Blight
19th December 2002, 03:11
It's finally here. I've finished what I planned for beta 3 and even did some more stuff beyond that.
Some things I would like you guys to check:
1. Does ZP still work under NT4 (this beta) ?
2. Does the new eject detection code works for you, which os?
3. Does the End Playback Scene-Cut event works ok now?
New :
* New Media Library Category System (Optional).
By enabling (Enabled by Default) the system on the
"Options -> OSD -> Navigators" interface, the Media Library
navigator will now be divided into categories, which can be
set on the Media Library Editor (Shift+"M").
Each Directory can be assigned one of two states, either
assigned to ALL categories or assigned to a Specific category.
You can create as many categories as you desire.
When enabled, the Left/Right navigational controls will now
be used to switch between categories.
* New Video Orbiting System (Options -> Values -> Playback).
Video Orbiting allows you to specify a video position movement
range in order to prevent screen burns on movies that don't
cover the entire screen area.
* New Shell Integration feature (Options -> Association) allowing
you to right click directories and associated files and select
to either Play or Enqueue them.
* New Web URL Navigator. The Web URL Navigator allows you to
assign a web address to a specific DVD or Media file.
Media Files:
Create a URL file with the same base name as your media file,
but with the ".URL" extension.
DVD Discs:
Create a URL file by the name of "disc.url" in the local
DVD-Bookmarks directory (within the Zoom Player directory)
each previously loaded disc should have a directory if the
last position or disc definition data were saved.
The URL files are standard windows URL files, structure is
very simple. Create a text file that contains the following
information:
URL=http://www.tomysite.com/mypage.html
or, for local HTML files:
URL=file:///c:/my local info/mydata.html
(Yes, the slashes are correct in both numbers and direction,
this is how windows stores paths in URL files)
If you open web pages that contain pop-ups, there's not much
I can do, you may be able to install pop-up prevention software
to combat those. Or simply don't assign cheesy sites.
When the Web URL Navigator is open, you can use the arrow
keys to scroll the pages and press Enter to close it.
* New Default Definition File Value (Options -> Values -> Other),
allowing you to specify a definition file that is to be loaded
if the DVD/Media being loaded doesn't have a definition file
of it's own.
* The List Based Navigators are now more easy to navigate using the
mouse. Not too intuative as they were designed for TV-Display and
not the Monitor.
* New Scene Cut feature allowing you to "End" Playback (and proceed
to the next file on the Play List). This works for both Media and
DVD. With DVD this allows you to play multiple DVDs in sequence.
For safety reasons (to prevent infinite loops), the last Stop
Position on a DVD isn't saved if the playback was stopped by an
End Playback Scene Cut event.
* The Arrow keys Toggle has been split into Left/Right and Up/Down
toggles, each can be assigned a different set of functions and more
functions can now be assigned to the arrow keys.
* New Function ("H" on keyboard) to Enable/Disable Source Relative
Stretch. This is useful if you're switching a lot between a monitor
and a non 4:3 display device such as a Projector or a TV.
* New Setting (Options -> OSD -> Navigators) allowing you to disable
file extensions from showing up on the File, Media Library and
Play List Navigators.
* New Setting on the Play List Editor allowing you to set playback
to loop on the currently playing item.
* New Setting (Options -> Values -> Playback) allowing you to
modulate the speed the Skip/Jump/Seek functions work when used
repeatedly. If used quickly (within 1.5 seconds), each use makes
the distance moved x1/x2/x3 ... faster than the specified value.
* New Setting (Options -> Settings -> Playback) allowing you to
have the currently playing Media File closed when the stop command
is issued. Useful for people who'd like to have the Media Image
pop back up.
* New Setting (Options -> Settings -> Playback) allowing you to have
the Media Definition file saved in the Zoom Player Media-Data
directory (Within the install dir) rather than the location of the
open media file.
* New Setting (Options -> Settings -> Interface) allowing you to
fix the user interface aspect ratio to the video's aspect ratio.
* New Setting (Options -> Values -> Resolution) allowing you to
set the screen resolution when going into Zoom/Fullscreen modes.
You can specify Width/Height/Bits/Refresh Rate/Interlaced.
Your display driver must support the specified values.
* New Extended Function (exOpenDrive) allowing you to open the entire
content of a drive using a keyboard/button/remote device.
* New "Query Overlay" button on the Overlay Color Dialog allowing you
to check the Overlay Color capabilities and to grab the default
values of the Overlay Color (if the interface was disabled when
a video was loaded) for your specific Display Card. Useful for
setting a default value.
* Pressing "E" will now open the File Navigator, regardless of the
navigator the Enter key is set to.
* New "Search" entry on the Keyboard list so you can quickly find
a specific keyboard function.
* New "/MOUSEOFF" command line that sends the mouse cursor off-screen.
* New "/QUEUE" Command Line Parameter that works when Zoom Player is
already running. When used, any specified directories will be
enqueued at the end of the Play List. When used when Zoom Player
isn't running, it works the same as the "/ADD" Command Line.
Usage Example:
"c:\my\path\to\zoomplayer\zplayer.exe" "/queue:z:\music videos\"
Changes :
* Completely rewrote the code behind the Association system.
While the interface looks the same, I dumped the previous DDE
system which was in all honesty faster. However, it was somewhat
limiting and had some compatibility issues with certain systems.
Due to this change, you must re-associate all used extensions
with Zoom Player otherwise you may get certain pop-up errors
from the OS.
Also, when you DeAssociation, ZP cleans better after itself.
* The "/ADD" Command Line Parameter can now accept files and not
only directories.
* You can now use the Delete key with the following navigators:
1. Media Library Navigator
2. File Navigator
3. Play List Navigator
When pressed you will be prompted if you want to send the file
(or directory) to the recycle bin.
* On Play Complete toggle can now Eject the CD.
* Changing the Skin-Tint is now done without having to reload the skin.
* Switching between DVD and Media mode now tries to match the Video
area of both skins so it remains unchanged.
* The ResizeBox skin function can now be used multiple times to define
more than one resize area point.
* The default skin has been modified to improve usability.
4 new Control Bar buttons are now accessible.
* Slight modification to the default DVD Context Menu.
* Unused context menu entries are now disabled.
* When playing a DVD with no DVD-Path specified, Zoom Player will
first scan the specified DVD-Drive for a disc and only them scan
the rest of the drives.
* The Zoom to 100% and Zoom to 200% functions are no longer hard
coded and can be assigned through a function.
* Enhanced method of preventing Power Saving modes (monitor/system)
when the setting is enabled (Options -> Settings -> Other).
* To prevent some user-support headaches. A clean installation
will now have the following settings enabled:
1. Force Overlay Mixer.
2. Prevent Screen Saver/PowerDowns.
* Right clicking the navigator interfaces now closes them.
* Skin Script commands can now accept the , character as long as
the entire script is encompassed within "" and doesn't have
superfluous spacing. For Example, this would now work:
DrawExText(DestX=12,DestY=6,Width=<WinWidth>-85,Height=15,
Align=Center,FontName=Tahoma,FontSize=12,
FontColor=E4E4E4,FontStyle=Bold,
"Text=<FileBase>, <Time>")
The lines are split only to fit the margins of this document,
in the actual script, this should be one line...
* Girder Exports are now a bit more descriptive.
Fixes :
* When Extended VMR mode was enabled, opening a second video file
would pop an error message (and playback would continue normally
once closed).
* Ejecting a CD should not stop playback unless you're playing
something off the ejected CD.
* When closing a video in Extended VMR mode, the video area is now
cleared properly.
* List out of bounds error when pressing right on the Media Library
Navigator when no items are listed.
* A clean installation would not apply Video Position preset #5
correctly.
* Applying Blanking values through the Blanking preset dialog would
not apply the displayed numbers correctly.
* Some Media Files (MPEG2 files mostly), and possibly some DVDs would
not have the Overlay Colors set properly.
* Fixed a crash with Media Library when pressing INSERT on a dir-up.
* Fixed a crash when trying to load a new video with the GoTo
Navigator visible.
* Fixed Scene Cut/Jump issues with MPEG2 media files and the
WinDVD/CineMaster decoders. The fix however created an inaccuracy
of about 1 second in the cut area.
* DirectVobSub v2.23 changed something that made it's Property
dialog unopenable. Changed the method used to open the property
dialogs and now it works fine again.
* Maximized state wasn't being saved properly when going in and out
of fullscreen.
* Pattern Display wasn't showing up properly in Window mode.
* Few other small tweaks and fixes not really worth a mention.
Download here (http://www.inmatrix.com/files/zoomplayer_beta.shtml).
Some things I would like you guys to check:
1. Does ZP still work under NT4 (this beta) ?
2. Does the new eject detection code works for you, which os?
3. Does the End Playback Scene-Cut event works ok now?
New :
* New Media Library Category System (Optional).
By enabling (Enabled by Default) the system on the
"Options -> OSD -> Navigators" interface, the Media Library
navigator will now be divided into categories, which can be
set on the Media Library Editor (Shift+"M").
Each Directory can be assigned one of two states, either
assigned to ALL categories or assigned to a Specific category.
You can create as many categories as you desire.
When enabled, the Left/Right navigational controls will now
be used to switch between categories.
* New Video Orbiting System (Options -> Values -> Playback).
Video Orbiting allows you to specify a video position movement
range in order to prevent screen burns on movies that don't
cover the entire screen area.
* New Shell Integration feature (Options -> Association) allowing
you to right click directories and associated files and select
to either Play or Enqueue them.
* New Web URL Navigator. The Web URL Navigator allows you to
assign a web address to a specific DVD or Media file.
Media Files:
Create a URL file with the same base name as your media file,
but with the ".URL" extension.
DVD Discs:
Create a URL file by the name of "disc.url" in the local
DVD-Bookmarks directory (within the Zoom Player directory)
each previously loaded disc should have a directory if the
last position or disc definition data were saved.
The URL files are standard windows URL files, structure is
very simple. Create a text file that contains the following
information:
URL=http://www.tomysite.com/mypage.html
or, for local HTML files:
URL=file:///c:/my local info/mydata.html
(Yes, the slashes are correct in both numbers and direction,
this is how windows stores paths in URL files)
If you open web pages that contain pop-ups, there's not much
I can do, you may be able to install pop-up prevention software
to combat those. Or simply don't assign cheesy sites.
When the Web URL Navigator is open, you can use the arrow
keys to scroll the pages and press Enter to close it.
* New Default Definition File Value (Options -> Values -> Other),
allowing you to specify a definition file that is to be loaded
if the DVD/Media being loaded doesn't have a definition file
of it's own.
* The List Based Navigators are now more easy to navigate using the
mouse. Not too intuative as they were designed for TV-Display and
not the Monitor.
* New Scene Cut feature allowing you to "End" Playback (and proceed
to the next file on the Play List). This works for both Media and
DVD. With DVD this allows you to play multiple DVDs in sequence.
For safety reasons (to prevent infinite loops), the last Stop
Position on a DVD isn't saved if the playback was stopped by an
End Playback Scene Cut event.
* The Arrow keys Toggle has been split into Left/Right and Up/Down
toggles, each can be assigned a different set of functions and more
functions can now be assigned to the arrow keys.
* New Function ("H" on keyboard) to Enable/Disable Source Relative
Stretch. This is useful if you're switching a lot between a monitor
and a non 4:3 display device such as a Projector or a TV.
* New Setting (Options -> OSD -> Navigators) allowing you to disable
file extensions from showing up on the File, Media Library and
Play List Navigators.
* New Setting on the Play List Editor allowing you to set playback
to loop on the currently playing item.
* New Setting (Options -> Values -> Playback) allowing you to
modulate the speed the Skip/Jump/Seek functions work when used
repeatedly. If used quickly (within 1.5 seconds), each use makes
the distance moved x1/x2/x3 ... faster than the specified value.
* New Setting (Options -> Settings -> Playback) allowing you to
have the currently playing Media File closed when the stop command
is issued. Useful for people who'd like to have the Media Image
pop back up.
* New Setting (Options -> Settings -> Playback) allowing you to have
the Media Definition file saved in the Zoom Player Media-Data
directory (Within the install dir) rather than the location of the
open media file.
* New Setting (Options -> Settings -> Interface) allowing you to
fix the user interface aspect ratio to the video's aspect ratio.
* New Setting (Options -> Values -> Resolution) allowing you to
set the screen resolution when going into Zoom/Fullscreen modes.
You can specify Width/Height/Bits/Refresh Rate/Interlaced.
Your display driver must support the specified values.
* New Extended Function (exOpenDrive) allowing you to open the entire
content of a drive using a keyboard/button/remote device.
* New "Query Overlay" button on the Overlay Color Dialog allowing you
to check the Overlay Color capabilities and to grab the default
values of the Overlay Color (if the interface was disabled when
a video was loaded) for your specific Display Card. Useful for
setting a default value.
* Pressing "E" will now open the File Navigator, regardless of the
navigator the Enter key is set to.
* New "Search" entry on the Keyboard list so you can quickly find
a specific keyboard function.
* New "/MOUSEOFF" command line that sends the mouse cursor off-screen.
* New "/QUEUE" Command Line Parameter that works when Zoom Player is
already running. When used, any specified directories will be
enqueued at the end of the Play List. When used when Zoom Player
isn't running, it works the same as the "/ADD" Command Line.
Usage Example:
"c:\my\path\to\zoomplayer\zplayer.exe" "/queue:z:\music videos\"
Changes :
* Completely rewrote the code behind the Association system.
While the interface looks the same, I dumped the previous DDE
system which was in all honesty faster. However, it was somewhat
limiting and had some compatibility issues with certain systems.
Due to this change, you must re-associate all used extensions
with Zoom Player otherwise you may get certain pop-up errors
from the OS.
Also, when you DeAssociation, ZP cleans better after itself.
* The "/ADD" Command Line Parameter can now accept files and not
only directories.
* You can now use the Delete key with the following navigators:
1. Media Library Navigator
2. File Navigator
3. Play List Navigator
When pressed you will be prompted if you want to send the file
(or directory) to the recycle bin.
* On Play Complete toggle can now Eject the CD.
* Changing the Skin-Tint is now done without having to reload the skin.
* Switching between DVD and Media mode now tries to match the Video
area of both skins so it remains unchanged.
* The ResizeBox skin function can now be used multiple times to define
more than one resize area point.
* The default skin has been modified to improve usability.
4 new Control Bar buttons are now accessible.
* Slight modification to the default DVD Context Menu.
* Unused context menu entries are now disabled.
* When playing a DVD with no DVD-Path specified, Zoom Player will
first scan the specified DVD-Drive for a disc and only them scan
the rest of the drives.
* The Zoom to 100% and Zoom to 200% functions are no longer hard
coded and can be assigned through a function.
* Enhanced method of preventing Power Saving modes (monitor/system)
when the setting is enabled (Options -> Settings -> Other).
* To prevent some user-support headaches. A clean installation
will now have the following settings enabled:
1. Force Overlay Mixer.
2. Prevent Screen Saver/PowerDowns.
* Right clicking the navigator interfaces now closes them.
* Skin Script commands can now accept the , character as long as
the entire script is encompassed within "" and doesn't have
superfluous spacing. For Example, this would now work:
DrawExText(DestX=12,DestY=6,Width=<WinWidth>-85,Height=15,
Align=Center,FontName=Tahoma,FontSize=12,
FontColor=E4E4E4,FontStyle=Bold,
"Text=<FileBase>, <Time>")
The lines are split only to fit the margins of this document,
in the actual script, this should be one line...
* Girder Exports are now a bit more descriptive.
Fixes :
* When Extended VMR mode was enabled, opening a second video file
would pop an error message (and playback would continue normally
once closed).
* Ejecting a CD should not stop playback unless you're playing
something off the ejected CD.
* When closing a video in Extended VMR mode, the video area is now
cleared properly.
* List out of bounds error when pressing right on the Media Library
Navigator when no items are listed.
* A clean installation would not apply Video Position preset #5
correctly.
* Applying Blanking values through the Blanking preset dialog would
not apply the displayed numbers correctly.
* Some Media Files (MPEG2 files mostly), and possibly some DVDs would
not have the Overlay Colors set properly.
* Fixed a crash with Media Library when pressing INSERT on a dir-up.
* Fixed a crash when trying to load a new video with the GoTo
Navigator visible.
* Fixed Scene Cut/Jump issues with MPEG2 media files and the
WinDVD/CineMaster decoders. The fix however created an inaccuracy
of about 1 second in the cut area.
* DirectVobSub v2.23 changed something that made it's Property
dialog unopenable. Changed the method used to open the property
dialogs and now it works fine again.
* Maximized state wasn't being saved properly when going in and out
of fullscreen.
* Pattern Display wasn't showing up properly in Window mode.
* Few other small tweaks and fixes not really worth a mention.
Download here (http://www.inmatrix.com/files/zoomplayer_beta.shtml).