I've looked through many download websites for software that will help
me choose mp3s for a playlist by listening to them, without having to
listen to heaps of mp3s all the way through and without having to sit
at the computer the whole time. Ideally if I could specify a list of
mp3s to choose from, the program would play say a 5 or 10 second clip
from the middle of each track and then the next track, and so on.
When I want to select a song while it is playing I'd press a hotkey,
and I guess there'd need to be controls to skip to previous and next
track. The tracks that I select should either be copied to a certain
location, or marked and later have an option what to do with all
marked tracks.

Hope someone can point me towards a program that can do something like
this.

Thanks

Nigel
rockclimbingferrets->NONSPAMEPLIZ<-@yahoo.com

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 01:04:06 GMT,
rockclimbingferrets->NONSPAEMPLIZ<-@yahoo.com (Nigel Kirk) was
understood to have stated the following:

I've written a plug-in for WinAmp that you may find useful, although
it doesn't do exactly what you've specified. It was written in part to
perform a similar function, though. In conjunction with another
utility I've written, you can copy tracks you've selected to a
specified location when you're done.

The WinAmp plug-in is located here:

: http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpo...ter/index.html

And the M3Utility is located here:

: http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpo...til/index.html

There are no fancy installers, so you'll have to unzip and copy the
dll to the appropriate subdirectory in WinAmp. You'll also have to put
M3Util wherever you want it. Neither program modifies the registry;
old fashioned .INI files are used. Both programs can be removed simply
by deletion. Admittedly, the documentation sucks.

Basically the mode of operation is this: (heh heh; rough draft of user
documentation, per chance?)

Copy the DLL to the appropriate location in WinAmp's directory.

From WinAmp, configure the General Purpose plug-in "DWPj's WinAmp
Email Signature Writer". Enable the "Use" check box beside the "Master
M3U File" button, and use the "Master M3U File" button to specify the
location and name of the play list file you wish to add your 'picks'
to. Click "OK", and then close WinAmp's plug-in configuration dialog.

Load tunes into WinAmp and listen away. Use WinAmp's play list editor
or the track positioning buttons to select tracks. Use the slider to
advance within the track if desired. If you like the track you're
listening to, either (1) right click on the 8 pointed star that's in
the system tray, and then left click on the "add current track to play
list" menu option, or (2) left click on the 8 pointed star that's in
the system tray, and left click on the button labeled "add current
track". Either of these adds the currently playing track to the end of
the "Master Play List" configured in the plug-in.

When you're done adding tracks, fire up M3Util and drag the master
play list onto it's "open" button, or press the open button and
navigate to the master file in that manner. Alternatively, if you
configure M3Util to know where WinAmp is, you can press the button
with the eight pointed star, and it will automatically load the play
list specified in the WinAmp plug-in.

You can then hit the "Copy Tracks" button on M3Util, and it will copy
the tracks selected in the master play list to a folder by the same
name. Furthermore, track numbers will be prepended to the MP3 file
names, so that if you write the MP3s to a data CD or a memory card,
most likely any player you play it with will play them in the order of
your play list.

It ain't perty, but it works.

On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 22:49:59 -0500, "David W. Poole, Jr."
<DieWorthlessSpammers.20.dwpj65@spamgourmet.com> wrote:

Cool, thanks for that. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like it
does a fair bit of what I want. Trying to do that without the plugin
I have the problem that you can't copy the mp3 file while it's
playing, plus you have to keep switching windows and scrolling through
the list of files in windows explorer. I'll let you know how I get
on.

Thanks again

Nigel
564872327462554785698.x.nkrk@xoxy.net

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 07:37:54 GMT,
564872327462554785698.x.nkrk@xoxy.net (Nigel Kirk) was understood to
have stated the following:

I added a feature to the plug-in to allow you to specify a "favorites"
directory, and then while a track is playing, a menu option allows you
to copy the track to the favorites directory. Like you've stated, you
can't copy a file while it's playing. Actually, in my experience
that's not entirely true; I can copy the first file in the play list,
but not any subsequent ones. Since it doesn't work correctly,
obviously I haven't updated the utility on the web site. I assume this
is due to a sharing violation, but I haven't looked into it far enough
at this point.

So it looks like you'll have to settle for some kind of option that
allows you to select the tracks you want to copy, and then when you're
done playing them, copy them. In this regard, the system I mentioned
on my last post does the job. In fact, I use it in this manner all the
time.

I may post again later with any new findings.

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 09:35:04 -0500, "David W. Poole, Jr."
<DieWorthlessSpammers.20.dwpj65@spamgourmet.com> was understood to
have stated the following:

By the way, the manner I described to begin with will eliminate window
switching and scrolling entirely.

David W. Poole, Jr. wrote:
Should be able to do so if Winamp's buffer size is increased to the point
that the entire file is read to RAM.

--
dadiOH
_____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
____________________________

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 10:11:36 -0500, "dadiOH" <dadiOH@xmail.com> was
understood to have stated the following:

I tried cranking mine up to 32 meg, but it still didn't work.

What confuses me is that it works for the first file being played back
after a fresh load of WA, but any subsequent files it fails on. For
the life of me I can't figure out why WA opens the first file
differently than the remainders. Any ideas?


--

The last song I started on my PC was: Mind Riot-Soundgarden-Badmotorfinger
This is track 5 of 772 in the current playlist.

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 10:26:03 -0500, "David W. Poole, Jr."
<DieWorthlessSpammers.20.dwpj65@spamgourmet.com> was understood to
have stated the following:

I must be having flashbacks from my acid days; now it's failing
consistently. :-D


--

The last song I started on my PC was: Artificial Heart-Soul Asylum-Clam Dip And Other Delights
This is track 1 of 772 in the current playlist.

David W. Poole, Jr. wrote:
Sorry, no. Sure seems silly for Windows to protect a file that is playing
from RAM though.

--
dadiOH
_____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
____________________________

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 11:45:50 -0500, "dadiOH" <dadiOH@xmail.com> was
understood to have stated the following:

Agreed; WinAmp seems to open the file exclusively. Off the top of my
head, I can't see any reason why it couldn't open the file with shared
reading privileges. The only time it should be an issue is if the
file's tags were being updated.

I've been tinkering with it for the better part of the morning, but at
this point think it's one of those "best chalked up to experience." I
do what the OP is speaking of on a frequent basis (that's one of the
main reasons the DLL was developed), but evidently not in a manner
which is convenient enough for the OP. Still far more conveniently
than the old "by hand" method he's doing (and I used to do).

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 07:37:54 GMT,
564872327462554785698.x.nkrk@xoxy.net (Nigel Kirk) was understood to
have stated the following:

Another possible approach:

Open WinAmp and it's play list editor. Start a new play list if
necessary.

Using explorer or whatever, copy all of the songs that you'd like to
preview into WA's play list editor pane. Start playing the play list
you've built. When you hear a tune in the play list you *don't* like,
right click on it in the play list and select the menu item to remove
the item.

When you're done, save the play list somewhere, and you can use the
aforementioned M3Util to copy all of the files in the saved play list
to a given directory.

This will eliminate a great deal of window switching, as well as
prevent you from ending up with duplicates. Plus, you can also order
the tracks in the play list editor for your convenience.

On Sat, 13 Dec 2003 19:12:34 GMT, Ron Allard <Ron@Diceman.com> wrote:

Ah, that sounds like the missing piece of the puzzle. If these
utilites all behave as I imagine, I should be able to setup Winamp to
play a short clip of each track from a playlist, when I identify songs
that I don't want I just select them in the playlist and press Delete,
and when I've disposed of all the undesirables I use M3Util to copy
the remaining tracks to a different folder. Fantastic!

Thanks heaps for helping out everyone

Nigel
564872327462554785698.x.nkrk@xoxy.net