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Author Topic: How do I organise files like in iTunes?  (Read 4574 times)

cobar53

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How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« on: August 03, 2013, 09:28:00 pm »

By this I mean having Folders (eg one for The Beatles) and in it place each of their albums in order.

Seems a low order request, but I have tried heaps and cannot manage to succeed

Wayne
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MrC

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2013, 10:03:24 pm »

The default Artists view will show you Artists with their Albums under each artist.  Inside there, you can sort the albums however you want.

What do your Artist values show for, say, The Beatles?  Do all tracks have exactly the same name (e.g. "The Beatles")?
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cobar53

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2013, 02:50:47 am »

My source drive has a folder labeled 'Beatles' with all albums in it.

MC under Artist view shows this divided into 3 folders - 'The Beatles', 'Beatles, The' and 'Beatles'.

If I try to drop and drag the latter two into the first, a warning comes up saying the data will be altered.

The track labels remain correct.

Mr Bowie fares less well. What starts out as 'Bowie' folder with 13 albums in it, displays as 'David Bowie' with 1 album in it!
But all his songs are there when one looks at 'Files' :-\
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InflatableMouse

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2013, 03:28:23 am »

MC uses tags to show you your media files. Tags are stored in the files and MC imports them into its own database. These tags can be different from the physical folders and filenames on your disk.

I'm going to asume the Mac version is the same as Windows version in this respect but a small warning, I've not used the Mac version so some things might work differently from what I'm suggesting here.

If you're certain all your Beatles songs are perfectly organised on disk (ie, /Your Music Folder/The Beatles/Albums/01 - Tracks.mp3)

Try the following:
Navigate to Audio/Files
Select the path for The Beatles
Select All tracks from an album that is incorrectly displayed in MC's Artist or Album View
Right Click the Files/Tracks
Choose Library Tools
Choose Fill Properties from Filename

In the dialog box that pops up you can use templates to correct the artist, album and track names with the file and foldernames on disk.

For instance, if you've organised your files as follows: /The Beatles/Albums/01 - Tracks.mp3

you can use the following template to correct the values in MC:

Directories: [Artist]/[Album]
Filename: [Track #] - [Name]

If your files contain a . instead of a - to separate the track # from the name, simply adjust it in the filename field.

I suggest you try it out on a single album first and remember the undo function. If you mess up, simply press CTRL-Z or choose from the menu Edit/Undo.

You can also do the reverse. If your tags are good and MC shows everything perfectly, you can rename your files/folders to reflect MC's views. The feature works the same as above.
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cobar53

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2013, 05:23:06 am »

Well, I know some Windows people are very used to doing things the hard way but we Mac guys like it simple and intuitive.
JRiver does NOT provide that ease.

It does not enhance the musical experience: it hinders it.
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MrHaugen

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2013, 06:34:52 am »

You can easily browse your music by folder in the tree on the left side. It's under Devices I think. I think InflatableMouse's suggestion might be better in the long run though.
In either case, unless you tag your files CORRECTLY, MC18-19 will be MUCH less useful than it can be. Good tags is essential to having a good music library. And you will know this if you experience more than clicking single songs and playing.

The problem you're having is not really a MC fault. It's the fault of the one that have tagged your music files. If all had tagged the artist field correctly, there would be no problem.
This is easy to fix however. Go to the action window in the lower left corner. Hit Tag, find the Artist field. Select all tracks from the artist and then write the correct Artist name in the Artist field.

If you can not do this, then it's you who have failed. Not MC. If it's to much to do, then I would suggest going back to your flakey software. When you're not interested interested in finding solutions to your problems, there is not much anyone can do.
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JimH

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2013, 07:00:11 am »

MC uses tags to show you your media files. Tags are stored in the files and MC imports them into its own database. These tags can be different from the physical folders and filenames on your disk.
Did you try this suggestion fro above?

Select a file or files, then click on Tag in the lower left corner (Action Window).  Then edit the tag.  Album Artist or, if it's empty, Artist.

This rearranges the music in MC, but doesn't move it on the disc.

If you don't understand something, please ask.
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JimH

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #7 on: August 06, 2013, 07:14:21 am »

Make sure you have the most recent version installed.  It's here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=82257.0
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Mistyoptic

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #8 on: September 03, 2013, 04:11:42 pm »

You can easily browse your music by folder in the tree on the left side. It's under Devices I think. I think InflatableMouse's suggestion might be better in the long run though.
In either case, unless you tag your files CORRECTLY, ....


I used MC to tag the discs I was ripping, IT went and found the tags. They include spelling mistakes and other errors. A facility where changing the tags changes the file name and location to match is really helpful (e.g. iTunes) in that situation. If, as you say, MC can do that then great but it's not intuitive. not all of us are geeks, some are more interested in the music.
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MrC

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #9 on: September 03, 2013, 04:16:44 pm »

Most folks would say Welcome since this is your first post.  But you're making that difficult.  MrHaugan is a user like you and I, just trying to help.  There are thousands of users and there are hundreds of thousands of user's needs.  None of us can hit a homer every time.

How about just asking for help, or making friendly suggestions to JRiver.
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Mistyoptic

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #10 on: September 04, 2013, 04:20:29 am »

OK but..

I came looking for help. Searching the forums found this thread where another user had asked, effectively, my question.
Part of the response he got was

 "If you can not do this, then it's you who have failed. Not MC. If it's to much to do, then I would suggest going back to your flakey software. When you're not interested interested in finding solutions to your problems, there is not much anyone can do."

I don't think that indicates a welcoming environment?

Perhaps I was being over-sensitive
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MrC

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Re: How do I organise files like in iTunes?
« Reply #11 on: September 04, 2013, 10:54:17 am »

OK, so you lost your way - your goal is to get help.  What's your question and issue?
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