foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod, iPod -> Foobar2000 0.8 Options

[Klato]

Just tried 0.9.9f. When I attempt to "Sync Current Playlist" on my library, I get a dialogue that says "Unable to read the iTunesDB file" and then "If you have a new or freshly formatted iPod, this is not an error" My iPod is neither new nor freshly formatted, and everything was working ok with 0.9.9e.

Oh I forgot to mention that that at the end of my last sync (0.9.9e), fb2k crashed. Tried rebuilding database with 0.9.9f, but it doesn't seem to like my iPod anymore. I can't find any way to fix this with foo_pod...and I can't find 0.9.9e anywhere.

(Although my iPod still works fine.)

Edit: ok i got it working, for some reason my drive letter had changed. bleh.

This post has been edited by Klato: Mar 23 2005, 10:35

[mobyduck]

Just tried 0.9.9f.  When I attempt to "Sync Current Playlist" on my library, I get a dialogue that says "Unable to read the iTunesDB file" and then "If you have a new or freshly formatted iPod, this is not an error"  My iPod is neither new nor freshly formatted, and everything was working ok with 0.9.9e.

I don't have this problem with 0.9.9f: perhaps something's wrong with your db...

HTH.

Alessandro

[Aero]

Everything is fine now, but this happens when I try the menu speedup option,

for example, this album is already on my iPod:


Without browse menu speedup (the temporary option):


With browse menu speedup:


When I navigate Music / Artist / Album, the tracks for each album are out of order. When I navigate Music / Songs, that list is in order. When I disable menu speedup, everything is fine.

This might have something to do with it: Right after I upgraded to this latest version, Foobar abended while my iPod was mounting. When I restarted it, and ejected the iPod, none of the songs showed up and I had to rebuild the database. *shrug*

It almost looks like your tracknumbers are messed up in the iPod database. The browse menu speedup shouldn't have any effect beyond the Artist/Album/Genre/Composer/Song Name level, but I'll have to admit that I haven't fully tested (or even fully understand) how they work on the iPod.

If you would, please send me the before and after databases, so I can check them out. Thanks!

[quazi]

If you would, please send me the before and after databases, so I can check them out.  Thanks!

I sent you a PM of the files directly from the iPod itself. I was originally going to send you the XML conversions, but they came out identical for some reason. As they are now, at least they're different filesizes (376kb vs 385kb).

[ZhuGeLiang]

With the browse menu speedup my tracks are out of order too (Music/Artist/Album).

[Aero]

Hmm...ok, I'll take a look at the files quazi sent and see what is going on.

Edit: Just to be clear, I can reproduce this as well.

This post has been edited by Aero: Mar 21 2005, 23:48

[Yamabushi]

Sorry, if this has already been adressed. Is there some way to reduce the thread priority when transcoding to my iPod? I would like to be able to continue listening to music uninterrupted and be able to do other stuff with my system. I do it when using the diskwriter, but haven't figured it out for foo_pod yet.

Thanks for the help and as an aside, I was anti-iPod until I found this component and then I went out and got one the next day. lol

Cheers,
Pete

This post has been edited by Yamabushi: Mar 22 2005, 16:41

[Aero]

Sorry, if this has already been adressed. Is there some way to reduce the thread priority when transcoding to my iPod? I would like to be able to continue listening to music uninterrupted and be able to do other stuff with my system. I do it when using the diskwriter, but haven't figured it out for foo_pod yet.

I don't explicitly set the priority, so it is inherited from Foobar. When I want to transcode in the background, I usually set Foobar's priority to Below Normal, and any subsequent encoder tasks will also be Below Normal priority. Having a user controlled priority for the transcoder would be a good feature to add to foo_pod - I'll make sure I add that for the next version.

Thanks for the help and as an aside, I was anti-iPod until I found this component and then I went out and got one the next day. lol

Cool! I'm sure Apple will be happy to cut me a commission check for helping to sell iPods!

[Yamabushi]

Thank you Aero!

Thanks both for your speedy response, but even more importantly for this great component! Me <3 Aero

Thanks,
Pete

[nologin]

Great Work, Aero! Foo_pod rocks.
Excellent, fantastic, marvelous... are all adjectives I can think of about your work.

I find out that some songs in my ipod are too soft after Sound Check enabled, could I modify the Sound Check Value by foo_pod?

[Aero]

Great Work, Aero! Foo_pod rocks.
Excellent, fantastic, marvelous... are all adjectives I can think of about your work.

Thanks, thanks, and thanks!

I find out that some songs in my ipod are too soft after Sound Check enabled, could I modify the Sound Check Value by foo_pod?

What you want to do is set (or increase) the pre-amp volume slider, found at the bottom of the Main foo_pod Preferences tab. Personaly, I set it to about 20% in order to boost the volume for ReplayGain/SoundCheck songs to a more normal level. The next time you save the database (when you add or remove a song, for example), the preamp value will be applied to all songs.


This works on all tracks, although as I was typing this, I thought that adding separate pre-amp sliders for tracks with SoundCheck and those without SoundCheck would be a good idea (not an original idea, though - Foobar already has this feature for ReplayGain).

With separate pre-amp volume controls, you could turn down the volume for songs without SoundCheck (or leave it at 0% and turn up the volume for SoundCheck songs), and get a better balance of volume levels. I'll add that to the list of things to add/fix for the next version.

[zach_smith]

Having just discovered foo_pod, all I can say is THANKS Aero. I have beed using it with my Shuffle and am anxious to be able to use the "OttoFill" feature. Is there any need for help or testing?

This post has been edited by zach_smith: Mar 23 2005, 21:17

[Aero]

Having just discovered foo_pod, all I can say is THANKS Aero.  I have beed using it with my Shuffle and am anxious to be able to use the "OttoFill" feature.  Is there any need for help or testing?

Thanks!

I don't have anything ready to test yet, but since I have so little implemented, the OttoFill feature set is open for suggestions. I have actually never used iTunes' AutoFill feature, and all I know about it is what I have read and various screenshots.

My idea for the basic OttoFill feature is a small dialog that pops up, with a slider to control what percentage of the iPod Shuffle to use for music. If you don't do anything, it automatically starts in 10 seconds (I have all of that implemented already). What I haven't decided is if the songs should come from the currently selected Foobar playlist, or from all open playlists (maybe there could be a checkbox on the OttoFill dialog?).

One more advanced OttoFill feature I want to implement at some point is the ability to transfer songs directly from a hard drive based iPod to the Shuffle. That would include some kind of option to choose from all songs, or maybe from a particular playlist/smart playlist. Depending on how fancy people want it, maybe the OttoFill could run its own smart playlist, so you could select only 4 or 5 star songs, most/least played songs, etc.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what people would want to see in the OttoFill feature.

[quazi]

Anyway, I'd love to hear what people would want to see in the OttoFill feature.

Something like this (except not as ugly)



I think of it as pretty basic, "fill (size) from (source) according to (criteria)", but allows for complicated criteria if the need arises.

Size
a slider and a "replace all songs" checkbox (like iTunes, I guess)

Source - pull-down menu:
- current playlist
- entire database
- another iPod

Criteria - options:
- random
- basic Smart Playlist options (by rating, most/least played, etc)
- advanced: TAGZ strings ("OttoFill by Hotness", anyone?)

Since a big part of Foobar's design philosophy is "options, options, options", someone out there would probably use "fill from multiple playlists". (I'd just make a new playlist and filter it from there.)


EDIT ..and support for more than just an iPod Shuffle -- I might want to OttoFill to my iPod mini.

This post has been edited by quazi: Mar 24 2005, 20:49

[Aero]

Something like this (except not as ugly)

Don't worry, I have plenty of experience is creating ugly interfaces! I am currently working with this dialog design.

I think of it as pretty basic, "fill (size) from (source) according to (criteria)", but allows for complicated criteria if the need arises.

Size
a slider and a "replace all songs" checkbox (like iTunes, I guess)

I like the "Replace All Songs" checkbox. I assume that most people will want to completely replace the contents every time, but it isn't much more work to support partial fills as well. The slider is pretty cut and dry, although in my code, I'm filling the slider with the current free disk space (I'm using my computer's hard drive as the example - I've selected about 50% of the space to use for music, and there is about 35% of the disk currently free).

Source - pull-down menu:
- current playlist
- entire database
- another iPod

I have the same items here, except I did them as radio buttons (it makes selecting the iPod easier).

Criteria - options:
- random
- basic Smart Playlist options (by rating, most/least played, etc)
- advanced: TAGZ strings ("OttoFill by Hotness", anyone?)

I hadn't thought of using TAGZ strings as a filter. Along with the smart playlist option, it will probably have to wait for a future release, though.

Thanks for your design! I'll probably use something very similar as soon as I add some of the "criteria" features.

Edit:

EDIT ..and support for more than just an iPod Shuffle -- I might want to OttoFill to my iPod mini.

Done and done! OttoFill isn't limited to an iPod Shuffle, although it will only automatically start when transferring to a Shuffle (to prevent accidental wiping of hard drive based iPods).

This post has been edited by Aero: Mar 24 2005, 20:58

[quazi]

EDIT ..and support for more than just an iPod Shuffle -- I might want to OttoFill to my iPod mini.

Done and done! OttoFill isn't limited to an iPod Shuffle, although it will only automatically start when transferring to a Shuffle (to prevent accidental wiping of hard drive based iPods).

Sweet! That's the big one I was looking for (otherwise I wouldn't have been able to use anything else).

BTW, I like your slider a lot better -- mine turned out really ugly because I can push Excel VBA Forms only so far..

Did I mention that I didn't get an iPod until three weeks ago, and it was also mainly due to this thread? (You can safely say foo_pod has a cult following)

This post has been edited by quazi: Mar 25 2005, 06:51

[daniel1113]

I too finally bought an ipod after seeing the progress that foo_pod has made over the past year. If I wasn't going to be able to use my ipod with foobar, there is no way I would have purchased one. Foo_pod has definitely been an awesome plugin. Thanks for all your hard work!

BTW, a new software update was released for the ipod photo today. One of the new features includes a compilation menu. Basically, when activated, any compilation albums that are on the ipod won't show up as individual artists in the "artists" menu, which is easily cluttered due to VA albums. It doesn't seem to work on my ipod, so I'm guessing there is some sort of tag that itunes adds to compilation albums that the ipod detects. Any ideas?

This post has been edited by daniel1113: Mar 25 2005, 23:06

[Aero]

I too finally bought an ipod after seeing the progress that foo_pod has made over the past year. If I wasn't going to be able to use my ipod with foobar, there is no way I would have purchased one. Foo_pod has definitely been an awesome plugin. Thanks for all your hard work!

Thank you! You would think that with all of the alternatives to iTunes (not just foo_pod, but GnuPod, Ephpod, ml_ipod, and the various commercial apps) that Apple would take notice and realize that if they opened up the iPod and made it developer friendly, it would benefit them in the long run.

BTW, a new software update was released for the ipod photo today. One of the new features includes a compilation menu. Basically, when activated, any compilation albums that are on the ipod won't show up as individual artists in the "artists" menu, which is easily cluttered due to VA albums. It doesn't seem to work on my ipod, so I'm guessing there is some sort of tag that itunes adds to compilation albums that the ipod detects. Any ideas?

I don't have an iPod Photo (anymore... ), but I assume that it is using the compliation bit in the database. foo_pod currently sets this if the artist is "Various Artists" or there is a metadata item "COMPILATION" in the song. If you want, try sending a song with either of these set and see if it puts it in the Compilation menu.

I just chose those 2 things arbritrarily, since I don't use Compliation/Various Artists myself. Is there a better standard to use instead? (metadata item "VA", or Album Artist?)

[daniel1113]

I don't have an iPod Photo (anymore... ), but I assume that it is using the compliation bit in the database.  foo_pod currently sets this if the artist is "Various Artists" or there is a metadata item "COMPILATION" in the song.  If you want, try sending a song with either of these set and see if it puts it in the Compilation menu. 

I just chose those 2 things arbritrarily, since I don't use Compliation/Various Artists myself.  Is there a better standard to use instead?  (metadata item "VA", or Album Artist?)

Ah ha... I bet that will do it. I will try it out and let you know.

Do you think it would be possible to detect compilation albums without a special designation, though? For example, foo_columns_ui detects VA albums solely based on whether or not all of the artists for a particular album are the same. Could foo_pod use a similar check, and then when a VA album is discovered, the proper flag is created in the ipod DB?

Oh, and sorry to hear about your ipod photo! I remember reading about that a few weeks ago, but I didn't realize it was you.

This post has been edited by daniel1113: Mar 26 2005, 00:16

[drbeachboy]

I don't have an iPod Photo (anymore... ), but I assume that it is using the compliation bit in the database.  foo_pod currently sets this if the artist is "Various Artists" or there is a metadata item "COMPILATION" in the song.  If you want, try sending a song with either of these set and see if it puts it in the Compilation menu. 

I just chose those 2 things arbritrarily, since I don't use Compliation/Various Artists myself.  Is there a better standard to use instead?  (metadata item "VA", or Album Artist?)

Ah ha... I bet that will do it. I will try it out and let you know.

Do you think it would be possible to detect compilation albums without a special designation, though? For example, foo_columns_ui detects VA albums solely based on whether or not all of the artists for a particular album are the same. Could foo_pod use a similar check, and then when a VA album is discovered, the proper flag is created in the ipod DB?

Oh, and sorry to hear about your ipod photo! I remember reading about that a few weeks ago, but I didn't realize it was you.

Foobar2000 & Columns_UI read "Various Artist" from the "Album Artist" tag in your audio file.

[Aero]

Do you think it would be possible to detect compilation albums without a special designation, though? For example, foo_columns_ui detects VA albums solely based on whether or not all of the artists for a particular album are the same. Could foo_pod use a similar check, and then when a VA album is discovered, the proper flag is created in the ipod DB?

Maybe, although it is easier for foo_columns_ui, since it has all of the information available to it, in memory, all at the same time. With foo_pod, you might send a song here and there. Also, I'm not really dealing with album as such.

I guess I could go through all of the songs after they are written, and determine if tracks with the same album have different artists, and mark those as compilations. Up until now, there wasn't much point in bothering with compilation, since only Smart Playlists used that database field.

[Aero]

Foobar2000 & Columns_UI read "Various Artist" from the "Album Artist" tag in your audio file.

Yeah, I guess I could have just checked for myself (from the default Foobar playlist formating):

CODE

// check if track belongs to VA album
$if($or($stricmp(%album artist%,VA),$stricmp($left(%album artist%,7),various)),$puts(va,1),)

//if 'album artist' tag is present
$if(%album artist%,
// set 'artist' to VA for VA albums, and to 'album artist' otherwise:
$if($get(va),$puts(artist,VA),$puts(artist,%album artist%))
//if 'artist' is different from 'album artist', append the former to the title
$if($strcmp(%album artist%,%artist%),$puts(title,%title%),
$puts(title,%title% '//' %artist%)),
//no 'album artist' found
$puts(artist,%artist%)$puts(title,%title%)
)

So if I'm reading that right, if ALBUM_ARTIST is "VA" or starts with "Various", it is a compilation. I'll do that same in the next version of foo_pod.

[daniel1113]

Oh... I thought the organization string that I've been using on my collection was from columns_ui, but I must have added it myself. Either way, it is possible to do, and I'd be more than glad to share my organization string. However, this is a small request, and by no means needs to be added to foo_pod. I think I can handle a few extra artists listed on my ipod rather than having you spend the time to code this in to foo_pod.

[ezekiel2517]

Hi guys, quick observation regarding automatic playlist creation with transcoded files.

A lot of my mp3s have really messed up id3 tags (didn't start properly tagging till recently), so I usually arrange my mp3s on the ipod by playlist -- a playlist for every album. I drag+drop a folder from my harddisk into foobar with ColumnsUI, and a playlist with the folder title is automatically created. Then, I just use foo_pod's "send all playlists to iPod" feature, and I'm all set. This arragement works really well for me.

One problem I'm having though is when foo_pod runs into a playlist that is filled with files that need to be transcoded into mp3. When foo_pod automatically transcodes them, these transcoded songs are then seperated from the playlist and aren't where they should be when I look for them on the ipod. In order to access these transcoded songs, I need to search for them individually by artist/title whatever; they aren't in the playlists like they are in foo_pod.

I don't know if this is a bug, or if I'm doing something wrong. It's not a big inconveinence by any stretch of the imagination, I just thought I'd bring it to your attention (and if anybody has any ideas for a workaround, so that I can do on-the-fly transcoding with playlists intact, I'd greatly appreciate it).

Thank you for an otherwise awesome component! I'm not much of an itunes fan, and this meets my needs very nicely.

[quazi]

So if I'm reading that right, if ALBUM_ARTIST is "VA" or starts with "Various", it is a compilation.  I'll do that same in the next version of foo_pod.

It would save me a bit of trouble, but I like being able to configure it with TAGZ strings. On my current strings for example, I'm checking for when album artist exists, but isn't equal to VA, do something else (because my collection has different types of compilation discs).

A quick "check for compilation discs" checkbox would make sense along with the encouraged tag standards though.

This post has been edited by quazi: Mar 26 2005, 11:48