Music library: Difference between revisions

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  | link 8 = Cue sheets
  | link 8 = Cue sheets
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== Navigating your library ==
{{See also|Keyboard controls}}
=== Side bar ===
The library organizes your music into many categories, allowing you to find a specific song using one of many possible criteria. Below you can see root menu showing the different sections.
{|
|
[[File:Library.music.controls.jpg|right|360px]]
| valign="top" |
; View:
: You can the toggle between the different display options, amongst others; List, Icons and Big Icons.
; Sort By:
: You can choose what criteria to sort your music by. Note the arrow to the right which controls whether the items are sorted in ascending or descending order.
; Library Mode
: This control allows you to switch between Library Mode and [[Music#Files View|File View]]. (used to be called Switch View)
; Party Mode
: See below.
; Misc Options
; Search
: You can search for a string anywhere in the [[The XBMC Database|XBMC music database]], see more below.
; Filter
: Allows you to filter the library to only show albums, artists or songs that include the specified string in the name.
; Hide Fanart
: Hides Fanart in the chosen view.
; Small Fanart
: Shows a smaller version of the fanart instead of a scraped artist picture.
|}
=== File mode ===
File mode is the most basic way of browing your music. In file mode, you browse through your sources folder by folder, in the exact same way they are stored. What you see in file mode is the same as you would see if you were to browse the folders on your computer.
=== Library mode ===
The library mode is much more advanced and has many more features than the Files View. It has features like song, album and artist info to name a few.
In order to utilize library mode, you first need to scan your music into the Music library using the [[#Contextual menu]].
== Searching your Library ==
The search button is available on the left side of the '[[Music]]' window, and is also available in the root listing of your music library. Select it to begin your search. A keyboard will pop-up where you may enter search terms (SMS style with the remote, or just using the virtual keyboard). As you enter more letters, the search will be performed in the background, and results displayed in the search node of the music library. Previous searches are saved, so if you return to the search node later on, it will have the results of your previous search. Artists and Albums are shown on top, followed by matching songs. If the search string you enter is less than 3 characters, XBMC will just search in the first word of each artist/album/song. Otherwise it will do a full word search. '''NOTE: In order to search within words as well as just for words beginning with your search string, place a % sign in front of the match.'''
== Party Mode ==
The Party Mode option allows you to randomly play music from your entire music or [[Music Videos|music video]] collection based on criteria specified in [[PartyMode.xsp]]. Simply build a
[[Playlists#Smart Playlists|Smart Playlist]] and save it as '''partymode.xsp''' in [[The UserData Folder]].
Selecting 'Party Mode' from the sidebar will play ALL valid media scanned into your libraries in a random order that meet the conditions specified in the Smart Playlist.
=== Frodo ===
The Party Mode option allows you to randomly play music from your entire music or [[Music Videos|music video]] collection based on criteria specified in [[PartyMode.xsp]]. Simply edited the "[[Playlists#Smart Playlists|Party mode playlist]]" item in the Playlist menu. Bring up the [[Music library#Context Menu|context menu]] and select "Play in party mode". You can do this for any valid playlist.
== Context Menu ==
In the default configuration you pop up the Context Menu using the 'C' key on your keyboard.  If you are navigating XBMC using a remote control, the default button is, for some releases, the 'title' button.  If your remote control has no 'title' button then you may need to [[HOW-TO:Modify keyboard.xml|remap]] the ContextMenu action to another button.
=== File mode ===
The context menu allows you to interact with the individual media items. The following options are available whilst in [[Music#Files View|File Mode]], selecting an album:
{|
|
[[File:Context.files.mymusic.jpg|310px]]
| valign="top" |
; Queue Item
: Adds the item to the [[Now Playing]] playlist
; Play or (Play using...)
: Plays the selected file. (Play using... depends on players available on your platform e.g. [[PAPlayer]] or [[DVDPlayer]]
; Add to Favourites
: Adds the item to your [[Favourites]] menu.
; Album Information
: Displays information about the item from [http://allmusic.com allmusic.com]. You can also highlight the item and press the Info button on the remote.
; Delete
: Delete selection from your sources (will delete actual files)  Must be enabled in [[Appearance Settings#View Options|Appearance Settings]].
; Rename
: Rename selection to something more to your liking. Must be enabled in [[Appearance Settings#View Options|Appearance Settings]].
; Scan Item to Library
: Scans the item into the the [[Music Library]]. Performing this on a folder will cause every item in the folder to be scanned.
; Switch Media
: Allows you to switch to playback of other types of media (e.g. video files).
; Go to Root
: Takes you to the "Music" root folder.
; Now Playing...
: Takes you to the [[Now Playing]] screen that shows what is currently playing and what the next queued files are.
; Settings
: Opens the [[Music Settings]] menu.
|}
'''Other possible menu items'''
;Search
:Allows you to search for specific media
=== Library mode ===
You perform actions on your music files using the [[General Navigation#Context Menus|Context Menu]]. In Library Mode selecting an album, the following options are available:
{|
|
[[File:Context.library.mymusic.jpg|300px]]
|
; Queue Item
: Adds the item to the [[Now Playing]] playlist.
; Play
: Plays the selected file.
; Add to Favourites
: Adds the item to your [[Favourites]] menu.
; Album / Song Information
: Shows the relevant information from [http://allmusic.com allmusic.com].
; Query Info For All Albums
: Queries information from [http://allmusic.com allmusic.com] for all albums in the path.
; Change scraper
: Change scraper from current. '''''see also:''''' [[set content]]
; Update Library
: Checks if files in the Library have been changed, added or removed, modifies the database accordingly and runs a cleaning routine. Adds missing media to the database.
; Go to Root
: Takes you to the Music Library root.
; Now Playing...
: Takes you to [[Now Playing]] screen that shows what is currently playing and what the next queued files are.
; Settings
: Opens the [[Music Settings]] menu.
|}


== Music Library Settings and Maintenance ==
== Music Library Settings and Maintenance ==

Revision as of 03:41, 22 April 2014

Library.music.fanart.WSCR.jpg
Home icon grey.png   ▶ General topics ▶ Music/Audio

This section covers topics and guides on playing audio, the music library, library management, ripping and scanning music in, playing music content off of the internet, and more. The Music Library allows the organization of your music collection by information stored in your music file ID tag, like title, artist, album, genre and popularity.

  • Support for a countless number of formats and codecs.
  • A full-featured customizable music library that makes it easy to organize, find and listen to your favorite music
  • Support for Music Videos
  • Built in ability to stream media from other computers
  • Full support for Playlists, including Smart playlists
  • Jaw-dropping Visualizations that add the visual element to your music experience
  • Integrated CD Ripping


Topic navigation

icon Adding music to the library
This page details the following:
  • Adding and removing Sources
  • Scan (import) your music collection into the Music Library.
  • Troubleshooting common problems
icon Music playback
This page will provide information to navigate around the music section and the various ways to play your music.
icon Music navigation
This page will provide information to navigate around the music section and the various ways to play your music.
icon Music Videos
Music Videos
icon Karaoke
Karaoke
icon Playlists
icon Ripping CDs
Kodi has integrated Audio-CD (CDDA) ripping functionality. In order to use this feature, first configure the CD ripping settings (to set which encoder quality to use and where to store the files). To Rip the entire CD, highlight the Audio CD from the My Music root listing and choose Rip Audio CD from the context menu. To rip a single track, enter the Audio CD, highlight the desired track, and choose Rip Audio Track from the context menu.
icon Cue sheets
Cue Sheets are used to provide index and playlist information for a large audio file. They are generally used in conjunction with either extracting from, or burning to, Music AudioCD. Cue sheets have the file extension ".cue", and are simple plain text files.

Music Library Settings and Maintenance

The main Music Library settings can be accessed from the Library tab in Music Settings. Those can be accessed either from the Settings menu from the home screen, or via the context menu as seen above.

advancedsettings.xml

Some settings can only be altered through the advancedsettings.xml file, such as settings affecting the "All" database nodes and they way tags are displayed.

Clean Music Library

Cleaning up the Music Library (removing invalid entries and compressing)can be done via the User Interface Settings, in the Music Settings with the Clean Library option.

Cue sheets

Cue Sheets are used to provide index and playlist information for a large audio file. They are generally used in conjunction with either extracting from, or burning to, Music AudioCD. Cue sheets have the file extension ".cue", and are simple plain text files.

Internet video and audio streams

Various internet video and audio streams can be played back in Kodi as if they were locally stored on your media center by using STRM files. As long as the format and streaming-method (network-protocol) is supported by Kodi, stream can be added. These are basic text files that look like <name>.strm and contain a URL to the internet stream. STRM files can also be added to the video library and can have cover art, summaries, etc.

Some internet sites may have an add-on available that can also access these media streams, rather than having to manually create STRM files. See Add-ons for more information on how to find and install add-ons.