ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

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Wildo
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ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

Post by Wildo »

Ahoy,

just trying ProppFrexx and was wondering if one could use the BASS addon "zxtune" to expand the music formats (https://sourceforge.net/projects/basszx ... asszxtune/).

I tried to copy the dll into the ProppFrexx addons folder, restarted ProppFrexx, checked entry at general settings/addons but nothing there. Maybe this one is not compatible?!

I would love to start a vintage computer radio station with some oldschool music from vintage machines so the addon would really be useful.

Any chance that this is/will be possible?

Thanks.
Wildo
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radio42
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Re: ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

Post by radio42 »

ProppFrexx uses the standard BASS plugin system for addon formats. But the zxtune isn’t currently loaded automatically by ProppFrexx. I might take a look, but you are currently the one and only customer demanding such very rare format ;-)
So I am not sure, when there is time to implement it. But I put it on the wishlist!
Wildo
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Re: ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

Post by Wildo »

Ok, I see. ;-)
Thanks for putting it onto the wishlisht.

I would :!: LOVE :!: to have that feature for my upcoming radio station because no other radio automation software is capable of playing "unusual" media formats. To play those tracks it would be necessary to convert them into a media type that is supported by the software. So this can be a quite time consuming task.

You would make my life so much easier.

Pleaaaaase! ;)
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radio42
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Re: ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

Post by radio42 »

Added to v4.2.6.5!
In the new version you can now use basszxtune.dll as you just did before. Just TAG writing isn't supported for those files.
Wildo
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Re: ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

Post by Wildo »

radio42 wrote: 16 Oct 2021 19:07 Added to v4.2.6.5!
In the new version you can now use basszxtune.dll as you just did before. Just TAG writing isn't supported for those files.
Great news! Thanks for implementing this feature. Awesome!!!
Wildo
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Re: ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

Post by Wildo »

Sorry to bug you once more but I can't get it to work with the new version. Downloaded the 4.2.6.6 version, installed it. Copied the basszxtune.dll into the addons folder of ProppFrexx. I expected the addon listed at the General settings/addon tab but nothing there. When trying to add audio files that should be supported by the new plugin, I can't select them when wanting to add them to a new playlist because the mediatype is not included in the file dialogues filter. Could you please describe the process of activating the addon correctly. Maybe I am doing something totally wrong?!

Thanks in advance.

Wildo
Wildo
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Re: ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

Post by Wildo »

Ok, got it working now. Just used the wrong compiled library, silly me. :? 8-)
Wildo
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Re: ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

Post by Wildo »

The integration of the ZXTune lib works flawlessly and I am coming along nicely with my project. Just two minor wishes from my site:
It would be super cool (but also necessary) to have tag writing support for those special audio files too because I would like to set some tags for easy playlist generation via scripts and I'd like to edit the Artist and Title entrys so that the stream title gets updated accordingly (would look so much better).

If Tag write support would be usable for those files, this would be awesome. Any chance that this feature might be possible?

Second problem is with SID-Sounds from the Commodore C64. A SID-File usually (but not always) has subtunes. If using a SID with subtunes, ProppFrexx plays each and every subtune from that SID-File one after another. That results in a long track (sometimes 30 to 40 minutes depending on how many subtunes the file has). It would be useful to be able to select a certain subtune of a SID-File when putting the file into a playlist, maybe via a TAG?
Otherwise I would only be able to play certain songs that have no subtune. I would gladly supply the files if you need them.

I know that this is definitely not on your top priority list (particularly because I am the only customer that uses this kind of files), but I would be really happy if you could investigate and maybe come up with a solution to my problems.
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radio42
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Re: ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

Post by radio42 »

This is almost what I guessed, but I must disappoint you. Direct Tagging (esp. TAG writing) is NOT supported for that format. These are so exotic, that no lib supports that resp. an own implementation would be too complex.
But what you can do is to use .pfmd ProppFrexx MetaData files (Save MetaData File) feature to save all meta data to an external .pfmd file - you need to enable that feature in the general settings.
When you save the meta data to such .pfmd file, it will be created alongside to the audio file and as such supports any file format.

The support and handling of SID-Sound files are done by the ZXtune library and not by ProppFrexx - so here I can not provide any additional help! I am sorry for that.
Wildo
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Re: ProppFrexx and BASS addon "ZXTUNE"

Post by Wildo »

First of all thank you for getting back to me and my problems! :)

The hint with MetaData files is a good one. I'll take a look into this topic. There is so much to learn about the program. I think this will solve the problem with not having actual tags for these unusual file formats.

Regarding the handling of subtunes with BASSZXTune I found the following information at the official documentation:
** ARCHIVED FORMATS AND SUBTUNES ***

BASSZXTUNE supports archived and packed formats. Files with such formats may hold more than one logical module inside. These modules will be treated as parts of one continuous stream. The add-on will decode them one after another without gaps. The total length of the file is the sum of the lengths of all underlying modules. Everytime a stream jumps to a different logical module the BASS_SYNC_OGG_CHANGE is triggered.

There is a number of constants (which can be found in consts.h) that allow to retrieve the information about subtunes:
BASS_ChannelGetLength(<handle>, BASS_POS_ZXTUNE_SUB_COUNT) - the number of subtunes
BASS_ChannelGetLength(<handle>, BASS_POS_OGG) - the same as above
BASS_ChannelGetLength(<handle>, BASS_POS_ZXTUNE_SUB_LENGTH + <subtuneIndex>)) - the length of a particular subtune
BASS_ChannelGetTags(<handle>, BASS_TAG_ZXTUNE_SUB_OGG + <subtuneIndex>)) - get the tags of a particular subtune

If subtuneIndex (which is zero-based) is out of range then the function will fail with BASS_ERROR_POSITION. Info can be retrieved only for the first 65536 subtunes.
Seems to me that the player application (in this case PF) has to deal with information about subtunes in files and how to handle them. I am no programmer at all so would you be so kind having a look at the above quoted information?

I do not want to bug you with my shit (and I promise I'll never do it again) but if there is a slight chance of handling subtunes correctly with a minimum effort (on your side), this would be absolutely stunning.

Thank you.
Michael

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