Vibe Streamer 3 - Suggestions/Development topics

Hi!

This thread is now dedicated to discussions around some parts during development of Vibe Streamer that I've been thinking on for some time and really would like to hear some ideas and suggestions, and even some contributions if there are people up for it. Just having some of these topics open for discussion can really help me out at times when I'm not really sure on how to proceed.

The current topics are

[bfz4bj8zh]- Playlists[/bfz4bj8zh]
Playlists in the previous version of Vibe Streamer wasn't very nicely implemented in order to keep people from getting confused. This time I've been waiting a while to think about from a usability perspective how they should work.. but I'd really like to hear if anyone else have any ideas on how it should be implemented, saved, loaded, edited.. etc.. in the new version of the standard skin. A feature that should be mentioned is that in Vibe Streamer 3 it will now be possible mark a playlist as "shared" to other users, making them able to load it.

[bfz4bj8zh]- Graphics for "No album cover available"[/bfz4bj8zh]
The track information addon in Vibe Streamer 3 displays the album cover if one is found. If no album cover is found it currently only displays a gray/empty image. This should of course look a bit more interesting but because I'm not much of a designer and neither of course can't grab something that already exists, I'd be happy for some suggestions.

[bfz4bj8zh]- File icons[/bfz4bj8zh]
Not a huge one, but still important.. currently Vibe Streamer 3 uses the icons from the previous version which doesn't look so well, both because they're too thin to match the new skin and also because they haven't been made with transparent background, due to lazyness ] I think a better match now would be to use 16x16 icons that more match the new standard skin,.. I've been looking into the famfamfam icon library but I don't think it really has nice icons for audio files etc.. so any ideas are welcome.

All ideas, sketches or simply just some brainstorming is most welcome.. or just PM me if you're shy

I assume that on the server side you have plans to store the playlists either in a directory created for each user or in a database under each users record. When you say that users will be able to tag playlists for others to access do you mean someone can select which particular user or users can access the tagged list or that it will be available publicly for everyone? Also, I assume that only the creators of the playlists would be able to make changes to them. That's how I'd like it if I was writing it. Though you could have an option where the creator could make it read only maybe.

Personally, I am very happy with the new UI in vibe streamer 3. You've done some nice work. Obviously the AJAX drag and drop functionality will be available in the playlist system. If the lists are a simple public/private shared system rather than a selectable shared system I'd say a checkbox in the save dialog box that the user ticks if he wants the list to be public would work nicely. I think a simple "Load/Save" button pair would be sufficient for storing the lists. Naturally the "Save" button will give a text box for a list name to be entered. The "Load" button poses a little more difficulty with having shared lists. Maybe the shared lists could be a different colour or perhaps the user could be presented with a choice of two columns of lists, one their private set and one the shared set. They'd simply drag the one they want into the playlist area.

With the shared playlist idea in mind, would it be possible to make it so a user could copy a shared list to her private lists? I was thinking that it would be nice if say I saw a playlist that had some songs I like but maybe some I don't. I would make a copy of it in my private lists and then be able to edit it and customize it to my liking.

Anyway, those are my thoughts for now.

Thanks for your hard work.

I would think that a dialog box would appear when you decide to add a shared playlist from someone else like "Would you like to copy or subscribe to this playlist?" or something like that.
If you select to "Copy" then the playlist would be copied in your playlist directory and you can do what ever you want with it, just like you made it yourself, all this without altering the original user's playlist. If you select "Subscribe", then the list should be directly shared, as in, if the user who shares the playlist makes a change, this change is directly made to everyone who "subscribes" to the playlist.
If that is possible, then this would kick some serious ass.

Obviously, drag-n-drop should be possible within the playlist so that you can delete, rearrange, or add to the currently saved playlist. The changes would apply seamlessly so that you don't have to hit "save" again for the changes to stick.

Another thing that would be sweet is if the items in the playlist are based on the file itself and not the location of the file. I don't know it is possible, nor do I think so. But the advantage would be that you don't have to maintain the folder structure. My archive is growing steadily, and I have to add hard drives all the time. This screws up some items in friends' playlists since song #3 is now located under I instead of H and the song will therefore not play.

I'll come up with some more stuff in a bit
I'm so excited about this release that I can barely stand. Again, you have created the absolutely coolest software on this planet and I am very thankful for your generous donation to the world.

Can playlists be loaded up from m3u or pls playlists if their being shared...

Just a quick comment to thank for your nice ideas.. they are very good and this is pretty much was I was after.. I'm currently having my hands full at work so haven't had much time to think further about it, and when there's time I'm working with having the broadcasting working smooth before I keep working on the skin..

But soon I'll post some ideas/sketches on the playlist management and some extended browsing functionality, such as making more room for the search, and maybe the possibilty to choose between "directory browsing" and "tag browsing".. it would be a nice feature.. I just gotta put it into the skin for some nice usability ]

Vibe Master

Although I have yet to test Vibe Streamer 3.xx, The comments I have read seem to suggest a great product.

My concerns are Do you look at different skins and processes currently in your VS 2.xx. thst can reaolve some 3.xx issues? I've discovered some good skins that address some 3.xx issues.

Also will 2.xx skins be portable in 3.xx?

I currenty run Vibe at my companies with 8TB of mp3 available.

Again, GREAT product. I'll post some specific Q\A soon.

Regards,

-RMOODY

[quotep3bfuj0a]Another thing that would be sweet is if the items in the playlist are based on the file itself and not the location of the file. I don't know it is possible, nor do I think so. But the advantage would be that you don't have to maintain the folder structure. [/quotep3bfuj0a]

After looking into this a bit I've decided that this is nothing I will implement. Making a unique id for each file isn't a quick process, and there are quite a few other things that makes it hard to implement at this moment.

I'm also thinking about storing each user saved playlist as a separate file on the server, using an already existing format. Currently I'm thinking about using, XSPF or something likewise.

http//xspf.org/

Note, this is only for storing playlists.. loading from other playlist formats (such as m3u is a different matter.. and might be looked upon later on)

After looking into this a bit I've decided that this is nothing I will implement. Making a unique id for each file isn't a quick process, and there are quite a few other things that makes it hard to implement at this moment.

I'm also thinking about storing each user saved playlist as a separate file on the server, using an already existing format. Currently I'm thinking about using, XSPF or something likewise.

http//xspf.org/

Note, this is only for storing playlists.. loading from other playlist formats (such as m3u is a different matter.. and might be looked upon later on)[/quotezljhu2zp]

Heres what i would do

Definitely use something like xspf. After creating the file and putting it into a shared folder, reference it in a "global playlist database" that lists all of the playlists created on the server for each use. When loging in on that user, Vibe would scan the global playlist database and find all of the playlists that user created. If the user creating the playlist wanted to share it, the playlist would be referenced in the "shared" portion of the "global playlist database" Only the playlist creator should be able to edit his playlist though

it would look something like this
[codezljhu2zp]
<playlist database>
<shared>
<playlist>
<name>PinkFloyd</name>
<creator>admin</creator>
</playlist>
</shared>
<username>
<playlist>
<name>The Doors</name>
</playlist>
</username>
</playlist database>
[/codezljhu2zp]


Maybe when listing the directories the users have access to, make a special "folder" for playlists that list all the shared playlists and the ones the user created



Thats a little more advanced than how i tried to implement my old music player using php/xspf/mysql, but i think its doable.

[b1yv71x77]- Graphics for "No album cover available"[/b1yv71x77]
The track information addon in Vibe Streamer 3 displays the album cover if one is found. If no album cover is found it currently only displays a gray/empty image. This should of course look a bit more interesting but because I'm not much of a designer and neither of course can't grab something that already exists, I'd be happy for some suggestions.[/quote1yv71x77]

I just made this one
[img1yv71x77]http://img3.imagebanana.com/img/lo4cfwwx/nocover.gif[/img1yv71x77]
You can use it freely for VS if you want to. I can give you the PSD file as well.



[quote1yv71x77][b1yv71x77]- File icons[/b1yv71x77]
Not a huge one, but still important.. currently Vibe Streamer 3 uses the icons from the previous version which doesn't look so well, both because they're too thin to match the new skin and also because they haven't been made with transparent background, due to lazyness ] I think a better match now would be to use 16x16 icons that more match the new standard skin,.. I've been looking into the famfamfam icon library but I don't think it really has nice icons for audio files etc.. so any ideas are welcome.[/quote1yv71x77]

What about them?
http//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Clear [Download[/url1yv71x77]]

Just fownloaded V3 And really like the look and feel of it - but was most dissapointed when my album art did not appear or find anyway to configure it.

Thus read with interest, your request for help with a 'No Cover' graphic when the track information add on could not find the cover art.

Therefore I assume that if we have this add on we will be able to view our cover art - so did it come with the download and its just me being thick - or do we have to download it seperately from somewhere?

Of all the features that are and may be coming up it seems to me that cover art is a basic fundamental requirement as virtually every other player I know of will display it.

Hope you can help - thanks

Having rummaged around the various files... found the 'get-cover.vibe' file and configured it to pick up my jpg files so a happy bunny now.

The only feature missing for me now is the abillity to download tracks - some of us need to do this for legitimate reasons. I had designed a seperate add on for the old vibe streamer to do this - but it would be nice to be able to right click a track in the play list to option a download or something.

Otherwise tryly excellent work - you are to be congratulated!

Many Thanks

Hi,

I must start off this post by saying that I have used vibe streamer now for a few years and it just gets better and better. I have been using the beta since february and just love everything about it, layout, performance and ease of use. Whilst iTunes and other players may be the 'Cool' thing to have, nothing can touch vibe for its unfussy easy to use interface. I had cause to re-install everything recently and my housemate was STUNNED to see vibe streamer import a 20,000 track music library within minutes from scratch and actually be playing music on the web in under 10 minutes - his iTunes took about 12 hours to do the importing! So much gratitude and a BIG well done for the tremendous effort bringing all this to us.

But to the point I see you say that playlists will be able to be marked for sharing in version 3 - is that still a 'Will be' or can that actually be done now? I personally use Vibe Streamer as my default everything so whilst I can see the attraction for other users asking for m3u file compatabillity it really isn't important to me as I am unlikely at this stage to construct playlists outside of vibe streamer - allowing other users to get my playlists would be nice though.

Search Nice to have it but on 1st use I wasn't sure anything was happening until I realised it might take a few seconds to produce a result or do nothing if a result wasn't found. I'm sure a less basic version is probably on the 'to do' list.

If it is of interest I adapted a freeware search engine for the old vibe streamer and combined it with a downloader. I have included it alongside the new beta version in a seperate panel as I wanted better reporting and display. I don't recommend my code particularly but I can supply a screen shot if wanted - which may get others suggesting better ways to include a search engine.

Thanks once again for all the good work.

Hi,

Maybe be I spoke too soon in my last post as just encountered a little problem with playlists.

After compiling a large playlist over some weeks it seems to have dissapeared and wondered if there was a size limit that i may have exceeded?

The other possibility is that instead of clicking on load I may have clicked on save by mistake and ended up saving a blank playlist instead of loading.

Stupid I know but might I suggest that the 'Load' and 'Save' tabs be seperated to stop me doing that again?

maybe arrange the tabs to [LOAD][CLEAR][REMOVE][SAVE]

So if I click on 'Clear' by mistake I still will have the playlist. Being able to back up the list as a txt or m3u file or similar might not be such a bad idea after all.

Thanks

I think the streaming videos part would be a great implication to VS cuz I've got a 500GB external HD with over half of the space as strictly DVD movies in DVD quality. For me, it'd be nice to go anywhere like school, a friend's house, vacation, etc. and watch my movies.

Here's a side thought though..... maybe, just maybe have the VS HQ servers acquire the streaming capability by secured and monitored networks but act like www.seemovies4free.com's servers, strictly for streaming? ......... (watch "pirated" movies that are currently in theaters like Resident Evil Afterlife and others like Gremlins that have been out for a while/long time)^.

Here's how I would have it work
Instead of having to download the movie you could stream only 1 movie (with possibly 1 more movie in queue) at a time. You would click on a link that would redirect you to the VS HQ server that would require you to enter the log-in info you used in your browser to access your own media and enter that same log-in info on the server's site OR it would require you to retype the computer generated code in those little boxes above its blank space (like it did here on the VS site to register as a user). Then after a successful log-in the VS HQ server site would redirect you back to your VS program where you can stream the movie. Finally, the VS program we all use would give you the option to play the movie in a web-based player in your browser, like Mozilla's DivX Web Player Plugin, inside the program or let you play the movie using an external player like WMP/DivX player and the like. Therefore, if security is an issue it can be monitored by yourself as the Administrator AND by the VS HQ company people and/or their servers. So basically granting streaming access using log-in info that is saved on their servers where once you log in once, you have the option to save the log-in info like you can with IE or Mozilla but in addition you would also have the option of changing the password on the same VS HQ server's Log-in screen if needed.

2nd side-thought
I agree with the sharing playlist part but make it very similar to the way Pandora Internet Radio does it. The only way I can think of that sharing playlists would be to implement this capability as part of my "VS HQ Server" stuff above.

3rd side-thought
As far as I've seen on here you guys have wanted the Download Option for music and movies right? Instead of using a built-in Download Option (because I think it would take up too much memory and bit-rate on the VS HQ servers and cause severe laggin) you can use a 3rd party program like Replay Media Catcher 4 (mine is non-bought "registered"/program found on www.thepiratebay.org & serial found on www.serials.ws) or a IE/Mozilla Add-On like DownloadHelper to save the stuff as your own. I use RMC4 to record the songs I like on Pandora Radio and keep them as my own.
Ok, apparently someone here has implemented the Download Option as a plugin via script so I guess this idea could be scratched now.

Well I know this was prolly way too long for some of you to care to read but I had to let these thoughts drain.

I would open source the code so that this project could continue to develop.

I am very happy with the new UI in vibe streamer 3. You've done some nice work. Obviously the AJAX drag and drop functionality will be available in the playlist system. If the lists are a simple public/private shared system rather than a selectable shared system I'd say a checkbox in the save dialog box that the user ticks if he wants the list to be public would work nicely. I think a simple "Load/Save" button pair would be sufficient for storing the lists. Naturally the "Save" button will give a text box for a list name to be entered. The "Load" button poses a little more difficulty with having shared lists. Maybe the shared lists could be a different colour or perhaps the user could be presented with a choice of two columns of lists, one their private set and one the shared set. They'd simply drag the one they want into the playlist area.