Jul 30, 2019
Adam Mcdougall
wrote
I have a few questions regarding MS7. I have been a long time user of MediaShout from way back in the MS4 days. All of these features are things I can do easily in MS6
Settings - I see the setting menu, but its very very basic. Is there a more advance settings menu?
CCLI Number - How can I quickly add my CCLI number to the out of box copyright information?
Import from MS6 - Is there a way to import lyrics from previous versions?
Templates - How about Templates from previous version?
Timers/QuickText - Is there no way to quickly display a timer or text?
Cloud Sync - Is there a way to sync with DropBox/OneDrive?
Announcement Loops - Is there an announcement loops feature?
Lyric Reporting - Is there an lyric reporting feature?
I do like the direction in terms of UI design and ease of use, but is seems there are many many missing features.
Settings - I see the setting menu, but its very very basic. Is there a more advance settings menu?
CCLI Number - How can I quickly add my CCLI number to the out of box copyright information?
Import from MS6 - Is there a way to import lyrics from previous versions?
Templates - How about Templates from previous version?
Timers/QuickText - Is there no way to quickly display a timer or text?
Cloud Sync - Is there a way to sync with DropBox/OneDrive?
Announcement Loops - Is there an announcement loops feature?
Lyric Reporting - Is there an lyric reporting feature?
I do like the direction in terms of UI design and ease of use, but is seems there are many many missing features.
Reply
3 Answers
Jul 31, 2019
MediaShout Support
agent
wrote
I would be happy to help you. There are some features that haven't been built yet on V7. As it's a brand new framework and platform, it isn't necessarily that they were taken away, but just that they haven't been developed yet. Some more critical to certain folks more than others-- the program was released because it meets the needs for so many, but the surge of new users allows us to more quickly inject funds into development for the features we're still waiting on.
With that said-
1) Settings - this is the only settings section. That's really all the controls that are available/needed with the current feature set. It will grow as things are added, but there will also be other settings like a whole plug-in dedicated to screen settings coming in the near future.
2) CCLI # - unfortunately this would have to be done manually on the songs at this point. We're still working on "tokens" to automatically add things like the "first line of next stanza," CCLI info, etc. automatically from the song library.
3) We are very close, but not just yet on importing *scripts* from previous versions, but you CAN import lyrics. You'd need to export your V6 library as an SSC file, then go to Insert Lyric on V7 and there's an import button. Here's an article for that: https://support.mediashout.com/503927-Importing-MediaShout-4-5-and-6-Song-Library-into-MediaShout-7
4) V7 doesn't have "templates" just yet- it has presets (and presets that work much better than they did in V6) which do much of the same thing- minus saving the WHOLE cue formatting including background. Those are high priority and should be implemented before too long.
5) Yes, we have the Key Objects plugin for doing timers/quick text, and even more like scrolling text, etc. You can see a video on it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQrB3GSKwUw
6) Cloud Sync - we do not have built in cloud sync yet. It isn't AS high a priority because we've simplified the script format so much that you don't have to worry about packing a script anymore-- formerly you had to have a script file and then all associated media was just on the computer wherever it may be, so if you moved it from one computer to another, you'd break the links to the media, unless you used the pack feature. But now the script files contain all the media embedded into them like a zip file (it compresses to save space too), so it's honestly just as easy to use your OS's file system to throw a file on Dropbox, etc, than to have a window to essentially do that same thing in MediaShout. We are developing cloud sync for the future that will enable you to do much more than just that, and sync libraries, settings, user config, etc. so that is coming down the line.
7) Announcement loops as far as the actual feature goes was a black eye in the last few versions of MediaShout because it did a lot of complex things it didn't need to do for 99% of users, and was missing some simple functionality that most people did need. Which led to all our techs advising folks to build announcement loops in scripts like this: https://support.mediashout.com/354687-Creating-an-Announcement-Loop-in-a-Script So in version 7, we didn't put in that feature. Announcements are now just cues, as the boundaries of what you can do inside one single cue with multiple page have been eradicated. And you can then save the announcement cue into the "Cues Library" where songs or any other type of cues are now stored, to use again. To make them loop, you just highlight the cue then go to the Scenarios Plugin at the top right, and tell it to loop back to itself, and how long you want it to take on each slide.
8) Unfortunately we do not have lyric reporting at this time. Believe it or not, almost no one really used it (although it was certainly useful for those who did). It will definitely be something we want to bring in, but I'm not sure how quickly.
I also sent you my direct phone number on the ticket you submitted, in case you're interested in upgrading despite the wait on some of these, as we have the $30 off upgrade deal ending today 7/31/19.
Let me know if you have more questions.
With that said-
1) Settings - this is the only settings section. That's really all the controls that are available/needed with the current feature set. It will grow as things are added, but there will also be other settings like a whole plug-in dedicated to screen settings coming in the near future.
2) CCLI # - unfortunately this would have to be done manually on the songs at this point. We're still working on "tokens" to automatically add things like the "first line of next stanza," CCLI info, etc. automatically from the song library.
3) We are very close, but not just yet on importing *scripts* from previous versions, but you CAN import lyrics. You'd need to export your V6 library as an SSC file, then go to Insert Lyric on V7 and there's an import button. Here's an article for that: https://support.mediashout.com/503927-Importing-MediaShout-4-5-and-6-Song-Library-into-MediaShout-7
4) V7 doesn't have "templates" just yet- it has presets (and presets that work much better than they did in V6) which do much of the same thing- minus saving the WHOLE cue formatting including background. Those are high priority and should be implemented before too long.
5) Yes, we have the Key Objects plugin for doing timers/quick text, and even more like scrolling text, etc. You can see a video on it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQrB3GSKwUw
6) Cloud Sync - we do not have built in cloud sync yet. It isn't AS high a priority because we've simplified the script format so much that you don't have to worry about packing a script anymore-- formerly you had to have a script file and then all associated media was just on the computer wherever it may be, so if you moved it from one computer to another, you'd break the links to the media, unless you used the pack feature. But now the script files contain all the media embedded into them like a zip file (it compresses to save space too), so it's honestly just as easy to use your OS's file system to throw a file on Dropbox, etc, than to have a window to essentially do that same thing in MediaShout. We are developing cloud sync for the future that will enable you to do much more than just that, and sync libraries, settings, user config, etc. so that is coming down the line.
7) Announcement loops as far as the actual feature goes was a black eye in the last few versions of MediaShout because it did a lot of complex things it didn't need to do for 99% of users, and was missing some simple functionality that most people did need. Which led to all our techs advising folks to build announcement loops in scripts like this: https://support.mediashout.com/354687-Creating-an-Announcement-Loop-in-a-Script So in version 7, we didn't put in that feature. Announcements are now just cues, as the boundaries of what you can do inside one single cue with multiple page have been eradicated. And you can then save the announcement cue into the "Cues Library" where songs or any other type of cues are now stored, to use again. To make them loop, you just highlight the cue then go to the Scenarios Plugin at the top right, and tell it to loop back to itself, and how long you want it to take on each slide.
8) Unfortunately we do not have lyric reporting at this time. Believe it or not, almost no one really used it (although it was certainly useful for those who did). It will definitely be something we want to bring in, but I'm not sure how quickly.
I also sent you my direct phone number on the ticket you submitted, in case you're interested in upgrading despite the wait on some of these, as we have the $30 off upgrade deal ending today 7/31/19.
Let me know if you have more questions.
Sep 14, 2019
David Williams
wrote
I'm in agreement with Adam. Though 7 looks stable, it is missing key ingredients that should have stayed from version to version - like the CCLI # (required to be posted with every song), main file location in settings (which would help with the CloudSync issue if select to OneDrive/Dropbox folder), and token inserts. I was able to figure out the song library import thanks to the knowledge base (thank you).
I do agree with you, David, about the Announcement section. It really never worked well, hence just going to making announcement cues in a section with a script control for repeat settings. That feature will not be missed.
I would definitely recommend getting the tokens back in order to create Title pages for both the bibles and the lyrics. I showed someone this concept back in early days of version 6, and they thought it be great to add into future updates. I guess that never happened. At this moment, version 7 (though checking in trial mode) is not fully capable for what is needed for our media center until these features are brought back to bear. I'll keep a watch on any corrections while using version 6 for the time being. BTW - been a long time customer since 3.5.
I do agree with you, David, about the Announcement section. It really never worked well, hence just going to making announcement cues in a section with a script control for repeat settings. That feature will not be missed.
I would definitely recommend getting the tokens back in order to create Title pages for both the bibles and the lyrics. I showed someone this concept back in early days of version 6, and they thought it be great to add into future updates. I guess that never happened. At this moment, version 7 (though checking in trial mode) is not fully capable for what is needed for our media center until these features are brought back to bear. I'll keep a watch on any corrections while using version 6 for the time being. BTW - been a long time customer since 3.5.
Sep 16, 2019
MediaShout Support
agent
wrote
Thanks David for your feedback, patience, and honest thoughts. You're right on, and we had a meeting with the developers just today to emphasize importance of features like tokens on templates. They're pushing to the max on making sure V7 is both stable and has the features users need. We will definitely be implementing all the things you mentioned in this last reply, so hold tight and I believe we'll be happy with the results when they get rolled into an update in the hopefully near future.