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View Full Version : iTunes mp3 bookmark trouble.


Seth
Oct 28th, 2005, 07:45 PM
I've noticed something with itunes that has been helpful and somewhat frustrating at the same time. In the "Get Info" section under the "options" tab, itunes 6 features a check box option for you to remember your playback position, which in essence gives you the ability to bookmark your audio files. GREAT! I've noticed that both the "Remember playback position" and "Skip when shuffling" option are both toggled whenever you download a podcast from iTunes. However, when you add any old mp3 file into your itunes library, these boxes are not checked at all and you have to go in and do it manually.

Ok so fair enough, just check the boxes if you want that option right? Well I did that, and then rearranged my library, accidently deleting a file that I had checked and assuming that the options I had set on that mp3 file would remain when I added that particular mp3 to my library again. NADA. I had to RECHECK "remember playback" for the file every time I deleted it from my library and added it back.

Here's the weird thing: every podcast I download via itunes automatically checks the "remember playback" and "skip shuffling" option. When I upload my podcast mp3s, I haven't been checking the boxes but when the file goes through itunes and comes back to me, they they are: checked and bookmarked for your pleasure. I even deleted a podcast to see if I had to check the option again when I added it back to my library and the files were still checked for me. Am I missing something? I thought if you toggled the options for a particular file, like say when you assign an image, that it STAYED that way unless someone decided they didn't want that feature.

Why are podcasts automatically bookmarked in itunes and other spoken word audio files not? I want to make other spoken word audio besides podcasts available on my website and I'd love it if I could make it so the file itself had the "remember playback" option bundled in with it. I don't want people to have to check those options everytime they play my non-podcast files.

If something here doesn't make sense, accept my apologies. When it comes to this sort of problem, I wish I could just show my problem as opposed to describing it. Thanks in any event.

revupreview
Oct 29th, 2005, 02:45 AM
It appears that iTunes changes the files that it picks up from feeds: it alters the ID3 tags, renames the file, and in some cases I've noticed it will change the volume (some kind of normalization?). It doesn't do this with files you add to the library manually, only those that end up in 'Podcasts.'

I don't know if this happens at the iTunes Music Store (something to do with cacheing) or if iTunes does this itself when it stores the files on your hard disk.

With regard to bookmarking and skipping, it would be useful if this was a preference you could set -- maybe in the next update, please, Apple?

Seth
Oct 29th, 2005, 03:39 PM
Just to follow up on my problem. I spent some time reading the forums over at ilounge.com and came across a program called markable. You can do this yourself manually I think, but the program in question adds m4b extensions to your mp3 files, basically making them bookmarkable no matter what you do to them in itunes. However, since they are now m4b files, you can ONLY play them in itunes. I wanted to give it a shot in winamp and it didn't play.

There has to be a better way to make your files bookmarkable no matter what. The sheer bulk of spoken word audio that's coming out demands apple's attention. I'm sure its an easy bug to fix too.