[Tutorial] How to display cover art in MixVibes 7

[barren fell]

Like other MixVibes DVS users I had the issue that embedded cover art is not shown. After a weekend of manually assigning covers via Track Info window to songs I decided to automatize this.
Given that all covers are properly embedded into your mp3 files it's just a few minutes work.
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Here's what you need:

- MP3tag
The one and only tagging software by Florian Heidenreich

- IrfanView
For batch processing image files

- ChangeFileExtensions
By Tobias Koller

- Some knowledge regarding Windows Explorer, folders, copy &paste, a.s.o.
By yourself

Every tool mentioned above is freeware.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please do not continue if you don't know where the folder Documents and settings is located, or don't know what's your user name, or how to make file extensions visible... - I will not provide you with Microsoft Windows basics!
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Now let's start:

1. Export cover art
- Run MP3tag and select all files
- From the toolbar click the Actions (Quick) button
- Select Export cover to file and click OK
- Use exactly the following Format string: %_filename%
- Click OK to export covers

2. Batch process images
- Start IrfanView and select Batch conversion/Rename... from the File menu
- Choose Batch conversion
- Select the checkbox Use advanced options (for bulk resize...)
- Click the Advanced button
- Activate the RESIZE checkbox
- Set new size to 300 by 300 pixels
- From the MISCELLANEOUS chapter select Overwrite existing files
- Click OK
- Back in the Batch conversion dialog select a music file folder and click the Add all button
- Click on Use current ('look in') directory
- Start Batch
- Repeat this workflow for every single music media folder

Note: it is important that you process folder by folder since the converted files must be located in the respective music files folder!

3. Changing file extension
- Start ChangeFileExtentions.exe
- Click on Dateien auswählen and select a music file folder
- Select all cover art JPEGs converted by IrfanView and click on Öffnen
- Enter mvcover into the field neue Dateiendung:
- Click on Dateiendungen ändern

Now we have prepared all cover art to be visible for MixVibes 7

4. Copying cover art to the proper location
Cover art in the MixVibes user settings folders is organized as a "mirror" of your music folders on the hard disc.

An example featuring Windows 7:
Given you have a folder containing music with the path
E:\Vinyl320
and one with the path
D:\Music\MP3
then the respective MixVibes folder where MV7 stores the cover art is located in the AppData\Roaming directory of your user directory.

- Navigate to the MixVibesDVS directory of your user profile (again: this is not the program installation directory... but you know ) and open it:
- You now see a folder named Covers
- If not already present, create the following subfolder structure for this example:
...Covers\E\Vinyl320
...Covers\D\Music\MP3
- Now move the cover files to the corresponding folders in the MixVibes user settings folder

Et voilá, next time you start MV7 and select the cover art view you will see all songs with cover art you processed as described in this workshop.

[DJ_Sandstorm]

Sounds promising. Just to make that clear: Does MV really need a Picture PER SONG? So if you have 13.000 Songs, you ll have 13.000 Pictures on your computer just to show them inside the Software? Would be nice it at least you could linkt to the Folder.jpg you normally already have...

And they have to be in the Same Folder as the song itself? So if you have a Folder with 20 Songs, youll have 20 .mvcover Files in it, named like the filename itself?

Ok. Sounds like lots of work still. But lets give it a try....

[barren fell]

As far as I know ( ):

Yes, MV needs a dedicated cover for every songfile with the same name. Everything else I tried did not end up in a predictable result.

The same is for the folder structure. To me MV stores a "mirror" of the music file structure. I never tested if a cover is assigned when the respective song file is moved to another location.

You easily can see what MV does, when you rename/delete the Cover folder from the user settings and import manually some covers inside MV. You will see that MV creates this "mirror" structure.

Don't hesitate if you discover some new tricks regarding cover/file management or about skinning MV (which is one of my favoured time wastage atm)