Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

We have finally completed over 7 months of work on Video Hoster to bring you the best version ever!

Some of the major features are:
<ol>

<li><strong>TOOLS &gt; SETTINGS</strong> - We combined several of Hoster's options settings windows into one location. The left side column contains buttons that will guide you to the appropriate settings.</li>

<li><strong>SINGER ROTATION</strong> - MTU's Video Hoster now offers you the ability to create and manage your Singers in a Rotation. You have several options with regard to this new feature. You can run your shows:
<ol>
<li>just as you always have by leaving all of the new check boxes unchecked.</li>
<li>with a simple <strong>Singers List</strong>, that will keep track of how many Songs your Singers have sung, along with the last time each Singer was on stage.</li>
<li>using a <strong>full Rotation</strong>, with all of the features of the Singers List, and in addition, allowing Hoster to select the next Song based on the order of the Singers in the Rotation.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you wish, Hoster can also insert your Singer's new Songs in a logical &quot;Rotation&quot; order for you.</p>
<p>All of these options are available to you by clicking on <strong>Tools &gt; Settings&hellip;</strong>, and then selecting the <strong>Playlist</strong> button on the left.
You can place the Singers List on the Left or Right side of your Playlist.</p>
<p>You have total control over the Singers List. You can:
<ol>
<li>Set the List on the <strong>Left</strong> or <strong>Right</strong> side of the Playlist</li>
<li>Adjust the <strong>Width</strong> of the Signers List</li>
<li>Add/Remove/Rename Singers</li>
<li>Reorder the List by dragging and dropping Singers</li>
<li>Mark Singers <strong>Inactive</strong> and then <strong>Active</strong> again</li>
<li>Show all current Songs for any Singer</li>
<li>Show any Singer's saved Song List (<strong>Edit Singers</strong>)</li>
<li>Clear the <strong># Times</strong> and <strong>Last Time</strong> columns for each Singer or <em>All</em> Singers</li>
<li>Refresh the entire Singers List</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> When you quit out of Hoster, you will be asked whether you want to save your Rotation for the next time Hoster starts. You can check the box to choose the same answer each time.
The Rotation is continually saved during Hoster operation in case of a crash. When you restart Hoster, the Rotation will be intact.</p></li>

<li><strong>VENUES</strong> - Hoster also has a new feature which allows you to store and track your gig Venues. The information for each venue includes:
<ol>
<li>Name of the Venue</li>
<li>Address</li>
<li>Contact Name</li>
<li>Contact Phone Number</li>
<li>Venue's Webpage</li>
<li>Any Notes that you may want to include</li>
</ol>
<p>In addition, all of your Singers can be associated with one or more Venues. You assign Singers to Venues in the Edit Singers window.
Simply click on the <strong>Singers</strong> button, and then select any Singer and click the <strong>Venues</strong> button,
or right-click on the Singer and select <strong>Venues&hellip;</strong> from the drop-down menu.</p></li>

<li><strong>SONGBOOKDB</strong> - MTU has partnered with SongbookDB to bring you a new suite of products that will revolutionize the way you run your shows.
Using SongbookDB, your Singers can request Songs from the &quot;Cloud&quot;, thereby removing the need for slips of paper or users having to come up to your KJ Station.
All your Singers have to do is download the free <strong>SongbookDB</strong> app from the Apple's iTunes or from the Google Play Store.
<p>Visit the <strong>SongbookDB</strong> section of <strong>Tools&nbsp;&gt;&nbsp;Settings&hellip;</strong> to customize the SongbookDB features within Video Hoster.</p>
<p>You will also note a new <strong>SongbookDB</strong> button near the top-center of Hoster.
The button will flash when the SongbookDB Plugin wants your attention. Click this button to bring the SongbookDB Plugin program to the foreground of your desktop.
In addition, you can right-click on the button to quickly launch the SongbookDB Settings dialog window.</p>
<p>For more information about using SongbookDB with Hoster, click here: <a href="https://www.songbookdb.com/docs/djs/MTUHosterPlugin/overview/">https://www.songbookdb.com/docs/djs/MTUHosterPlugin/overview/</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> It is <em>strongly recommended</em> that you install the SongbookDB Plugin into its default location (usually <em>C:\Program&nbsp;Files&nbsp;(x86)\</em>).</li>

<li><strong>RANDOM SONG</strong> - This new button offers you a quick and fun way to choose a new song.
To use this new feature, you simply have to be in the <strong>BookID</strong> view (as opposed to the <strong>Brand</strong> view),
and the &quot;Random Song&quot; button will appear. Click it, and a new song from your database will be chosen at random.
<p>A great way to use this would be to have <u>contests with your regular singers</u> to see who can sing a random song the best.</p></li>

</ol>


Fixes, Polishing, Increased Speed, and Much, much more...! Read about them all here.

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

Rotation

To turn on Rotation in Hoster 5.40 do the following:

Open Hoster
Click on Tools\Settings
Click on Playlist

Different Options and what they will do.

1) Manage the singers in a Singers List, show the List on the, left or right. - This turns on the Singer List, and must be on for any rotation features to work. If you only check this one Box, it will work as a Notepad List with More features as you can still right click on the Singers names, etc... and keep all the stats for them through the show.

2) If you turn on "Let Hoster Determine Initial Placement for new Songs added to the Playlist." it will do as stated below.

Example - Singer 1 gives you 3 songs so they are the only one in the Playlist right now.
So their songs will show as as follows:
Singer 1
Singer 1
Singer 1

Singer 2 now sends you 5 songs for them to sing, so now your playlist will change to
Singer 1
Singer 2
Singer 1
Singer 2
Singer 1
Singer 2
Singer 2
Singer 2
Singer 2

Singer 3 Now sends you 5 songs they wish to sing, so now the playlist will look like this.
Singer 1
Singer 2
Singer 3
Singer 1
Singer 2
Singer 3
Singer 1
Singer 2
Singer 3
(Singer 1 only had 3 Songs so far)
Singer 2
Singer 3
Singer 2
Singer 3
Singer 2
Singer 3

Singer 4 Now sends you 5 songs they wish to sing, so now the playlist will look like this.
Singer 1
Singer 2
Singer 3
Singer 4
Singer 1
Singer 2
Singer 3
Singer 4
Singer 1
Singer 2
Singer 3
Singer 4
(Singer 1 only had 3 Songs so far)
Singer 2
Singer 3
Singer 4
Singer 2
Singer 3
Singer 4
Singer 2
Singer 3
Singer 4

3) Run Your Show as Rotation - When checked, your show will be run by the Singers Names/Rotation instead of by the Playlist. You can left click any Singers name and hit play to play their next song in their list. If you do not have this Checked, it will play through the Playlist from the Top to the Bottom, of course this is only when Auto is selected. If you are in Manual you would need to click play to start playing after a song had finished.

4) Auto Stop at Rotation Markers - You can right click in the Playlist to set Rotation Markers, by left clicking on them. Once you have set these where you wish to take a break, etc... then your show running in Auto Mode will stop at these Markers.

Right Clicking on a Singers Name in the Rotation List will Show Many Options.

We will be updating this Post with More Information on Rotation, when we get some time.

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

I'm still around! :). I wonder if this random picker can be applied to a singer's database of songs. I get a lot of requests like " Just pick something random out of my songs for me". :)

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

Thought you went into Hiding! I am sure that Dave could to that pretty quick, I know you have a large database of singers/songs to.

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

I noticed a possible issue when having the auto rotation on and run your shows as a rotation clicked. When you have a large list of singers on auto rotation and click the abort button because say a singer walks off, the rotation goes all the way to the top and doesn't move down to the next singer in the line. Would this not be better (at least for the abort button when in auto rotation) to mark the song as played and move down to the next singer in line and not all the way back to singer 1?

Just a thought, I could be wrong in the need for this. Btw, the update ROCKS!

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

There is a setting to adjust how much of a song is played before it changes the status to played or ready after stopping a song.
If you look in Tools/Settings/Playlist at 3rd control down is a timer setting, maximum setting 60 will set the status to played if you hit the abort or stop button when there is less than 60 seconds remaining.

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

(To me) this seems backward. Shouldn't we be able to say its considered played after 30 seconds?

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

Hey Gonzo,
Part of the reason for this feature is because of the statistics feature. The thought was to let the user decide when a song should be considered played and become part of the statistics. If you aren't familiar with this, it is located by selecting "File" in the upper left corner. It gives users a multitude of choices to establish all kinds of stats which may help run future shows. Back to the time counter you are speaking of, it is thought that if you get to the point where a max of 60 seconds are left in the song it should be considered for those stats. I have mine set for 20. If you were to abort it just 30 seconds into a song as your example the song would be counted in these stats. I think most feel that is way to soon. The way it is, if you abort it with more than 60 seconds left it should not be counted as played and giving false stats. If you don't agree with this I guess you could ask for the time to be extended. Hope this explains things. I personally never use "auto" when using the "rotation" for several reasons but that is just me.

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

Hi Roy..I just bought the new 5.41.05 software. I am running windows 8...At my gig last night it crashed. This morning I was running it and it just crashed. I am using a Dell Inspire I7.. 8gb ram.. When it crashed it did not save my audio song list..Had to put it back in.... It also would not play all the audio songs all the way through. Would stop prematurely and go to the next song.....Also when I select a song and singer and hit add, It has to do the circle think before it can add the person. Please help! Gary:m

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

Did you just upgrade from an older version or was this a fresh new installation ?
When you say "Audio songs" are you referring to songs in the Background Audio Player or the main playlist ?

If your seeing that spinning wheel it sounds like there is something running in the background, can you look in the Windows Task manager see if anything stands out as using a lot of CPU.

With the crashing what spyware are you running ?

I ask because I had a similar thing running my McAfee spyware and made some changes in that.

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

Hi Roy.. Getting back to you... This was a fresh install of software on a new computer... And I was speaking of the background Audio player and not the main playlist...I have no Spyware running. McAfee was uninstalled when I got it. Thanks again for your help! Gary

Re: Hoster 5.40.01 IS Released! 8-12-2015 - Full Singers Rotation!
 

The BA audio player crashing is likely to be a faulty track, do you know which track was playing at the time, when you played it again at home was it the same playlist ? if so could it have been the same song ?

If so try removing that track and see it that cures it.

Regards to the spinning wheel thing, what graphics card does it have ?
If its N Videa best to go to the N videa site check for updated drivers.

Or if it has switchable graphics try running with the intel only.