Windows > Third Party Plug-ins, Programs, and Skins
"Swag of Tools" : Collection of Utilities for MC
jmone:
Last Updated: 29 Mar 2022
Description: "Swag of Tools" is a collection of my scripts in a single GUI maintaining a consistent Look and Feel and includes:
- Chapterfy: Creates Chapter Based Particles (so you can manage Music Videos on a per Track Basis as you can a CD)
- Particlise: Bulk Creation of Particles
- Data Fiddler: Lets you Import / Export / Update the MC Library from a Spreadsheet
- Media Checker: Checks if Items on your HDD are actually in you Library
- Burn2BD: Transcodes a Video for the Production of a Blu-ray ISO (optionally lets you then burn it to a disk)
- MediaInfo: Uses MediaInfo to get the information of you media file and will update MC including if the Audio contains Atmos/DTS:X and can also determine a video's crop factor (uses ffmpeg)
- Filename Updater: Allows you to manually correct the "Filename" field even for items like Particles that can not be updated in the MC GUI
How to use: The latest AutoHotKey Script and a 64-Bit compiled version can be found at: https://github.com/jmone1/Swag-of-Tools/releases (latest 64-Bit compile version is attached to this post)
- It will only run in Windows and is GUI based
- It needs no install, just extract the version you want to a handy folder and run it from there.
- When you first run MC Tool Box it will create a .ini file (for the MCWS logon details) and add "Sent To" shortcuts in MC for many commands (but you may need to run it "As Administrator" this first time to add these links).
- You can then either use one of the "Right Click --> Send To --> Send To (external) -->" short cuts to run just that one command or run the EXE directly (or if you have AHK Installed the AHK script) to see the full menu of available options and their descriptions.
- If you were using any of my standalone versions or older versions, you should remove their links in "Right Click --> Send To --> Send To (external) --> Add/Edit Programs"
Notes, Limitations, Future Stuff:
- Let me know of the bugs.... There will be rough edges around this for now
- Make sure you Backup your Library First as there is no "undo" function and you can change a whole bunch of stuff!
- Let me know of any Feature Requests or Enhancements
jmone:
Guide: Chapterfy (Particlise Anything - aka Manage Music Videos Like CDs) - Old Chapterfy Thread
Background: MC Lets you manually create Particles that can include a Playback Range for a chapter / part of a file for playback. There are several issues limitations to the current approach:
- Time Consuming to Create (as you have to manually find and enter the Names and Playback range for each particle)
- Can not be saved as sidecar files (so can not recreate or move between libraries)
NOTE: ChapterDB is no longer (RIP) - there is a backup hosted here that you can still be used (and browsed) but the API is gone that will auto match the files
ChapterDB is an online data base with 100,000+ user created chapter files for Blu-ray, DVD, and other files. ChapterDB lets you search for and download a Chapters file (in either a TXT or XML format). This script is based on the TXT format that looks like:
--- Code: ---CHAPTER01=00:00:00.000
CHAPTER01NAME=A New World
CHAPTER02=00:06:17.960
CHAPTER02NAME=You are not in Kansas anymore
--- End code ---
What Chapterfy does: It creates MC Particles for each chapter of a file with Chapter Names and Start/Stop Times. The particles created will have all the same meta data as the original file but the script will populate the following MC Fields:
- Playback Range with "Start"-"End" timecodes
- Name will be the "ChatperName"
- Track # will be the order of the Chapters in the File
Options and Examples: Chapterfy has the following options:
Chapter DB Lookup Auto : This feature only works on Blu-ray Playlists. You would normally:
1 - need to create the BD Title Particle(s) - in MC, Select your BD --> Right Click --> Stacks --> Advance --> Auto Create BD/DVD Title Particles.
2 - check what which BD Title Particle you want to Chatperfy as MC Tool Box will create a Particle for each "Title" on the BD. Just play the newly created Title Particles to find the main one with all the chapters listed (it will typically be the one with the longest playback time).
3 - Once you have selected the desired a MPLS (BD Chapter Particle) in MC, Chapterfy will attempt to Automatically Look up a match at ChatperDB and create the Chapters based on their Chapter Names and Start / End Times.
Chapter DB Lookup with ID # : Similar to above but, this feature works on any File Type. Enter the ChapterDB # to auto get the chapter file from the www.chapterdb.org website and have it applied to ANY single file selected in MC
Read Blu-ray MPLS : This feature only works on Blu-ray Playlists. I've written a MPLS parser to grab the Chapter # and Times directly from the MPLS but you will need to manually enter your own Chapter Names (as they are not contained in the MPLS itself).
Manually Create : This feature works on any File Type. Edit your own chapter (txt not xml) file based on the number of chapters you want and have it applied to ANY single file selected in MC.
Chapter.txt File : This feature works on any File Type. Allows you to use an existing Chatper.txt file to Chapterfy an item in MC. You can also Backup / Create a sidecar chapters (txt not xml) file for the existing particles you have selected in MC regardless of filetype.
Attached is a screenshot of ChapterDB.
Notes, Limitations, Future Stuff:
- If creating a sidecar chapters file from existing particles make sure they are shown in the correct order in MC
- I'm hoping that one day MC will support chapter side car files for displaying chapter names in the MC Menu during playback (instead of Chatper 1, 2 etc) but that is up to JR
- There is a bug in MC : Incorrect Filename on Create Particles (sometime)
Other Options:
My inspiration is MrC's much more advanced MCUtils Based Script - Guide: Generate Chapter Based Blu-ray Particles (aka Rip Music BDs Like CDs)
jmone:
Guide: Particlise
Background: MC Lets you manually create Particles but it can be time consuming to create a batch of them.
What Particlise does: It Bulk creates MC Particles for each selected file in MC. The particles created will have all the same meta data as the original file.
Options and Examples: Particlise has the following options:
Create # : Creates the required # of Particles for every item Selected in MC
Notes, Limitations, Future Stuff:
- There is a bug in MC : Incorrect Filename on Create Particles (sometime)
jmone:
Guide: Data Fiddler (MC Library <-> Spreadsheet Import/Export/Update) Old Data Fiddler Thread
Background: MC has all the power you need to maintain and modify data within it's GUI. A few members however want to be able to import/export their library to tools like excel, some want to the modify and update this information, and others would like to be able to use a spreadsheet to add new items (for existing meta data holdings, dummy files etc)
This utility has 4 Options
- Export the Entire MC Library: Exports your entire Library to a MPL and converts to a Unicode/Tab Delimited TXT file which you edit in Excel etc
- Export Selected Items from the MC Library: Exports only the Items Selected in MC to a MPL and converts to a Unicode/Tab Delimited TXT file which you edit in Excel etc
- Convert a MC MPL Playlist File: Converts an existing MC MPL (playlist) File to a Unicode/Tab Delimited TXT file which you can edit in Excel etc
- Update MC Library: Updates existing and adds new Items in your MC Library from a Unicode/Tab Delimited TXT file. The ability to directly add new items is only supported with MC Version 22.0.21 or later
- Create/Import a MC Playlist File: Creates a MC MPL (playlist) File from a Unicode/Tab Delimited TXT file (optionally asks it you want import) that lets you add new items to the MC Library - This is kept for those with older versions of MC.
Examples: Read the posts below for examples of what it can do.
- Adding Items to MC from a Spreadsheet - useful if you want to add items with no associated file such as managed a physical disk collection
- Updating Items in MC from a Spreadsheet - useful if you want bulk update vales for existing items.
- add your "off line" media library to MC by 8139david
- How to update a non editable System Field like Date Imported
- others???
Notes, Limitations, Future Stuff:
- It takes me about 2mins to export my 30K library to a Unicode/Tab Delimited Text file and will use a bunch of Memory in the process. You may need to use the 64-Bit Version of MC Tool Box for large libraires if you run out of Memory
- It will create a spreadsheet of all used Library Fields (eg if you have not populated a field it will not appear), many of these fields are system fields
- *BEWARE* it WILL change or add stuff to your Library and there is no "Undo".... so backup your Library before you modify it.
- To increase the compatibility with various TXT editors, Excel etc, any field in MC that has Tabs and Carriage Returns Line Feeds embedded in the data will be shown as {TAB}, {CR}{LF} in the exported Text File. So in an Excel you may have a Description that looks like "This Movie version is:{CR}{LF}{TAB}- The Original Theatrical Release{CR}{LF}{TAB}- Filmed in Sydney Australia" all in one cell, and in MC it will appear as:
This Movie version is:
- The Original Theatrical Release
- Filmed in Sydney Australia
"Key" Vs "FileKey": In the MC GUI, the primary "Key" for all entries is a hidden field so SOT will add a "Calculated Field" called "FileKey" that will show this information (see attached pic). During the import and export this field is just called "Key". So if you are using the "Update MC Library" the Column Header in your TXT file should be called "Key" (not "FileKey") or nothing will match and be updated. If you want to be able to view the FileKey from within MC's views then you need add "FileKey to your view.
MC Version 22.0.21 or later: Lets DataFiddler add new items from a TXT file using the "Update MC Library" option where the "Key" field is populated with "new".
Importing the TXT file into Excel: If you just drag and drop your TXT file into Excel, it will import the file using a "General" data format. This General data format will have Excel process every cell and it may change the text as a result.
As we want nothing to be changed by Excel we want to use "Text" as the data format. To do this, open the file using the Wizard, select all the Col (Select Col 1, scroll to the end and Shift Click the last Col) then change the format to "Text" (see pic). Keep in mind that even with the above technique, some longer integer #'s get truncated by Excel. It will probably not be an issue but don't update Columns you don't need to (say Frame per Sec for those NTSC frame rates).
Saving the TXT file from Excel: The text file to be used to update MC must be a Unicode/Tab Delimited TXT file. In Excel, make sure it is saved as "Unicode Text (*.txt)". If you used DataFiddler to create the TXT file, it will already be in this format.
jmone:
Guide: MC Media Checker (Check for Items on HDD but Missing in MC) Old MC Media Checker Thread
Background: MC has the Ability to check for "Missing Filenames" for items that are in the MC Library but not on the HDD. Unfortunately the opposite is not easy to do (eg check what might be missing from the MC Library that is present on the HDD). As an example, you can end up with "orphaned" files when using MC's delete function if you have selected "Remove from Media Library" when you really wanted either "Remove from Media Library & ..Delete / ...send to the Recycle Bin" options.... and they can be hard to find later.
MC Media Checker allows you to select a Folder and it will check each file under that folder (and all sub folders) to see if they exist in the MC Library. Any items that do not exist will be written out to a TXT File called "FileList.txt" that you can then examine.
Notes, Limitations, Future Stuff:
- There is no logic in this script, it just reads a file and checks if it is in MC so you can end up with a big list of sidecar files, coverart, and in the case of Blu-ray / DVD rips a whole list of subfiles that MC does not display even though the "Main" file exists
- Files that are in MC but have a different name than the file system will also be reported
- It may not handle some extended characters sets well, so keep an eye on your files.
- At this stage this script does not change anything it either MC or the HDD. I was thinking of adding a buttons like "Add all to MC" and "Delete all from HDD" but ..... best to check manually at this stage.
- I could also offer a "Filter" so that it only checked for particular extensions (eg MP3, FLAC etc) to help avoid finding stuff like valid sidecar files
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