Beginners Guide. Copying an Audio CD to a Bookmarking iPod File. All iTunes process.

[LsGoDivn]

Robert, Power Lounger, your Guide 4. Create bookmarking iPod files from CDs. All iTunes, 1 file/CD solution section is very thorough. However, I have a problem with B5, Adding files to iTunes Library, dragging and dropping the files into the Library. It seems to hang up, and I can never get the window with the Book Name X_Y1 telling me the original could not be found and asking if I want to locate it. What to do? Thanks for any help

[robert]

1. double clicking the files in turn to get them to add to library (they will begin to play if you set iTunes as default player), or
2. R click and select copy, then highlight library in iTunes and then edit> Paste.Or,
3. Click on iTunes>File>Add file to Library and browse to the folder with the book files. Look for under Author names in iTunes Music Folder.
4. Drag and drop from Show Files window or iTunes Music Folder

use the windows search command from Start menu to look for *.M4B files if you have "lost" the files.

You will have to manually remove the m4a file indices, which no longer exist now that you have renamed them. They will have ! next to them. R click>clear.

Guess I need to run a manual conversion again. Thought when I added all the screen shots and revised that I had thoroughly checked it out. I usually use MarkAble.

tell me what works easiest for you, please.

[robert]

For a duplicate of this tutorial and with screen shots, look here. Image source seems to be blocking image linking in this and other posts. Copying post into Word document shows images. R click on image X and choose properties shows the image location for entering into IE address line. Working on a permanent fix.

Download YAMB from YAMB website

1. Upon Completion of ripping all the joined-track audio book CDs -How-to rip CD's guide - Open YAMB

Settings: Ignoring Options and leaving all entries unchecked (default) seems to work.

2. Choose Splitting and Joining tab.

3. Click on Add button in Joining Section of Window (Add before removing so as not to lose the output file location entry. Clear removes all files and the output location.

4. Use Open window to browse to files to be joined. Look for the files in the iTunes Music default Folder Location, which is shown at Edit>Preferences>Advanced>General. Look under author name to find the Album folder in which the ripped files reside. If you didn't enter Album author while ripping, look under Unknown Album.


All *.m4b files must be renamed m4a prior to joining, but output will produce *.m4b files. See Step 7.

5. Highlight four files (approximately the five hour limitation); click on Open


6. Make certain files are in sequential order. Highlight and click remove on any that are out of sequence. YAMB has no sort capability. Click Add for the Open window, highlight the files needed to add in sequence. Inevitably my to-be-joined groupings had the last file first. So, Remove the last file at top of list, click Add and highlight the needed file, click Open and YAMB adds that file at the proper place at bottom of list.

Note Out of Order File

A. One time: Use Windows Explorer to create a temporary output folder named Joined in iTunes\iTunes Music default location for ease of locating joined files.

7. Enter Output file in Output line of the YAMB window. Suggest G:\iTunes\iTunes Music\Joined\Short Book Name X_Y.m4b where X is the four file joined combination sequence, Y is the total number of resulting joined files, and U or A is abridged or unabridged (Y = Total number of files / 4 plus one if there is a remainder). First output set of a 9 CD audio book is 1_5U. WARNING: Of the file portion - Short Book Name X_YU - of the Output entry, YAMB truncates characters, including numbers, in excess of 35.




8. Click on Join. Joining will takes approximately 5 minutes on my older, slow computer and unlike MarkAble, the join process has to be managed hands on -- Add each group of four files, waiting for completion of each group, then adding and waiting for the next group until completion.

9. When YAMB log says Joining complete, click on New button


10. Click on Splitting and Joining Tab and Add next set of files before highlighting and clicking Remove on the prior set of files (Preserves output location)


11. Click Add, browsing to and highlighting the next group of files and click Open button.


12. After Adding the next set of files to be joined, select each CD file from prior join and Click Remove -- Do Not click Clear. Also Remove any out of order files and Add them back in proper order.


13. Before clicking join, alter Output to the proper X_Y sequence, changing (+1) only the X in the existing Output entry box. so that you will have Short Book Name 1_5U, Short Book Name 2_5, etc., in the Joined output folder you created in iTunes.

14. Click Join. Log appears.

15. When log says join complete, click on New and go back to Step 2 and repeat until entire audio book is joined. Increment the Output file number so that YAMB will not overwrite a prior join file.

16. Navigate with Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer (type in iTunes\iTunes Music\Joined or copy and paste Output entry to IE Address Line, deleting specific *.m4b file name portion of output entry line.

18. In the Widows or Internet Explorer window, highlight each of the Joined files (Control L click each or highlight the first one, hold down shift and highlight the last one).

19. Reduce the iTunes and Joined Folder windows with double box button so that Joined Folder contents and iTunes window can be seen simultaneously.

20. R click and drag the highlighted joined files to iTunes Library Audiobooks Folder.

21. If necessary and desired, replace Short Book Name with full title in each joined.
-Right Click each joined file,
-choose Get Info and Info Tab
-copy Album Name
-Paste Album name appropriatedly in place of each Short Book name, in turn, in front of X_YU.
-Add pertinent Information in the Get Info Window, Info Tab
- Artist = Author
- Album Artist = Author
- Name = Book Name X_YU
- Album = Book Name
- Genre = your choice (I created a Conversion genre -- just key it in)

22. Delete individually ripped audio CD files. (Browse to, using step 4)
It is probably necessary to enter only Short Book name in Name and Disc X_Y, in Info tab on the original rip. Other entries do not survive joining.

23. Synch or drag and drop joined files to iPod. Also, see how to create a smart play list, creating on iPod or in iTunes. Drag any iTunes Playlist to ipod or create smart playlist directly on iPod.

[robert]

reserved for YAMB splitting

[musik4life89]

thanks robert for making this tutorial because it's helped me out so much.

[musik4life89]

now i have a problem. i was able to get my files in the audio library of iTunes, but it doesn't show in the "audiobook" selection of my iPod. i do all this using the windows.

[robert]

Originally Posted by musik4life89

now i have a problem. i was able to get my files in the audio library of iTunes, but it doesn't show in the "audiobook" selection of my iPod. i do all this using the windows.

EDIT: 1-13-07: For homemade m4b files to show up in Audiobook folders of iTunes and iPod, they must be added or dragged directly to the Audiobooks folders. See more detail in post below.

[musik4life89]

Originally Posted by robert

The only homemade files that show up in Audiobook selection are AAC files with m4b extensions. Did you change the file name extensions to m4b from m4a? To check this, right click your converted files in iTunes and choose show file in widows explorer. You should see all the files in a windows explorer window where you change the files extensions one at the time from m4a to m4b if that is the problem. As the guide says, you will then have to reimport them into iTunes -- easiest way is to double click the file after renaming and if you have iTunes as your default player, it will import the newly renamed files into iTunes Audiobook library. iTunes now has a file indexed (the m4a ones) which no longer exist and you will see and ! next to them. Highlight and delete these.

If you can't see the file extension, there are instruction links in the tutorial on how to make windows show the file extension.

Yeah I did all that, my audiobooks just don't show up in the audiobook section on my iPod. They do show up in my audiobook selection in the iTunes library. (should have been a little more specific on that part, my bad on that).

[musik4life89]

I am an auto synch and I have the genre's on conversion. Now if I was suppose to change the genre to audiobooks after renaming them to the .m4b then no I did not do that. But it does show up in the Audiobooks library of itunes, just not the iPod (see screen shot).

Screen Shot:

[musik4life89]

nm. they are finally showing on my Audiobook menu on my iPod

[robert]

For homemade audio files to show in audiobooks folders of either iTunes or iPod, the files must be added to or dragged directly into the audiobooks folders in the libraries of either. This is a change from earlier iTunes versions where the m4b extension would cause the files to show in audiobooks.

To add an m4b file to Audiobook category of iTunes, highlight Audiobook, select file at top of iTunes, select either add folder or add file, browse to the m4b file(s) and highlight and click OK to add to Audiobook folder.

I wondered if one could do this with an mp3 file, but that doesn't work.

[kirkmc]

No, Robert, that's not true. You can simply add the files to your library in any way. However, experience shows that, at least on a Mac using Doug's AppleScript to change a file to bookmarkable, you have to remove it from the library then add it anew to get it to show up correctly.

Kirk

[robert]

A couple of us pc users added homemade files that did not show in iTunes audiobooks unless dragged to Audiobooks folder. I will test it next time and report. Maybe try the remove and add. I need to change the Tutorial to reflect this.

[kirkmc]

You can't actually drag anything to the "Audiobooks" folder. If you do, it's the LIBRARY that highlights.

Kirk

[robert]

Originally Posted by kirkmc

You can't actually drag anything to the "Audiobooks" folder. If you do, it's the LIBRARY that highlights.

Kirk

PC:
I just tried it and stand corrected. However, "Library" cannot be highlighted -- only the Library sub folders can be. Dragging an m4b file to iTune's "Library" line or any entry under Library, including Music, places an m4b file in AudioBooks. Either my memory is faulty or a prior version of iTunes was showing homemade m4b files in music unless they were specifically dragged to the Audiobooks folder. Howver, I think that the current version of iTunes is the first to have an Audiobooks folder, so that points to memory or some other problem. I will eventually get around to correcting the tutorial, but since dragging to the Audiobooks folder works, not much pressure to do so.