Creating a more compact "player" UI

2020-12-11 02:51:14

Hi. I have tried Foobar2000 many times over the years and have used it occasionally but I have decided that I need to now get into it more deeply, as continuing to use Winamp is no longer viable.

Is there any way to set up Foobar so that all the basic components of a media "player" including the file name, tags, elapsed time, and the transport controls, are all in the same place, more like as in the image from Winamp below? How can I combine the info that is in the Foobar status bar with the transport controls as well as with the VU meters and other visualization options. Things seem kind of spread out to me. I can't find how to actually move components around.

Thank you.

Re: Creating a more compact "player" UI

Reply #1 – 2020-12-11 11:39:27

You could enter Layout editing mode (View -> Layout) and remove elements that you don't want by right-clicking them. Right-click the toolbar to toggle visual analyzers. It takes some practice to keep them at even size when the toolbars are locked again. Customize the status and title bar in Preferences to put the most important information into those fields, to the limit of the size of your compact window size. Apparently, I would still need a playlist to play files via drag and drop, but can easily collapse it.

I can't seem to be able to hide the menu bar anymore... But you can use the empty space to the right for a visualization or volume control.

If you are not satisfied with Winamp anymore, maybe you can try XMPlay with a Winamp skin. The player is ultra compact, but seems more limited and old school than Winamp.

Re: Creating a more compact "player" UI

Reply #2 – 2020-12-11 12:00:58

The creator of foobar2000, Peter has an relatively compact audio player called Boom
Maybe worth a try?

Re: Creating a more compact "player" UI

Reply #3 – 2020-12-11 15:33:01

I have a "compact" version of my Columns UI foobar2000 interface that I've been working on intermittently, more as a proof-of-concept than anything else. It doesn't look particularly appealing at the moment, but I'm hoping it'll be possible to improve as time goes on. I mention it because I based it off of the classic Winamp 2 interface, so maybe it could give you a few ideas for what is possible. I do think though that there's little getting away from the fact that foobar2000 is not truly skinable (as far as I am aware) and there are limits to how refined it can look, it's definitely more about its power use options than the cosmetics, so perhaps another player would suit you better.

Re: Creating a more compact "player" UI

Reply #4 – 2020-12-11 15:40:30

Compact One (foobar2000) https://www.deviantart.com/tedgo/art/CompactOne-v1-0-1-122490274

EDIT: Sorry. Outdated.

Re: Creating a more compact "player" UI

Reply #5 – 2020-12-12 09:54:20

Maybe have a look at foo_title?

I don't use the plugin, therefore I'm not sure if you can achieve what you want.

HTH.

Alessandro

Re: Creating a more compact "player" UI

Reply #6 – 2020-12-13 06:38:37

Addison VS for foobar2000 - https://www.deviantart.com/boj4rsky/art/Addison-VS-for-foobar2000-665509186
 ZiX                                       - https://www.deviantart.com/neonasahi/art/ZiX-185884040
Mr-Griy                                 - https://www.deviantart.com/sthag/art/Mr-Griy-159364514
BlueFoo-2                             - https://www.deviantart.com/extremehunter1972/art/BlueFoo-2-132988465
Bella                                      - https://www.deviantart.com/insnowflakes/art/Bella-371908082