OK, i'm a little confused. So i can bring up the folder in finder.
Then how do i select all the files in a particular folder to be played?
Then, where is the option so they don't get added to the library?
Thanks,
Jed
On Nov 21, 2007, at 1:39 PM, Esther wrote:
Hi Jed,
On Wednesday, Nov 21, 2007, at 06:11AM, Jed Barton wrote:
Hey guys,
Alright, i wanna load up a folder of tunes to go through, and see
what i have. However, i don't want to load them in to the library.
How do i find the folder, and how do i tell it not to load them in to
the library?
I'd probably do this with a variant of the Automator action I posted
yesterday to the list, which lets you find items in a folder and
pass them into a playlist in iTunes. (This was the itunes not showing
editing fields for info thread.) If you uncheck the preference
option for "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library"
then any files you add to iTunes that are outside of the iTunes Music
folder and get added to the library remain in their original location
and don't get reorganized or renamed when you edit the tags.
That's usually the major gotcha for Windows users or for people
who use other music player apps. This is the reason that iTunes
makes a copy of files added to the library, and I think it was mainly
for users of the Windows version of iTunes.
As long as you're not modifying the original file names and directory
structure of the folder you add, and you can keep separate track of
the new files and are not making duplicate copies, I don't see any
problem with adding them to the iTunes library to try playing them.
You have to make sure that you change the preference option
so you do NOT "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to
library".
I'm not sure what you mean by "How do I find the folder"? When you
connect an external drive, it shows up in finder, and you can
use finder the same way you do for files on your main hard drive.
If you use Automator with:
1. Finder: Find Finder Items
a) Where: <set folder to check>
b) Whose: Kind is Audio and Extension Ends With mp3
2. iTunes: Add Files to Playlist: <playlist name>
you can specify the folder name that you want to check. You can
even have the system search for files that are audio files of a
specific type. The advantage of using the Automator
iTunes; Add Files to Playlist: <playlist name> is that it
add these files to your iTunes library automatically, and
puts them into a separately identifiable playlist. In iTunes
you can use "Add to Library" (command-o), but navigating
the finder-like window with VoiceOver is not as easy, at
least in Tiger, which I still have.
You'll probably have to get help from people who have Leopard
installed, along with the latest version of iTunes, since I can't
give the steps for your setup. (I also haven't played much with
Automator, but I was able to test this). I'd actually run some
tests first, like having a step Automator: View Results instead
of passing to Playlist. There are also probably folks who
have played with Automator a lot more than I have, and it
may be easier to use in Leopard.
The location of the preference to uncheck, "Copy files to iTunes
Music folder when adding to library", should be under the
general tab of the Advanced menu under iTunes preferences.
Try command-comma then command-6 to bring up the
Advanced menu and look at the general tab entries. Uncheck
that checkbox before adding the folder to iTunes. You can
change it back after your experiment and before you add other
files. There really are advantages to having your iTunes files
together in one place in the Music Library, especially when you
start using smart playlists and/or have large libraries and want
your performance to stay snappy.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Esther
