QT4 Consolidation Thread - VLC's New Interface

[CloudStalker]

VLC's New Interface

Welcome. This Thread is designed for posting ideas and requests for feature relating the VLC's new QT4 interface. If you want to see for yourself what it looks like and how it functions then download a zip or .exe nightly build of VLC 0.9.0 ("trunk") for you operating system.

Keep in mind that VLC 0.9.0 is still in development and therefore may at some times be unstable.
http://nightlies.videolan.org/

If you're interested in what QT4 is and what it has to offer then click on the image above.

________________________________________

Here are some links to ideas posted by myself and many others regarding this interface:

(1-8)
[1] Thumbnail Preview From Seek Bar
[2] Display Time in Seek Bar When Mouse-over (done)
[3] Preview Items in a Playlist
[4] Auto Center Interface Based on Desktop Resolution/Interface Resolution
[5] Queue Up Items To Be Saved To a Playlist
[6] Basic Controls / Mini Interface [Task Bar]
[7] VLC Starts With Playlist Button Automatically in Embedded mode
[8] A More Advanced Media Library

[9] Preview Window / Video Window [Bug?]
[10] Interface Houdini... + Window Decorations + Effects
[11] Fullscreen Controllers
[12] Number Multiple Instances (#)
[13] QT4 Super Stretched to Extended Desktop [Bug] (Fixed)
[14] Rewind and Fast Forward buttons?
[15] Auto-load VLC On System Startup
[16] Auto-scroll Playlist (Done)

(17 & 18)
[17] Another icon..."No Album Art Found"-Text
[18] Reduce the size of the extended settings dialog

[19] Basic Controls Down to a Docklet
[20] ALBUM ART - VLC should display extra metadata from audio
[21] Find Target of Item in Playlist
[22] Extra GUI Buttons - Image Clone and Image Split
[23] Change Font Style, Size, Color for the Interface and Playlist
[24] VLC built-in Mass ID3 Tag Editor
[25] Interface Transparency = Better Interface Houdini (Almost done)
[26] Customize VLC Interface
[27] Popup Info from System Tray (Done)
[28] Compact Mode - Popout Menus
[29] New VLC Icons - Updated 07/02/08
[30] Column Layout + Playlist Display
[31] Detach Video Window from Interface
[32] Alternate Playlist Display

--Miscellaneous--
[1] VLC Thumbnail Snapshot
[2] Column Dropdown List
[3] Minimal View (Almost done)
[4] Remember Interface and Column Position
[5] A Nicer Looking Interface and Layout (subject to change)

________________________________________

I'll continue to edit this main post as more ideas are added (CloudStalker will too ).

Post all of the ideas you want. See ya.

[CloudStalker]

[#1] Thumbnail Preview From Seek Bar

This is just the first of many crazy ideas I have. It would be interesting (really cool) if there were a thumbnail/preview that pops up in the video window when you move the mouse over a position in the seek bar.

Here's how it might look:


So it will display a thumbnail so that you can find a particular spot in a movie before you have to click on it (better then seeking by timestamp). And obviously the movie never has to stop.

Anyone agree that this would be awesome?


[#2] Display Time in Seek Bar When Mouse-over

This is especially useful when listening to music. I made a couple of modifications but it's mostly for the purpose of giving you a better idea.

Eh? Eh? It would display the time only when the mouse is over the seek bar (not to conflict with my first idea).




When you move the mouse away from the seek bar the time indicator should disappear:




[#3] Preview Items in a Playlist

You know how some radios work, where you press the "tune" button and it will play 10 seconds on a certain station and then skip to the next station, it would be nice to have something like that in VLC. The user presses a button on the playlist and it will play all songs/movies for whatever the user specifies in the preferences (5, 10, 15, seconds). So in other words: play item in playlist for 10 seconds, play next item in playlist for 10 seconds, ect.

Edit:
In the Preferences menu it might look something like this:

Preview when enabled:


I hope the screenshot explains it a little better. I guess by default this option should be disabled until the user checks the box or enables/disables it via hotkey.

[#4] Auto Center Interface

Edit: I'm unsure why I made this so complicated but basically it would be nice to have a checkbox or something that will auto-center the interface to the desktop, that's it.


[#5] Queue Up Items To Be Saved To a Playlist

This to me would be better then then the current way of saving playlists; Just tick the box next to the song/video you want to have queued up so that you can save it when you're done.

Here's an example of how it might look:




In this screenshot you can choose to save only the items that you've selected or you can choose to play them all:



If you haven't noticed I've added hotkeys to the end of these "two new options". If global hotkeys become available then it would make this even easier to control.

You could be playing a fullscreen game or surfing the net all while you're listening to your music and never have to minimize what it is you're doing. Just press a key on your keyboard while the song that you like is playing and save it all when it gets to the end of that album, or you can choose to play them over again from the songs that you've queued.

Good idea? Bad idea?

===============
Well I have allot more ideas for the QT4 interface but I can't remember them all at the moment; I'll post here later when they come back to mind. Thanks again for putting up with my crazy yet extremely cool requests.

I now remember a couple of other ideas.

[#6] Basic Controls / Mini Interface [Task Bar]

Here's a link to that: viewtopic.php?t=34599
Also a useful feature.

[#7] VLC Starts With Playlist Button Automatically in Embedded mode

Asked but not quite answered, therefore linked: viewtopic.php?t=33509

[#8] A More Advanced Media Library

Here's the "Windows media player" media library:



Maybe VLC's version could look more like this:



I'm really looking forward to when alpha blending will be supported within VLC so that altglass can finish his WMP11 Skin for Vista.

===============
I still have more ideas but I'll have to submit them another day. Thanks again.

[CloudStalker]

Sorry, I just remembered something else.

[#9] Preview Window / Video Window [Bug?]

Alright so I'm not sure whether or not this is really a bug or if it's even handled by the QT4 interface, but I guess I'll find out.

When I switch to the embedded playlist view and start a video the preview window doesn't always appear (sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't); I'm forced to pause then play the video for it to work, only then will the preview video appear.

If I switch from the embedded playlist view, while the preview video is still visible, to the video window (one without the playlist) then all it shows is a very dark thin line (switching back to playlist view no longer displays the preview window despite pause/play); I now have to stop the video completely for the video to reappear in either view.

If this is a little confusing please tell me and I'll try to elaborate further.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

ANSWERS

• [#1]Thumbnail Preview From Seek Bar
  Very difficult to do now. Very unlikely.
• [#2] Display Time in Seek Bar When Mouse-over
  Doable in Qt, but difficult. If I got time in 0.9.0, if not in 0.9.1.
• [#3] Preview Items in a Playlist
  Same as #1
• [#4] Auto Center Interface Based on Desktop Resolution/Interface Resolution
  Doable in Qt, but not prioritary. If I got time in 0.9.0, if not in 0.9.1. I would like to have it in 0.9.0
• [#5] Queue Up Items To Be Saved To a Playlist
  Doable. I'll see it for 0.9.0.
• [#6] Basic Controls / Mini Interface [Task Bar]
  Will never be done because too tide with Windows Versions. But the taskbar icon can be improved for 0.9.0.
• [#7] VLC Starts With Playlist Button Automatically in Embedded mode
  Is a must for 0.9.0
• [#8] A More Advanced Media Library
  Is a must for 0.9.0, but might be difficult to save ratings. I'll see what I can do.
• [#9] Preview Window / Video Window [Bug?]I still don't understand it, but I think that the idea of having a playlist that takes the video's place (as actually) is a BAAAD idea. A must change for 0.9.0.
• [#10] Interface Houdini [Disappear Until Mouse-Over]
  Will be difficult to make correctly under Qt4. However, i'll see what I can do for 0.9.0 or 0.9.1. I would like to have an option to hide all the toolbar and menus and to keep the video, even If I must keep the decorations.
• [#11] Fullscreen Controllers
  Will be done in SUmmer of Code this summer.
• [#12] Number Multiple Instances (#)Already done in a better way.
• [#13] QT4 Super Stretched to Extended Desktop [Bug]
  Don't know how to fix it...
• [#14] Rewind and Fast Forward buttons?
  In advance, may change for 0.9.0.
• [#15] Auto-load VLC On System Startup
  NO, NO, and NO. Use Windows NT service or Cron to do the job.
• [#16] Auto-scroll PlaylistMust be fixed for 0.9.0.

If you have new ideas, add them to THIS list.

[CloudStalker]

Edit:
OK I had to rethink some things that will hopefully make this feature even better.

[#10] Interface Houdini (Disappear Until Mouse-Over) + Window Decorations + Effects

So the basic idea here is that when the user moves the mouse over the video window the interface will appear around it and when the user moves the mouse away from the video window the interface will disappear. This will be a continuous action but users can toggle the function on or off possibly with a button on the interface itself (Auto-Hide ON, Auto-Hide OFF). I thought about maybe keeping the Window decorations on, when it's selected, and have it hidden behind the interface, I also have some more ideas with it as you'll see.

I know this is all craziness to you, that's why I made it.

Interface when mouse is over video window:


Interface when mouse is NOT over video window + Window decorations:


If you don't want Window decorations then it can be turned to none in the preferences menu,
I Speak about that later in this presentation.

Interface when mouse is NOT over video window + NO decorations:


One thing I don't like about having no Window decoration is that it blends into the background, maybe some people prefer it this way but I don't. That's why I thought it might be a good idea to add a shadow effect (also optional) around the video window to give it a bit of a 3D effect so that it looks like it's coming out from the background.

Interface when mouse is NOT over video window + Shadow effect:

I wasn't able to do this but if it's possible the shadows can be on all four sides.
Sorry if I'm making this tougher on you j-b but I'm just spitting out ideas here. I'm not even done yet.


I said I'd speak about this "None" option and how it kinda goes together with the Interface Houdini. In a previous thread I had spoke about how it would be nice if skin designers could skin the video window ( Skin the Video Window – Alternate Decorations ). Now I have this idea:

Select Window decorations / Browse for border skins:


Instead of a checked box you can select the border skin(s) from a drop-down menu. Maybe skin designers can take advantage of this by creating their own border-like window and it will automatically appear when their skin is selected, of course only when the video is NOT embedded to the interface or it's in compact mode. If the user doesn't like the border skin that the skin designer made he/she can always browse for another one or select one of the already existing border skins (Standard Decoration, Shadow, None).

So what do you think? Are all these ideas a little too crazy for ya? Well guess what, I got another crazy one and I'll try to post that as soon as I'm done with it.

Alrighty then, I'll just leave you to cone-template this.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

no, just number it. Like
1. Basic Controls / Mini Interface [Task Bar]
2. Fullscreen controller

I guess you will need the edit option.

[CloudStalker]

Something like this [#1], [#2], [#3], ect? This page came out better then I thought.

Sorry for the late edit, I forgot to add these earlier.

[CloudStalker]

2. Fullscreen controller

Hmm...seeing as you mention it:

[#11] Fullscreen Controllers

It would be completely fine if they were made exactly like the ones in Media player classic. But seeing as You (the developers, and you too j-b ) are so brilliant maybe they will be even better then Media player classic's.

Maybe:

• Seek bar, playlist, more at the top
• Play/pause, previous, next, stop, volume, fullscreen/window view at the bottom.

[CloudStalker]

Yep. Yet another idea:

[#12] Number Multiple Instances (#)

Sometimes it can get a little, OK a lot confusing when having to find the instance that's playing a video or the instance that's playing some music or the instance using my capture card, ect.

Would it be possible for the interface to display a number (#) at the top of the interface to look kind of like: "VLC media player #1", (because VLC media player is number one. A little overboard? I thought so) "VLC media player #2", ect.

And to lessen the confusion maybe it can automatically detect the format of the item playing, movie or music, and configure accordingly: "VLC media player_Music #1" or "VLC media player_Movie #1"

The "Movie" and "Music" title can be replaced by an icon with the number (#?) following it.

===============

New ideas keep coming so please try your best to put up with me, I'm guessing it's not easy.

[CloudStalker]

Thought I should mention this:

[#13] QT4 Super Stretched to Extended Desktop [Bug]

I'm currently running an extended desktop and when ever and whenever I go to the "Information" menu this happens:


The same also happens with some balloon tip. This wasn't a problem in wxWidgets interface so that's why I say it's QT4 related. Thanks.

[Teta]

To #12: YES PLEASE!

See these posts:
viewtopic.php?t=31613
viewtopic.php?t=35722

Teta

[CloudStalker]

In a little while I'll edit some of these with screenshots (now that I finally found out how to post screenshots ). I'm going to use my FastStone Image Viewer to make some edits that better descried my crazy ideas.

Feel free to add ideas that haven't been posted here yet, and please try to follow the number line ( [#00] ) as it will make it easier to reply to, you can even use the "Bold" (B) and large font size if you want.

[CloudStalker]

I'm now in the process of editing some of my requests with images to better describe my ideas, and I'm finally figuring out how to use all the different tools to do this. Hope it helps some.

[CloudStalker]

I've just gone though editing the following:

[#1] Thumbnail Preview From Seek Bar

[#2] Display Time in Seek Bar When Mouse-over

[#5] Queue Up Items To Be Saved To a Playlist

[#8] A More Advanced Media Library

[#10] Interface Houdini [Disappear Until Mouse-Over]

[#13] QT4 Super Stretched to Extended Desktop [Bug]

All editing was done using FastStone and its various apps and tools {extremely cool).

There will be more edits and more ideas to come. I know, you can't wait!

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

I am reading this thread very closely.
Some ideas are very difficult. Some might be in 0.9.0 some in 0.9.1

[joseph5]

[#14]Rewind and Fast Forward buttons?
Why are they gone?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

[#14]Rewind and Fast Forward buttons?
Why are they gone?

In advanced. This may change.

[CloudStalker]

A real "rewind" function would be nice.

I've made edits to the following:
[#8] A More Advanced Media Library

Sorry that's the only one for now. I'm making edits on many more requests and I'll post back with some of my new ideas soon, like...


I hope you like what I've made so far.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

[#12] Number Multiple Instances (#)

Done in http://trac.videolan.org/vlc/changeset/19984.

In fact it is not exactly what you wanted, but it will help to distinguish the different Video Names.
viewtopic.php?t=31613

[CloudStalker]

Thanks! I just wanted to point out something that might make this a little easier, what if you change the color of the cone, or the text, dependent on what type of media? It's just easier for people to distinguish by color. (green/black for video types, blue/something else for audio types?)

How about an icon that displays at the top of the player also? Well you're the one doing all the hard work on this, so this is just a request not a demand.

[MetalheadGautham]

vlc can be able to record directly off the soundcard, you know... it helps record streaming radio... it can also record audio off the mic and transcode these to appropriate formats... it can have n intelligent transcoder that asks for the recording item, you know... voice or music, weather its a drony bass solo or a squeeky guitar solo, so that you can use the appropriate audio formats(speex rox for voice)

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

The control VLC from taskbar is done. But there is just an icon to play/pause/stop and not a WMP-like bar because of portability (all windows and linux)

[CloudStalker]

Yeah, that's great, I got to test it out yesterday. In connection with this I do have another request:

[#15] Auto-load VLC On System Startup

I had made a thread awhile back asking if VLC can be made to automatically start when Windows, or any OS, starts and along with media library it will automatically start playing item in the playlist (only on OS startup). Now that Qt4 can be accessed via the system tray the option to automatically hide the interface can also be use in with all of the above:

• Automatically load VLC on OS startup
• Automatically play items in playlist (only on OS startup)
• Automatically hide interface in system tray

So every time my OS starts up there will be music playing in random order and I won't even have to touch VLC. Is this possible to do? Thanks again.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Yeah, that's great, I got to test it out yesterday. In connection with this I do have another request:

[#15] Auto-load VLC On System Startup

I had made a thread awhile back asking if VLC can be made to automatically start when Windows, or any OS, starts and along with media library it will automatically start playing item in the playlist (only on OS startup). Now that Qt4 can be accessed via the system tray the option to automatically hide the interface can also be use in with all of the above:

• Automatically load VLC on OS startup
• Automatically play items in playlist (only on OS startup)
• Automatically hide interface in system tray

So every time my OS starts up there will be music playing in random order and I won't even have to touch VLC. Is this possible to do? Thanks again.

Rejected.
This is not VLC's role to do that but your OS.
Except the last part "automatically hide interface in system tray"

[CloudStalker]

Rejected.
This is not VLC's role to do that but your OS.
Except the last part "automatically hide interface in system tray"

OK. Well then, something simple: since left-click will reveal the interface when hidden, is it possible hide the interface as well, left-click on the system tray icon to hide/reveal interface?

It's just simpler to do then having to right-click on the icon to hide it.