Comments:

Brian said...

Great post and instructions. I'm trying the automatic method now with a book I listen to far too often that keeps coming up in my top played list.

Thanks!

1:02 PM, June 20, 2007  

Brent Evans said...

Brian,
Thanks for the comment. Let me know if you run into any problems. I've been using the manual method for quite a while now, but the new "automated method" worked perfectly on the last two audiobooks I tried.

Glad to hear it was a helpful post.

1:19 PM, June 20, 2007  

Jamison said...

Ive converted roughly 1,000 mp3's into one audio book but cant get itunes to import it to load it on to the ipod itself, its the bible and broken down into 4 different parts, however i added them all together in order and converted them... do you know if im doing something wrong?

12:04 AM, June 21, 2007  

Brent Evans said...

Jamison,
One thing you might check is to be sure your resulting file/s (after merging) aren't any larger than 320MB or longer than 5 hours. If its longer than 5 hours, I would split it up into smaller pieces.

Brent

7:34 AM, June 21, 2007  

Jamison said...

Thanks Brent, Yeah it was 2 GB after it was done so ill try that. Thanks.

6:27 PM, June 21, 2007  

Anonymous said...

Hi Brent - Great software ! I have a BUG to report however. On the latest version (and the previous) on both XP and Vista, there is an issue when attempting to use the file browser to delete a folder that contains files that were recently converted. Apparently, although the file browser ostensibly works, the handle to the recently converted file and file folder is still open and therefore not allowing me to delete the folder until exiting the program.

This was problematic because I wanted an easy way to convert a batch of audio files and a way to keep track of them by deleting the folder when I have finished the conversion of a particular set of files. But what I have to do instead is close the program, delete the file, reopen the program and THEN select the new files to be converted.

Anyway - this is probably a relatively minor class 3 bug - not a show stopper but definitely an issue.

Once again this was an excellent piece of software ! Thanks so much for offering it to the public !

Any thoughts about including a batch edit function?

Thanks,

Mark (boradicus@gmail.com)

12:59 AM, October 11, 2007  

Brent Evans said...

Hi Mark,
I'm in no way related or associated with the developer of the MP3 to Audiobook software. To contact the developer, e-mail him at freeipodsoftware@gmail.com

Thanks!
Brent

7:26 AM, October 11, 2007  

Yaeli said...

Wow, I am seriously in love with this method. Thank you so much for making this information available! My ipod is now on the way to being listenable again without all the mp3 audiobook clutter!!

7:44 PM, November 12, 2007  

Jeff said...

Thanks for the great tips.
I have a 3rd generation ipod nano.

I use the mp3 merge and try not to have more than 2 hours at a time because if you accidentally switch tracks it takes a long time to forward back to where you were.

I've been importing at 96kbs at 56 I get buzzing. You could go lower than 96 but you'll have to experiment.

I had problems getting itunes to recognize the new files as audiobooks. It is because I didn't follow the exact directions. It's very important to delete the newly imported aac file from the itunes menu (keep them). I didn't do that and just changed the extension to .m4b so itunes looked for it and reimported it into the music menu. You must delete from itunes.

My next problem was that my ipod nano didn't put the files in the audiobook menu. I had to play a small section of each audiobook in itunes first. This will place the audiobook in the ipod audiobook menu.

Thanks everyone!

12:02 PM, April 06, 2008  

Suhaib said...

Hi,

If you want to create a bookmarkable audio file, without having to convert it to an m4b file (i.e. keep it as a normal mp3 audio file), then it is EXTREMELY simple:

1) Plug your iPod into your computer

2) In iTunes, go to an audiofile WITHIN your iPod that you want bookmarkable.

3) Right-click on it, and go to OPTIONS

4) Tick the selection box “Remember Playback Position”

bish bash bosh - the file will remember its position everytime you play another file then return. AFAIK this follows the same properties as a ‘normal m4b’ bookmark

(this was for iPod classic 80gb, but i dont think this will make a difference)

5:24 AM, May 02, 2008  

Anonymous said...

I would like to convert some books and keep the chapters in separate files (i.e. the Bible). The automated method is much faster but does not seem to carry the track numbers over to the m4b files. Is there a way to keep the chapters in the proper order in the audiobooks?

8:27 AM, May 03, 2008  

I use my Ipod to listen to audiobooks, but always have had trouble with audiobooks I get from non-Itunes places. The problem with importing non-Itunes audiobooks into Itunes is that Itunes won't mark your audiobook with bookmarks so when you stop at a certain point in the book, listen to some music and then come back to the audiobook, it doesn't save your place. Only audiobooks purchased from Itunes are bookmarkable - most audiobooks obtained from other sources are treated as music file in itunes. This tutorial is to take a CD or mp3 audiobook and make it bookmarkable for use in an ipod. You can easily convert any audio files to the Itunes audiobook format two different ways.

Converting a CD to a mp3

If you want to take an audiobook you own on CD and convert it to an ipod audiobook, you will need to rip the CD. There are two methods of doing that. I use Cdex which is the easier method described in this how-to. Another method is to use exact audio copy explained here.

CONVERTING A MP3 TO AN IPOD-FRIENDLY AUDIOBOOK

AUTOMATED METHOD using "MP3 to Ipod Audiobook Converter" program:

The first way is using the mp3 to audiobook converter by freeipodsoftware. This is a mostly automated method that works well. It does decreases the quality & file size some and isn't customizable so I'll still mention the manual method as well.

1. Download the program at www.freeipodsoftware.com./index.php
   
2. Start the program and click on the "add" button. Select each of the files you want to merge and convert into a single file
   
3. Click "start conversion"
   
4. Name the new m4b file and select the folder to save it to.
   
5. Wait for it to finish - a progress indicator will tell you how much time has elapsed, time remaining and the size of the resulting file.

Now you just open Itunes and import the new m4b file and your done. Quick and easy.

.

MANUAL METHOD

The manual method is one I've used for several years. It is fully customizable and is done with a few simple steps.

1. Prepare Itunes for the Import

• 
  




• 
  

• In Itunes, go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced
• Choose the importing tab and change import to "AAC Encoder"
  
• Click the down arrow and select custom.
  
• In the AAC Encoder window, choose somewhere around 16 & 48 kbs - audible.com uses 32kbps so that would be a good selection.
  
• Set the Sample rate as "auto" and channels to "stereo" and select
  
• Uncheck "play while importing"
  
• Create filenames
  
• Use error correction
  
• Click ok

2. Merge multiple MP3 files into a larger MP3

When you rip an audiobook CD or download a mp3 audiobook, it will be in multiple files. It is easier to manage one or just a few files - this way you don't need to remember which file you are listening to. Just remember not to make the resulting file any larger than 320MB or longer than 5 hours. Otherwise you could end up with playback problems in your ipod.

To merge the files into one or more larger mp3 "chunks" use mp3merge http://mp3merger.cjb.net/

• Open MP3 Merger
  
• Click on add files button & a window with "select files to merge" will open
  
• Browse to and select your mp3 files that you want to merge
  
• Click the open button in mp3merger
  
• Click on Sort button
  
• Change MP3merger output file name
  
• Click on merge files button
  
• Click on remove all button and repeat steps for all files you want to merge
  
• Now using windows explorer, rename your files in a numbered format such as 0001TomClancy, 0002TomClancy etc. This will ensure that the tracks load into itunes in the proper order when you have multiple tracks in one audiobook.

3. Import the MP3 File Into Itunes

In Itunes, add each of the new mp3 files to itunes:

• Add the file (or folder) to the Itunes Library
  
• Convert each newly imported mp3 file to AAC - select the file (s), right-click, and select “Convert Selection to AAC“.
  
• Once the conversion is complete, remove the original mp3 files from your library. They will no longer be needed for this process.
  
• Also remove the newly created files from your library (NOT from your disc), but when you are asked, be sure to select “Keep Files“, so they are not deleted off your hard drive.
  

4. Rename the AAC files from m4a to m4b - To make the new AAC files bookmarkable, you will need to rename each of them to m4b

• Open Windows Explorer
  
• In Windows Explorer you should find the files in My Documents\My Music\Itunes\Itunes Music, right click the AAC file in the library and open folder
  
• In the folder rename each of the files m4b (from m4a)
  

5. Add m4b file to Itunes

• In Windows Explorer, double click each file to add the m4b files to Itunes.
  
• In Itunes you can right-click on the new files and select “Get Info“. Update the name, genre and artist to whatever you want - I usually clear the artist and lable the genre as audiobook
  
• Now add the files to your ipod when ready.
  

You now have a bookmarkable audiobook in your ipod that won't be included with your music when you the ipod is in shuffle mode.

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