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[Matt]

We're just starting work on Media Center 11.  We appreciate your feedback on it, but MC11 may not work as expected and we can't yet fully support it.  When upgrading from MC 10, you will lose your settings.  Some plugins still do not work.


If you want a more trouble-free experience, please download Media Center 10 here:
http://www.musicex.com/mediacenter/download.html


Media Center 11 is available here:
ftp://ftp.jriver.com/pub/downloads/music/MediaCenter110034.exe

11.0.34 (7/26/04)

1. NEW: Added MHT to the list of webpage document types. (Microsoft Web Archive file)
2. Changed: Improved pane auto-sizing algorithm.
3. Fixed: WAV playback could fail on WAV files with certain bad or unknown blocks.
4. Fixed: MediaServer returning incorrect number of items to TiVo.
5. Fixed: Camera > Acquire wouldn't create the output directory when a new directory name was entered.
6. NEW: Added experimental animated thumbnail view. (to test, hold Alt+3 when going to a Media Library view)
7. NEW: Several image editor enhancements. (still a work in progress)

11.0.30 - 11.0.33 - Internal testing builds -- not released to the public.

[Matt]

To try the animated thumbnail view, hold Alt+3 down while switching to any Media Library view.

You'll need DirectX 9 installed.  Some video cards may not support this.

Click a thumbnail to put it in the holding area.  Double-click to play what's in the holding area.  Hold the mouse down over a non-image area while moving the mouse up / down to scroll.

Let us know what you think, and if you have any good ideas for how this should look and work.

Thanks!

[nathanchavez]

I do know that in the latest build track information for selected files is no long longer displayed on the bottom bar.  Also when burning an audio CD the first and second tracks were fused together.  Say the time of track one was 4:35.  Track one on the burned CD would start playing and then around 2:17, halfways, the second sond on the disc would start playing but MC would still display track one stats.  This has been a problem with MC 11  and is not new to 11.034

[LonWar]

Hi Matt...

Sure does look pretty cool...

When you select a tile, Now what? It doesn't look like you can unselect it.
When I first saw it I thought it would display the track names in a smaller window and you could choose a track from there.

Also there is no way to scroll down if you have more tiles then space,
Also if you choose to play that tile it displays the tile in fullscreen... I am not sure I like this as I always have a track info plate shown while playing a song...

This seems like it would be best suited for Images as oppsed to music...

[LonWar]

With AutoResizing On..

When you have not enough fields to fill the screen it should expand the columns to fill the screen. Most of the time if I have it on only half the screen is used.

I can post a pic if I didn't explain well..


Keep up the GREAT work guys...

Oh ya, Any idea when the upgrade path to 11 will be available?

[JimH]

This is a work in progress, so please don't expect everything to be hooked up.

When you click on a thumbnail, the selected item goes to the bottom.  This represents a "bin" where things accumulate.  We hope to make this more obvious soon.  Then you'll be able to do something with these selections (make a playlist, burn, etc).

We're interested in feedback now.  If you have ideas, no matter how sketchy, please share them.

[DougHamm]

Still having trouble playing video files with the Windows Media engine.  Playback is usually blank with audio.  Switching back to DirectX engine fixes it.

This happens on two different computers, however both use ATi cards (9500 Pro / Cat4.7 in one, 8500 / Cat 4.6 on the other).  Can someone else confirm this behavior?

-Doug

[Dragyn]

That new thumbnail mode doesn't work here. No images showing inside....just white squares. The text that flashes is white on white with a black border....really can't see it as it moves. Statusbar gets stuck on 'loading panes'.

I wish I would have taken off this week. I would of had lots of time with this.

edit:     DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)

Media Center Registered 11.0.34 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 11\

Microsoft Windows XP  Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
AMD Athlon 805 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 146 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1514 (xpsp2.040109-1800) / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1556 (xpsp2_gdr.040517-1325) / wnaspi32.dll: N/A
Ripping /   Drive E: TEAC    CD-W54E           Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Drive F:   Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Drive G:   Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Drive H:   Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Drive I:   Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Drive J:   Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Digital playback: Yes /  Use YADB: Yes /  Get cover art: No /  Calc replay gain: Yes /  Copy volume: 32767
  Eject after ripping: Yes /  Play sound after ripping: No  

Burning /  Drive E: TEAC     CD-W54E            Addr: 1:0:0  Speed:4  MaxSpeed:4  BurnProof:No
  Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: Yes /  Direct decoding: No /  Write CD-Text: Yes
  Use playback settings: No /  Normalization: None

[IlPadrino]

To try the animated thumbnail view, hold Alt+3 down while switching to any Media Library view.

You'll need DirectX 9 installed.  Some video cards may not support this.

Click a thumbnail to put it in the holding area.  Double-click to play what's in the holding area.  Hold the mouse down over a non-image area while moving the mouse up / down to scroll.

Let us know what you think, and if you have any good ideas for how this should look and work.

Thanks!

I like the concept...  it lets me get more thumbnails on the screen and rolling-over lets me see the larger thumbnail.  The bin at the bottom is a little disconcerting.  Perhaps using the Action Window's "Drop Here" space would make it more intuitive.

Will we be able to customize the initial and rollover thumbnail sizes?

The flyins are a bit confusing when I'm scrolling - what the purpose for them to begin with?

Oh...  and it pretty much chokes on my videos.

[Charlemagne 8]

I'm getting cautious in my old age --- I still haven't tried Version 11. Do I still need to uninstall 10 to upgrade to 11?

CVIII

[JimH]

I'm getting cautious in my old age --- I still haven't tried Version 11. Do I still need to uninstall 10 to upgrade to 11?

CVIII

It's recommended that you do.

[bjsolem]

On the new thumbnail view:

I LOVE it!

I love that it recognizes when I go from a group of albums to a single album and displays all the tracks instead just a single thumb for the album.  We need track name for music view though, otherwise it is just 10 copies of the album cover with no info.

I might use this as an alternate slideshow in some cases if we can designate how big the zoom view gets, maybe even up to full screen, or close to it.  Also would like to be able to designate zoom size in different view schemes.  I might make a Slide show view scheme and a tagging view scheme for example.

As much as I like it, I do have to say that it seems a little gimmicky, in other words, I don't know how much 'value' I would attach to it at this point, I realize it is just a work in progress.  I give you lots of credit for coming up with it, experimenting with it and sharing your experiment.

[Matt]

One thing we'd like is the ability to see groupings by album, by the time pictures were taken, or by other criteria.  Then, some way to either select the entire group, or to easily go inside the group and view and pick individual songs or images.  Ideally, we want to do this without two modes or a back button.  Some way for an album to expand when the mouse hits it would be ideal.

Does anyone have any ideas about how we could accomplish something like that visually?

Thanks for any input.

[Dragyn]

I like the expanding idea.

You wouldn't believe how many times I thought I lost pictures just because I was in 'Album' mode. I would be checking my view schemes, search criteria, etc looking for them. It's scary when I can't find anything.

[NoCodeUK]

Cheers for the tuning of the column sizing Matt.  Much better now  Like the new view thing.  Quite Maccy -  which led me to my idea of how to allow track choices too. If the mouse button is clicked and released on an album then that album is added to the bin.  If the mouse is clicked and held the album opens up to reveal individual tracks which can then be clicked.  To select the last track dbl click and the view returns to normal.  This would be very intuitive and would also look visually gorgeous and would have no need for back or close buttons... Hope this helps.

Adam

[IanG]

One thing we'd like is the ability to see groupings by album, by the time pictures were taken, or by other criteria.  Then, some way to either select the entire group, or to easily go inside the group and view and pick individual songs or images.  Ideally, we want to do this without two modes or a back button.  Some way for an album to expand when the mouse hits it would be ideal.

How would that differ from a view scheme? I can already create one that shows a tree with each album, and individual albums can be opened,  dragged to playlists etc.  What I can't do is select more than 1 album from the tree.

Ian G.

Ian G.

[JustinChase]

We're interested in feedback now.  If you have ideas, no matter how sketchy, please share them.

Is there any plan to use the TiVo format conversion tool to allow streaming over the internet?  I would love it if I could listen to my ape files at home (they are on my office server), instead of only my mp3s.  I know MC will convert on the fly for TiVo, how hard is it gonna be to add this functionality to Server also?

[Zoner]

I'm now trying out MC11 for the first time.  First of all, thank you once again for the new IMJZoneAutomationPtr support - it seems to be working very well!  Unfortunately there are some other problems with multi-zone in this release, though:

1) It seems like none of the zones are obeying their Output Mode.  I setup Zone 1 to DirectSound channels 3 & 4, and Zone 2 to DirectSource channels 5 & 6.  ReplayGain was enabled for both zones.  Both zones play to channels 1 & 2, although at different volume levels, presumably because one zone is not enabling ReplayGain.

2) The zones are not truly independent.  If I select a song in PlayingNow on Zone 1, then switch to Zone 2, then MC tries to select the same song in Zone 2.  If the song doesn't exist in Zone 2's Playing Now, then nothing is selected.

3) If I select a sone in Zone 1's Playing Now, then press Ctrl+T to switch to Zone 2, then press Ctrl+T to switch back to Zone 1 again, the selection is lost.  This maybe isn't a bug, but it would be much nicer if the zone switch didn't affect the selection.

[bjsolem]

Re: the new bin.

I know the 'bin' at the bottom is not complete.  Could this be some kind of window that appears when it is being used or having items added to it and then minimize to the bottom of the window, kind of like the OS X dock?  It takes up a lot of space as it is now, and for pics etc. to be recognizable, they are going to need to be about the size that they currently are so the bin needs to hide when not being used.

After a bunch of items are added to the bin there needs to be a view that shows everything in it, maybe replacing the main view scheme, sort of like being able to review the list of items added to the burn queue etc in the action window.

As stated, the intention is to be able to 'do something' with the items in the bin.  It seems to me that the bin lends itself to more 'project' based tasks.  For example I can pick out some tunes that fit a theme I am looking for, say christmas for example, and throw them in the bin.  Then I can go to my pics and find ones that show the family for the past year etc. and add them to the bin.  Then I can go to the videos and add videos that I like to the bin.  Finally I can go to the Documents and grab a christmas letter or something and add it to the bin.  At this point I can open the bin and review what I have in there and move things around etc.

Now in this example, the question is what do I do with the items in the bin.  Obviously I can burn them to a cd, but how can I organize them in such a way that it is not just a cd with some files on it.  At this point the 'project' would need some sort of export tool that would auto run a slide show of the pics/videos with the music as a soundtrack and open the letter automatically.

I'm not sure that MC should ever do what is needed in that example, I'm just trying to think about how I envision using the bin differently than the action window.

[pipsqueak]

Bug:

If i'm not online and i switch to a view that access the net (eg. 'Go' page) the music stops and the current playing now list is wiped clean.


Suggestion:

Can the search bar be tweaked so it recognises the Copy 'Listening To' format. Id like to be able to drop in "Listening to: 'You Oughta Know' from 'Jagged Little Pill' by 'Alanis Morissette' on Media Center 11" for example, and that track would then come up straight away [i'd use this when i'm emailing flat mates what i'm listening as we all access the same library, also i could use it to record favorite tracks from my laptop and then pull them up at home on the desktop]

pip

[edit: maybe im missing something, but it seems that the info from the bottom of the screen has dissappeared - i used to get things like: 25,000 files, 250 gigs, 70 days. Now it just says 'ready'. is this by design or have i just missed something?]

[Berto]

Bug in build 11.0.34?:
I open the Playlists-tree bij clicking the +sign in front of it. Then I open the Auto martlists (music)-tree by clicking the +sign in front of it. Then I select an Autosmartlist (doesn't matter which one) by clicking on it. Then I close the Autosmartlists-tree by clicking the -sign in front of it.
Then I get the following errormessage: The instruction at 0x00080003 points to memory at 0x00080003. The read- or write-operation ("read") at the memory has failed. Cliick OK to end the program. (I translated it from Dutch to English).
Same thing happens with Autosmartlists (video and image), Recently Played and Top Hits.
 

[Omni]

Then I get the following errormessage: The instruction at 0x00080003 points to memory at 0x00080003.

I love it.  Self-modifying code!  JRiver rocks!

[Jaguu]

That new thumbnail mode doesn't work here. No images showing inside....just white squares. The text that flashes is white on white with a black border....really can't see it as it moves. Statusbar gets stuck on 'loading panes'.

Same here! No bin at bottom visible! No animated thumbnails!

[JimH]

Try updating Direct X from the Microsoft site.  IE/Tools/Windows Update should work.

[Matt]

That new thumbnail mode doesn't work here. No images showing inside....just white squares. The text that flashes is white on white with a black border....really can't see it as it moves. Statusbar gets stuck on 'loading panes'.

Same here! No bin at bottom visible! No animated thumbnails!

Also, try sizing the window to a small size.  It's possible you're running out of texture memory.  What video card and how much video memory do you have?

[Dragyn]

works for some audio files and some image files (like 100x100)...all the rest are blank. I can make it so only 2 squares show and still blank.

nvidia, 16mb I think. I dunno

[IanG]

To try the animated thumbnail view, hold Alt+3 down while switching to any Media Library view.

You'll need DirectX 9 installed.  Some video cards may not support this.

Click a thumbnail to put it in the holding area.  Double-click to play what's in the holding area.  Hold the mouse down over a non-image area while moving the mouse up / down to scroll.

Let us know what you think, and if you have any good ideas for how this should look and work.

Thanks!

Very nice!  I'm not sure how useful the bin is though - I'd rather predefine the action to be taken on click e.g.send to playlist or external program.  

Ian G.

[paulr]

I like the holding area idea, but I am not too fond of the flying animations and the strangeness that happens to an album placed in the holding area.  Also, I filled the holding area with albums and kept adding more and they went off the screen.  I guess there should be a scroll bar to that you can see all of them.

[drosoph]

The new little DirectX thingie is cool ... I dont find it particulary useful at present ... but its neat...

 Couple of quick requests:

    * Since a new backup is created on each import, can we set the number of MAX Backups to retain?
    * [Date (Month #)] Field -- Please ?
    *  Using [Dimensions] (Calculated Field) in a thumbnail view shows "CIRCULAR: Dimensions" instead.
    * Media Server -- Allow us to select which fields are included, if I elimiinate Lyrics/Bios I can reduce the downlaod size by about 80% !!!
    * Full EXIF Parsing Support -- To allow custom field creation from these tags, as well.
    * On Duplicate checking, allow a "Selection~" tag so that I can select the Low Bitrate, or Smallest Filesize, or Oldest File, etc
    * A new version of the SlideShow plugin that works with V11 would be sweet !
    * Auto-Import Functionality (Use Media Scheduler to import basedon the new intelligent import wizard)
    * While I'm at it ... Why not throw my Pie-in-the-Sky request -- CD+G Support Plugin!



What do the following fields mean?
Playback Range
Mix Album
Text

BUG:  The bottom status bar used to show how many files & total time were in the window (or selected) .. this is no longer the case!