iTunes metadata and artwork

I had archived a number of things you helped me out with. (turingtest2). One was "exportimport" script. I tried clicking the link in an old posting and it comes up with a 404 error. Is there a way that could be reposted here?

Also had help in trying to maintain the metadata and album art when replacing files in itunes. I got a few different scripts ( Create Folder Art, Update Tag Info, Sort Date Added and then a few different Date Arranger scripts). I had instructions on the order of how to make sure the album art stays on the file but my notes appear to be incomplete as I don't recall the order/steps necessary for that. I believe it was the create folder art script but the sequence of that is what I've forgotten.

I know itunes is not viable much these days but what I am trying to do is replace all the existing titles in my library that are mp3 160 baud with either 320, or even wav, AIFF or FLAC (perhaps AAC).

It seems no matter what I do, I cannot get it to work properly despite all the wonderful guidance you provided. So here's the gist of what I'm attempting.

Use the newer, high quality versions of the same song for all the songs in the library.
Keep all the same information already on the file. This includes the rating, genre, album art, comments, composer, etc. All the metadata that's on the original file.

So each song will just be the newer, better quality version. My plan is to use AIFF or FLAC files as technology seems to be improved to handle these. But if AAC Apple Lossless is the better option, I can do that. But I do want the best possible quality as space is no issue these days (hard-drives).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Posted on Aug 27, 2020 1:15 PM

Top-ranking reply

turingtest2

Level 10

278,181 points

Posted on Sep 1, 2020 3:49 PM

Hi,

I've updated ExportImport to capture artwork. This is the easier tweak. When running in export mode an image is created for each unique album and saved in same folder as the script in the form <Artist> - <Album>.jpg and another line is added to the exported information for that track. In the import phase the current file is checked to see it it has art, and if not, and if there is an image at the saved path, then it is inserted. As a test I used the script to export data for 27 tracks from three albums. I then removed the artwork and used the import mode to restore the artwork.

So step by step:

Select some tracks that you want to upgrade in iTunes.
Run the ExportImport script.
Replace the low resolution files with your higher rate conversions, in the same file format, and at the same paths.
Drag and drop the Export Import [<Date> <Time>].txt file that was created onto the ExportImport script.
Review the updated files in the library and Explorer to check that all the properties have been restored, artwork embedded, etc.

After reviewing the code for the script I've seen how you can use it to upgrade, for example, mp3 to Apple Lossless. Step 3.1 would be to edit the exported data file in a text editor and perform a search and replace operation to change .mp3 to .m4a before saving the file. As long as you've removed the .mp3 files the script will attempt to relink iTunes to the path specified in the text file.

I should be able to add in something more elegant during the import phase that checks for the existence of a file at the location noted during export of <path>.ext and, if it isn't there, looks to see if there is a file with another valid extension from the list <path>.aif, <path>.mp3, <path>.m4a, <path>.wav, etc. If a potential match is found the script can then relink iTunes to that file before restoring the other properties.

tt2

View in context

Similar questions

352 replies

turingtest2

Level 10

278,181 points

Oct 3, 2020 2:01 PM in response to William Richards3

In 10.7 all of the possible fields are exposed for all items. In 12.x the dialog box is customised for different media types. You don't need to use all of the fields, but for movies that are part of a series (Alien, Harry Potter etc.) you can opt to use Disc Number and to keep track of their position in the series. I might also write a series name in Grouping and I use a similar approach for audiobook collections. I'd also add the release year and I'm allergic to ALL CAPS, but that's just me. I think for movies the only time I used the video tab is if I wanted to use the description field.

tt2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,181 points

Oct 3, 2020 2:22 PM in response to William Richards3

William Richards3 wrote:

You said something about having the folder.jpg for each movie so the folder in windows will show it. So in that case I wouldn't want to remove those folders such as I did for songs with all those artwork files the I used CleanDeadArtwork script for, right?

CleanDeadArt preserves Folder.jpg images in folder that have media items. This is also why I use a structure that has one album, movie, TV show, audiobook, etc. per folder. I get a visual representation of what a folder contains.

So for a movie, did you capture the movie poster so to speak and apply it to the movie then? I don't have any artwork on any of my movies or TV shows - but then I've only got ones I burned, not purchased. I do have a few where, when you buy the movie they give you the download code to save a copy. I only have a few of those but those that I do of this ilk, do have artwork. I never remembered to download those movies. So several that I've gone back to say the link is expired. Seems ridiculous as I have the movie, same as before. Oh well. My fault I didn't.

Yep, I'll use Google image search to find a suitable image, save it as Folder.jpg and then paste it into the artwork box in iTunes.

Download codes are generally a one time deal, and even then they may expire, which can be annoying.

tt2

Oct 3, 2020 3:46 PM in response to turingtest2

I'm with you on the ALL CAPS thing. That happened somehow back when and I just never updated. I chuckled when I read that because that also drives me nuts.

I'll check the fields out per your comments above. Thanks.

Oct 3, 2020 4:02 PM in response to turingtest2

YOU SAID: As long as you maintain local copies of all your own content there isn't much to fear from iTunes Match, or Apple Music, provided they add something that you actually want. I have a primary library with all my content, and a secondary iCloud library with Apple Music that lets me access all of that library on my iPhone, iPad, HomePods, and Apple TV (albeit in some cases I may get Apple's 256k version of my track rather than my own on that device). The iCloud library is kept in sync automatically across three computers, and because I'm using Apple Music I can also add in almost anything from the iTunes Store on demand, which can be fun. Without Apple Music it would be harder (but certainly not impossible) to listen to my ripped music on my HomePods. I wouldn't be able to simply ask Siri to play anything whether from my ripped music, or content I've not even got in my library, which is what I can do now.

ME: Boy, there's a lot there. I am trying to get to using Siri (or perhaps Alexa) to play an artist, album, song, or playlists. Not sure that's possible, but that's kind of another reason I'm doing all this revamping and cleaning up. I am not grasping this whole area you're covering. But since I asked the question, I have some research to do. Perhaps you have another exchange where you've covered this more in-depth? Or a link(s) to some input or explanation/training on this? I've never used like Apple Airplay. I don't have it in the car or in the house anywhere. I don't have an Echo, Google, or Apple speaker. All I have is Sonos and Apple TV device (a recent acquisition) so I'm way behind on this so I just haven't experienced it. Any guidance or more in-depth stuff on this would be greatly appreciated. It sounds exciting, which is why I'm working so hard on this as you hopefully can tell.

YOU SAID: See Use Home Sharing to share media from a computer to other devices - Apple Support. I don't think two-factor authentication is required for Home Sharing, but I could be wrong. That said iTunes 10.7 is too old to talk to the iTunes Store properly (TLS 1.0 is no longer supported) so it might that which stops you setting up Home Sharing.

ME: Yes, my dilemma - and why I'm also doing all this - is that Sonos stopped supporting the iPod dock about two years ago. Therefore, I'm still on the very last version of their app that supports is so I can use it. And that also means I'm still back on iOS 12.4. So I'm not sure which direction to go here. I'm working as quickly as I can to get things lined up so I can make the switch to update everything. So I guess that will be:

Get all the updated music fidelity into iTunes and the new MUSIC (or TV Shows or Movies) onto the new Hard-drive.
At that point I think I'm comfortable updating the iOS for my iPhone, iTunes, iPod and Sonos.

Any guidance on your view of the best steps to take, in which order, would definitely be very appreciated and helpful. I will check out that link you have above (but as that points out - all software should be on the latest version, so I have to get this library finished up first).

Thoughts good sir? Thank you as always!!

turingtest2

Level 10

278,181 points

Oct 3, 2020 4:32 PM in response to William Richards3

William Richards3 wrote:

YOU SAID: CleanDeadArt preserves Folder.jpg images in folder that have media items. This is also why I use a structure that has one album, movie, TV show, audiobook, etc. per folder. I get a visual representation of what a folder contains.

ME: The folder.jpg image was removed from each folder as I ran that script Thursday. On some folders, where I had so few titles, I could go through and delete on my own, I did that. I thought I remembered you saying I could delete those as well. And as the CleanDeadArt was removing them, I did as well. So should I go through all the folders and put that back in? Won't be that big of a deal. Or are you referring to just movies, audiobooks or TV shows?

There's me forgetting things. In your case you have many folders where you have music from different albums in the same folder, so any Folder.jpg image in those wouldn't be representative of the whole. I added a switch when DelFolder=True that allows you to delete Folder.jpg images along with other art when running CleanDeadArt. You shouldn't need to run the script again if you've run it against the whole drive, but you can change that switch so DelFolder=False should you want to.

tt2

turingtest2

Level 10

278,181 points

Oct 3, 2020 4:50 PM in response to William Richards3

William Richards3 wrote:

YOU SAID: With multiple items selected entering Track Number, Episode ID or Episode Number is likely to set multiple items to the same value when that isn't what you really want to happen. With multiple items selected entering Track Number, Episode ID or Episode Number is likely to set multiple items to the same value when that isn't what you really want to happen.

ME: That must be version 12 thing? I don't see that on 10.7. (I just shut off the other computer. I can look later). And if it's not related to version 12, I'm not seeing how that shows up. And not sure I understand the multiple items to the same value (though in general I know what you mean - I'm just not exactly sure how I'd get there by mistake).

I highlighted it in your screenshot. It said Multiple Item Information at the top. On the Info tab the Name field was missing which was another clue. You probably had the whole season selected when you used Get Info. I wanted to make the point that I wasn't telling you to put in say s01e01 in the dialog as it existed in your screenshot, because that would set the episode IDs for multiple episodes to the same value.

YOU SAID: There are 180 episodes of Seinfeld altogether, and I like to number them using the overall numbers rather than the number within that season. (I take the same approach with multi-disc albums.) The convention is to use the pattern s01e01 even when there are fewer than 10 seasons or 10 episodes within a season. These conventions lead to episodes being in order when sorted by episode ID, or filename if the filename begins with the episode ID.

ME: Oh I see, I understand what you mean. That makes total sense. I like that approach.

THANKS!

As ever, you're welcome.

tt2

Oct 6, 2020 2:37 PM in response to turingtest2

I've been away from things for a couple of days. I"m fine-tuning some Beatles tracks and was trying to replace some versions with different ones and it was the perfect thing for the Export/Import script. I used both the 1.0.0.23 (force equals true) and 1.0.0.22 and I'm getting an error message so I must be doing something wrong. Here are my steps.

I highlight the track in iTunes
I run the EI script
I move the track out of the folder it's in
I copy the new track into the folder where the original track was
I drag the .txt that was created and put it on top of the script.

I'm getting this error message;

So I went back over the notes and see I'm supposed to "move" the new quality version into the folder the original occupied but it also gave me the error message.

What am I doing wrong?

turingtest2

Level 10

278,181 points

Oct 6, 2020 3:02 PM in response to William Richards3

It is possible the file is locked as read only or if it is something you've just converted using other software that might still "own" the file which could prevent iTunes from making changes. See Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows - Apple Community.

tt2

Oct 7, 2020 7:20 PM in response to turingtest2

It took me quite a long time to review different baud rates, stereo vs mono versions, anthology and so forth. It's been a lot of work. Still not done but making my way.

I'll be in touch I'm sure. Wish me luck!!!

Oct 8, 2020 2:29 PM in response to turingtest2

Target folder was the same drive as the artwork I wanted to clean. This is the "E" drive and is one of many folders on the E drive. This particular folder (the one highlighted) contains only music (I think). Then you can see the other target folder underneath:

turingtest2

Level 10

278,181 points

Oct 8, 2020 2:37 PM in response to William Richards3

You can remove the quote at the beginning of line 178 to see what the script is about to do before it gets to line 182. It might make it easier to see what the issue is. E:\Artwork might be a more straightforward target to use. You can always move and relabel the folder afterwards.

tt2

Oct 8, 2020 3:03 PM in response to turingtest2

I changed it to Artwork. Then ran it again. It error'd out at 182 again. One thing I noticed (and this may have been here before with the first couple of attempts and I didn't notice), is that the process did begin. Here is where it must have stopped:

There is artwork there so it did remove it. It stopped right on that Beatles folder (original album Stereo versions)....

So I'm not sure what's up.

On another note, I'm not sure how to edit a script. I have not yet downloaded Note ++ I believe you said it was. Is that a free program from a trusted source, or is it within windows? I have Note obviously.

Let me know. Thanks!

Oct 8, 2020 3:08 PM in response to turingtest2

And BTW, I noticed that it skipped by folder(s) that had artwork that should have been removed. I don't know if it goes in order or just how the script works.

So I then ran the script on just one folder and this time I had successful outcome.

That was the "MOM - CCADS" folder that was skipped (?) as you see on the first capture. It's missing and is listed on the E drive Folder (source for this script execution) before the MP3's - Master and sub-folders of that in my post a few minutes ago.

Oct 10, 2020 12:40 PM in response to turingtest2

I was working on upgrading fidelity and came across something I hadn't considered (or at least didn't think through). I have a Led Zeppelin boxed set of remastered songs. So let's say it's Led Zep's first album. I ripped it using both Wav and Apple lossless through iTunes. But I ended up deleting both and here's why.

Songs from that album are in various folders as I told you. (what a nightmare for me).
I was going to use the customer renamer script but realized I probably can't use songs from multiple folders at once can I? Likely, I can only use one at a time?

So in this real-world example, two of the songs are in 1700s folder, a couple from 300s, still a couple of others from a couple other folders. So to drag each in from each is arduous - but may be the only recourse. For those songs that are in one folder, that will be easy (or easier). But I'm going to have a lot of situations where I'm going to have to practically create an excel spreadsheet to keep track of things.

But my main question here is whether I can create the playlist in itunes and drag songs in from these multiple folders described above?

In some cases, it might be easier to just use Export/Import and go song-by-song. Remove the couple from the folder, then move the new fidelity it and do it that way?

If I wasn't concerned about metadata and all the playlists etc., I would just start over and bring everything in. In some fashion, it might be easier to do that. I don't know. It's starting to overwhelm me with trying to decide what to do.

Any thoughts kind sir? Really appreciate as always!

Oct 10, 2020 12:47 PM in response to William Richards3

Let me clarify as to why I couldn't keep the converted songs (wav and lossless) that I did off the CD in iTunes. I mainly used iTunes to burn the CD. Then I deleted those songs out of iTunes. Then started looking at the best way to replace the versions as I've outlined above.

I also wondered; in the case of Led Zeppelin, let's say the song in the library is "Led Zeppelin - Good Times, Bad Times". In the case of me burning a new CD, I wanted to add "RM" at the end of the title to signify that's they're the remastered versions. So the title would be "Led Zeppelin - Good Times, Bad Times (RM)." But iTunes won't see them as same title, right?

One other quick question if I may; you recommended letting iTunes convert to lower AAC if all the songs don't fit on an iPod. Is there a way to let it only do so on certain songs? I'm sure there's not but I thought I would ask. My point is that I want to try and leave ALAC files for the music I listen to more often, then downgrade the others. Is there a way to give iTunes instructions or otherwise code things so this is "forced" or "adhered to" for lack of a better term?

Sorry, I hit you with a couple of things in one post.

Thank you!

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

iTunes metadata and artwork