kJams Pro Features Questions

[Dr.Rhythm]

I see the entry Take Photos in the File menu for kJams Pro and my built-in iSight activates when I click on that entry but how do I take the picture? I can't find anything to snap the shot.

Thanks.

[dave]

you have to select a singer for the "take photo" icon to activate (next to the search field)

but currently it does not do anything except make a loud shutter sound this feature is not done, that's why there's no instructions for it anywhere.

[Dr.Rhythm]

you have to select a singer for the "take photo" icon to activate (next to the search field)

but currently it does not do anything except make a loud shutter sound this feature is not done, that's why there's no instructions for it anywhere.

It also serves to allow you to pretend your recording the beginning of Girls on Film by Duran Duran, if you click the camera button several times in a row.

Okay, no problem. I thought it might not be ready for prime time just yet.

Next question, is the video ripped from the CD+G discs 320 x 240? It looks like it is to me. Is that the industry standard? Sorry I very little about Karaoke.

[dave]

it's only 320 x 240 if you export it to QuickTime with "Pad movie..." option checked.

it's really 300 x 216, that's the spec.

[Dr.Rhythm]

So I assume the video output would look best on a CRT based TV using a composite or S-Video connector rather than on an LCD display where you use the a DVI or DVI to VGA cable. Have you done any testing with that?

I was thinking of using a 19" LCD Television for the singers display. I really don't want to lug a CRT to my gigs. I don't do much Karaoke work, actually none up until now so I am just trying to find out what is the best way to setup things.

[dave]

well, i think "Best" is subjective here. I think it looks best on my HDTV personally, while others are like "yuck, what big pixels", but whatever. I'd go with what's easiest. much easier to cart an LCD around than a CRT.

[Dr.Rhythm]

Okay thanks. The graphics don't have to be great anyway, just readable. I'm just going to use a 19" LCD that I already have to get started anyway. I'll see how the Karaoke gigs go for me and see if I want to get more serious about offering that to my customers and seeking out Karaoke events or just offer it as an option if someone asks about it.

How reliable is kJams right now? I know it's not 100% complete yet so I wonder about the stability. For me reliability is paramount over everything else. I currently use Megaseg as my primary DJ app, not because it's the most feature rich application out there but because it works and works well.

How will kJams hold up at a gig where people are paying me good money and expect a good performance in return. I would like to demo the software at an actual event but the demo restrictions make that impossible. Do you offer a satisfaction guarantee?

[dave]

If you require perfection then joining into a "development" program is certainly not for you.

Learn about Development Stages.

To get the most out of kJams right now you need to be tech savvy and very patient with bugs and crashes. Every version is different. Some are stable, some introduce new bugs that I don't get to fix for several days.

Having said that, i've got lots and lots of satisfied customers. See the map. About half those pins are Professionals who's job counts on kJams working, if not perfectly, at least well enough to run a show and have a fun night for the singers.

The demo allows you to have an arbitrarily large library. So if you have a library of existing songs, and you forgo the Rotation feature, you can still give a compelling demo.

[Dr.Rhythm]

DJ / Karaoke is my second job. I have been working in the IT field for over 15 years now. I'm not worried about figuring out technical problems but I also don't want to be using something that's going to crash every other song.

I hope you can understand and appreciate that. If kJams is as you say,

...DEVELOPMENT software, NOT "Release", not "Beta", not even "Alpha", but one stage BEFORE that.

Should you really be charging for it?

Wouldn't it be better to freeze the development with a limited feature set and list the known bugs for people like DJs and KJs that would actually pay to use this software. Then you could continue the development process releasing development / alpha and beta updates for your paying and non paying customers. DJs and KJs could then choose to install the various updates or just stick with the limited version for stability until your ready to release the full 1.0 version that you want the product to be?

I don't know, perhaps you're no where near a stable release and that is not possible but from what I have seen so far kJams seems to be mostly stable on my machine.

[dave]

Should you really be charging for it?

It's not a question of what *I* should be doing. It is a question of whether or not you want in. You of course have the choice to not buy the software. The number of sales i've made even WITH that honest disclaimer shows i'm not crazy in thinking that people will be willing to support me in my efforts.

People who bought kJams.

I'm sorry my development process rubs you the wrong way. I'd love to have a team who could find bugs for me and keep track of which versions are the most stable. But I don't. I'm working on this in my spare time, and I can only do so much. Unfortunately I must rely on early adopters to find bugs.

I do keep previous versions available so if i do make a particularly crashy release you can just go back to a previous easily.

[ChurchCat]

Just to chip in here.

I find the honest approach that Dave takes very refreshing. I have lots of final release software that seems more buggy than kJams is right now.

If you want to be REALLY certain that you have a stable version do what I do. Look at the previous versions/version history and choose a version that Dave has described as stable. If you then don't automatically update to newer versions it will remain stable but without the new features that seem to arrive every other day. When a week or two has past look at the previoius versions/version history again and choose a later release that has been described as stable.

CC


Clicky to previous versions

[Dr.Rhythm]

ChurchCat,

Thank you for that link. That is very helpful. I think having a list like that is perfectly adequate for my needs. Dave, it looks like you might have stopped updating that page. I think that list of previous versions is helpful to someone like me who just wants to get an idea of what versions are considered stable. Perhaps you could reconsider keeping that page up-to-date Dave?

I agree with you again ChurchCat that there are plenty of 1.0 applications out there that are full of bugs. Plenty of software companies even the biggest ones seem to rush products to market. I won't claim to know how things work at a software development company but I'm sure the sales and marketing teams push the software developers to get the product out even if it's not ready to go.

So perhaps I'm making too much out of all of this. In my testing as I mentioned before kJams seems pretty stable. kJams also seems to fill just about all of my needs with an elegant user interface. Of course I know I nobody is forcing me to buy kJams but it seems to suit my needs better than the other mainly Windows software products.

So let me ask you this Dave, if I buy a copy of kJams today will I be entitled to the full 1.0 version when you finish the product?

[dave]

Perhaps you could reconsider keeping that page up-to-date Dave?

Yes it's just probably not going to update with every version, just on stable versions, unless somebody wants to update it for me. it's basically a reverse view of the Version History page, where it sees the releases with hindsight rather than just documenting what was fixed. Any volunteers?

if I buy a copy of kJams today will I be entitled to the full 1.0 version when you finish the product?

Answer

[ChurchCat]

Perhaps you could reconsider keeping that page up-to-date Dave?

Yes it's just probably not going to update with every version, just on stable versions, unless somebody wants to update it for me. it's basically a reverse view of the Version History page, where it sees the releases with hindsight rather than just documenting what was fixed. Any volunteers?

if I buy a copy of kJams today will I be entitled to the full 1.0 version when you finish the product?

Answer

I wouldn't know where to start or I would offer.

However just a link every month to the most stable version released that month would be more than adequate. Doing a live show with a recent update is one worry that many could do without. But to revisit your site, perhaps on the first of each month and get a new version this would be a real plus.

From your point of view it may have advantages too. It would mean that once a month every cautious owner of kJams would revisit that page. This would be an ideal site for a notice board or even for advertising to get you a little more revenue.

If you do this can I suggest that you make it once a month on the first day of the month?

CC

[Dr.Rhythm]

Thanks for all of your responses Dave. I really like the community feeling that kJams has. The forum, the Wiki and all the information that you provide about the product is great. I hate it when products are so masked that you don't have any idea what's really going on behind the scenes.