NANY 2011 Release: Bard - Organise your audio library

[justice]

NANY 2011 Entry Information

Application Name	BARD
Version	0.4.0.1
Short Description	Organise your audio library
Supported OSes	Windows
Download	Latest version or see enclosed file for NANY entry
Web Page	http://getbard.com
Author	Justice

Description
Bard uses move/copy operations to quickly organise your audio files into
favourite folders. You can specifiy an 'unlimited' amount of folders
which can all be used to sort audio to with one click. Other basic file
operations such as renaming, deletion of audio is also supported.

In the extras folder you will find a small utility to create a basic
audio library structure for you.
Supported audio formats are wave/mp3/aiff.



Screenshots



Usage
Installation
Portable

Using the Application
Start the program. Use the [...] button to browse to your audio library. Simply select a file to play it back.
Then add destination folders using the [+] button. Both of these are
saved for subsequent sessions. Select audio from the left list and sort
them by pressing a folder button on the right.

You can toggle the operation button [Move] to switch between move and
copy, so that existing projects will not lose any audio. You can also
right click audio and delete to the Recycle Bin. You can sort selected
audio into the first 9 folders by pressing 1-9 on your keyboard or
numpad.

If any audio already exists in the destination folder you will be asked
to rename it. You can rename it to a folder that does not exists, which
will then be created for you. Keep the filename to overwrite the
destination.

Uninstallation
Portable

Thanks to Erratech and inaudible from NuSkoolBreaks forum and the one and only mouser for ideas and feedback.

[mouser]

You can sort selected audio into the first 9 folders by pressing 1-9 on your keyboard or numpad.

nice, i was just going to suggest that.  maybe the # should prefix the folder names, like:
1 - Bass
2 - Drums
etc.

also:
File name conflicts tend to be pretty high in such cases.. in an ideal case it might be nice to have a deluxe dialog come up when there is a conflict, showing both existing files/dates/sizes, with play buttons for each, and ability to rename each independently, or delete either one and continue.  that sounds like a pain so dont take it as a request just an idea.

[justice]

Good feedback keep it coming.

[bob99]

Is or will it be possible to have the folder names user defined?  This also looks like an easier way to organize podcasts I've downloaded for later listening.

It's a possibility it's my browser settings but when I click on your web link above I get a 404 not found.

[justice]

On bob,
Hi Bob99, I have enclosed the 0.1 to this post (although for me the link works). Yes you choose your own folders, they can be named anything, and you can create folders from the selection dialog prompt and when renaming files as well.

On multiple modes
I just processed a sample pack into bass / drums / lead /fx /vox and was going through drums to split them up further and was dreading adding all the buttons. Therefore I thougt maybe there's easier ways?

* A mode called 'subfolder mode'. Do you think it would help if it would autopopulate the destination buttons with the subfolders of the source location? that way you'd not have to add the buttons. Would this be how people would mainly use it or as an addition to the current manual mode?
* another mode (preset mode) I could save out preset destination buttons for each source folder. In that mode one would only have to specify folders ONCE for each source location and next time you select it it would autopopulate the destination folders.

Both sound like timesavers but would cost some time to add (maybe after its released), lazier is better I'd have thought but wonder what you think.

On other uses
You're free to use this program for other uses like organising podcasts or sorting our your music collection (would be good interface for a music tagger even). I won't know how well this works though.

[justice]

New version, fixes and features:
bard 0.1.0.18

summary: amended help text
summary: Multiple file recycling added
summary: Stop sound playing before deleting multiple files
summary: You can now create folders and rename files from the rename prompt
summary: Fix changing or reloading when cancelling rename
summary: Hotkey 1-9 now work for the first nine folders.
summary: hotkeys for numpad support
summary: Clarified message renaming file
summary: icon
summary: udpated readme
summary: * Keyboard selection of listbox items
summary: selecting rows after operating is now fixed correctly
summary: Button shortcutlabels added
summary: Added statusbar to show last operations and longer listview
summary: Fixing Working Directory bug after switching directories
summary: Logging deletions
summary: Only change statusbar/logfile if copy/move action was successful

[justice]

New version, fixes and features:
bard 0.2.0.0

summary:     Run AudioLibraryFolders option added to file menu
summary:     Added support for  .aiff samples
summary:     rewrote buttonmatching code - fixes bug where folders starting with spaces are no longer created
summary:     Better error checking on files that have been removed, deleted or renamed outwith the program.
summary:     Fixed hotkeys which got broken in previous update
summary:     Shift click a destination button to open the location in explorer!
summary:     Updated readme.txt and added tips.txt which are shown randomly in the statusbar
summary:     Right click option added to rename file(s)
summary:     Reload folder when files do not get processed (because they might have been changed outwith program)
summary:     Added Properties option to right click menu which opens the properties window for that file.

BTW mercurial is great.

[justice]

I guess there are no music producer fans in this forum?

[mouser]

i hope you plan to make a pad file for this.. i can see it being quite useful to people who need it.. trick it spreading the word about it.

[justice]

I wasn't but I will.

[justice]

At the moment I'm developing ways to ensure people spent most time organising audio and not populating buttons. I'll also add in an update check and finally will create a pad file. If you want to influence the direction of the program just pm me to receive the latest version and give me feedback.

[justice]

Version 0.2 is the NANY entry as unfortunately I've not yet progressed it further

[Curt]

Web Page

http://amasan.co.uk/blog/tag/bard

Easy, tiger. This is a 404 page.

[Paul Keith]

Is it just personal preference that this is just for music?

...or is there a popular file manager with the same interface such as this already.

Seems like you can quickly sort desktops/uninstall files/quickly create default directories in different operating systems with the interface.

P.S. I didn't download the program - just going by the screenshot. If I had a program with this interface but with the copy and paste function of TeraCopy and a search engine like Locate32, I'd have my entire HD organized in a day.

(This isn't to mean that there's no program that auto-creates and sends directories to certain locations automatically but just having a portable folder maker means you can set it and forget it as long as it allows for multiple profiles and multiple files.)

[Curt]

@justice  
My copy is placed in C:\Windows\Media\Bard, with a shortcut in True Launch Bar, which makes BARD a fine and extremely fast way to test what media file is offering the sound that I want. It would be even more handy if you add a "copy file name&path, to clipboard" feature, please.

-

[justice]

I really should revisit this project sooner rather than later - thanks all for your feedback I will consider it all in my development.

[justice]

Hi again! Good news:
New beta available, version 0.3

0.3:
*  Added Prefix option to prefix selected files with name of a samplepack for example.
*  misc fixes
*  Enable .aiff samples
*  rewrote buttonmatching code - fixes bug where folders starting with spaces are no longer created
*  Better error checking on files that have been removed, deleted or renamed outwith the program.
*  Fixed hotkeys which got broken
*  Shift click a destination button to open the location in explorer!
*  Updated readme.txt and added tips.txt which are shown randomly in the statusbar
*  Right click rename file(s)

Feedback welcome good or bad

[justice]

Updated again (version 0.3.0.3) - fixed all known bugs.

Changes since 0.3.0.0:

* instructions updated
* Fixed problems remembering what directory we're working on.
* Fix: now lists samples with mixed case or uppercase extensions
* Removed tray icon
* Menu item to AudioLibraryFolders now works correctly
* Resizing now works as expected
* Remember windows position and size between sessions

[justice]

I'm now looking for a few more beta testers to help break my app. You don't have to be a musician! If you enjoy trying to break programs and providing feedback try out the version below and reply with any new issues.

Download latest version

This release is more polished overall and should work properly on more configurations.

Updated to 0.4.0.1:
* Clarified prompts and help files
* On failing to play files, try fallback option and log any errors
* Added known issue to readme
* Installation / Uninstallation Wizards
* Option to add icon to desktop
* Store created files in Application Data/Roaming so that writing rights to program files is not needed.
* allow /resetsettings to reset the settings
* Fixed interface issues when using custom themes under Windows XP
* Feedback Option added

Known Issues
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Playback of certain 24bit files may fail under Windows XP.
  I'm looking for a solution. More info:
  http://is.gd/ty83pg

[justice]

i hope you plan to make a pad file for this.. i can see it being quite useful to people who need it.. trick it spreading the word about it.

Any tips on what program is useful and what sites to submit it to?

I've added quite a few features now, and I'm building on a website to release the program that I'm proud of now - with a few suprises.

[justice]

http://getbard.com/

[mouser]

Nice