65 replies to this topic

[bLight]

This is the first version to integrate the Zoom Player install center. Future updates/patches will also be available through the install center.

Please report any bug you encounter, be it in Zoom Player itself or in the new Install center. The final version will be released within 1-2 weeks and we want it to be a rock-solid release.

Download Zoom Player v5 Release Candidate 2

Additional Navigation Interfaces:
Black 4x3, Black 16x9, White 4x3, White 16x9, LCARS 4x3.

Here's what changed from RC1:

* New Setting (Advanced Options / Interface / Control Bar
   / Display), allowing you to position the control bar
   at the Top, Center or Bottom of the video area.

 * New Setting (Advanced Options / Interface / On Screen
   Display / Fullscreen Navigator) allowing you to choose
   which navigation interfaces are to be listed on the
   Main Navigator.

 * New Setting (Advanced Options / Interface / On Screen
   Display / Fullscreen Navigator) allowing you to choose
   If the Navigate-Left key goes up a directory until
   reaching the root directory or goes to the Drive/Category
   list directly (File and Media Library Navigators).

 * New Setting (Advanced Options / Interface / On Screen
   Display / Audio Tags) allowing you to choose Auto-Hide
   the background folder image along with the tags.

 * New Setting (Advanced Options / Interface / Control Bar)
   allowing you to show the Control Bar when the mouse cursor
   is at the top of the screen.

 * Clicking the right and left most pixels in any of the
   navigation interfaces is now equivalent to clicking
   right/left on the arrows.

 * New 2710 CommAPI message allowing you to query the
   Random Play state (it is also sent when the user changes
   the Random Play state).

 * Pressing Enter on the File Navigator drive list will now
   open the drive at the root directory.  Pressing Right on
   the drive list opens the last directory browsed on the
   selected drive.

 * Pressing Enter on the Media Library Navigator category
   list will now open the category at the root directory.
   Pressing Right on the category list opens the last
   directory browsed on the selected category.

 * New "On Play Complete" value of "Open Media Library".

 * New 256x256 Windows VISTA icon.

 * New Skin Script "SearchFG" play list parameter, allowing
   you to set the font color for the search box.

 * New Skin Script command "CBarFontMargin" allowing you
   to specify side margins within the Control Bar timeline
   in which the font shouldn't be drawn.

 * New Skin Script command "TLineFontMargin" allowing you
   to specify side margins within the main GUI timeline
   in which the font shouldn't be drawn.

 + The media library navigator now remembers the last path
   location for each category.

 + The control bar no longer closes when opening a navigation
   interface while the control bar is detached.

 + When stay on top is enabled, the control bar remains accessible
   if it is detached from the user interface.

 + "Advanced Options / Interface / Control Bar / Buttons" no
   longer lists inaccessible functions.

 + The Information Dialog ("I" with a media file playing) now shows
   format information for the playing file (requires Smart Play enabled).

 + The internal screen saver now runs at idle priority (doesn't
   take any CPU power unless the CPU isn't doing anything else).
   This also fixes the problem where using a remote control to
   turn off the screen saver would not always react instantly.

 + The TAG-Display background color now uses the user-specified
   Fullscreen Background color instead of Black.

 + The Browse for Folder dialog is now resizable.

 - The navigation interfaces would not display properly on a
   secondary monitor under certain conditions.

 - Adding files to the play list from the File or Media Library
   Navigators could fail under certain conditions.

 - Auto-Get duration would not work under certain conditions.

 - The Fullscreen Navigation font wasn't being saved properly.

 - Having a Volume/Balance/Play Rate bar on either the
   Control Bar, Equalizer or Play List interfaces would disappear
   when going fullscreen.

 - The mouse cursor would not hide properly when using the
   internal image decoder or the Flash/HTML/QuickTime ActiveX
   controls.

 - When opening the Media Library Navigator and going to the category
   selection screen for the first time and then back to the file
   listing, the file list position would reset.

 - Opening non-standard URLs (tivo:// for example) should now
   work from command line.

 - Under some circumstances, the file navigator wouldn't highlight
   the currently playing file properly.

 - The navigation scrollbar size would not always scale properly.

 - Opening a new file with the mouse cursor hidden and the
   control bar visible would hide the mouse cursor to the point
   it wouldn't show again.

 - Frame advance got broken.

 - Holding Alt+Enter (fullscreen) for a several seconds straight
   could cause a crash.

[generalleoff]

Pressing delete on the non-nav version of the play list sometimes pops the move to recycle bin option. There does not seem to be an option to regulate this like there is for the nav version. In fact you can just press delete at any time and Zoom Player will ask if you want to delete the playing file.

I would like to be able to press del to remove a file from the play list on both the nav and non-nav version but not move it to the recycle bin. I should not be able to pres del at any time to remove the currently playing file.

[edit]

The show all buttons option has been missing from the old legacy CB right click menu for some time. Was it removed intentionally or was it a mistake. Kind of tedious to have to bring up the main options menu or select buttons one by one when yer settings get reset (happens every time you check out a new skin).

[Metshrine]

The control bar still disappears when clicking away from the interface into another application. However, it does now display when the ZP Window is clicked or given focus, so its a start

Also, shouldnt the APPLY button in options/setup only be clickable when something has changed?

And one final thing, is there a way to setup ZP to not require a restart to apply different key configurations? I.E. Defaults, custom, etc

[Koogle]

The icons may come back, request them after v5 is released. The new dialog is a lot more orderly.

Yeah I will be requesting them icons back, and having the tabs were just as useful, instead of this expanding menu which looks kinda dull. Bring back the icons and tabs for a better options interface

The Alt 1-4 can be changed using the keyboard editor and using the extended zoom function.

And lastly could someone please give me some extra steps on doing this? ...I wanted to get Alt+1 = 125% instead etc

[TheShadowRunner]

Hi Blight, little report:

- The hand cursor is the old w95 one on some pages ( when hovering over links on the "About : Links" page, on the "System : Missing Formats" page )

- There is twice the same settings page:
"Interface" and "Interface : Display" are identical.

- When opening a single media file fom a folder and pressing Next, it will play the next media file in that same folder. Please make this an option if possible.

Hope it helps,
See you,

TSR

[bLight]

TheShadowRunner:
Did you download RC2 before it was officially released, that's naughty (and not the final RC2 build, re-download).

And what's the downside on next track function playing the next file in the directory when there is no other file in the play list?

The hand will be fixed.


generalleoff:
The delete is an intentional feature and it asks for confirmation.

The hide/show all have been changed, the hide has become a show/hide toggle. Switching skins only hides buttons if the skin doesn't support them.

Metshrine:
Due to the complexity of the options dialog, it's not practical to only highlight the apply button when something changes. There's way too many different ways settings can change.

I'm not sure what you mean about restart... Changing languages require a restart, most other things don't.

[cmaurice]

Hi,

I don't know if it's me I don't find the option or if it has been removed in the RC1, I don't find the option to choose to cut the end of the file's name if it is too long in the playlist or to remove the vowels of the file's name. It seems in the RC1, it's the second option has been chosen but I don't find the option to change it as in the 4.x version.

Cyrille

[generalleoff]

ok I see how the CB button thing works now. Thats nice.

As for the del on the play list thing it does not always do this is why I thought it was a bug. Sometimes pressing delete will remove the item from the play list without asking (I like this cuz it makes removing files easy). It just removes it from the play list NOT move it to the recycle bin.

However other times it will pop up the dialog asking to move it or cancel. This behavior in itself is strange cuz pressing cancel will not move it to the recycle bin but it will still remove the file from the play list. Cancel seems like it should cancel any action and leave the file in the play list. Maybe the options should be changed to yes/no instead.

Either way an option to disable this behavior would be nice. Enabled del will move to recycle bin and remove file from play list with confirmation. Disabled will make del just remove the file from the play list. I thought there was an option for this in the past but now it seems only to apply to the nav play list.

[midiboy]

Hi Blight,

as for the install center ... I think you designed the Configure button to call the corresponding links in the Start menu folder. This is not very good if people (like me for instance) regroup the links into their own schema (For instance Music, Movies, Office etc.) because then the links will not be at the place where you expect them to be and therefore not work.

At least that is my assumption because if you look at the pic, it says that the codec is installed but I cannot configure it. It is the same for all the codecs in the list.

Maybe you could call the actual path inside the link instead of the link itself to configure a codec ? That would work in all cases even if the user has deleted or moved the link somewhere else.

edit: Also it would be nice to know what the recommended settings for each filter are but that is just a bonus, if you have lots of free time or so :-)

By the way ... does the install center only show codecs that need to be updated or installed or all codecs ? Because I am missing a few like quicktime for instance. Maybe it should show all codecs available in your list but in different groups (installed, not installed, need update etc.)

Thanks,
Alex

Attached Files

•  Screen02.JPG   38.63KB   149 downloads

[Duradas]

Can the delete file function be turned off somewhere ?

I already nearly deleted a file by mistake, as zp is on the secondary monitor, which was turned off at that time, and I didnt even notice the confirmation box. I thought i was typing text in another task, and could have easily hit enter as well to confirm deletion, while wondering why nothing happened in the task I thought I was in...

If that can't be turned off, at least the default focus in that confirmation box should be on "cancel" and not "ok" to erase the file.

[creopard]

Language related issues:

Could you please stretch the fields:
- LabelCDDVDInsert
- LabelPlayComplete
The entries in the selection box of "LabelPlayComplete" are still in English (i.e. there's no related string available for translation)
Same with the "Audio/Viedeo" -> "Video Renderer" field.

The text in the Zoom Player about-dialog could also be translated...

[Aokromes]

Nice, all my problems with playlist are fixed now

Also the wmv problem under vista too.

[Metshrine]

When I switch my custom key config over to the default, so I can switch interface styles using F4-F7 (Since no hotkey exists for me to configure this with), I have to restart the program for the key changes to take affect.

Any word on the CB issue?

[TheShadowRunner]

TheShadowRunner:
Did you download RC2 before it was officially released, that's naughty (and not the final RC2 build, re-download).

And what's the downside on next track function playing the next file in the directory when there is no other file in the play list?

The hand will be fixed.

Hmm? I don't know, on one of the news website i look on was that link to the RC2, since the domain was inmatrix, i thought it was legit and downloaded it
(and indeed, "Interface : Display" is now different from "Interface")

The downside is simple. When altering video settings in ZP options or ffdshow, i usually restart the video by pressing "next" or "previous" track; because i want to see the changes on the same media file, it's a downside for me.

Thanks for fixing the very old ugly hand.
See you,

TSR

[Linkintones]

The following option only works for me while set to 1 second:

Options -> Interface -> On Screen Display -> Full Screen Navigation -> "Close on Inactivity (seconds)"

[ecb]

Very first look at the new RC:

When downloading the new recommended filters automatically, the window that shows the process is not properly sized, so I can't read anything about what is going on. (Otherwise, it seems like a nice new feature.)

For the word "Play", the OSD is way too wide, there is much space on either side for no particular reason.

And, come to think of it, how come I can't get a manual filter file to work anymore? Of course, I put the TimeStretch filter in there, and it doesn't work these days, for some reason. It's the only thing in the filter file, what... LoadFilter({9E0DDB36-98FC-4CE0-B3BB-043547E78187},CyberLink TimeStretch Filter (PDVD6))

and I checked its priority (which *was* Do Not Use, though I changed that), however it no longer loads all the time--which, as I have made abundantly clear, is the filter that I always want included. What gives? It used to work with the pre-five beta ZP.

Another edit:
When I right-clicked into the Color Controls interface by mistake (I mean, I selected it, though accidentally), when I clicked "No" on the prompt ("... currently disabled. Would you like to enable...?"), it came up anyhow.

[The Pezman]

Gotta say I love the automatic codec downloader.

[Aerio]

Hello Blight,
thank you for considering our suggestions. I'm testing zp500rc2pro und Windows XPSP2.

- Navigators still don't load picture directories into play list (via insert-key), whose picture file extensions are registered under option/system/file extensions/pictures. So what is the media category "pictures" for then? If you want to exclude folder images from loading (which would be a good idea), so just only filter these, not all pictures!

- Internal picture viewer: Open a picture, press a key with function "fnfitsource", and then a key with function "fnmax". The pic moves out of center. This doesn't happen, if I disable the internal pic viewer.

- Right clicking on any navigator INDEED quits zoom player on my system. Shouldn't it do simply nothing (or at least open ZP's context menu)?

- Regarding Play List speed slowdown: I didn't mean loading into play lists (which naturally is slower), I mentioned showing already filled play lists. You can test it within ZP5: Load an extensive CD/DVD picture directory via nav into play list. Show/hide/show the play list EDITOR: opens up immediately! Show/hide/show the play list NAVIGATOR: slow as hell! Same program, same function, only different interfaces. Shouldn't this tell you that there is something wrong within the navigator procedure?

- If you assign the function "fnplsort" to a key, pressing this key leads to an "access violation at address 00588A40". It's just that simple, how shall I describe it more specific?

- Regarding directory position: Imagine you have directories named "dir01", "dir02" and "dir03". I want to show their content one after another. So I open the file/media nav, select "dir01", press "insert". The nav closes and I view the content. Ok. In ZP2.90 I opened the nav again, stepped down to "dir02", and did the same procedure. But in ZP5 the position changed, as I'm now inside "dir01". So I have to step out again to the position I was coming ferom, before I can go on with "dir02". Please understand the logic: If I WANT to step inside, I can do this via enter. But If I only want to load the dir into play list, I want ZP to stay where I was coming from. Helps this explanation to make it clearer?

- Thank you very much for giving us the decision what to do with the "left" nav key! Now navigating is a breeze (YOU also want the arrows to do everything, so we need no backspace anymore)!

- Thank you for solving the control bars "caption title" problem. It's the pinnacle remote software, that recognizes different programs via their captions. So that's not so silly, as you can address different functions for different programs.

- "Open directory" dialog is now resizeable, but it doesn't remember it's position. Could you please at least center the window, when it is opened again (saving pos&size of course would be the best, but I don't want to be outrageous)? The "Add Directory to Play List" window still is too small and not resizeable (I thought it is the same window as "open directory").

- If you can't show the actual shortcut infos on the menus, wouldn't it be a better way just to omit them (as you did in earlier ZP versions)?

- Interface/Mouse: Media Mouse Left Click / Move Video doesn't work in fullscreen, whereas left+alt or left+ctrl click works. In fullscreen mode, it would be fine to adjust the picture position just with the mouse without any additional keys.

- "Always show control bar when playing audio": the control bar gets lost when switching between fullscreen/minimized, and cannot be activated again.

- in fullscreen mode, opening the playlist editor doesn't get the keyboard focus (you must click on it, before using the cursor keys). Could we have a "stay on top" option for the playlist editor?

- open navigators don't update playing position, when a new track plays

- F12 doesn't work as a global hotkey

- Last but not least - the play list sorting problem. To show you what I mean, I'll describe a simple example:
Let's say we have a directory "dir00" with 2 sub-directories "dir01" and "dir02", each with 2 media files:

dir00
L dir01: apple.mp3, pear.jpg
L dir02: banana.wmv, strawberry.jpg

Loading "dir00" into play list, the ideal sort order is DIR>NAME.
So the play list should look like this:
1. apple.mp3
2. pear.jpg
3. banana.wmv
4. strawberry.jpg

Unfortunately ZP5 sort default sort order is EXT>NAME:
This leads to the following (mixed up) play list sequence:
1. pear.jpg
2. strawberry.jpg
3. apple.mp3
4. banana.wmv

So on first position comes the 2nd file of the 1st directory, than the 2nd file of the 2nd dir, than the 1st file of th 1st dir, ... It's like a random sequence!
Why is this so important? Imagine you have different albums of different artists in seperate directories. If you do not sort by directory first, and by name second, you'll get a totally mixed up playing sequence.
It is so important, that I just can't understand, that nobody else noticed this.
The best solution would be, if we could define a default sort order (should this do the command line parameter "/sort" ?)

Uff! As a programmer on my own, I know how hard it is to get the right explanations of facts. I hope I did it understandable this time ;-)

[Sunrise]

- Right clicking on any navigator INDEED quits zoom player on my system. Shouldn't it do simply nothing (or at least open ZP's context menu)?

Checked it myself. Right click only closes the navigator active at that time, not ZP itself, like Blight already replied. A right-click should never close any application, if that key isn´t assigned to do something like that. There must be something awkward going on with either your system or your ZP install.

[Aerio]

Ok, I investigated the right click phenomenon. The result is very strange:

If a Navigator is open, the right mouse button behaves like the ESC key! So if you assign a custom function to the ESC key in the media key file, the right mouse button will execute it if a navigator is open.

So as I assigned the "fnexit" function to the ESC key, ZP closes every time I press the right mouse button on a nav screen.

Why not just simply open ZP's context menu, when clicking on a nav screen, as a user would expect it?