[HiFiRE]

I'm not sure if there's much demand for this sort of thing but I'm bored. I've spent way too much time configuring foobar and maybe I can help some of you save time. This thread could be thought of as an "advanced" stuff sister thread to my guide to making foobar usable.

To get things rolling... here's something I just took out of the guide to keep things simple.

This is for foo_playlist_tree users.

If you want the Playlist Tree Panel to sort artists like "Doors, The" rather than "The Doors" follow these instructions:

1. Click Library menu->Playlist Tree->Root->New Query
2. Change the label to "Fancy Artist Sort" or whatever your liking is and replace the contents of the format box with the quoted text below:
3. Quote:
   
   

   $if($strcmp($left(%artist%,4),The ),$right(%artist%,$sub($len(%artist%),4))', 'The,%artist%)|%album%|$num(%tracknumber%,2). %title%

   
   
4. Check "sort by display name after populating"
5. Click OK
6. Right Click some empty space in the Playlist Tree Panel->Select File
7. Type "playlisttree" or any filename you want and click save. (If you don't do this your settings will be wiped the next foobar restart)
8. If you want to remove the default "by artist" tree keep reading...
9. Left Click the tree where it says "by artist" (highlight "by artist")
10. Click Library->Playlist Tree->Selection->remove
11. If you want to remove the root of the tree keep reading...
12. Click File->preferences->Media Library->Playlist Tree Panel
13. Check "Hide Root"
14. Click Close.

 

[HiFiRE]

This is for foo_browser users.

I went to the trouble of renaming all the artist tags in my library to "Artist, The" rather than "The Artist" so foo_browser would sort artists in a way that ignores "The" but I didn't need to do that. Here's a trick to have foo_browser sort artists ignoring "The".

For example:

Quote:

Nevermore The New Meanies Nick Drake

The instructions

1. Click file->preferences->media library->browser
2. highlight artist
3. click edit
4. change Sort from "*" to "$replace(%artist%,The ,)"
5. click ok
6. click close
7. shift+right click the foo_browser panel with artist, select artist again.
8. if this doesn't work right away, you may need to restart foobar

 

[tuhnu]

How can I configure the album list to show artists and their records expanded under them? Currently it shows all my albums separately and it's not very convenient.

Don't want:

Artist - Album
Artist - Album2
Artist - Album3
...

Want:

- Artist
--- Album
--- Album2
--- Album3
...

 

[HiFiRE]

Dealing with Soundtracks and Various Artists or Compilation Type Albums

Consistency will make your life easier in the long run. Foobar's mp3 properties dialog has changed over time and so has the way I deal with soundtracks. I think I've settled on a good way to deal with soundtracks/compilations and foobar.

Foobar's mp3 properties window (what you see when you right click an mp3 and choose properties) has some tags of interest in this discussion: "artist name", "track title", "album title" and "album artist". The foobar mp3 dialog can be a little confusing since it uses the names already mentioned, but writes a different name in the actual mp3. Is this confusing? Let me clarify.

Go in the mp3 dialog and double click "artist name". You'll see a new dialog and see "Field name:" as "Artist" and not "artist name".

Here's a reference for you. My reference uses the following format: foobar mp3 properties dialog name / actual tag name

Quote:

artist name / artist track title / title album title / album album artist / album artist

From now on I'll be referring to the foobar mp3 properties dialog name.

In the context of tagging a sountrack or compilation your tags should adhere to this:

artist name: the track's artist
track title: the track song's title
album title: soundtrack or various artists
album artist: movie name or compilation name

example:

artist name: King Diamond
track title: Welcome Home
album title: Soundtrack
album artist: Clerks 2

That was fun.

 

[HiFiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuhnu /img/forum/go_quote.gif How can I configure the album list to show artists and their records expanded under them? Currently it shows all my albums separately and it's not very convenient. Don't want: Artist - Album Artist - Album2 Artist - Album3 ... Want: - Artist --- Album --- Album2 --- Album3 ...

The Album List as in what you see when you click Library->Album List?

Click the view drop down menu in the Album List and choose Artist.

 

[HiFiRE]

This is for foo_browser users

When I added the Clerks 2 sountrack to my library, I wanted to see "Clerks 2" under my foo_browser artist panel, but instead my artist panel had entries like "Dialogue" and all the other artists from the album. If you're like me and would rather see "Clerks 2" in the artist panel, this can easily be achieved without butchering your tags.

This will only work if you follow the tagging practice mentioned 1 or 2 posts above.

1. Click File->preferences->media library->browser
2. highlight artist
3. click edit
4. change the format from "$if2(%artist%,<MISSING>)" to "$if2(%album artist%,<MISSING>)"
5. click ok
6. click close
7. shift+right click your foo_browser artist panel and select artist again
8. click library->refresh browser contents
9. if you don't see the change right away, restart foobar

 

[HiFiRE]

This is for all foobar users.

I like to have all my song titles follow proper English capitalization rules. The following will capitalize the first letter of all words except articles and prepositions unless they are the first or last word. This isn't perfect, but is the closest you can get to automating this sort of activity. This specifically affects your title tags, but could be adapted to be used on any tag.

1. Select some songs from your playlist. These songs will have the capitalization change applied to them.
2. right click select songs->tagging->manage scripts
3. click clear
4. click ok
5. click add
6. from the drop down menu select "format value from other fields"
7. click ok
8. under destination field name type TITLE
9. under formatting pattern paste: Code:
   
   

   [left]$replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($replace($caps2(%title%),' A ',' a '),' An ',' an '),' The ',' the '),' And ',' and '),' But ',' but '),' Or ',' or '),' Nor ',' nor '),' At ',' at '),' By ',' by '),' For ',' for '),' From ',' from '),' In ',' in '),' Into ',' into '),' Of ',' of '),' Off ',' off '),' On ',' on '),' Onto ',' onto '),' Out ',' out '),' Over ',' over '),' To ',' to '),' Up ',' up '),' With ',' with '),' As ',' as ')[/left]

10. click ok
11. under scripts type "fix case" or something like that
12. click save
13. click run

In the future you only need to follow these instructions:

1. select the songs
2. right click->tagging->scripts->"fix case" or whatever you type earlier

 

[tuhnu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFiRE /img/forum/go_quote.gif The Album List as in what you see when you click Library->Album List?

No, the Album List Panel (foo_albumlist.dll(?)) Sorry, forgot to mention about that.

 

[EnOYiN]

Very nifty.

 

[magicTesla]

Ok, I have tried all the different media library plugins, and the closest one to satisfy my requirments is the defualt Album List...It actually lets you browse by defualt directory ( I have a lot of random soundtracks and compilations and miss-named files....eveything is orgnaized perfectly in my directory structure, however).

Album list lets me use the speedy speedynesss of a library, and allows me to browse the way i want....However, the biggest issue is it doesn't stay open or attached to any place; I'm forced to reopen it manually AND reposition it every time i restart foobar, making it a total pain...Also, it does not allow me to adjust its window size to a small enough degree.

I'd love if I could do all this with the Browser plugin or any of the others, but it doesn't seem like they include the functionality I desire.

 

[cooperpwc]

EDIT: Sorry. I see that was for Foo-Browser.

 

[cooperpwc]

And this was rare double post. never mind...

 

[HiFiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuhnu /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, the Album List Panel (foo_albumlist.dll(?)) Sorry, forgot to mention about that.

Try the instructions from the first post in this thread.

Edit: Sorry, thought you meant you were using the playlist tree... and you're not.

Right click the album list, go into view, choose artist

 

[magicTesla]

Anyone have any ideas what I can use instead...or how to tweak it so it functions well?

 

[HiFiRE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by magicTesla /img/forum/go_quote.gif eveything is orgnaized perfectly in my directory structure, however).

If that's the case, you could use foobar's tagging utility to properly tag your music.

1. Put all your songs in a playlist
2. select all
3. right click->tagging->manage scripts
4. clear
5. ok
6. add
7. select guess values from filename
8. type in your file name/path scheme
9. ok
10. run

of course if your files aren't consistently named this could be a disaster. test with a single album first.