Thread: mediate ice - new free DirectX based front end

Just after a quick install and look around one thing I noticed was the inability to move/change the default location for media files. As I have a 100+ gigs of MP3s that I keep in my car (ona portable HD) it would be much nicer if the enduser could determine the default location for these files!

I also didn't like the way the music animation was "stuck" ontop and had a hard time moving from screen to screen while listening to Mp3s.

Also will there be any radio support, for something like MP3Car.coms HD Radio or one of the other options?.

*Edit

On further playing, I have discovered that I can not choce which audio device Mediate plays through... I have 2 sound cards, and Mrdiate will only snrd it's sounds through the windows defualt, even if I change the advanced settings!!

So sorry it's taken a while to get this next version out. We've been swamped with other less interesting but better paying projects for the last few months. However, we eventually got there with this latest version.

You can download it here:
http://www.athomemedia.co.uk/downloa...teICE1.6.9.exe

or if you already have mediate ice installed, just get the update:
http://www.athomemedia.co.uk/downloa...pdate1.6.9.exe

Enhancements

• Added support for embedding external applications through the use of plugins
• Added plugin for satellite navigation using PC Navigator from Directions Ltd
• Added support for storing theme specific settings in preferences XML file
• Added new "music" settings screen to "ice" theme
• Added new "mode" function ("o" key) for toggling between satnav & music in car
• Added new "configure" function ("c" key) for showing advanced settings dialog
• Added advanced configuration setting to group directories together when browsing media files
• Added advanced configuration setting to disable Windows balloon tips while running mediate
• Added support for setting maximum frames per second (FPS) throttle in advanced settings
• Added plugin properties & configuration dialog to plugins page of advanced settings
• Added column sorting functionality to plugins list in advanced settings
• Added support for restoring previous volume setting on starting mediate
• Added support for setting music visualisation rendering quality and improved speed
• Added persistent command history to console, shift key support and improved scrolling speed
• Changed minimum volume level to -50dB from previous -40dB setting for quiet listening in car

Bug Fixes

• Fixed occasional "division by zero" error as reported in forums.
• Fixed a few bugs with repeat animations getting out of sync in "ice" theme
• Fixed potential threading issues with plugins writing to logfile & triggering actions
• Fixed problem with some animations not scaling properly to different screen resolutions
• Fixed problem with an invalid theme name preventing mediate from starting

In addition, we have also developed a plugin for use with the Velleman K8055 USB experiment board which is really handy for steering wheel control integration etc. This is not included in the main install, but will be available for download on our main site shortly.

The plugin architecture is also now nicely matured so we'll post details of that and hopefully a sample plugin in the near future.

Enjoy, and please give feedback of any problems/issues you find.

I thought this would be another dead front end, but the addition of GPS, and the ability to launch external apps will make it a plus. The speed of the skin is great. What would be great is:

- A plugin for the Fusion Brain is a must!!!
- A skinning App would be nice, so we can customize your base.

I haven't tested my Iguidance through Mediate, or set mediate as a shell like it would used in my truck.

Thanks for the +ve feedback so far.

Couple of things..

- during video playback the transport buttons are shown for a few seconds then scroll/fade out of view so you can watch the full video. Tap the screen to show them again, tap whilst the transport buttons are visible to return to the media browser screen.

- for music/other folders, if you have music stored in various folders you can add each one as a folder in mediate (with virtual folder UNchecked) and then you'll be able to see the contents of each folder combined within the music browser. Of course that will only work if you only have a few folders and not for hundreds of artists as it will become unworkable. For that scenario we'd need to code up a flat view (without directories) of the files.

- unicode support has been mentioned previously. There are a few other higher priority features to get in first, but we'll get to that at some point. In the meantime you could just rename the files as a workaround, but that's probably a pain.

- wasn't sure what "fusion brain" was, but just searched for it - it looks very similar to the velleman K8055D USB experiment board which we've just developed a plugin for. I have that hooked up in my monaro (must post some pics of the install soon) to the steering wheel controls and its working nicely. Hopefully it wouldn't be too much work to port the plugin to work with the fusion board - is that becoming very popular now? The Velleman board seemed to be very popular a while back and was available off the shelf.

Right, back to coding. Currently working on some funky digital signal processing features - 10 band graphic equaliser, auto volume adjust, bass boost etc. Of course these things are always more fun when they're coded as a native app rather than relying on an external media player...

I was checking out the GPS potion of the plugins, truthfull I dont like how it works! I had to start the iGuidance first, then load the plugin, which was just a screen cap... I guess it will work for most, I'll stick to duel screens