Comments on: Ongoing challenges http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/ Mac MP4 Metadata Editor for iTunes, iPod, iPhone, Front Row and Apple TV Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:55:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: lowell http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-187 lowell Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:46:44 +0000 http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-187 Alec... Lostify doesn’t currently do anything special about the “iPod atom” in MP4 files. If it’s there already, I believe Lostify leaves it alone; if it’s not present, Lostify doesn’t add it. The documentation for AtomicParsley seems to indicate it (AP) can write this tag, but my testing so far has been inconclusive. Alec… Lostify doesn’t currently do anything special about the “iPod atom” in MP4 files. If it’s there already, I believe Lostify leaves it alone; if it’s not present, Lostify doesn’t add it. The documentation for AtomicParsley seems to indicate it (AP) can write this tag, but my testing so far has been inconclusive.

]]> By: AppleTools http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-184 AppleTools Sun, 30 Mar 2008 08:36:48 +0000 http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-184 Hello! I have a little problem and I know YOU are the right person to ask! I knew it when you explained the name of your program! I have encoded all my LOST DVDs (I also love the show!!!) with an earlier version of Handbrake that didn't have the "Insert iPod Atom" checkbox so they won't sync to my iPod. I can watch them on my computer but not on my iPod!!! Is there a way that Lostify can insert the iPod atom into an mp4 file? I really don't want to re-encode all the three seasons again... All the new movies encoded with the newer version of Handbrake work flawlessly. The funny thing, if you uncheck the "Insert iPod atom" box the files will not sync on iPods even when they are identical in every way, except for that atom, of course... So, If you have ANY idea on how to insert that TAG or ATOM or whatever it is on an mp4 file... I would really appreciate your help!!! Thanks! Alec. Costa Rica. Hello! I have a little problem and I know YOU are the right person to ask! I knew it when you explained the name of your program!

I have encoded all my LOST DVDs (I also love the show!!!) with an earlier version of Handbrake that didn’t have the “Insert iPod Atom” checkbox so they won’t sync to my iPod. I can watch them on my computer but not on my iPod!!!

Is there a way that Lostify can insert the iPod atom into an mp4 file?

I really don’t want to re-encode all the three seasons again…

All the new movies encoded with the newer version of Handbrake work flawlessly. The funny thing, if you uncheck the “Insert iPod atom” box the files will not sync on iPods even when they are identical in every way, except for that atom, of course…

So, If you have ANY idea on how to insert that TAG or ATOM or whatever it is on an mp4 file… I would really appreciate your help!!!

Thanks! Alec. Costa Rica.

]]> By: lowell http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-179 lowell Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:45:01 +0000 http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-179 Jeff, have you tried using Squeegify (a new tool I posted a few weeks ago, as an interim measure) to remove all the tags from problem files before tagging them again using Lostify? You can find it in the "Other Utilities" section of this page: http://lostify.com/download/ If that still doesn't work, please let me know more of the details: what kinds of tags does the file already have, and what errors are reported when Squeegify and/or Lostify fails? Jeff, have you tried using Squeegify (a new tool I posted a few weeks ago, as an interim measure) to remove all the tags from problem files before tagging them again using Lostify? You can find it in the “Other Utilities” section of this page:
http://lostify.com/download/

If that still doesn’t work, please let me know more of the details: what kinds of tags does the file already have, and what errors are reported when Squeegify and/or Lostify fails?

]]> By: Jeff http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-178 Jeff Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:27:21 +0000 http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-178 I am really loving the POTENTIAL of lostify, but cannot use it because Atomic Parsley can't seem to do anything but crash. I am running it outside of iTunes, and continue to get a myriad of errors which all bear the same result - my original files can't be retagged! Help! I am really loving the POTENTIAL of lostify, but cannot use it because Atomic Parsley can’t seem to do anything but crash. I am running it outside of iTunes, and continue to get a myriad of errors which all bear the same result - my original files can’t be retagged! Help!

]]> By: Craig http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-166 Craig Sat, 26 Jan 2008 13:41:01 +0000 http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-166 Hi Lowell, thanks for the comments. I did find the movie poster db url: www.movieposterdb.com. Not sure if they have licensing terms similar to IMDB. Best, Craig Hi Lowell, thanks for the comments. I did find the movie poster db url: http://www.movieposterdb.com. Not sure if they have licensing terms similar to IMDB.

Best,
Craig

]]> By: lowell http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-165 lowell Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:20:31 +0000 http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-165 consumer_q... there are some fields where Lostify can handle a line break, and there are other fields where it simply does not expect one. It generally comes down to: if Lostify or iTunes gives you a multi-line text view to enter text, the Lostify will accept embedded line breaks in that field when it reads files. If both iTunes and Lostify give you single-line text fields, Lostify will fail to parse the existing metadata if it encounters a line break in one of these fields. It just comes down to the algorithm Lostify uses to read the existing metadata. In the future, I will try to update the parsing mechanisms so it won't choke on any embedded line breaks, wherever they are. But in the mean time, if you want to "repair" a file in this state so Lostify can read it again... see my next blog post. consumer_q… there are some fields where Lostify can handle a line break, and there are other fields where it simply does not expect one. It generally comes down to: if Lostify or iTunes gives you a multi-line text view to enter text, the Lostify will accept embedded line breaks in that field when it reads files. If both iTunes and Lostify give you single-line text fields, Lostify will fail to parse the existing metadata if it encounters a line break in one of these fields. It just comes down to the algorithm Lostify uses to read the existing metadata.

In the future, I will try to update the parsing mechanisms so it won’t choke on any embedded line breaks, wherever they are. But in the mean time, if you want to “repair” a file in this state so Lostify can read it again… see my next blog post.

]]> By: consumer_q http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-164 consumer_q Sat, 19 Jan 2008 07:29:55 +0000 http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-164 I broke my Lostify again. ;-) This time I decided to add two entries into the Copyright Notice field by invoking a linebreak by way of the keystroke option-return. After the movie file is processed by Lostify, everything plays correctly, and the metadata show up fine, but when I attempt to open the same file again with Lostify I get two sequential error windows: Error while parsing The Filename.mp4 Lostify operates only on valid MP4 files. No valid MP4 files found. Am I out of luck with modifying these problem files? Thanks again! I broke my Lostify again. ;-)
This time I decided to add two entries into the Copyright Notice field by invoking a linebreak by way of the keystroke option-return. After the movie file is processed by Lostify, everything plays correctly, and the metadata show up fine, but when I attempt to open the same file again with Lostify I get two sequential error windows:
Error while parsing The Filename.mp4
Lostify operates only on valid MP4 files. No valid MP4 files found.

Am I out of luck with modifying these problem files?

Thanks again!

]]> By: lowell http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-163 lowell Fri, 18 Jan 2008 05:06:06 +0000 http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-163 Craig -- I'm glad Lostify is working for you. I agree IMDB integration would be very cool. Unfortunately, IMDB's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/help/show_leaf?usedatasoftware" rel="nofollow">licensing terms</a> expressly forbid any type of data gathering, screen scraping, or data extraction from their website. The only integrations possible (without paying a hefty licensing fee to them) are using plain-text data tables from their FTP site, and even those seem to have disappeared lately. I would love it if they offered a free, public, online API/web service, but I have to ask myself--what's in it for them? I also looked around for the other site you mentioned (InternetMovieDB?), but Google did not help me find anything. Is the site still running? Craig — I’m glad Lostify is working for you. I agree IMDB integration would be very cool. Unfortunately, IMDB’s licensing terms expressly forbid any type of data gathering, screen scraping, or data extraction from their website. The only integrations possible (without paying a hefty licensing fee to them) are using plain-text data tables from their FTP site, and even those seem to have disappeared lately. I would love it if they offered a free, public, online API/web service, but I have to ask myself–what’s in it for them?

I also looked around for the other site you mentioned (InternetMovieDB?), but Google did not help me find anything. Is the site still running?

]]> By: Craig http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-162 Craig Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:30:28 +0000 http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-162 Hi and thanks for the great utility! I've been working over the Christmas period, while time permitted to organize and finally tag most of my encoded movies (over 200+) of them. One thing which I've noticed is that while the integration work you've done with iTunes is very handy, especially for movies which have already been imported, what would help out tremendously is some form of IMDB integration. When I look at a time breakdown, the bulk of effort is put into scanning IMDB for the often times very popular title and performing a copy/paste. If there was a feature which would set this program apart from others, it would be the IMDB integration as this would save a tremendous amount of time. Building on that, I also recently discovered a website called InternetMovieDB, which I love and hate as it includes poster art for nearly every film but costs money or equal uploads for downloads. What would be another interesting feature (one you have listed partially) is the ability to add Movie Art to the process but to also integrate into this website, which seems to be a mainstay. Well just some quick notes, I must say again, thank you very much for investing your personal time on this project, it has helped me tremendously in the process of tagging my movies! Please let the broader lostify community know if you're looking to go opensource and I'm sure myself as well as others would be glad to pitch in! Best, Craig Hi and thanks for the great utility! I’ve been working over the Christmas period, while time permitted to organize and finally tag most of my encoded movies (over 200+) of them. One thing which I’ve noticed is that while the integration work you’ve done with iTunes is very handy, especially for movies which have already been imported, what would help out tremendously is some form of IMDB integration.

When I look at a time breakdown, the bulk of effort is put into scanning IMDB for the often times very popular title and performing a copy/paste. If there was a feature which would set this program apart from others, it would be the IMDB integration as this would save a tremendous amount of time.

Building on that, I also recently discovered a website called InternetMovieDB, which I love and hate as it includes poster art for nearly every film but costs money or equal uploads for downloads. What would be another interesting feature (one you have listed partially) is the ability to add Movie Art to the process but to also integrate into this website, which seems to be a mainstay.

Well just some quick notes, I must say again, thank you very much for investing your personal time on this project, it has helped me tremendously in the process of tagging my movies! Please let the broader lostify community know if you’re looking to go opensource and I’m sure myself as well as others would be glad to pitch in!

Best,
Craig

]]> By: Tom http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-161 Tom Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:16:09 +0000 http://lostify.com/2007/12/02/challenges/#comment-161 The foregoing problem I reported by NONfinis and also observed by me has disappeared when I upgraded to iTunes 7.6 (build 29)!!! Anyone else tried iTunes 7.6? The foregoing problem I reported by NONfinis and also observed by me has disappeared when I upgraded to iTunes 7.6 (build 29)!!!

Anyone else tried iTunes 7.6?

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