[pkscout]

I have a new version of the add-on available at my github site:

https://github.com/pkscout/script.artistslideshow

At this point I believe it includes all the things folks have asked about to date (except passing the artist as an argument, we're working on that separately). I've also updated the readme and changelog. For skinners please note that testing for:

Code:

Window(Visualisation).Property(ArtistSlideshowRefresh)

is no longer needed (see below for explanation). If you leave it in it won't hurt anything, you just don't need it.

I found a different way to do the refresh after download that, I believe, should work more consistently (it certainly does for me). It mirrors what happens when you change artists. Instead of trying to do a refresh via the skin, when the image downloads are done, the script switches to an "empty" directory, pauses, and then switches back to the correct directory. Switching into or out of a truly empty directory caused a jarring transition, so the empty directory actually as a black image that is 16x9 pixels. That allows for a nicer fade out and in.

There are now two groupings of settings: Download and Slideshow.

Download
Download images from last.fm (default true)
(self expanitory)

Download images from htbackdrops.com (default false)
(self expanitory)

Minimal image width and height: (default 0,0)
any images smaller than the set dimensions will not be downloaded.

Download only 16:9 images: (default false)
will discard any images that aren't really, really close to a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Download additional artist info: (default false)
includes information like the artist's bio and artists similar to the one to which you are listening. includes option to select download language. skin must support this extra information, or nothing will be displayed.

Slideshow
Local artist folder: (default none)
path to a directory that has artist images. Images must be organized in artist/extrafanart/

Fallback slideshow folder: (default none)
path to a directory of images that should be used if no local or remote images can be found.

Priority: (default remote first)
three options: remote first, local first, both
remote first will try and download images from remote sites first. if none found will use local images. if none found will use fallback slideshow
local first will use local images first. if none found will try and download remote images. if none found will use fallback slideshow
both will check for local images first. if they exist the downloaded images will be placed in the same directory as the local images. if not remote images will be stored in normal cache dir. if nothing found will use fallback slideshow.

Override slideshow folder: (default none)
path to a directory of images that should be used intead of artist artwork. With this set no artwork will ever be downloaded.

Fade time after all images loaded: (default 2 seconds)
when the addon starts downloading images, it shows the first one while it downloads all the others. When it refreshes the directory it fades out and back in. For the most seamless experience, set this to the same fade time as your skin uses.

Refresh slideshow after every image download: (default false)
if set to true, the slideshow will refresh after every image instead of after all the images are downloaded. includes option to have the slideshow refresh only after x number of seconds. This is really only useful for slow connections.


Let me know if you find issues. I'm going to let this burn in for a week or so and then talk to Ronie about merging all this into the official add-on.