A way for playlists to play highly rated songs more often than un/badly rated ones

[MusicNeuroPatter]

I think it would be great if there was an option that plays highly rated (ie 5 stars) songs more often than badly or unrated ones in a playlist (that have random order set to on).

This way you hear more of the songs you actually like but still won't leave out the rest.
What do you think ?

[Crashguard303]

Yes, that's an idea we were discussing about, too:
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=351953
There is also an example to... well...
"imitate" this by using smart views/winamp query.

Regards,
Alex

[MusicNeuroPatter]

Originally Posted by Crashguard303

Yes, that's an idea we were discussing about, too:
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=351953
There is also an example to... well...
"imitate" this by using smart views/winamp query.

Regards,
Alex

Cool! Though when I click 'create playlist' it takes long time to load and then crashes somewhere at 4/4. Happened twice now, if this is the wrong place to get the smart filter going that you wrote about pls write. Also if you'd use this method wouldn't it make use of all your tracks instead of just the ones in a specific playlist ? Actually I'm pretty new to winamp so in case you have some easy step by step tutorial this would be very helpful. Thanks!

[Aminifu]

Hi MusicNeuroPatter,

Yes, Crashguard303 is suggesting ways to improve randomizing songs in a specific playlist. You are having the same problem many others have with the Winamp feature that generates a playlist from a 'seed' song. The specific reason this feature works for some and not for others has not been found. There are several posts about this. Use the forum search feature to find them, you may find a suggestion that gets the feature working for you.

This feature is supported by Gracenote and the problem seems to be related to how Winamp is using the Gracenote provided library files (dlls) and/or how Winamp is communicating with the Gracenote web based database files. Unfortunately there currently is no easy step by step tutorial to get this working.

The feature works on my system, but I don't like the results. In my opinion, you would be better off using the 'smart views' feature in the media library to create custom views (lists) of your files.

You can also use 3rd party apps to create playlists from a 'seed' song. There are also several posts on this.

[DrO]

officially it's known that in some cases that feature (generate playlist) will crash (as well as when using auto-tag which uses some of the same functionality).

there is a solution, however that is not likely to be coming soon purely because it involves re-writing a chunk of things due to having to change how we interact with Gracenote's dlls - not because the current implementation is bad but is due to an api change by Gracenote to get a working solution.

[Crashguard303]

@MusicNeuroPatter:

Originally Posted by MusicNeuroPatter

Cool! Though when I click 'create playlist' it takes long time to load and then crashes somewhere at 4/4.

You click 'Create playlist', then Winamp crashes?
How many files do you have?
Before it crashes, does it ask for a name of the new playlist at least?

Originally Posted by MusicNeuroPatter

Happened twice now, if this is the wrong place to get the smart filter going that you wrote about pls write.

Yes, wrong place
If you want to use the smart filter, you must 'Add Smart View...' in Local Media section (above 'Playlists')
by clicking right mouse,
not a 'New Playlist...' in Playlists section

I've mailed you a screenshot.

Originally Posted by MusicNeuroPatter

Also if you'd use this method wouldn't it make use of all your tracks instead of just the ones in a specific playlist ?

For the start - yes, because it isn't a playlist.
But you can use the

1. track-rating,
2. 'last play'-
3. 'comment'- or
4. 'category' MP3-tags

to fish the tracks out from the pool via smart view.

When creating a view, you can specify which files are allowed to be used in general.
As soon as it is saved, you can refine the 'outer' query in the search bar,
or extend the 'inner' query, stored in the view itself.

A list in 'Winamp Library' appears. Double-click into a track.
This will create a playlist and start playing the file you double-clicked.

Originally Posted by MusicNeuroPatter

Actually I'm pretty new to winamp so in case you have some easy step by step tutorial this would be very helpful. Thanks!

Hm, I looked for something like this, but I didn't find such, sorry.
But maybe you can try to create a smart view at first, then I can help you with fine-tuning.

Regards,
Alex

[DrO]

I've already answered why he's getting a crash when trying to use that feature and trying to use your smart view alternative should suffice.

[Crashguard303]

@DrO:
And for those people, where it won't suffice, they now can find an answer here, too.