Fixing up Files That Lostify Won’t Read (redux)
In Fixing up Files That Lostify Won’t Read, I talked about using AtomicParsley from the command line to strip existing metadata out of MP4 files. This can be useful in situations where either an MP4 file contains tags that are somehow corrupt, or where bugs in AtomicParsley prevent it from correctly handling fragmented tags left over from past editing. Users have particularly encountered these issues when using the Cast Listing feature to embed (and later try to modify or remove) cast listings in Lostify.
While I am working on tracking down and fixing the related bugs in AtomicParsley, I decided to offer a more drag-and-drop solution for users who need to take this drastic action of stripping all existing metadata from an MP4 file. So I put together Squeegify. Sorry, I know the name is awful, and the icon’s not much better.
Squeegify, like Lostify, is typically launched by drag and drop. But in all other respects, it’s rather the opposite of its older sibling. Where Lostify presents a user interface and has numerous options, Squeegify does not (the only UI is its dock icon). Where Lostify allows adding and editing metadata, Squeegify strips it out. Where Lostify can optionally overwrite existing files, Squeegify always outputs a fresh copy in the same directory as the original.
It really is a one-trick pony, but if you need to remove corrupt or otherwise unwanted metadata from an MP4 file, try Squeegify.
February 17th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Any chance of a windows XP version of lostify and squeegify.
I would like a graphic interface to sort out the atom when they have corruption. Scanning for a pre-configured listing of atoms then having the ability to re-size the section to match correctly the data.
I have somehow ended up with corrupt atoms which itunes refuses to open. Having to manually edit and adjust the hex numbers so that the meta data is readable is a real pain. I would like a repair option in atomicparsley which can fix the meta data.
February 17th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
peterg70: sorry, no, I don’t plan on porting Lostify to Windows. Maybe I would if Apple would publicly release Cocoa for Windows, but there’s a slim-to-none chance of that ever happening. So don’t count on it.
I know there are a few Windows-based wrappers around Atomic Parsley; maybe you’re already aware of them. I can’t vouch for any, since I have not tried them: VideoTag, TVTagger (which seems abandoned, replaced by elementary), and the humble iPodTVShow. One of these ought to help with tagging files, but as for cleaning out corrupt tags… I’m not sure if any of them allow access to AtomicParsley’s “–metaEnema” switch, which is what cleans all existing tags out (i.e. what Squeegify does). But if, in exceptional cases, you had to use the Windows version of AtomicParsley on the command line for that, it would not be the toughest thing to do.
March 9th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Hi lowell, I basically really like your losty app. And I really appriciate the time and effort you’ve put into this. I have a feature request which I don’t think would be that hard to implement. I want to see Lostify go to epguides.com and automatically get information needed to correctly tag episodes. The information for Lost can for example be found on http://www.epguides.com/lost .
This information is very streamlined for every show so this is theoretically quite possible. This would be a great timesaver when batch tagging episodes and make lostify blow the competition out of the water Just my 2 cents. Keep up the good work
March 17th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Well this is really off this topic but i didn’t know how to contact you.
But for the ratings - is there a way you could add the rating for ‘Not Rated’
like on some of the short films and some movies, they are rated ‘NR’ which obviously means not rated. and i rip my own shortfilms and i really would like that.
Thanks so much, i love your app and use it ALL the time.
hopefully you could add that rating, thanks.
May 6th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
So, in my experience it is not necessary to strip out all metadata. It is only necessary to strip the free space from the meta data. This can be done by passing AtomicParsley the –freefree flag.
JP
May 10th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Do you have any plans on implementing tagchimp?
June 4th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Hey love the application.
today, movies were announced for itunes through canada.
and the ratings in itunes are different than in the appliciation
like in itunes its like “18A” and in your app it’s “18″
hopeing you could fix that,thanks much.
June 4th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Thanks for the comment, Jeremy. I will check the Canadian ratings before I release the next update. Unfortunately I’ve been delayed a lot longer than I expected, but hopefully before too long…
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:48 am
A strange behaviour or a “user-bug”: when I add an “explicit” Tag to an m4a audio file, iTunes displays the correct “explicit” Tag in Info view. But when I sync this file to an iPhone and enable the parental control in the iPhone not to display “explicit” files the tag is ignored and the file is still visible …
August 2nd, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Any mention on when the next update of the program will be released with all the new features and support, would be great to get a date.
August 7th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
John — sorry, no, no date on a new/major feature release (0.8). I am, however, almost ready to get a number of bug fixes out in a 0.7.2 release in the next couple days. Life has simply been too full for me to withdraw, buckle down and finish 0.8 when 0.7 does most of what I require.