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Ask iLounge 3-23-06

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By Jerrod H.

Contributing Editor, iLounge
Published: Thursday, March 23, 2006
Category: Ask iLounge

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy music from my iPod onto my computer?

Click here for the answer.

The second most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I put DVDs on my iPod?


For converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and home movies to your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV, we have a three-part series outlining the best formats, settings, and various tools to use for converting all types of video content for use on these devices.

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Windows)

Top five questions most recently asked by iLounge readers:

Q: What are the best speakers to use with my iPod? (15, 76-79, and 90-92)

Q: What are the best headphones to use with my iPod? (10, 72-75, and 90-92)

Q: I really want to get a nice case for my iPod. Do you have any suggestions? (36-37, 54-67, and 90-92)

Q: How can I connect my iPod to my car stereo? (14, 32-35, 68-71, and 90-92)

Q: Are there any batteries that I can use to extend my iPod's battery life? (82-83 and 90-92)

A: Answers to these and many other questions can be found in two places. Our Free iPod Book 3.3 provides a complete report card to all of the iPod accessories we've reviewed as of summer 2007, as well as over 125 iTunes and iPod tips & tricks. Further, our new 2008 iPod & iPhone Buyers' Guide has accessory tutorials at the page numbers listed in parentheses above. These and other publications in our Library are free downloads, developed by the editors of iLounge!

And now, for this week's Ask iLounge column:

Q:

I keep lots of classical music on my iPod. For these tracks, I’m not terribly concerned about the “artist,” and so I leave the field blank, tagging only the “Composer” field. This way, they do not show when I go through my iPod’s “Artist” menu, which works great. However, I’m having one problem with this way of operating. To play all of my classical music, I select “Music → Composers → All” from the iPod’s menu, but it lists all of the audio tracks on the iPod, including those with empty “Composer” fields. Why? Do you have a better solution?

- Corey

A:

This is indeed an odd menu behavior that can’t really be changed, but it’s easy to create the functionality you’re looking for.

First of all, the easiest way to browse all of your classical music would be to simply choose “Genre → Classical.” This menu’s default behavior is to show a list of Classical artists (which should be empty for you), then albums (which may not be).

Alternatively, if not all of your “Composer”-tagged tracks are labeled under the “Classical” genre, you could create the following smart playlist to obtain all tracks which have a Composer, and omit those that don’t:

Note that although this would only give you a flat listing of tracks, though you can select in iTunes how you’d like to sort it: sorting by the “Composer” field or “Album” may be the most logical, or, if you’re using the “Grouping” field for the title of the overall classical composition, you could sort using that.

Q:

I need to organize my Source column in iTunes by shortening it up, and sorting it in a better way than alphabetically. I can add folders, but can’t seem to create playlists inside these folders. How, then, do I make use of them? Furthermore, why can’t I sort the playlists how I want?

- Hal

A:

To create a smart or manual playlist inside an existing folder, simply select the folder in the Source column, and then create the new playlist using “File → New Playlist,” or any other method to create a playlist. If you’d rather not do it this way, you can create a playlist at the root level, and simply drag it into the folder you’ve created. Also note that you can even create sub-folders inside other folders, several layers deep:

When cleaning up your “Source” list, it certainly can be restrictive that you can’t sort your playlists manually. Drag-and-drop doesn’t help, here. iTunes’ only Source column sorting method is alphabetical: folders first, then smart playlists, with manual playlists grouped below. How can this be fixed? We currently add miscellaneous characters before our playlist titles to force them to the top. For example, our “Forgotten Favorites” playlist appears at the top of the list when titled “+Forgotten Favorites.” This setting indeed transfers to the iPod, and can be further manipulated by using additional characters.

Q:

Can you change the preview frame of Music Videos? Some of the music videos I’ve encoded show a black screen (presumably taken from before the video starts). I can’t find this setting in Handbrake or iSquint… is this possible to do, or is it an iTunes Music Store-only feature?

- Aaron

A:

We’ve covered this before, but the question is a popular one, and the solution is neat:

Although certain encoding programs can set the preview frame when the files are created, this isn’t required - iTunes can do this after the files have already been imported. Simply start the video playing (whether in the album art box, or in a separate window), scroll to the frame you’d like to highlight, and pause the video. Then, right-click on the video frame itself, and choose “Set Poster Frame.”

If you’d prefer the preview frame to not be an actual frame of video, you can change the preview picture exactly as you would for album art.

Q:

I’m trying to encode a TV series from its original DVD into iPod-compatible video files using HandBrake. Is it possible to not have to manually reconfigure and restart the process for each individual episode?

- Anonymous

A:

Sure. HandBrake’s relatively new “Queue” feature enables this. To use it, set up the first episode, and then click the “Enable Queue” checkbox at the bottom of the window, and click “Add to Queue.” Then, change the Title and Chapter to the next episode, change the output filename, and click “Add to Queue” again, and so on. When you’ve accumulated the entire DVD’s worth of files, click “Start.”

This is a great feature for encoding TV series, but at the time of this writing, it’s got at least one major bug: you’ll also need to manually reset the output video resolution in the Picture Settings menu each time you add an episode to the queue. This is the only relevant option we’ve found that isn’t properly “remembered” between additions to the queue, but it’s important enough that you’re likely to end up with a batch of files wherein only the first one will transfer to the iPod, if you’re not aware of it.

For our full tutorial on creating iPod-compatible videos using HandBrake, see our Complete Guide to Converting DVDs to iPod Format (Mac). A similar tutorial for the PC is available here.

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Ask iLounge Archives:

10-30-09: Authorization problems with iPod touch, Changing Grid View background in iTunes, iTunes library and Music Folder are different sizes, Older iPods and firmware updates, Reconciling two different iTunes libraries, Syncing multiple devices to one iTunes library

10-23-09: Using a laptop with an iTunes library on an external hard drive, Transferring YouTube videos to iPod, iPod touch accessibility settings, Disabling Shake to Shuffle on iPod nano, Purchased songs fail to download from iTunes Store, Charging and powering off iPhone

10-16-09: Moving iTunes to a new computer, Transferring contacts from Blackberry to an iPhone, Disabling iPhone Backups, Using AV cables for audio only, Problems syncing photos to iPod touch, Memorex iFlip and iPhone compatibility

10-9-09: iPhone OS and external keyboards, Adjusting ratings in a remote iTunes library, Excluding tracks from Genius Mixes, Moving iTunes library out of My Documents, Playlist folders on iPod touch, Refreshing random Smart Playlists

9-25-09: iTunes 9 and Shopping Cart, Restoring iTunes to an external hard drive, Using an HTTP Proxy over 3G, Problems transferring movies from iTunes to IPhone, iPod touch shuffle mode, Using an iPhone without a SIM card

See the rest of the Archives...

Next: Limiting Your iPod's Maximum Volume

Previous: Ask iLounge 3-16-06

Comments

1

FYI:
Workaround for flat listing of tracks in Playlist

In the first question, the answer stated, “Note that although this would only give you a flat listing of tracks,...”

There is a simple workaround to this.
Actually there are two:

If you are *sharing* your playlist to other computers, you will be able to Browse the playlist as normal on the remote computer.

However if you want to browse the playlist locally, just put the playlist in its own sub-folder.

eg. if your playlist is called “Composers”, just make a folder called “Composers” (or whatever) and put it there.  Now when you click on this *FOLDER* (not the playlist itself) you will be able to browse by artist/album/genre etc.

cheers
DukeTogo

Posted by DukeTogo on March 25, 2006 at 5:49 AM (PDT)

2

i just got an ipod nano, and i went through the the cd and downloaded what i needed too. so then, i was downloading songs from cd onto the itunes thing, and after downloading 81 songs, every single song skipped. and i`m almost positive it`s not because of my cd. is it because my computer? or maybe the whole itunes thing? please let me know, it`s really bugging me. thanks you.

Posted by spam1718 on March 26, 2006 at 2:38 PM (PDT)

3

I’ve started using Windows to transfer data to my ipod, can i use Mac to add songs without deleting any of the songs? My ipod setting is on manual. Or vice versa?

Posted by kellyjugo on March 28, 2006 at 8:00 PM (PDT)

4

kellyjugo - Mac computers can read a Windows formatted iPod, so yes, you can add songs to the iPod from your Mac without the songs on the iPod being deleted in the process.

Posted by Audrey McGirt on March 29, 2006 at 7:56 AM (PDT)

5

where would i buy a ipod pillow?

Posted by MrsShoe on March 29, 2006 at 8:49 AM (PDT)

6

This is a very specific question, i need to know which is the best option for iPod connection in:


a) SEAT’s Ibiza 06 with it’s OE Grundig Pre-Wired Aura/Beta/Integrated Climate Controls.

b) SEAT’s Ibiza 06 with it’s OE Grundig Sound System 5201.

c) How can I use the steering wheel controls with an Alpine Head Unit with auxiliary input or Full Speed Interface for iPod in a SEAT’s Ibiza 06 with it’s OE Grundig Pre-Wired Aura/Beta/Integrated Climate Controls.

Posted by cesar_uribe on March 29, 2006 at 7:45 PM (PDT)

7

is there anyway you can sort tracks alphabetically within a folder.  I have a lot of singles tracks in a file called “Singles” and would like to see them alphabetically.  Thanks

Posted by hugbearoz on April 1, 2006 at 5:19 PM (PDT)

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