WinMP3Packer Beta released
Reply #47 – 2006-07-12 14:16:22
psyllium, you're a star. Thanks for updating I have a couple of bug reports / functionality comments re the GUI (1.0.3)... It works really well, and I'm very impressed at how easy it makes it to use the cmdline app, but there's a couple of what I'd call evaluation bugs more than anything else. Basically, the way I use the software is like this: I load a VBR file into the software, leaving all the settings as defaults (Input Types: Automatic, Output Type: VBR, Minimum bitrate: Auto, Append text to filenames: -vbr, Strip non-MP3 data: no boxes ticked, Output folder: Same as input). I do this to remove CRC data from the frames before I stick the MP3s (of radio shows) into MP3DirectCut to losslessly edit them, snip out bits I don't want and fade in / fade out the start and finish of the shows). Of course, if the MP3 has CRC data in when you do this editing, any decoder HATES it and basically just plays back white noise, so I was delighted to find this program which successfully strips out the CRC information without having to reencode. However, if I leave the options as the defaults, as stated above, I put the file in and hit Process, and it doesn't actually process the MP3 - it just skips it. It shows the VBR bitrate correctly in the Information column, and it shows the filename correctly in the Path column, but it just seems to not want to process the file. The reason for this, it seems, is because Automatic doesn't recognise what flavour of MP3 it is (CBR or VBR) if you don't have any of the 'strip non-MP3 data' options checked (I don't want to strip out any of the non-MP3 data, as doing so strips out the lame header in the MP3s - and I want to keep that!) The way round this is, seemingly, to uncheck the Automatic box for Input Types and manually tick the VBR box (the CBR box is ticked by default if you leave it as Automatic). I'm guessing that the script which evaluates the MP3 file to see if it's VBR or CBR isn't actually called until you specify a command line switch and then hit Process - just hitting Process after loading an MP3 in starts the processing but somehow just doesn't 'see' the file for processing. The way that only the CBR box is ticked by default if you untick Automatic is a bit annoying too, and I think it would make more sense to tick both the VBR and the CBR boxes, allowing the user to untick the one which they don't need, if they wanted to, as opposed to having to tick the box every time - another click which isn't needed. All in all, to process an MP3, it takes me no less than three clicks more than it should need (I untick CBR just to be on the safe side, as I only deal with VBR files)... ... At the end of the day, this bug isn't going to bring about armaggedon early, or kickstart World War 3, but it's just something I feel should be taken into consideration for 1.0.4 - they're the only two negatives (albeit minor ones, at that) I've found in an otherwise perfect GUI. One other thing - DDE for the file window. It mildly surprised me that, having been built to use the .Net framework, I couldn't just drag and drop MP3 files straight into the white box which shows the files loaded into the GUI for processing - it's a very slight drag having to use the buttons to load either an entire dir or a particular file (these should be kept, as they're essential for accessibility and they're just plain useful sometimes, but my natural instinct is to drag MP3 files I want to process into the GUI, just like I do with the FLAC encoder frontend, and it frustrates me slightly when I remember - after I've tried to do it - that I can't actually drag and drop directly). Mayyyyyyybe, if you do implement those changes, you could have the program save its configuration state in a flatfile (.ini/.cfg... etc)? That way changes could be persistent, removing the need to reselect options a second time round - that'd be the final perfect addition. Please don't see me as the party pooper, by the way - I cannot mention the time, and most importantly of all, MP3 quality!, you and Reed Wilson have helped me save. I'm eternally grateful for your valuable contribution to my AV utilities arsenal, all I'm trying to do is suggest some feedback to help you finally perfect what is already a great combination of software.