ITunes Naming Options?

E

EvilBitch

Registered
Is there anyone else that is frustrated that ITunes doesnt have any way of letting you decide how you want your mp3s named or how it places them on your harddrive? I mean I have been using grip in linux on my other machine for making mp3s for years and I have made a couple albums worth now on my mac but I am not happy what the heck is up with "" in the file names? So did I just miss something or is ITunes really missing a crucial part of an mp3 ripper/encoder.
 
I don't understand why it makes a difference how iTunes names and organizes them on your hard drive. All that matters is if you can burn them to an Audio CD or an MP3 CD, and that you can name them within iTunes, and since you can burn CDs straight from iTunes, it seems to me that it makes no difference. I rarely go into my music folder anymore.

Is this REALLY a problem?
 
iTunes sorts its files into folders by Artist, then Album. I have not seen "" in a filename anywhere, and I cannot see any problem with iTunes method of storing files. Of course, burning CDs and MP3-CDs I usually do from within iTunes, but I did recently use Finder to back up all my MP3s and noticed no real difficulty.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
 
I'm not sure what the reference to a "" filename is, but I do have some frustration at the lack of naming options, though. Specifically, it will not allow the option of putting track numbers in the name. With apps like XMMS or mpg123, the ID3 tags are not properly read (a version thing? dunno why), so the only thing those apps have to go on is the filename. And without track numbers, it goes alphabetical. Not cool.

Now, I did find some perl scripts that would allow the manipulation of the ID3 tags, so it was a simple matter @ that point to read the track number from the ID3 tag, then rename the file with the proper prefix ( I love MacOSX being UNIX :) ), so I have a way to work around it. However, it's still not optimal since SoundJamMP had the option to do it @ file creation, but that feature didn't remain when it became iTunes...
 
Yes the file naming is annoying to me. Because of how it names the files all the titles appear differently on my ipod. It names the mp3s such as "Pig" by Nine Inch Nails.mp3 I would like to designate how the files are named. If you dont find this frustating you have obviously never used any quality software that does allow you to name the files the way you would like. I also do not like to have spaces in my file names and therefore would like to be able to designate what the spaces should be and what character should be used between naming options such as:

Nine_Inch_Nails-Pig.mp3

All other ripping/encoding software I have ever used (grip and audiocatalyst) would allow you to name files this way, but for some stupid reason ITunes doesn't.
 
I have seen the "" in some of my mp3 file names. It didn't bother me until I backed up my iBook to my iMac by copying my Music folder across. The copy error'd out on these files and would not continue, ignore them, etc. I had to go through and change the names of the files myself in order to 'back up'.

Double annoyance:

1. The naming caused the copying of a file to screw up.
2. The screwing up of a single file when copying caused the entire copying process to screw up.

:mad:
 
Thanks for bringing up the point about transferring the files. Just to let everyone know the naming convention it uses looks really stupid when displayed on the ipod:

"Debra" by Beck
Beck
Midnight Vultures


So not only does it make the file name stupid it also makes the ID3 tag stupid. I keep all my mp3s on a linux box (pc running redhat) and transfer the files I want to my tibook by connecting to the server via samba (I love that its built in to OSX) so I cant use Itunes to make mp3s while Im out about town with my Tibook and then transfer them to the server when I get home unless I rename the files. That is a major pain in the A$$ when you have Gigs upon Gigs of MP3s. And before anyone says anything I own 95% of the albums the mp3s are created from.
 
It sucks to have to add 01 , 02, 03 etc. to all my file names so that albums play in the right order on my Rio Volt. It would great if Apple would at least give us the option to include things like the track number in the file name - I don't really care about anything other info in the file name cuz i rely on ID3 tags, which the Rio supports beautifully (although it doesn't understand the "ae" character so Tool's Aenima comes up as "nima"), but it DAMN – what a pain in the neck to have to manually enter that stuff in ....

c'mon apple, i mean REALLY - would it be that hard? how was something as simple as file-naming conventions overlooked in iTunes?
 
I have found that naming songs actually distorts my sound on my Sonnett G3/400mhz upgraded Performa 6400/180.

Since I'm not running a true G3 I expect a little slowdown. But hey Apple how about adding an option to turn off the Name, Artist, Album scroll every 10sec. in the iTunes main window.

I currently get around this by closing the iTunes main window. Because it is so Frustrating:mad: to listen to mp3s while every 10secs the sound distorts so iTunes can display the Song Name, Artist and Album.
 
gwiley, do u have a video card installed? my brother has a 6500 upgraded with a Sonnett G3 400. The sound issues are common with this series of PowerMac/Performa, but usually only when you install certain video cards. Well, let me rephrase that. Usually only when you install almost ANY video card, most notably ATI cards. Apparently Voodoo cards work OK, and later ATI cards like the Radeon work fine. I'm not sure about the new Radeon 7000 though.

We experienced the same problem the other day after we installed an ATI Rage128 that was pulled from my G3 B&W after I upgraded to the Radeon 7000. If we used the onboard video everything worked fine, but as soon as we used the Rage card, audio problems abounded.

Unfortunately, its a well-documented and so far unfixable bug in the design of that series.

I would recommend spending some time at this site:
http://homepage.mac.com/zone6400
they have TONS of info about this problem and you may find a fix for it.

Good luck!
 
You hit the nail right on the head. I got the hype 128 Rage card from ATI.

I should have gone another route, but when they first came out everyone had good things to say about it. Now it is like geez why did I buy this card it causes so many problems with other apps.

Thanks.
 
I've had no problems with file naming in iTunes at all, and never seen the ** thing. For the few times that I've had MP3s with knackered tags, I've just used ID3X to batch tag them. You can also batch rename them with combinations of title, artist and track number.
 
gwiley, here's what i plan on doing for my bro:

i'm more than likely going to his house on sunday with my new Radeon 7000 and plug it in to see how it works. I think that the Radeon-branded cards from ATI work fine from what I've heard, so I"m giving it a shot.

If it works, I'll let you know. You can probably get around 40 to 50 bucks for your Rage on eBay, and the new Radeon 7000 can be had for around $100. Plus it features bitchin' dual-display support. my only concern is that if it DOES work, he might not let me take the Radeon back with me ;)

So we shall see and I'll keep u posted.
 
Yep exaxtly what I was thinking, about selling it on ebay.

I'm doing some research on video cards to see how they work with My Sonnett L2 G3 400/1mb card. No sense in buying another card that does the same.

Let me know what you find out.

Thanks.
 
WTF. I have never seen any of the problems you guys have mentioned.

1) My songs never get imported as ”"Name" by Artist” as the name and ”Artist” in the artist. They always have the correct Name and Artist in the appropriate fields, and get displayed on my iPod as such.

2) When ripping CDs, iTunes ALWAYS puts the track numbers in correctly and all of the other information in their appropriate fields. I know that you can't put the track number in the name, so I guess that's a problem, but I always just use the built-in ID3 tag.

3) You guys know you CAN edit the ID3 tags from within iTunes, right? And that you can edit the information for multiple songs simultaneously, right? For individual songs, select them and press Cmd-I, and then click the "Tags" tab. For multiple songs, select them all, and then press Cmd-I, and the tag editor should come up immediately. From here you can check which information you want to change in all of the songs, enter the information, and then say "OK", and the tags on all of the selected songs will be updated accordingly. (If you want to select a set of noncontiguous songs, use the Command key to select them all, like in the new Finder. To select a group of contiguous songs, you can click on the first, and shift click on the last, and all the ones in between will be selected). I know this doesn't make up for the putting the track # in the name, but I thought I might mention this anyway -- I read an article where someone said they had completely missed the tag editor in iTunes.

I'm sure it would be nice if Apple had put an option to add the track numbers to the names, but everything else seems fine. The tag editor built in to iTunes seems more than enough for me.
 
to thedbp

I did some playing around, and your right iTunes doesn't skip with Apples Video Card.

I then plugged my Rage 128 back in and disabled the ATI Acceleration software and my mp3s with iTunes skipping stopped and Internet Explorer updates faster in some cases, just the screen redraw when you move windows around is choppy.

I'm considering backing up my ATI software and getting the newer version to see if helps or makes it worse:rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by gwiley
I'm considering backing up my ATI software and getting the newer version to see if helps or makes it worse:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

well, i can't say for your exact situation, but we tried the very latest drivers as of last week, and it was no dice :( I just think its some bug with the Rage chipset and the 6400 series PowerMacs. Stupid huh?

I've heard that turning off the acceleration works in some cases, but then why have the video card? :(

I'll post about the Radeon tomorrow.
 
to thedbp

Well I need the Card so I can view over thousands of colors at 1024x768. I could care less about the fps rate and other game features of the card.

As long as I can browse Internet/email, listen/burn CD's and edit pics in PhotoShop I'm a happy camper :cool:
 
I'm really confused as to what you guys are talking about... iTunes imports files for me with the name in "name" and the artist in "artist." So my mp3's show up as

Dogma
KMFDM
Adios

i've yet to have any problem....
 
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