Hi Travis, When you set the start and stop times on the Options tab for any iTunes track, that limits the portion of the track to be used for any operation. It's most notably used for playback, and I remember subscribing to some podcast that had annoying advertisements at the beginning of each track. I simply set all of those podcasts to have start times about a minute into the track to avoid listening to the advertisements.
However, using the start and stop times on the Options tab for any track you edit with Command-I to "Get Info", also sets the part of the track that will be used for conversions or burning. So if you wanted to make a ringtone of an mp3 track entirely with the native iTunes functions you could do it. When listening to an mp3 file, I'd press space bar to pause the track about where I wanted to start. Then I'd fine tune the time with the RestartAt AppleScript (again, using an assigned shortcut). I'd make a similar selection for the stop time, and check it with the RestartAt AppleScript, making sure that the total length is less than 40 seconds. Then I'd press Command-I, navigate to the Options Tab for the track, and enter those start and stop times, then close the window. To convert that selection to an .m4a file I'd bring up the contextual menu (VO-Shift-M), and select "Create AAC version". The .m4a file that is created will start and stop at the points I chose. Now, because I don't want to separately delete the .m4a version from the iTunes library (while not moving the file to the Trash), rename it with a .m4b extension, and then re-add it to iTunes so that it shows up as a Ringtone, I'd get Doug Adams' "Make Ringable" Applescript from his AppleScripts for iTunes website. (Just Google "Make Ringable dougscripts" to find it.) Since Doug Adams is a tidy AppleScripter, that script has the option to reset the start and stop times back to nominal when done: you simply select your mp3 track with start and stop times set, and apply the "Make Ringable" menu option from the AppleScripts menu. The script makes a copy of the selected region of your mp3 track specified by the start and stop times, creates an AAC copy of the section you're using for a ringtone, then renames it and adds it back to iTunes so that it shows up as a ringtone, and optionally resets the start and stop times back to the original values. Incidentally, I forgot to emphasize that when you're done burning the Audible tracks you should remember to reset the start and stop times on the Options tab. Either unchecking the boxes or just entering "0" into each field will work. I had some early Audible audiobooks with short stories that I wanted to split off by story, so I used the start and stop times to create separate files I could play. As for the ringtone creation, since I have Amadeus Pro, in practice I'd use that instead of the iTunes method, since it's already set up to let me easily listen to, mark, and shift the boundaries of selected areas of a track. I'd select a track in iTunes, use Command-Shift-R to reveal its location in a Finder window then bring up a context window (Command-Shift-M) to open it with Amadeus Pro. After selecting the region I want, I'd use the built-in "Export as Ringtone" menu option to make this show up as ringtone in iTunes. (No need for a "Make Ringable" AppleScript.) HTH. Cheers, Esther On Jul 16, 2011, at 15:41, Travis Siegel wrote: > Wow, I didn't even think of trying the start/end time tags with audible > books. To be honest, I hadn't even thought it would be possible. That's > another example of me just assuming itunes wouldn't allow it, so I never even > tried. > Well, phewey. Now I know what kinds of things to look for in the future. > Thanks for that little tidbit, I'm sure I'll have use for it in the future. > As always, an excellent post, thanks again. <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find a monthly formatted archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at the following URL: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free! Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting the list website at: <https://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/>
