Katastrophos.net Blog » iTunes

New Release: iTunes Alternative Encoders 1.5

Andre Beckedorf — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:58:33 +0000

Yet another minor release of my iTunes script-suite iTunes Alternative Encoders. This one fixes a character encoding issue in the Ogg Vorbis encoder script. I figured this one out while debugging my Quasar Media Player with files containing Umlauts and other non-latin characters. Ogg Vorbis files produced with the previous version of the script contained “#” in the tags instead of the correct characters.
Get the fixed version while it’s hot: Download here.

New Release: iTunes Alternative Encoders 1.4

Andre Beckedorf — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 01:06:25 +0000

I’ve updated the iTunes Alternative Encoders pack. The new version introduces a feature to split up the encoding process into simultaneously running parts, which essentially is a form of multithreading. This means you can now make perfect use of that multi-core/multi-CPU beast on or under your desk when encoding large amounts of files. ;)
Download here.

New Release: iTunes Alternative Encoders 1.3

Andre Beckedorf — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 22:02:34 +0000

I’ve just updated the iTunes Alternative Encoders pack with a new Universal Binary of aoTuV beta 5. Download here.

iTunes Alternative Encoders

Andre Beckedorf — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 23:54:50 +0000

I’ve released a new version of my iTunes Ogg Vorbis Script. This version includes support for iTunes 7 and compilations. I’ve also added support for LAME. The package has been renamed to iTunes Alternative Encoders. Head over here to get the new version.

Ogg Vorbis Encoding Script for iTunes

Andre Beckedorf — Sun, 14 May 2006 23:22:38 +0000

Update: This has been renamed to iTunes Alternative Encoders. Get the new version here.

Lately I’ve been looking for a good way to re-encode my iTunes music files for use in my Zaurus. Since I don’t need to have 256 kbit/s MP3s or Apple Lossless files with those el cheapo headphones, the best way to go is with Vorbis and its excellent properties at 96 kbit/s. Compared with other formats, the quality is pretty nice.
There are already several attempts at creating iTunes scripts to re-encode to Ogg Vorbis or Lame. One of them is Lincoln Ramsay’s “Encode with oggenc” iTunes script. It’s pretty neat already. However, it didn’t fully satisfy my special requirements. ;)

So, here is my modified version of his script:

It adds support for all audio filetypes supported by iTunes and Quicktime due to the use of “mov123″ by the slimserver project. This includes Apple Lossless, AAC, Audio-CDs and standard MP3! Even audio tracks in video files can be re-encoded to Ogg Vorbis.
It also adds support for structured and flat storage. The “flat” mode writes the output files directly to the destination directory, whereas the “structured” mode writes those encoded files ordered in subdirectories similar to the way iTunes does when it is managing music files. All this can be customised by means of editing some simple options.

Download my script here: iTunesOggVorbisEncoder1.0.zip
Also, you’ll need to install oggenc and mov123:

If you have Fink, just install the package “vorbis-tools” and you’ll get oggenc. Alternatively you can download an older version right here: http://www.illadvised.com/~jordy/ (Note: this is a PPC-only binary)
As for mov123, I have compiled a universal binary (Sourcecode is here). You can download it here. Just copy this binary to /usr/local/bin.

Make sure to edit the options in my script file to point to the right locations of oggenc and mov123.
Now, save the script to your homedirectory ~/Library/iTunes/Scripts and restart your iTunes. The script should now appear in the script menu.

In order to re-encode, just select some files and execute the script. If you select files from your library, these will be encoded and saved in “structured” mode as described above. Files selected in playlists are saved in “flat” mode by default. You can always change the behavior be editing the option “structuredPlaylists” within the script file.