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Author Topic: WMA Library Import Problem  (Read 2773 times)

haweskg

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WMA Library Import Problem
« on: April 03, 2012, 05:52:29 pm »

I imported an existing WMA music library into JRiver and some/most of the albums are split up into two separate albums each with about half of the music, one with song titles and one without, stating "uknown album" but still displaying album art ?

(example: Pink Floyd "The Wall", a two disc set imports as four separate albums, two with corrrect data and the other incorrect.  All songs are there just not recognized as two CD's)

What happened?......

This is not a good first impression.....

Thanks in advance,

KGH
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Matt

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2012, 05:54:40 pm »

Is it possible not all your music is tagged?

You can view a tag dump in Media Center with Action Window > Tag > Click first line in the display
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Matt Ashland, JRiver Media Center

haweskg

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2012, 06:10:12 pm »

Thanks for the fast reply.
I admitt that I am way behind the learning curve here and not even sure what a "tag" is! :-[
With WMP I just ripped the CD's, selected the album info and done.
I only have about 20 CD's ripped in lossless WAV format and don't mind re-ripping if that will solve the problem but my entire library (300) has been ripped in MP3 and I really would like to import them without issues.

KGH
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Matt

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2012, 06:13:30 pm »

A tag is the metadata like artist, album, etc. stored in the file.

WMP does not write WAV tags, which is why other programs don't see metadata.  JRiver can write WAV tags, but that doesn't help here.

If you named the files well, you can use Library Tools > Fill Properties From Filename to get some information from the filenames inside JRiver.

MP3 files will almost certainly be tagged, and Media Center should read the tags with no problem.
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haweskg

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2012, 06:22:10 pm »

Thank you very much for your help.
Looks like I will need to do some homework here........I hate home work......

KGH
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JimH

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2012, 06:28:53 pm »

Try selecting a file in MC and then click on Tag in the Action Window (lower left corner).  That opens a tag window. 

The window has options that allow you to display a subset of the tags or all of them.  Click in the upper left corner of the Action Window when in the tag view.
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haweskg

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2012, 07:06:24 pm »

Ok, got that, see the info but how do I modify to get the appropiate library representation.......change what???
 
Sorry, I really don't want to waste your time.  I really think that I need to do more research here.  Bottom line is that it appears I really need to understand the tag info.

If I re-rip the CD's will it fix the problem?

Thanks,

KGH
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MrC

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2012, 07:19:20 pm »

No need to re-rip if you have lossless files.

Select all the files for one album in the Files list

In the Action Window > Tag, check each of Album, Artist; you can also look at Date, and Genre.

If all the values are the same for any property (eg. Album, Artist, etc.), MC will show the value.  If any are different, it will show [Varies].  When Album or Artist varies, MC's default Album views (and other views that group this way) will split the tracks as per the values in the property.

If none of the values is correct, or are empty, you can try to cull the information from the folder and file names of the tracks.  Right-click the tracks, Library Tools > Fill Properties from Filename, and configure a "template" that matches how your tracks are located/named in the file system.  MC can then grab these values and fill the tags/properties.  Example:

   Folder:     [Artist]\[Album]
   Filename: [Track #] - [Name]

If none of this will work for your situation, let's go to the next step...
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haweskg

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #8 on: April 04, 2012, 06:15:15 pm »

I tried some of what has been suggested.....no luck yet.
I'm trying to stick with it but honestly as much as WMP sucked I could have easily fixed this...drag, drop, merge.
I should not have to type in a bunch of data to fix this.  Some of the songs are labled as unknown even though
they are associated with the correct album art???

I would love to use this as my main media player but if I cannot import libraries easily without error then why bother.  I must be missing something....any additional help would be much appreciated.

KGH
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JimH

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #9 on: April 04, 2012, 06:20:08 pm »

I don't think you're importing a library (a database).  I think you're importing files and it sounds like some have no tags.  If they are WAV, that's no surprise.

Will tagging a few files ruin your day?  Try it.  Just select a file and click on the Tag icon in the lower left corner.  You can do multiple files at a time by selecting them first.  Ctrl-click will let you select from a list.
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haweskg

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2012, 06:41:28 pm »

Ok taggged one album/files with correct album title but now what, how do I get the tag to be used.
Still displays split album.....where's the fix based on tag button?
Sorry for sounding snippy but.....well I stare at computer screens all day.....

Thanks,

KGH
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JimH

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #11 on: April 04, 2012, 06:47:33 pm »

For an album not to be split, the album name would have to be exactly the same on all files.  Try retagging them all.
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haweskg

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #12 on: April 04, 2012, 07:04:38 pm »

Ok got one album to be merged using title but now the songs that were untitled before the merge are still unamed.
BTW, I really apprecieate your help.

KGH
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MrC

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Re: WMA Library Import Problem
« Reply #13 on: April 04, 2012, 08:56:06 pm »

A little background - files ripped from CDs typically get their tags via CD lookup in some external database.  But if the media software that performed the ripping did not include said tags, they will not be available to another piece of software such as Media Center.

So, you have some choices:

1) use the folder / filenames to help MC grab and populate the metadata
2) use the original software to force tag writing (if possible, WAV is iffy)
3) use the original software to force renaming the files such that (1) above is possible
4) insert the CD into MC and its auto-lookup will likely find the metadata, whereby you can create a view to help copy/paste the data from CD track to existing ripped track
5) enter the data manually (not too hard, since MC has excellent shortcuts and helpers)

Hope this helps!
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