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[geekbeats2]

Is anything like iTunes Cover Flow currently being developed for JRiver's Media Center?

[geekbeats2]

just ran across this:  http://labs.beffa.org/coverplay/

Im guessing this wouldnt be very difficult to integrate into Media Center?

[park]

I dont really like itunes cover flow. It seems kind of backwards, flicking through thousands of unfiltered cd covers. I digitized my music collection to get away from that.

The one thing that i envy of itunes users is the album view though. Media center was one of the first programs to introduce browsing by album thumbnails, and led the pack for a while, but now even wmp has an album view that lets you see album thumbnails with the track listing next to it. If media center had this ability, I would probably stop using the "bottom files list" altogether.

I'd like to be able to switch between details/album thumbnails/album view using icons in the view header or top toolbar, and for it to not change where i am, in terms of scrolling, too.

Another option would be to click on a thumbnail and have a "Switch to..." drop down menu which gives the previously mentioned options, and again keeps that file center in terms of scrolling position.

Sorry to hijack your thread about cover flow, but i think we are both looking for an easier way to browse albums.

[JimH]

Are you familiar with Theater View in MC?

[hit_ny]

It seems kind of backwards, flicking through thousands of unfiltered cd covers.

I have the same impression too, once you get into the thousands of albums, are you honestly going to flip through them to find something you want ?

this sort of eye candy looks good for maybe a few hundred albums.

At least not until we get an interface as was shown in this movie. Point & click in all senses.

[datdude]

A good alternative that would be a nice view scheme inside of MC is this:  http://www.sprote.com/clutter/.

So just have an empty view scheme that you can drag and drop albums or whatever you want and float them in any spot you please.   You could still apply filtering and searching to it, which would be sweet.

[Mr ChriZ]

The trouble with 3d interfaces is it's incredibly difficult to get them to do anything useful,
especially when you're using a 2d screen.
Stacking stuff is about as useful as I've seen, like in Vista's rollerdeck system.
Even then if you've got a lot of windows open it quickly gets difficult to find the window you want.

They do look very pretty though 
I think I'd prefer to see a Rollerdeck style artists thing going on.
It can be speeded up if it is integrated with a keyboard search,
as the Itunes version is.

[geekbeats2]

Park, I started digitizing my collection for the same reason you mention, but now i'm realizing that I totally miss the art aspect of browsing through my collection.  Cover flow (or something similar)  makes it fun again to look through my cds.

JimH, Yes I am familiar with JRiver's Theater View and to be honest have never been impressed with it.  At that point id much rather use my Vistas Media Center to browse my music on my TV (or larger screen w/remote).

Really, I just wish there was an option in JR Media Center to make the experience more art-centric.
Also allowing dual and customizable art views, to simeltaneously show album art and an artist image is something that many players are now capable of, but JRiver Media still is not.

[ThoBar]

Assigning 'related files' to an album or file is the way to go here I think. This topic has been discussed recently on these boards, and would ultimately lead to the ability that you're asking for. JR have given no definite indication of their plans this way, but I think there is a fair bit of user-land support for it out there.

On the off topic of 3d-drag and droppy type interfaces... http://www.bumptop.com

C.

[Edit] Fixed address... stooopid

[brainsoup]

I would love a better album type view.... i once used the big thumbnails that you can display but this doesn't work well for two reasons...
1) It doesn't work well with albums with just a few tracks - all the thumbnails end up different sizes and it just looks a bit ugly
2) It's difficult to tell where one album ends and another begins...
I've done a mock up of what i would like to see... maybe it could be one of the options on the view scheme header (where the tab is)
-Details
-Thumbnails
-Album thumbnails
-Album Details???

http://pix01.com/gallery/28135A7A-7685-4CE6-B381-1097C2EA0F65/Album_Views/slide0.html#thumb

The first pic is what i can get to work now and the second is my ideal solution!

[hit_ny]

http://pix01.com/gallery/28135A7A-7685-4CE6-B381-1097C2EA0F65/Album_Views/slide0.html#thumb

The first pic is what i can get to work now and the second is my ideal solution!

I'm betting this will make it into v13

maybe make its own thread, with a poll and link directly to the pictures and ask like your opthamologist would say..

now...or...now

[ThoBar]

(note for those that care... I fixed the link above)

[stefansmith]

The reason I went with MC and have been sticking with it is because of its ability to browse by cover art. The ability to customise the sorting and display name is fantastic too.

However, as has been mentioned here plenty of times, we need a way of being able to view album covers and select titles at the same time. Would it not be possible to right click on an album and see the list of tracks and check boxes, with the buttons 'play now' and 'add to playing now' ?

This would be a great feature.

I also think there could be a way of making it more art-centric as geekbeats2 has said -- perhaps just being able to see the album thumbnails on a blank screen without the surrounding clutter of trees etc. For me, theater view doesn't do it.

[park]

brainsoup, that's exactly what I was talking about at the top of this thread. I have wanted this feature ever since seeing it in itunes for the first time.

I think there are even better ways (having the tracklist/columns be expandable/collapsable next to album thumbnails, so that you can browse by album thumbnails as usual, and then just for the few seconds that you need to see the individual tracks to choose one, being able to "single click" expand it's details/columns to the right), but I'd settle for something like your mockup any day.

[skeeterfood]

I would love a better album type view.... i once used the big thumbnails that you can display but this doesn't work well for two reasons...
1) It doesn't work well with albums with just a few tracks - all the thumbnails end up different sizes and it just looks a bit ugly
2) It's difficult to tell where one album ends and another begins...
I've done a mock up of what i would like to see... maybe it could be one of the options on the view scheme header (where the tab is)
-Details
-Thumbnails
-Album thumbnails
-Album Details???

http://pix01.com/gallery/28135A7A-7685-4CE6-B381-1097C2EA0F65/Album_Views/slide0.html#thumb

The first pic is what i can get to work now and the second is my ideal solution!

Very nice mock up.  I'd love to see something like this.

-John

[Osho]

I would love a better album type view.... i once used the big thumbnails that you can display but this doesn't work well for two reasons...
1) It doesn't work well with albums with just a few tracks - all the thumbnails end up different sizes and it just looks a bit ugly
2) It's difficult to tell where one album ends and another begins...
I've done a mock up of what i would like to see... maybe it could be one of the options on the view scheme header (where the tab is)
-Details
-Thumbnails
-Album thumbnails
-Album Details???

http://pix01.com/gallery/28135A7A-7685-4CE6-B381-1097C2EA0F65/Album_Views/slide0.html#thumb

The first pic is what i can get to work now and the second is my ideal solution!

This mock-up is awesome.. I can't wait for this to be implemented in MC. We needed this yesterday!

Osho

[Matt]

Are people aware that you can graphically browse by album, artist, genre or any other field inside MC's library views?

Mouse over the word "Pane" at the top of any library view and switch to "Album" or "Artist" or whatever the view provides.

You can then show files at the same time for any item by clicking the "File" link on the big graphical thumbnail.

[Osho]

Are people aware that you can graphically browse by album, artist, genre or any other field inside MC's library views?

Mouse over the word "Pane" at the top of any library view and switch to "Album" or "Artist" or whatever the view provides.

You can then show files at the same time for any item by clicking the "File" link on the big graphical thumbnail.

Yes, I am aware of that and that's what I use all the time. But still I think we need something like this. I find that browsing not as intuitive as this one.

thanks,
Osho

[dcwebman]

I agree with what Osho just said. I use the Audio:Artist view all the time because I know the artists but not necessarily the cover art of the albums. So that requires me to select an artist, then click on the album link to see the different albums and select from there. At least the Audio:Album view still lists the artists in alphabetical order but it just lists the name of the album which cannot always indicate from the name or cover who the artist is. A little memorization is needed and it would be nice if that wasn't required.