When I sync to VDJ, I have the tags field mapped to the genre field in VDJ. When the sync completes, I see what I expect in the VDJ database, as the tags are written as hashtags in the genre field of VDJ. Part of my sync is a smartlist for the the genre field containing #Clean and #Fight. In VDJ, it displays 25 tracks (which seems accurate based on what I have done in Lexicon). However, even after reloading tags in Lexicon, the same smartlist says it only has 10 tracks in it. I went to one of the missing tracks, and the tags are correct, but the genre field is missing tags that were synced with the field mapper. But in VDJ, it shows that this particular song synced the tags correctly.
I know its confusing, but can you help me figure out what I am doing wrong?
Check if your genres in Lexicon are identical to your genres in VirtualDJ. Because the Field Mapping doesn’t happen until you sync to VDJ. So your smartlist in Lexicon uses the genre text o that is on the tracks in Lexicon, before the field mapping.
The field mapping takes the custom tags and sends them to the genre field in VDJ.
So maybe the genre text in Lexicon is outdated, so it gives different results?
Yeah I know, and that’s my point. I already did the sync with the field mappings. The updated genre field appears correctly in VDJ. It’s Lexicon that doesn’t display it correctly. The tags are correct in Lexicon, but the genre tag never updates, even after reloading tags.
Makes me think that SOMETHING went right, because VDJ shows accurate information. But Lexicon is what isn’t showing correctly, even though the sync was initiated from there.
I think the issue is that reload tags won’t work here because you synced to VDJ, which doesn’t update file tags. If you want to update file tags, right click your tracks → Use → Write tags to file. Then reload tags will work the way you want.
OK…I tried that method, and it still doesn’t show the tag as updated in Lexicon. I did just what you said by clicking Use, then Write tags to file, then reloading the tags. I even went a step further by selecting all the tracks in Lexicon prior to performing this step. There are still several tracks that don’t update the tags in Lexicon…but these same tracks are showing updated tags in VDJ.
There is another, perhaps easier, way to get what you want. Your Lexicon smartlists are based on the Genre field, but your Genre comes from Custom Tags. That’s an extra step you don’t need to do. Instead of doing Genre contains #Clean instead create a rule Custom Tags has one of these tags: Clean.
Now just sync your Lexicon to VDJ and your smartlists turn into normal VDJ playlists automatically (because VDJ doesn’t know what custom tags are). Tracks inside those playlists should be the same as your Lexicon smartlists.
This way is much easier to maintain since there is no messing with field mappings or reloading tags. It’s just one source of truth and that is your Lexicon.
How did I miss this? LOL…This actually may even be a better option, as I also sync to Serato, and use both apps depending on the situation. That’s actually part of the allure of Lexicon for me. So let me make sure I understand…I use the method you outlined above, and it gives me smartlists in Lexicon that turn into regular playlists in VDJ and Serato. Sounds like a VERY workable alternative. Only downside I can find is that any additions now HAVE to go through Lexicon without fail to maintain consistency across both platforms…I think that’s manageable.
Yep, that’s exactly right. The nice part is that it works for all DJ apps, even if they don’t have smart playlists since they’re just regular playlists now.
In Lexicon they stay smartlists.
Yep, downside is that you have to add your tracks to Lexicon directly. But always doing that helps keeping things tidy, since you never need to mess with re-importing from a DJ app.
