MegaSeg is the premiere DJ music player for the Macintosh that allows you to consolidate all your music on the hard drive of your computer, and then segue between them for a professional DJ presentation without the need for extra CD players or mixers. Load your CD tracks into MegaSeg, and with the built-in database and search engine, you'll be playing requests faster that ever! MegaSeg can also play MP3 and Quicktime files downloaded from the internet.
About the Demo Version
The MegaSeg demo is a full functional version that runs for 15 minutes per session.
About N2MP3
N2MP3 is an MP3 encoder from Proteron, which allows you to convert your CD's into the popular MP3 format. Once installed, you can drag CD tracks from mounted audio CD's directly into your music folder, and the MP3 conversion process starts automatically. Once completed, MegaSeg can import the new songs using the Import Folder command.
http://www.n2mp3.com
System Requirements
A Mac OS computer with a 180 MHz or better PowerPC processor, Mac OS 8.0 or better, Quicktime 4.1 "Full" install, and an average of 10 MB per song. (A 10GB iMac can hold over 900 IMA 4:1 quality songs, and over 2000 MP3 quality songs.) For MP3 "VBR" support, MegaSeg requires QuickTime 4.1. Download it for free from http://www.apple.com/quicktime
NOTE: If you are running Mac OS 7.5.5 - 8.1, you may need to install Apple's Navigation Services extension included inside the MegaSeg folder in the folder called "For pre-Mac OS 8.5".
Known Conflicts/Problems
• SoundJam extension may cause a conflict with MegaSeg CD Track importing on some systems. Please report any problems.
• VBR MP3 files may cause audio pauses and drop out problems. The problem is VBR MP3 files duration must be calculated by QuickTime upon being opened, and this takes a few seconds where the computer can't do anything else. This can cause the current song to stop for a second when a VBR MP3 is placed in the NEXT position, where it is opened before being played. This problem usually only affects slower Macs.
Please read the F.A.Q. at the end of the Manual for more trouble shooting problems. On the web at http://www.megaseg.com/faq.html
How To Upgrade From MegaSeg 1.3.1 or older
When upgrading to new versions of MegaSeg, you must move your current "Songs" folder (located inside the older MegaSeg folder) before replacing or deleting the old version. The new MegaSeg 1.4 does not require the Songs folder to be located inside the MegaSeg folder anymore. Instead it's recommended you move your Songs folder to a "high profile" location, normally the root of the hard drive (the first window). That's a safe place for it to live from now on.
When you run MegaSeg 1.4 for the first time, answer yes to upgrading, and it will remind about moving the Songs folder in step one. Step two will ask you to locate your original "*database" file inside your Songs folder, after which it will be converted to the new format.
A new "MegaSeg Database" file will be created in a folder called "Database" located inside the MegaSeg 1.4 folder. This new file holds the information about your entire Library. The original "*database" file in the Songs folder will be untouched, and can be deleted once converted if desired... or left there as a backup. However, no changes made in MegaSeg 1.4 will be reflected in the old "*database" file.
The Major Change in 1.4
MegaSeg 1.4 now imports files from any folder on any hard drive and allow multiple folders imported into the Library... it's not limited to just the files inside the Songs folder, which originally needed to be inside the MegaSeg folder. The benefit to this is using external hard drives to store more music, or keeping your 5000 MP3 or AIFF files in 5 folders of 1000 files each to prevent problems that can occur when putting too many files in one folder.
Since MegaSeg keeps track of where your files are by path, if you rename any folder or the hard drive, you will get a missing file error in MegaSeg, however this is not a major problem, since you can "Find" the file and other missing files will also be found if they are in the same folder. This makes it easy to split up your files originally in one folder. Use "Scan for Missing Files" from the Library menu. If it finds one, choose "Find" and open the file. If other missing files are in the folder with the one found, they will be also found automatically.
Helpful Hint (removing many files at once)
If you ever want to mass remove files from the Library list, and especially don't want to delete the original files, there's an easy way to do it. Let's say you want to remove everything that's in a particular folder that you imported by mistake. Just move the folder to a different location (like the desktop) and then choose "Scan for Missing Files" from the Library menu. It will say there are missing files. Choose "Remove All" and all the files in that folder will be removed from the Library. Then move the folder back where it was. An alternative method is renaming the folder by adding a number to the end of the folder name.
Things New to MegaSeg 1.4.1
• With QuickTime 5 Preview installed, MegaSeg now recognizes ID3v2 tags, as well as ID3v1 tags.
• Fixed a playback bug which caused a system error under QuickTime 4.0.x. All QuickTime 4.1.x users were not affected.
• Added new Playlist Loop button.
• Fixed problem in demo mode that would prevent it from saving the Library when the demo time expired.
• Fixed a rare problem that prevented the library from being saved after it was sorted at startup. It would sort during each launch instead of using the sort cache.
• Renamed the File Menu commands "Export Database" and "Import Database" to "Export Library" and "Import Library". Also changed the default exported filename to "MegaSeg Library Export".
• Added "Save Library" command to File Menu. The Library database is normally saved when MegaSeg is Quit, but this command allows the user to save the Library database at any time while MegaSeg is running. This is especially useful when MegaSeg runs for long periods, or non-stop.
• Fixed bug when scanning for missing files, if the user clicks OK to a missing file, the report count of missing songs now includes the ones okayed.
• The "Scan for Missing Files" command now remembers all folders, and automatically search them if a file is not found in the current folder.
• Fixed problem with MegaSeg changing the System Volume when Quit to the value before MegaSeg was launched, regardless if the preference to "Maximize System Volume" was not checked.
• Modified the new Video menu to show bullets instead of checkmarks for items that are grouped selections. The Hide Menu option is still a Checkmark because it's a toggle option.
• Fixed bug with Option-Click Segue feature that would cause an error if only one song was in the Playlist.
• Fixed bug when importing CD Tracks, it would not show the 'Year' set for all imported tracks.
• Clear Playlist and Load Playlist now correctly resets the Playlist Position to the top, instead of just clearing the visible playlist section.
• Fixed problem when choosing an overall category for newly imported media. If imported media files were already tagged with a MegaSeg category previouslly, it would override the newly chosen overall import category. It now appends the overall category to the previously tagged category, allowing for the user to rename (or merge by rename) the older category if desired.
• Added a new "cha-ching" sound to the "Alert When Finished" option when importing CD Tracks.
• Find button now glows when in Find mode. Clicking Find again returns the Library to normal view as usual.
• Library and Playlist select boxes now deselect when clicking outside select area (in the background).
• Edit window now opens faster, with less flicker.
Things New to MegaSeg 1.4
New Features:
• QuickTime VIDEO! MegaSeg now supports QuickTime movies, and will open a video window to display the video. If desired it will keep the video window open at all times, at various set sizes -- including Full Screen! A new Video Menu has been added with various options. Also MegaSeg's video window supports multi-monitors (Read: S-Video output on PowerBooks!) and will display the video full screen on a second monitor automatically.
• New database format which allows for future growth. Your original "*database" file will be converted into the new format and placed in a new "Database" folder inside the MegaSeg folder. The original database fill will remain untouched in the Songs folder. When you first run MegaSeg, it will give you the upgrade instructions. The new database file will not work correctly with older versions of MegaSeg.
• Database media limit increased to 5000 files!
• MegaSeg now supports multiple folders. The Songs folder can now be moved to any location. You can even split up your files across multiple folders, and re-link the files using the Find button when it gives a missing file error. You only need to locate the first missing file in each folder, the rest will be found automatically.
• Import Media now has an option to refresh all known folders containing media in the Library. This will import any new files from inside all known folders.
• Edit window now shows the path and filename of each song, and will allow you to re-link the file. If desired, a global preference can be checked to rename the liked file to match the "Title - Artist" format automatically when the Edit window is saved.
• Edit window has a new "Notes" field that can contain text about the particular media file.
• Better late than never, MegaSeg now has ID3v1 Tag support during file imports! MP3 files imported into MegaSeg will sport the proper ID3 information, such as Title, Artist, Album, and Year. NOTE: ID3v2 (ID3 version 2) tags are not yet recognized by QuickTime 4.1x. The next update of QuickTime may support ID3v2 tags, in which case MegaSeg will too.
• All song info from the database is saved in the actual media file. AIFF, QuickTime, MP3, or any supported file will be tagged. If the file get's moved to another MegaSeg system, it will retain it's complete info when imported. It's also a great backup for the Database file.
• Pop up categories selector is now multi-select aware. Command-click to select multiple categories you want displayed in the Library.
• Added new Voice Over checkbox to Edit Window. Allows a file to override the fade-out during a segue. This is useful for when you want to lay a voice track over the intro of the following song... perfect for automating radio stations, or playing a voice over the intro of another song. Simply select the Voice Over checkbox, and set the segue time to start as soon as you want the next song to start playing under the voice over. (This is usually at the beginning, or 00:00.00, if the length of the voice over is less than the intro time of the next song.)
• By popular demand, added new playback control buttons for the current playing song. Although not that useful in a live situation (except to play musical chairs!), they come in handy during casual playback, and also allow you to skip to the end of a song with the Play Ending button to set the Segue time "live" using Option-Click Segue feature introduced in 1.3.
• Added the ability to tell how much time before a song will play when selected in Playlist. The display that originally showed the Playlist's total time now shows how long away the selected song will play first, as well as the Total Playlist time, using the "0:00:00 / 0:00:00" format.
• Added new report dialog to display all encountered missing media when loading a Playlist.
• Added options to eject cd and/or alert user when finished importing.
• Load Playlist is now tolerant of playlists generated by radio station music scheduling software, such as PowerGold and Selector. The only requirement is that on each line of the playlist text file is an exact match of the Title starting at character 1, and an exact match of Artist First and Last anywhere in the line. This allows playlist generators to format their output files using columns (space or tab delimited). If other playlist data is included in the text line, it will be ignored, and should not cause a mismatch. An example of acceptable playlist lines include: "Title / Artist" and "Title Artist Extra Info" or "Title<tab>blah blah<tab>Artist<tab>blah blah", etc.
• Added keyboard shortcuts for Playlist Position buttons: Command-; and Command-'
• Added new "Find" file button to missing file dialog when adding or inserting a song to the playlist.
• Added "Add All" button to center interface. This will bring a much used feature out of hiding (the Option-Click Add still works, as does Option-Command-Right Arrow).
• MegaSeg now changes the System Volume to full volume when it starts up, and restores the System Volume to it's original level when Quit. This maximizes the signal to noise ratio of MegaSeg's audio and volume control.
Bug fixes and other improvements:
• Increased the minimum RAM for MegaSeg to 12MB to accommodate up to 5000 songs in the Library by default. Increasing the RAM above 12MB will not benefit MegaSeg any more than the default 12MB setting. In fact you can decrease the RAM to 9 or 10 MB if you have 2000 songs or less.
• Added progress feedback when loading the database during startup.
• Changed the Import File routine to recognize a " - " divider in the filename in addition to the " / " divider to split title and artist fields with files that contains no ID3v1 or MegaSeg tag information.
• Changed the rename file to match title and artist option in the edit window to use the first 14 characters of title and first 14 characters of the artist with " - " in between. If there is no artist info, then it will use the title up to 32 characters to name the file.
• Fixed bug in search textbox's Jump Search feature, when Library is listed by Artist sort, would sometimes skip past certain songs.
• Textbox Jump Search now allows you to type in a BPM value while sorted by BPM.
• Changed "Delete" Library button to "Remove" and added a checkbox to the dialog for deleting the file. "Delete File When Removed From Library". If it's not checked, then the media is simply removed from the Library, leaving the original file intact. (It may be reimported.)
• Import Files now correctly determines the duration of Media under 1 second long. This makes image files segue correctly since their default duration is usually under 1 second long.
• Fixed saved playlist corruption bug. Playlist would show totally different songs than what was saved after user edits Library. A bug since 1.3. (Restarting MegaSeg after editing the Library was a workaround.)
• Import Database now does not rename files if title or artist field was edited externally. (Not necessary anymore since all media is linked directly by pathname.)
• Reordered the Library buttons to put Delete on bottom. The order of buttons now matches the order in the Library menu.
• Edit window will now give an error if user tries to set the Segue Time longer than the actual media's length.
• Fixed bug that caused an error when clicking search textbox after a search found only 2 matches.
• Search textbox now filters out "click events" that triggered a jump search.
• Fixed bug that caused an error if a song that already played in the Playlist was deleted from the Library, and the user moved the Playlist Position to the deleted song.
• Playlist Position buttons can now be held down.
• Import CD Tracks window will display an error if a band name is put in the Last Name field while the First Name field is blank.
• Import Files command no longer asks if it should import files.
• Added Year and Category to Import CD Info window.
• Fixed bug when adding, then removing, and then adding the same song again to the NEXT song position, would cause the song not to play when started.
• Fixed bug that would cause a song to display it's old information and segue/intro times when being played, after being previously edited in the Library. This only effected the "Playing" song display, and only when editing a song while it was in the "NEXT" Playlist position.
• Fixed bug that would prevent songs from displaying in a search if the user omitted a space between the first and last name.
• While importing from CD, MegaSeg now sorts the database after it's finished importing all the tracks, instead of in between each track.
• While searching large databases, the countdown no longer halts, and segues perform as usual.
• The Log File display will not pause audio while it displays a large log file.
• Fixed a bug when MegaSeg sorts the BPM listing in the Library. It was only sorting based on the integer of the BPM and not the decimals. Also improved the sorting speed of the BPM sort.
• Changed keyboard command for Autoseg/Manual toggle. It was Command-A, now it's Command-\
• Changed the direction of the Playlist Position buttons to reflect the direction the Playlist will move.
• Fixed a problem with importing files from DOS format disks.
• Added a report window to the Import Folder function. It shows the files that could not import because they were the wrong type.
• Added "Help" button to left side which displays the Keyboard Shortcuts help window.
• Added "Random" button to right side to randomize the current Playlist (same as Command-R).
• Changed the way the Preview controller window works slightly. You can now change the selection in the Library display and not need to press Preview to get the controller to play the new selection. If the Preview controller window is still open, you only need to press Play again.
• Changed the way the Find textbox works slightly. If you pause more than 2 seconds while typing, it will clear the textbox automatically when you start typing again. This makes it very easy to use the "Jump Search" feature over and over without needing to select the text with the mouse to clear the box, or using the delete button many times to backup to the beginning.
• Many minor interface tweaks.
Helpful Keyboard Shortcuts:
o Arrow keys control selected songs in Library and Playlist display.
o Command-Spacebar and Command-/ both perform a Segue to the Next Song.
o Option-Click Add Button adds all songs from the current Library display to the Playlist.
o Option-Click Segue will save the exact time clicked as the new Segue Time for the song.
o Command-F activates the Find textbox. Return performs search and reactivates keyboard arrow keys.
o Left/Right Arrows change display list focus for other keyboard commands.
o Up/Down Arrows control selection and scroll.
o Page Down/Page Up/Home/End do what you would expect.
o Command-Up/Down Arrows moves selected song in Playlist.
o Command-Right Arrow adds selected song in the Library to the bottom of the Playlist.
o Command-Left Arrow removes selected song in the Playlist.
o Option-Right Arrow inserts selected song in the Library before the selected song in the Playlist.
o Option-Up/Down Arrows moves the selected song in the Playlist to the top or bottom of list.
o Command-; and Command-' control Playlist Position
