Advanced iTunes Issues

[dreamshark]

Somebody gave me a CD with a novel on it in MP3 format (many, many files, with folders inside of folders). I'm trying to get it into iTunes so I can download it onto an iPod. That's not too hard. But I'm being picky. I DO NOT want it in my iTunes music library, I want it to show up in my Podcasts listings. I can't find a way to make that happen.

There are a lot of tricky little settings buried inside the iPod preferences list that sound like they're supposed to allow this, but I just can't get it to work.

Following the instructions in the really voluminous iTunes Help, I went into Edit->Preferences->Advanced->General and changed the default import directory to ...\iTunes Music \ Podcasts instead of ...\iTunes Music. Then, I choose "Add a Folder" to import the first 16 files. iTunes obligingly copies the folder of MP3s into \iTunes Music\Podcasts. But in the iTunes pane, my novel still shows up in the Music Library and does not appear in the Podcast listing.

Grrrrr. What's the point of importing to a specific folder if the software doesn't DISPLAY it in the folder you imported it to????

Comments

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Everything in iTunes will show up in the Music Library. It's the master list.

iTunes treats podcasts as recurring downloads. That's what the podcast folder is for: Automatically updated podcasts. I've never tried to do what you tried, so don't know specifically what happened. But I'd guess that iTunes treated the files like any music/audio file and NOT as podcasts.

It should be easy enough to simply add the novel mp3s to your iPod without trying to convince iTunes that they're podcasts (which they aren't).

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I'm not getting your point, unless you're just agreeing with what I waid.

Yes, of course iTunes is treating the mp3s as "music" rather than "podcasts." That's exactly what I'm complaining about. Basically, I don't want EVERYTHING I import into iTunes to be added to the default Music library. Audio file does not equal "music file." I realize that "podcast" is not exactly the right term for a non-music audio file, but that's the closest choice that iTunes offers. It would be even better if I could add a library category of my own, but I don't see any way to do that.

"It should be easy enough to simply add the novel mp3s to your iPod without trying to convince iTunes that they're podcasts."

If you mean just drop them all into the music directory and move them from there, yes, I know I can do that. But I don't want a bunch of podcasts cluttering up my Music library. That's exactly my point.

I would just give up and figure that was the only way to do it, except that iTunes offers all these other options, like changing the default import directory. Presumably, that feature is supposed to be good for something. I'm not sure what, since it just results in files being imported into locations that cannot be displayed from the regular iTunes pane. So I'm continuing to experiment, figuring I must be missing something.

If you figure out a way to do what I'm trying to do, let me know.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

If I understand you correctly, you can't do it.

There is no "default" Music Library. The Music Library is The Library. Not wanting podcasts listed in iTunes is like going to a library and not wanting historical romances in the card catalog. You want everything in a master directory.

Audio file=music file. There is no way around that. iTunes treats podcasts as a special case. Importing an audio file is not a special case, so they won't show up in the podcast folder.

I can see uses for changing the default import directory, but not the one you're after.

For what it's worth, I have folders for aiff, aac, mp3, voice memos, etc. That's how I organize iTunes. Plus, I add Groupings and occasionally keywords in the comment field, so I can find songs easier.

Now that I think of it, what you might want is a Smart Playlist. This will require two extra steps: Setting up a Smart Playlist (not difficult, check the docs) and adding a Grouping category for the podcasts. And/or other kinds of music.

To add a Grouping column (per folder): View-->View Options, check the Grouping box. If you have all you're podcasts already in one folder, it's easy. Select All then Get Info. Add the Grouping category. When you say "Okay" then you will have changed all the files.

Example: Put all the mp3s of from the book in one folder. Select All, Get Info. Change Grouping to "book".

File --> New Smart Playlist. Grouping contains "book". Leave the Live Update box checked, so any file where you add "book" to the Grouping is automatically added.

Somehow, I don't think you'll be satisfied with this answer.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

I've been looking around on the Net, and I realize that what I want is, in fact, multiple libraries in iTunes.

"There is no "default" Music Library. The Music Library is The Library. Not wanting podcasts listed in iTunes is like going to a library and not wanting historical romances in the card catalog. You want everything in a master directory."

Your information is out of date. iTunes 7 has added support for multiple libraries. Apparently this is one of those half-assed release things, where Apple released a version of iTunes that supports multiple libraries but has not gotten around to adding a user interface that allows you to use it.

Now that I know what I'm looking for, I'm finding tips all over the Net telling me how to access this new, but hidden, feature. However, none of the tips are working for me. There is also a shareware program out there called Libra that supports this feature, even on earlier releases of iTunes. I've downloaded the shareware, but haven't decided whether to take the leap of faith and try it. If it screws up, I could lose access to my whole iTunes library, after all.

I suspect that the advanced setting I mentioned earlier is related to the new multiple library support, but it is not really clear what it is for. iTunes Help describes it as "the default storage location... for imported file."

It seems to be a handy-dandy feature that allows you to import audio files to a location that iTunes CANNOT ACCESS. This doesn't seem terribly useful.

So for the time being I've given up and am using the Genre and Grouping fields to at least keep the intrusive MP3 files together. I'm surprised that you don't understand why I consider this a nuisance. I usually play music directly from the music library, not from playlists. I often simply scroll down the playlist looking for stuff I feel like listening to. I suppose you just stop doing that after your library grows to a certain critical size.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Different Music Libraries are primarily for spreading out files over several hard drives, not for file organization. I didn't want to get into multiple libraries because it doesn't really solve your problem. Your imported mp3s will be in not be in a podcast directory, and no matter where you put them they will also be in a top-level Library. Also, apparently, you have to restart iTunes while holding the option key to access the different libraries.

But if that's what you want, go for it.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

It precisely solves my problem.

I found out how to do the reverse!

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

Check out this link from someone who wants to do more or less the reverse of what I'm trying to do:

tip on managing podcasts