The superb media library

Qaxar · 9th January 2004, 17:28

I don't usually get too carried away, but I have to say something about the WA5 Media Library...

I've never had too much success working with various Media Libaries - looked at the one in Windows Media Player, but didn't want to waste my time trying to figure it out (no loss - don't like WMP anyway), and played with the Library in WA3, but it seemed messy to me, etc.

Now I've set up the WA5 Media Library, and it knocks me out! I have about 2500 tracks in various subfolders, but all filed under a single root folder. So all I had to do was refer my root folder to the ML - ONCE! Everything got associated, organized and set up in easily browsed (and searched) lists. And the best part is that the library is automatically updated for me when I add to, delete from, or modify my music files in any manner.

Many plaudits and thanks to the Nullsoft team for this super creation!

blast7 · 9th January 2004, 17:35

I agree..... the new WA5 Media Library kicks major ass! I am a converted WMP user (mainly because the WMP media library does not support mp4s) and there are only a few minor features missing that would make it the ultimate media library....... not that I'm complaining, I'm pretty damn happy as it is!

Agent007 · 9th January 2004, 19:50

IMHO, the ratings need to be a bit simpler...Everytime a song plays, I have to search for it and then rate which is quite a long process....other than that, its neat and Views are good..

blast7 · 9th January 2004, 20:11

Quote:

Originally posted by Agent007
IMHO, the ratings need to be a bit simpler...Everytime a song plays, I have to search for it and then rate which is quite a long process....other than that, its neat and Views are good..

Good point! I never use ratings so it's kind of a wash for me. I could see how they might be useful though... especially if you want to randomly play files from a particular ratings group (is this possible in WA5?)

Qaxar · 9th January 2004, 23:29

Agent007...
I'm not quibbling, just curious. You said that searching for a song and rating it is a long process. Could you describe how you go about doing it?

Qaxar · 9th January 2004, 23:44

Quote:

Originally posted by blast7
Good point! I never use ratings so it's kind of a wash for me. I could see how they might be useful though... especially if you want to randomly play files from a particular ratings group (is this possible in WA5?)

Blast7...
Seems to me that it wouldn't be too hard to do this...
First, clear the playlist editor, then in the Media Library select the Local Media and click on the Ratings header. This sorts the songs into the ratings groups.

Select the songs within the desired ratings group, right click, and enqueue. Now you have a playlist of all songs in the rating group - set shuffle on, and play.

There might be a better way, but the above shouldn't require more than a minute or two.

blast7 · 10th January 2004, 00:09

I found that you can also right click on Local Media in the Media Library - add a new view - set the filters of that view to whatever you want (the choices are very flexible) - and name it (***** Rating for example)

Then double click on that name in the left pane of the Media Library and turn shuffle on....... now you have a permanent list that is updated every time you rate something.

blast7 · 10th January 2004, 00:11

Although I think that ratings and genre should both be default views in the left pane in a future release. Too much of a hassle to create them all yourself. Both ratings and genre should be auto-detected from the files in the library and updated when ever a new file is added or a rating is given.

Agent007 · 10th January 2004, 07:06

@Qaxar,
I called it a long process, bcause I prefer to rate songs as I listen to them....The main Window is always in winshade mode. Everytime a song plays, I have to bring up the ML and search for it so as to rate. This seems OK for 5-10 songs but doing it for 50+ can be quite a hassle...

The IDEAL thing would be to right-click on the main window (where u c the song title) and have the ratings option there..Now, that would be totally COOL!!! and would rock!! :-)

Qaxar · 10th January 2004, 13:20

@Agent007
Thanks for your response. You make the same observation as blast7 - It would be neater to make the ratings directly within the Playlist Editor.

I'm sure that there will be many views about desired improvements to the ML. But my opinion remains that this ML is a super product.

Agent007 · 10th January 2004, 18:07

Someone mentioned that it may not be possible to add the ratings feature in the playlist since it based on the 2.x code...If its not possible to add it in the main window too, then we'd have to get used to the ML for that...and thats my only gripe!

9th January 2004, 17:28	#1
Qaxar Major Dude Join Date: May 2000 Location: Bel Air, Maryland, USA Posts: 725	The superb media library I don't usually get too carried away, but I have to say something about the WA5 Media Library... I've never had too much success working with various Media Libaries - looked at the one in Windows Media Player, but didn't want to waste my time trying to figure it out (no loss - don't like WMP anyway), and played with the Library in WA3, but it seemed messy to me, etc. Now I've set up the WA5 Media Library, and it knocks me out! I have about 2500 tracks in various subfolders, but all filed under a single root folder. So all I had to do was refer my root folder to the ML - ONCE! Everything got associated, organized and set up in easily browsed (and searched) lists. And the best part is that the library is automatically updated for me when I add to, delete from, or modify my music files in any manner. Many plaudits and thanks to the Nullsoft team for this super creation!

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9th January 2004, 17:35	#2
blast7 Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sacramento, Ca Posts: 68	I agree..... the new WA5 Media Library kicks major ass! I am a converted WMP user (mainly because the WMP media library does not support mp4s) and there are only a few minor features missing that would make it the ultimate media library....... not that I'm complaining, I'm pretty damn happy as it is!

9th January 2004, 19:50	#3
Agent007 Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 63	IMHO, the ratings need to be a bit simpler...Everytime a song plays, I have to search for it and then rate which is quite a long process....other than that, its neat and Views are good..

9th January 2004, 23:29	#5
Qaxar Major Dude Join Date: May 2000 Location: Bel Air, Maryland, USA Posts: 725	Agent007... I'm not quibbling, just curious. You said that searching for a song and rating it is a long process. Could you describe how you go about doing it?

10th January 2004, 00:09	#7
blast7 Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sacramento, Ca Posts: 68	I found that you can also right click on Local Media in the Media Library - add a new view - set the filters of that view to whatever you want (the choices are very flexible) - and name it (***** Rating for example) Then double click on that name in the left pane of the Media Library and turn shuffle on....... now you have a permanent list that is updated every time you rate something.

10th January 2004, 00:11	#8
blast7 Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Sacramento, Ca Posts: 68	Although I think that ratings and genre should both be default views in the left pane in a future release. Too much of a hassle to create them all yourself. Both ratings and genre should be auto-detected from the files in the library and updated when ever a new file is added or a rating is given.

10th January 2004, 07:06	#9
Agent007 Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 63	@Qaxar, I called it a long process, bcause I prefer to rate songs as I listen to them....The main Window is always in winshade mode. Everytime a song plays, I have to bring up the ML and search for it so as to rate. This seems OK for 5-10 songs but doing it for 50+ can be quite a hassle... The IDEAL thing would be to right-click on the main window (where u c the song title) and have the ratings option there..Now, that would be totally COOL!!! and would rock!! :-)

10th January 2004, 13:20	#10
Qaxar Major Dude Join Date: May 2000 Location: Bel Air, Maryland, USA Posts: 725	@Agent007 Thanks for your response. You make the same observation as blast7 - It would be neater to make the ratings directly within the Playlist Editor. I'm sure that there will be many views about desired improvements to the ML. But my opinion remains that this ML is a super product.

10th January 2004, 18:07	#11
Agent007 Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 63	Someone mentioned that it may not be possible to add the ratings feature in the playlist since it based on the 2.x code...If its not possible to add it in the main window too, then we'd have to get used to the ML for that...and thats my only gripe!