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Auto Scrolling
#1
The current scrolling systems all require manually intervention, eg foot pedal, which distracts the musician.
This is a proposal for a new and simple mechanism to automatically scroll pages (and/or lines on a page) with no manual input.  The proposal is as follows:

Additional metadata could be manually added to each song - namely the number of bars per line per page and the number of lines on each page.  This information coupled with the tempo (beats per second and time signature) available from the metronome provides all the timing information necessary to determine which is the current bar, line and page.
This would enable page turns or a line scrolls to be automatically scheduled at the right time.  
It would enable the current line to be positioned in the centre of the screen in this would be of particular benefit in landscape mode to give greater confidence in following the reduced number of lines on display.

A simplified version could be included namely just adding the metadata for the number of lines per page but this would limit the potential benefits available. 

I believe this system would be very effective in all situations where the timing is controlled by the musician or by a drum machine which can be set to the same tempo as the metronome.  It would be more difficult if the timing was controlled by somebody else eg drummer who is unlikely to play at exactly the prescribed tempo but maybe tapping the beat on the tempo buttons would adjust the metronome timing to keep on track.

What does the forum think to this idea.  I'm new to MobileSheets and maybe I've missed a trick.  Would it work, would it be useful and if so can it be implemented easily and quickly?
Currently, page scrolling or line scrolling requires manual initiation, eg depress foot pedal, which is inconvenient for the performer.
I believe the following proposal would provide a fully automatic scrolling system which requires no intervention from the performer and should be relatively easy to implement.

It would require metadata to be manually entered and stored for each page in the song sheet and this would define the number lines per page and the number of bars per line (which could vary).  This along with the tempo data from the metronome (beats per minute and time signature) and time since start of song would provide all the information necessary to accurately determine the song position (bar, line and page) at any point in time.  Also the number of lines per page would determine how far to scroll down the page if line scrolling was selected. 

This would enable the page or line to auto scroll at the appropriate time.
It would be particularly valuable for the landscape format because it would ensure that the correct line was always displayed in the limited number of lines available on screen.

A simplified version which just captured the number of lines per page could be provided but this would not achieve the full potential benefits.

This system should work reliably for any song where the tempo is controlled by the performer using the metronome (or a drum machine set to a matching tempo).  It would not work as well if the performer was following someone else's tempo eg following the drummer who was not in time sync.  In this instance the use of the metronome "tap tempo" buttons may enable it to stay in time.  Additionally if the display is in line scroll mode then there is some margin for error.

Please could the forum comment on whether the proposal would work, would be of value, whether it would be easy to implement and if so how long it might be before it is implemented.
Currently, page scrolling or line scrolling requires manual initiation, eg depress foot pedal, which is inconvenient for the performer.
I believe the following proposal would provide a fully automatic scrolling system which requires no intervention from the performer and should be relatively easy to implement.

It would require metadata to be manually entered and stored for each page in the song sheet and this would define the number lines per page and the number of bars per line (which could vary).  This along with the tempo data from the metronome (beats per minute and time signature) and time since start of song would provide all the information necessary to accurately determine the song position (bar, line and page) at any point in time.  Also the number of lines per page would determine how far to scroll down the page if line scrolling was selected. 

This would enable the page or line to auto scroll at the appropriate time.
It would be particularly valuable for the landscape format because it would ensure that the correct line was always displayed in the limited number of lines available on screen.

A simplified version which just captured the number of lines per page could be provided but this would not achieve the full potential benefits.

This system should work reliably for any song where the tempo is controlled by the performer using the metronome (or a drum machine set to a matching tempo).  It would not work as well if the performer was following someone else's tempo eg following the drummer who was not in time sync.  In this instance the use of the metronome "tap tempo" buttons may enable it to stay in time.  Additionally if the display is in line scroll mode then there is some margin for error.

Please could the forum comment on whether the proposal would work, would be of value, whether it would be easy to implement and if so the likely timescales for implementation.
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#2
Other users have asked for similar features in the past. I do think what you have suggested should, in theory, work. Whether or not it's easy to implement is another matter. There would need to be a lot of new UI elements, database entries, translations for 15 languages, and scrolling code specifically for this new functionality. This needs to be implemented for both Android and Windows, and the new metadata would have to be available in the companion application. There also needs to be code to figure out what to do if the user manually scrolls down the page in the middle of the automatic scrolling. Also, with this approach, if the user needed to stop the automatic scrolling for any reason, I would probably need to add a way to pause the current scrolling so that it can be resumed, because you couldn't just stop and restart this scrolling in the middle of a song because it would then start counting from the first bar/line again. 

In terms of the timeline for implementation of this feature, it somewhat depends on how many users throw their weight behind needing it. I have a huge number of feature requests in the system to work through, and I'm currently trying to finish the iOS version because that is the thing I get asked for the most. After that is finished, the order I implement the feature requests will depend on how much of a benefit it offers to users, and the only way I can gauge that is based on feedback through the forum and emails.

Thanks,
Mike
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