vbamppro.txt

一个类似于WinAmp的Mp3播放器,功能不错,有换肤等功能,是一个不错的vb播放器.

VB-AMP PRO (VisualBasic - ActiveMovie Player)
==========
Version: 1.06 DX, Nov 21/1999  (C)1999 Steve J. Gray  
(DirectX Media version)

E-mail: [e-mail]
WWW:	www.ryerson.ca/~sgray


Note: ActiveMovie, Netshow, DirectX Media, and Windows Media
	are all basically the same thing. Thet are all built on
	and around the ActiveMovie engine. They are all trademarks
	and copyright Microsoft Corporation.

Requirements
------------

* VB6 Runtimes (including: Common Dialog, SSTab controls)
  (Available by downloading Mimic 1.02 complete release)
* Microsoft DirectX Media (DXM) Runtimes or Media Player 5.2 or higher
  (6.4 recommended for Window Media Audio 4 support)


Introduction
------------

  Welcome to VB-Amp Pro! VB-Amp pro is a continuation of my VB-Amp
project. VB-Amp Pro has all the features of VB-Amp plus the following:

	* Powerful skins with buttons of any size and placement
	  (only two bitmap files rquired! Can be GIF or JPG to save space)
	* Multi Non-Rectangular regions for main form
	* Graphical Digits and Text
	* Right-click menu
	* Visual Playlist Selector (great for CD compilations)
	* Many bitmap Album cover features
	* Enhanced IDTag display/editor
	* Volume Control
	* Continuous Playback (adjustable song overlap) [MCI version only]
	* Much more!...


Supported Media Formats
-----------------------

  VB-Amp Pro is mainly an MP3 player, however because it uses the
DirectX Media (DXM) engine it can also play any file that DXM supports,
which is almost everything! When adding a file to the playlist simply
use the bottom drop-down menu to select other filetypes. The following
file types are supported (using DirectX 5.2 media runtimes):

	MP2, MP3
	WAV, AU, SND, AIF, AIFC, AIFF
	MID, RMI
	RA, RM, RAM, RMM
	AVI, MOV, QT, M1V, MPA, MPE, MPEG, DAT
	ASF, ASX


Using the program
=================
  More instructions to follow once features become stable. Here are
quick instructions for using some of the new features:


Prefs
-----

* Options
	- DirAdd Extensions:
		A list of extensions separated by spaces. Determines
		which file types are added to the playlist when you
		add a directory or drag a folder.
	- Scroll Songname:
		Only valid for skins with graphic song display
		(like Winamp skins)
	- Continuous Playback:
		The number of milliseconds to overlap the end of one
		track and the start of the next. Zero to disable.
	- Load Album cover using ID3Tag info
		When an MP3 file plays it will attempt to load the
		album cover bitmap that corresponds to the file by
		looking at the Artist and/or Album title fields from
		the MP3 IDTag (see below).
* Auto On/Off
	(not implemented)
* Paths
	- Skins:
		Default Path for VB-Amp Pro Skin files
	- Vis PL Selector:
		Default Path for the Visual Playlist Selector

Skins
-----

  Skins are loaded by selecting a ".skin" file. Skins can be in the
same directory as the program or you can define the skins path in the
preferences. Some skins (like the default) use skin linking. Linked
skins should all be in the same directory since they sometimes must
share bitmap files.

  If you create a unique skin please e-mail it to me so I can add it
to the skin download page.


Album Covers
------------

  The program makes extensive use of "Album Cover" bitmap files. The
cover files can be either BMP, GIF or JPG format. Skins can contain
the cover display in the main window itself, or if not used the
program will open a separate window when a cover bitmap is found.

  When you load a playlist, the program will automatically look for
a matching album cover bitmap.

 Example:
	Playlist: "Phil Collins - Hits.m3u"
	Cover...: "Phil Collins - Hits.jpg"

  You can also include Album Cover bitmaps (or any bitmap for that
matter) right inside the playlist. When the program sees the bitmap
it "plays" it for 5 seconds before continuing with the next song.

  Album Cover's will also display, if available, when displaying the
MP3 IDTag, which is a special tag that may be available in some MP3
files.

  When the "Display Album Cover using IDTag info" option is selected
the Album cover bitmap is updated whenever the IDTag exists and a
matching bitmap file is found. The bitmap file must exist in the same
directory as the MP3 file and it's name must correspond to one of the
following formats:

	1) AlbumTitle.xxx
	2) Artist-AlbumTitle.xxx
	3) Artist - AlbumTitle.xxx

	Where xxx is the extension (BMP, GIF or JPG).


Visual Playlist Selector (VPS)
------------------------------

 The main purpose of this feature is for CD compilation discs where
many CD's have been MP3'd and put on a single disc. The idea is to
scan each album cover and create a playlist for the album, then the
program will display thumbnails of all the albums on the disc so you
can choose which to load and play. Up to 16 covers can be displayed on
a page. You can page up/down through an unlimited amount of playlists.

 What you need to do is:
	1) Convert the CD tracks to MP3 format
	2) Place them in a folder (optional, but recommended)
	3) Load the MP3 files and create a playlist
	4) Scan the album cover (BMP, GIF, or JPG format)
	5) Save the album cover with the same name as the playlist.


 Now, in the preferences "Paths" tab. Enter the path to your files or
your cd-rom drive (ie: D:\). When you insert the compilation CD click
on the "Visual Playlist Selector" button and watch all your virtual
cd's appear on the screen!

 Categorizing Playlists:

 You can also categorize your playlists in the VPS. Say you want to
split your playlists into genres like "Pop", "Rock", "Country" etc.
Create a folder for each category then create a ".DIR" file with the
same name and (optionally) a bitmap with the same name. Now, when the
VPS sees those ".DIR" files it will only display those entries and NOT
playlists in those subdirectories until they are selected. The ".DIR"
file can be any file (like a text file) as only the name is important.

  Example:
	Folder : Rock
	Dirfile: Rock.dir
	Bitmap : Rock.jpg  (optional)

  Bitmap files should be SQUARE and can be any size (ie: 64x64 pixels).
They will be scaled to fit, so if they are not square they will be
distorted. Be warned, that the bigger the file the longer it will take
to load each into the VPS screen. Also be careful; JPG files can expand
to very large files! Large bitmaps can cause an "out of memory" error
when 16 are loaded in at once!!!


Continuous Playback (Mixing) [MCI Version ONLY!]
----------------------------
(*** REMOVED FROM DX VERSION!!! ***)

  This allows you to play two MP3's (or other media) at the same time
by overlapping playback. You can specify up to 10 seconds
(9999 milliseconds) of overlap. You will need a fast machine and hard
drive...

Note: This feature has been tested and works on my machines:
	* Pentium2, 266MHz, 64MB, Awe64, Win98, and MSMediaPlayer 6.
	* Pentium MMX, 200MHz, 32MB, SIS Built-in Audio,
	  Win98, No additional software.

 Your milage may vary:-) Please let me know if it works or not, and
your system configuration. I would appreciate the feedback!


Drag and Drop / Add Directory
-----------------------------

  You can drag files, folders or even entire drives into the playlist.
When adding directories VB-Amp will add all files with extensions that
are listed in the "DirAdd Extensions" field in the prefs. Extensions are
listed separated by spaces. For example: "MP3 MP2 MPA WAV MID QT".

You can also drag and drop playlist files (M3U). VB-Amp will add all
entries from all playlists. Note: When adding files VB-Amp does not check
if a file is already in the playlist, therefor it's possible to have
multiple entries of the same file.

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