Hi, all! Foobar looks like a pretty slick player, but I'm having a little trouble getting it to work the way I want it to.

As an intro, I'm running WinXP, I'm trying foobar as a fan of Winamp 5 (mostly for the media library and global hotkeys, but I'm sick of the resource usage). I went with the 'special' installation of foobar2000. I'm using the Columns UI mode.

So, then, my questions:
1. Are there ANY skins for foobar2000 ANYWHERE?
2. How active is foobar2000 development? What is planeed for 1.0?
3. I'm hoping to use the 'extended search' componenet as a replacement for the Winamp Media Library (WML). It works okay, but: is there a search I can run to display everything in the database? Can I get columns in the extended search results box like in Columns UI? Can I add selected files in extended search with a simple key instead of right-click and 'add to playlist'?
4. Is there a component/option somewhere for diskwriting to MP3?

I guess my biggest wish, and the 1 thing that would apparently make foobar2000 all but perfect (for me, lol) would be a new component: a Winamp-esque media library that would give you different views (with customizable columns) and it would search through the selected view as you type, and then you could just highlight the tracks you want and hit enter and they would play/be added to the playlist. Also you could view playlists there, too. That would be sweet.

Anyway, in case it sounds like I'm complaining too much, here's what I love about foobar2000 so far!

Speed, simplicity, resource management.
Obsessive configurability.
Componenet structure.
Amazingly configurable hotkeys.
The systray popup notifier.
A thousand other things I take for granted.

0. It pays off to look at the "Most sought after plugins" and "must-know sites for fb2k" threads in the "General" subforum.

1. There are different playlist formats for both the default UI and columns UI. There exists foo_looks which is a skinnable UI addition.

3. You should try foo_dbsearch, it can do pretty much everything you requested except for displaying results with real columns.

4. Diskwriter: the configuration is in preferences under Components->Diskwriter, the actual context menu command is called "Convert/Run conversion".

5. See keyboard shortcuts page in preferences, every command that is available for the main or context menu can be bound to a keyboard shortcut - even a global one, if you need.

0. Thanks, I'll check it out.

1. Thanks, I'll check it out.

3. Thanks, I'll check it out.

4. Yes, but I can only do WAV, not MP3. Right now, anyway. Can I download something to do MP3?

5. - sorry mate! I discovered that on second perusal of the hotkeys dialogue, and removed that number from my post. Thanks anyway.

foo_dbsearch ****ing rules!!!!

foo_looks is cool, too! Though I probably won't activate them much because there isn't a skin that works for my tastes at the moment, but no big loss (and I could always make my own).

Foobar2000 has FAR exceeded my expectations (I tried it about six months ago, hated it). I'll play around with it a bit more - I may be able to say goodbye to resource-hog Winamp!

since you've got the special version and can only encode to wav, that means you just did not install the additional encoders during set-up. when you install foobar select the encoders you need under
optional components -> diskwriter outputs

however an mp3 encoder is not supplied with foobar2k and you'll have to download a separate command line encoder (a lame.exe for instance at http://www.rarewares.org/mp3.html) and configure it as a CLI encoder (there are already several presets for lame in foobar, just specify the path to lame.exe)

Yes, I looked through those on installation - I don't use those formats so I didn't install the ability to write to them.

Now, about this lame encoder... I know I've got it already, just have to find it. But how do I set it up? I don't have any presets under Preferences->Components->Diskwriter->Output Presets except for 2 WAV presets, and when I 'add new' I get the addition of 'Legacy 0.7.' And where do I browse to point to the lame.exe?

Thanks for your help!

When you 'add new', you should have an option "commandline encoder". Use that. (The component is foo_clienc.dll if you want to check if you have it. If you dont, re-install foobar2000, and check the commandline encoder when you install)

If you can't see the lame preset, try to reinstall foobar (all settings will be the same) and install all diskwriter outputs, then you should see them.

Yep, missing ff_clienc.dll - but I don't want to lose all my settings - isn't there some place to just download foo_clienc.dll like most other components?

If you install foobar over your previous installation, it will keep your settings i think. But you can backup the foobar2000.cfg (or similar) named file if you wish.

Thanks!

Hmm a few things I'd recommend to have a look at for better foobar looks is:
Hadda's foopilot skin for foo_looks v2.1
Foo columns UI formatting strings(I loved the Azrael rexy mod)
Button sets for Columns UI: Example Button Set