4am MUSIC Console 1.5 (music jukebox)

OvernightTech · 06-23-2003, 11:41 PM

Hi all, I just realized that if I wanted feedback I was to start a new thread, so here's the project information about what 4am Music Console. This originally started as an HTPC(Home Theatre Personal Computing) software project, however I then got emails from users saying it was excellent for car lcd use as well <here's one really nice example> So after debating whether or not it was justified to post about this software in this forum I decided to do it, in the hopes that some of the users here may find it of interest. Here is a summary of the product and what's new...

Product Features

Browse your hard drive based CD collection, based on folders/directories
Use custom resolution display (included are common 4:3 AND 16:9 skins)
NEW: Display it in window mode (excellent for everyday player useage) or fullscreen mode (for the perfect HTPC player)
Completely modifiable skin structure, create your own layout of buttons and text, your own sizes for each button etc...
Use ANY type of files with 4am Music Console (you control the file extensions to be searched.) <HINT for those who want playlists: If you are using winamp, then setup a folder with winamp playlists in it, then you can select a winamp playlist file and it will add the whole playlist for playback. Internal playlist support will be a feature to be added in the coming releases>
Launch individual files into the default player
Launch the whole folder using a command line setup
add files to playlist (based on command line directive)
Edit the playlist (can now be used with the embedded player and Winamp)
Display cover art
Display thumbnail view of all CD's
Display Artist, Album, Date, and Genre information for each CD.
Auto read ID3 tag information from MP3's to generate above display.
Sort CD List display by Artist Name, Album Name, Date, or Genre.
Search/Jump to key points in your CD collection (section A, B etc... or if sorted by Genre jump to different Genre's from the pull-down list)
Hot Key support for every command
Embedded Player as well as support for external players (including full support for Winamp version 2.x)
easy to use setup program
built in visualizations (excellent for use on plasma screens)

New features, and changes in 1.5

+ play/pause for embedded player and winamp
+ auto scaling feature added - can be set so that 4am Music console can be run as a non-fullscreen interface
+ ability to drag window (when auto scaling is off)
+ overscan adjustment (ability to specify top corner of window when 4am starts when auto scaling is off)
+ Volume control (Shift+F1 = Volume UP, Shift+F2 = Volume DOWN)
+ Thumbnail image support (makes for faster navigation as smaller images need to be resized to fit the smaller image boxes used to display list of 10 CD's)
+ show folder name in CDInfo.ini file editor from within 4am Music Console
+ Show/Hide cursor option
+ Start cursor at specified location
- Removed show/hide stop, previous, next, rewind, and forward button options (must be controlled via skin editing, done to allow for more skin customization ability and relax restrictions)
fixed some winamp issues regarding music not starting when song is queued and no music is playing
Removed flash requirement (also means 4am Music Console skins are no longer forced to have the default Overnight Technologies topbar)

Screenshots of version 1.5 with the "Brightness" skin
Songlist View

Playlist Editor View

NOTE: for other skins (including an excellent 640x480 skin) visit this page.

System Requirements

Windows 98 SE, Windows Me, Windows NT4, Windows 2000, or Windows XP
64 MB of free available system RAM
4 MB of available disk space
IMPORTANT: 4am music console requires Microsoft® Windows Media Player™ Series 9 to be installed on your computer.
Microsoft Windows Media Player 9

For more information please visit Overnight Technologies, or the 4am MUSIC console webpage.

Please post feedback and comments here, or alternatively on the Overnight Technologies Forums.

Thank you to everyone that has supported this project, and I hope others will enjoy it.

HereFishyFishy · 06-24-2003, 11:27 AM

This looks awesome! My screen just came in today and this will be the first software I try out in my car!

Phil

qjones · 06-24-2003, 12:53 PM

Is there an easy way to adjust volume?

Thanks,
Quincy

OvernightTech · 06-24-2003, 03:45 PM

Hi guys,

Phil,
I hope you enjoy it

Let me know if there are any issues in setting it up (just a hint of advice make sure to run the setup program first... also when you choose the directory to use at start it should have subdirectories with have music in them.)

qjones,
Shift+F1 and Shift+F2. The next release will have an on screen method to control volume. If you are wondering why there wasn't one already it's actually because since this started as a HTPC project, volume control for most users was done by actually controlling the volume of hardware rather than the computer's output volume (mainly because there is a quality loss when you turn down the volume in the windows mixer).

hijinks21 · 06-24-2003, 04:36 PM

this is a nice looking app for a HTPC uses.

I personaly would not use it in the car.. too much info on the screen and the text and buttons seem a bit small.

I could be wrong since I haven't installed it, but it looks very clean and I'd use it for htpc if i didn't use linux for that

OvernightTech · 06-24-2003, 04:55 PM

Of course there is always the option of skinning it

Actually a couple of users have rolled their own for car use mainly to increase button and text size, and get rid of unneeded buttons such as sorting options and rewind/forward.

HereFishyFishy · 06-25-2003, 09:58 AM

I set it up on my 7" touchscreen last night and really like the looks of the program. The buttons are plenty big enough for regular use with the touchscreen. The sorting could go, maybe keep it as an option in the setup program, but it doesn't cause a problem like it is now.

Problems: I created my CDinfo.ini files with the album information, but it's not showing up correctly in the program. In the bottom left it shows the artist/album/no date/no genre. I have it set now to grab this info from the file name, because any other way and they were all blank.
I'm also having a problem getting the visualization to play in full screen mode. When I click the button to show the vis. in the small screen it's fine. But when I click the small vis. screen to maximize it, my screen goes black and just sits there. When I touch the screen or click the mouse the normal menu re-appears.
Also, I noticed when you have the program set to automatically resize to full screen (in the settings) it has a little trouble maximizing after you minimize. I set the skin to 800x600 (same as my desktop) It'll maximize to about 3/4 of the screen and cut the whole right 1/4 of the screen off. When the auto. full screen is unchecked the minimize/maximize works fine.

Just thought you might want to know! Thanks for the app. It's looking really nice so far!

Phil

P.S. - Oh yeah, when do you plan on releasing an updated beta or final release? Are you adding a volume option? that'd be great!

OvernightTech · 06-25-2003, 10:12 AM

Hi Phil,
I'm glad to see you enjoy the program

Also to get rid of the sorting drop down menu in the setup program you can uncheck the dropdowns you don't want from the file settings tab under fool proof options. This will still sort the albums at startup it just won't show the drop down menu

Problems: CDInfo.ini --> The ID3 extraction will only work with ID3v1 tags at the moment, this may be the reason you get the blank issue. If you need to edit the CDInfo.ini files that were created you can double click from within the program where it shows the album/artist/genre/date info and there will be a pop up screen that will let you edit that info. I realize this would be a pain to do manually for each album but unfortunately it's the only way unless you have ID3v1 tags, however the next release will hopefully take care of this with more tag support.
Thanks for the update on that minimizing/maximizing issue, I'll have to look into that further.

As for the next release 4am Music Console is undergoing a complete overhaul, the main reaons being I'd like to start the project from scartch in the .Net framework, and I'd like to add two main new features client/server and database support. As such the next release will likely be a couple of months because it's not just a small modification. I think you guys will enjoy it though

tilezzzzz · 06-26-2003, 06:28 AM

Hi Guys,

You know that music player looks great !

BUT

Has anyone looked at the 4AM media console, I personaly think that will also work prety damn well in a carputer (havent installed it yet) but looked at the screen shots.

What do you guys think?

Chris

OvernightTech · 06-26-2003, 09:29 AM

4am Media Console will actually work quite nicely with the carputer as well, actually it will work well with 4am Music Console as well. Just setup a button in 4am Media Console to load 4am Music Console, the good thing is 4am Music Console won't load multiple instances but rather if you try to load it again it will just bring the previous one to the front, allowing easy setup with 4am Media Console. Also 4am Media Console has built in volume control with sliders, perfect for touchscreens

Here's a screenshot of it running in one persons car:

That's pixel9's 2003 Honda Civic, he's done an excellent job putting the carputer together, more info here.

Bhavin

ShinkunoNamida · 06-26-2003, 11:21 AM

The problem I had was with the folder browsing.. I don't have images in my folders, and it makes it very difficult to browse. Maybe I need to poke around for some settings. Is there a work around?

OvernightTech · 06-26-2003, 12:59 PM

There's no real workaround, really you just need to download the images off the web and store them in their appropriate folders.

There are some tools that will do this for you, one commonly used with 4am Music Console is: Gotcha Covered It will search the web for the images and has many options to extract the search info from the folder names etc...

aoLhaTer · 06-28-2003, 02:09 AM

awesome graphic work
like the website and the program

OvernightTech · 07-02-2003, 12:13 AM

Thanks for the compliments, I'm always looking for new skins though

Never had someone compliment the website, so that's always nice.

Let me know how you find the program and how it's working in the car if you choose to use it.

unrealer33 · 07-02-2003, 03:04 PM

Is there any way to just browse files/folders in a directory, as you would see them via. windows explorer? Because i prefer this much better than playlists. Maybe you could implement this feature into the next release?

User Name		Remember Me?
Password