Screen Editing Metadata in Audacity 1.3.10

[BubbaMixMaster]

I have two problems with Audacity 1.3.10 editing in Metadata:

• 1. The data does not transfer properly into iTunes when export Multiple selected/used to export aiff or AAC files.
  2. The edit screen operates in a clunky way such that in the track list of information (see first screen shot) requires tabbing through the data and the name information. It seems that some effort has been made to allow a preset amount of data to be recalled but that is in an un-useful way. Why would you copy the first track in over and over to subsequent tracks?
  3. Set Default works in a clunky way.
  4. Setting or editing the Genre field or the Album Name field operates in a clunky way. Those data points are usually common to an entire file (or set of tracks). Why not have a way to preserve those in the same data fields? And why is the Genre field the only drop-down in the bunch. If that field has be a drop down why not do it in an iTunes-like way as well, and have the typing option which is there, simply auto-find the correct entry from the drop down list?

I started a little list in case you want to participate in telling everyone what works best for you (my opinions are biased, I'm going back to iTunes to lable my CD's). Hopefully someone on the audacity team will notice...

[billw58]

Actually, when doing an Export Multiple by labels, the common information (everything except track name and track number) is written to each file, while the track name is taken from the label and the track number is the sequential position of the label in the track. I have found that this works very well when exporting to AIF and then importing into iTunes. The method I use is to turn off "Show Metatdata Editor before export step" in preferences, then, before I do the Export Multiple I go to File > Open Metadata Editor and fill in everything except the track name and number. Even though the Metatdata editor does not pop up during the export, the metadata is written to the files.

I understand that the developers are working on a change to the UI that would make this process simpler and more transparent to the user.

-- Bill

[steve]

Where's the option for "I don't use anything?"

Virtually all of my recordings are in WAV format, and since very few programs support metadata in WAV files I very rarely never really bothered with it.

There's a lot of incompatibilities in Metadata with some tags showing up in one program and not (or incorrectly) in another. It's probably best to edit the metadata in whatever program you use most, so for many Mac users that will be iTunes, and for many Windows users WMP.

[billw58]

Where's the option for "I don't use anything?"

Apparently one of the options in the improved UI will be "don't write metatdata".

-- Bill

[BubbaMixMaster]

Where's the option for "I don't use anything?"

Don't check anything... Sorry, I forgot that option. Sort of like the developers forgot to check the don't fill in the track data...

Virtually all of my recordings are in WAV format, and since very few programs support metadata in WAV files I very rarely never really bothered with it.

There's a lot of incompatibilities in Metadata with some tags showing up in one program and not (or incorrectly) in another. It's probably best to edit the metadata in whatever program you use most, so for many Mac users that will be iTunes, and for many Windows users WMP.

That's been my experience. Nevertheless, I'd like to have the data in the AIFF file if I could enter it easily and not have to repeat it. iTunes gets the import data either from the CDDB database if selected and available, or from the AIFF data if it can be read. Most times that is neither, hence my manual entry required in both. Or I won't bother with saving the AIFF files after burning a CD, and use iTunes for everything. I'm even thinking of using only ALE (Apple Lossless Encoder) or AAC with VBR.

[waxcylinder]

There's a lot of incompatibilities in Metadata with some tags showing up in one program and not (or incorrectly) in another. It's probably best to edit the metadata in whatever program you use most, so for many Mac users that will be iTunes, and for many Windows users WMP.

Not just MAC users Steve - there are plenty of Windows users who have iPods and therefore run iTunes happily on their PCs. (The excellent PC implementation of iTunes was one of Apples marketing masterstrokes.)

But yes I agree with your conclusion - which is why I (PC/Windows XP & iPod user) use iTunes to manage my metadata.

WC

[BubbaMixMaster]

Not just MAC users Steve - there are plenty of Windows users who have iPods and therefore run iTunes happily on their PCs. (The excellent PC implementation of iTunes was one of Apples marketing masterstrokes.)

But yes I agree with your conclusion - which is why I (PC/Windows XP & iPod user) use iTunes to manage my metadata.

Took me a while, but yes. Had to convince myself that Audacity's track setting should only be used for marking/numbering the track's start points. Hoped it wasn't going to be that way, but time management trumped completeness, WC. Maybe when Audacity's at version 2.5 it'll be different. For now, I'm simply recording in Audacity, entering the tracks' start point and a number, doing some minimal processing of the tracks (click removal, some other little bits of editing) and out she goes to iTunes. We'll see how it goes. Metadata within iTunes.

Storage is my next hurdle.

[steve]

On the rare occasions that I do use metadata, it is either from CDDB, or I use EasyTag (so I've ticked "other").
For CDDB, there's a lot of programs that use it and it seems to be pretty much the same (automatic) whatever the platform or application. You can't get much easier than "do nothing"

[waxcylinder]

Yes but I only get about 65% success rate in getting my CDs that are made from vinyl transcriptions recognized by CDDB - but I regard that as reasonable.

WC