Splasm Software Discussions

Hi
Using Toast 8, I don't seem to be able to burn a viable MP3 CD with the output from AB. I've tried changing the suffix to .mp3 and burning both A and B types... nothing plays. (And, yes: it's an MP3 player that works just fine.)

What's the secret to getting my books on CD as MP3s?

It looks like Toast won't convert non-MP3 data to the MP3 format when it burns MP3 discs, even though it will let you add non-MP3 files to MP3 disc projects. Audiobook Builder's output is in the MPEG-4 audio format, so even though Toast burns the data to disc it's not in the MP3 format and won't work in MP3 disc players. Roxio's suggestion is probably the easiest workaround: use iTunes to convert the desired files to MP3 (you'll need to make sure your importing preferences are set to MP3), then drag the MP3 versions of the files to your Toast disc project.

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Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

er....

Doesn't work. importing your exports into iTunes, even with import set to MP3, doesn't change the import format.

So far, there does not seem to be a way to make the output of your software into MP3s...

May I suggest that you provide MP3 as an output option, please?

iTunes won't convert tracks automatically as they are added. Are you selecting the track(s) to convert, then selecting "Convert Selection to MP3" from the Advanced menu at the top of your screen?

We would like to add MP3 as an output option but the licensing involved makes it a tough sell. The MP3 format uses several patented technologies and legally licensing these would cost us several dollars, at minimum, per Audiobook Builder license. We feel the added cost would be perceived by most users as unnecessary and would negatively affect Audiobook Builder's overall marketability.

If you need to process Audiobook CDs into MP3 CDs I would say you really can't go wrong forsaking Toast and doing it all in iTunes. iTunes can encode MP3s and burn them to MP3 discs.

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

Yes: I tried that too.... "(audiobook file) cannot be converted to MP3 because protected files cannot be converted."



Just as a thought: many of us already have MP3 conversion plugins. Why not just check to see if the user has this capability, instead of building it in?

and -that- said, it would easily be worth another $5 to me... you could offer two versions, if you disagree...

iTunes here converts Audiobook Builder M4B files to MP3 without that error. I'm curious to see how iTunes here handles one of your files. Could you send over a short one that you know iTunes doesn't convert through a service like http://yousendit.com ?

Which MP3 conversion plugins do you have?

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

I have LAME (free) <http://homepage.mac.com/awk/lame/> and something called MP3.componant. There may be more since I'm a professional multimedia developer.

I've posted one of the files on my server at <http://tracyvalleau.com/L598azF6f2/Stolen%20White%20Elephant.zip>

The original can be had from here (also free) <http://www.simplyaudiobooks.com/Free_Audiobooks/dp/202/>

Please le me know when you've retreived it.

Thank you.

Thanks for making the file available. iTunes converted it without an error, though. Maybe there's something slightly different about the way iTunes is configured there. Here's a screenshot of what it looks like on this Mac:





I haven't customized this one so it's just the stock High Quality. Do you see any differences compared to your settings?

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

close enough... since I'm converting books, I have mine set to 128.

I tried using iTunes to burn to MP3, and got "this is an iTunes Store file and cannot be burned to an MP3 CD."

I'm running the latest of everything: 10.4.9 on a PPC Quad with iTuens 7.1.1(5).

Now I'm wonderinf it it's because I have an Audible account.

But I've got to ask: is there no way you can save these as something besides protected? Not all AAC is protected. and why not use LAME?

The protected part is a misnomer, apparently due to an assumption on Apple's part that all Audiobooks would come from the iTunes Store and would therefore be protected by FairPlay, their digital rights management scheme. So, Apple's set the Finder and iTunes to describe M4B files as "protected". But M4B files are MPEG-4 files, just like M4A files, and they can contain unprotected data just as easily. Unlike the M4B files available from Apple, Audiobook Builder's output isn't protected or restricted at all and can be used in almost any MPEG-4 audio playback or editing application and on any number of iPods.

The last error message you quoted makes it sound like the tracks in your playlist are still the actual output from Audiobook Builder. You shouldn't get that error message from iTunes when burning actual MP3s to an MP3 disc. Now I wonder, has iTunes converted the track(s) but they haven't yet been substituted for the originals? iTunes doesn't overwrite the original tracks when it converts. Instead, it quietly creates new tracks that are hard to distinguish from the originals - except in the case of Audiobooks. You won't be able to find the new MP3 versions of Audiobooks in iTunes' Audiobooks section because, in fact, they're not considered actual Audiobooks by iTunes. They won't be in the Audiobooks section in iTunes - instead, they'll be in the Music section, since iTunes sees nothing Audiobook-ish about them. Can you check the Music section in iTunes to see if your Audiobook(s) did convert to MP3, and if so, substitute the MP3 versions of each track for those already in your burn playlist?

MP3 could be helpful as an alternative output format but it couldn't replace AAC as Audiobook Builder's primary format because of the application's iTunes and iPod-centric focus. iTunes and the iPod only consider M4B files containing AAC to be Audiobooks, and they also don't recognize enhanced chapter stops in MP3 files. MP3 would end up making Audiobook Builder's Chapters section useless while creating output that isn't any more useful on the iPod than a regular music track.

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

Keith! That was it! I didn't look in the Music section... a wee bit of a sheepish grim, mitigated a bit by the fact that I'm not a heavy user of iTunes, and so wasn't thinking "itunesish".... sorry.

I greatly appreciate your courtesy and your patience with me.

And, FWIW, -some- part of iTunes still sees it as a book, because the "album cover" display shows a book icon

Thanks again!