Random Mix Tape Maker v1.8.28.77 ------------------------------------ Please read the "Limitations" section first! Installation: ------------------------------------ Unzip mixtape.exe wherever you like and run it. What is this? ------------------------------------ Random Mix Tape Maker is a random MP3 playlist generator. Features -------- ú Randomly select songs based on genres, title keywords, and more ú Limit created playlist by total song duration (good for burning audio CDs) ú Limit created playlist by filesize (good for burning mp3 CDs/DVDs) ú Limit minimum and maximum durations of songs to include ú Recursively searches directories; easy to search one or many. ú Flexible blacklist let's you easily skip songs or directories you don't want to include. ú Full drag+drop support into the program and from the program out to other apps. ú It's fast - just keep hitting the randomize button till you get a playlist you like. ú Can randomize existing playlists instead of directories if you prefer. ú Output displays mp3 tag info or file paths. ú Creates playlist files or plain text output. ú Double click to preview a song from the constructed playlist. What can it do? (Overview) ------------------------------------ By selecting a directory, Random Mix Tape Maker will search that directory (and recursively search sub-directories if you choose) for all mp3 files and build a playlist based on the criteria you select. You may also specify files and directories you want to be excluded from the search. On the flip-side, you may also specify other files and directories to be included in the search. Maybe you already have a playlist with all of your favorite songs. Random Mix Tape Maker is also able to rebuild a new randomized playlist by accessing the files listed in your playlist file (*.m3u). [This method has its limitations, see "Limitations"] Once a playlist is created you can save it or drag the files listed into your app of choice (like a CD burning app, mp3 player, etc). You can even sample the playlist directly from Random Mix Tape Maker by right-clicking on the list and selecting "Play Created Playlist" or simply double-click a song to listen to that particular song (in case you forgot what it was, to see if you want it in your list). All settings and search lists are saved when you exit the application. So you will have your own custom criteria already selected each time you use Random Mix Tape Maker. The created playlist is not auto-saved. if you like particular playlist created, then simply save it using the 'Save Playlist' button. Why would i ever use this? ------------------------------------ Face it, we all love our music. But it's a hassle to take our complete music collection of CD's with us wherever we go. Even if you put the time into making a 'mix-tape' CD, you'll eventually want to change that one out as well. Random Mix Tape Maker allows you to make quick, on-the-spot compilations based on time, song length, and for those of you with mp3 players: complete size of files as criteria to build your playlist. Picture this: You're getting ready to go to school, a business trip, or just out to run errands for the day. You want to listen to a sampling of your favorite artists while you're "out and about". Start up Random Mix Tape Maker, select the folder/drive containing your mp3 files. Click "Create Playlist". In a few moments you'll have your customized/randomized playlist. Drag the files to your mp3 player or burning application, burn your CD or just unplug your mp3 player when files have finished copying and you're done! Enjoy the day with a fresh, randomly picked compilation of all your favorites! A new mix audio CD or compilation for your mp3 player is just a click away! Black List ------------------------------------ The black list is used to keep songs or directories with songs that you want to exclude from your playlists. It can contain individual files or folders which can be manually added by dragging/dropping the items directly on to the list itself. There is also a right-click menu item that allows you to add directories. If you make a playlist and see a song you want to add to the black list, then simply drag it from the playlist and drop it on the black list. You'll never be bothered by that song again :) Keywords ------------------------------------ Keywords can be used to further include or exclude song titles by searching file names and ID-Tagged Author/Title fields. You may use keywords either in addition to or exclusively as criteria when you're searching through your audio library. Keywords are comma delimited and you may use as many or few as you want. If you want to incorporate keywords with a normal search, simply check 'Use keywords'. If you want results that only meet your keyword search criteria, simply check 'Use keywords exclusively'. With either of the above options, you can choose your keyword hits to use the ID Limits you have specified for your general search (only date and genre apply. time limits are independant of these settings). If you choose 'Ignore ID Limits', a keyword match will be included/excluded into/from your playlist regardless of the ID limit settings. To avoid sub-word matches, check 'Exact keyword search' to ensure you get the matches you want. (i.e. love and NOT lovely). If you don't mind sub-word matches the simply leave 'Exact keyword search' unchecked. You may also use an excluding keyword to filter out terms. To do this, just add a '-' before the keyword. Doing this will not allow any song with that specific term in your list. here's an example of a mixed included and excluded keyword entry: love,-hate,peace,-war The above entry will allow song filenames or Author/Title with the words: love peace And will exclude song filenames or Author/Title with the words: hate war Keywords are NOT case-sensitive! Keywords (part 2... Lyrics!) ------------------------------------ If you have audio files that are properly tagged with lyrical content, you are now able to include or exclude songs based on keywords. Using the same method as above: love,-hate,peace,-war will allow songs containing the lyrics: love peace and will exclude songs containing the lyrics: hate war NOTE: Songs that are allowed under the 'song keywords' option can be blocked if excluded by the 'lyrics keywords' option. Linked Songs ------------------------------------ The purpose of using the linked songs list is to make sure that if a specific song is added to your playlist, it will be followed always by the song you choose. Why use this? On quite a few albums there are so-called "intro" songs which lead or crossfade into other songs that when separated or at least played by themselves, sound awkward and out of place. By setting up these "intro" songs and linking them with the song that, on the original album naturally plays next, you'll end up with a much more pleasant compilation. How does it work? Either drag a file onto the list (you'll be prompted for the file (song) for it to be linked to) or right-click the list and add it manually (you'll be prompted twice: once for each file.) When either song is found by Random Mix Tape Maker it will add both in their proper order (song1 then song2). Redundancy ------------------------------------ So many songs and sometimes randomizing the placement of those songs seems a bit unfair. Even with all of the steps Random Mix Tape Maker takes to give you a unique and blended playlist, you still may end up with a disproportional amount of one artist in your created playlist. In order to allow further variety in your playlist you can now specify the number of times any one artist will be allowed to appear in your playlist. In a new box labeled "Redundancy Limits", simply check the "Limit Artists..." and specify the number of times you'd like to allow an artist to appear in your playlist. That's it! pretty easy, huh? :) Here's some things you should know when using this function: 1) Your files MUST be properly tagged in order for this function to do anything worthwhile. 2) This does not employ the same technology as a the keyword function, it only looks inside of the file's tag for an artist name 3) The "Must-Have" list is also affected by this limitation. Consider the following scenario: Your "Must-Have" list contains 10 songs by Artist1 You have limited the redundancy to 3 Only 3 songs by Artist1 will be RANDOMLY added to your playlist. (it will not always be the same 3) 4) This does not alter the "Must-Have" list that you have created. 5) When used in conjunction with keywording AND you have both tagged and non-tagged files, you could still end up with more occurrences of an artist than the amount you have specified. This is because where keywording will allow files that possess EITHER the keyword in the tag OR in the filename, the redundancy check will ONLY check the tag for an artist name. There simply isn't any good way to create a one-size-fits-all rule to try and find an artist name from within the filename itself. Limitations ------------------------------------ 1) When using a playlist file (*.m3u), all entries in that file must contain a full path to the file and not just the filename alone. i.e.: C:\MyMusic\Song1.mp3 NOT: Song1.mp3 2) It has been observed that when dragging files/songs from Random Mix Tape Maker to a Nero Burning Rom Audio Project, Nero goes into a never ending loop, rendering Nero unusable. This has been, so far, the only application I have see this behaviour with. Workaround for Nero users: Nero accepts playlist files (*.m3u) as a source when creating an Audio Project. Simply create your playlist with Random Mix Tape Maker and save the playlist file. Then use that file as the source inside of Nero. 3) The internal ID3 reading component incorrectly returns the duration of MP3Pro VBR encoded files. I don't think this is a huge problem as most people either don't use MP3Pro, or if they do, do not use the VBR method of encoding. There seems to be no problem calculating duration of a MP3Pro CBR encoded file. 4) If you choose to use ID3 limits like "Limit by year" or "Limit by genre" make sure your mp3 files are properly tagged with such information or they will be excluded from your playlist. In other words, if you do not have properly tagged files, these modes are NOT for you. 5) Both linked songs may not make it onto your playlist if restricted by user defined limits. Release History ------------------------------------ 1.8.28.77 08-Dec-2007 --------------------- * Fixed a problem reading WV (WavPack) file tags. * Fixed a problem where WAV files were included into a list regardless if they meet keyword criteria. 1.8.27.75 06-Dec-2007 --------------------- + Added a Shuffle Playlist button that will re-sort a created playlist with the same songs that are already in that playlist. 1.8.27.74 05-Dec-2007 --------------------- * Fixed a problem reading WMA file tags (introduced in last build) 1.8.27.73 04-Dec-2007 --------------------- + Added preliminary support for WavPack (.wv) files. 1.8.26.72 03-Dec-2007 --------------------- + Added the ability to use keywords filter out songs with specific lyrical content. (this only works properly if files are tagged!). * Rearranged the interface by putting all options on their own multi-tabbed section. * fixed keywording to properly support all supported filetype tags. 1.7.25.69 02-Dec-2007 --------------------- + Added a redundancy option that limits the number of times any particular artist can be added to the playlist. (this only works properly if files are tagged!). Read above for more info. * Fixed the showing of ID song titles in the finished playlist view for filetypes other than mp3. * Minor code tweaks and versioning to reflect true release number (25). 1.0.6.68 06-Nov-2007 -------------------- * Fixed an issue where root paths were not accepted as valid search paths. 1.0.6.67 04-Sep-2007 -------------------- + Double-clicking an item in the 'Additional Directories' list will set the main search directory field to that particular directory. 1.0.6.66 04-Sep-2007 -------------------- * You can now drag & drop directories onto the Must Have list (this will fill the list with valid media files from that directory) * Fixed an overlooked problem that may have occured which would only add mp3 files to certain lists 1.0.6.65 30-Oct-2006 -------------------- * Playlist time now displays correctly for all types of media files in list * other minor internal fixes 1.0.6.62 14-Oct-2006 -------------------- * Fixed a programming error that wouldn't allow wave files to be added * Fixed an issue where linked files were mistakenly flagged as allowed when they were specifically not allowed by user criteria. This resulted in error when occured. * Stopped auto functions from running if the stop button is pressed during the playlist generation 1.0.6.60 26-Sep-2006 -------------------- * Fixed a crash that was caused when using the Must-Have list and linked songs 1.0.6.59 26-Sep-2006 -------------------- * Fixed profile loading from overlapping existing user-created lists 1.0.6.58 19-Sep-2006 -------------------- + Added manual profile (settings) loading and saving. These features are available by right-clicking the main playlist. NOTE: settings are still auto-saved and loaded on close and startup in the default file "settings.ini". 1.0.6.57 14-Sep-2006 -------------------- * Fixed some internal issues with the linked songs option * Fixed an issue that failed to save the linked songs tab height 1.0.6.55 13-Sep-2006 -------------------- + Added a linked songs option (see above for description) 1.0.5.49 13-Sep-2006 -------------------- + App now saves the panel sizes of different tabs 1.0.5.45 09-Sep-2006 -------------------- + Added an AutoPlay option that will play your created playlist when finished 1.0.5.44 21-July-2006 -------------------- + improved the keyword search function to allow excluded terms. an excluded term must be preceded by a "-". an example keyword search using both inclusive and exclusionary terms: love,-hate,peace,-war * improved the stop button from needing to re-search your chosen directories once it's already searched through them. rmtm will now only perform another search if the initial search was stopped or if you choose another base directory. this will improve playlist building time if you click 'stop' while the playlist is being populated. * the keyword options (except for exact search) are now greyed during a search/create session to avoid making changes in the middle of a playlist creation. * other minor fixes 1.0.5.42 20-July-2006 -------------------- + added much more flexibility to the keyword search function you can now not only incorporate or use exclusively user-defined keywords, but you can define either to abide by or ignore the global ID limit rules. also added an exact match to avoid false positives (i.e. when using keyword 'love' you could get a hit from the word 'lovely' etc) you may not want the exact match feature, in which case you can just leave it unchecked. 1.0.4.40 19-July-2006 -------------------- + added a multiple keyword search (comma delimited) function which allows you to either: a) allow songs or filenames that would otherwise be overlooked due to other ID limitations such as genre or year. b) exclusively include only songs or filenames that match your keywords NOTE: if you enable the Must Have List and Exclusive Keyword criteria, your list will be filled in with the Must Have files THEN filled by your keyword matching songs. if you do not want the Must Have entries in your list, then simply disable the Must Have List. 1.0.4.38 03-May-2006 -------------------- * improved list building performance when scanning MP3 files 1.0.4.37 02-May-2006 -------------------- + added preliminary support for alternative type (non MP3) files tag reading. (once again, I don't have a lot of these files to test with. so feedback would be nice) + added checkbox option to allow non-tagged files to be included in searches where an ID limit has been used (i.e. Year or Genre) This really should only be used if you're searching a directory where you know you want to include some non-tagged files. Otherwise you may just end up with a bunch of files that completely throw off your Year and Genre parameters. * fixed a performance issue when building a list with time and song length parameters checked. * other minor tweaks and adjustments 1.0.4.36 01-May-2006 -------------------- + added support to add other file formats to your playlist. currently, allowed formats are: AAC, AC3, FLAC, APE, MP3, OGG, VQF, WAV, and WMA In this build, it is only possible to use tag limitations such as Genre and Year with MP3 files. I plan on making it possible to use tag limitations for use with other formats that support tags if it is possible to do so. 1.0.3.32 30-Apr-2006 -------------------- * fixed a bug introduced in v1.0.3.30, where stopping the search process while building your list with the Must Have list enabled would clear the list when it should have left you with at least a partial list. 1.0.3.31 27-Apr-2006 -------------------- * fixed a bug introduced in v1.0.3.30, where stopping the search process while building your list would cause an exception. 1.0.3.30 27-Apr-2006 -------------------- + added ability to specify up to five genres to include in your list. * reworked the design to accommodate this new change * other minor internal code fixes 1.0.3.25 24-Apr-2006 -------------------- + added a 'MUST HAVE' list. all entries in this list will be included in your playlist. any remaining space as defined by user limits will be filled up randomly from your directory/file sources as usual. 1.0.2.23 24-Apr-2006 -------------------- + added ability to further limit song entries by year and genre as specified in an ID3 tag [see limitations] 1.0.2.22 21-Apr-2006 -------------------- * Initial public release