Ultra_Sun
03-28-2009, 08:58 PM
Listening to Your Music/Audiobook in the Order You Want
Audiobooks, more than music, require a specific playback order. Because I deal with a little over 5,000 seniors in getting free material to them, I have worked with numerous stand alone MP3 CD players, handhelds like iPOD, Zune, IPAQ, Palms, and host of those inexpensive MP3 flash players . What I am suggesting is not for every player or playback method, but a method that I have found to work on the majority of players and has worked on any player I have encountered. How many times do you want to fool with the ID3 tags?
Improper playback is typically due to ID3 tags or the file name. Functionality issues (fast forwarding, backing up or scrolling through tracks) occur due to poor naming conventions, file length, and/or total number of tracks or folders. Basically, two options are being used today to correct playback issues, edit all the ID3 tags, or join the files into one long file.
EDITING ID3 TAGS FOR THE GREATEST PLAYABILITY
ID3 tags for all converted files must be consistent to ensure proper playback. Because these methods change things fast, copy the converted files to working area on your computer separate from the originals.
GET ALL CONVERTED FILES IN ONE FOLDER
You will need to get all the MP3s for each audiobook into a single folder. Rename the files based on the disc and track number. The quickest way to do this is to highlight all the converted files in Disc 1’s folder and name them D01. Windows will automatically rename them D01, D01(1), D01(2), D01(3), etc. Do this for Disc 2’s files to get D02, D02(1), D02(3), etc. Continue in this manner until you have renamed all the files distinctly and can get them into a single folder on your computer.
EDIT SOME OF THE ID3 TAG FIELDS USING THE WINDOWS PROPERTIES FUNCTION
Next highlight all the renamed files and right click on them to edit the properties (found under the Properties Advanced Summary tab). Make changes to the Artist, Album Title, Year, Genre, Lyrics, and Comments fields to ensure that all MP3 files have consistent information in these fields. Leave the Title, Track and all other fields alone, you will use your tagging program to fix these.
EDIT THE TITLE AND TRACK FIELDS WITH AN ID3 TAG EDITOR AND RENAME THE FILES
Next, use a tag editor to batch edit the Track Number and Title fields. I use a free program called MP3 Book Helper for tag editing (feel free to use your own tagging software). Your tag editor program will need the following abilities:
Allow you to order your files before making any changes (you need to get the files in the same order you want them played back in before you make track number changes).
Automatically determine or calculate Track Numbers.
Determine the Title field based on a fixed name appended with a track number.
Ability to rename the file based on Title and vice versa.
I would highly recommend that it has the ability to show you the changes before you save them.
For the Title field, use the title of the book (or an identifiable abbreviated version of it) appended with the Track Number. For certain players you may need to abbreviate this to a total of 8 characters (including the track number). Final step is to use the tagging program to rename your files to match the Title field of your ID3 tags. The file folder can have a long descriptive name, but keep the MP3 file names short for maximum playback options.
JOINING ALL FILES OF AN AUDIOBOOK INTO ONE LONG FILE
Let me just say this, joining all files of an audiobook into one long file is a quick fix that has a host of issues when you actually listen to an audiobook from start to finish on anything except a computer. Unlike a computer connected to the net, most of these players are not able to get updates and so you must work within their limitations to ensure your listening pleasure. Noncomputer playback has various issues that interrupt functionality such as the number of tracks, length of track, number of folders on the CD or SD card. For this reason, a splitter/joiner program is a valuable tool for making converted files more compatible, but again, this is dependent upon your playback choice.
Audiobooks, more than music, require a specific playback order. Because I deal with a little over 5,000 seniors in getting free material to them, I have worked with numerous stand alone MP3 CD players, handhelds like iPOD, Zune, IPAQ, Palms, and host of those inexpensive MP3 flash players . What I am suggesting is not for every player or playback method, but a method that I have found to work on the majority of players and has worked on any player I have encountered. How many times do you want to fool with the ID3 tags?
Improper playback is typically due to ID3 tags or the file name. Functionality issues (fast forwarding, backing up or scrolling through tracks) occur due to poor naming conventions, file length, and/or total number of tracks or folders. Basically, two options are being used today to correct playback issues, edit all the ID3 tags, or join the files into one long file.
EDITING ID3 TAGS FOR THE GREATEST PLAYABILITY
ID3 tags for all converted files must be consistent to ensure proper playback. Because these methods change things fast, copy the converted files to working area on your computer separate from the originals.
GET ALL CONVERTED FILES IN ONE FOLDER
You will need to get all the MP3s for each audiobook into a single folder. Rename the files based on the disc and track number. The quickest way to do this is to highlight all the converted files in Disc 1’s folder and name them D01. Windows will automatically rename them D01, D01(1), D01(2), D01(3), etc. Do this for Disc 2’s files to get D02, D02(1), D02(3), etc. Continue in this manner until you have renamed all the files distinctly and can get them into a single folder on your computer.
EDIT SOME OF THE ID3 TAG FIELDS USING THE WINDOWS PROPERTIES FUNCTION
Next highlight all the renamed files and right click on them to edit the properties (found under the Properties Advanced Summary tab). Make changes to the Artist, Album Title, Year, Genre, Lyrics, and Comments fields to ensure that all MP3 files have consistent information in these fields. Leave the Title, Track and all other fields alone, you will use your tagging program to fix these.
EDIT THE TITLE AND TRACK FIELDS WITH AN ID3 TAG EDITOR AND RENAME THE FILES
Next, use a tag editor to batch edit the Track Number and Title fields. I use a free program called MP3 Book Helper for tag editing (feel free to use your own tagging software). Your tag editor program will need the following abilities:
Allow you to order your files before making any changes (you need to get the files in the same order you want them played back in before you make track number changes).
Automatically determine or calculate Track Numbers.
Determine the Title field based on a fixed name appended with a track number.
Ability to rename the file based on Title and vice versa.
I would highly recommend that it has the ability to show you the changes before you save them.
For the Title field, use the title of the book (or an identifiable abbreviated version of it) appended with the Track Number. For certain players you may need to abbreviate this to a total of 8 characters (including the track number). Final step is to use the tagging program to rename your files to match the Title field of your ID3 tags. The file folder can have a long descriptive name, but keep the MP3 file names short for maximum playback options.
JOINING ALL FILES OF AN AUDIOBOOK INTO ONE LONG FILE
Let me just say this, joining all files of an audiobook into one long file is a quick fix that has a host of issues when you actually listen to an audiobook from start to finish on anything except a computer. Unlike a computer connected to the net, most of these players are not able to get updates and so you must work within their limitations to ensure your listening pleasure. Noncomputer playback has various issues that interrupt functionality such as the number of tracks, length of track, number of folders on the CD or SD card. For this reason, a splitter/joiner program is a valuable tool for making converted files more compatible, but again, this is dependent upon your playback choice.