Fanus, Everything is done in Chapter and Vers, but it uses the iTunes encoder to do the conversion so iTunes will open if you don't already have it open.
All I do is open iTunes, then I open Chapter and Vers and in Chapter and Vers focus is usually on the "Add Files" button. I activate it, set the file type to MP3, browse to the folder of MP3 files I want to convert and use Control+A to select them all. Then I tab to "Open" and activate it. Now Chapter and Vers (let's call it CV for convenience) does what it calls a file validation on each of the MP3 files. You can use Jaws Key+Page Down to read the status bar of CV and follow that. Once it's done you have an option to update the encoder settings, e.g. bitrate, mono/stereo, there is something called "Optimize for Voice" which is a checkbox and so on. You can also specify if you want the converted files to be placed in the same directory with the MP3 files, I usually do that because later you can save your single file elsewhere and once I have the book converted and everything is in one big file I usually delete all the original MP3 files and the converted M4B files. There are also other tabs in this dialogue other than the Conversion tab, but I don't have time to write a full tutorial on how to use CV now. If you have multiple MP3 files which each are a chapter or maybe they each are about an hour or whatever, this structure is preserved in the single large file you get and you can still use Previous and Next to go to these files or chapters or whatever they are. Once you have set your conversion options activate the Save button, then focus will be on the "Yes, Convert" button. Activate it and all files will be converted into M4B. When you first press the "Yes, Convert" button and check the status line, CV will say "Updating iTunes AAC encoder Parameters". This takes a moment and then you get the message that it is "Converting 01 Valhalla Rising", that is just an example of a Clive Cussler book I am converting as I am typing this so I don't miss any steps. The conversion will take some time depending on how long each file is and how many files there are, in this case of Valhalla Rising there are 24 files and each seems to take 40 or 45 seconds to convert, so in total this book takes about 12 or 15 minutes to convert, then building the final single file will take another couple of minutes. It also depends on your computer's speed. When the initial conversion of all the MP3 files is complete it may seem that CV is "Not responding" and it will most likely say "Closing iTunes Connection", just let it sit and do it's thing. It then goes through another validation before it will tell you it is "Generating Chapter Data Files" and after that it goes through the "Merging Audio" process. When it's done and your book is longer you may get the following warning message: Audio Duration Warning The total duration of the audio files you selected is 1,654,433,568 audio samples. Audiobooks longer than 650,000,000 samples may have problems playing on certain ipods. The latest generation of iPod's (e.g. iPod classic and iPod Touch) appear to have corrected the problem. It is recommended that you split your audiobook into multiple parts if you have an earlier generation iPod or experience playback issues with longer audiobooks. There is a "Do Not Show this message again" checkbox and an OK button. As the message said, you can pretty much ignore it, I never had a problem with any length of book. OK, now in the status line if you do Jaws Key+Down Arrow you would hear, in my example, Ready, Files: 24, Chapters: 24". You now have a visual list of all the files and durations and you can move them around, but of course normally you would want to leave them in their correct order. You now can tab to the "Built Audio Book" button and activate it. It will ask you to "Choose Output File and Location", this is basically a standard Windows Save As dialogue box, you can give your book a proper name and save it in which ever folder you want. After you activate "Save" the files are merged and saved as 1 file in M4B format. At the very end CV asks if you want it to automatically add the file to your iTunes library, I usually say Yes and then it's there ready to be synced to my iPhone. Converting books this way is not a fast process, but it is a one-time process and you can sort of start it and then do something else and just check back to continue to the next step. The steps above maybe sound more complicated than they are, but once you, for example, set your encoder settings you can just add the files and then go straight to "Yes, Convert" without updating the settings again. Hope this helps, Sieghard -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Fanus Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 9:33 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: MP3 Files Hello Sieghard I downloaded the Chapter and Vers manual and it seems that one must first import the files into iTunes and then convert them file by file into the Apple format. Is there no other way to do batch conversion into the Apple format? It seems that the process described in the manual involves much work before one can eventually play the book on the iDevice. Regards Fanus ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sieghard Weitzel" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2014 6:15 PM Subject: RE: MP3 Files Hi Claudia, Yes, any iDevice can play MP3 files just fine. As far as whether you have to go through iTunes to get them onto the device the answer for the most part is Yes. However, if you want to listen to audio books you could buy Voice Dream Reader and then, as long as you also are set up with Dropbox on both your computer and your iPod Touch, you can compress/zip an audio book folder which contains MP3 files, then copy said folder into a Dropbox folder (you could call it Voice Dream" or "iPod Audio Books" or whatever you want. Now once the book has uploaded and keep in mind that if you have a large book which is a few hundred Mb, this could take a while, you can now open Voice Dream and add a book, select that you want to add it from Dropbox and browse to the folder where you have it saved. Double tap on it and Voice Dream will download the book into the app (it can be used in offline mode) and it will then unzip the files and you can listen to the audio book. Having said all that, my preferred method is to use the free Chapter and Vers software from Loden Software which lets me convert an audio book with multiple MP3 files into a single file audio book of the iTunes format (with extension M4B). At the end of the conversion Chapter and Vers asks if you want to import the book into iTunes, you can say Yes and it will show up in your Books library. >From here all you have to do is connect your phone and either choose to sync all books or to sync selected books, then check the book or books you want and press Apply. Regards, Sieghard From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Claudia Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 3:30 AM To: [email protected] Subject: MP3 Files Hi Again, I also have a great deal of MP3 files on an external drive; this includes many audio books that I have downloaded or purchased, over the years, from other sources. Am I able to play these files, on my Ipod Touch, and if so, how do I do this? Do I have to put them all through Itunes, before I can listen to them? Thanks. Claudia -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Search and view the VIPhone archives by visiting http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. Reach the VIPhone owner and moderators by emailing [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . Unsubscribe and leave VIPhone by emailing [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . More VIPhone group options can be found by visiting http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> . 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