In the beginning, it was not possible to mark an MP3 file as an Audiobook, and have it appear under the AUDIOBOOK section on the iPod. I believe the only way tracks could be put into the AUDIOBOOK section of the iPod, was if they were M4A or M4B files.
However, I recently noticed that the GET INFO window has changed (when, I do not know exactly), and there is a tab in the window called OPTIONS and in that tab, one of the selections is MEDIA KIND. Here you can tag an audiobook as an AUDIOBOOK, and it will then move the tracks to the AUDIOBOOK section in the iPod. This is great news, since MP3 files can now be put into the proper place in the iPod. In the past, all my audiobooks were lumped into MUSIC; I had to change the GENRE tag to AUDIOBOOK to make them easier to find. But the downside of this was that I really could not shuffle all the music tracks in my iPod - the audiobook speech files were played in the shuffle.
However, I still have some questions about this.
Most of my audiobook collection is in the format of MP3 files, and most of my books are composed of multiple MP3 files, vs a single large file. This has the advantage of jumping into the book at almost any spot; with a single large file, if I lost my place in the book, it would take forever to fast forward through the book to find my spot. Yes, bookmarking helped, but sometimes when reading a book (consisting of a single MP3 or M4B file), when I needed to backspace to re-listen to a section, if my finger jumped on the click wheel, instead of rewinding, it would jump back to the very beginning of the book. And anyone who ever tried to fast forward through a book several hundred megs in size, will agree with me it is not a pleasant task!
With this new addition to the GET INFO section, I thought that would change. Although it moved all the audiobook tracks to the AUDIOBOOK section, it did not merge all the tracks into one single book track. So, in effect, bookmarking is rather useless - it bookmarks the spot within the specific track, not the entire book, so I still have to remember exactly what track I in the book I left off at.
Also, when tagging all MP3 files of a book as AUDIOBOOK, and then loading the book onto my iPod, the listing in the AUDIOBOOK lists all individual tracks (MP3 files) of the book. So, if I have several books on the iPod, I have to do a lot of scrolling to find the one I want. Is there anyway of having the audiobooks listed individually, and then clicking on one to open the track listing? (similar to a music album and its individual tracks?)
Is there a function within iTunes to combine all the tracks into one single book track, or do I need to use some external program to do this before including in my iTunes library? If I need to pre-merge the tracks, what is the best program to do this (for Windows PC)?
And lastly, is there any way to REALLY fast forward through a long book? (cause I know I will still need to do this if I accidentally backspace to the beginning)
Any other helpful suggestions on using MP3 Audiobooks on the iPod would be greatly appreciated. Tnx!
However, I recently noticed that the GET INFO window has changed (when, I do not know exactly), and there is a tab in the window called OPTIONS and in that tab, one of the selections is MEDIA KIND. Here you can tag an audiobook as an AUDIOBOOK, and it will then move the tracks to the AUDIOBOOK section in the iPod. This is great news, since MP3 files can now be put into the proper place in the iPod. In the past, all my audiobooks were lumped into MUSIC; I had to change the GENRE tag to AUDIOBOOK to make them easier to find. But the downside of this was that I really could not shuffle all the music tracks in my iPod - the audiobook speech files were played in the shuffle.
However, I still have some questions about this.
Most of my audiobook collection is in the format of MP3 files, and most of my books are composed of multiple MP3 files, vs a single large file. This has the advantage of jumping into the book at almost any spot; with a single large file, if I lost my place in the book, it would take forever to fast forward through the book to find my spot. Yes, bookmarking helped, but sometimes when reading a book (consisting of a single MP3 or M4B file), when I needed to backspace to re-listen to a section, if my finger jumped on the click wheel, instead of rewinding, it would jump back to the very beginning of the book. And anyone who ever tried to fast forward through a book several hundred megs in size, will agree with me it is not a pleasant task!
With this new addition to the GET INFO section, I thought that would change. Although it moved all the audiobook tracks to the AUDIOBOOK section, it did not merge all the tracks into one single book track. So, in effect, bookmarking is rather useless - it bookmarks the spot within the specific track, not the entire book, so I still have to remember exactly what track I in the book I left off at.
Also, when tagging all MP3 files of a book as AUDIOBOOK, and then loading the book onto my iPod, the listing in the AUDIOBOOK lists all individual tracks (MP3 files) of the book. So, if I have several books on the iPod, I have to do a lot of scrolling to find the one I want. Is there anyway of having the audiobooks listed individually, and then clicking on one to open the track listing? (similar to a music album and its individual tracks?)
Is there a function within iTunes to combine all the tracks into one single book track, or do I need to use some external program to do this before including in my iTunes library? If I need to pre-merge the tracks, what is the best program to do this (for Windows PC)?
And lastly, is there any way to REALLY fast forward through a long book? (cause I know I will still need to do this if I accidentally backspace to the beginning)
Any other helpful suggestions on using MP3 Audiobooks on the iPod would be greatly appreciated. Tnx!