MP4 vs M4A

I have a huge collection of AIFF files that I had exported via QT to mp4 files. As of recently, I have a group who's doing some EDU podcast related stuff who was hoping to post up my podcast list, but sent me an email letting me know that they couldn't use the mp4 files, as iTunes is interpreting them as video files, and I needed to use .m4a.
I was wondering, since renaming the mp4 to m4a works like a charm and still opens in QT player, if I can just do a mass renaming of all my mp4s, or if I need to run them through another export to change them to m4a's. I notice that the mp4 audio files have an extra SDSM and ODSM mpeg4 track, which is what's making me a little bit uneasy of just renaming and wanted to check.
I'd like to avoid reexporting, since my macpro is estimating it at over 6 hours of reencoding.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

We renamed all of our extensions, and went to prepare our podcast for iTunes, and we're getting this error.. not sure if it's related:
iTunes U could not update the content in this group because iTunes U encountered an unsupported enclosure extension in the specified RSS feed at iTunes Podcast Subscription. Until the issue is resolved, iTunes U continues to display the last downloadable version of the content. Verify that the RSS feed enclosures contain only approved content types (mpeg audio, mp4 video, quicktime video, PDF application, mp4a-latm audio) with the appropriate file extensions (mp4, mp4, mov, pdf, m4a) and then try again.

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6280 playlists, music manager, m4a/mp4 format file...

Hello i have a nokia 6280, I have music files converted to m4a/mp4 format
I can copy them to my phone and play them.
I want to make playlists with them.
Using music manager 6.83.14.1 / music manager 2
It does not see the files with mp4 or m4a extensions, only see's mp3 files.
I cannot make playlists. with my files. its very annoying. please help.

I have the new upgrade of PCSUITE and I got the same problem to convert MP3 to M4U or ACC to my NOKIA 3250
In tha last version of PCSUITE I had no problem in converting MP3 to ACC with the NOKIA 6682...
With this upgrade I can only got 1 file converted... further more the program says: pending and it doesn't advance from there...
even if I let the program running for an hour... I just had to close and cancel all operations of the music manager...
or it send me a message error and close by itself...
the message only says... there was an error with music manager and it should be closed.. or something like that...

How to export m4a from a sequence in Final Cut Express

I have a sequence in FCE with multiple audio tracks, no video.
I want to directly export an m4a.
The closest options I can see via QT conversion are video: "for iPod" which is .m4v and .movs that have AAC audio option.
I want the .m4a file extension, just audio.
Can anyone help?
thanks,
Peter

Export via Quicktime Conversion and choose MPEG-4 as your format. Once you've exported, manually change the extension from .mp4 to .m4a. A .m4a file just indicates an audio-only MPEG-4 file (usually encoded in AAC).

Save or export an opened .mp4 file without re-encoding

How can I save or export an .mp4 file that I opened and trimmed without being required to re-encode it. I'm looking for an option to either save the .mp4 file without exporting, or export with a passthrough option such as the one available when using QuickTime Pro. Thanks.

Hmm, I would have expected inclusion of the basic feature set of QuickTime Pro to be a prerequisite for any commercial audio editing program.
The reason commercial audio editing programs don't work the way Quicktime Pro does is Quicktime Pro really isn't an audio app. If Quicktime is able to cut an trip an mp4 file (m4a, aac, whatever you call it) it's becaue it's editing the stream directly, probably similar to the way a file-splitter would work. MP3 was able to have this one too, one could chop an mp3 up in to parts without re-encoding...however, due to the way data is represente in a lossy format, you have several limitations in doing so.
Commercial Audio applications don't do this because it's not going to be done by professionals...even if Audition had this feature, it wouldn't be able to work the same as cutting a wave file. You have servere limitations on where you can cut a lossy audio file up without having to re-encode it.
Cutting the bitstream of an mp3 or m4a file is generally not a standard inclusion for any audio program...
But, remember, Quicktime is a "basic" video editor...not an audio editor nor should it be confused for one.

Podcasts don't play m4a files on a non .mac account.

So here is the deal I created a podcast site using iweb. Saved to a folder and uploaded it to www.damntourist.com/testcast
I didn't change anything. Just created it and ftp'd to the web.
If you click on the sample podcast, it doesn't load. Seems that mp4 and m4a files do not work on non .mac accounts.
You can also check out www.damntourist.com/audio/rss.xml
This is for another test that I did. Here you will see that the m4a or mp4 files can not be downloaded but the mp3 files can. All of these files are in the same folder.
The files do play just fine from my hard drive in itunes, on my ipod and through quicktime.
Does anyone know why m4a and mp4 files can be played and downloaded from a .mac account but not another server.
I don't mind doing things a little differently. I also don't mind working with my hosting company to make changes to their server.
I have spoken with the Apple Genius Bar folks and they don't have answers.
Is this enough information?
thank you for your help,
-bill

You bet it can't play what it can't find. Problem is, the file is right where the code says it is. Everything is in place. That is what I am talking about. The files are there. The code points to the right place and yet something doesn't work. I even had Apple Genius staff confirm file structure and naming.
It can't play what it can't find:
http://www.damntourist.com/testcast/Podcast/F74D2462-F
BFE-4699-
AA40-0F7D430515C1files/200166486-001300x300.mp4
I broke the link (added a space) to keep this from
stretching this page.
The .mp4 file isn't on the server or is named
different than the HTML code.

Best Policy for Setting up Media Centers

Hi Everyone,
Well after after re doing my whole media center with ATV and iTunes I would like to setup up a forum for Best Practice on setting things up. I encourage everyone to please add to it if you think of better ways to do things.
The reason for me doing this is for newbies or for longtime users who are always looking for better ways to set things up. I think doing this for all ATV, iTunes, Macbook OS and anything to do with anything is a good idea. Then people won't have to do the trial and error that much which would save TIME and headaches and cursing Apple for why they just don't make things easy.
Quick Overview of My Setup.
ATV = 160 Gig with 2.2 setup
iTunes = 8
Syncing and Streaming to ATV with Windows XP. I have 2TB external drives. Now since I want all my media (music, movies, videos) library to be consolidated into one big Drive I decided to use the Extended Drive feature in XP when formatting the new drive. What this does is setup one Volume (in my case the E:\ Drive) and using to External Drives to do so. This way it shows up as one Drive with 2 TB instead of having to drive letters with 1 TB Each.
Ibook G4 = Streaming Content to ATV
G4 Tower = Streaming Content to ATV
Macbook Pro = Streaming Content to ATV
iPhone 3G = Sync with Macbook Pro
iPod Video = Sync with Windows XP iTunes
2 Shuffles = Sync with Windows XP iTunes
Now since I redid my whole setup, I just want to post it and see your feedback on Everything.
- I have my library on the External Drive (since I don't want the Internal Drive on my laptop to be tied up so that the OS performs faster) I allocated 90% of storage space for the iTunes folder.
- I left 10% of the Drive to allow me to download any movies, music, albums, Videos in a stage I like to call "Pre ATV Ready" (Pre ATV Ready means I have not yet converted the files to either AAC (my preference) MP4 or M4A.
- I use Xilisoft DVD Ripper to convert my DVD into MP4 Format so that I can play it on ATV.
- I use Xilisoft Video Converter to convert avi, mpeg, wmv, videos into M4A format for the iPhone. Since I sync my iPhone with my Macbook Pro I do one of the following to get it to my iPhone. I either convert it in Windows XP (VMWARE version of Windows on Macbook Pro) then I copy to my OS X iTunes then sync it with iPhone. Option 2 I copy the Windows XP (sync with ATV) file into my Macbook Pro. (Of course you will have to share the Drive in Windows in order for Apple OS to see the drive)
- Once the files are converted I add to my iTunes library
- On my Windows XP (sync with ATV) I Sync only my Music, Videos, Pictures.
- I stream my Movies. (Since 160 is the biggest Hard Drive ATV has I am not going to copy Movies there for obvious size limitations. Why Apple does not allow you to use the USB on the back for hooking up External Hard drives and only utilize for Service from Apple Genius is beyond me but nonetheless that is another animal all together)
- With ATV 2.1 and up Streaming and Sync on the SAME computer and Same Library is done automatically. You just want to make sure that you have unchecked "show only sync files on the ATV" under the Custom Sync for your Apple TV. This option will allow you to see all your iTunes Media on the Apple TV regardless if you have flagged it to Sync or not. Major change done on this upgrade that has many users scratching their heads as to why they can't Sync and Stream at the same time when they were able to do this before the upgrade.
- Since my Windows XP (Sync) is connected to my Receiver and also ATV (wireless) that machine is always on with iTunes running. This allows me to watch my movies whenever I want and not have to worry about turning on iTunes before I can enjoy.
- For browsing through ATV library I use Apple Remote on my iPhone. (You can also do this with your iTouch as well)
- If you don't have Apple remote there is another alternative to using the stupid white remote that offers no functionality except to scroll on ATV, I suggest one of the Harmoney Remotes by Logitech. After careful setup you can have it control your ATV menus, and link up the Sound with your Receiver or TV. You can even setup activities with one click that will set your media center for what you are trying to do.
For Example, I have one Activity called Media Center. I have configured the Remote to do the following with just one Click of the Button:
1- Dim my living room lights (obviously you have to have dimmers with sensor in order for this to work)
2- Change the Input on the TV in order to display the ATV
3- Linked the ATV with Harmoney remote so that I get all the functions that the with remote does
4- Turn on my Receiver
5- Change input on Receiver to AUX in order to listen to the ATV
6- Mute the TV sound so that only sound comes from the Home Media Speakers
7- Turn on my AC with Climate Control.
You just want to make sure that the remote sensor points to the Device in order for it to work properly.
This way you don't have to use 20 remotes in order to duplicate this whole process. I have the Harmoney One which I paid 249 for. It has LCD Touch Screen and built in button lights (like the Macbook Pro) that lights up based on motion Sensor so you can see all the buttons in the dark
Well in a nut shell that is what I am doing. Please feel free to add to this any comments that you have or suggestions that you may have

I updated the subject since I didn't notice much Traffic to the forum

Can't open .mov files in quicktime anymore

I can't think of any system changes that I've made recently but a few days ago I was able to open .mov files with quicktime and now I can't. I get the following error when I try to open one. Error -1856: an unknown error occurred (filename.mov) I've uninstalled quicktime, rebooted and reinstalled with no luck. I've searched these forums and googled the error number but can't find anything. Does anyone know what might be going on? Thanks.

Actually, I can't open anything in quicktime anymore. I've tried opening avis, mov, mp4 and m4a files... all give the same error message and number. I've reinstalled both qt and itunes but no luck.

How does the iPod organize content?

When I manually add content to my video iPod, how does the iPod know where to put it? Does it go into Movies, Music, TV shows, podcasts, etc? Does it rely on the mp3 id tags??? If yes, can I force a movie to go into the music folder my simply changing mp3 id3 tags?
30G video ipod Windows XP Pro

1 I by its tag
2 depends on the files tag
3 No...mp4 and m4a files have diffrent tags then mp3s
In iTunes 6.0.5 if you change the "VIdeo Kind" it will sort correctly. Just right click file, and in the options tab change the setting under "VIdeo Kind".
Besides iTunes if you want to change a tag you have to use a mp4/m4a tag editor program like "YAMB ver 2 preview" it can change your tags and much more and its free http://yamb.unite-video.com/
you can try YAMB ver 1.6 but I don't think it works very well with tags.

Itunes Deleted My Music

I updated ITunes to the latest version and I seem to have deleted my music. I asked my friend who also have the same issue but she said she found her music in one of her school folder after she searched for it.
I have gone through my computer, by folder and through the search program as the "ITunes Resolution" site said. Still i have yet to find my music or get any help with this issue.
I searched for .m4p, .m4v, .m4b, .mp4, .m4r, .m4a, .ipa, ipg, .ite, .itlp, or .epub to my search bar, and i continually got no results. That is the only thing the ITunes Support said to do. But this didn't work for me and I paid a lot of money for all my music and I think it's pretty ridiculous that I can't get any help on getting it back.
I called the help line and a computer told me that because I didn't have a Mac it couldn't help me and to look it up on the site. I am still a consumer of Apple good, I don’t see why I get less service because I choose a different OS.
I want to know any other suggestions about what i can do or even better who i can talk to help me my music back or at least get some kind of retribution for all the music I lost.
Respectfully,
KS

Sounds like you're a new PC user? Is this on a school network and you need to search on another drive? Your recycle bin? Ask your friend to sit with you & help?
This is what the Apple folks probably suggested
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1408
It doesn't matter whether you're on a Windows PC or a Mac - if those files are deleted and you don't have a backup, they are GONE. That paragraph at the end applies to WIndows & Mac
"Still can't find them?"
You can ask for a re-grant of your downloads. The worst that can happen, is they say no.
http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact.html
Going forward, there are lots of built-in Windows helps on backing up important files.

NetStream.Play.InsufficientBW when streaming server side playlist

Hi
I am streaming pre recorded audio files (mp4) to an AIR client. I have tried two different solutions,
streaming the file directly with the NetStream.play("mp4:xxxxx.m4a") and creating a server side playlist, adding the
same sound clip and then streaming the playlist. The problem is, when streaming the playlist i get a few NetStream.Play.InsufficientBW, this does not happen when streaming the file direct. Both solutions uses bufferTime=1.0
I would like to use a server side playlist to implement a simple key solution so that the client dont know the full path to
the file, but instead sends a key to a custom server side function that looks up the file path and creates a stream for the client.
TIA
Ruben Chadien
FMS 4.0(linux)

Subscribing via playlist and playing file directly are two different things , as first one is live mode of play while other is playing recorded file - so the way streams are delivered are also quite different. Can you try setting higher buffer and see if that helps or if you don't want to set higher buffer, see if disabling AggregateMessages (you will find the tag in Application.xml under Live/Queue) helps

Can't upload .mov files to iTunes anymore

Hi! I don't know if this just started when I upgraded to Lion and did all of the recent updates to iTunes, and added iCloud, etc, but suddenly I can't drag .mov files into iTunes like I used to be able to do. I can't add them with the Add To Library menu either. Because of this I can't put them on my iPad. Is anyone else having this problem? Is there a fix? TIA!

Actually, I can't open anything in quicktime anymore. I've tried opening avis, mov, mp4 and m4a files... all give the same error message and number. I've reinstalled both qt and itunes but no luck.

Premier or After Effects?

Hi,
I have no experience in video editing or using any of the two software. I have worked in Flash though. I have a video editing project to do in 4 weeks. Final product should be maybe 5-10 minutes long montage of video, audio, music and few images.
What is the best software to use? Easier to pick up in few weeks time? I need to buy it, install it, learn it and use it. All in 4 weeks.
I have Mac OS 10.6.8
Processor 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5
4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
My source footage is video .mp4 and audio m4a (I might not use this audio, it's boring...). Might use music instead.
Thank you

Thank you all so very much for your answers! What a great bunch here!
So, I found this amazing tutorial on lynda.com, and it was immensely helpful to me:
"Creating a Mini Documentary with Premiere Elements" by Jason Osder from 3/15/2012
Now, I have two more very dumb questions:
1. What is the difference between Premier Pro and Premier Elements?
2. My source files are mp4 and m4a, and some mov. I need to post all raw files online first, so someone can pick which ones they want to use. So, I have these files and I have a web server. How do I post them so they become URLs anyone can see? If it matters, my the person who needs to review these files online, is on a PC, using IE8.
So, do I just upload them online and send her URLs once they become live. Or do I need to somehow convert to like .wmv or something, cause she's on a PC? Or do I need to place each file into an .html page, and then upload that? Please don't advise me to upload to youtube.com because I assume my viewer does not want her footage to be that public...
Lastly, can I change file names, to like video_1.mp4, video_2.mp4, etc. So, files rae easy to reference in our written correspondence...
Again, thank you so, so very much. If I could, I would bake a big cake for folks from this forum...:)

The Quciktime 10.3 playback the audio-only stream of mpeg2ts seem not playback correctly

The Quciktime 10.3 playback the audio-only stream of mpeg2ts seem not playback correctly.
When the Quciktime 10.3 start playback my audio-only .ts file. The qucktime seem to be muted on a about 70% of progress bar. or sometime will fast-forward for a while. (not stop playing. just muted or fast-forward and the progress bar keep going on)
but, it's playback well on Quicktime 10.2.
this audio-only ts file as my dropbox:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68121779/mp2lc-3.ts
I have try to download the fileSequence0.ts ~ fileSequence10.ts (from http://devimages.apple.com/iphone/samples/bipbop/bipbopall.m3u8) and combined this .ts as followings command on Win7:
copy /b fileSequence0.ts+fileSequence1.ts+fileSequence2.ts+fileSequence3.ts+fileSequenc e4.ts+fileSequence5.ts+fileSequence6.ts+fileSequence7.ts+fileSequence8.ts+fileSe quence9.ts+fileSequence10.ts fileSequence-0-10.ts
the Quciktime 10.2 (Mountain Lion), and Media Player 12.0.7601.18150 (Win7 64bit) seem playback well.
but, Qucitime 10.3 (Mavericks) seem muted at about 70% of progress bar.
I think quciktime 10.3 do something changed. and make some behavior incompatible.

The Quciktime 10.3 playback the audio-only stream of mpeg2ts seem not playback correctly.
When the Quciktime 10.3 start playback my audio-only .ts file. The qucktime seem to be muted on a about 70% of progress bar. or sometime will fast-forward for a while. (not stop playing. just muted or fast-forward and the progress bar keep going on)
but, it's playback well on Quicktime 10.2.
this audio-only ts file as my dropbox:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/68121779/mp2lc-3.ts
The downloaded TS file contains AAC which uses ADTS—a self synching Audio Data Transport Stream format. According to Wikipedia, "This file and streaming-based format are defined in MPEG-2 Part 7, but are only considered informative by MPEG-4, so an MPEG-4 decoder does not need to support either format." Based on this statement, my guess is that Apple now considers such support to be no longer needed in the QT X v10.3 media player since AAC content is, by default, normally found only in MOV, MP4, M4V, M4A, M4B, and similar containers which are not only supported by the system player but all Apple mobile device players. Even the latest version of VLC seems to have dropped this support for the AAC ADTS audio found in your downloaded TS file.
As to audio dropout in QT X v10.3, the problem you describe seems to be a "sync" associated issue. On my system clicking the playhead to move its current position resets the sync and audio becomes playable again.
I have try to download the fileSequence0.ts ~ fileSequence10.ts (fromhttp://devimages.apple.com/iphone/samples/bipbop/bipbopall.m3u8) and combined this .ts as followings commandon Win7:
copy /b fileSequence0.ts+fileSequence1.ts+fileSequence2.ts+fileSequence3.ts+fileSequenc e4.ts+fileSequence5.ts+fileSequence6.ts+fileSequence7.ts+fileSequence8.ts+fileS e quence9.ts+fileSequence10.ts fileSequence-0-10.ts
Somewhat confused by your playlist URL reference here. Reference is for the following:
which is a QuickDraw video file which might be more easily captured as a QT X player screen rendering at a desired playback resolution. Since you say you are dealing with other TS sequences here, I am not even certain this is the playlist file you really wanted to reference.

Help - Audition only plays back static!

I'm trying to import a clip from a movie file to reduce the noise.
I tried transfering the file from premiere over to audition "edit in audition". It only imports static. There is a waveform that looks like it could be correct, but all you can hear is static.
Trying to pinpoint the problem I have tried all types of differnt files, ".mov,.mp4,.wav,.m4a,etc..." all are opening in the same fasion (not importing from premiere, direct opening).
I have edited these same type of files a month ago without an issue. They only thing I can think is that one of the adobe updates I have run changed something.
specs:
adobe cs6
audition 5.0.2 build 5
premiere 6.0.2
Mac pro - lion 10.7.3
Any ideas??

I'm trying to import a clip from a movie file to reduce the noise.
I tried transfering the file from premiere over to audition "edit in audition". It only imports static. There is a waveform that looks like it could be correct, but all you can hear is static.
Trying to pinpoint the problem I have tried all types of differnt files, ".mov,.mp4,.wav,.m4a,etc..." all are opening in the same fasion (not importing from premiere, direct opening).
I have edited these same type of files a month ago without an issue. They only thing I can think is that one of the adobe updates I have run changed something.
specs:
adobe cs6
audition 5.0.2 build 5
premiere 6.0.2
Mac pro - lion 10.7.3
Any ideas??

Ipod does not import all songs in itunes

Does anyone know why when I plug in my ipod it will import a few of the songs then a message pops up that says attempting to copy to the disk failed. The disk could not be read from or written to, please help!!!

Another thing to be aware of is what format your files are in. If you have an Ipod Photo like mine it won't play .mp4 file format so when I first got my ipod it would only load the first 70 some songs, those songs were already .m4a, then it would give the same error message you discribed. I thought my ipod was hosed until I finally went through with a program I got of the internet that was a file extention converter tool and renamed all my files from .mp4 to .m4a then everything worked fine.

MP4 vs M4A

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