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Author Topic: How do I create a playlist with filenames ordered in the sequence of a playlist?  (Read 1189 times)

baldo

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I have a long playlist and I want to take that into iTunes for my phone.

I can convert all the FLAC files in to ALAC files and then move them over to iTunes which is synced up to my phone.

The problem is the palylist order is all messed up. Is there someway that the sequence field in the playlist can also be sent maybe as a one of the tag fields to the file name.

I tried to find an uses field that I could perhaps edit and give that the sequence number but there does not seem to be one.

Does this make sense?
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Dawgincontrol

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I had a similar problem putting onto a USB drive for my car.  What I did, was make an "album" of the playlist and included the "track number" (sequence" as part of the file name.  Had to fool the machine. ;)

May be an easier way, but this worked for me.

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baldo

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There must be an easier way to do this.  Surely one of the benefits of MC is the ability to customize the meta fields and sort the library in the way that we want to.

Look forward to hearing from one of the Experts here. There are loads of them!!
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baldo

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Ok, so how do I create a new "Album" of with their own track numbers?

I dont really want to mess up the tags for the orginal files in the library. 

It would be easier if we could jsut have a way to export playlists into iTunes but I suppose that's a bit too much to ask for!!!
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lepa

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I think you can use Sync Handheld feature by giving a folder in your computer as a virtual handheld device. So create new device and set it to point some folder you created for it then just sync (and convert to alac) the folder with your MC playlist. by default it creates relative path m3u playlist for files.

If Apple can't use relative paths you can also clear Audio Path and change file renaming rules to enter index number with with counter e.g. "padnumber(counter(1,1),2) - [Artist] - [Album] - [Track #] - [Name]". In that case your playlist files are on root of your virtual handheld folder and renamed with index number at start
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baldo

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Thanks for this lepa but I am afraid that your instructions are just not clear enough for me.

Can you tell me exactly what I need to do please to accomplish this.

I got as far as finding the Handheld section and then being able to create the folder that you mentioned for the playlist but then I dont know what to do.  Sorry but I am not really a tech person.

Many thanks
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lepa

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from Menu: Tools >> Options >> Handheld >> Add Device
Give device name e.g.  iTunes
and path e.g G:\iTunes\
that path is now base path of your virtual handheld.

Now you have view for handheld iTunes where you can select the playlist from your library you want to sync with your virtual device (i.e. G:\iTunes path).
1. Check the playlist
2. Change Conversion settings, Audio mode: Specified output format, encoder ALAC, Simultaneous Conversions: set to 1 if you want that order counter in "Audio Filename Rule" to work correctly. If you rely on playlist m3u then it doesn't matter
3. Files, Paths, & More:
   Audio Path: if you leave it default, you get folder structure "[Album Artist (auto)]\[Album]\". If you want all the songs in the base folder (g:\iTunes) just clear the "Audio Path"
   
   Audio Filename Rule: If you leave it default, your filenames is kept the same. If you have cleared the "Audio Path" You can use e.g. "padnumber(counter(1,1),3) - [Artist] - [Album] - padnumber([Track #],2) - [Name]" to formulate filename where e.g. "001 - Beatles - Help! - 02 - The Night Before.alac". The first number being order number in your playlist. you can ditch "padnumber(counter(1,1),3) - " part if you want to rely only on created playlist

Playlist Path: MC also creates Playlist for your files. by default it has relative paths. you can also set path to \ and then playlist will be saved on virtual device's base folder where the song files also are. You should be able to use that playlist in iTunes but if not then that order number in filename should help you to sort correctly.

Now press ok to leave from handheld configuration and from action window choose "sync handheld", choose the virtual device you just created. click details to preview that what files are going to be synced and then press sync
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baldo

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Thanks for your response Lepa.  I appreciate you taking the time to respond and help me.

Unfortuently, the above method did not work.  I still end up with a load of audio files orderde on some random order. 

After far too much time spent on this, its expreiences like this that make me want to find an alternative peice of softrware for my audio playback needs.  It really is ssuch a shame that something as simple as this just cannot be done ina simple way. And I am a reasonably techie savy person yet this just baffles me.

It is better for me to spend my time manually doing this rather than faffing around around.

Thanks again for your help though. You did your best.

Have a good day.
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lepa

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No worries. Thanks for checking back. For me it works though as seen from the screenshots but I agree it is a little complicated to setup first time. After initial setup it should should just work with any playlist synced
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