Upstream art - jpg vs png

[vilsen]

Hi

I'm gonna start working soon on the artist artwork (upstream art) in Asset. The introduction of Image Converter got me thinking that perhaps I should convert everything to png, which seems to be the default in Asset. Is png preferable in Asset, or can I just as well keep the jpg format, which is what I have the most of at present?

I'm starting from scratch, and I would not mind the conversion if there is a real benefit.

(HDD space is not an issue. I'm using Asset on a PC with i5 cpu. My library is about 5,000 albums right now.)

[Spoon]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

If talking about album art then jpg is best for compatibility.

[vilsen]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

No, I'm talking about the feature in Asset to have the artists represented by an image. Better with png in this case, since it's the default?

By the way, does upstream art refer to artist artwork or album artwork or both? I'm confused by some threads I read.

[Spoon]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

Yes in this instance PNG

[vilsen]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

Thanks.

Are there any file size / resolution recommendations for artist art? Does it affect performance much on a PC (and control point/player) compared to album art? I mean, they are fewer than album art and possibly cached differently, so maybe not something to worry about, or?

Also, still confused as to what upstream art really means (in Asset) - artist/album art or both. Could you explain please?

[simes_pep]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

Upstream Artwork is where the first image encountered for the Artist, Album Artist, Composer, Orchestra etc. that you have taking artwork from lower down in the directory tree and it is sent upstream.

The Artist images go in to a specfied folder and then during the startup of Asset are read and replace any Upstream artwork. Once this process is complete there is no other processing or so I have seen.
I am up to about 1,000 images, so startup of Asset R6.1 on a RPi2 can take a few minutes, but then last time I undertook a full rescan it took a few days.

In terms of image size, I try not to go over 1500 x 1500 pixels, and not beneath 600 x 600. I also crop them for a square format, to ensure they are presented nicely in the folder view.
Hence it is taking a while to find, select, prepare the images. Plus for many artists which are the best images, early ones, recent ones, original or current band line up, however that is part of the project and the fact you can select how you want to view the artist making it truly a personalized library.

Simon

[vilsen]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

Thank you very much for explaining!

I think I was fooled by the word stream. I have my flac files and Asset on the same pc and didn't think of a stream in the directory tree, but rather a stream in the network when playing music.

Upstream Artwork is where the first image encountered for the Artist, Album Artist, Composer, Orchestra etc.

I notice you don't mention Album here, but the folder.jpg or the embedded cover art is also upstream art, right?

The Artist images go in to a specfied folder

Are the Album images also stored in a specified folder, or are they simply read from your flac folder? Maybe it's both ways - cached by Asset for the browsing experience but whilst playing the folder.jpg / embedded art is used instead?

The Artist images go in to a specfied folder and then during the startup of Asset are read and replace any Upstream artwork.

So technically, when stored by Asset in the specified folder it is no longer upstream art?

I am up to about 1,000 images, so startup of Asset R6.1 on a RPi2 can take a few minutes, but then last time I undertook a full rescan it took a few days.

Thanks, a real world example gives me a good picture, I can see that the size of artist art is definitely something to consider.

Hence it is taking a while to find, select, prepare the images.

Yes, when you have spent all those hours on tagging, it's time to start spending hours on artist art... I am eager to have it, but it takes more time than what is healthy. Maybe there's a way to share artist art here at the dbpoweramp forum? But since I am at the starting point myself, I have almost nothing to share at the moment.

[simes_pep]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

Thank you very much for explaining!

I think I was fooled by the word stream. I have my flac files and Asset on the same pc and didn't think of a stream in the directory tree, but rather a stream in the network when playing music.

I notice you don't mention Album here, but the folder.jpg or the embedded cover art is also upstream art, right?

The folder.jpg is associated with the track files at the &*8216;Album&*8217; level, and this artwork is normally then used for any &*8216;upstream&*8217; purposes.
If you look within the file structure in the .dBPoweramp folder (this is on Unix, don&*8217;t know where this is on Windows), there is an image database, which for me is 5-6 GB. This where all the read Folder.jpg is then stored and indexed.

Are the Album images also stored in a specified folder, or are they simply read from your flac folder? Maybe it's both ways - cached by Asset for the browsing experience but whilst playing the folder.jpg / embedded art is used instead?

So technically, when stored by Asset in the specified folder it is no longer upstream art?

My understanding, based on the process I have observed is that the custom artist image replace those indexed in the image database, that&*8217;s what Asset is doing on startup, reading the custom image folder and changing the index in the database for that artist. This is a volatile process as the revisited indexes are not saved or changed in the database, as they relate to files that might not be there on next restart.

Thanks, a real world example gives me a good picture, I can see that the size of artist art is definitely something to consider.

Yes, when you have spent all those hours on tagging, it's time to start spending hours on artist art... I am eager to have it, but it takes more time than what is healthy. Maybe there's a way to share artist art here at the dbpoweramp forum? But since I am at the starting point myself, I have almost nothing to share at the moment.

I can zip up, what I have. However to use it, the Artist name has to exact match the tagging. There is no metadata library being built here, but a replacement image for when the name used precisely matches.
So my image library may not relate if you have used exact the same names for the same artists.

Simon

[vilsen]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

Sorry, I went on a sailing trip so I've been offline for a few days.

I understand the concept now, thanks to your explanations.

I'll send you a pm also.

[vilsen]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

Hi Simon, you generously offered to share your artist art. I tried to send you a pm but haven't heard from you, so it makes me wonder if the pm got lost for some reason. If you've had second thoughts I'll understand, it is your self-made art after all.

Please let me know whether you have seen my pm and if you still want to share.

[simes_pep]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

Just sent you a PM with a link to my Dropbox

Sorry, got busy in work and miss the posting/PM.

Thanks,
Simon.

[vilsen]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

Thank you very much, Simon! This gave me a big jump-start.

Just wanted to say this in the thread as well.

[simes_pep]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

While the zip file is available in Dropbox, anyone else need a copy.
I will be continuing the project to add to and cover the Artists I have, up to R at present.

[timster67]

Re: Upstream art - jpg vs png

Is the specified folder for artist artwork accessible on QNAP versions of Asset? And do the filenames have to be <artistname>.jpg?