INTERACT FORUM

More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: JimH on March 11, 2004, 07:08:47 pm

Title: Next version
Post by: JimH on March 11, 2004, 07:08:47 pm: We're getting close to the end of MC 10.0.

Here's a thought I had about a little feature for 10.1:

File associations in MC, so any file type can launch another application.

This came from the thread on Photoshop that was started a few days ago here:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=19753;start=msg137358#msg137358

You could also associate jpg's, for example, to launch your favorite editor.

Thoughts?
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: bjsolem on March 11, 2004, 07:19:09 pm: Very Cool!

Just a few more little pieces of functionality and I wouldn't need to use windows explorer anymore.

MC is always open anyway, this will let me do almost everything right inside MC.
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: JeffB on March 11, 2004, 08:18:00 pm: And to be able to run executables, have shortcuts in 'Start' and some way to track running apps. Nothing fancy, just something I can use similar to explorer. Then I could get rid of explorer and use Media Center as my shell.

Hmmm.... I just noticed when explorer is killed that the volume and mute buttons on my MS keyboard don't work.
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: markp99 on March 11, 2004, 09:22:35 pm: How about associating MC10.1 library files with MC10.1??

Then members of my household could launch their own individual libraries and settings by clicking on a LIBRARY file (i.e., an icon)... :)

Simple! :)

PS> a "/LOAD" commandline switch would work for me too...
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: Havana on March 11, 2004, 09:28:27 pm: Relating to file associations but a little off topic - it'd be great if video, images, and music all had different icons rather than the ubiquitous media center icon.
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: Jaguu on March 12, 2004, 01:09:28 am: And being able to open .doc, .xls, .ppt, .pdf files from within MC with their associated Office application.

Of course tagging should be supported, so that I can tag winword files from within MC and tags being written back to winword.

Probably not the most difficult feature to implement, but q real quick-win! And really getting rid Windows Explorer!
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: DJ_Hazelwood on March 12, 2004, 06:20:41 am: It also would be great if we could open files that are associated with files in the MC-library.

In detail:

To keep my MC-library as small as possible, i store the artist-bios in external files (txt).
The bios-tag contains only the path to this file.
In current versions i am not able to view this information from within MC.
And i'm not able to use the informations in track info templates.

Some new features concerning this points would be appreciated. :)
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: Polonio on March 12, 2004, 07:11:03 am: Quote from: JimH on March 11, 2004, 07:08:47 pm
We're getting close to the end of MC 10.0.

Here's a thought I had about a little feature for 10.1:

File associations in MC, so any file type can launch another application.

This came from the thread on Photoshop that was started a few days ago here:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=19753;start=msg137358#msg137358

You could also associate jpg's, for example, to launch your favorite editor.

Thoughts?

This is very close to something you almost have. Actually, "Send to external tool" could do it, but you have to click too many times to find the "Send to external tool" feature.

Why dont you add the option to add buttons in MC10 toolbar for each and every menu item? Please....
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: JustinChase on March 12, 2004, 10:01:48 am: How about letting me catalog and tag and run DVD backup files. They really are media files. this would be a GREAT feature, in my opinion.

They are .VOB files and are always stored in a VIDEO_TS folder.

Thanks
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: ph_bradley on March 12, 2004, 11:05:27 am: compare two different libraries to find out which songs need to go in which direction. This feature would be especially useful with iPod. Take a look at Windows Briefcase to see what I mean
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: Madcow on March 12, 2004, 01:30:36 pm: Album replay gain? It was mentioned several times in the "what do you want to see in 10.0?" threads but nothing seems to have happened. It even looked like you guys had figured out a way to do it but as far as I can see nothing appears to have come of it. :(
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: lee269 on March 12, 2004, 01:51:01 pm: Just returned from a 'Leadership Development Centre'. My learning priorities are sharing my vision, seeking feedback and celebrating success.

So, Jim:

1. whats your vision for MC10.1?

2. how do you think v10 development has gone?

3. Make sure you clink some glasses once v10 is out of the door. You guys deserve it.

And I'll be back banging on about smartlist wizards in a few weeks...

:) (Joking - well, about the leadership stuff anyway)
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: Eiffel on March 13, 2004, 05:11:57 am: Jim,

The ideas for 10.1 in this thread are all interesting (and of value to me... switching library via the command line being my top priority).

A related feature which I'd like to see is the ability to launch applications of your choosing via the HS ;D interface (with some command line parameters). This way the HS interface could be used to perform external tasks such as trigger girder events to control my receiver, etc.
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: Shadowen on March 13, 2004, 08:39:48 am: Quote from: havanna on March 11, 2004, 09:28:27 pm
Relating to file associations but a little off topic - it'd be great if video, images, and music all had different icons rather than the ubiquitous media center icon.

Yes! I second this request. It would be very nice when looking at media files in Windows Explorer if you had a unique icon associated with the file type. You could even use the snazzy new icons you guys made for inside Media Center for the Audio, Video, and Images sections.

Also (slightly off-topic), should the program executable be changed to Media Center.exe instead of Media Jukebox.exe?
Title: Rotation smartlists
Post by: hacker on March 13, 2004, 02:12:17 pm: Back in my college radio days we had to play from rotation. This is also the way commercial stations operate, except the DJ doesn't make any of the choices. I'd like to be able to set up a rotation based playlist from Media Center.

Tracks are put into Heavy, Medium and Light categorines, ratings could be used for this nicely. The rotation might go H, H, M, H, H, M , H, L. Basically it is a random list with higher rated tracks more likely to be selected.

I could go into more detail if necessary and people like the idea.

I really like what I've seen so far in MC10
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: JustinChase on March 13, 2004, 02:59:40 pm: Hacker,

I was thinking af a similar idea earlier today. That would go really nicely if MC could set up a way to allow real-time beat-matching. It can analyze the end of the currently playing track for its' beat, and sync the next track to match that beat and crossfade into the new track. It would make for nearly seamless playlists automatically.

In addition to having MC pick songs based on your rotation categories (Heavy, Medium, Light), it could also vary the intensity or bpm in the same semi random fashion, to really mix up the mood a little. 4-5 songs of upbeat techno, 1-2 songs of downbeat, a little funk, trance, upbeat again, etc.

Then engine to drive these 2 similar ideas could be the same, the variables would just have to be changed. i.e. how frequent of a change, how long the change should last, how many criteria to include in the mix, etc. We just plug in the variables.

Jim, do you think you guys could do something like this? I know a lot of DJs would really be able to use this kind of thing.
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: lee269 on March 13, 2004, 03:47:33 pm: First off, Im no DJ. And just to show how little I know about these things, off the top of my head I reckon you could approximate the HML thing in v10 with some clever nested playlists, and it'd suit me fine.

Justin, your post reminded me of something Ive thought of before, and possibly even mentioned as a feature for v20 (future blue sky thinking). Maybe the future is upon us.

I imagine being able to draw up a smartlist (in a wizard of couse :)) with some variables as a timeline on a chart. So - your evening starts off with some smooth low bpm dinner party music, livening up later on, and finally sloooowwwing down to smoochy 'last dance' music whilst you hand out the coats and wave goodbye to your guests.

A real wish list item for me - I certainly dont need complex DJ beatmatching stuff, but I do think this kind of time-dimension stuff could be good and perhaps a unique feature for media apps? Maybe one for v10 + 18 months or not at all, but thanks Justin for the memory jog.
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: lee269 on March 13, 2004, 03:56:12 pm: Oh, and Justin, by the way I forgot...

Quote
been around the world and found that only stupid people are breeding...

Flagpole Sitter, right? Man, I love that song - so long since I last heard it - a special request on my wedding day. Misty watercolour memories...
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: perhaps on March 13, 2004, 03:58:17 pm: ;D Congratulations JimH and partners of the JRiver Development team, on the hard work to launch in a record time the MC 10 version.

A great idea is the release of the MC 10.1 with support to the next level of the operational systems 64 bits

I say that because I'm going to use Windows XP 64bits, with AMD 64 3200+ chip. It'll be the first multimedia program with support to 64bits if you do so.

Once again, congratulations to you all.

Sincerelly,

Paulo, Brazil
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: JustinChase on March 13, 2004, 04:37:45 pm: lee269,

Yes Flagpole Sitta, my favorite line in all of music. I still laugh when I hear it.

Side Note: I'm actively planning a Round The World trip, leaving in the fall, so we'll see...
I was actually watching a few lovely ladies dance last night, and just kept thinking how bad their DJ was. He talked way too much, paused nearly 2 minutes between each 'set', and played ... what's the word ... inappropriate?, poorly selected? bad? non-condusive to dancing? ? music for the girls to dance to. I was think how great it would be if MC could beat-match music on-the-fly, and meander through the tempo of music, with most being pretty upbeat, and a few slower songs mixed in every 3-5 songs, which would allow the girls to make their way around for some up-close and personal time with the guests, before getting back to 'real' dancing.

Yes, it would also be good for 'party planning' as you described. Some upbeat music while cooking for 90 minutes, some classical for eating for an hour, picking back up for 30 minutes, into some real upbeat party/dance music for a couple hours, then into some polka to help get the guests out of the door. This would be very cool, and I would guess, not particularly hard either ;)
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: Shadowen on March 18, 2004, 11:19:20 pm: I wouldn't mind seeing some improvements to the TV and Radio portions of Media Center.

For example, could epg integration be added to the TV tuner (like Titan TV)?
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: glynor on March 19, 2004, 12:14:19 am: I think a "file association" like structure would be great. It would also be nice for newer users who would already be somewhat used to the "association" paradigm. You could simply "associate" files that you would like to play inside MC to MC itself, and others to an external application. I think this would allow you to more easily broaden the file type database "support" without necessarily having to write in true "play" support for those file types (such as PSD, Freehand, Flash-Shockwave, etc ... not to beat the drum). Really, a pretty elegant solution. Thumbnails would be wonderful - if maybe difficult without supporting the file type - though ...

In my humble opinion, you would probably do best to keep within the "media-like" theme (jack of all trades, master of none). Some simple shell-like capabilities would be very useful on occasion, but I don't think I would go too deeply down that route.

Oh, and more VTR like features (maybe that's version 11) would kill!
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: glynor on March 19, 2004, 12:20:20 am: Quote from: glynor on March 19, 2004, 12:14:19 am
Oh, and more VTR like features (maybe that's version 11) would kill!

Or are we doing the OSX thing now with the versioning? Hmmm ... MC 10.482

I think I must sleep now.
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: kiwi on March 19, 2004, 04:14:11 am: I'd love to be able to sync directories/removable disks/network directories with a portion of the library. This would let me manage the music on my laptop.

Kiwi
Title: Two Critical Features--SO CLOSE!!
Post by: skidoo on March 19, 2004, 11:07:15 am: 1. A truly functional TV feature (integrated with hairstyle of course), including a guide system and scheduled recordings, a la ATI's latest version of EazyLook and their Multimedia Center, but without the crappy UI of their Gemstar guide/scheduling program.

2. True synchronization with other drives/devices/whatever.

Those two things would pretty much shut me up. Well, except for bugs of course :-) .
Title: Re:Next version
Post by: urlwolf on March 19, 2004, 01:00:21 pm: Personally, I only use MC for audio. Up to now it's the best tool that there is for that, and I have > 130Gb (yes, Gb) of ogg and mp3 music. I tend to use the 'advanced' audio features, such as audioanalysis (BPM, replaygain, etc...).

things that I would like to see in 10.1:
(1) support for karma :)
(2) better audioanalysis (automatic detection of instrumental vs. sung songs... there must be a way to detect if there is a human voice in the spectrum!. Also, slow-down, transpose, etc in the play function. jetAudio does that, it has to be possible
(3) better tagging (automatic and manual). I currently use tag&rename for tagging, I find their interface very nice, and the fact that they can query allmusic for covers and titles...

That would be it.