Ibook Author audio (AAC) media widget rejected in validation??

The way I finally diagnosed the issue for my books was:

1/ dupliacted the book and removed all audio files. Tried to publish again- success

2/ added one audio file back in and published again- failed (Import error in iTunes Producer after it had "successfully" uploaded)

this at least proved for me that it was the audio file and not some other reason (sample book, fonts, images, etc)

3/ then when I looked at the audio files I realised there were mono. So using an app called Audacity I turned them into stereo and this fixed it for me.

Before conversion: AAC, 44100 Hz, Mono 63.13 kbit/sec (recorded on an iPhone 5s)

After conversions: AAC, 44100 Hz, Stereo (L R) 138.2 kbit/sec (converted in Audacity)

[I turned the files into steroe by duplicating the mono track in Audacity and then exporting the file as an M4A (AAC) file. It exports with an m4a extension.

This may not be your issue but it might help explain my process and maybe help you diagnose the problem.

Hi

Thanks you get my frustration. I appreciate it and your suggestion. Others MUST be still having this issue, if I am.

I know its the audio and not necessarily the sample book because when I pulled all the audio out, it imported perfectly. Unfortuantely, the audio is deeply integrated and cannot be removed from the project. I simply did a troubleshoot and discovered the audio is indeed the issue.

I have loads of audio, all m4a. I have only one embedded video. I use widgets that pull from outside the book for that to keep file size down for all my video, which is lots.

In fact, this audio issue arose last fall. I uploaded 3 books all the same as these new ones in early August with the exact specs and all uplaoded without a hitch. What the heck did Apple do last fall to change this? That is the mystery at this stage. And, I am really ticked off that they are being so cryptic about it.

I dont really have time to go through all this, but it seems the discussion has dwindled down to your m4p file in the sample book.

I see no mention of both book and sample having issues.

If it is only the sample book with issues, is it worth all the stress and anguish! Why not delete the file from the sample - remember it is a sample and people dont expect every interactive event to be present.

In the book description you can state that the sample is supplied less some of the "attractive interactive elements of the full book".

As an aside, the question of long standing issues, - "feedback", as some of the long time served helpers on here always seemed to promote, is basically a waste of electric.

There are a number of issues present since day one of iBA when there were literally thousands of folk on this group daily looking for guidance... virtually none of the most requested "fixes" have ever been made. The most obvious is moving a single page!

Like all call centres the Apple support ops have a script sheet, like old Bacic coding, if this, than that! No real working knowledge of iBA - as is oft demonstrated when tickets are issued and the "victim" tries to get advice from support.

Virtually every issue ever raised has a solution/workaround already in past posts, the few , like yours, that persist are apparently not worth the time it takes an Apple software engineer to hit a fix and update.

Let us know the outcome.

As I mentioned in the post, it is not the sample book issue. It is the audio, which I had to delete entirely from main book and sample to be it to imported successfully into iTunes. I have combed the forums, been on the phone with apple trying to find the work around. I obviously have not and need to keep searching. I also mentioned in the above post, that this issue arose last Fall at some point and was curious if anyone knew why. I uploaded successfully in August, the same audio and styles of books. Now I cannot even update the books in the store already, which require a major update.

And I agree with you regarding Apples lack of support with IBA. I should have done more research before investing over a year creating these 9 books that are waiting to upload.

Hi,

Thanks for your suggestion re: mono to stero. I did check to ensure that the audio was stereo. I use compressor to convert all my audio to m4a and the settings confirm stereo. I have well over 50 audio widgets per book, tiny sound effects. I may go the route of changing them to video. Is there any other option with audio? HTML was mentioned in an earlier post.

Did you try exporting the audio files out of Quicktime?

We have at least 100 audio files in each of our books. I took all of my original MP3 files and opened them in Quicktime, exported them all from Quicktime as audio only files, then brought them into the book.

You can drag these new "clean" files right over the original location without removing the widget.

Apple seemed to like this process better.

So funny you mention that. I was going to attempt converting to a video file as this is not an issue with Apple.

However, I am worried about size and how the reader will interact with it. With a simple audio file it is literally a tap and they hear audio, whioch is what I am after. They are essentially Quiz answers in audio.

I will try your suggestion instead but need some clarification:

What is the difference in this type of conversion process? In other words, all my audio files were originally.mov quicktime audio only files. Using Compressor, I then converted to m4a. How does exporting from QT change anything?

And would you suggest that I open my m4a audio files that Apple doesn't seem to like and re-convert via QT to the same m4a format?

Or, open my audio only .mov files to then export to m4a via QT?

I greatly appreciate your time to offer these work arounds. I will be thrilled if I can solve it and launch!

I would take the original .mov files, right click and open with Quicktime. Then export as audio only out of quicktime to a new folder. Then drag those newly converted files into the book. Do NOT let those original files open in anything except quicktime. I set my computer up to always open .mp3 files in quicktime, but it may already be default for you with .mov files.

What are you creating the .mov files with? Can you export as an mp3 instead? If it's just audio anyway it would make more sense to export as .mp3 not .mov

From .mov in QT, I output as m4a correct, as this is the only approved format for iBooks?

I create my audio sound effects in FCP as I have a workflow that is efficient. Then I export as .mov then use Compressor to convert to m4a. This process worked perfectly fine in my current 3 books in iTunes. Now I am simply trying to update these 3 with new ones but getting this audio issue. I also have 6 brand new books to upload as well for a total of 9.

Correct. I'm not sure about the "only approved" part, but this is the process that has worked for us.

Can you export from FCP as .mp3? Why would you create a video file if it's just audio anyway? That would reduce your file size as well.

Great, I will give it a go. I export from FCP as audio only so file size is small.

I do not believe you can export from FCP to mp3. In any case, that would mean a boat-load of extra work having to go back into FCP.

I will go ahead and convert my .mov as suggested using QT. I will let you know how it goes and thank you again.

I have converted my audio, but when I drag these newly converted files into iBooks, replacing existing audio or placing as new, iBooks is converting (optimizing) and changing endong to m4p?

It worked!! Thank you so much for your work-around suggestion. I hope all 8 goes as well!

I'm glad it worked! When you're stuck in the box sometimes it takes someone from the outside looking in to solve the problem.

I think exporting audio files out of QT is the only way to get the correct Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) that iBooks wants. Using a program like compressor must not give it the same "signature".

As far as the optimization in iBooks, I think if it does not start optimizing the files it's a bad sign. Good to know for people running into similar problems with IBA in the future.

Good luck on your other books!