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Added MiniPlayer and MicroPlayer

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 6:26 pm
by Morten
What do you guys think about it?

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 6:49 pm
by Teknojnky
I like it, however the player is a bit too big for my tastes, and the column header fonts are too large.

Blue Glass has been growing on me a bit more, both are great skins.

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 6:53 pm
by Big_Berny
Hi Morten,
I really really like it! It looks great and very professional IMHO! Thanks!

Anyway (as always ;)) some request:

Normal view:
-On my screen the album art is very small. I'd really like to have it bigger. Maybe the "X of Y" information could be moved?
-The right side of the plus-icon is a pixel longer than the left side. ;)

Mini:
-It would be nice if the tracknumber would be visible. Maybe in the title: "<track#>. <Title>"
-To top of the "bone" is a little bit different from the bottom. On the top there is a corner/edge where the cirles end. Suggestion: the circles should be a bit bigger than only half-circles. So the edge would disappear. (keyword: tangent)

Micro:
-Looks perfect to me. Maybe some song informations (artist, title) could be shown if you move the mouse over it. Like on the systray-icon maybe?

As you can see that are only minor things but it's fine tuning which would make your skin perfect! :)

Nice work! Your skin will surely have a very positive effect on new users! Now only the icons need an update and then it looks perfect! :)

EDIT: I think Teknojnky is right, the font siz on the culomns is a little bit to big. Cool, that you centered the songinfo in the mini-player by the way! :)

Big_Berny

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:32 pm
by judas
I share the oppinions from teknoknky and from Big_Berny...i think it's a very friendly skin: shares elements with the other player so it's easy to use, but also states that MM is not like any other player: it's different.

I also think the player is a bit big...I'm on a 12.1'' so screen real state is important...I'd like to have the option to squeeze the title and maybe beside it dock the tree browser, the album art window...a websearch panel...anything. (same applies to column headers)

Also...and this request has been on the air for a while...i really (as in REALLY) miss a stop button...is not the same to pause or to stop a song, as only to restart a track (possible if stop, play...impossible to do pausing the song)

I do congratulate AND thank you, as you not only designed this amazing skin but also helped develop the skinning engine!

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:45 pm
by KingKong
If the taskbar is transparent or not the default color when using the micro play it will change to default, this sucks.
Is that a skin prob or from MM?

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 9:07 pm
by peter_h
It's my prefered skin :)

However, try docking the NowPlaying window to the side of the player - it exhibits an intolerable flashing :(

For the main window, my only wish would be that the black of the toolbars be slightly lighter/greyer - I'm less a fan of the high-contrast with the bright icons.

I'd also like to be able to right-click anywhere in the player pane and get to the Properties option. Currently, it's only selected areas, which doesn't make sense to me.

Personally, I don't use the Micro & Miniplayers, but if you're looking for feedback....
Miniplayer: I find the red-on-black text is right royal 'orrible to read. And scrolling too :\
Microplayer: I dunno - it never appears for me. Nothing. No windows. Nada.

Apart from that, thanks for making the best skin available. :)

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:34 am
by Morten
Thanks for all your replies. This helps MediaMonkey get better and better. This is what I focus to change on your request.

1) One size (horisontally) for XP, and one for Vista on Headers. In Vista it's the default size, in XP it might look a bit weird in the current implementation.
2) Top border in main-window will get a more "clean" shape.
3) The plus-sign may get changed, but it's very difficult to get it proportioned.
4) Stop-button. I'll do my best to find a place for this. It will be subtle placed anyway, but I'll mange to squeeze it inside. I say it again; I will implement a stop-button for ya!
5) Menu-bar background (the contrast-thing). I'll look into it.


Things which won't get fixed this time;
a) Size of player. However, I could be making a smaller version (after the 3.0) release for those of you who want that for your small res screens. Remember I was sitting on a 1920*1200 designing this skin.
b) Album Art. I can also do this after 3.0 is released (I have to finalize this skin before doing something which I didn't actually want to). This is not a big job as request a).
c) Track number in miniplayer: could be implemented if possible. It is as always easy to add this after 3.0-release.
d) Better anti-aliasing; There still are some uneven edges on this skin. Very subtle, but definately viewable. This, however, won't get fixed before 3.0-release.
e) Information pop-up upon hovering.
f) Scriptable area. Could maybe be done before 3.0, but no promise. I want the possibility to have for example a lyrics script, or a track-list script where you can inside the player change the track. (That's one of the reason I wanted it that big).

This list was getting big, but nonetheless it's great with feedback like this. Keep the comments coming. I think I've showed in the skin-updates that your comments really count, and that I'm doing this for the community.

@KingKong; Care to explain more?

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:10 am
by judas
Morten wrote: 4) Stop-button. I'll do my best to find a place for this. It will be subtle placed anyway, but I'll mange to squeeze it inside. I say it again; I will implement a stop-button for ya!
Yeeeepppeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

(I'd like a screen that big to plug into my laptop when @ home!!

Thanks for listening Morten...not only this but all the requests. I truly appreciate it.

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:23 am
by Morten
That's good, and then I must be doing something right ;)

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:28 am
by KingKong
Morten: Here I let pictures speak ;-)
This is the normal color of my taskbar: Image
Now if I enable the micro play it changes the color to default and disables the transparency: Image

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:58 am
by PetrCBR
KingKong wrote:Morten: Here I let pictures speak ;-)
This is the normal color of my taskbar: Image
Now if I enable the micro play it changes the color to default and disables the transparency: Image
Microplayer isn't 100% compatible with windows aero, so if you'll enable it, vista automatically disables transparency on taskbar.

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 10:52 am
by Teknojnky
I run at 1600x1200 and still thought the player was too big, but at smaller resolutions I can understand its even moreso.

I don't know if this is a general MM 3 issue or skin issues, but it seems that since mm3 and mm2 share the same registry settings for the UI, if starting mm2 after mm3, the mm2 is smaller by a few pixels.

Did you make blue glass also?

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:02 am
by Morten
Watch a), it says that I might make a smaller (in height) player for this skin :)

I didn't make Blue Glass, but all kudos to the one making it. His name is Levi and has done a marvellous job making this skin. I wanted that he gave his skin a Vista refreshment, and he really did.

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 1:36 pm
by Morten
Morten wrote:1) One size (horisontally) for XP, and one for Vista on Headers. In Vista it's the default size, in XP it might look a bit weird in the current implementation.
2) Top border in main-window will get a more "clean" shape.
3) The plus-sign may get changed, but it's very difficult to get it proportioned.
4) Stop-button. I'll do my best to find a place for this. It will be subtle placed anyway, but I'll mange to squeeze it inside. I say it again; I will implement a stop-button for ya!
5) Menu-bar background (the contrast-thing). I'll look into it.
Issue 2 and 5 will be available in Beta 2 slated for this weekend.

The stop-button is still a hard one. I'll easy implement it to the miniplayer-skin, but the mainplayer needs some more thought about it. Issue 3 is low on priority for now.

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 1:43 pm
by judas
That's good to hear Morten...(also, the leak on B2 time is great to hear!)

Stop Button: i liked how it was placed along-side the play button on the early designs of the skin...but, i bet you have already thought about this and for some reason (we engineers don't nor will ever understand) it just doesn't fit there :-)