Audio track extraction from video files, and archive file format support

[GabesDad]

Ok, so this request is driven by love of TEDtalks (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks) and perhaps a feature of Winamp that is not there by design.  I like to listen to TEDtalks on my commute.  TED used to have audio only versions of their talks, but now they only have video versions (in mp4).  They do still have an audio podcast feed but it is only updated every 3 months or so.  So, in Winamp I am able to use the podcast plugin to download the video podcasts and play them back just fine.  However, the good part (for me at least) is that if using the default Winamp mpeg decoder (which includes mp4 files) which is audio only - I hear only the audio portion and no video and this allows the winamp transcoder to see it as an audio file and transcode it to an mp3 when transfering the file to my phone for playback.  If I tell Winamp to use the DirectShow decoder for mp4 files, it plays back the video correctly in Winamp, but will not transcode to an mp3 because it now sees it as a video file.

So, my request for MusicBee, would be ideally that MusicBee to detect video container formats and extract out / demux the audio track inside the video container format.  In this case the mp4 format is used both for audio only and for video/audio content, but this might also include avi, matroska, ogm, etc.  I think it would be best if MusicBee could simply extract the track rather than transcoding the audio data and thus loosing quality and taking up more system resources.  I know that others have requested that MusicBee also become a video player.  I personally would like to see it stay an audio only player, and perhaps my above request stays in line with an audio only approach.  I assume this functionality is not supported by any of the bass libraries, so I will suggest something like mencoder / mplayer to do the dirty work in the background and any other demuxer helper tools (as a side note, would bass_enc be able to pass data to mencoder and thus be able to replace all other codecs, or does it not work quite like this?).

My second request for archive file (zip, 7z, rar, etc.) is partially because TED packages the downloadable mp4 files inside zip files and that would be one more step I would need to take to get things where I want them.  But I think archive support could also be helpful for other things as well.  Winamp has a third-party (by Dr. O) in_zip input plugin that I believe uses the unrar.dll and unacev2.dll libraries to help out.  Perhaps some of the 7-zip command line tools could help out with this.

I guess another request that goes along with this would be that MusicBee support video podcast feeds with the understanding that only the audio portions of the files will be played back / transfered to devices.

Thanks.

[toology]

I don't see the reason the author should suddenly start competing with Avidemux and similar basic video editing apps. Working with ffmpeg and demuxers is a completely different thing from BASS and audio playback, so that would kinda be like starting to develop another application. Even if steven could do it I think it would add  unnecessary bloat  to the program. For your needs just get Avidemux, it can extract and even convert sound from video in a few clicks. I'll send you instructions if you want.

As for archive reading support, it sounds ok. Foobar already 2k does it for rar files I think. If video is ever coming to music bee (although I don't like that idea much, I guess a lot of people do) I suggest just connecting music bee to direct show and pointing users to ffdshow. This would keep the coding part to only adding a video window and a direct show hook.

[Steven]

to be honest i still havent researched how i will do video and probably wont have time to do so for at least a couple of months (bass actually has a video module which i gather is quite liteweight but not sure yet what its' limitations are).
But i absolutely have in mind i dont want to add bloat or negatively affect people who only want to use MB for audio.

[GabesDad]

Just a suggestion so thank you for letting me know what all is involved with actually implementing such things.  I totatally agree with the no bloat basis of design, which is one of the reasons I've been looking to ditch Winamp.  Also I agree that MB should not become a Video Player - I was just thinking of utilizing the audio parts of video.

toology: Thanks for the recomendation of Avidemux - I'll check it out.

Steven: interesting to hear that bass has a video module - out of curiosity, I'll check it out on my own.

Thanks.

[toology]

Here is a simple guide to Avidemux and audio extraction

1. Open Avidemux
2. Drag the video file into Avidemux or open it through the menu
3. Click Audio - Save...
4. Name the file something like filename.aac (or whatever format the audio is in)
5. Hit enter and wait

You can also change the audio settings from copy to a different codec if you need transcoding.

[Antonski]

A bit old topic, but the only one that searching machine suggested me about "in_zip"
I'm trying  (unsuccessfully so far) to install the WA in_zip plugin, but no matter what I do, MB refuse to see any archive file, drag'n'drop also do not work.
On the other hand, the plugin has some bugs even with WA (as the author admitted) and it seems to be abandoned.
So, a native archive format support would be welcome.
I especially would love to see a rar support, because rar has some very useful features for recovery (so it's good for archiving), 7-zip also looks promising.

+1 for archive file format support

[Zak]

Why would you zip/archive an already compressed audio file?

[ma_t14]

I don't see the point in introducing archive support either.

My take on this..

I guess it might make some sense with lossless files if you are REALLY space constrained, but I'm not sure what the zip/rar compression ratios are with those and whether they are worth it. Then again, having all your files in archives instead of folders defeats the purpose of using a music organizer (like MusicBee) since I doubt they could be collected in a library. That would require for each archive to be extracted each time, which obviously doesn't make much sense.

I cant imagine anyone using MusicBee as an "on-the-go" music player like e.g. aimp2 where you simply open a bunch of files using explorer and start listening.

Antonski are we missing something obvious here? 

[lnminente]

My guess is it could be for sharing purposes, for the same reason some people don't want to store the tags in the files and don't having them duplicated

[ma_t14]

My guess is it could be for sharing purposes, for the same reason some people don't want to store the tags in the files and don't having them duplicated

Good point, but I doubt any serious seeder would choose to upload their files using an archiving format. Especially for audio, it is considered a bad practice for a number of reasons.

[lnminente]

For the typical mp3 sure it's a bad idea because the size is almost the same. But worst things i have seen and sadly very common, for example, converting the audio from a youtube video to a mp3 at CBR 320kbps :/

[ma_t14]

For the typical mp3 sure it's a bad idea because the size is almost the same. But worst things i have seen and sadly very common, for example, converting the audio from a youtube video to a mp3 at CBR 320kbps :/

I don't understand what is your point to be honest (concerning to what I said)  

[lnminente]

Sorry my english... Just was confirming what you said, and that for the usual 128 kbps mp3 file the size in a zip or in a folder is mostly the same, so is better not having it in a zip.

The other thing a said is a bit off topic, just mentioning strange behavior of some people releasing files in internet.