Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Anders Sandvig
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Table of Contents
WinCue is a playlist manager and MiniDisc recording tool for Winamp. It is a Winamp general purpose plug-in which makes it easier to manage your media file collection and record MiniDiscs, using an internal Media Library or external playlist files.
The Media Library consists of any number of specified folders on your computer. When the Media Library is loaded, the folders are scanned, and all the media files are listed in WinCue. This makes it easier to keep track of a large media file collection that might be spread over several drives and directories.
WinCue also features something called DelayPlay, simplifying MiniDisc recording by inserting a user-defined delay between each song in a playlist. This can be used to make the MiniDisc recorder automatically insert track marks between each song.
Table of Contents
This section contains basic information on using WinCue.
WinCue features a way to group your media files, called the Media Library. The Media Library consists of one or more folders on your computer containing all your various media files (.mp3, .ogg, .wav, etc.). When the Media Library is loaded, all files in the specified folders are loaded as if they were one large playlist. This list is then searchable like any other playlist in WinCue.
WinCue supports reading and writing of Winamp playlist files (.m3u). To open a playlist file, simply drag the file over the WinCue window and drop it. You can also load playlist files from the Open File dialog, accessed by selecting Open from The File menu or by pressing Ctrl+O.
The current playlist or Media Library can also be exported as a playlist file. This is done by selecting Export Playlist... from the File menu, or by pressing Ctrl+S.
One of the major reasons for using WinCue is its ability to search and enqueue files from a given playlist or Media Library. A Search is simply done by typing the text you want to search for in the search field at the top of the WinCue window. The results of the search are shown as you type. To cue a file from your search results, simply select the desired file(s) and press Enter, or select Cue from the right-click menu.
AutoCue is a useful feature which makes WinCue automatically cue new songs as the playlist is about to become empty. When AutoCue is enabled, a new song will automatically be cued whenever Winamp reaches the end of its playlist. AutoCue can be set to cue a new file either when the last file in the playlist is started or when there is a specified number of seconds left of the last song in the playlist. Also note that for AutoCue to work satisfactory Repeat and Shuffle have to be turned off in Winamp.
AutoCue is great for parties or other situations where people might not always remember to cue files all the time, or for people who are just lazy. When used with crossfaders and similar plug-ins it will probably work best to have WinCue cue the next song when the last song in the playlist is started. This is to make sure the crossfading (or similar transition) works like expected. When not using such plug-ins, the other mode is probably best to use, as the next song will then not be cued before the playlist, and thus the music, is almost finished.
In addition to being a playlist manager for Winamp, WinCue is also designed to make MiniDisc recording easier. This section contains basic information on using WinCue for MiniDisc recording.
DelayPlay is a feature which will insert a user specified delay between each song in a playlist. This is useful for MiniDisc recording, as the MiniDisc recorder then has the time to set a correct track mark between each song. Using DelayPlay, a MiniDisc can be recorded in one go, without the need to manually monitor the recording or inserting track marks.
Note that WinCue only provides a time gap between songs and does not control your sound card or sound hardware in any way. Some users have experienced problems when using DelayPlay mode with sound cards featuring optical or electrical S/PDIF output. These problems are usually caused by the sound card driver not cutting the data stream when sound output stops, and has nothing to do with WinCue. If you are experiencing problems you should try upgrading your drivers, but the solution is usually to do an analog recording instead.
Table of Contents
This section describes how WinCue can be configured through the various alternatives given in the Options dialog. The Options dialog is accessed by pressing Ctrl+P when the WinCue window is active, or by selecting Options from the right-click menu.
The general options dialog page.
Settings
- Remember window state
When enabled, WinCue will start with window in same state as it was when WinCue was closed.
- Remember playlist
When enabled, WinCue will load last used playlist at startup.
- Show Recent Files in File menu
When enabled, WinCue will display a list of recently loaded files in a sub-menu on the File menu.
Note: When disabled, recent files list will be cleared.
- Show tray icon
When enabled, a WinCue icon will be visible in the system tray. This icon can be used to access WinCue. Double clicking the icon will restore the WinCue window, and right clicking it will display a pop-up menu.
- Show Cue Box on startup
When enabled, WinCue will automatically show the cue box on startup. This is useful if you are using WinCue for a jukebox and need to bring up the cue box at startup without user interaction.
- Check for new version at startup
When enabled, WinCue will check the WinCue site at startup to see if there is a newer version available. This feature requires an internet connection to work.
Searching
- Include file paths in search
When enabled, WinCue will also scan filenames and paths when searching for songs. This is useful if you i.e. have all songs from one artist in one folder with the same name as the artist. You can then just type the name of the artist in the search field, and all matches will show.
- Delay search x ms
Wen enabled, WinCue will wait specified number of milliseconds after search text is changed before the search is carried out. This feature is most useful on slower systems when dealing with large playlists. If you don't feel that searching for songs take too long, leave this option off.
The display options dialog page.
General
- Dim title bar when inactive
When enabled, WinCue's title bar will be dimmed when window is inactive.
- Show number of tracks in title bar
When enabled, WinCue will show the number of tracks in Media Library/playlist in the title bar.
- Show search results in title bar
When enabled, WinCue will display number of search matches instead of total number of items in Media Library/playlist.
- Show filename in title bar
When enabled, WinCue will display the name of the current playlist in the title bar.
- Hide Cue, Goto & Start buttons
When enabled, the button row at the bottom of the WinCue window will not be displayed. This might look better with some stolen skins.
Search List
- Show track numbers
When enabled, a track number will be displayed to the left of each item in the search list.
- Show tooltips
When enabled, tooltips showing track info will be displayed in the search list.
- Show track lengths
Enable this to show track length after each entry in the search list.
Fonts
Specify which fonts to use in the various text areas. Select font and size from the drop down lists. Pressing the Reset button will revert to standard font and size settings.
The Winamp options dialog page.
General
- Infiltrate Winamp menu
When enabled, WinCue will add a sub-menu item to the default Winamp menu. The WinCue sub-menu will appear right above the "Exit" item.
- Steal current skin from Winamp
When enabled, WinCue will steal its skin from Winamp, making it look more like the other Winamp windows.
- Set focus on Winamp window at startup
Enable this to set keyboard focus on Winamp's main window at startup.
- Snap to Winamp at x pixels
When enabled, WinCue will snap to Winamp's main window just like any other Winamp child window. The snapping will occur when the WinCue window is within the specified range of the Winamp main window. This will also cause WinCue to stick to Winamp like other Winamp windows do.
Playlist Manipulation
- Copy playlist at startup
Enable this to have WinCue copy Winamp's playlist every time its started.
- Clear playlist on exit
Enable this to have WinCue clear Winamp's playlist every time yuo exit the program.
- Save playlist every x min
When enabled, WinCue will make Winamp save its playlist at given intervals. This is useful to avoid losing your playlist due to a system failure or similar odd behaviour that might prevent Winamp from exiting normally. You can specify number of minutes between each save.
- Automatically clean up playlist when it reaches x played entries
When enabled, WinCue will automatically clean up Winamp's playlist when number of played entries reaches its limit. Specify limit in the edit box.
- Refuse to cue new songs if more than x entries left in playlist
When enabled, WinCue will not let you cue new songs if there are more than x entries left in the playlist. Specify limit in the edit box.
The title options dialog page.
Metadata Reading
- Read extended file info
Enable this to read extended file info such as size, format, etc. from all MP3 files in the Media Lbrary. Must be enabled to read ID3 tags.
- Read ID3 tags
Enable this to read ID3 tags in MP3 files and use the information to title tracks in the Media Library.
- Guess track info from path and filename
Enable this to have WinCue try to guess artist names, album titles and track numbers from directory and file name.
Note: This feature is very experimental and may not always give very accurate results.
- Convert underscores to spaces
When enabled, WinCue will replace all occurrences of the underscore character (_) with spaces in track titles.
- Convert %20 to space
When enabled, WinCue will replace all occurrences of %20 with spaces in track titles.
- Remove redundant spaces
When enabled, WinCue will remove any extra spaces in a title, making sure any words are only separated by a single space character.
Title Formatting
- Format string (default)
Specify title formatting to be used for files with no ID3 tag, or for all files when ID3 tags are not used.
- Format string (when ID3 found)
Specify title formatting to be used for files with ID3 tags.
The AutoCue options dialog page.
General
- Enable AutoCue
When enabled, WinCue will automatically cue a random file when Winamp reaches the end of its playlist.
Options
- AutoCue new song when last song in playlist is started
A new song is cued when the last song in the playlist is started.
- AutoCue new song when x seconds left of playlist
A new song is cued when there are x seconds left of the last song in the playlist.
- Select files to cue from
This options specifies where AutoCue should look for songs when cuing a random song to the playlist.
- current playlist/Media Library
Selecting this will AutoCue songs from the entire Media Library or current playlist, depending on which is active.
- search results
Selecting this will only AutoCue songs from the current search results.
- external playlist file
Selecting this will AutoCue songs from an external playlist file.
- Playlist file
This field specified the path to the playlist file to cue from when external playlist file is used as AutoCue source. You can enter the filename manually or click the "..." button to browse for a file on your computer or local network.
The Media Library options dialog page.
Directories
- Folder List
Specifies the directories in the Media Library. Each time the Media Library is loaded, these directories are scanned for files. Use the Add, Remove, Up and Down buttons to manipulate the list.
- Extensions
Specifies the file extensions which are searched for when the directories in the Media Library are scanned. Each extension should be separated by a whitespace.
Options
- Always load Media Library at startup
When enabled, WinCue will always load the Media Library at startup. If this option is turned on, the "Remember playlist" option is ignored.
- Cache Media Library
When enabled, WinCue will cache the Media Library to decrease startup time. Note that when caching is used the Media Library folders are not scanned at startup, and any changes made to files or folders since last time WinCue was used is not reflected in the file list. To update the Media Library you have to reload it after startup.
- Sort Media Library
When enabled, WinCue will sort the Media Library alphabetically after loading it. The Media Library can be sorted either by title, filename, path & filename or date & time. The desired sort method is chosen in the drop down list next to the check box.
- Reverse sort order
When enabled, the selected sorting will be reversed when loading the Media Library.
The DelayPlay options dialog page.
Options
- Disable DelayPlay feature
When enabled, the DelayPlay feature will not be available. This is great for parties etc., where you don't want people to start DelayPlay by accident.
- Confirm exit while in DelayPlay mode
When enabled, WinCue will warn you if you try to close Winamp while DelayPlay mode is active. Useful for avoiding accidental shutdown of Winamp while recording.
Delay
- Pause x seconds between each track
Specifies number of seconds to wait between each track when DelayPlay mode is active.
The MD Titling options dialog page.
IR Hardware
- WinRemote on COMx
Select serial port where WinRemote hardware is connected (COM1 - COM4).
Delays
- Command delay x ms
Specify delay in milliseconds between each command sent to the MiniDisc deck. Default is 70ms.
- Title delay x ms
Specify delay in milliseconds between start of song and start of titling on the MiniDisc. Default is 5000ms.
TOC Writing
- When done recording automatically:
When enabled, WinCue will automatically send a command to the MD recorder to make sure the TOC (Table Of Contents) on the MD is written.
- eject MD
Selecting this will cause the MD to be ejected when recording is done.
- turn off MD recorder
Selecting this will cause the MD recorder to be turned off when recording is done.
- Wait x seconds before ejecting/turning off
When enabled, WinCue will wait for x seconds before sending a command to have the MD recorder either eject the MD or turn itself off. This option is only valid when the above option is turned on.
General
- Enable MD Titling
When enabled, WinCue will automatically title your MiniDisc tracks while they are being recorded. This only happens when WinCue is in DelayPlay mode.
| Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
| F1 | Help | Documentation... |
| F5 | Reload playlist/Refresh Media Library. |
| Esc | Cancel current search and clear search text field. |
| Tab | Toggle between song list and search text field. |
| Ctrl+Enter | Clear Winamp playlist and play selected file(s). |
| Enter | Cue selected file(s). |
| Shift+Enter | Cue selected file(s) as next. |
| Ctrl+Shift+Enter | Clear Winamp playlist and cue selected file(s). |
| Alt+3 | Song | File Info... |
| Alt+G | Song | Go To... |
| Alt+J | Show Cue Box... |
| Ctrl+O | File | Open... |
| Ctrl+S | File | Export Playlist... |
| Ctrl+L | File | Load Media Library... |
| Ctrl+D | Start DelayPlay. |
| Ctrl+P | Display Options dialog. |
| Alt+Z | Same as Previous button in Winamp. |
| Alt+X | Same as Play button in Winamp. |
| Alt+C | Same as Pause button in Winamp. |
| Alt+V | Same as Stop button in Winamp. |
| Alt+B | Same as Next button in Winamp. |