[mythtv] Proposed MythMusic Interface Improvements

[Kevin Kuphal]

I was actually considering using the same interface used by the Program
Finder.  It provides a description area, drawing box (for album
information), and a very quick navigating selection option.  I figured it
could have different "views" selectable by using number keys or the like
for: By Album, By Artist, By Genre, By Rating, etc. and each would refill
the lists according to that criteria.  

In the same vein, I was thinking this format could be used for MythVideo
replacing either the current  Video List option which I find hard to
navigate for many of the same reasons people have been discussing for the
Watch Recordings screen.  It is difficult to tell where the focus is, etc.

I think that Program Finder is one of the nicest UI pieces in MythTV and I
would love to see it utilized in more places.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtv-dev-bounces at mythtv.org 
> [mailto:mythtv-dev-bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of Daniel C. Casimiro
> Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2004 12:08 PM
> To: mythtv-dev at mythtv.org
> Subject: [mythtv] Proposed MythMusic Interface Improvements
> 
> 
> I am looking for some feedback on a number of improvements 
> (IMHO) to the 
> MythMusic interface.  Please take a look at the screen shots 
> found here: 
> http://members.cox.net/dcasimiro/index.html.  I have also pasted the 
> body of the web page into this mail.
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> I do not particularly like the current MythMusic interface. So, I 
> started to experiment with possible improvements. The screen 
> shot above 
> was created from some quick mock up code that I wrote. The 
> code doesn't 
> work and is sure isn't pretty. It is just something to communicate my 
> idea. That's why there is no link to the source here. I have 
> no qualms 
> about releasing it, once I spend some time cleaning it up.
> 
> You can click on the image for a higher-resolution image.
> 
> 
>     An Explanation of what you see
> 
> 
>       Music Browser
> 
> The icons in the upper left box represent the user's music 
> collection. 
> The icons are probably too big, but I was too lazy to shrink 
> them down. 
> I can leverage ImageMagick later on to handle this. I like to 
> think of 
> it as a music browser. The idea is that the user would add songs to 
> current play list through this widget. Although not shown, the widget 
> would also display individual songs. I would give the user 
> the ability 
> to add single songs, or entire directories (albums/artists). The 
> directories could be generated from actual directories on the hard 
> drive, or from the database. Perhaps, the directories could 
> be created 
> via autoplaylists <http://xtcp.net/?q=node/view/56%22>.
> 
> 
>         Cover Art
> 
> I found a cool website, named Slothdog's Amazing CD / Album 
> Cover Finder 
> <http://www.slothradio.com/covers> where you can download 
> cover art. I 
> was hoping to design an interface that automatically pulls 
> down art from 
> Slothdog.
> 
> My biggest problem with the current interface is that it 
> takes too long 
> for me to find music. To alleviate this problem, I would also like to 
> add the capability to filter albums/songs by letter. Again, the 
> autoplaylists would help in this area. I was thinking of adding a 
> spinner-type widget to implement the letter filtering, but an 
> autoplaylist interface may work better.
> 
> 
>       Play list
> 
> The column to the right represents the play list. The user uses this 
> list to skip to specific songs and to remove songs. Fairly 
> self-explanatory.
> 
> 
>       Song Info
> 
> The widget towards the bottom represents the current song's 
> meta-information. For example, it will display total artist, 
> track name, 
> track-time, elapsed track-time, and genre. I'm sure that 
> other info can 
> be displayed as well. Perhaps this could be user configurable...
> 
> Perhaps this could be fit into a single line. The space may be better 
> used to build an interface to the autoplaylist engine. The remaining 
> problem is to design an interface that does not require a 
> full keyboard.
> 
> 
>     Feedback/Comments
> 
> Just looking for feedback and/or comments on this interface. It seems 
> fairly easy to navigate with the keyboard, which should 
> translate well 
> to a remote.
> 
> 
> Thanks.
> Dan
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