Re: Tip for the new Mac Keyboards: Control multimedia play from the Fn keys [was Re: Rewinding audiobooks in Itunes]

[Søren Jensen]

Hi Esther.

I think my volume issue have something to do with the way I plug the  
audio to my surround receiver. I'm using a digital cable. It seems as  
the volume can only be adjusted on the receiver when using digital  
connections...
Best regards
Søren Jensen
Mail & MSN:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website:
http://www.coolfortheblind.dk/
On 03/09/2008, at 17.31, Esther wrote:

Hi Søren,

If you have the Apple Remote, you can also try to control VLC with
it.  I wonder whether the volume control problems are due to the
range or quality of the infrared response. There's a Wikipedia
article on the Apple Remote that keeps updated information on
what works with this, and where you can find the third party
software for the extra functions, like controlling VLC.  See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Remote

In case it wasn't clear from my post, the keyboard sequence for
using the F7, F8, and F9 keys on the various new keyboards for
the MacBooks, MacBook Pros, iMacs, and Mac Minis or for the
separately purchased slim Aluminum keyboards, work for controlling
iTunes independent of Front Row.  If you have iTunes as one of
your active applications (e.g., if you could switch to it using the
Command-Tab sequence), and you had left it with a selection in
the Songs Table then pressing Fn+F8 will start playing your
music, and the the adjacent F7 and F9 keys can control rewind
or forward positioning in the track (when held down) or through
your song table (when tapped).

The main point is that with these function keys, the whole top right
set of function keys from F7 to F12, can control general multi-media
play, and they work whether the application currently has focus
or not.  And this doesn't just apply to iTunes, although that's the
application you are most likely to have running in the background.
So if you started playing in iTunes, and now are working with
your Mail or web browsing, you can pause or play, with the
Fn+F8 sequence.  You can rewind with the Fn+F7 key and
fast forward with the Fn+F9 key (holding these down continuously),
and you can advance or go back through the entries in your
song list with Fn+F9 and Fn+F7 (tapped).  The keyboard volume
controls (Fn+F10 to mute, Fn+F11 to lower, and Fn+F12 to
raise) are the ones for the computer, though and not the separate
iTunes volume controls.  That means you can only lower or mute
volume on iTunes listening by changing for your whole computer
(including VoiceOver) if you are controlling it from the function
keys because iTunes does not have focus. (The maximum
volume for iTunes is set by the maximum volume of your computer
speakers, but the iTunes slider controls and the Command+Up
arrow and Command=Down arrow shortcuts that work when
iTunes has focus separately adjust the iTunes play volume.)

In Simon's case, I was thinking that he might want to listen to
language files in his iTunes library, and have TextEdit or some
other app in focus to make notes.  However, if he wanted to
rewind a section of a file to repeat a word or phrase, he could
control this with the Fn+F7 keys held down.

And for those of you who have the iPod shuffle, the Apple remote
controls are based on that, and feel very similar.  There's a
menu button added below the raised circular ring of controls
for Volume Up and Down (top and bottom) and Forward and
Reverse (right and left) that surround the center (play/pause)
button.

Cheers,

Esther

On September 03, 2008, Søren Jensen wrote:
Wow Esther. Thanks for the info. It's too bad that Apple doesn't sell
the remote with the newer Mac books. I have a remote, but I haven't
used it very much, because I don't know how to adjust the volume. Up
and down arrow doesn't work all the time. I'll give it another try  
and
see if I can fix my volume issue.
Again, thanks for the great info.
Best regards
Søren Jensen
Mail & MSN:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website:
http://www.coolfortheblind.dk/

On 03/09/2008, at 02.34, Esther wrote:

Hi All,

If you have one of the newer Mac keyboards without the numlock F6
key function, you can play and navigate through your movies and  
music
using the F7, F8, and F9 keys.

I thought I would add another response to Simon's question about how
to
rewind audiobooks in iTunes with a tip for people who have the new
Apple keyboards.  These are the separate slim Aluminum keyboards
without the Numlock key that were released late last summer (2007),
and which are on the recent MacBooks and MacBook Pros (manufactured
after November 2007) and iMacs.  The volume up and down controls
on these keyboards are on the F11 and F12 keys, instead of on the
F4 and F5 keys of older keyboards.

An additional feature of these keyboards, previously discussed on  
this
list, is the ability to rewind, play/pause, and fast forward with
the F7, F8,
and F9 keys.  These keys work with general audio and video media,
including movies that you play as well as iTunes. The neat feature
about
these keys is that you don't have to have iTunes in your focus to  
turn
on or off the music.  If you are working in your Mail program or
browsing
with Safari, you can still play or pause the currently selected song
in
iTunes using Fn+F8.  If you want to rewind to the beginning (Simon's
question), hold down the F7 key while pressing the Fn key.  Your  
music
will rewind to the beginning, and once it reaches the start of the
track it
will start to play normally.  You can fast forward by pressing the
Fn key
and holding down the F9 key. Holding down the Fn key and tapping the
F9 key will advance to the next track in the Songs list, while  
holding
down Fn and tapping the F7 key will play the previous track.

These keys work with other multimedia, such as DVDs, as well.   
They're
meant to work with "Front Row", Apple's application to switch  
between
multimedia players.  Earlier MacBooks and other Intel Macs came
with a small Apple Remote control, that would control your selection
for photos, movies, music, etc.  They stopped including these  
remotes
with new MacBooks and MacBook Pro computers around February
2008, but I recall stumbling across the keyboard shortcuts to  
activate
Front Row when I was setting up a MacBook for someone last summer.
The shortcut key to start Front Row on an Intel Mac is Command- 
Escape.
VO-down the menus to select Movies, TV Shows, Music,  
Podcasts,Photos,
etc. and use VO-space to select.  Move up (and eventually out of  
Front
Row by pressing the Escape key).  Even when you leave Front Row you
can resume playing your last selection with Fn+F8, and you can  
control
the volume with Fn+F10 (mute), Fn+F11 (softer), and Fn+F12 (louder).
I remember that all of the remote functions had keyboard shortcut
equivalents and, of course, if you have one of these infrared
remotes you
can control your Mac's playing at a distance.

Again, from much older discussions on this list, the Apple remote  
has
been programmed with third party software to control third party
software
players, even including some on the Windows side of Intel Macs.

I haven't tried any of this, myself. Hope this is of interest.

Cheers,

Esther

On August 27, 2008, at 01:41PM, I replied:
Dear Simon,

Audible audiobooks (and books purchased from the iTunes Store) have
chapter markers that allow you to position your playback at any
marker, so if you have started playing the audiobook and want to  
move
to the previous chapter marker (here, the start of the book),  
simply
use Command-Shift-Left Arrow.  Similarly, to move to the next  
Chapter
marker from your present position, use Command-Shift-Right Arrow.
These commands work whether your track is playing or paused, and  
are
in addition to the normal forward and rewind commands you can  
access
by holding down Option-Command with the Left and Right Arrow keys .
You can also use the Chapters menu on the iTunes menu bar to select
the chapter you wish to move to.  Simply go to the iTunes menu bar
(Command-Option-M), type "C" to go to the Chapters menu, arrow down
and select the desired Chapter (by pressing either VO-space or
return).  The Chapters are listed with both number and time.  Note
that "Chapters" do not necessarily correspond to actual chapters  
in a
book.  For example, a long audiobook that has two parts will always
have Chapters numbered starting with "1" even if you are  
listening to
the second part.  Also, there may be more than one Chapter per  
marker
-- these are simply a convenient way to navigate.

For audiobooks and podcasts that do not have chapter markers, the
easiest way to rewind your position, or change the playback  
position
to any specified time in your audiobook, is to use an AppleScript
named "RestartAt" that you can download from Tim Kilburn's web  
page:

http://homepage.mac.com/kilburns/voiceover/downloads.html

Copy or move this to the /Library/iTunes/Scripts folder.  You will
need to create the Scripts folder if this is the first time you are
using AppleScripts with iTunes.  AppleScripts placed in the Scripts
folder show up as a separate menu on the menu bar for the  
application
(in this case, iTunes), after the existing menus and just to the  
left
of the Help menu.

I find it easiest to use by assigning "RestartAt" to a keyboard
shortcut (Command-Option-R).  You will need to quit iTunes before  
you
assign the shortcut.

The latest full description of how to use the "RestartAt"  
AppleScript
and assign it a shortcut key may be found in the archives:

http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40macvisionaries.com/
msg33347.html

Note that when you assign the shortcut, you may need to type the  
name
of the AppleScript exactly (with capital letter "R" and capital
letter "A", but no space between the two words).  I'm not sure  
about
this, but I usually maintain case just to be safe.  Also, in the
archive description, I mention copying the AppleScript to the
Library/
iTunes/Scripts folder under your user account.  If you copy an
AppleScript to the system level /Library/iTunes/Scripts folder it
will work for all iTunes accounts on your computer.  If you copy it
to the Library /iTunes/Scripts folder for your user account, it  
will
only show up for iTunes under your account.

To navigate to the system /Library/iTunes folder in Finder use the
Command-Shift-G (Go to Folder) shortcut, and type in the folder you
want (e.g. "/Library/iTunes", without the quotation marks and
beginning with the "slash" key in front of "Library").

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Esther

On Aug 27, 2008, at 10:24 AM, Simon Cavendish wrote:

Dear Listers,

Is there a way of rewinding to the beginning a song or audiobook
you listen in Itunes? I have purchased some books from Audible.com
and as soon as they download they start to play. I couldn't pause
it in time and now it starts playing from where I stopped it. I
can't work out whether there's a way of rewinding it to the
beginning or better still stopping a book playing as soon as it
downloads. I

Thanks in advance, Simon