Quicktime Audio Export - Burn to CD - How?

The cd you burned - Did you burn a data cd or did you burn a music cd - Two totally different beasts.

Sounds like you mighta created a data cd - If this is the case, you'll need to make your data file(music) a format which is readable by a PC (nasty little boxes) - If on the other hand you make a music cd... Get it?

Hi Or,

Perhaps you can tell us a bit more about the programs you are using for making the CD and the computers you are using. When you say "PC" do you mean a Windows based system? Can your system even see the files and CD?

For the purposes of this discussion there are two formats of CD. One is a data format CD which is what you would normally use for saving data files. The other is a music CD which is the format for a music CD (!)or something you could put into a CD player. If you simply copy files in .wav format (or AIFF is more common if you are using a Mac) to a CD then you may be burning them in data format. Then arises a second issue is that even though the file type, be it .wav, or whatever, could be interpreted by your Windows PC, the data CD itself may be formatted for a Mac, rather than in Joliet which is what a Windows box is likely to use. This is all assuming you created a data CD, so several problems can arise from this.

The easiest work around is to use your CD burning program to make a music CD. This is the kind you can also stick directly into a CD player.

Take the CD you created recently and put it in your computer, then click on it and look at it like you would a folder. If you can see files with names other than Track 1, Track 2, etc. and the file sizes are bigger than zero then you probably created a data CD. If your files lost their names and you get the information on the CD and it says it has 0 bytes of data then you have a music CD. Your Windows computer should be able to read a music CD unless there is something wrong on that end (in which case you'll have to go elsewhere other than Mac forums!)

Brian

Hi Or,

When the files are on your computer they can only be there in data format. Music CDs are special in their formatting which is why if you try to read a music CD like a data CD you don't really see anything except a bunch of files that appear to be empty. That's why you have to use special "ripping" programs to read the files into a format for your computer to work with.

I have to start out by saying I have never used Final Cut Pro. I suspect that there is a forum dealing with that specifically (there is a Quicktime one) so if you need help with that particular application then you might check if there is a forum for FCP. That said, What software are you using for burning your CD? Does FCP interface with Apple's CD burner?

Try putting your CD in your computer and tell us how the files appear on the CD itself. Are they data files or music files (look at my criteria in the previous post)?

What kind of computer are you trying to read these CDs on? Mac, Windows?

I've burned a number of music CDs but I usually use itunes or other software. I save my files in AIFF format on my computer, though WAV should also work. If you have the files on your computer, try using itunes to burn the files since it will hopefully know how to convert your format to the one needed for music CDs.

Brian

Or,

It sounds like the files originated from a music style CD and you are making and saving the files as AIFF (or WAV or both). What I'm not clear on is what software you are using to do the actual burn when you use you "regular DVD/CD burner". I'm guessing it is the Apple CD burner utility. I've never used that but it's probably limited in scope and may not be able to make a music CD. Again, without specifics it is hard to say, but I'm guessing that you're creating a data CD which the PC either can't read (can it see the files , or is it saying the CD is corrupted?), or it can read that it has files but then can't read the AIFF format. Conceivably your burner could also be bad, but it is easy to check that if, using your Mac, you can actually read the files on the CD you just made.

In iTunes you make a playlist and add the AIFF files to it. There is then a command in the menus, or a button, that lets you burn the playlist (the computer I'm at right now doesn't have a burner so I don't think all the options are showing). You may also need to check in the iTunes preferences/CDburning that you have selected the option for making a music (audio) CD (it's the default so you probably won't need to change it). The only thing is, I'm trying to recall if I read on these lists that itunes may not burn if you have a third party drive instead of the original Apple one. There's workarounds but let's deal with that when we come to it.

Brian