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**pkscout** · 2017-03-04, 04:52

(2017-03-04, 04:36)msfc Wrote:
(2017-02-20, 05:47)msfc Wrote: The default Estuary background on the full-screen music display has black bars at top and bottom, graduating to a turquoiseish color covering the middle. I have both Use Visualization turned off in the interface preferences and visualization set to none. The default background can clearly be seen blended into the artist images. Since the visualization can be seen, when enabled, it is really not surprising that the static background can also be seen. I can't understand why you aren't seeing it. Perhaps you have a white background. The skin mod needs to disable blending of the artist images.

I would like the artist images to be displayed with replace blending (i.e. no blending). Then I can leave the visualization running so that something nice happens when no artwork is found and I don't have to disable the screen saver. Without visualization running the screensaver kicks in after a few minutes dimming the screen so you can no longer see the artist slideshow.
Any suggestions for how I can get to the bottom of the blending issue? It has been a couple of weeks since I posted the above. I'm at the point where I am fed up looking at the ugly images and will disable AS if I can't fix this.

I've never seen what you're describing. All the display code in the Estuary mod is in MusicVisualization.xml. Feel free to make whatever changes you'd like to get it to look the way you want.

msfc · 2017-03-04, 05:22

Is there a recommended way to provide alternate names for artists? For example I have a lot of Japanese artists which I tag as, e.g, "天満敦子 [Atsuko Temma]". AS doesn't find art for any artists tagged this way. Is there some way I can tag these such that AS will search for 天満敦子 and Atsuko Temma without making it appear as if there are 2 separate artists on the recording.

What is the best way to indicate orchestra and conductor so AS can find art for the orchestra and art for the conductor. I've been using "orchestra, conductor" but nothing is found. I can separate them with NUL (rendered as "/" by Kodi) but in many cases these really aren't 2 separate independent artists. Often the orchestra, conductor pair defines an era for a long-lived orchestra. It would be very good if AS could find pictures of the orchestra from that era.

msfc · 2017-03-04, 05:24

(2017-03-04, 04:52)pkscout Wrote: I've never seen what you're describing. All the display code in the Estuary mod is in MusicVisualization.xml. Feel free to make whatever changes you'd like to get it to look the way you want.

Maybe it is something device/OS specific. What do you test on? I'm using a Mac Mini running macOS 10.12.3.

**pkscout** · 2017-03-04, 06:00

(2017-03-04, 05:22)msfc Wrote: Is there a recommended way to provide alternate names for artists? For example I have a lot of Japanese artists which I tag as, e.g, "天満敦子 [Atsuko Temma]". AS doesn't find art for any artists tagged this way. Is there some way I can tag these such that AS will search for 天満敦子 and Atsuko Temma without making it appear as if there are 2 separate artists on the recording.

There is not. AS uses the artist information provided by Kodi, and that assumes each artist is represented only once. The only thing I can suggest is that you manually find the MusicBrainz ID for the artist in question and include that in the tags of your music file (it has to be called MusicBrainz Artist ID). Kodi will pick that up and add it to the database and then share that with AS.

Quote:What is the best way to indicate orchestra and conductor so AS can find art for the orchestra and art for the conductor. I've been using "orchestra, conductor" but nothing is found. I can separate them with NUL (rendered as "/" by Kodi) but in many cases these really aren't 2 separate independent artists. Often the orchestra, conductor pair defines an era for a long-lived orchestra. It would be very good if AS could find pictures of the orchestra from that era.

AS does not support orchestra or conductor. It only supports artist information in the artist field or as a featured artist in the title of the song.

(2017-03-04, 05:24)msfc Wrote:
(2017-03-04, 04:52)pkscout Wrote: I've never seen what you're describing. All the display code in the Estuary mod is in MusicVisualization.xml. Feel free to make whatever changes you'd like to get it to look the way you want.
Maybe it is something device/OS specific. What do you test on? I'm using a Mac Mini running macOS 10.12.3.

I use a Mac for all my development and testing and a Windows machine for my main HTPC.

msfc · 2017-03-04, 14:22

(2017-03-04, 06:00)pkscout Wrote: AS does not support orchestra or conductor. It only supports artist information in the artist field or as a featured artist in the title of the song.

Yes I understood that. I just wondered if there was some way to format this information in the artist field. Apparently not.

(2017-03-04, 05:24)msfc Wrote:
(2017-03-04, 04:52)pkscout Wrote: I've never seen what you're describing. All the display code in the Estuary mod is in MusicVisualization.xml. Feel free to make whatever changes you'd like to get it to look the way you want.
Maybe it is something device/OS specific. What do you test on? I'm using a Mac Mini running macOS 10.12.3.

(2017-03-04, 04:52)pkscout Wrote: I use a Mac for all my development and testing and a Windows machine for my main HTPC.

Then not device specific. Please confirm if the URL I mentioned previously is the correct one for the current zip file of your skin mods. It is https://github.com/pkscout/repository.sk...p?raw=true.

I looked at MusicVisualisation.xml earlier today and tried a few things but had no luck. I found one very strange thing. If I modify the colordiffuse property of the textures in the image or multiimage controls from 88FFFFFF to FFFFFFFF or 00FFFFFF the album cover and the artist and title are no longer displayed nor is the normal background. I just get black. Is there any documentation anywhere of the schema used in these files i.e. the meaning of all the properties on <control> and <texture>?

**pkscout** · 2017-03-04, 19:24

(2017-03-04, 14:22)msfc Wrote: Then not device specific. Please confirm if the URL I mentioned previously is the correct one for the current zip file of your skin mods. It is https://github.com/pkscout/repository.sk...p?raw=true.

Downloading directly isn't something I'm going to help you with. Go to the wiki page. Download and install the skin repo linked there for Helix+. Install the Estuary mod. That's it.

Quote:I looked at MusicVisualisation.xml earlier today and tried a few things but had no luck. I found one very strange thing. If I modify the colordiffuse property of the textures in the image or multiimage controls from 88FFFFFF to FFFFFFFF or 00FFFFFF the album cover and the artist and title are no longer displayed nor is the normal background. I just get black. Is there any documentation anywhere of the schema used in these files i.e. the meaning of all the properties on <control> and <texture>?

I don't know of any documentation provided by the Kodi folks on Estuary that has that level of detail.

meowmoo · (This post was last modified: 2017-03-04, 21:29 by meowmoo.)

You can take a look here msfc
http://kodi.wiki/view/Controls

msfc · 2017-03-05, 04:13

(2017-03-04, 19:24)pkscout Wrote:
(2017-03-04, 14:22)msfc Wrote: Then not device specific. Please confirm if the URL I mentioned previously is the correct one for the current zip file of your skin mods. It is https://github.com/pkscout/repository.sk...p?raw=true.
Downloading directly isn't something I'm going to help you with. Go to the wiki page. Download and install the skin repo linked there for Helix+. Install the Estuary mod. That's it.

Please get off your high horse about my attempt to clone your GitHub repo. I am simply trying to confirm I have the correct zip file. As I wrote upthread here:

msfc Wrote:I could not find a link in the AS wiki for Estuary mods only for earlier skins. The link in http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=303946 has been broken. It currently points to https://github.com/pkscout/repository.sk...-1.1.0.zip which is for Helix. Also I have not found any full instructions for installing and using your Estuary skin mods.

At the time I wrote the above, the links on the Wiki were for "Gotham or Helix". "or later" has subsequently been added to the "Helix" link. They pointed at zip files on GitHub so I went looking for a zip file for Estuary, the link I gave above. Having now been clued in by "Helix+" and the "or later" addition, I have downloaded that zip file. I see it is for adding a repo from which presumably one downloads the modified skin add-on. I do not know how I am supposed to install this repository as you have not provided instructions. I will now go and hunt around for something like "load from zip file" in the "Add Repository" section of the Kodi UI.

A few simple instructions would really help.

Douganator · 2017-03-05, 06:57

I have just done a clean PC build with fresh Kodi 17.1 and after installing AS it does not show in the visualization settings to select.
Anybody had this issue, ideas ??

**pkscout** · 2017-03-05, 07:10

(2017-03-05, 06:57)Douganator Wrote: I have just done a clean PC build with fresh Kodi 17.1 and after installing AS it does not show in the visualization settings to select.
Anybody had this issue, ideas ??

AS is not a visualization. You have to be using a skin that supports AS (the default Kodi does not). More information available on the wiki page (in my signature).

msfc · (This post was last modified: 2017-03-05, 07:23 by msfc.)

It took me about 5 minutes to find the Load from Zip File button. Add-Ons->My Add-ons then you have click on the ".." at the top of the My Add-ons list. Why is it so ridiculously hidden away? I know. Not your problem.

I installed your skin repo from the .zip file then the modified skin from your repo. (I did this on another system, also a Mac, so there is no possibility of any effect from my previous attempts of getting the skin mod directly from your GitHub repo.) Unfortunately it is not working. All I am seeing is the fanart image that shows even when AS is not installed or disabled. I turned on AS debug logging. Below is what I see. The music DB is on an NAS. The other computer where AS is working, except for the blending, is using the same music DB.

Code:
49:21.919 T:123145306808320  NOTICE: [Artist Slideshow] script version 2.0.7 started

49:21.919 T:123145306808320  NOTICE: [Artist Slideshow] debug logging set to true

49:22.931 T:123145306808320  NOTICE: [Artist Slideshow] script stopped

49:44.093 T:123145311100928  NOTICE: virtual bool CAESinkDARWINOSX::Initialize(AEAudioFormat &, std::string &): Opening default device Built-in Output

49:45.058 T:123145316007936  NOTICE: [Artist Slideshow] script version 2.0.7 started

49:45.058 T:123145316007936  NOTICE: [Artist Slideshow] debug logging set to true

49:45.060 T:123145330409472 WARNING: CSkinInfo: failed to load skin settings

49:46.358 T:123145316007936   ERROR: GetDirectory - Error getting The Rolling Stones/extrafanart

50:06.611 T:123145305198592   ERROR: GetDirectory - Error getting

50:10.863 T:140735765787584   ERROR: Previous line repeats 1 times.

50:10.863 T:140735765787584   ERROR: GetDirectory - Error getting musicdb://artists/

50:10.864 T:140735765787584   ERROR: CGUIMediaWindow::GetDirectory(musicdb://artists/) failed

50:55.394 T:123145310027776 WARNING: Attempt to use invalid handle -1

53:08.406 T:123145316007936 WARNING: Previous line repeats 5 times.

53:08.406 T:123145316007936  NOTICE: [Artist Slideshow] script stopped

53:15.175 T:123145330409472 WARNING: CSkinInfo: failed to load skin settings

53:15.348 T:123145305735168  NOTICE: [Artist Slideshow] script version 2.0.7 started

53:15.348 T:123145305735168  NOTICE: [Artist Slideshow] debug logging set to true

53:15.348 T:123145305735168  NOTICE: [Artist Slideshow] script stopped

53:31.544 T:123145312174080 WARNING: DARWINOSX: underflow (2336 vs 4096 bytes)

53:32.459 T:123145311100928  NOTICE: virtual bool CAESinkDARWINOSX::Initialize(AEAudioFormat &, std::string &): Opening default device Built-in Output

53:59.915 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: Storing total System Uptime

53:59.916 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: Saving settings

53:59.917 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: Saving skin settings

53:59.919 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: stop all

53:59.919 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: stop player

53:59.919 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: ES: Stopping event server

53:59.919 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: stopping upnp

54:00.008 T:123145325666304  NOTICE: ES: UDP Event server stopped

54:00.277 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: stop dvd detect media

54:00.397 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: clean cached files!

54:00.549 T:123145315471360 WARNING: CPythonInvoker(0, /Users/mark/Library/Application Support/Kodi/addons/script.cu.lrclyrics/default.py): the python script "/Users/mark/Library/Application Support/Kodi/addons/script.cu.lrclyrics/default.py" has left several classes in memory that we couldn't clean up. The classes include: N14PythonBindings31XBMCAddon_xbmc_Monitor_DirectorE,N14PythonBindings42XBMCAddon_xbmcgui_WindowXMLDialog_DirectorE

54:02.681 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: closing down remote control service

54:02.681 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: stopped

54:02.882 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: destroy

54:02.882 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: unload skin

54:02.900 T:140735765787584 WARNING: Cleanup: Having to cleanup texture lists/focus.png

54:02.936 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: unload sections

54:02.943 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: special://profile/ is mapped to: special://masterprofile/

54:02.945 T:140735765787584  NOTICE: application stopped...

The standard Estuary skin and your modified skin, when AS is not working, show the fanart blended with the background in exactly the same way as I have been complaining about with the working AS installation on the other device. Here's a screen shot. Note the blue cast and the black bars oscuring the top and bottom.

watch gallery

msfc · (This post was last modified: 2017-03-05, 07:46 by msfc.)

Oops! All the options for downloading artwork and bios were disabled. That is why nothing was working. Sorry for the false alarm. This seems like a pretty silly default to me and one likely to cause exactly this type of false alarm.

Still have the blending issue. Below are 2 pictures. On the left with album info displayed. This has the black bars top & bottom and the blue cast. On the right is without album info. This still has the blue cast. So the problem has nothing to do with the way I installed AS.

watch gallery

msfc · 2017-03-05, 15:45

I should note that there has been one improvement with the latest version of the mod'ed skin. Now when info is toggled off, everything is removed from the screen. Before only the album art, album title, artist and song title where removed. The text at top & bottom of the screen and the progress bar remained. The black bars provide backing for the text to make it more clearly visible. Now they are gone as well leaving just the AS slidehow image with the blue cast.

The latest mod'ed skin is based on 17.1. I expect this improvement is part of the standard 17.1 skin as well.

msfc · (This post was last modified: 2017-03-07, 02:19 by msfc.)

@pkscout, do you see the blending of the skin's blue-green background into the AS images? If not, it would seem you have some change on your systems that is not included in the mod'ed skin in your add-on repo.

msfc · 2017-03-07, 08:50

I am seeing another problem too. Sometimes when AS doesn't find any art I see either the default blue-green Estuary background or, when there is fanart in the Kodi database, that background blended with the fanart. Other times just see a black screen. I think the former is the expected behavior. I suspect the black screen happens when Kodi switches tracks (this is in Party Mode) just as AS has faded out a piece of the previous artist's art while transitioning to another piece of that artist's art.