            1)F9933">[a.Rating.x]<//font>
<//b>

where I've color-coded the RGB components.

[MrC]

I wonder, performance-wise, how a color look-up table field of type list, containing 256 entries and using Listitem() might work out?

Not sure what this means, but it sounds like something we might need for setting colours based on moods.

The idea is this:

Create a Library Field, called CLUT (color look up table), which is an expression field of type list, containing the values:

Code: [Select]

00;01;02;03;04;05;06;07;08;09;0a;0b;0c;0d;0e;0f;10;11;12;13;14;15;16;17;18;19;1a;1b;1c;1d;1e;1f;20;21;22;23;24;25;26;27;28;29;2a;2b;2c;2d;2e;2f;30;31;32;33;34;35;36;37;38;39;3a;3b;3c;3d;3e;3f;40;41;42;43;44;45;46;47;48;49;4a;4b;4c;4d;4e;4f;50;51;52;53;54;55;56;57;58;59;5a;5b;5c;5d;5e;5f;60;61;62;63;64;65;66;67;68;69;6a;6b;6c;6d;6e;6f;70;71;72;73;74;75;76;77;78;79;7a;7b;7c;7d;7e;7f;80;81;82;83;84;85;86;87;88;89;8a;8b;8c;8d;8e;8f;90;91;92;93;94;95;96;97;98;99;9a;9b;9c;9d;9e;9f;a0;a1;a2;a3;a4;a5;a6;a7;a8;a9;aa;ab;ac;ad;ae;af;b0;b1;b2;b3;b4;b5;b6;b7;b8;b9;ba;bb;bc;bd;be;bf;c0;c1;c2;c3;c4;c5;c6;c7;c8;c9;ca;cb;cc;cd;ce;cf;d0;d1;d2;d3;d4;d5;d6;d7;d8;d9;da;db;dc;dd;de;df;e0;e1;e2;e3;e4;e5;e6;e7;e8;e9;ea;eb;ec;ed;ee;ef;f0;f1;f2;f3;f4;f5;f6;f7;f8;f9;fa;fb;fc;fd;fe;ff
Then, you can use ListItem([CLUT], decimal_index) to get a 0 to 255 value in hex.  If you only require 16 values in some case, just limit your value ranges from 0 to 15.

In the post above, I indicate how you can use the min (or max) function in math() to ensure staying within bounds.

[rick.ca]

So is it just the parts in bold that I'd change to get different colours?

The six-digit code consists of three hexadecimal pairs, each pair representing one of 256 shades of the primary colours red, green and blue. What I've done is used a function to set just one of those pairs, while leaving the other two colours constant. The simplest scheme would be to just vary a primary colour (i.e., use a function to set it in the range '00' to 'FF') and leave the other two colours set to '00'. Instead of '00', I'm using '99' and '33' for the other two colours. In other words my colours are something like orange, turquoise, and purple, rather than red, green and blue—not primary, but still a triad.

Think I'll have to settle for one colour especially if I want to optimise my library now, shame to go to all this trouble and having it act sluggish...

I'm not sure, but it seems to me any sluggishness is more likely caused by expressions that determine what files are displayed. Captions are only rendered when displayed. A bigger issue is probably creating a tacky monster that becomes impossible to tame.

Can J River backup it's own library, using date created & modified etc

MC automatically backs up the library. I'm not sure how the frequency is determined, but it seems to be every few days. Search Options for "backup" to find their location. If you haven't changed the default and have no form of system backup, you may want to change the location to a partition or drive different than that of the active library.

[rick.ca]

You might try replacing your expression segment...

Thanks. I should send you my library for optimization. It's full of sloppy code like this—that reflects the way I normally plod through things on my way to solution. By the time something works, I'm afraid to mess with it.

Create a Library Field, called CLUT (color look up table)...

Interesting. Do you think this would be faster than my direct calculation approach? Although I was quite proud of that, all this is a bit tongue-in-cheek. Even for a variable that could be mapped to 256 colours, I doubt I'd see more than 16 anyway. If I could see the difference, it would unlikely have any practical significance. In other words, even if I wanted to see BPM as a colour, I'd probably prefer 16 be used than 256. And then there's the whole issue of using the full power of the program and the computer to create something very ugly...

[locust]

Ok I get it know, wish me luck on finding some nice colours I know I'll need it with my artistic skills lol

The idea is this:

Create a Library Field, called CLUT (color look up table), which is an expression field of type list, containing the values:

I think I may experiment with this to see how it works, thanks

Quote
Can J River backup it's own library, using date created & modified etc

MC automatically backs up the library. I'm not sure how the frequency is determined, but it seems to be every few days. Search Options for "backup" to find their location. If you haven't changed the default and have no form of system backup, you may want to change the location to a partition or drive different than that of the active library.

I mean't to convey the actually backup of you're media files on separate media. I think I need a program that will track changes to the files.. It would be fine is noting were ever written to the files..But Say for instance default tags like genre are always written to the files no? So if I change the genre tag it the music file would need to be backed up again just so I can always keep an up to date most accurate reflection of my files..

[rick.ca]

I mean't to convey the actually backup of you're media files on separate media.

You didn't. You asked about backing up the Library—which has nothing to do with the media files. As for backing up media files for which tags have been written, a normal backup system—detecting file changes—would include those changes in regular backups. It's actually rather annoying that happens. It means the backup routine relied upon mainly to protect the existence of the media itself, is busy maintaining versions of those media files due to trivial tag changes.

A more effective way to maintain the integrity of the file tags is by using MC. If you have any doubt about the integrity of the Library, restore a Library backup. If you have any doubt about the integrity of data written to file tags, use Update Tags (from Library) to set them to what has been recorded in MC. This is likely what you would prefer to do even if you had media file backups. For example, if you had been busy adding files and updating tags for a week, and then realized an error was happening in the writing of tags, you would want to verify the data in MC (restoring from Library backup, if necessary) and then rewrite that data to tags. Restoring from media backup would be be effective in getting back to where you were a week ago, but not in restoring the data changes made in the meantime or any data about the files added. For another example, if a bunch of your media files became corrupt or were otherwise lost, you would need to restore them from backup. If your backup didn't include the latest tag changes (e.g., it's a copy of your music collection made last month), you would then Update Tags (from Library) for those files.

[locust]

Sorry about that I'm just thinking in old terms, when windows explorer was my library, I'll never miss that..

I'll have to remember that cheers, I haven't made a backup yet, I'll need to do so soon.. I think a copy should be stored out with my house in case of fire, floods, robbery etc..

Would it be easier to just make J River not store any tags within files? Where does J River store tags that are external for the file now? That won't be located where my files are stored will it?

[MrC]

...I haven't made a backup yet...

Egads, man - get on it!

Would it be easier to just make J River not store any tags within files? Where does J River store tags that are external for the file now? That won't be located where my files are stored will it?

Might be worth a quick read of the front matter here:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/File_Properties_%28tags%29

[locust]

I will do, I've got a few spare old hard drives kicking around, I think I'll make at least two backups

Thanks for the link, so I am right on thinking if in manage your library fields, if I un-check "Save in file tags (when possible)" that J River will never change any attributes of my files making backups easier?

I haven't tried J river for photos yet, right now I use picasa, the way that works with photos is kinda similar to this situation, picasa never changes photos because they say any changes can have long term degradation on the file. Some photo programs make two copies of the file, one for archival and one for editing.. Picasa doesn't it stores what you have done to the photo elsewhere and applies these effects on the fly every time you open the program..

Just wondering can constantly changing internal tags of an audio file possibly degrade it over time? Is it better to store tags externally?

[MrC]

Thanks for the link, so I am right on thinking if in manage your library fields, if I un-check "Save in file tags (when possible)" that J River will never change any attributes of my files making backups easier?

The change you'd make for this is to uncheck "Update tags when file info changes".  Enter the search term "update tags" in the Options dialog to find it.  Once disabled, MC won't modify the files with tag values. (fyi: The settings you mentioned are per-field/property values; you probably don't want to disable each and every one of these.)

Just wondering can constantly changing internal tags of an audio file possibly degrade it over time? Is it better to store tags externally?

Not at all - the tags are separate from the audio content.  No degradation.

Most folks like to store the tags, as stated in the article I referenced, to allow other programs a means of learning about a file's metadata, and so that you have a fallback means of re-reading tags should your MC library every become problematic.  Having this metadata available in two places is considered a good thing.   The only downside is that the physical files are modified, so of course, backups will be larger and perhaps more frequent (depending upon your re-tagging frequency).

[locust]

Know what would be cool if J river could backup files itself..

But imagine a backup program that can detect file changes specifically for music, picture and video, and if it is only the metadata that has changed, the backup files would only need their metadata updated. Sound plausible? Like a modified incremental backup system fine tuned towards metadata. 

[MrC]

Know what would be cool if J river could backup files itself..

But imagine a backup program that can detect file changes specifically for music, picture and video, and if it is only the metadata that has changed, the backup files would only need their metadata updated. Sound plausible? Like a modified incremental backup system fine tuned towards metadata. 

Computer file backup is a big topic, outside the scope of a media program.  Best to find a backup program that meets your particular needs.  I'd imagine you to have other files that should be automatically backed-up, right?

You're asking about block-level backups (vs file-level).  There are some backup programs that do this.

[locust]

I mostly manually backup things, think I'll need to opt for an automatic solution... I've aways felt a bit underwater when it comes to backups, because it is a huge topic.. If I do I'll have to document it to remember how it is setup. That is always to danger with autonomous programs, you can spend lots of time setting it up then returning, forgetting how it works and messing it completely up..

I'll have to Google up on that, shouldn't be too hard to find now I know what to search for, thanks

Thanks MrC

[MrC]

You might find Acronis' True Image Home easy enough.  It is pretty much fire and forget.

Edit: apparently their recent offering is has troubles - see below.

[locust]

yeah I'll try that.. Suppose I don't really mind how long a backup takes as long as there is one..

[rick.ca]

You might find Acronis' True Image Home easy enough.  It is pretty much fire and forget.

Funny you should mention that. As a recent purchaser of TrueImage, I've been restraining myself from commenting on backup systems. Maybe I've been spoiled by JRiver, but it seems I've never encountered such buggy, poorly designed, confusing crapware. I was able to dismiss it's frill features fairly quickly. "Synchronization" doesn't. "Nonstop Backup" regularly stops working on it's own. But it's UI doesn't update properly, showing dangerously misleading information. Worse, it's configurations manage to get confused, mismatching backups configured for different drives. As a result, one backup is destroyed, while another is not updated. After much frustration, it seems bare-bones backup routines have run for almost a week without critical errors. But I don't yet have nearly the peace-of-mind I had when I used a simple copy utility to make backups. 

[MrC]

Oh, darn.  Sounds like things have gone downhill then w/Acronis.  Skip it then; I retract my suggestion to try it out.

I've been using Retrospect for years.  It requires more work to setup but is infinitely configurable.

Sorry for the noise then.