Add-on:Artist Slideshow

Artist Slideshow

http://mirrors.xbmc.org/addons/eden/script.artistslideshow/icon.png See this add-on on the kodi.tv showcase Author: ronie Type: Program Repo: Kodi.tv repo v21 Kodi.tv repo v20 Kodi.tv repo v19 Summary: Download images and additional info of the currently playing artist

Add-ons

Artist Slideshow

Addon to download images and additional information from Last.FM and htbackdrops.com of the currently playing artist. The images and info can be used by the skin to create a slideshow for the artist being listened to.

Installing

This add-on is installed from the Add-on browser located in Kodi as follows:

1. Settings
2. Add-ons
3. Install from repository
4. Program Add-ons
5. Artist Slideshow
6. Install

Version 1.1.5 is the last version available for Dharma. The information below is for version 1.2.

Addon Settings

You must have a compatible skin (or update your skin using the instructions below).

There are three groupings of settings: Download, Slideshow, and Advanced.

Download

Download images from last.fm: (default true)
(self explanatory)

Download images from htbackdrops.com: (default false)
(self explanatory)

Minimal image width and height: (default 0,0)
any images smaller than the set dimensions will not be downloaded.

Download only 16:9 images: (default false)
will discard any images that aren't really, really close to a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Download additional artist info: (default false)
includes information like the artist's bio and artists similar to the one to which you are listening. includes option to select download language. skin must support this extra information, or nothing will be displayed.

Slideshow

Local artist folder: (default none)
path to a directory that has artist images. Images must be organized in artist/extrafanart/

Fallback slideshow folder: (default none)
path to a directory of images that should be used if no local or remote images can be found.

Priority: (default remote first)
three options: remote first, local first, both
remote first will try and download images from remote sites. if none found will use local images. if none found will use fallback slideshow
local first will use local images. if none found will try and download remote images. if none found will use fallback slideshow
both will check for local images first. if they exist the downloaded images will be placed in the same directory as the local images. if not remote images will be stored in normal cache dir.

Override slideshow folder: (default none)
path to a directory of images that should be used intead of artist artwork. With this set no artwork will ever be downloaded.

Refresh slideshow before all downloads complete: (default false)
by default the add-on shows the first image downloaded and then doesn't show anymore until the all the downloads are done. if set to true, the slideshow will refresh after every x seconds instead of after all the images are downloaded.

Minimum time between refresh (in seconds): (default 20)
if the above setting is enabled, this allows the user to change the period of time between refreshes of the image directory during downloads

Advanced

Limit size of download cache: (default false)
this feature is currently marked as experimental. if enabled, the download cache will be trimmed (oldest first) to keep the size below the specified minimum

Maximum cache size (in megabytes): (default 256)
if Limit size of download cache is set to true, this allows the user to specify the maximum size of the cache

How to use this addon in your skin

Changes to MusicVisualisation.xml

1) Set the default control to 999:

<defaultcontrol>999</defaultcontrol>

2) Add a button to start the script:

<control type="button" id="999">
    <posx>-10</posx>
    <posy>-10</posy>
    <width>1</width>
    <height>1</height>
    <onfocus>RunScript(script.artistslideshow)</onfocus>
</control>

3) Add a multiimage conrol:

<control type="multiimage">
    <posx>0</posx>
    <posy>0</posy>
    <width>1280</width>
    <height>720</height>
    <imagepath background="true">$INFO[Window(Visualisation).Property(ArtistSlideshow)]</imagepath>
    <aspectratio>keep</aspectratio>
    <timeperimage>5000</timeperimage>
    <fadetime>2000</fadetime>
    <randomize>true</randomize>
    <animation effect="fade" start="0" end="100" time="300">Visible</animation>
    <animation effect="fade" start="100" end="0" time="300">Hidden</animation>
</control>

Running the Script at Startup

RunScript(script.artistslideshow,daemon=True)

This will keep the script running all the time.

New Skin Properties

Window(Visualisation).Property(ArtistSlideshow)

This is the path to the directory containing the downloaded images for the currently playing artist

Window(Visualisation).Property(ArtistSlideshowRefresh)

DEPRECIATED. No longer needed as of version 1.2 There is no harm if you leave it in the skin, but you should remove it when you have a chance.

Window(Visualisation).Property(ArtistSlideshowRunning)

This one is used internally by the script to check if it is already running. There's no need to use this property in your skin.

Window(Visualisation).Property(ArtistSlideshow.ArtistBiography)

Artist biography from last.fm

Window(Visualisation).Property(ArtistSlideshow.%d.SimilarName)
Window(Visualisation).Property(ArtistSlideshow.%d.SimilarThumb)

Similar artists

Window(Visualisation).Property(ArtistSlideshow.%d.AlbumName)
Window(Visualisation).Property(ArtistSlideshow.%d.AlbumThumb)

Albums by the artist