Xported mp3 file will not skip forward or backard

[huntington]

Koz,

Thank you for all of that good information. I never thought about my Audacity Project crashing. So I am glad to have that information, especially the link to what to do if a project crashes.

I am not working with the original audacity files. I had already exported both parts of the audio book as mp3 files. I made a copy of those mp3 files and it is on those copies that I am trying to add the Regular Interval Labels. I assume that if I Have a crash, I will only lose the copy of the original file(s). I hope that is correct.

I had already burned the audio book mp3 files to a CD. So I had some idea of the size of those files and the time involved. After I burned those files (Audio Book Part 1and Audio Book Part 2) to a CD, the CD played well, but I could not skip from one chapter to another in a CD player, it would only play straight forward from Chapter 1. And that is why I posted my original question here and think I have moved on to these two qustions:

1. Is there a way to have the numbering start at the appropriate higher number in Part 2? Or, is it possible to open the two parts in Audacity at the same time so they can be numbered sequentially?

2. when I tried "Export Mutiple" to export one of the parts (for a trial), I could not get past the "Edit metamedia" window. I did not think there was anything to edit after the interval labels were added, I just want to export them. as mp3 files. But when I click on "Export," the "Edit metamedia" window opens and I cannot seem to get beyond that. What do I need to do to actually export the Interval Labeled files?

[steve]

I had already burned the audio book mp3 files to a CD

That would not be a standard audio CD. Standard audio CDs always use uncompressed audio data at 16 bit 44.1kHz giving a maximum amount on a CD of around 72 minutes.
Some CD players can play MP3 disks but most do not.

If your CD player will play MP3 disks, will it play MP3s in folders?

1. Is there a way to have the numbering start at the appropriate higher number in Part 2? Or, is it possible to open the two parts in Audacity at the same time so they can be numbered sequentially?

Just export them into different folders, or
Chop the original big file into reasonable size chunks and use a different prefix for the label name for each chunk.

I could not get past the "Edit metamedia" window.

Just Click "OK", or
switch off the automatic metadata pop-up in Preferences,

[huntington]

Koz,

Switching off the automatic metadata pop-up in Preferences solved Problem 2 for me. I was then able to export the multiple, labeled mp3 files. Very good! Thank you!

To my surprise, Audacity exported each of the now labeled mp3 files separately all over desktop. I put them in a folder. So, I now have half on the audio book in labeled mp3 files ready to burn. All I need to do now is to do the same to Part 2 of the audio book with those files numbered in such a way that they will play, in consecutive order, after the Part 1 files. You suggested adding a different prefix for the label name in Part 2 was the way to do that. How do I go about adding a different prefix for the label names?

I really cannot respond to your thoughts about the CD that I burned earlier because I am uncertain. I only know that I exported the Part 1 and Part 2 mp3 files from Audacity and burned them to a CD-R using "CDBurner XP" and the CD played in a standard CD player. And, I really do not know whether the CD player will play MP3s in folders, or how to go about that.

[steve]

To my surprise, Audacity exported each of the now labeled mp3 files separately all over desktop

You can specify the destination in the Export Multiple dialogue window. The default location is the Desktop but you can "Choose" a different existing folder, or "Create" a new folder for them to go into.

All I need to do now is to do the same to Part 2 of the audio book with those files numbered in such a way that they will play, in consecutive order, after the Part 1 files.

If you are creating a normal audio CD, "CDBurner XP" can burn the tracks in any order that you choose (irrespective of the name of the track). The tracks will simply play in the order that they are listed in the compilation window of CDBurnerXP. What you need is a simple way to put the tracks into the correct order when you are creating the compilation.

When you use "Export Multiple" you have the choice to either use the "label names", or to "number consecutively". Either of these options can be used. For example, if you make you regular interval labels use the text "00 Label", and then Export Multiple using the label names, the tracks will come out as:
100 Label
200 Label
300 Label
...

Alternatively if you use the "number consecutively" option and add the prefix "Part 1", then the tracks will come out as:
Part 1-1
Part 1-2
Part 1-3
...

One thing to watch out for though, if you are listing a large number of files in an Explorer window and have them sorted by name, "Part 1-10" will come between "Part 1-1" and "Part 1-2". Listing them in "date modified" order will put them in the correct order (so any special naming is not really necessary)

This is assuming that you are making a standard audio CD ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Book_( ... _standard) )

CDBurnerXP may be able to make standard (Red Book Standard) audio CDs from MP3 files - many CD burners can. They do this by decoding the mp3 into uncompressed audio on the fly before burning to disk.

If you are making standard audio CDs then you should really be Exporting from Audacity in WAV format. Each time that you encode it as an MP3 there is a small loss in sound quality and this loss increases every time you encode it.

CDBurnerXP has an option to burn either data CDs or Audio CDs .
http://cdburnerxp.se/help/

[huntington]

Ko9z,

That is a lot of very helpful information. Thank you very much. I'll think about it for a bit, then try it. After that I'll let you know how I made out. I appreciate your help.

[huntington]

Koz,

I did not drift away. I have been trying to get the labeled files into proper order in the compilation window in CDBurner XP with no luck. Although the files are saved in the correct numerical order in their folder, when I drag them into "CDBurner" they rearrange themselves into a different numerical order and I have not been able to correct that.

The files appear in the compilation window in this order: 0, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.........1, 20, 21......

I have the labeled files for Part 1 and Part two exported from Auacity saved in two separate folders and have only been working with the files in one of those folders. So the numbering problem is not related to the fact that there are two sets of files.

Would it be best to delete all of these labeled files and go back to Audacity and export new ones using different numbering or labeling? Or is there some way of getting them into proper numerical order in CDBurner XP?

[huntington]

Koz,

I just realized what one problem is, I need to burn a Data file, not an Audio file. Part 1 of the audio book is 237 minutes as an Audio file, but only 109 MB as a data file. So, the opnly choice to get the audio book on a single CD is as a data file. I know from the earlier attempts on this audio book, that data files files burned to a CD-R will play the Audio book properly on the CD player. So I need to burn the labeled files as a data file. However, it is with the data file that label numbering/naming problem appears. In CDBurner XP. when I drag all of the labeled/numbered files for an Audio file, the files stay in order. However, when I drah them in for a data file, the files rearrange theri order and I do not seemm to be able to correct that.

[steve]

I just realized what one problem is....

Hooray - that's what I was trying to say - so it has all come clear now.

I know from the earlier attempts on this audio book, that data files files burned to a CD-R will play the Audio book properly on the CD player.

Yes, some CD players will play data disks with MP3s on them, but most CD players do not. It is not advisable to test out CD players without refering to the manual - several CD player manuals warn that trying to play data CDs can damage the player (I've never actually known a CD player to be damaged by a data CD, but since they warn about it it is probably not worth taking the risk).

However, it is with the data file that label numbering/naming problem appears.

Yes. With data files CDBurnerXP will list the files in alpha-numerical order. That means it sorts by the first character first, then if 2 files start with the same first character it will order by the next character and so on. This is the same as when you list files by name on your computer.

The reason that you can order the files on an audio CD and not on a data CD is that on an audio CD the tracks are actually recorded in a specific order. On a data CD there is no specific order - it's like data on your hard drive, the data can be anywhere on the disk.

It sounds like your CD player plays MP3 disks in alphanumeric order, in which case you will have to do a bit of manual editing of the file names (Ugh! rather you than me).

If you have files named 1 to 20, they will be ordered like this:
1
10
11
12
13
...
...
19
2
20

To get them to show in correct "numerical" order you need to use leading zeros like this:
001
002
003
...
...
019
020

(It does not have to be 3 digits, but that will allow you to number from 000 to 999)

If you are going to be doing a lot of this sort of thing then it will probably be worth you getting to grips with a bulk renaming utility such as http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk

[huntington]

Koz,'

You are right! It did all become clear at once, at least that notion did. Thank you for clarifying it.

This was a special situation. I will not be doing a lot of this sort of thing. In fact, when I get the audio book playing properly on a CD I will retire undefeated -- never to attempt this again. So, although I appreciate you sending the link to that bulk renaming program, I will not use that.

Our CD player is a CD/MP3 player, but thanks for the caution.

I'll try adding the two leading zeros and see how lucky I get.

Thanks for those detailed explanations.

[steve]

although I appreciate you sending the link to that bulk renaming program, I will not use that.

I agree it will be quicker to do it manually for a one-off rather than installing and figuring how to use yet another program.

Good luck with it

(by the way, I'm not Koz)