(no subject)

[arethinn]

Does anyone know of a Winamp plugin that will randomly generate a playlist from files found in one or more specified folders? I am not trying to randomize playback (for which there is "shuffle" and some plugins that purport to improve on that); I am trying to generate random tracklistings from my collection with which to make mix CDs. What I have been doing up til now is tossing everything in the folder, saying "randomize playlist" and then skimming the top so many files off the top of the list, but the results are often unsatisfying (sometimes a little too weird, sometimes not random enough, which I guess is part and parcel of Winamp's shuffle/randomizer being not random enough) and what I would really wish for is "kind of random" with a few settings I can tweak as to where the files are taken from, whether any filename is permitted to start with the same X number of characters as any other (to prevent selecting two tracks from the same artist, for example), etc. This doesn't have to be a Winamp plugin at all, actually; I just thought I might find such a tool there. If there is a way to do this in just Windows (like with a little program or something, to select the files from folders) that'd work too, since I don't use Winamp for burning the CD anyway.

Comments

[lindsaybits]

iTunes. :)

[arethinn]

:P

I purposely avoid/uninstall iTunes when I download Quicktime, actually. I am annoyed that Apple tries to force it on people. And a whole new application to do just this one thing seems a little excessive? (not to mention the download time I'd have to invest... still in the dark ages of dial up here.)

[lindsaybits]

quicktime standalone.

I don't think there's an iTunes standalone, because a lot of the video features in iTunes require quicktime to function. Even so, it has a lot of native features that other players require plug-ins for.

It's still in beta (last i checked), but you might want to look into songbird (done by the same folks who do firefox and thunderbird).

[arethinn]

Oh, have they separated them again? That's good. I haven't downloaded QT fresh from the Apple site in some time and I the last time I was doing it I couldn't find QT alone for love nor money. (Well.. that's a lie, I guess; for money I could have gotten QT Pro, but you get the idea.)

I'll check Songbird out. ty!