Now playing (home, music viz, fullscreen video)

[mistervee]

WIP.

What is working is the now playing on the home screen for music and internet streams.

Everything else is broken.

Todo Duplicate settings in skin settings for music fullscreen options Option to disable codec info?

[mistervee]

@bartolomesoriano @gibxxi

and

@PrSinister @mad-max @Slipass (hopefully you guys are getting this) would be great if you can get involved too as i added you guys to Github for feedback.

Feedback needed for Music and Internet streams Now playing Home screen.

For the internet streams Spotify is working. Other addons like radio/shoutcast are a bit hit and miss for artwork. Due to a combination of the addon and the way skin.helper.service searches for artwork.

So logo and disc art should work quite well for Spotify.

Go to addons/recommended then Spotify and install. If you could sign up for a free trial that would be great. Free trail is 1 month, so hopefully we can get it sorted in that time.

Screenshots;

Spotify Playing https://imgur.com/a/hc1p4Ma

Options https://imgur.com/a/URcHWF1 All options under Audio Then Check 'Skinhelper' under global for internet lookups for internet streams

Other options not working for now. Just need to get music now playing home screen sorted before i update other areas.

EDIT: Side menu options - 'Music Info' is for your music library as scanned in by Kodi. 'Audio Info' is for anything else. Separate options as i feel that is needed.

[bartolomesoriano]

@mistervee, I will test today and provide you my feedback

[gibxxi]

I'm getting disc art, artist clear-logo and album artwork. visualisation currently faded into artist background, as per default.

Don't have any need for Spotify, so i won't be signing up to test that, but I do have a premium Digitally Imported account. Unfortunately, "Audio Addict", the add-on that replaces the native "Digitally Imported" add-on, crashes Kodi 18.0 for me at the moment, whenever I attempt to play a stream (CTD without Error dialog) on all my systems.

Ironically, the original add-on still works fine for me, even though it's marked as "broken" in the Kodi repo, however it's not installed on my testing PC (I removed it in preference to Audio Addict), so I can't test internet music streaming of any kind at this time. I may be able to copy back in the old add-on from one of the other installs, but that won't be until the weekend, as I'm back working weekdays now.

[bartolomesoriano]

@mistervee, after testing with both local music and Spotify, Now Playing works well. Two issues/requests:

1. With the keyboard, you cannot navigate to the Music options in the sideblade. With the mouse you can, so I was able to test the different options. All working on my end.

2. Would it be possible to have the album title wraparound to a second line? I have classical albums with very long names that get truncated too much.

[gibxxi]

...perhaps scrolling text would be tidier @bartolomesoriano ?

Also, could we have an option to display the now playing items directly above the main menu (i.e: low position) please? I don't use widgets, so the gap between the main menu and now playing items is just wasted space for me.

[bartolomesoriano]

@gibxxi, true, scrolling text would be tidier and consistent with other parts of the skin. @mistervee, could we have that?

[gibxxi]

In the side-blade on the main menu (home screen) in addition to not being able to open it without moving the mouse to the left edge (as reported above by @bartolomesoriano ), you cannot scroll downwards past the "Movies/TV Shows (Description)" menu item, but you can scroll up from the bottom past this item.

Additionally, if you do scroll up from the bottom, it jumps from "Music Info (Next)" to "Logo (On)", thus skipping "Info 1" and "Info 2", and you cannot scroll down past "Logo (On)" item either (all of the above attempted with cursor keys).

[gibxxi]

I managed to copy over my Digitally Imported (DI) add-on from another PC, and did some (quick) testing. The "Now Playing" Home Screen widget works as expected with this streaming service. The only caveat here is that DI uses a playlist to segregate it's "channels", rather than it's tracks. So Kodi therefore thinks that the next channel is the next "track" and that info is displayed in the "Now Playing -> Next Track" section of the widget.

Would it be possible to have an option to disable this just for internet streams? Because (AFAIK) if I turn it off as it stands, the setting will apply for every audio source, be it local or streamed, and I'd rather not have to faff about with it depending on the type of content being played.

Also, while shoutcast streams may have a tracklist embedded in a playlist file, I'm of the belief that in-the-main, on streams, the "Next Track" is going to be largely unknown anyhow, so it may be better to disable "Next Track" info for streamed content.

The correct "Album Art" (Channel Art) is displayed on playback. It takes about 10 seconds for the artwork to be replaced with artist / album artwork (Skin-Helper?) on average, and in the main, it's usually "artist" artwork as a pose to album artwork since the album info is unknown - this is fine. Ironically this isn't the case with my supplied screenshot(s) below, but I'm guessing artist artwork couldn't be found, so it did a fallback to album artwork in this case. It did work for 3 other tracks I played though.

So that means my only niggle with this is the position of the widget as mentioned in my post above.

If / When the "Audio Addict" add-on gets fixed, I'll try it again and see if that works as well as the (now legacy) DI add-on.

https://imgur.com/JTipZKM

https://imgur.com/HsFNpm9

[gibxxi]

... I just tried the "Visualization Screen" with the DI add-on. The "Next Track" info is displayed, but nothing else (see screenshot).

https://imgur.com/t3JBEaS

The same is true for locally stored albums. Messing with the "Info" options in the side-blade seems to work for the "Next" item, but nothing changes on the "Now Playing (Left)" section.

Also, while changes to the "Next" item (via the side-blade) correctly changes the displayed content for the "Main Menu -> Now Playing" item, any changes from the default cause the whole item to also disappear from the visualization screen completely. It might pay to put these options in the "Config" section of the "Now Playing" OSD (gear icon), so the user doesn't have to navigate back to the home menu, just to change "Now Playing" settings.

[mistervee]

@gibxxi @bartolomesoriano

Home Screen Navigation issues fixed. Changed now playing labels to fadelabels for scrolling.

@gibxxi You can change the position of the menu/now playing under widgets. I need to move this option to make it more clear.

Some plugins as you suggested use the next channel instead of the next tracks. There are two options. Audio info and Music info. Music info is for your local library. Audio info is for Radio/Internet streams.

The 10 second delay is the same for me.

I will Investigate further into skin helper service. It is bugging me, as i have a separate artwork folder and when playing an internet stream all the artwork is downloaded. But sometimes the logo and disc art is not shown in kodi? The cover and Fanart is always displayed?

For the music viz, i have just updated github with some changes. The settings are now separate from the home now playing.

This is still a WIP. There are some issue with backgrounds and navigation issue when lyrics are enabled. Probably some other things too, still need to fine tune this view.

[gibxxi]

With regards home screen menu positioning, roger.

With regards CDinfo / Fanart / CoverArt, for me it seems to work fine for artist thumbnails at least, but I cannot be certain where it's getting it from. With regards cdART / CoverART I'd say that if the stream doesn't provide "Album info", only artist -> track info, your not going to get that artwork as the info cannot be determined from just the artist and the track. I doubt Skin Helper is robust enough to be searching for info about what album the track originally appeared on, although I stand ready to be proven wrong.

[gibxxi]

...also, depending on whether your using cdART Manager or Artwork Beef, the location of stored artwork can vary, as can the file naming scheme. For example, cdART Manager uses "cdart.png" for music discs, and this is always stored with the music, likewise with the "folder.jpg" cover artwork. Arwork Beef uses "disc.png" (or discart.png) and this doesn't nessecarily have to be stored in the library folder. Same goes for it's cover artwork, although I can't remember if Artwork Beef uses "folder.jpg" or "cover.jpg" for that.

I store the "folder.jpg" and "cdart.png" with the music, but have a special Kodi artwork folder , well away from the music library for fanart & clearlogo storage (for use by cdART Manager). I've disabled / turned off all Artwork Beef's local storage options for music, as it seemed to not honour my settings choices, and kept on polluting my music folders with artwork I didn't want stored there.

[gibxxi]

With regards Lyrics, specifically LRC-CU Lyrics add-on, it's always been the case for me that you need to "Esc" out of the Lyrics add-on under the "Visualization" screen before you can display the drop-down OSD or use any other keystrokes. The add-on steals focus from the skin, and this has always been the case even in other skins aside from Aeon Madnox.

[mistervee]

I did a bit more testing. So to explain what is happening....

The now playing for online addons will only use skin helper service to retrieve the artwork. Artwork beef does not make any difference.

In the addon skin helper meta utilities, there is an option. Lookup Art work in custom folder. I set the path to e:/music art and download to my custom folder. Some of these settings will download to your local music folder if you dont disable them.

When the skin is playing internet streams if the album title is missing it simply uses the title of the track. Usually it is enough if the Artist and track name are present in the title.

If the artwork is available online it downloads fanart, extra fanart, cover and logo, in most cases. I can navigate to the custom folder and see the files appear.

The player properties i am using for online artwork. $INFO[Window(Home).Property(SkinHelper.Player.Art.ExtraFanArt)] $INFO[Window(Home).Property(SkinHelper.Player.Art.FanArt)] $INFO[Window(Home).Property(SkinHelper.Player.Art.ClearLogo)] $INFO[Window(Home).Property(SkinHelper.Player.Art.DiscArt)] $INFO[Window(Home).Property(SkinHelper.Player.Art.Thumb)]

Thumb and ExtraFanArt always appear in the skin after they are downloaded. For the other propertys, i can see when skin helper fills one with a value. Although the skin is not displaying the artwork

Example;

• 'Radio' addon in kodi
• Took about 10-20 sec for the artwork to appear https://imgur.com/a/Y4g6eBx
• Checked clear logo property property is filled and not showing in skin https://imgur.com/a/VHLqdBA
• This is the folder that skin helper service has downloaded to https://imgur.com/BZcJfMy

Note: It looks like there is some sort of queing system. If you skip a few tracks the artwork ques for download and takes longer to appear

So the issue.... Some sort of Artwork Caching issue between kodi and skin helper service. If you look in the log the artwork not displaying is not cached by kodi even though skin helper service downloads it.

I could be completely wrong on this, so any thoughts?

[mistervee]

@gibxxi

Thanks for the info with the lyrics. Thought it might something i did not understand. I will try to improve the behavior if i can.

[gibxxi]

I use Millhouse's Texture Maintenance utility periodically to maintain the (Thumbnails) cache folder, as I've found that Kodi can and does fail quite often to cache artwork properly, and seems to just "give-up" after the first attempt. I'm pretty sure the source locations get added to the library database, but not sure how the local cache is administered, but I believe it's via each local install's textures13.db file. Reason, if ever any was needed, why sharing the "Thumbnails" folder across differing installs via network shares is inadvisable.

Since I'm not having a major problem with (missing) artwork at this time, i'm going to leave well alone. I will be doing some more optimization / testing on my other installs with regards artwork to check everything is as it should be, but this is unlikely to be until after Leia goes mainstream.

With regards Lyrics, I have also noticed that the issue does not present itself if the currently playing track has no lyrics (e.g: instrumental) or appropriate lyrics cannot be found. I'm assuming in this case, the add-on simply quits and focus is returned to the skin. I would expect this issue to be down to the way the add-on runs, and don't expect there's much you'll be able to do to alter that. Like I said, pretty much every skin I've used, that makes use of it, suffers from the issue.

CU-LRC Lyrics is acting like a program, not a component of the skin, so it's always going to need priority focus, that's the way I see it, unless "Esc'd" out or disabled completely.

[gibxxi]

...just for clarification, I have two QNAP NAS devices. One is a TS453-Pro, and the other, a TS453-Mini. My TV Shows and Music are stored on the Pro, and the Movies (The smallest library by sheer filesize / amount) on the Mini.

Artwork is stored on the Pro, on a separate share to the media, and I don't use mapped drives. Simply down the reason I'm also using Powerline adapters (2x TP-Link TPL-9020 kits) and mapped drives require an established connection to be present at Windows login, which is rarely the case. Mapped drives won't auto-reconnect at login if the network connection isn't already established, so it's easier / safer just to not use them, as Windows won't attempt to retry after a failed attempt.

This means for me, my artwork folders (as referenced in Kodi) are network links rather than local paths. I do have a RTRR (Mirrored backup) job that copies all files on that share to the Mini, but this only occurs once daily (in each direction) to reduce the network load, so generally, all my Kodi installs reference the Pro (for artwork purposes) and the Mini is just acting as a backup, should I need to use it. Each install (aside from the desktop) uses one or another of the NASes MySQL / MariaDb functionality for the Kodi library, depending on which install is closer to which NAS. The Desktop (on which i'm doing skin testing for you) uses a local Db setup, at this time, to avoid anything carrying over to my other installs.

Each install that is using MySQL / MariaDb, also has local library databases that have been fully scraped at least once, that can be re-enabled by turning off the MySQL settings in my "advancedsettings.xml" file, should anything go wrong with the databases, or NASes, assuming the content shares are still viable. These local Dbs are well out of date, but will work should I need to revert back to them, as a fail-safe option. I keep meaning to write a batch file or something to allow mode selection / advancedsettings.xml switching, to facilitate this, but keep putting it off.

[mistervee]

I use the Texture Maintenance utility myself. Works great.

In regards to skin helper and Library Artwork. The only place i am trying to use it is for extrafanart. All other library artwork should only be handled by kodi, due to the issues we are seeing. There are a few variables that i need to update in time.

The issue really is just for internet streams. Anything related to this is not stored in the kodi database. It is handled by skin helper service's own database. ..userdata\addon_data\script.module.simplecache\simplecache.db

After a Couple of hours trying to figure this out is definitely a skin helper issue. As you said the way the addon runs. So I tried a different property for the logo. This is for a multi image control. Note the 's' on the end. That works. $INFO[Window(Home).Property(SkinHelper.Player.Art.ClearLogos)]

Seems like we will have to wait for the dev to start work again on the plugin before i can request assistance.

[mistervee]

@gibxxi Cheers for the info on your setup. If artwork is working ok for you i suppose all is good.

One question do you see any delay in artwork using a nas?

I have rather a simple and slow nas. Artwork stored next to movie and tv shows. I find i have a delay sometimes in the library views.

For music everything is quick as i have a local directory with music art stored separately.

[mistervee]

@bartolomesoriano @gibxxi

I am trying to tidy up the rest of the music now playing.

Just looking for thoughts on how it will all work in the end before the next github commit. Mainly artwork related.

Currently music now playing will come for these sources;

• Music Library
• Internet Stream
• Radio (PVR)

So this is how i would like it to work. It sort of works like this at the moment but it needs fine tuning though.

Cover art

• Music Library - Scraped artwork from artwork beef or local artwork in folder
• Internet Stream and Radio- Scraped from web using skin helper service. Can be disabled as a single global setting that affects all music and pvr artwork

Logo

• Music Library - Scraped artwork from artwork beef or local artwork in folder
• Internet Stream and Radio- Scraped from web using skin helper service. Can be disabled as a single global setting that affects all music and pvr artwork. Same setting as for the cover

Cdart

• Music Library - Scraped artwork from artwork beef or local artwork in folder
• Internet Stream - Can be disabled as a single global setting that affects all music and pvr artwork. Same setting as for the cover
• Radio - No CDart available.

Fallback CDart (nothing available)

• Music Library and Internet stream - One option that affects home screen now playing and the music viz. Choose between different types and none(so if no art is available no fallback is displayed)
• Radio N/A

FanArt

• Now playing home - Music Library, Internet stream and Radio - only one option for all three types, Fanart or extra fanart art work is displayed in all views. None - normal backgrounds in view
• Music Viz - - Music Library, Internet stream and Radio - only one option for all three types, Fanart, extra fanart, none and fallback option.

Visualization

• Enable/Disable in music viz
• If the Visualization is enabled in the music viz, It can be disabled in for library view/homescreen.

[gibxxi]

There's a slight delay when browsing in the library for me, yes. But it's only a second or two. This is probably made more noticeable by the fact i'm using Powerline adapters, then a pure Ethernet network, but since the link between the 1st NAS and the HTPC is the fastest link, it's not a massive delay.

Playback of content can sometimes incur a bigger delay, and the laptop in the bedroom suffers the most, but I have no option to hard-wire my setup, as I'm a tenant, not an owner of the flat (apartment), so I have to put up with it. It's faster than wireless would be, without the variations in speed that come with that, or the channel interference due to wireless channel sharing from my neighbours.

[mistervee]

@bartolomesoriano @gibxxi

All done for music home now playing and the music viz.

Lyrics are a WIP. It was a copy and paste from manfeed Lyrics. Time to simplify this.

Any thoughts?

[bartolomesoriano]

@mistervee, I just did some more tests, and now playing works fine for me, navigation and information. The tests I did were with local library content (stored on my NAS).

Please excuse my ignorance, as I don't use Kodi for music much, how do you get to the Music Visualization? I did enable music visualization in Settings, Player, Music, but did not see anything different. Is the music viz what you get when you select "Full Screen" while playing music?

I tried the lyrics with some Ed Sheeran songs and they looked fine, I am not sure how messy the code is, though.

[gibxxi]

@mistervee : Like @bartolomesoriano I've done some local testing (Two artists, 3 tracks - one instrumental) and all the previously reported issues with the main menu side-blade and navigation / options now seem to be working OK.

Unfortunately the same can't be said for Manfeed's lyrics code, but I'll get to that in a moment. Likewise with an issue regarding Artist Slideshow integration that I think is more down to the skin, than Artist Slideshow, based on my settings - but I could be wrong here.

Below is a screenshot from the "Home - Now Playing" View. As you can see I have correct Cover, CD and Artist Logo artwork. All of which was pulled and stored via cdART Manager (some time ago). On the whole it looks very good. I don't think the "Play" icon in "Info 2" is needed though. It's too close to the spinning CD for my liking, and the fact that the CD IS spinning, and music is playing, and the info displayed, should be enough to clue anyone into the fact that the music info is relating to the currently playing track. If your set on keeping it, I'd add a rounded square background (like the power menu icons) or a circular icon, and add one for "paused" tracks (If you haven't already - this wasn't tested) because as it stands it also looks a bit "meh" for my tastes.

https://imgur.com/OPd9ulF

Other than that minor niggle, I think the home screen looks very good. I was somewhat torn on what option I wanted to display for the right-hand info, as they were all great, but decided on codec info come the end, as that's just as informative, but neutral at the same time. ;)

With regards Manfeed's Lyrics code, there are three separate issues with his code as it currently exists in Madnox. One is a carry-over from "Aeon Madnox" (that I still need to report to MikeSiLVO - oops!) the others are new.

Manfeed's Lyrics makes extensive use of overlayed text in a lot of his views and animations. In the screenshot below you can see clearly that the 1st line is truncated along the bottom edge by the second piece of text that comes in slightly later (Red Arrows)...

https://imgur.com/HFBwOUh

...Also, as this track has synchronized lyrics, it appears that the current lyrics block number being processed is being output to the screen, as this number increments by one, each time the next block of lyrics are displayed (White Arrow), that shouldn't be happening.

In some views the shadowing is being duplicated (Red Arrows)...

https://imgur.com/vDskUUB

...And finally (As with "Aeon Madnox") Instrumental tracks aren't being parsed properly...

https://imgur.com/j1eJTXv

...And that's it for Manfeed's Lyrics add-on (so far).

With regards the Artist Slideshow issue, I'm seeing an issue whereby once a song / album / artist, for which Artist Slideshow is able to grab fanart for, is displayed in either the "Home - Now Playing" or "Visualization - Now Playing" screen(s), if you then subsequently play an artist it's NOT able to find any artwork for, the previously grabbed / played fanart is being displayed...

https://imgur.com/QNX6Eci

...I've checked my settings in Artist Slideshow, and a transparent image should be being displayed if no fanart for that particular artist can be found, which is essentially a cute way of saying just display the currently selected visualization on a black screen. Since the Artwork is actually laid over the TOP of the visualization, (or that's what your brain tricks you into thinking) there should only be the disc info and a black screen in the above screenshot, not fanart for the previous artist, in this case, Tool.

For clarification, on my Artist Slideshow setting, relevant to this, see here...

https://imgur.com/rNLdvys

Finally, one minor niggle. Setting the CD Info to be persistent on the top-bar OSD in the "Music Visualization - Now Playing" Screen, doesn't "stick". Once an album is stopped, and another queued, it reverts to the "off" state. I've not tested whether it's also the case for the "repeat" and "shuffle" options, but I would expect these three options to be sticky, until such times as I decided to turn them off via the OSD again.

If this is desired behaviour, it's not a biggie, but just goes against my expectations. Also, (again), I don't know about the other two, but when the option is selected / on, there needs to be some visual cue to the user that this is the case. Currently, the icon for it in the OSD looks the same regardless of whether the option is on or off to my eyes. Maybe we could have some kind of halo or "glow" effect around the OSD buttons, to signify when those options are selected / active?

Other than that, all good. I'm very much liking the polished look of "Madnox" versus the more dated textures in "Aeon Madnox", I already prefer it over the older version, so well done @mistervee .

:)

Dan / Gib.

[gibxxi]

...Oh and for the love of all that is holy, can you PLEASE double the speed of that RSS feed. It's driving me crazy, lol.

;)

Dan / Gib.

[mistervee]

@gibxxi I can change to play icon to a line the same as info1.

For the lyrics, still a wip. i am trying to understand how they work and am recoding it. There is plenty of optimization that can be done from a coding perspective.

I have not implemented any support for artist slideshow. It is using skin helper service. If an artist has no fanart it should fallback to what ever fallback background setting you picked in your music library.

Strange though i can't replicate the issue. I did recently change over to an older version in the the kodi repo. It seems a lot more stable and quicker fetching artwork. Just pushed an update to git for the Settings/Addons/RequiredAddons.

So you could try manually deleting the all the skin helper addons and marcevelts repo. Then script.module.simplecache, script.module.metadatautils, skin.shortcuts and tvshow.next.aired. Also you will need to remove any settings leftover in "userdata\addon_data" from each of the addons.

When you load kodi up next it should promt to install the addons. These are the versions i have installed. https://imgur.com/a/NV9DF1Z

I'll see what i can do with the persistent info.

Cheers. Glad you like it.

[mistervee]

Have a look in Includes_home.xml, line 176.

Kodi has been acting a bit weird with scroll speeds for a while. Not to sure if it is my system.

So if you could set the rss scroll speed from your end and and let me know what value you think is suitable.

`

15

`

[gibxxi]

I've reported the issue with processing of instrumental tracks (with embedded lyrics files) on the "Aeon Madnox for Leia" thread to MikeSiLVO, so if he can fix it, maybe it will save you some work. The post is here:

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=230821&pid=2790726#pid2790726

I'm not against reverting to Kodi repo add-ons. Marcelveldt's Titan Leia skin (from his own repo) is currently broken anyhow, so it's no big issue for me. I'll let you know what I find once i've done the migration.

With regards the RSS feed, just set it to the same value as "Aeon Madnox", that ought to be fine. Standard reading speed is fast enough.

:)

Dan / Gib.

[gibxxi]

@mistervee : Any chance you could put up that info for required add-ons to the wiki section here as well? It will save me having to launch Kodi to find it, as I plan to delete the add-ons (and add-on data) outside Kodi, prior to launch.

I've "disabled" Marcelveldt's repo for now, I'm assuming this will be enough.

Dan / Gib.

[gibxxi]

...Never mind, I managed to downgrade all of the add-ons myself. The issue with incorrect fanart in MusicVis is unchanged. I noticed another user post about this very thing in the Artist Slideshow thread, so it's not just me. I expanded on his post and escalated it, although I can find no such "Debug Settings" option for ASS in the add-on. will wait and see what pkscout comes back with, in that regard.

I did notice a new issue though. On opening the "OSD - Settings" dialog, and specifying a lyrics add-on (CU-LRC Lyrics - as that's the only one available - See screenshot)...

https://imgur.com/uugfp4X

There's now (default) scrolling, block-style lyrics, with a second copy (Manfeed's) overlaid over the top. I'm guessing this is because coding is incomplete on this, but I thought you'd want to know. I did take a screenshot of it, but it didn't come out right. Play a track with lyrics after setting the above, and you'll no doubt see what I am referring to.

Dan / Gib.

[gibxxi]

I tested streaming again (via DI). It looks fine. I would however set the info label to "Internet Stream" (or maybe the name of the streaming add-on being used?) if it were me, just for the sake of clarity, as all media is streamed as far as Kodi is concerned. Some locally, some from the internet. Splitting hairs I know.

Artist artwork is being displayed, still has a delay, but that's to be expected, given the nature of the way it's being displayed. One thing I have noticed, is that the "Persistent Info" option is resetting between tracks using the DI add-on. Not sure if this also applies to local streams, as I only tested one track at a time in that context. But like I said in my earlier post, I'd expect this setting to "stick" until I personally choose to unset it, myself.

The CD artwork is probably a bit redundant for internet streaming, but it does at least indicate a "playing" track. The centre hub of the CD image is practically invisible against a black background or while Milkdrop / 2 is the vis. Perhaps snatch the default one from Aeon Madnox? Not a big issue for me, just an OCD observation (as usual, lol).

Artist clear logos are also working (for fanart.tv recognized artists), that's a nice touch. Not essential, but a nice touch nonetheless.

:)

Dan / Gib.

[bartolomesoriano]

@gibxxi I can change to play icon to a line the same as info1.

For the lyrics, still a wip. i am trying to understand how they work and am recoding it. There is plenty of optimization that can be done from a coding perspective.

I have not implemented any support for artist slideshow. It is using skin helper service. If an artist has no fanart it should fallback to what ever fallback background setting you picked in your music library.

Strange though i can't replicate the issue. I did recently change over to an older version in the the kodi repo. It seems a lot more stable and quicker fetching artwork. Just pushed an update to git for the Settings/Addons/RequiredAddons.

So you could try manually deleting the all the skin helper addons and marcevelts repo. Then script.module.simplecache, script.module.metadatautils, skin.shortcuts and tvshow.next.aired. Also you will need to remove any settings leftover in "userdata\addon_data" from each of the addons.

When you load kodi up next it should promt to install the addons. These are the versions i have installed. https://imgur.com/a/NV9DF1Z

I'll see what i can do with the persistent info.

Cheers. Glad you like it.

@mistervee, when I downgraded the addons, I am getting errors in the log for skin helper service, and skin helper backup. For skin helper service, I have the same version you have. For the backup, it seems that the Kodi repo has a newer version than what you have. Any ideas? I am using yesterday's Leia nightly.

EDIT: I re-installed Marcel Veldt's beta repo and went back to the latest versions of his add-ons. The errors disappeared. Since I am not experiencing some of the problems you are, I will keep these latest versions.

[mistervee]

Hi people,

@bartolomesoriano @gibxxi

Finished recoding the lyrics.

Note: you will see numbers above the artwork. This is just temporary. If you have any issues just tell me what number is shown and i can update that part of the code.

In regards to the others issues/suggestions, i had to just focus on the one part of the skin for this week. So i will go through the list over the weekend.

Cheers Mr. V

[gibxxi]

No worries. I have decided to port out Madnox to my other two systems, so I can test things on the fly on whichever system I am using at the time, as a pose to doing "specific" localised testing on my desktop.

Hopefully this will give me more opportunity to do the testing more justice now that the time I have to do so is somewhat more limited by working 5-day weeks. Besides, I think Madnox is stable enough to not cause any serious issues on those systems, even in it's unfinished state.

Take your time Mr. V. This skin is pretty good already, as it is, and I think it's benefited emensely from being a ground-up re-write. It's going in the right direction as far as I'm concerned.

[bartolomesoriano]

@mistervee, I agree with Dan, take your time! I also really like the skin and appreciate what you have done and the very high standard you set for both the look and the code. I will test lyrics again this weekend. I know we are not there yet, but the only thing I am missing currently that prevents me from using the skin in all of my systems are widgets. The other members of my household use them a lot.

[mistervee]

@gibxxi

Thanks for the additional testing. Take your time, no rush. Your help is appreciated.

@bartolomesoriano

Thanks bart. I will see what i can do about the widgets. They are there sort of working. Should not be to much effort to get the basics ok.

[gibxxi]

For me, if "Showcase" view (or whatever you decide to call it) for video content, and "Wall View" for music get completed, I'd be more than happy to make this my daily driver, to replace Aeon Madnox. Besides, I'm starting to go off a certain individual in that thread, so I'd jump at the chance to be able to ditch the old skin for good, and make the new "Madnox" my primary skin.

[mistervee]

Just pushed an update to git.

Fixed the things that were mentioned in previous posts and added a couple of new features.

• Added option - Show Information - On info, Persistent or Off
• Added option - Choose between animated and normal lyrics
• Removed selection for lyrics addon. Only cu lyrics is supported
• Added option - Auto open music fullscreen on play. This is on by default. (note there is an intentional 2 sec delay after pressing play, so it works with party mode)
• Added option - show now playing info in the background
• Lightened center hub of default fallback cd
• Changed now playing label for internet streams to 'Internet stream'
• Added some dummy buttons so the menu does not open on mouse move. To open press 'm' or move mouse to top of screen
• Change lyrics navigation. Left/right for Next/Previous track. Up/down next previous lyrics.

Edit: i did look at the play symbol for info2. It was a design choice, a play symbol pointing to the now playing title. I did try to change it to a line, but was not happy with the look.

I think i am done for the music now playing. There is nothing more i can add. So really the only changes i think would be bug fixes.

[mistervee]

@bartolomesoriano @gibxxi I hear your feedback in regards to what you would like working.

I will commit to getting widgets working. Secondly, I will update wall view and add showcase view. Only a simple versions without all the bells and whistles. For now anyway...

I do have priority's in regards to coding. So i will get back to the "bells and whistles at a later point".

Next update will be widgets and a clean up of the main menu editor. :grin: Followed by wall view and showcase updates/additions.

[gibxxi]

That's fine Mr. V.

I'm a bit short-sighted (even with glasses), so sat in my armchair, List view is a bit too much text for me.

Not worried about the fancy stuff at this stage (bells & whistles).

;)

Dan / Gib.

[bartolomesoriano]

Just pushed an update to git.

Fixed the things that were mentioned in previous posts and added a couple of new features.

• Added option - Show Information - On info, Persistent or Off
• Added option - Choose between animated and normal lyrics
• Removed selection for lyrics addon. Only cu lyrics is supported
• Added option - Auto open music fullscreen on play. This is on by default. (note there is an intentional 2 sec delay after pressing play, so it works with party mode)
• Added option - show now playing info in the background
• Lightened center hub of default fallback cd
• Changed now playing label for internet streams to 'Internet stream'
• Added some dummy buttons so the menu does not open on mouse move. To open press 'm' or move mouse to top of screen
• Change lyrics navigation. Left/right for Next/Previous track. Up/down next previous lyrics.

Edit: i did look at the play symbol for info2. It was a design choice, a play symbol pointing to the now playing title. I did try to change it to a line, but was not happy with the look.

I think i am done for the music now playing. There is nothing more i can add. So really the only changes i think would be bug fixes.

@mistervee, tested Now Playing for local library music and did not find any issues. Thanks!

[gibxxi]

@mistervee:

Got a new one for you... Incorrect codec icon displayed in file system view (for flac files) - mp3 icon shown. This album (in screenshots) is comprised solely of flac files.

https://imgur.com/VkTQDG1

and

https://imgur.com/3WYA0av

Dan / Gib.

[Slipass]

It's not really an error but currently the whole video is displayed in the background with the Now Playing function.

Better would be a small preview window

Now

Better

[Slipass]

Is it possible to get the cdart on the floor?

Linke this:

Now:

[meowmoo]

Like the other also pointet out, the small "play" icon befor the track name looks out of place and in my opinion is not needed.

Do you plan to add other layouts in the future?

[meowmoo]

What's the reason there is no artistslideshow support (yet)?

Extra fanart don't work, I guess because of the skinhelper removal?

Oh and I miss my now playing widget below the homebar :P But I totally understand if you don't wanna add it.

[mistervee]

@meowmoo

Almost missed your message. If you don't put @username i don't get an email notification.

The small play icon is something i personally like. No plans on removing it, unless i find a better design that i like.

I don't see any need to add artists slideshow support, as i can code the same functionality in the skin using only the database.

When i get to updating the code for the backgrounds extra fanart will work throughout the skin.

It is possible to add in some form, not sure yet. At the moment the issue is making everything fit nicely on the home screen. Having options to move the main menu position, restricts what i can do with the home screen, otherwise elements overlap taking away from a clean/polished look.

[mistervee]

@bartolomesoriano @gibxxi @Slipass @meowmoo

I will keep this thread open, anything widget or main menu related should go here https://github.com/mistervee/skin.madnox/issues/36

[meowmoo]

@mistervee Personal opinion here, I find it a bit annoying that the skin redirect me to the music viz everytime I start a new song from the library. For example I start a cd, the skin auto open the viz, after a while I go back to the library, music is still playing, and I wanna here a different song because of reason, I hit play to start the album and want to browse some more in the library but the skin again auto open the viz, what I don't want at this point.

I remember I used a !isplaying or something like that on the old madnox so it only open the viz the first time you start playing music but that don't work on Playlist, witch is the reason you use a timed condition right?

The other thing is, I like to see the duration and progress bar, but have absolutely no intress in the other stats. It will always show 32bit 44.1khz no matter if you play mp3or flac right? This is nip picking I know, i also know 99% of the kodi users wanna see this info. I just don't get why, in my opinion it would look cleaner without the tech info and mp3 icon :)

[gibxxi]

@mistervee Personal opinion here, I find it a bit annoying that the skin redirect me to the music viz everytime I start a new song from the library. For example I start a cd, the skin auto open the viz, after a while I go back to the library, music is still playing, and I wanna here a different song because of reason, I hit play to start the album and want to browse some more in the library but the skin again auto open the viz, what I don't want at this point...

@meowmoo

In the music viz screen, toggle the OSD [ENTER], choose the "settings" icon (Top Bar -> far left) and scroll down until you see the option "Automatically Open Fullscreen Music On Play". Turn this off -> No more automatic Music Viz screen appearance.

You can also use the [TAB] key to quickly switch back and forth between whatever screen within Kodi you happen to be on, to Music Vis, and back to your previous location again.

Dan / Gib.