Lossless trickery

Not sure where to post this, but it seems a likely spot. Does anyone know if Apple’s Image Capture, Preview, iPhoto, or even Adobe Bridge perform an actual lossless rotation of a JPEG image?
I came across an seemingly interesting app called Xee ( http://wakaba.c3.cx/s/apps/xee.html ), which is touted by some as being more versatile than Preview.
One of the claims on the site is that it will ‘Losslessy rotate and crop JPEG images. This lets you edit your digital photographs without losing quality by re-compressing them like most other editors do.’
Lossless rotation is what caught my imagination.
Apple Help doesn’t exactly say how it does it -- or if it does it at all. Does any one know if the above Apple apps can perform the lossless trick?

Innesjohn:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. I just downloaded and tried Xee and it truly does do a lossless rotation and save.
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. It's compatible with iPhoto 08 libraries and Leopard. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

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Adobe Media Encoder renders in Lossless, such as After Effects?

Adobe Media Encoder renders Lossless like After Effects too?

There are multiple codecs that can losslessly encode video. One example is the PNG video codec in a QuickTime container. Another example (which matches the After Effects output module named Lossless) is the Animation video codec in a QuickTime container.

Question about Lossless Rendering in AE (PNG not found, can Premier Pro read this "lossless" export?

Hello,
I want to compose short transitions (45 seconds) in AE CS6 incorporating 3D graphics and also a short intro (30 seconds) containing some streaming video clips assembled in a 3d space as well.
My deliverable will ulitmately be in Blu-Ray format and I need excellent quality. I have zero concerns about the amount of time it takes to render; I only care about ultimate video quality in my deliverables.
My NLE is Premiere Pro CS6. I'm working with some beautiful Canon 5D images on a 2008 MacPro tower. I only photograph the day after it rains so I can always get pristine shots.
What is the best possible workflow for me, given my reliance on AE and PrPro and Canon 5D images and .mov files?
Earlier, Rick suggested exporting in PNG compressed format, QT. But I don't see that in my render options, although the Lossless option at the top certainly looks appealing. Can PrPro read that type of export?
Am I doomed to vaguely average quality in Blu-Ray format or is it possible to have a really nice "wow" factor using this workflow?
I'm going to purchase a new X.264 encoder when the Apple version is released this month.
Does that make any difference in how my final results from AE will appear?
If I need to abandon this whole 3d motion graphics enterprise because AE and PrPro, working together, are only capable of vaguely average deliverables with respect to 3D motion graphics, then so be it.
I would prefer to cut my losses now.
What are your candid thoughts?
Thanks,

Thanks fellas!
One two minute video and one photographic screen shot is worth 10,000 words.
Ben, do you recommend purchasing QuickTime 7 Pro for that PNG render workflow?
Also, a friend of mine recommended the following workflow. Any comments? Constructing my own custom timeline sounds like a bit of a chore.... perhaps it is worth it? He's worked quite a bit in large studios and does not recommend PNG here. Not sure why.
Matt
My friend recommended:
"I still recommend ProRes for Adobe, and most of the bigger shops that I've heard of that use Premiere still convert to Prores. Cineform or DNxHD would work just as well, depending on your workflow. You can create a custom timeline that will let you work and render full-res files for those editing codecs, instead of the default low-res mpeg2 that Adobe is set to work with.
Working with H.264 is still much more processor-intensive than many systems are prepared for, and in the ProRes conversion process hopefully you're adding reel and TC info if you don't already have it (I'm betting you don't).
Really it's a question of knowing and taking control of what is happening to your video files, or just letting your system do what it wants, which often isn't what's best.
As far as final conversion... I use Mpeg-4 in an mp4 container to avoid the gamma shifts that i see too often in h.264 .mov files. As much as I love the idea of open source, it's not always practical for professionals. X.264 may be fully compatible, but I haven't had reason to work with it instead of .mp4 files. Given the choice of h.264 vs x.264, I would definitely test out x.264, as I've read that you can avoid gamma issues by using it as well."

Can't Import Songs To iTunes Using Apple Lossless Encoder

I have about 4,000 songs in FLAC format (which is a lossless format) on my external hard drive. I want to import them into iTunes using the Apple Lossless Encoder. I called Apple support and asked them how to do this, and they told me to go under "Preferences" in iTunes and chose to import using Apple Lossless Encoder.
I did this using Preferences>General>Import Settings, and then went to File>Add Folder to Library, however, it still imported my songs as AAC Audio Files. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.

iTunes cannot read nor import FLAC files - not without third-party plugins, anyway, and I don't know of any that will allow iTunes to convert a FLAC file to another format - so I'm a bit confused as to the procedure you're following. If all you're doing is using the Add to Library command and choosing the FLAC files, it's quite possible that iTunes is misinterpreting the format and adding what is in reality an invalid link with erroneous format information.
If you have some sort of third-party plugin for FLAC for iTunes, please post that information and perhaps someone here can determine whether iTunes can do a conversion successfully.

Separating library into mp3 and lossless libraries?

I have imported most of my music into iTunes using lossless format, but have been making mp3 copies of some of my music to place on my ipod. This is not ideal, because, for example, when picking songs to play the genius function will often pick the mp3 version over the lossless version. I would like to separate out the lossless music I play at home and the mp3 music I sync to my ipod, and I think the best way to do that is to have separate iTunes music libraries (correct me if I'm wrong).
At first I thought I could simply duplicate my music folder, and use the find command to delete all of the mp3 files. But after reading Apple's instructions on how to use multiple ipods on one computer (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1495?viewlocale=en_US), I think it might be better to simply have two libraries.
I don't quite understand how this works, but I think it means that I would have two libraries sharing the same iTunes Music folder, and I wouldn't have to remove the mp3 files in the finder.
But I still do not know a good way to do this, and would like suggestions. For my iPod library, I want a copy of my current library, but with all the lossless music deleted. I think this is not too hard; I could simply do a search for 'mpeg' and delete all of those songs.
For my home listening, I would like to find a way to delete the mp3 files that also have lossless files; if I only have a mp3 copy, I would like to keep that. I could do this manually by showing duplicates, but I have a lot of music and this would take forever.
Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Ric

OK - this is how you could do it. using Smart playlists.
But first, convert all the lossless tracks you want on your iPod to AAC (and perhaps use a bitrate that you don't have other tracks in? An unusual one, say 160 or 192).
Create a Smart Playlist with criterion Kind = AAC (if all your non-lossless tracks are MP3 as you say), or bitrate = 160 (192, or whatever), if you already have both AAC and MP3. OR if this will get too confusing, Date Added = (less than 2 weeks, say). You'll think of something that works for you, I'm sure.
Manually manage your iPod (not sync) and drag the contents of the Smart playlist to your iPod. Then delete the tracks from your Mac while keeping the playlist. In future, any tracks you convert for iPod will be in that playlist, from where you can drag them over to the iPod and then delete them off your Mac.
This sounds much more complicated to explain than it would be in practice.

Want to remove Lossless files from dual-format library, keep elsewhere

My iTunes library consists entirely of music ripped from audio CDs. Each CD was ripped twice, once in Apple Lossless format, once in AAC format.
For several reasons (chief among them the desire to free up a lot of disk space on my iMac), I want to remove the Lossless files from my iTunes library. But I want to keep all of the AAC files there as they are, along with my playlists (all based on the AAC files only).
However, for a measure of future-proofing, I still want to keep the Lossless files. And whenever I buy a CD, I want to still import it as both Lossless and AAC, keeping the Lossless files handy while adding the AAC files to the iTunes library.
I must obviously begin with an external Firewire drive big enough for my Lossless content. How do I proceeed from there?

I would take this approach, but others might have better suggestions.
First, when you get your external drive, copy the entire iTunes folder to the external drive which will copy everything (media files, database files, artwork, etc.).
Assuming you use the iTunes default settings where iTunes copied added items to your iTunes folder and organizes your library (meaning - everything is all self contained in the iTunes folder), then all you have to do is drag & drop your iTunes folder (not just the iTunes Music folder you find inside the iTunes folder) to the external drive and copy the entire thing.
If you want to test that it worked or would like to actually start using it from that location instead, use these instructions when you start iTunes to point it to the new location...
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304447
If you are just testing, then close iTunes after you verify it works, and restart iTunes again with the same instructions and point it back to your internal drive (original) location. Now you can sort your library by "Kind" which is the format it is encoded as and all the Apple Lossless files will be grouped together. Select the first one, scroll down to the last one, Shift-Select the last one which will select all the ones in between and hit delete! Now your internal drive library is everything except Apple Lossless.
If you wish, you can switch back to the external drive library and do the same for the AAC files.
Now when ever you add a new CD you can do it a couple ways. But probably the most straight forward is to simply put in the CD, open the internal library, import as AAC files. Switch to the external library and import again as lossless.
Patrick

How do I Download from Itunes store using the Apple Lossless format?

I use my music on a home sterio and import locally from CD's to Windows using the Apple Lossless format only, to achieve the Highest quality sound. However, When I buy from Itunes store I can only get AAC format, which is low quality. How can I get Itunes to give me only Apple Lossless format?
Your help will b e appreciated.
Thanks
Phil

I do agree with what i have been said. I am a musician, i think AAC is definitely medium-low quality. I bought this year lots of AAC 256 for Itunes. I have been surprised. SO many times i need to go to the equalizer to counter-balance the weakness of this file format.
I advise you to do the following. Import a CD using Apple LossLess and then import a CD using AAC 256. You will see a HUGE difference.
Now i start to buy CD again in order to get the music Quality. Then i import my CDs to Itunes using Apple LossLess (920Kbps). You will ear that on Snares and Rides. Bass will sound more natural. Bass, Medium, Sharp will more balance with each other. You will hear instruments with more clarity especially when there are a lot of instruments. Because of that, you will not need to raise up the volume.
But more than anything... you will gain VOLUME in your files.
In general over the internet all the online music stores including Itune doesn't provide HD quality. AAC 256 is not enough. A track bought over Itune Store should weight 30 megabytes, not 5. And then you would decide to compress it or not.

Managing multiple libraries with different file types (AAC v. Lossless)

I have set up two libraries, one for my AAC music and the other for my lossless music. The files themselves are located in two separate places on my hard drive. When I switch libraries (option-clicking iTunes), and go to Preferences/Advanced tab, the directory for the files and the import method doesn't change -- I have to change it manually. This is annoying.
Does anyone know of a way to automate this change, so that if I open a new library, the default location of the files and the import format changes automatically? I tried ituneslibrarymanager from Dougscripts, but for some reason can't get this program to install on my machine.

No, it's the same Windows XP user account, but I have two separate music libraries - the music files in library are in a lossless format, while those in the other are in AAC. For convenience, I wish to keep the two libraries separate.
In iTunes 7 it is possible to have separate libraries - start iTunes and hold down the SHIFT key (Windows) while the program starts. A dialogue box then appears where the required library can be selected. However, as far as I can tell, it's not possible to have a different set of preferences for each library.
Say the preferences are set up for my lossless library, which is located on a separate network drive. If I then make the AAC library active and open iTunes, iTunes reindexes the library according to the settings for the lossless library and I end up with the AAC library full of lossless files. I've tried unchecking various things in the preferences box, but I've had no luck fixing the problem. Thanks for your suggestion - I have already reported the problem.
The whole thing is a rather inelegant way of managing multiple libraries in iTunes. Surely the Apple developers can come up with a way of doing it from within iTunes??

Can I add a lossless file to my itunes library?

Can i add a lossless music file to my itunes library? Usually what i do is drag the file or folder into music/itunes/itunes media/automatically add to itunes and it works fine, everything shows in my library and plays perfectly. But with this lossless file i drag it into the automatically add to itunes folder and it goes into the folder but doesnt show up in itunes. I think i know that itunes doesn't support lossless files, so can somene tell me how to convert them into apple lossless or MP3s (preferably apple lossless). Please help.

The are a variety of different lossless audio formats, some supported by iTunes, some partially supported and some not at all.
The best lossless audio format to use from an iTunes point of view is Apple Lossless aka. ALAC. iTunes can import (rip) audio CDs using this format. Other lossless formats supported by iTunes include WAV (partially) and AIFF, however these formats use more disk space than Apple Lossless and do not sound any better, and further more do not support meta-tags as well as Apple Lossless.
Another lossless format you may hear of is FLAC, iTunes does not support this format but it can be otherwise considered equivalent to Apple Lossless in file size and capability. You can convert FLAC to Apple Lossless with of course no loss of quality but you will need to use another utility to do the conversion.
There is also WMA Lossless, this is not supported for playing by iTunes but I believe can be imported (only in iTunes for Windows, not Mac).
So, contrary to your message, yes iTunes does support lossless audio files.
For what its worth I have all mine in Apple Lossless and share it with Windows Media Player and Microsoft Media Center which can also play Apple Lossless (with an additional free directshow filter).
Note: Music purchased from the iTunes store will all be in AAC format which is a lossey format.

How do i convert my exsisting itunes library to apple lossless?

Also whrn i do this will i have duplicate files(original/lossless)? If so what is the best way for me to delete them form my macbook? Thanks

Not to pile on here, but the only point of Apple Lossless is to have a slightly compressed version of the an original CD (AIFF). I have converted my full CD collection (too many disks to even count) to Apple Lossless. The sound quality is indistinguishable from the original CD. Because the files are rather large for use on an iPhone or smaller iPod, I then convert them to 256 AAC (for my iPhone) or 160 MP3 to burn MP3 disks for my cars. I keep the Lossless files as the original content.
However, lately, I'm just purchasing 256 AAC iTunes Plus files. I'm losing quality, but it's just not worth the time to purchase CD's and convert them any more.
There is absolutely no reason to convert 256 AAC files to Lossless. In fact, I'm sure it might degrade the sound quality in that a lot of information just isn't in the 256 AAC file. However, don't quote me on this.

Converting "Apple Lossless" back to "AAC" - More than 1 track at a time...

Hello,
Short version: I have hundreds of tracks that need to "Create AAC Version", and I can't right-click 8,536 songs in my library one at a time to find them all. Is there a method to sweep the entire library and convert all songs to this format if they are not already?
The problem with this is it still creates a duplicate of the song and the other original needs to be deleted.
Note - the file name changing (it appends a "1" on the M4A file), the "tag" displayed in iTunes retains the song name.
Thanks!,
Joseph
Long version: For the benefit of people facing the same problem and combing the forums for help, here's the rest of the story...
I'm not entirely sure when this changed (and I've reset my Import settings back to AAC 128-bit now), but I've managed to import a good number of CDs at this higher quality "Apple Lossless" format. Essentially, that's overkill - I listen to an iPod classic with headphones the majority of the time (98%) and I won't hear the difference.
CHECK: Edit | Preferences | "General" tab | "Import Settings" button
Essentially my hard-drive space has been disappearing at a rapid rate. I downloaded a tool (WinDarStat) and found my iTunes folder is 50% of my 200GB used. (Yes, I'm on an older laptop -- HD=220GB -- and am getting the 'out of space' warnings.) I found some folders for recent CDs were over 1GB alone and started digging.
I happend to have REM's studio "Man on the Moon" on here twice. The IN TIME version is AAC 128-bit and only 4.9MB in size, whereas the PART LIES version is Apple Lossless 1068-bit and 8x's larger at 39.9MB.
If you right-click a track, it provides option to "Create [other] version.", depending on going to/from ACC to Lossless or vice-versa.
Once I did this for "Man on the Moon", I got 75% of the song's space back ... from approximately 40MB to 11MB.
It does create a second copy of the song, so the original has to be deleted - be certain to "Move the song to the Recycle Bin" when warned.
A better option - all be it more time consuming - is to re-import the CDs.

For backup see this user tip.
The Create <Format> version tool uses whatever the current import settings are.
You can create a playlist of things that need converting as Ed says above.
To ease the conversion process, and keep your current ratings, playcounts, and playlist membership, plus recyle the old files automatically see my script ConvertFormat. Test on say a single album first to make sure it works as you expect/need.
tt2

Can I copy a CD so it's TOTALLY lossless?

My end goal is to be able to copy from commercial music CDs only the tracks I like, and burn them onto blank CDs. But I don't want ANY loss of quality whatsoever. My questions relate to whether this is possible.
1. If I import a CD into iTunes as AIFF files, and then burn them back onto a blank CD, is my copy absolutely identical to the first CD with utterly and absolutely no loss of data or quality?
2. Could there be other settings, either in iTunes or on the computer that could cause some loss even though I'm copying the exact AIFF file? For example, I see a "Sample Rate" of 44.100 kHz. Is that a variable factor that affects quality, and is this setting something that could cause some loss if I do this copying with Apple instead of some more professional hardware or software that could be more precisely tweaked?
I understand there is software and hardware on the market that one could pay thousands of dollars for, which some people claim would be the only way to capture absolutely everything off a commercial CD and put it all back onto a blank CD. They say Apple can't do that. Any advice or input about this from you experts?
3. Are people still recommending Toast these days? Aside from its extra bells and whistles, is there anything about Toast that could improve sound quality AT ALL over what one can do with any Mac and iTunes?
4. Is anybody out there familiar with Amadeus Pro? Would something like that offer any advantages over Apple/iTunes in terms of retaining every smidgeon of quality when copying?
Many thanks!

Yes. AIFF performs no compression so your copy will be bit for bit identical: no loss. It uses a lot of disk space too. Apple Lossless (ALAC) will compress, but also with no loss. Expect file sizes about 50% of the original.
The sample rate of 44.1 KHz is identical to that of every commercially produced audio CDs that I am aware of. There is no benefit in increasing it or attempting to "tweak" its settings.
I used Toast for many years and consider it a well designed product. I have not had any reason to upgrade to more recent versions though. If you copy the CD audio with no loss (AIFF or ALAC), then that obviates any question about sound quality since it will be identical to the original. Toast may be able to alter the sound quality but I don't advocate trying to improve upon what is essentially your only "master" - the audio CD. As I recall Toast had features such as noise reduction. That may be valuable for magnetic tape, but it's not a concern with a CD. Even very good noise reduction alters the original to some extent, and it seems to me that you want an exact duplicate. Any alteration will be contrary to your stated goal of bit-for-bit reproduction.
Don't know about Amadeus Pro.

Apple Lossless Tags won't Save

Hi everyone,
Has anyone experienced this? I have about 4 CDs that I've ripped in iTunes (I think), and they are all in Apple Lossless m4a. Despite the fact that their tags load just fine in other programs, iTunes is treating these files as if they had no tags whatsoever. I've tried to rewrite some of the tags within iTunes, but removing and reloading my library into iTunes reveals that these tags were never written in the first place.

Yes, I have experienced it. (not written into the audio file)
What version of iTunes are you using?
Over on the LogicPro8 forum
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=8108295#8108295
describes a problem with adding metadata (the ID3 tags) in to a file with
versions of iTunes higher than 7.6.2 it won't write them into the audio file.
Versions of iTune 7.6.2 and lower seem to work ok and will write the info into the audio file.

ITunes 6.0.4 Lossless to MP3 Convert Bad ID3 Tag Bug (Intel Only?)

Hello all,
I usually rip my CDs to Apple Lossless, name it the way I want, include Album Artwork, then switch rip preference to MP3 (224kbps), highlight the lossless files and choose "Convert Selection to MP3" in the Advanced menu. I do this to save the time of having to rip things twice.
Up through 6.0.3 it created proper ID3 tags with the album artwork just fine, but upgrading to 6.0.4 (Intel - I haven't verified this with my G4 Powerbook running 6.0.4) I do my usual process, the information is in the iTunes window, matching the Lossless files, but as soon as I delete the items from iTunes (but not the files themselves) and drag the MP3 files back to iTunes, the tracks show up in iTunes without ANY of the ID3 info, but WITH the album artwork.
The name lists the filename in the Song Name field as if there weren't any ID3 info.
The reason this came up is I rip to one drive, but keep the MP3s on another drive.
Anyone else out there with this problem/can verify this problem?
Thanks!
John V
Intel iMac 20" Mac OS X (10.4.5) 2GB RAM 10.4.5

There have been a lot of recent posts about tags not being updated properly in iTunes, and I am starting to think that it's a bug.
In your case, you might want to consider using Max to rip and encode. You can configure the application to rip your CDs and encode to multiple formats at once, using any of the iTunes encoders plus about twenty others, including LAME MP3. The tag information will remain intact, and the output files can be directly added to your iTunes library if desired.
Also, you may want to try Max's file encoding function for Apple Lossless files you already have stored on your HDD. You can batch encode them to MP3, keeping the tags and album art.

Zen Vision:M 30GB - lossless audio

"Zen Vision:M 30GB - lossless audioO I've been looking into lossless audio formats, came across WAV and found (on wikipedia) that my player supports it. Can't find much info on the Creative site, it seems to have changed since I was on it last (everything was nice and easy, now it feels like they don't want me to find what I'm looking for).
I've ripped a couple of CD's using Winamp and have WAV files.
BUT
Whenever I try and put the music on the player it does NOT appear in the playlist. I've done it though Media Explorer, MediaSource Organiser and by opening the player as a removable dri've My Computer and dragging and dropping it in.
When I view the music folder through the Media Explorer it shows that it is there but when I unplug and try to find it on the player it isn't.
I have updated to the latest firmware (.62.02E) and I'm using Vista

Do you have a "unknown " albums in your album list or artists?

Lossless trickery

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