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[Brovig]

I am currently an iTunes user and I'd like to use MC as well as continue with iTunes (there's some crazy reasons for this). I'd like to maintain the file structure that iTunes currently uses for organizing the music files.

So my question: will MC in any way change this file structure? And if it will in the default state, is there a way of telling it not to?

A seperate issue is MCs need to manipulate the tags contained in the music files. Where can I find some information about possible conflicts that might arise btw iTune and MC?

Thak you kindly in advance for any help on this!

[Matt]

Welcome to Interact.

Media Center makes no changes to how you organize your files unless you explicitly tell it to.  If you do decide you do want to make changes, try the tool: Library Tools > Rename, Move, & Copy Files.

As for tagging, it should work fine to mix and match programs.  Media Center has excellent tagging and makes every effort to be standards compliant.  You can also optionally configure the program to automatically detect tag changes made by other programs by configuring Auto-Import to watch your media folders.

[flac.rules]

I don't know if its an issue, but itunes used not to support id3v2.4-tags, does itunes have this support now? (And do MC write id3v2.3 or id3v2.4?)

[BartMan01]

Look at the (paid but has a free trial) plug in MCiTunesSyncronizer and carefully read the instructions for it.  The big issue you will have is with the way iTunes works - it doesn't read everything in the tags and it stores many key data elements in it's internal database and does not write to tags.  If you make updates to information about the music in either place there is no way to just use tag data to keep it all in sync.

[olinbg]

Look at the (paid but has a free trial) plug in MCiTunesSyncronizer and carefully read the instructions for it.  The big issue you will have is with the way iTunes works - it doesn't read everything in the tags and it stores many key data elements in it's internal database and does not write to tags.  If you make updates to information about the music in either place there is no way to just use tag data to keep it all in sync.

This is entirely true, but there are workarounds in some cases.  For one time transfer, I've often used a field (like Comment in iTunes) to move Ratings out of itunes, just used smart playlists for each rating and then copied '1' into comment field, '2' for two stars, etc.

If you want consistent syncing, the tool above is the way to go.

[Brovig]

Many thanks to you all for the response! It's been very helpful.

As I peel "the layers" of MC I am more and more impressed at what I find. I'm getting ready to make the big move.

But I have to say that while the Wiki is good and this forum is rich in its responses, it strikes me that MC could do with a better introductory guide. And a guide for "best practices" on how to set up a digital home. There are a lot of concepts and terminology that need to be properly understood. A guide specifically aimed at iTunes users would also be helpful. After all, there are a good few of them around!

I'm still trying to figure out what things like "Play Doctor" are all about! And MC Jukebox?!