Album Artist / Artist..?

[doane2u]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

You're a genius! I found the extra tags and added them in and with your script above it works perfectly for my classical albums. Thanks so much for your help. It's all working now. It puts one composer albums filed by last-first, with the album under it and compilations under a compilations folder and then with the album name below it, artist, composer, etc. Exactly what I wanted.. this makes the whole thing so much more manageable.

For all my popular/jazz/folk, etc., I don't want the first last reversal on the artist or album artist, so I am going to edit your script and see if I can get it to do a similar action with a compilations folder called "Various Artists" and the albums under it.

Really appreciate your help and I hope some others who are having trouble like I was will make use of this too.

All the best,

[doane2u]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

OK, this is what I did for non classical music and it too works great.. thanks again, mville!

[IF!COMP][if][genre],=,Classical,[tag]composersort[],[tag]album artist[][][][IFCOMP]Mixed Artists[]\[album]\[track] [artist] - [title]

Hmm.. I'm just wondering if these two different tag scripts could be put into one script for both classical and non classical that sould recognize classical by genre and non classical tags? Hope I'm not overstaying my welcome. :-)

[Dat Ei]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

Hmm.. I'm just wondering if these two different tag scripts could be put into one script for both classical and non classical that sould recognize classical by genre and non classical tags?

That should work, but I would reposition the if clause for the genre, so that this if clause is checked first and before the if clause for the comp.

Hope I'm not overstaying my welcome. :-)

If you want to learn, try to manage it by yourself. You can't break anything. In doubt you have to reenter your old naming string and start all over again.


Dat Ei

[doane2u]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

Thanks, Dat Ei: I'm really lousy at scripts and math... don't know what it is, I guess I'm more visual. I worked on this most of the day yesterday, trying to learn how it works and I got all sorts of weird results. It wasn't until mville helped me that I was able to get it to work. I'm not even sure how to reposition the "if clause" as you suggested. It would probably take me weeks to get it to work right and I just want to ripp my CDs into some sort of logical order. So I came here for help and I really appreciate the response from everyone.

[mville]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

An explanation of the Naming advanced functions can be found here: dBpoweramp Naming and is well worth familiarizing yourself with, if you intend on editing the Naming string.

These forums also contain many examples showing the use of the Naming advanced functions.

[doane2u]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

I just want to record my CDs. Most of you are heavily into the scripts and do this as a vocation or hobby, so it probably doesn't seem that complicated to you and I understand that, but I was expecting pre supplied settings to choose from, or easy explanations about how to get things done for this software that I paid for. It isn't that clearly spelled out in the help files so I appreciate all the help I can get here. I think if there was a website page with explanations of different configurations and included scripts that one could copy for each one it would make things a lot easier for us "dumb" consumers. We wouldn't have to spend so much time bugging all of you for answers. Maybe I missed it, the one referenced wasn't easily understood. Working examples could be given for those wanting to save to "artist" or "album artist" or to "composer" etc., etc., so that one would only have to copy and paste it into the program... of course, having those available in the software would be even better, but maybe there are to many options?

Another problem I ran into today is that even though I have the ripper preferences set to save artwork to a folder.jpg, it isn't doing it. Most of the time on my many CDs that don't have cover art, or show the wrong one from online, I have to scan the cover in and I expect it to be written to a folder.jpg file in it's folder, but it isn't doing it. And if I have a multi CD album, the first one scanned can't be copied over to the next disk in the series with out scanning it again, since it doesn't save it to "folder.jpg" like it's supposed to do, I can't just copy it over to the other folder either. Can someone please tell me why this isn't working, or what I might be doing wrong?

Thanks again,

[Oggy]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

I just want to record my CDs. Most of you are heavily into the scripts and do this as a vocation or hobby, so it probably doesn't seem that complicated to you and I understand that, but I was expecting pre supplied settings to choose from, or easy explanations about how to get things done for this software that I paid for. It isn't that clearly spelled out in the help files so I appreciate all the help I can get here. I think if there was a website page with explanations of different configurations and included scripts that one could copy for each one it would make things a lot easier for us "dumb" consumers. We wouldn't have to spend so much time bugging all of you for answers. Maybe I missed it, the one referenced wasn't easily understood. Working examples could be given for those wanting to save to "artist" or "album artist" or to "composer" etc., etc., so that one would only have to copy and paste it into the program... of course, having those available in the software would be even better, but maybe there are to many options?

Another problem I ran into today is that even though I have the ripper preferences set to save artwork to a folder.jpg, it isn't doing it. Most of the time on my many CDs that don't have cover art, or show the wrong one from online, I have to scan the cover in and I expect it to be written to a folder.jpg file in it's folder, but it isn't doing it. And if I have a multi CD album, the first one scanned can't be copied over to the next disk in the series with out scanning it again, since it doesn't save it to "folder.jpg" like it's supposed to do, I can't just copy it over to the other folder either. Can someone please tell me why this isn't working, or what I might be doing wrong?

Thanks again,

Hi doane2u,

dBpoweramp is very powerful, and whilst it isn't difficult to use, there are many options. To answer your last point about artwork first, once you have scanned your art (maybe saved in documents), you can simply use the load from file feature, in the art options, to paste for each disc. If you are happy using a beta, the R16.2 Beta, has a copy to / paste from, clipboard function, which makes this a 2 click job. This is available in the Test Upcoming Releases, section.

With any software, we all have a learning curve, it is working as designed, you are not doing anything wrong - just not utilising the full potential. As someone who was in your situation 18 months ago, I have to say that this forum has been a massive help, with very timely, useful and friendly advice.

For looking up previously asked questions, (we've all been there!), I find that Google is a good way of searching, but because there are no real standards for tagging, and individuals may have differing methods, tagging Classical CDs is a whole subject in itself. If you have specific needs, someone will help you, but be patient, as they may have to try the scripts for themselves. For my own interest, I did spend a few hours having a play with custom scripts, and I honestly believe that it is user friendly, but because of the flexibility and personal preferences, especially for Classical, there sometimes is not a simple, single answer for all users, but once you know exactly what you want, help will be available.

Oggy

[doane2u]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

Thanks, Oggy, I hope I didn't come on to strong, I'm just really getting frustrated. I realize this program has a lot of power, I just wish it was a bit more user friendly. I also think the developers (and users) could really benefit from incorporating in their online help site a page with guides to ways to set up file structures and tags, especially for classical. I'm totally unfamiliar with all of this and it would help if they could give some suggestions for different ways of organizing things, along with the scripts required and what the results would be. And maybe a brief discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each method/script could be given. One page, with maybe 10 different scenarios could be given.

RE the artwork problem... in CD Ripper it has the option to "acquire from scanner" and this is very useful, as you simply select it, the scanner fires up, and bingo you have your scanned cover. In the CD Ripper options, under the meta data and ID tags, there is the option to "write to output folder" and the choice of a name. The problem is, it is only saving the scanned image to the file tag, it isn't saving it to the scanned to output folder. What I find when I look in that folder is what ever image it has found on line is there, instead of the one I just scanned. So then I have to physically rescan the image separately and save it to the output folder, over writing the old one, and then in my browser program, or in PerfectTunes Album art (after waiting for it to load), I have to change it to the scanned artwork I originally wanted. Also, if it is a multi CD album, I have to do it each time for the same cover. In Album Art, you have the option to "export to folder.jpg" where as in CDripper, you aren't given that option and there is no way to copy and paste it. Not sure if I want to get into testing a beta version to have this solved, hopefully it will be worked out soon.

The best designed software, no matter how powerful it is, is the one that is the easiest to use and with the easiest learning curve. IMHO ...Having to figure things out as you go, correcting mistakes, and trying to find work arounds gets really tiring quickly, and the problem is coming back to using the software after a lapse in time can lead to mistakes again, and more frustration.

[mville]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

I just want to record my CDs. Most of you are heavily into the scripts and do this as a vocation or hobby, so it probably doesn't seem that complicated to you and I understand that, but I was expecting pre supplied settings to choose from, or easy explanations about how to get things done for this software that I paid for.

I believe that is what we all want, to rip CDs and play the music.

Sadly, to organise an audio library in a way that makes the process of browsing and playing music easy, is not a simple process and requires a consistent, well tagged library. To build such a library can be very complicated and frustrating, as you are discovering.

The software offered by Illustrate is as good as it gets, but does require a degree of learning/understanding, you just have to persevere, getting help in these forums when you need it. Good luck!

[garym]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

If you post examples of what you would like your directory structure and file names to look like, we can help with the needed code. Use actual album info in your examples.

[doane2u]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

Thanks, Garym: I don't know the best way to do this, that's why I have been asking for advice here. I know a lot of you also collect classical CDs, so was hoping for some advice on what might be the best way to organize things. On my own, I have so far decided that probably the best thing would be to keep classical genre albums filed by composer, last name first. Maybe I should also have filed them in a main genre folder of "Classical Music" as well, to seperate them from other music.. I'm not sure. So far, I'm heading in the direction I outlined above and mville helped me with some scripts that do that. If any of you think this solution is going to present other problems down the line, please let me know.
As I said, I'm really a novice on this end of things and need all the help I can get... and I'm sure there are other users that can benefit from your expertise as well.

Thanks,

[garym]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

Thanks, Garym: I don't know the best way to do this, that's why I have been asking for advice here. I know a lot of you also collect classical CDs, so was hoping for some advice on what might be the best way to organize things. On my own, I have so far decided that probably the best thing would be to keep classical genre albums filed by composer, last name first. Maybe I should also have filed them in a main genre folder of "Classical Music" as well, to seperate them from other music.. I'm not sure. So far, I'm heading in the direction I outlined above and mville helped me with some scripts that do that. If any of you think this solution is going to present other problems down the line, please let me know.
As I said, I'm really a novice on this end of things and need all the help I can get... and I'm sure there are other users that can benefit from your expertise as well.

Thanks,

Im away from computer this week traveling so can't respond with specifics ia iPhone. mville has good examples for you. I'll chime in next week if you still have questions. Trial and error is the best way to learn (that's how I did it, with help from people here).

By examples, I mean things like:

c:\music\The Beatles\Abbey Road\01 - Come Together.flac

or by genre

c:\music\Classical\Bach, JS\albumname\01 - trackname.flac

[mville]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

Maybe I should also have filed them in a main genre folder of "Classical Music" as well, to seperate them from other music.. I'm not sure.

If you want to put Classical albums in their own folder try this (based on your last Naming string):
[IF!COMP][if][genre],=,Classical,Classical Music\[tag]composersort[],[tag]album artist[][][][IFCOMP]Mixed Artists[]\[album]\[track] [artist] - [title]

... currently, the only thing this Naming string does not cater for very well, is Compliation albums, as you haven't said exactly how you want these organised, e.g. Classical Compliations will appear as albums under a folder called Mixed Artists.

[mville]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

Here's another example, that handles all Compilation albums, based on what I could gather from your previous posts:
[IF][genre],=,Classical,Classical\[IFCOMP]Various Composers[][IF!COMP][tag]composersort[][],Non-Classical\[IFCOMP]Various Artists[][IF!COMP][album artist][][]\[album]\[track] [artist] - [title]

The nested folder structure will look like this (alphabetically), if your CDRipper Path is set to the default Music folder:

Music

Classical

Bach, Johann Sebastian

Albums ...

Handel, George Frideric

Albums ...

Pärt, Arvo

Albums ...

Various Composers

Albums ...

Wagner, Richard

Albums ...

Non-Classical

Bob Dylan

Albums ...

Miles Davis

Albums ...

Simon and Garfunkel

Albums ...

The Staves

Albums...

Various Artists

Albums ...

[doane2u]

Re: Album Artist / Artist..?

The more I think about this, maybe I'm over thinking the whole thing... since the browsers work by file tag info and not folder info, maybe it isn't that important what the file structure is, other then having the files categorized by artist name or composer name, etc. so that individual tracks aren't scattered all over or in one huge file. I grew up from dos so I still think in anal file organization mode most of the time. Also, if I were to use the get tag info from files in the browser and I had the composers files by last-first, it would probably reverse all the tag composer names, right? And I really don't want that, so I should probably I should just stick to the two main folders of classical and non-classical and just have composers and artists as you outlined above, mville.

Just want to thank you all again for the input and help.