Re: Which jukebox?

["paul gordon" <paul_gordon@xxxxxxx>]

Thanks Keith,

No I don't have Homevision, just Comfort (for now), but with the
newly-released UCM module for Comfort, and Dan Hoenen's avowed intent to
support Comfort with ACE, I should probably be able to achieve the same
level of functionality as HV. However, that's all a wee while away yet....

I can also achieve the same Start...Run functionality you describe, and I
have used this on occasion to quickly launch my favourite playlist. It is
further possible to put a shortcut to an M3U file on the desktop, and then
assign a keyboard shortcut to that, so that it can be launched with a
single
keystroke. - I've done this as well - pressing F12 on my keyboard plays the
same favourite playlist. It's not much of a leap to see that the IR command
sent by my keyboard when I press F12 could be added to a URC, then with a
_single_ key-press on a remote I can have my favourite playlist start
playing...
(Much less work that several mouse clicks!!)

BUT, that's fine for a very small number of playlists, but I currently have
about 300 complete albums in my jukebox, and when you add the "virtual
albums" I have created as well (IE playlists), that number is even
higher...
There's no way to allow 1-key selection of that lot, especially from a URC
with maybe 30 keys available! - So the only way I see to be able to do it
without having to use a display and select by name, is to assign index
numbers to each one, and select by number....

I suppose you could set up a URC that used up & down arrows to scroll
through a list, but that still requires a list to be visible on a screen,
and a list of 300+ needs DOZENS of screens to be scrolled back & forth
to
see the lot. However, I could (and have) printed out a list on a _single_
piece of A4 paper, which allows the whole list to be seen at once, which I
think most people'e brains find easier to handle - the eye can flit back
&
forth across the entire selection very rapidly, and a selection can be made
much much faster than scrolling through the list on a screen. (This is, I
think, why paper-based media is still so popular, and will probably always
remain so, but that's another discussion!)

I'm just downloading a utility from mp3.com called "MediaJukebox
2.1", which
was the only thing I could find on that site which looked like it came
close
to my requirements, so I'll try that, but if it's not suitable, then I
guess
I'll have to write something myself...

Cheers.

Paul G.



>From: Keith Doxey <keith.doxey@xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>To: ukha_d <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
>Subject: [ukha_d] Re: Which jukebox?
>Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2000 14:06:21 -0000
>
>
>Hi Paul,
>
>I am currently writing a web application using Active Server Pages for
my
>"DIYHA Digital Jukebox"
>which is based on a server with a big hard disk containing all my music
>stored as MP3 files.
>
>The web front end is used for creating, maintaining and SEARCHING the
>database for any Artist, Title, Genre ....etc to find a particular song
>almost instantly. By clicking the hyperlink the track plays with
>MediaPlayer2, Winamp or XingMP3 whichever is your preference.
>
>It is also possible to create and edit playlists via the searchable
>database
>which are stored as M3U files on the hard disk. This gives the ability
to
>create "Virtual Albums". By searching for playlists you can
select
>whichever
>one you want to play.
>
>BEFORE YOU SAY IT !!!!!
>
>I know this requires a screen, keyboard and browser etc...but...I have
just
>tried the following
>
>START - RUN - D:\playlists\popquiz.m3u
>
>and it fires up the appropriate MP3 player with the playlist and I am
>currently listening to it as I type this. I cant remember if you are
one of
>the Homevision users of this group but it occurs to me that Homevision
can
>respond to your IR remote and send the appropriate serial command to
the PC
>and you have your jukebox. All you have to do is remember the numbers
of
>the
>songs/playlists :-))
>
>BTW
>START - RUN - D:\web\www\popquiz\intro1.mp3
>will play a single song.
>
>Keith Doxey
>http://www.btinternet.com/~krazy.keith
>Krazy Keith's World of DIY Home Automation
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: paul gordon [mailto:paul_gordon@xxxxxxx]
>Sent: 21 January 2000 13:18
>To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>Subject: [ukha_d] Which jukebox?
>
>
>Can anyone recommend an MP3 jukebox utility which can act like a
>"traditional" jukebox?
>
>Currently I just use Winamp on a PC connected to my main TV and an IR
>keyboard. This is fine, but I still have to go through a laborious
process
>just to play an album: turn on the TV to the appropriate channel, get
the
>IR
>keyboard, navigate the Windows desktop to get Winamp
running/maximised/made
>the active window/  as appropriate, Navigate the Winamp interface to
hit
>"add Directory", navigate the "File...Open"
dialogue to browse to the
>appropriate directory, and so on...(the same applies to playlists)
>
>When I'm in the pub, all I have to do is press: 3-7-1 for example to
play
>"Bat Out Of Hell" or whatever, and I want to replicate that
functionality -
>IE, pick up a URC (Pronto or whatever), then press 3-7-1-Play to play
the
>album.
>
>This is simple enough with a bit of jukebox software which will produce
a
>database of all my MP3 albums (by scanning my directory structure:
>Artist\Album), and assign a number to each album, then let me play any
>album
>by entering the number. Then I don't need to use a display device of
any
>kind - I could keep a paper list of the contents of the jukebox
alongside
>my
>TV guide (OK, paper might be anathema to this list's members, but it
does
>still have a few things going for it!) - I'd have to re-index the dir
>structure and produce a new database & listing periodically, but
this is
>trivial...
>
>Above all, this would be REALLY simple - so my wife would be happy with
it!
>
>Comments?
>
>Regards.
>
>Paul G.
>
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