[request/idea] Juke Box app for controlling xbmc via network
#1
Hi all,

I have a request to all want to help me to build a Jukebox app for XBMC.

The idea is to have an application which runs on a second computer to control xbmc via network (JSON API?).
This application should be touch screen friendly with big buttons.

I always have the problem that on a party not everybody could easily choose music without knowing the basics of the xbmc interface and mainly after a couple of beers its very hard too hehehehe.

So my idea is to have an application which does the old good jukebox thing, just choose a music or video file and put it in a row which will be played simply.
So less functions is much more here!!!!

I would install for this a computer running windows with a touch screen 1024x768 in the party room and not there at the dj, so everybody could simply use it.

Here is a picture of the interface I think about for the better understanding of this simple app.

Image

I will try to explain the interface a bit:

- pull down menu: there it should be possible to select all
sources of music and video which are made in xbmc (file mode, not database mode).
the files of the folder should appear in the corresponding list

- green arrow button, when marked a file, the green button will insert it in the playlist

- red arrow button, delete a marked file in the playlist

- blue up/down arrow buttons, shift files in the playlist up and down

- save, load button, saves and loads playlist

- xbmc connected info on the upper left

- play control items of xbmc


Hopefully this is interesting for someone? Because my problem is that I am not trained in windows or html programming or whatever. I have just a few experiences with programming microcontrollers thats all.

So my question is if someone could help with some ideas how to achieve this, this means i.e. on which programming platform this could be possible also for noobs. I read a bit about the Json api, so this must be easliy
possible with it I think, but I have no idea how to start there. Maybe someone could give me some infos or examples?
Maybe someone also would like to programm this? Than I would try to help as much I can.

Thanks for reading!
Reply
#2
I'm sure there are a number of M3U creator programs that will do what you want, then all you'd need to do is have XBMC point to the M3U playlist file that it creates. I did a quick search and there are loads out that are free: http://simple-m3u-playlist-creator.winsite.com/

What I have done in the past is setup an intial party playlist and have it on shuffle or play in order, then let friends search for a song using the XBMC remote app on the iPod Touch. I added a "+" button to the remote button layout. When this is pressed it adds the song to the playlist.
Reply
#3
Thank you for looking into it. I know what you mean,
but I want this jukebox mode with both mp3 and music clips.
We have a lot of clips >3000 and mainly we are playing them in combination with a projector this is always a perfect party.

Probelm is that this should always be usable for everybody without knowledge of anything.

I tested this http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=81775
and it works, but without mixing mp3/video files, but this is related to xbmc I think. And there is still one bug that the titles will not shown in the playlist. But this is a problem of the Json commands in xbmc.
I am now trying to change this awx a bit to my needs and hopefully the fix comes for the playlist view.
Reply
#4
sascho Wrote:Hi all,

I have a request to all want to help me to build a Jukebox app for XBMC.

So my idea is to have an application which does the old good jukebox thing, just choose a music or video file and put it in a row which will be played simply.
So less functions is much more here!!!!

Did you find anything!!??

I have been on the hunt for some time for this exact functionality. I hate people touching my playlist, and the interaction for the guests would be fantastic. Only difference is that I want just audio, and not concerned about video (would be nice though).

Simple is good. Would like to have a selected playlist for guests to choose from and queue them 1 by 1 to the now-playing list. I would of course have an override password to skip and / or stop etc.

I am no programmer either, however I have hacked 1 or 2 PHP projects together, and thankfully some people smarter than me wrote a PHP class for interfacing with JSON-RPC and or HTTP. The only issue I have is these are not compatible with EDEN, and I have been running the nightlies, and don't want to develop anything for Dharma since the API has changed so much.

I will drop a line on the thread regarding these old php classes and see if there are any plans to update them.
Reply
#5
sascho,
What you are wanting, IMO, is a very large missing part of what should be a core feature of XBMC. That said here's thoughts/suggestions...

What are are asking takes a high level of web coding skill. Unless you are going to learn it yourself, it might be tough to get someone to do it for you, for this singular purpose.

There are several development projects new (Maraschino, XWMM, Xbmc Web Control, etc) & old (YATSE, etc) that do various things... you might have some luck contacting the coders and making a feature request.
I'm not an expert but I play one at work.
Reply
#6
I have modified Erhnam's php remote to do what I wanted and it's coming together nicely. Ultimately I would like to have an interface similar to AWX but small steps... Happy to share it of course but still have a bit to do.
Reply
#7
Why not just add to AWX? It is currently making quick progress under the current coder and it runs on the XBMC native web server... no need to install another web server to run PHP, or anything else.
I'm not an expert but I play one at work.
Reply
#8
Because I have no idea where to start... I know PHP and have a web server at my disposal Smile
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
[request/idea] Juke Box app for controlling xbmc via network0