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[toddelving]

I have asked this question a few times and each answer has not solved the question.
Can someone please give me a step by step way to shuffle albums. I do not shuffle songs just albums.
I am not a programmer and do not build my own software so can I have an English version of the answer. I use Itunes now to shuffle and want to move all of my HD Albums to JRiver to shuffle.
My operating system is Windows 7!

[Matt]

There isn't a built in way. 

You can do it with a smartlist.  Limit to track #1, then shuffle, then expand to full albums.

[toddelving]

how do I add songs to the new smartlist

[kamimeguro]

Hi Toddleving,

I do it this way (not a professional at expressions, but it works for me):

[Media Type]=[Audio] [Media Sub Type]=[Music] [Complete Album]=1 ~n=1 ~a

Copy the above line of code
Add a new smatlist (F9)
Rename it the way you want in the 'Name' window
Click on 'Import/Export'
Click on the already existing [Media Type]=[Audio]
Paste the above line of code on top in the 'Smartlist rules data' window
Click 'OK'
Click 'OK'

Done!
Every time you click on 'Refresh', you will be presented with a new complete album to play.

Hope that helps!
Cheers
Kami

[toddelving]

Thank you
So is there a way to shuffle albums without having to press play every time?
Like In Itunes?

[kamimeguro]

Hi Toddelving,

You can put as many as album you want to shuffle:
instead of ~n=1, put any value you want and play any number of albums.
I limit ~n=10, which give me more than I can listen to in a row!
This makes the list always renewed when I select the smartlist.
go for what fits you!

I don't know of another way to shuffle albums and play them in the track order just by pressing play if it is what you are looking for, unless the JRiver gurus teach us how to do it! maybe a request for MC20?

Kami

[rhgh]

my view "not played"
menu
"View - add view - add library view" then select "albums"
the new view is loaded
"View" - "customize view"
included files - "set rules for file display"

modify results (my settings)

1. limit number to - 24
2. Shuffle - (no entry)
3. expand to full albums - no entry
Close all windows with ok

every time I press the "F5" key (refresh)
JRiver show me 24 other albums

reinhard

[MGD_King]

[Media Type]=[Audio] [Media Sub Type]=[Music] [Complete Album]=1 ~n=1 ~a

I've tried this smartlist and it didn't work for me. Any other ideas?

[Matt]

I've tried this smartlist and it didn't work for me. Any other ideas?

Try this:
[Media Type]=[Audio] [Track #]=1 ~sort=Random ~a

[MGD_King]

Try this:
[Media Type]=[Audio] [Track #]=1 ~sort=Random ~a

Matt, that brings all of my albums into the smartlist. I would like to limit it to 2 or 3.

[6233638]

Playing a single random album is relatively easy.
The expression I use has actually expanded quite a lot from the one I originally posted in an attempt to address a number of issues that were showing up with my library.
 
The main one is that Media Center only looks at the [Album] tag to determine whether or not files come from the same album.
So when I expand to "full albums" I can end up with multiple duplicates listed, due to having different versions in my library. (CD, Live CD, High Res, Multichannel DVD-A etc.)
This expression attempts to remove these duplicates while still randomizing the outcome so that it is not the same version played every time.
 

Code: (Random Album - Complex) [Select]

[Media Type]=[Audio] [Media Sub Type]=[Music] [Complete Album]=1 [Last Played]=>1h [Last Skipped]=>1h ~limit=1,1,[Album],[Album Artist (auto)] ~a ~seq ~sort=Random ~limit=1,-1,[Filename (path)],[Channels] ~sort=[Sequence]
MGD_King, I suspect your issue with the random album smartlists being posted here is that your files are not tagged with a Media Sub Type. Mine all have the Sub Type of "Music".
 
You may wish to substitute [Media Sub Type]=[Music] with -[Media Sub Type]=[Podcast],[Test Clip] which specifies that the sub type is not "Podcast" or "Test Clip".
If your library only contains music, you could remove the sub type rule altogether.



Playing multiple random albums is difficult. I have spent a bit of time thinking about it recently, and I can't figure out a way which will play more than one random album without guaranteeing that there are no duplicates being played.
Depending on how your library is formatted, and what is in it, this may work:

Code: (Five Random Albums) [Select]

[Media Type]=[Audio] -[Media Sub Type]=[Podcast],[Test Clip] [Complete Album]=1 [Last Played]=>1h [Last Skipped]=>1h ~limit=5,1,[Album],[Album Artist (auto)] ~a
Change the number at the start of the limit field to specify the number of albums you want. (currently 5)
Setting this to -1 will play all the albums in your library.
 
This expression does nothing to try and remove duplicates however.

[Dennis Hartwick]

If I understand your goal correctly, the following instructions should do the trick and they're easy.  These instructions are for the "standard" view of J River, which you can select by selecting the "view" tab:

1. Add music to the "playing now" window.  If you don't feel like selecting albums, right click on "audio" (left side of screen) and select "add to playing now."  J River will now pull from your entire library.
2. In the playing now window, first click on the "track number" column heading and then click on the "album name" column heading. 
3. J River may start playing by itself, but you can manually choose any start point (e.g. the song at the very top of the list).

What these instructions get you are your albums in alpha order by title.  Musically speaking, that's random.  You asked how to "shuffle" your albums so I'm guessing this is what you were after.  I hope so.  For variety, you can click on the track number column heading and then a different column heading and also achieve a musically random result.  For example, the second column heading you might click on, instead of album name, could be album playing time.  Or, you may think of other ways to sort that, like album name or total playing time, result in a musically random list.

[Matt]

Matt, that brings all of my albums into the smartlist. I would like to limit it to 2 or 3.

[Media Type]=[Audio] [Track #]=1 ~n=3 ~sort=Random ~a