Album Art Downloader XUI has moved to a new thread:
Album Art Downloader XUI
Please see that topic for updates and discussion about the XUI branch.
Full Version: Album Art Downloader
Alex, BRAVO man. New version is really slick. This will be useful for people (it pops up if you send wrong commandline parameters) -
The click-and-hold-to-preview is a very nice added feature. GREAT JOB!
Incidentally, I found out this computer at work....EATS IT big time on .NET 3 apps
15-25% CPU usage and 100+ MBs RAM just sitting there...ugh.
Only 2 things I can think of at the moment to request -
1. Option to put the image info below the thumbnail instead of to the side
2. A 'Stop All' button at the top of the sources column
CODE
Album Art Downloader XUI version 0.1.0.0
**** Only the first three parameters may be un-named ****
Usage: AlbumArt.exe [options]
Option names may be preceded by a / or a -
Options:
/artist Artist to search for (/artist "Artist Name")
May be abbreviated to /ar (/ar "Artist Name")
Parameter name may be omitted
if this is the first parameter ("Artist Name")
/album Album to search for (/album "Album Name")
May be abbreviated to /al (/al "Album Name")
Parameter name may be omitted
if this is the second parameter ("Artist Name" "Album Name")
/path Default path to save art as (/path "\Art\Folder.jpg")
May be abbreviated to /p (/p "\Art\Folder.jpg")
Parameter name may be omitted
if this is the third parameter ("Artist Name" "Album Name" "\Art\Folder.jpg")
The following variables can be used in paths:
%artist% Artist searched for
%album% Album searched for
%name% Name of the image found
%extension% Default file extension for the image
%source% Name of the source where image was found
%size% Dimensions of the image
/f Provided for backwards (/p "\Art" /f "Folder.jpg")
compatibility only. When
specified, the value is
appended to the path.
/autoclose Closes the search window after (/autoclose)
a saving. To avoid closing, use
Save As.
May be abbreviated to /ac
/sources Searches only the specified (/sources "Amazon,Coveralia")
sources. Others are disabled.
Separate sources with commas.
May be abbreviated to /s
/exclude Does not search the specified (/exclude "Local Files,Google")
sources. Separate sources with
commas.
May be abbreviated to /es
For backwards compatibilty, the
parameter "/ae off" can also be
used to exclude "Local Files".
**** Only the first three parameters may be un-named ****
Usage: AlbumArt.exe [options]
Option names may be preceded by a / or a -
Options:
/artist Artist to search for (/artist "Artist Name")
May be abbreviated to /ar (/ar "Artist Name")
Parameter name may be omitted
if this is the first parameter ("Artist Name")
/album Album to search for (/album "Album Name")
May be abbreviated to /al (/al "Album Name")
Parameter name may be omitted
if this is the second parameter ("Artist Name" "Album Name")
/path Default path to save art as (/path "\Art\Folder.jpg")
May be abbreviated to /p (/p "\Art\Folder.jpg")
Parameter name may be omitted
if this is the third parameter ("Artist Name" "Album Name" "\Art\Folder.jpg")
The following variables can be used in paths:
%artist% Artist searched for
%album% Album searched for
%name% Name of the image found
%extension% Default file extension for the image
%source% Name of the source where image was found
%size% Dimensions of the image
/f Provided for backwards (/p "\Art" /f "Folder.jpg")
compatibility only. When
specified, the value is
appended to the path.
/autoclose Closes the search window after (/autoclose)
a saving. To avoid closing, use
Save As.
May be abbreviated to /ac
/sources Searches only the specified (/sources "Amazon,Coveralia")
sources. Others are disabled.
Separate sources with commas.
May be abbreviated to /s
/exclude Does not search the specified (/exclude "Local Files,Google")
sources. Separate sources with
commas.
May be abbreviated to /es
For backwards compatibilty, the
parameter "/ae off" can also be
used to exclude "Local Files".
The click-and-hold-to-preview is a very nice added feature. GREAT JOB!
Incidentally, I found out this computer at work....EATS IT big time on .NET 3 apps
15-25% CPU usage and 100+ MBs RAM just sitting there...ugh.Only 2 things I can think of at the moment to request -
1. Option to put the image info below the thumbnail instead of to the side
2. A 'Stop All' button at the top of the sources column
The XUI version is working nicely with my first few queries/saves. Thanks a bunch!
One more small thing, the Amazon script doesn't seem to be grabbing the image size. It says unknown for everything until you click on it to download the full image in preview. If you have a minimum size set, like 200px, then none of the Amazon results show up.
Request -
Can you add a maximum image size as well? It would help in filtering out misc junk.
Request -
Can you add a maximum image size as well? It would help in filtering out misc junk.
QUOTE(wraithdu) 
Alex, BRAVO man. New version is really slick.
Thanks! Glad you liked itQUOTE(wraithdu)
15-25% CPU usage and 100+ MBs RAM just sitting there...ugh.
Ouch. I've checked this out, and can confirm that after doing a search the CPU usage can stay over 0, even after all activity has completed. Checking out the code, it insists that it isn't doing anything, so it must be something WPF internal that's eating it. I'll do some more research, and see if there is anything that can be done to improve matters. There may not be, though.QUOTE(wraithdu)
Option to put the image info below the thumbnail instead of to the side
I'll see how this goes. If it looks good and usable, I'll include it in the next release.QUOTE(wraithdu)
A 'Stop All' button at the top of the sources column
Like it. Already done, will be in the next release.QUOTE(wraithdu)
One more small thing, the Amazon script doesn't seem to be grabbing the image size.
Unfortunately Amazon does not make the size of its images available, so the only way to determine them is to download them. If you check the "Automatically download full size images" checkbox then they will have their size filled in when the full size one downloads.QUOTE(wraithdu)
If you have a minimum size set, like 200px, then none of the Amazon results show up.
If the size is Unknown, then it will filter on the thumbnail size. Setting it a bit smaller than 200px would let them show up, but still filter out the errors, which are usually single-digit size. Alternatively, if using "Automatically download full size images", then once the full size image has downloaded it will appear in the results (if it is bigger than 200px).QUOTE(wraithdu)
Can you add a maximum image size as well? It would help in filtering out misc junk.
I've never noticed a problem with returning images that are too big, and Coveralia can return them up to about 1000px square. Could you give me an example search where it would be useful?
Sure, plus one more idea
I search for coverart to display in my Track Display and on my portable. It's never bigger than usually 500x500. I don't use any full screen displays, so retreiving large art (650+) is kind of pointless for me. Plus it takes extra time for the program to display thumbnails, BIG extra time if I have it set to auto download the images to get sizes, and longer to sort through the results to find what I'm looking for. I'm not looking for all the art I can find, just one cover at least 300x300. So anything that can speed up my search is a plus.
Along those lines....the last version had an option to limit the maximum number of results returned from each source. Can you add this back in? Again, anything to speed up my search is a good thing.
The end result of all this would be a search like - return a max of 10 hits from each source for images between 200px and 600px.
Oh, and I totally blame the high CPU+RAM usage on .NET3. I'm sure it's not necessarily specific to your program.
Keep up the great work!
I search for coverart to display in my Track Display and on my portable. It's never bigger than usually 500x500. I don't use any full screen displays, so retreiving large art (650+) is kind of pointless for me. Plus it takes extra time for the program to display thumbnails, BIG extra time if I have it set to auto download the images to get sizes, and longer to sort through the results to find what I'm looking for. I'm not looking for all the art I can find, just one cover at least 300x300. So anything that can speed up my search is a plus.
Along those lines....the last version had an option to limit the maximum number of results returned from each source. Can you add this back in? Again, anything to speed up my search is a good thing.
The end result of all this would be a search like - return a max of 10 hits from each source for images between 200px and 600px.
Oh, and I totally blame the high CPU+RAM usage on .NET3. I'm sure it's not necessarily specific to your program.
Keep up the great work!
Really wonderful program, thank you for maintaining it 
I have another question and a few requests -
Is the Album Queue making a return to XUI?
Requests -
1. Bring back the queue
2. Make /autoclose an option in the main program saved across sessions. Currently it is available only as a commandline switch that cannot be passed via REACT2. Also make it possible to override this option via commandline switch like /noautoclose (see usage in next request)
3. With the return of the queue, can you make it possible to load multiple albums via foo_run? I'm not sure what the foo_run command would look like for this, so if you could give some insight here that would be great. This is where /noautoclose would come in, since you wouldn't want XUI to close after saving the first cover of the queue.
Keep up the great work as usual!
Is the Album Queue making a return to XUI?
Requests -
1. Bring back the queue
2. Make /autoclose an option in the main program saved across sessions. Currently it is available only as a commandline switch that cannot be passed via REACT2. Also make it possible to override this option via commandline switch like /noautoclose (see usage in next request)
3. With the return of the queue, can you make it possible to load multiple albums via foo_run? I'm not sure what the foo_run command would look like for this, so if you could give some insight here that would be great. This is where /noautoclose would come in, since you wouldn't want XUI to close after saving the first cover of the queue.
Keep up the great work as usual!
QUOTE(wraithdu @ Mar 16 2007, 09:03)
2. Make /autoclose an option in the main program saved across sessions. Currently it is available only as a commandline switch that cannot be passed via REACT2. Also make it possible to override this option via commandline switch like /noautoclose (see usage in next request)
@ wraithdu
If you have the XUI version working with REACT2, would you please share the commandline that you are using in the REACT config file? Thanks!
QUOTE(drbeachboy @ Mar 16 2007, 07:32)
@ wraithdu
If you have the XUI version working with REACT2, would you please share the commandline that you are using in the REACT config file? Thanks!
The new XUI version works with the old CoverDownloader commandline switches as well as the new ones, so my commandline is only changed to the new path of XUI in my react.ini
QUOTE(wraithdu @ Mar 16 2007, 11:07)
The new XUI version works with the old CoverDownloader commandline switches as well as the new ones, so my commandline is only changed to the new path of XUI in my react.ini
The older CoverDownloader that comes with REACT does not need switches, so since switches have been introduced in the newer versions, I have not been able to use those newer versions with REACT. So if you would please post your command line, I would be most appreciative.
QUOTE(drbeachboy @ Mar 16 2007, 10:03)
The older CoverDownloader that comes with REACT does not need switches, so since switches have been introduced in the newer versions, I have not been able to use those newer versions with REACT. So if you would please post your command line, I would be most appreciative.
Perhaps I wasn't clear. Ther are NO commandline switches needed for REACT2 to work with AlbumArtDownloader XUI. Just set the path in your react.ini and you're done.
REACT2 automatically fills in the artist-album-path and XUI will understand them just as the old CoverDownloader did. Read my post #102 carefully and just try it.
I'll be sure to do just that later this evening. Thanks for the info.
To be crystal on this issue, the old CoverDownloader did in fact need commandline switches to work -
"%album artist%" "%album%" "%path%"
in that order and that exact sytax with the " ". The issue is that REACT2 silently passes those values to albumart.exe when it is run. Those values are hardcoded in the react.exe and not editable. The new XUI version understands values passed to it in this way as well as with the new switches.
"%album artist%" "%album%" "%path%"
in that order and that exact sytax with the " ". The issue is that REACT2 silently passes those values to albumart.exe when it is run. Those values are hardcoded in the react.exe and not editable. The new XUI version understands values passed to it in this way as well as with the new switches.
QUOTE(wraithdu @ Mar 16 2007, 13:22)
To be crystal on this issue, the old CoverDownloader did in fact need commandline switches to work -
"%album artist%" "%album%" "%path%"
in that order and that exact sytax with the " ". The issue is that REACT2 silently passes those values to albumart.exe when it is run. Those values are hardcoded in the react.exe and not editable. The new XUI version understands values passed to it in this way as well as with the new switches.
Understood! Though, I was referring to the -a -p, etc. switches that were introduced with Mark's newer version. I could never get that version to work with REACT. When I saw that the same switches were used in the XUI version, I assumed that it would not work with REACT either. I am glad to hear that the values can be passed both ways. XUI is really a terrific version, so I'm very happy to hear that works with REACT. I am looking forward to trying it out this evening when I get home from work. Thanks again for your help.
QUOTE(wraithdu @ Mar 16 2007, 13:03)
Is the Album Queue making a return to XUI?
Do you mean the ability to do multiple searches simultaneously? I thought this would be more naturally handled by the multiple window system. Each search you do opens in a new window (unless you uncheck that option). If autoclose is turned on, it only closes the window that search result is in, so if there are more than one albums searched for, then only once you've saved all of them will the whole app exit.QUOTE(wraithdu @ Mar 16 2007, 13:03)
Make /autoclose an option in the main program saved across sessions.
My thinking here was that it would only be useful when calling the program through a command line, so did not need a UI. I take your point about the problem with not being able to customise the command line for REACT2, so needing to set this manually. I'll see if I can find a good spot to stick a checkbox for it.QUOTE(wraithdu @ Mar 16 2007, 13:03)
3. With the return of the queue, can you make it possible to load multiple albums via foo_run? I'm not sure what the foo_run command would look like for this, so if you could give some insight here that would be great. This is where /noautoclose would come in, since you wouldn't want XUI to close after saving the first cover of the queue.
Could you give me some more details about what you are trying to achieve here? I was assuming if you wanted to search for multiple albums, you'd just call AlbumArt.exe multiple times, one for each album. This would have the same effect as doing multiple searches. Ideally this would keep just a single running instance and pass the details to search for to it automatically, but I haven't implemented that yet, so you'll actually get multiple instances. The only effect of that is to use up more CPU and RAM, functionally it should be identical.I'm currently away for 10 days, so development is suspended for a bit. The current state is: Information toggle to show under thumbnails is in. Stop All is in. AutoDownload for unknown size only is in. Max image size restriction UI is in, implementation shortly to follow. Restrict number of results (a per-source setting) is designed.
QUOTE(AlexVallat @ Mar 16 2007, 15:13)
Could you give me some more details about what you are trying to achieve here? I was assuming if you wanted to search for multiple albums, you'd just call AlbumArt.exe multiple times, one for each album. This would have the same effect as doing multiple searches. Ideally this would keep just a single running instance and pass the details to search for to it automatically, but I haven't implemented that yet, so you'll actually get multiple instances. The only effect of that is to use up more CPU and RAM, functionally it should be identical.
I was thinking that the ability to select tracks from multiple albums in a playlist and then calling AlbumArt via foo_run would be useful for someone with a lot of albumart to download. I think that the queue system from the last version would be more user and resource friendly than having 15 windows open up.
Have a good vacation...or trip...or whatever
I could also think of the situation when one has a largish music library with one top folder, as is common for instance if you have Slimserver/Squeezebox, where album art is previously scanned/downloaded for some of the CD's. It would then be nice to just point to the top folder and ask Album Art Downloader to recursively go through the whole library and download art for all albums where none already exists.
how do you use %extension%? i have this in foo_run
"C:\Program Files\AlbumArtDownloader\AlbumArt.exe" /artist "%artist%" /album "%album%" /path "$replace(%path%,%filename_ext%,)folder.%extension%"
"C:\Program Files\AlbumArtDownloader\AlbumArt.exe" /artist "%artist%" /album "%album%" /path "$replace(%path%,%filename_ext%,)folder.%extension%"
I have problems with the last version.
"C:\Programme\Audio\foobar2000-0.9\components\AlbumArtDownloader\albumart.exe" -ar "%artist%" -al "%album%" -p "$replace(%_path%,%_filename_ext%,)"
On double-click on a coverart it isn't automatically saved as folder.jpg to the path anymore. Any ideas/solutions? (I tried the -f parameter without luck)
"C:\Programme\Audio\foobar2000-0.9\components\AlbumArtDownloader\albumart.exe" -ar "%artist%" -al "%album%" -p "$replace(%_path%,%_filename_ext%,)"
On double-click on a coverart it isn't automatically saved as folder.jpg to the path anymore. Any ideas/solutions? (I tried the -f parameter without luck)
QUOTE(Chaser @ Mar 25 2007, 07:46)
I have problems with the last version.
"C:\Programme\Audio\foobar2000-0.9\components\AlbumArtDownloader\albumart.exe" -ar "%artist%" -al "%album%" -p "$replace(%_path%,%_filename_ext%,)"
On double-click on a coverart it isn't automatically saved as folder.jpg to the path anymore. Any ideas/solutions? (I tried the -f parameter without luck)
In your commandline you haven't specified a filename. Look some posts back for the full usage I posted. In the meantime try -
CODE
"C:\Programme\Audio\foobar2000-0.9\components\AlbumArtDownloader\albumart.exe" -ar "%artist%" -al "%album%" -p "$replace(%path%,%filename_ext%,'folder.jpg')"
I have the same problem. When I double click a cover it brings me to the Save As... window.
I'm not using that brand new version, just the normal one.
I'm not using that brand new version, just the normal one.
QUOTE(Ignite339 @ Mar 25 2007, 23:57)
I have the same problem. When I double click a cover it brings me to the Save As... window.
I'm not using that brand new version, just the normal one.
It's a known problem with that last version. It won't be updated in that form anymore. Switch to XUI.
This new version is absolutely great.
Here my string for you other guys: "C:\Programme\Audio\foobar2000-0.9\components\AlbumArtDownloaderXUI\albumart.exe" /artist "%artist%" /album "%album%" /path "$replace(%_path%,%_filename_ext%,)folder.jpg" /autoclose
One problem though. If a file already exsits it asks, whether it should be replaced - yes -> errormessage. Need more details?
"Hide pictures smaller then xx" - should it also hide the local file, if it exists?!
Here my string for you other guys: "C:\Programme\Audio\foobar2000-0.9\components\AlbumArtDownloaderXUI\albumart.exe" /artist "%artist%" /album "%album%" /path "$replace(%_path%,%_filename_ext%,)folder.jpg" /autoclose
One problem though. If a file already exsits it asks, whether it should be replaced - yes -> errormessage. Need more details?
"Hide pictures smaller then xx" - should it also hide the local file, if it exists?!
QUOTE(Chaser @ Mar 27 2007, 13:44)
One problem though. If a file already exsits it asks, whether it should be replaced - yes -> errormessage. Need more details?
If it's an "another program is using the file", then uncheck the local files search. It would appear that it doesn't release the art after looking for it.
Indeed. I meanwhile figured this out myself.
Thanks!
Thanks!
QUOTE(Purple Monkey @ Mar 27 2007, 14:07)
If it's an "another program is using the file", then uncheck the local files search. It would appear that it doesn't release the art after looking for it.
Oops, my bad.
Well, Microsoft's, technically (why should reading a file into a bitmap keep the file locked?), but anyway, I've fixed it for the next release.
Thanks for pointing it out!
Alex
Hi first off great program really loving it. Im having a tough time figuring out how to use it effectively though. Is there any manual or docs I can look at?
The two questions I have are how do I automatically (or by clicking a button) save an image to the folder specified in the "Save To:" textfield in the output section. If I hit Save As it launches a dialog which I then have to browse through to reach the correct folder. Is there no way to automatically click a button and have it save to that folder?
The second question is regarding the "Save Toolbar" tab in the settings. How exactly do you use that? I think I saw someone mention you can create buttons which will save the selected image as the front cover, back, CD etc... It would really be great to be able to use these features.
thanks
The two questions I have are how do I automatically (or by clicking a button) save an image to the folder specified in the "Save To:" textfield in the output section. If I hit Save As it launches a dialog which I then have to browse through to reach the correct folder. Is there no way to automatically click a button and have it save to that folder?
The second question is regarding the "Save Toolbar" tab in the settings. How exactly do you use that? I think I saw someone mention you can create buttons which will save the selected image as the front cover, back, CD etc... It would really be great to be able to use these features.
thanks
Concerning your first question: Try a double-click, or right-click -> "save"
When I click on image to download preview, it often freezes, I have to kill process...
Is it a known bug (fixed in next build) ? (I use the latest version)
Is it a known bug (fixed in next build) ? (I use the latest version)
AlbumArt Downloader XUI v0.2 Preview Released
Thanks for the many comments and suggestions I received following the preview release of AlbumArt Downloader XUI (I'm looking at you here, wraithdu!).
Here is a second release, which has the following changes made to it:
See main post for latest version
Thanks for the many comments and suggestions I received following the preview release of AlbumArt Downloader XUI (I'm looking at you here, wraithdu!).
Here is a second release, which has the following changes made to it:
- Added "Stop All" button
- Added ability to toggle display of thumbnail information to go below the thumbnail
- Enhanced auto download of full size images to give the options: Always, Never, and Only For Unknown Size
- Added an optional Maximum Image size restriction
- Fixed bug where Local Files source would lock the files it found, preventing them from being replaced
- Added checkbox for setting AutoClose behaviour in the UI.
- Added option to disable AutoClose behaviour from the command line: "/autoclose off"
- Added option to restrict the maximum number of results to return per source
- Foobar and file browsers (still)
- Queuing up of searches. Multiple searches can be run simultaneously, one per window, but they can't be queued up to occur sequentially.
See main post for latest version
QUOTE(AlexVallat @ Apr 1 2007, 05:34)
AlbumArt Downloader XUI v0.2 Preview Released
Thanks for the many comments and suggestions I received following the preview release of AlbumArt Downloader XUI (I'm looking at you here, wraithdu!).
Looks great, and works pretty well! I am very impressed.
There are a few minor issues on my system (Athlon 64 x2 4400+ with 2Gb ram). It does tend to hang unless you let it finish searching all the sources before you try to do anything else. The "stop all" button also takes a bit of time to kick in, freezing the program for a while in the process. If you wait a bit it comes back, but you need a bit of patience.
It would be nice to be able to just search for a particular source, and then add a new source to the search without the program doing the entire search all over again. eg. do the initial search without GoogleImage (since that can take quite a while), then choose to add GoogleImage to the search if you need more results.
Something like the "Save Toolbar" from the previous version would also be useful, so that you can eg. save cover_front.jpg, cover_back.jpg, artist.jpg, cd.jpg or whatever custom pics you like without having to enter it manually every time.
Nice job! All the new features are great and work wonderfully.
However...as much as I love your program, I HATE .NET 3!!!! This framework runs like molases on all my computers, crashes frequently, and uses more RAM than any program has a right to (hundreds of megs, at least). Microsoft needs to address these resource issues ASAP, cause it SUCKS!
However...as much as I love your program, I HATE .NET 3!!!! This framework runs like molases on all my computers, crashes frequently, and uses more RAM than any program has a right to (hundreds of megs, at least). Microsoft needs to address these resource issues ASAP, cause it SUCKS!
QUOTE(pirlouy @ Mar 29 2007, 16:48)
When I click on image to download preview, it often freezes, I have to kill process...
Is it a known bug (fixed in next build) ? (I use the latest version)
This is not a known bug, and I couldn't reproduce it. Please try the new version 0.2 I just published, and see if it helps.Is it a known bug (fixed in next build) ? (I use the latest version)
QUOTE(dub_doctor @ Apr 1 2007, 02:30)
The "stop all" button also takes a bit of time to kick in, freezing the program for a while in the process. If you wait a bit it comes back, but you need a bit of patience.
When stopping, it does generally need to complete the result it is currently adding before stopping a source. When using Stop All, there can be a lot of sources to wait for, but it still shouldn't freeze the program while it is waiting. I'll see if I can do anything about that.QUOTE(dub_doctor)
It would be nice to be able to just search for a particular source, and then add a new source to the search without the program doing the entire search all over again. eg. do the initial search without GoogleImage (since that can take quite a while), then choose to add GoogleImage to the search if you need more results.
Interesting. I like the idea, so if I can think of a good way of doing it, I might put that in.QUOTE(dub_doctor)
Something like the "Save Toolbar" from the previous version would also be useful, so that you can eg. save cover_front.jpg, cover_back.jpg, artist.jpg, cd.jpg or whatever custom pics you like without having to enter it manually every time.
The "Save Images To" box has a drop down history list, so if you have used that to define a pattern including _front or _back or whatever previously, you can just pick it from the list. The filename to save to will update in the results panels to reflect the change.QUOTE(wraithdu @ Apr 1 2007, 04:50)
Nice job! All the new features are great and work wonderfully.
However...as much as I love your program, I HATE .NET 3!!!! This framework runs like molases on all my computers, crashes frequently, and uses more RAM than any program has a right to (hundreds of megs, at least). Microsoft needs to address these resource issues ASAP, cause it SUCKS!
I can't argue with the runs like molasses. The thing is big and fat and slow. When I started working with it, I was hoping that WPF performance would be improved by release, but apparently not.However...as much as I love your program, I HATE .NET 3!!!! This framework runs like molases on all my computers, crashes frequently, and uses more RAM than any program has a right to (hundreds of megs, at least). Microsoft needs to address these resource issues ASAP, cause it SUCKS!
I wouldn't worry about the RAM, though, the way .net works (due to the garbage collection system) is to gobble up as much RAM as it can to improve performance, but if the system starts to run out and other things require it, it will release as much as it needs to.
I haven't noticed frequent crashes with it at all, though - that might indicate some problem that could be fixed, if you wanted to put in the time and effort.
Other than that, I can only apologise, but a large part of the reason for doing this rewrite was to gain experience in writing software in WPF which, for better or worse, is likely to become something I will need to know.
No need to apologize, it's Microsoft that has to fix it's framework, not you.
I had just assumed that it was .NET crashing, since when it would happen the harddrive would just be clicking away and RAM consumption would keep going up until I killed the process. Even then it would take up to a minute for everything to settle down.
In case it's something in AlbumArt, it happened twice to me last night, both times (and I think this is important) while the search was still actively running for at least one source -
1. after trying to change 'Sort by:'
2. after trying to change 'Maximum' px value
Probably changing 'Minimum' px value would do it as well. If I changed either of these after stopping the search, all was ok.
Actually, after playing with this for another second, it seems to do better on resources than version 0.1. It plays nice as along as I let it complete the search before trying to do anything else
I had just assumed that it was .NET crashing, since when it would happen the harddrive would just be clicking away and RAM consumption would keep going up until I killed the process. Even then it would take up to a minute for everything to settle down.
In case it's something in AlbumArt, it happened twice to me last night, both times (and I think this is important) while the search was still actively running for at least one source -
1. after trying to change 'Sort by:'
2. after trying to change 'Maximum' px value
Probably changing 'Minimum' px value would do it as well. If I changed either of these after stopping the search, all was ok.
Actually, after playing with this for another second, it seems to do better on resources than version 0.1. It plays nice as along as I let it complete the search before trying to do anything else
QUOTE(AlexVallat @ Apr 1 2007, 09:25)
QUOTE(pirlouy @ Mar 29 2007, 16:48)
When I click on image to download preview, it often freezes, I have to kill process...
Is it a known bug (fixed in next build) ? (I use the latest version)
This is not a known bug, and I couldn't reproduce it. Please try the new version 0.2 I just published, and see if it helps.Is it a known bug (fixed in next build) ? (I use the latest version)
The same as before.
I'm using XP SP2, framework 3.0. Maybe it's because all operations (downloads) are not finished. For me, it's very easy to reproduce. I launch a search, and I click (and stay clicked) on an image, if it does not freeze, I just have to click on another. In general, I need between 1 and 5 times to freeze AAD.
I'm not sure if image is downloaded before to freeze. Maybe it's linked to automotic sort (I sort by size).
The program is indeed unstable.
I noticed one problem though. If the album name includes ", it doesn't work.
I noticed one problem though. If the album name includes ", it doesn't work.
Looks interesting enough to try (And there's a shortage of decent apps to grab album art NOT for iTunes or embedded in the file), I'll post if i come across any issues.
EDIT: Ok, the new version is much improved over the previous one (god save the %placeholders%), But i still miss one feature from the only other app i ever used - I need to point it to a folder, Have it find my albums, And I'll be able to search art for each album i got (better yet, detect which ones dont - no filename matching the given pattern in the save path in the current album folder).
EDIT: Ok, the new version is much improved over the previous one (god save the %placeholders%), But i still miss one feature from the only other app i ever used - I need to point it to a folder, Have it find my albums, And I'll be able to search art for each album i got (better yet, detect which ones dont - no filename matching the given pattern in the save path in the current album folder).
This looks like a great program. 
I would appreciate some advice about the best way to use this. I plan on ripping my music collection to FLAC and playing back over foobar using Cepi Perez's Dark Config (which links to this as one of the needed components).
I've read through this entire thread now and have a couple of questions:
Sorry for the length and hope these aren't too basic questions. I've not downloaded/installed FLAC or Foobar yet and haven't started ripping my collection. Just trying to get all these issues sorted before diving in to the big project and don't want to have any nasty surprises.
Best,
Dave M
I would appreciate some advice about the best way to use this. I plan on ripping my music collection to FLAC and playing back over foobar using Cepi Perez's Dark Config (which links to this as one of the needed components).
I've read through this entire thread now and have a couple of questions:
- It seems to me I can have this program search and download album art to something like an Album Art directory that is subsequently organized by Artist/Album name or alternatively the .jpgs can be placed within a 'Music' directory also organized by Album/Artist etc. alongside the FLAC files. I can see that one advantage to keeping a directory structure that keeps Album Art and Music separated is the potential to batch the Album Art file in Photoshop. I am thinking I could create a simple action in Photoshop to resize all images to 500 px square. Not sure if Photoshop would have a problem with running this recursively on directories and subdirectories where .jpg files are mixed with FLAC files so it may be a non-issue but it would certainly be a possible advantage for keeping the Album Art and Music separated apart. My question is: are there any advantages/disadvantages to keeping the art files separate from the music? I will have a fanless PC running a VIA chipset at 1.2GHz and 1 gig of RAM so this PC will not be a powerhouse.
- Further up the thread someone asked if this program could be invoked to run recursively on an entire music directory structure. The idea would be that the program identifies the albums and downloads album art for any and all where it is missing. I never saw an answer for that. Is this one of the capabilities of the new 0.2 version and if so what are the implications for how music and art are stored as per my first question?
Sorry for the length and hope these aren't too basic questions. I've not downloaded/installed FLAC or Foobar yet and haven't started ripping my collection. Just trying to get all these issues sorted before diving in to the big project and don't want to have any nasty surprises.
Best,
Dave M
I'm not sure about the advantages of keeping the art separate from the music, I suspect this will come down to a matter of personal preference. I can, however, answer your question 2.
The XUI version of Album Art Downloader does not yet support the File Browser functionality, which would do the job of looking at files and determining album and artist from them, then checking if there was already art available, and giving the option to download them if required. It's always been on the list of things to do, but I've been working on getting the basic art searching and downloading working properly first. As you can see from some of the above comments, I still have some work to do improving this.
I will hopefully eventually get round to working on File Browser functionality, (or perhaps someone else might like to have a go! Open Source, after all...). When it does go in, it will be able to identify art for the album and artist using the same pattern as is used to save art at present, using placeholders. So, if you can get the current version to save your art where it is supposed to go automatically (using whatever scheme you prefer), then the file browser should be able to identify art stored using that scheme.
If you need file browser functionality now, then I believe the non-XUI version (at the top of the thread) provides this.
Alex
The XUI version of Album Art Downloader does not yet support the File Browser functionality, which would do the job of looking at files and determining album and artist from them, then checking if there was already art available, and giving the option to download them if required. It's always been on the list of things to do, but I've been working on getting the basic art searching and downloading working properly first. As you can see from some of the above comments, I still have some work to do improving this.
I will hopefully eventually get round to working on File Browser functionality, (or perhaps someone else might like to have a go! Open Source, after all...). When it does go in, it will be able to identify art for the album and artist using the same pattern as is used to save art at present, using placeholders. So, if you can get the current version to save your art where it is supposed to go automatically (using whatever scheme you prefer), then the file browser should be able to identify art stored using that scheme.
If you need file browser functionality now, then I believe the non-XUI version (at the top of the thread) provides this.
Alex
QUOTE(AlexVallat @ Apr 5 2007, 12:51)
The XUI version of Album Art Downloader does not yet support the File Browser functionality, which would do the job of looking at files and determining album and artist from them, then checking if there was already art available, and giving the option to download them if required. It's always been on the list of things to do, but I've been working on getting the basic art searching and downloading working properly first.
Alex
Thanks for the quick reply Alex. Not a programmer so sorry I can't help out.
One additional query/remark though. Assuming you (with or without some help) do get to integrating File Browser will it be able to tell album and artist for FLAC files? I ask because in my continuing learning curve I've read up on FLAC and found that it does not support ID3 tags but rather uses Vorbis comments.
I hope that the widespread use of FLAC means it's own tags are readable/utilizable by programs such as this one but thanks to confirm. And sorry again if I've got this all wrong.
Best,
Dave M
I assume I will use the same tag-reading library as in the non XUI version (called ATL), which I've just had a look at and can confirm does support reading FLAC files, and Vorbis comments. From the look of it, it seems that FLAC supports ID3v2, but basically I will just be throwing the file at the tag reading library, and using whatever it comes up with.
Of course, if anyone knows of a better tag-reading library that can be used from C#, as I haven't started development on this feature yet, I'd be open to suggestions.
Alex
Of course, if anyone knows of a better tag-reading library that can be used from C#, as I haven't started development on this feature yet, I'd be open to suggestions.
Alex
AlbumArt Downloader XUI v0.3 Preview Released
Thanks for the further support I've received for this project. Following bug reports and further suggestions, here is a third release. I'm hoping this will be the last release of the searching functionality, bringing it to a stable, polished state before I start work on porting the browser functionality.
This release has the following changes made to it:
See main post for latest version
Thanks for the further support I've received for this project. Following bug reports and further suggestions, here is a third release. I'm hoping this will be the last release of the searching functionality, bringing it to a stable, polished state before I start work on porting the browser functionality.
This release has the following changes made to it:
- Stability improvements:
- Stop All should not cause the app to become unresponsive
- Fixed bug where app could hang while previewing during a search
- If a search is performed for the same album and artist, but with different sources, a minimal search is now performed where only the newly selected sources are queried, and the existing results are kept in the same window.
- Added better error reporting. If a crash occurs, an errorlog.txt file will be produced. This can be used to report the crash, and I might have a chance of fixing it.
See main post for latest version
quick question
would this work (stuff in bold)?
-ar "Artist" -al "Album" -f "Artist - Album"
I want my filenames to follow the input that I search for in the program
would this work (stuff in bold)?
-ar "Artist" -al "Album" -f "Artist - Album"
I want my filenames to follow the input that I search for in the program
QUOTE(lyte @ Apr 9 2007, 17:37)
quick question
would this work (stuff in bold)?
-ar "Artist" -al "Album" -f "Artist - Album"
I want my filenames to follow the input that I search for in the program
would this work (stuff in bold)?
-ar "Artist" -al "Album" -f "Artist - Album"
I want my filenames to follow the input that I search for in the program
-f doesn't work without -p provided too. In fact, you don't need -f, you can just use -p.
You should specify the rest of the path of where you want the images to be saved too, though, as "Artist - Album" is not a valid path. Something like "C:\AlbumArt\Artist - Album" might be what you are after? Also, it might be better to use placeholders for the artist and album, so that they get automatically replaced if you search for different artists and albums: "C:\AlbumArt\%artist% - %album%"
You probably want a file extension on the filename too. You could use Artist - Album.jpg, but in case the found art isn't a jpeg, you can use %extension% to automatically use the right one. This leaves us with:
-ar "Artist" -al "Album" -p "C:\AlbumArt\%artist% - %album%.%extension%"
QUOTE(AlexVallat @ Apr 9 2007, 13:10)
QUOTE(lyte @ Apr 9 2007, 17:37)
quick question
would this work (stuff in bold)?
-ar "Artist" -al "Album" -f "Artist - Album"
I want my filenames to follow the input that I search for in the program
would this work (stuff in bold)?
-ar "Artist" -al "Album" -f "Artist - Album"
I want my filenames to follow the input that I search for in the program
-f doesn't work without -p provided too. In fact, you don't need -f, you can just use -p.
You should specify the rest of the path of where you want the images to be saved too, though, as "Artist - Album" is not a valid path. Something like "C:\AlbumArt\Artist - Album" might be what you are after? Also, it might be better to use placeholders for the artist and album, so that they get automatically replaced if you search for different artists and albums: "C:\AlbumArt\%artist% - %album%"
You probably want a file extension on the filename too. You could use Artist - Album.jpg, but in case the found art isn't a jpeg, you can use %extension% to automatically use the right one. This leaves us with:
-ar "Artist" -al "Album" -p "C:\AlbumArt\%artist% - %album%.%extension%"
thanks Alex
it keeps freezing up on me, eating all my resources. no matter what ~~
[update]
I noticed that the list of resources the program uses to obtain cover art was somehow duplicated. This program works wonders with only a few resources selected, whereas having all of them applied causes the program to consume almost all of my resources ~~
I am using albumart downloader with REACT2. I already have a lot of album art stored on my hard disk (but not all). Is there a way to browse the albumart on the hard disk and use that with REACT2 (they are often better quality versions than those on the net).
Rgds
G
Rgds
G
First, gotta say i love this application thanks a milion!!
I use the new XUI 0.3 and i have two questions.
1, is it possible to change the priority/order of the search plugins in the right list?
2, the local files search plugin does only return match when there is a file with the same filename as in the -path or -file variable, is it possible to make that plugin show all image file in the target-directory?
thanks a milion!!I use the new XUI 0.3 and i have two questions.
1, is it possible to change the priority/order of the search plugins in the right list?
2, the local files search plugin does only return match when there is a file with the same filename as in the -path or -file variable, is it possible to make that plugin show all image file in the target-directory?
QUOTE(lyte @ Apr 9 2007, 20:50)
This program works wonders with only a few resources selected, whereas having all of them applied causes the program to consume almost all of my resources ~~
Personally I use it with only one, or maybe two sources selected. I like Coveralia for large images, or Amazon if I want smaller ones. If you don't find anything good, you can always select an additional source and press Search again, it will only query the newly selected source if you haven't changed the artist/album being searched for. Unfortunately WPF is very resource-heavy, I know. The 0.3 version should freeze less, hopefully.QUOTE(gsa999 @ Apr 10 2007, 15:28)
I am using albumart downloader with REACT2. I already have a lot of album art stored on my hard disk (but not all). Is there a way to browse the albumart on the hard disk and use that with REACT2 (they are often better quality versions than those on the net).
I'm sorry, I don't really know REACT2, so I'm not sure what you are trying to achieve. As far as this app is concerned, if you have the art on your hard disk, the job is already done! If you are looking for something to help you organize images that are stored in an unstructured way, then I don't think this is the app you are looking for, sorry.QUOTE(Brasse @ Apr 11 2007, 07:44)
First, gotta say i love this application thanks a milion!!
Thanks, it's always nice to know when my work is appreciated. thanks a milion!!QUOTE(Brasse)
1, is it possible to change the priority/order of the search plugins in the right list?
Not yet, but I want to eventually add the ability to drag them up and down to reorder them in the list. This will change the sort order of the results when sorting by source (at the moment it is alphabetical), but won't have much other effect. Sources are searched simultaneously, there is no priority system.QUOTE(Brasse)
2, the local files search plugin does only return match when there is a file with the same filename as in the -path or -file variable, is it possible to make that plugin show all image file in the target-directory?
The idea is that the path to save the images to contains placeholders for the album and artist name, so if you have an image for that album and artist, it will show up. If more than one image matches, then all of them will show up. Other placeholders are treated as wildcards. So, if your target directory is c:\albumart\%artist%\%album%\%source%.jpg then all .jpg files in that folder will show up. I suppose if you really wanted all images regardless of whether they were for the right album and artist, you could cheat and use a path like c:\albumart\unsorted\*.*, that would return all images.
QUOTE(AlexVallat @ Apr 11 2007, 11:23)
QUOTE(Brasse)
2, the local files search plugin does only return match when there is a file with the same filename as in the -path or -file variable, is it possible to make that plugin show all image file in the target-directory?
The idea is that the path to save the images to contains placeholders for the album and artist name, so if you have an image for that album and artist, it will show up. If more than one image matches, then all of them will show up. Other placeholders are treated as wildcards. So, if your target directory is c:\albumart\%artist%\%album%\%source%.jpg then all .jpg files in that folder will show up. I suppose if you really wanted all images regardless of whether they were for the right album and artist, you could cheat and use a path like c:\albumart\unsorted\*.*, that would return all images."C:\Program\AlbumArtDownloader\AlbumArt.exe" -ar "%artist%" -al "%album%" -p "$replace(%_path%,%_filename_ext%,)00-$lower(%directoryname%)-front.jpg" /autoclose
is the current command-line i use with "Run services"-plugin, it only shows a local source image if its a perfect match, how could i change the command-line to show all images in the albums directory?
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