[mythtv] Ideas for MythMusic rewrite

[George Galt]

On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 5:08 PM, Ed W <lists at wildgooses.com> wrote:
> On 30/12/2009 12:53, Paul Harrison wrote:
>>
>> We'll probably regret this but we would like your opinions :-)  We are
>> in the process of  switching MythMusic to MythUI and would like to take
>> the opportunity to make some much needed improvements to the interface.
>>
>> We don't necessarily  just want a list of feature requests, although
>> every idea will be considered, but also how they should be implemented,
>> what the interface should look like etc. If you can provide mock ups of
>> how it should look or links to images of how other players do things
>> then all the better.
>>
>> You should bear in mind the limitations of keeping the interface usable
>> on a TV using a remote control and where possible using the existing
>> widgets available in MythUI.
>>
>
> Grab an iPod?  Canolo2 on Maemo?
>
> XBMC/Plex (only need a 5 button remote) + Windows MCE thingy are all worth
> copying also...
>
> I think the thing people usually forget about Music Players is that playing
> the music is really very secondary, playlist management and finding
> something to listen to is what really distinguishes them... Current Music
> player is fine and adequate, but definitely has plenty of scope to have
> better and easier searching.  I guess at least make it easy to try stuff in
> themes rather than try and get it perfect first time?
>
> Thanks - look forward to watching this evolve
>
> Ed W
>
>
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I'm the developer of the mythsqueezebox plugin (you can see what the
latest version looks like here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swu_M-ub0f4, though I do NOT recommend
this as a direction for mythmusic), and I'd love to give a hand in
working on updating Mythmusic.  My main reason for developing my
plugin was my frustration with navigating mythmusic.  I had used the
squeezebox players around the house, and they all work extremely well
with a remote and a very limited screen (320x32 pixels), which is why
it used that system for my plugin.  The squeeze devices also do a good
job of letting the user decide how to access his or her music --
whether by artist, album, song, playlist, etc -- based on the ID3 tags
in the music and other information contained in the database.  My
objection to Mythmusic was always that it required the creation of
playlists prior to listening to anything, and this rigid structure
just didn't work for me.

To me, there are really 2 distinct discussions that should be taking
place: 1) what functionality gets exposed, and 2) how to expose it so
that the themers can develop interesting themes for us to play with
(the discussion over on the user list seems to focus more on this last
issue).

On the first issue, I would like to see much better integration and
exposure of ID3 information, as well as the ability to pull in
additional information (including artwork or fan art, if available) a
la Jamu or similar efforts; and I'd like more ability to navigate
using that information.  I'd also like to see if there isn't some way
to integrate streaming music sources such as Pandora or streaming
radio stations (my wife likes to listen to the French news).  I'd be
happy to help use what little expertise I've developed to work on
these issues.

On the second issue, at least from a development standpoint, it seems
there needs to be a discussion about a MythUI element that allows
direct drawing to the screen (like the old blackhole UI element).  Any
visualization element will need some means of direct animation and
there isn't currently a way to do this.  Again, I'd be happy to help
with this effort.

George