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Karaoke Media Library


Dan64

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I'd like build a Karaoke library. The files that I want add have extension ".mid" or ".kar". I have also developed a little utility that allow to control "KaraFun Player" using a remote. The problems are:

 

1) I'd like to add my utility to open the karaoke files, but the extension ".mid" and ".kar" aren't available

 

2) I have added a new library of type "Music" and put inside the karaoke files, but in MBC I don't see any music file.

    any suggestion for the folder structure ?

 

Thanks

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Download this file: https://danilo.homenet.org/shares/U/Karaoke/QuaQuando.kar

 

If you want to test, first you have to install the DX filters: http://sourceforge.net/projects/karaoke-dx/files/latest/download?source=files

 

Then try to open using Windows Media Player. There are better players but for a test it's enough. The problem here is that even if WMP is able to play and show the lyrics, WMC will not be able to show the text. This is the reason why need to be handled at least as extension by MB3.

 

Remember that you have to setup the file associations before play in WMP (link in Start->Karaoke for DirectX->Karaoke Settings) as in this image:

 

52be14d7660e1_KaraokeDX_Files.jpg

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I would think ffmpeg will have no problem with .mid files, but if it can't understand .kar then you'll just have to file a feature request for it.

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Can you explain the contents of the kar file a bit more to me. 

 

I was just typing exactly what Luke said above.

 

If i change the .kar to .mid ffmpeg can handle it but the kar file produces an error.

 

When it is a mid file it shows no text stream for lyrics is there a separate file that goes with it?  

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steve1977

I personally am not using karaoke and also do not plan to. Having said this, I can see that it makes sense to see an implemetation. So, let me share a few thoughts.

 

MP3+CDG is by far the most common karaoke format, so I would start with this rather than going with .kar format. Also, I believe that MP3+CDG is supported by ffmpeg out of the box, while .kar will require additional things.

 

Below a nice codification how the different formats are handled by XBMC. Userbase of this feature is small though...

 

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Karaoke

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As I have already said I have wrote a wrapper to "KaraFun Player" that already support all the type of Karaoke files. What I need is just that MB3 is able to recognize  these extension as music files, so I can configure an external player to play it. This solution it's easier to implement. I can understand that a full "internal" management of these files require more time and efforts, but I will be already happy if  the first solution will be implemented in MB3.

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I have found the following workaround: I have renamed all the ".kar" files in ".flac" files (since I'm not using this kind of extension). In this ways the files are recognized by MB3 as music files and I can build a music library. Then I have associated to the ".flac" extension my remote "KaraFun Player" that before launch the application copy in a temp dir the input file changing the extension to ".kar" so I can also properly handle this kind of extension.

 

So far so good, but I have found the following problems:

 

1) There is a way to associate an artist to a list of files ?. I can do this manually but since this information is missing in album's fields I have to set it for each file in the album collection and is time consuming.

 

2) The music files don't have a parental rating. My default profile has the flag to hide files with missing rating ON but in this way I cannot see the music files. I don't know if it's a deliberate behavior but I think that the music files should be excluded from this kind of control.

Edited by Dan64
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