MegaSeg Release Notes

Milestones from older versions of MegaSeg.

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• 2.1
• 2.0

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MegaSeg 2.1:

• [New] MegaSeg is now OS X Native! MegaSeg now runs on Mac OS 9 and OS X. (OS 9 requires CarbonLib 1.4 or better). With this comes many added benefits and optimizations that occurred during the change over, for example loading the database during startup is faster.
• [New] Library and Playlist displays, rewritten and optimized, with new Preferences to change the display font, colors, and size.
• [New] VU displays for current song and Edit window to assist level setting.
• [New] Full Screen menu option to resize the main MegaSeg window to the current resolution. MegaSeg can also be re-sized manually.
• [New] Drag-N-Drop support for Library and Playlist displays.
• [New] Drag-N-Drop folders and files into main window to import them.
• [New] AutoGain option for Automatic Gain Control (AGC) that rides the levels of the current playing song for optimum loudness.
• [New] Cue Volume control for Preview and the Mixer's Cue mode.
• [New] Fine-tune pitch control for the current song in the Mixer (-/+ 12%).
• [New] Full rage pitch controls (-/+ 100%) in the mixer for both the Next and Current songs.
• [New] Increased library limit from 5,000 to 10,000 files (songs).
• [New] Keyboard shortcut (A) for "Advance" in the Mixer.
• [New] Keyboard shortcuts for the master volume control. Command + and -.
• [New] Sort Playlist by BPM menu command.
• [New] Update ResourceTags menu option. A safety net for MegaSeg's library file that saves the metadata in each file's resource fork. This is also done individually for each file when saved in the Edit window.
• [New] In-Playlist indicator for the song in the Library turns red when songs are played in the Playlist.
• [New] iPod and iTunes import support.
• Improved Importing:
  • It now prompts for a category right after choosing the folder.
  • The progress percentage is updated more frequently.
  • Improved responsiveness to the Cancel button during import.
  • Application and text files (Type "APPL" and "TEXT") are now ignored, preventing unnecessary delays (and possible crashes) when running into these files during an import.
  • The 1,000 songs per folder limit is fixed. There is no limit to the number of files MegaSeg can see in a folder.
  • Fixed a problem with Refresh Folders handling high volumes of folders.
• Added custom "header" and "footer" for the "currentsong.html" log file.
• Command-W, Command-., and the "C" key now close/cancel the BPM Taper window. The "R" and Return keys reset the taper.
• Double clicking a Playlist in the Save Playlist dialog now instantly saves the current Playlist as that name.
• Edit window's BPM Set button now automatically starts the song playing.
• Editing BPM from the Mixer now properly sorts the Library by BPM and updates the song's tags.
• Enter & Return keys now save and close the Edit Media window.
• Enter key now works for starting a search.
• Fixed a problem when loading playlists with songs that have exactly the same titles, and similar artist names, causing it to use the wrong song. For example, "Merry Xmas Everybody" by "Slade" and "Merry Xmas Everybody" by "Slade vs Flush". A similar problem was fixed previously, but covered only similar titles of exactly the same artist.
• Fixed a problem with Mixer's Advance not subtracting the correct time from the Total Playlist Time display.
• Fixed a problem when renaming a category the same as an existing category (merge) caused it to leave a blank space in the category list.
• The Edit Media's Fade Override checkbox is now saved in the file's ResourceTags.
• Fixed a problem with Mixer's Play/Pause keyboard shortcut "/" that caused it to lockup when used.
• Fixed a problem when doing a "jump search" while in artist sort, getting stuck in the 'Titles only' part of the list for certain entries.
• Improved BPM Taper with new algorithm and feedback display.
• A report window displays after an Import if it could not import files.
• MegaSeg no longer deletes/erases files directly (with Remove from Library options). It now optionally puts the files in the Trash Can.
• MegaSeg's import functions now filter files by folder/path. Multiple files with the same name can now be imported from different folders.
• Mixer window stays open even when clicking other main window buttons.
• Segue and Mixer's Advance now properly reset the current song's play/pause control to 'Play' if previously paused.
• Simplified the welcome screen removing confusing "Choose Existing" or "New Library" options, and added a menu command to choose an existing MegaSeg User Data folder if needed.
• The Current Song pitch control's text display now matches the Next song's pitch display range of -100 to +100. (originally it displayed 0%-200%).
• The Edit Categories dialog can now be used without a song being selected. Before it would complain, and require you to actually select a song, even when you only wanted to do general category editing.
• You can now select the current playing song by clicking on it's text, in addition to the "Playing" arrow.
• Added a new Option-Space segue keyboard shortcut for slam segues (direct cut).
• Improved the speed of displaying categories with large libraries.
• MegaSeg now keeps the system disk spinning when music is playing from external hard drives to prevent problems with audio dropouts when the OS needs to spin-up the system drive (which can happen when accessing menus, etc).
• The Command-G (Start-Stop Playlist) and Command-/ (Segue) keyboard shortcuts now prevent the keyboard's autorepeat from triggering multiple events by mistake.
• The current playing song now displays the output channel when in Discrete Output Mode.
• While in BPM sort mode, searching for "911" is considered a title, not a bpm value. Now any value higher than 300 is considered a title/artist/album search while in BPM sort.
• When entering a category name into the Add and Rename category dialogs, it now turns slashes (/) into dashes (-) to prevent using the slash category delimiter in a category name.
• The Mixer now defaults to the song's stored memory position if available. If not, then the song's Cue-In time is used.
• Revised the manual to cover version 2.1.
• Added a checkbox to lock the Preview on a particular track. This allows you to continue previewing a song while scrolling the library or changing the selection focus.
• Added new Slam keyboard shortcut for the Mixer. Pressing the "S" key will slam the Crossfader to the opposite side. The "4" key will also do this.
• Added new keyboard control of the Crossfader: Pressing the "Q" and "W" keys will manually move the crosfader to the left or right when held down.
• Improved responsiveness of Segues and fades, especially with the fade-out time set under 2 seconds.
• Redesigned the Import progress window.
• While in Discreet Output Mode, Preview now uses the same output as the Mixer.
• Added the Album and Year fields to the log file format to prepare for possible stricter logging requirements for online broadcasters.
• Added Video window command to change the size to 640x480.
• Changed the Video menu's "Hide Menubar when Full" option to be checked by default. Also revised the Video menu's text and keyboard shortcuts.
• Improvement on how the Edit window handles renaming a file to match title and artist when another file already has the same filename (usually another remix of the same song by the same artist). It now appends a unique number to the end of the file automatically.
• MegaSeg now recognizes long filenames if it needs to parse the filename for title and artist info when no ID3 tags or MegaSeg Tags are available.
• When displaying an empty category, the dialog that pops up firsts asks if you want to delete the empty category, then second asks if you want to scan and remove all empty categories as a second option.
• Added a feature to remove all empty categories from the category list. A dialog will ask this when displaying an empty category.
• Scan for missing files now reports automatically found files (by Alias) in the report window.
• The Edit window's Set BPM button that activates the BPM Tapper window no longer autostarts the Preview. This makes it possible to use the BPM Tapper while the song is already playing in the current position.
• When Quitting MegaSeg while a song is paused, it no longer un-pauses before Quitting.
• Added a play position bar for the Current song and Edit window for locating parts of a song quickly.
• Added an import checkbox option to import all files into a category. It defaults to create a temporary import category based on the current date.
• Added error trapping to prevent accidentally cuing a different Next song while the Mixer is playing.
• Added new file options when removing a category. You can now remove or trash all files in a category you are removing.
• Default font size on OS X is now 12 point instead of 10.
• Improved the Playlist Settings and Set Output Device windows with tabbed buttons, to make it easier to navigate.
• The Edit Categories menu command (Command-Y) now works for general editing when the Playlist or Library has the focus but no song is selected.
• The Edit window's rename file option now preserves 4-character extensions (.aiff for example).
• The Video window closes after the last video is done playing.
• Reworked the multiple output support under OS X. The two output devices are selected using the System Preference's Alerts and Output tabs. Under the Alert tab, choose one output for the "Play Alerts Through" option, and choose a different output for the Output tab's system output. These choices will appear in MegaSeg as "Alert Output" and "System Output".
• Discreet Output Mode now properly reassigns the Next cued song to the correct channel, instead of waiting for one cycle thru.
• Added Remove Folders file menu command that allows you to mass remove all files inside any imported folder.
• Fixed a problem when searching returned too many results. For example, searching for "Snow" would match an artist name that ends with "S" and an album name that started with "Now".
• When importing, added an option to turn off mapping Genre ID3 tags to your MegaSeg categories list. And Fixed a problem with numbers appearing in Genre tags.
• In the Edit window, all Test/Stop buttons flip to show the current play status of the song.
• Categories: MegaSeg will update the category list to include any stray categories assigned to songs in your Library. Also fixed a problem when deleting a category not updating each song in the library. Plus the Category popup grows when the main window is resized larger.
• Cueing: It's no longer a problem to cue two songs in a row with exactly the same title and artist info.
• In Category and Open/Save Playlist dialogs you can select an item by typing it's name.
• Edit Media: Added option to auto start song preview in Edit Media by Option-clicking the Edit button.
• Import: Genre ID3 tags are properly recognized and mapped to MegaSeg's Categories. If no matching category exists, one is automatically created.
• Library: MegaSeg now keeps track of files by their unique File ID as well as by path. This means you can move or rename files as you like within a volume, and MegaSeg will not loose track of the files. No more finding missing files after renaming or moving a file or folder!
• Mixer: Added a Search BPM button to the mixer to quickly find near matches (+/- 5 BPM) for the Current playing song.
• Mixer: Added keyboard shortcuts for the Current song's pitch in the mixer. It's the same keys used to control the Next song's pitch (the arrow keys), except hold down the Option key. The Control and Shift keys can be used to modify speed.
• Mixer: The Advance button now animates the crossfade (if not already crossfaded). Improved the look of the Advance button flashing reminder. Fixed a problem that would not reset the fine-tune pitch control for the Current song after Advancing.
• Outputs: When using Discreet Output Mode, the Mixer switches channels even when the playlist is empty after Advance. This prevents problems if mixing "on the fly" without pre-loading the playlist with at least two songs at a time. Also clicking Segue or Start Playlist on main window no longer turns off Discreet Output Mode.
• Preview: It's now easy to preview multiple songs in a row. Preview mode starts any selected song without the need to click Preview multiple times. You can also route the Preview audio to the main Program output (vs the Cue output) by using the option key.
• Search: The input field now selects the text when it gets the focus. This guarantees the text will be replaced by typing a new search string. Plus typing in BPM values to search now displays matches within 5 BPM on either side of the search BPM.
• Search: Added a new search menu command to search the Notes field of files in the Library (Option-Command-F).
• Added Preference to show MegaSeg in Full Screen mode at Startup.
• Improved the Save Playlist dialog. It now remembers the current Playlist name, and defaults to save the entire Playlist (include media already played).
• In Mixer, the milliseconds don't flicker between .80 and .99 when adjusting cue-in with the fine-tune buttons.
• In Mixer, fine-tune cue buttons now increase the jump time as they are held down. This makes finding your cue-in much faster.
• In Mixer, current song pitch display and pitch reset button display 0% instead of 100% by default.
• In Mixer, the Return memory button now displays the full time (with milliseconds) to prevent confusion and ensure it's returning to the correct position.
• Revamped the Find and alphabetical "Jump Search" functions. When the Library is highlighted, typing will jump to the closest matching item (by sort order). And the Find box is now a real-time, search as you type system.
• Mixer's Advance button now flashes when the crossfade is all the way to the right, reminding to advance the song.
• Tab key now changes focus rings. (Left/Right arrows can still control focus between Library and Playlist).
• Refreshed the Demo Mode window, and the time between interruptions is longer by a few minutes.
• BPM Tapper window closes automatically if the Edit or Mixer window deactivates or closes.
• When sorted by Artists, the secondary sort order is now by Album.
• Various File menu options are now disabled when the main window is not active.
• fixed a problem when merging categories. Now it properly remove duplicate category names. For example, if a song is in both the Disco and Funk categories, after renaming Funk to Disco, you no longer end up with songs ladled "Disco/Disco".
• MegaSeg automatically retypes .mp3 files to MacType 'Mp3 ', if not already. This removes the need to include the AutoTyper utility.
• Added an import option to enable or disable to use of MegaSeg's resource file tags for the Title, Artist, Album, and Year fields. If disabled or not ability, it will always use ID3 tags for those fields if available. MegaSeg's extended tag information (for Cue-In, SegTime, Category, etc.) is always used if available.
• The Mixer now cues a song to the Cue-In you've set in the Edit Media window by default.
• MegaSeg can now be moved from it's original folder if desired.
• The Mixer's automatic crossfade controls now automatically start the song (if stopped) before starting the crossfade. This improves the ability to cue into the down beat and hitting the autocross controls at the right time. Previously you have to press [space] then the 1, 2, or 3 keys at the same time.
• Improved the handling of renaming files in the Edit window. It now preserves the original filename's extension when it's set to rename the file to match the Title and Artist fields. (File extensions were originally removed, since Mac OS 8 and 9 could deal without them. This change is to improve cross-platform compatibility).
• Many other improvements.

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MegaSeg 2.0:

• New MegaSeg Mixer for beat mixing! Here's the basic rundown:
  • The Mixer button next to the "NEXT" song position activates the mixer panel. It resembles the controls found on pro CD players, but also incorporates a cross-fader.
  • The Memory and Return buttons can be used to store and retrieve a saved position in a song.
  • The Pitch control operates +/- 12%, with fine tune arrow buttons.
  • Shift key and Control key option clicks to Mixer's pitch bend buttons. Shift-Click is +/- 4%, Control-Click is +/- 1%, default is +/- 2%.
  • The equals button (=) is used for auto matching of the BPMs from the previous playing song you are attempting to match. You must then fine tune the pitch for a perfect match using the pitch control and +/- buttons as on a standard Pro-CD player.
  • The Cue button on the bottom allows you to use the left channel as a "cue" channel, and the right channel as a "program" channel. (also multiple sound cards are supported.)
  • The cross-fader allows you to blend in the next song, while fading out the "last song". When in the middle, it's 100% volume on both songs.
  • Once the mix is complete, the Advance button advances the Playlist without disrupting the program audio, unlike the Segue button, which will re-cue the song from the beginning and auto-crossfade.
  • Volume boost controls for the Current and Next are to the left and right of the cross-fader.
  • Keyboard shortcuts for the Mixer window:
    

    Spacebar -- Start/Stop
    / -- Play/Pause (stutter)
    Return -- Stop
    < -- Cue Back
    > -- Cue Forward
    Option-< -- Rewind
    Option-> -- Fast Forward
    Up Arrow -- Pitch Dip
    Down Arrow -- Pitch Bump
    Left Arrow -- Pitch Shift Down
    Right Arrow -- Pitch Shift Up
    Option-Up -- Pitch Shift Down
    Option-Down -- Pitch Shift Up
    = -- Match BPM
    C -- Cue Output Toggle
    1 -- Fade-Cut
    2 -- Cross-Fade
    3 -- Slam-Fade
    

• New Multi-sound card support! The Mixer now has a "Set Outputs" button, which allows you to choose any Sound Manager supported output device as the "Cue/Preview" channel, and a second output device as "Program/Playlist" audio. Supported audio cards are not fully known at this time, but should include FireWire DV audio, USB sound cards such as the Roland UA-30, and the VXPocket PowerBook card. Please report compatibility with other cards.
• New 800x600 screen size! MegaSeg has broken out of it's 640x480 shell, and into a much roomier 800x600 resolution living space. You can now see 10 tracks at a time in the Library and Playlist, as well as adding Album information to the displays. Also note the Playlist numbers are on the upper right hand side of each track display, out of the way. The "In Playlist" Library display marks are now a light blue square in the upper left corner of each track display, instead of a thin red line as before.
• Added a Requests and Note Request button to the Library which notes and displays requests for later use by the DJ. Keyboard shortcuts: Command-N to note request, and Command-B to display requests.
• Added a new "Mic On/Off Switch" which turns the Mac's "Play-thru" on and off as well as ducks the music for voice-overs. If you have a mic plugged into the Mac's sound-in, and the Mac's System Input Select set to "Sound-In" or "External Mic", this new switch will turn the input audio on or off, allowing an easy way to mix your live mic with MegaSeg.
• Added a Skip To button which allows you to skip to the selected song in the Playlist. Useful when loading large playlists, such as a day's music log for a radio broadcast, and you want to skip to a particular time in the Playlist.
• Added a Jump playlist button, which jumps the selected Playlist song to the top of the Playlist in the NEXT position.
• Added a Clear Playlist button to the Playlist side. (Same as the menu command, Command-K).
• Added a general MegaSeg preferences window, with features for switching screen resolution on launch, scanning for missing files on launch, and disabling the "are you sure" type dialog windows from popping up.
• Added a 'scan sub folders' option to the Import Folder and Refresh Library import commands. When check marked, MegaSeg will import from any folders found inside the main folder selected to import, or when using Refresh Library, will find new folders inside already imported folders.
• Added a new log file called "NowPlaying" to the Logs folder, which is a text file which contains the current playing song information. Handy for online radio station broadcasting, in which the file can be automatically uploaded to a server for display of the current playing song on a website.
• Added a "Next" button to the center interface, which is a simple one click way to add a song from the Library into the Next position of the Playlist.
• Added a swap button to the Edit window that quickly swaps the Title and Artist fields. No need to copy and paste between fields.
• Added a "Seg & Set" button to the bottom of the Segue button when in Administration mode. This serves the same function as Option-Click Segue, which allows you to set segue times on the fly.
• Added an "Uncategorized" view option after "All Categories" in the popup selector. This gives you a list of songs not currently in any category.