Main > Audio/Jukebox/MP3 Forum
Freeware 3D Jukebox WIP
DrewKaree:
I took some notes while reading the "read me"
Of all the jukes I tested, I don't recall any of them requiring album art in .bmp format. All I remember is having to get them in .jpg format. More than likely someone will be getting images from the net, and I think .jpg is the standard in this area. If it's not too burdensome, I think rewriting to accept .jpg instead of .bmp would be the wiser way to go. Is there a way to write variable sized images into the prog rather
than forcing them to be square? If NOT, is the "square" shape scaleable i.e. 300x300 or 500x500 or does the prog do that for you?
Also, a rewrite of the "read-me" with perhaps an example of the album folder format is in order to help someone unfamiliar with this process. I can do this for you and send it back to you, if you wish, to show you what I mean.
I LO-O-OVE the ability to change the name of the jukebox in the config prog (haven't tried it yet, but SUH-WEET feature) but I think you SHOULD have some way to identify your product. Doesn't make sense for someone to rename their juke to match their cab and then claim they "did it all". That just craps on all your hard work. (BTW, did you add this feature so as to make the juke nameable to an individual's cab? If so,
*insert Boston accent here*
Yer wicked smaht)
Under "background images" you state "But due to the effect these images need to be seamless" I don't unnerstan....what do you mean by seamless? If I understand the first part of this section, you can change the background of your juke, as well. Is that correct? BTW, nice way to make it "skinnable" without a lot of hard work to make a whole new "skin".
"controls"
they're fine for me, but you're working on a way to change 'em. Good idea, as someone may wish to remap them according to their cab's needs
"known system requirements"
There was a thread that listed the minimum requirements to play mp3's, and it's WAAAAY low,
somewhere in the 300 Mhz range. If you're running
something that old, you prolly don't wanna shell out for a 3d card (even tho it's pretty cheap now) for this purpose. IIRC, I don't believe mame requires a 3d card. I know, I can hear it now - "why WOULDN'T you have at LEAST a G2 card in your machine" - but if you write the prog to be the least resource-intensive, then more
folks can give it a whirl.
Just to give you an example, I'm building a straight juke with a 500 Mhz proc in it JUST for mp3's. I don't have a
3d card in this thing because all I've got to do is get ANY album art (which IS NOT 3d) onto the screen, therefore, I don't want to have to shell out another $15 to add in an old video card just to view the effects when other juke progs will work without a 3d card Also,
what if a graphics card won't fit into someone's
cab/juke for WHATEVER reason? Something to take into consideration.
I say all that to give you some insight into why I don't think that should be a req, and to ask if there's some way to shut down the effects (i.e. make the effects switchable on/off), or perhaps think about writing the same prog without the effects.
All in all, even though it wouldn't run, and I couldn't test it out tonight, it looks as if it has real promise. I like the pic you have of the interface, and the images in the .rar you sent me are pretty cool too. I dig the ability to photoshop some new backgrounds and the "skin without being a skin" changable options you have built in. I'll let you know how it runs when I am able to test it.
I hope I haven't just crapped on your birthday cake and instead you found this to be helpful, otherwise, just tell me to blow it out my cakehole!
PilotK7:
Jpg Good idea, i haven't really used to many of the other jukes, i had a look at there screenies and thought most of them looked to computery, i wanted a more arcade feel, so i didn't know what format they used, but allowing jpg will be very easy to implement! Cheers m8
As i said a bit earlier the "manual" is only really a temp' note, it will be replaced with HTML files, and will go into greater depth on how to use the app, but i suspect that the way this app is installed ect will change alot before then.
I will have to come up with a proper name for the app, at the moment its called "MAME Jukebox 3D" but i can't use this because its got nothing to do with MAME, and i'm sure they won't want there name all over it :)
I intend to leave it so that the person playing the cab only see's the name that has been chosen, this was supposed to be the name of your cab, but it can be anything you want.
--- Quote ---Under "background images" you state "But due to the effect these images need to be seamless"
--- End quote ---
By seamless image i mean its tilable, each edge matchs up with its opposit edge to make a seamless pattern. I plan to add lots of different types of background effects for you to choose from 8)
--- Quote ---"known system requirements"
--- End quote ---
The cab that i am building doesn't just play MAME arcade games but also modern 3d pc games, if people have decided they don't need 3d on there machine then they will not be able to use this app. Most games nowadays use 3d, if people want to be able keep there machines upto date then people will start using 3d cards more and more. This app uses DirectX 3D with no 2d at all, with so many 2d gui driven apps out there is it so wrong to have a 3d one as well? ;)
<edit>
I understand that you are building a Juke only machine, and that you don't require a 3d card, but i suppose this app is aimed more at an arcade feel rather than to emulate an actual jukebox. (have i posted this in the wrong thread? :-[)
<edit>
Thank you for your time and interest drewkaree, your input is just what i'm here for :)
Anyway i work from 12pm to 1am GMT, so i will not be able to respond to anyone until after 1/2am GMT.
PilotK7:
Demo can now be downloaded from here...
http://mysite.freeserve.com/3djuke/index.htm
BTW it now does support jpg format :)
DrewKaree:
did you get the e-mail I sent you with the album/file format addendum? I didn't know if it made sense, but that's the way I saw it written up somewhere on this board.
Someone wasn't getting how the Artist/album/songs format was supposed to work and their juke wasn't loading up any of their music
Brad Lee:
(note: i don't have any 3d on my work PC, so these are more suggestions than review stuff)
If an album doesn't have a cover.bmp/jpg in its folder, does it just show nothing, or is there a default "missing" pic, or can you specify an image to use?
From the screenshots, it looks like it only shows the current album on the screen. Left & Right cause it to move to the next or previous album. Could you put smaller, possibly semitransparent, images of the next & previous albums to either side of the current image/list?
oOo <- where the small o's are the next/prev covers, and O is whats displayed already? Then depending on how it's actually scrolling the albums, it could grow to full size and full opacity as it gets to the center
I'll check it out tonight on my regular machine, looks pretty decent though
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