Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

[DMRube]

I've now spent hours searching, reading, and experimenting, and I'm close to giving up.

I need to know how to batch convert, to a folder of my choice, the EXACT folder layout of the folder I'm converting from. I want the folders of artists with multiple albums to be copied with the artist name, and then if there are multiple albums within that folder, they should then be copied inside that folder.

BUT, if the album is a soundtrack for example, Evita, the folder on my original source is Evita, then simply the album within that folder...simple. But when set in all the various versions I'm seeing in "dynamic", and several I have tried on my own, it is NOT working. It takes a soundtrack, for example, and duplicates as multiple albums if those separate tracks are from different artists.

Example: I have a folder of artist 10,000 Maniacs with three albums in it. I have a folder of "25 Classic Favorites" with one album, and that album consists of multiple artists on each track. My source folder/drive is two folders, one is "10,000 Maniacs" with three sub-folders for the three albums; the other is "25 Classic Favorites, with only ONE album. This should be an incredibly simple process...instead I get 18 new folders! The 10,000 Maniacs copies over intact and just fine, but the compilation album is now broken out into 17 new folders, NONE of which are named the original album.

This is frustrating, and by the way, I've tried every variation of the dynamic folder naming convention I could think of.

In the above example, I'm using "[artist]/[album]/[track] [title]" but I've tried multiple others.

Yes, I'm a registered owner, and I'm simply trying to convert a large folder of (mostly) FLAC to AIFF, and preserve the exact folder structure of the source folder. EXACT

Why is this so difficult, and why am I spending hours. By the way, the example of using the same name of album and artist in Madonna, and Madonna is of very little help in your example.

Anyway, I know this is a simple request, I see many others asking this same question. I don't see anyone that has asked why it doesn't work...please help.

Thank you in advance-

-David

[mville]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

This has been discussed many times on this forum.

First of all you have to be sure that, for all your albums, as well as Artist tag being populated, that Album Artist tag is populated e.g. Various Artists, 10,000 Maniacs etc. and that the Compilation tag is set to 1 if the album is a compilation. You can easily accomplish this, for many albums, using Batch Converter>ID Tag Update>Rule based Manipulation or MP3Tag software.

Then in the dynamic folder naming convention, experiment using Album Artist instead of Artist. On a soundtrack album, more often than not, there are multiple Artists, which is why you are seeing duplicate multiple albums.

[garym]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

I do this with some combination of preserve path and trim folder commands. See

https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?20469-Trimfolder&highlight=%5Btrimfolder%5D

[mville]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

I do this with some combination of preserve path and trim folder commands.

This is how I do it as well, but I know my tags, for audio library and player/server compatibility purposes, are in good shape.

I am trying to encourage David toward sorting his tags, as, without Album Artist and Compilation tags setup correctly, he will only hit problems further down the line.

[garym]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

This is how I do it as well, but I know my tags, for audio library and player/server compatibility purposes, are in good shape.

I am trying to encourage David toward sorting his tags, as, without Album Artist and Compilation tags setup correctly, he will only hit problems further down the line.

i agree. Get the tags fixed first.

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

I need to know how to batch convert, to a folder of my choice, the EXACT folder layout of the folder I'm converting from. I want the folders of artists with multiple albums to be copied with the artist name, and then if there are multiple albums within that folder, they should then be copied inside that folder.

Have you tried just setting the "Folder" to the desired location for the new files, and then [origpath]\[origfilename] for dynamic naming?

[DMRube]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

This is how I do it as well, but I know my tags, for audio library and player/server compatibility purposes, are in good shape.

I am trying to encourage David toward sorting his tags, as, without Album Artist and Compilation tags setup correctly, he will only hit problems further down the line.

This is just not clear to me. I want to copy over the file structure add it currently is, folders that have multiple albums, albums that have multiple artists like compilations without copying as multiple albums...How do I do it, what are the exact settings I should try?
Thank you in advance-

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

How do I do it, what are the exact settings I should try?

Really? I don't know how to be more exact....

[DMRube]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

This is how I do it as well, but I know my tags, for audio library and player/server compatibility purposes, are in good shape.

I am trying to encourage David toward sorting his tags, as, without Album Artist and Compilation tags setup correctly, he will only hit problems further down the line.

Thank you. My tags are pretty solid. But please elaborate when you say "without Album Artist and Compilation tags setup correctly, he will only hit problems further down the line."

[DMRube]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

Have you tried just setting the "Folder" to the desired location for the new files, and then [origpath]\[origfilename] for dynamic naming?

Thank you. I tried that before starting this thread. [origpath]\[origfilename] that convention starts THREE layers above, in other words starts with 'USER', than "my name', then 'MUSIC', and only then the folder of the actual artist or album, and imbedded in that are the tracks, but it otherwise converts it correctly, by the way, BOTH the compilation folder and an artist folder that would have more than one album. So I then removed the [origpath] leaving only [origfilename] and it copied all tracks individually, all on same level, without folders for artist or album.

That tells me we're on the right path, using both terms is too much, and using just the one is too little, but with the right code it should work correctly.

By the way, if you could post the 'code" in terms like these to try, e.g.:[artist]/[album]/[track] [title] ; [origpath]\[origfilename] ; it would help me quite a bit, I may not be as fluent in this program, so if you could "spoon-feed me" that would help

I hope I've adequately explained why I'm still running into difficulty.

Thanks guys-

[mville]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

Thank you. My tags are pretty solid. But please elaborate when you say "without Album Artist and Compilation tags setup correctly, he will only hit problems further down the line."

A lot of media player and server software that you may use to play/stream your music, use the Album Artist and Compilation tags and not just the Artist tag, to organize and display albums.

[mville]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

I tried that before starting this thread. [origpath]\[origfilename] that convention starts THREE layers above, in other words starts with 'USER', than "my name', then 'MUSIC'

Please can you describe exactly, how you have organised your audio library folder/directory structure?

[garym]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

Thank you. I tried that before starting this thread. [origpath]\[origfilename] that convention starts THREE layers above, in other words starts with 'USER', than "my name', then 'MUSIC', and only then the folder of the actual artist or album, and imbedded in that are the tracks, but it otherwise converts it correctly, by the way, BOTH the compilation folder and an artist folder that would have more than one album. So I then removed the [origpath] leaving only [origfilename] and it copied all tracks individually, all on same level, without folders for artist or album.

That tells me we're on the right path, using both terms is too much, and using just the one is too little, but with the right code it should work correctly.

By the way, if you could post the 'code" in terms like these to try, e.g.:[artist]/[album]/[track] [title] ; [origpath]\[origfilename] ; it would help me quite a bit, I may not be as fluent in this program, so if you could "spoon-feed me" that would help

I hope I've adequately explained why I'm still running into difficulty.

Thanks guys-

Did you read my post earlier with link to thread?
https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthr...der&highlight=[trimfolder]

Depending on how deep your folder structure is, you'll need one or more [trimfirstfolder] items in the front of the string. Here's an example with two levels you need to remove. Don't forget that each needs a '[]' at the end to close it.

In your "Output Location:" -> "Dynamic:"

[TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][origpath][][]\[origfilename]

You'd want to put, for example the folder where you want the converted files to end up in the "folder" line: for example, "D:\Music\Apple" in the "Folder" line.
And if you're using this approach, you will NOT also be using artist/album, etc.

[DMRube]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

Did you read my post earlier with link to thread?
https://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthr...der&highlight=[trimfolder]

Depending on how deep your folder structure is, you'll need one or more [trimfirstfolder] items in the front of the string. Here's an example with two levels you need to remove. Don't forget that each needs a '[]' at the end to close it.

In your "Output Location:" -> "Dynamic:"

[TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][origpath][][]\[origfilename]

You'd want to put, for example the folder where you want the converted files to end up in the "folder" line: for example, "D:\Music\Apple" in the "Folder" line.
And if you're using this approach, you will NOT also be using artist/album, etc.

Thank you, I'll try that.

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

Thank you, I'll try that.

It sounds like you're getting close. Back where you said you had tried [origpath]\[origfilename], you described the problem as having "too much" of your folder structure carried over ("user"\Music\ etc).

As garym describes, [trimfirstfolder] is the way to remove unwanted file structure levels. For each [trimfirstfolder] you add to the beginning of the [origpath]\[origfilename] string, it will remove a level from the beginning. So if you need to remove three levels, include three [trimfirstfolder] elements. Along with the required closing double-brackets, it would look like this:

[trimfirstfolder][trimfirstfolder][trimfirstfolder][origpath[][][]\[origfilename]