SMGT 440 Album Artwork

Owlboy (Bryan Bortz) has done a great little tutorial that I have included. I have found that 600 x 600 px work rather well and give you a pretty clean image when you go to full screen in iTunes. If you make anything under 300 x 300 px you will have some extremely pixalated art work when you go to full screen.

Tagging Media with iTunes

Metadata information can be placed inside MP3 and MP4/M4V media files to better describe the media and allow for organization inside of various media players. This information may also be refered to as ID3 tags when talking about MP3 files. Or just tags in general.

Configuring iTunes to Begin Tagging

By default, iTunes may come configured to organize your media files in a central folder in a specific folder structure. This copies any files you add to the iTunes library to an /iTunes/iTunes Music/ folder that is usually stored in your My Music folder. This practice is good when using iTunes to organize and play your music and video files, but when you wish to just tag files it can become unwelcome.

The iTunes Media folder organization can be turned off by choosing “Preferences…” from the “Edit” menu on Windows or from the “iTunes” menu on Mac OS. On the Advanced tab be sure that “Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library” is unchecked. This will keep the media files you add to iTunes in their original locations. Note that changing this setting only effects items added to the library after it is changed.

Tagging Files

Create a playlist for the “set” of files you will be tagging. (Optional) Creating a playlist for the files you will be tagging is helpful when working with a set of similar files, usually all from the same course. To do so click the “Create a Playlist.” button in the lower left of the main iTunes window. It is recommended to create separate playlists for the MP3 and MP4/M4V files.

Name the playlist appropriately.

Add the MP3 or MP4/M4V Files you are tagging to iTunes/the new playlist. You can drag them onto the playlist.

There are two ways to enter tags in iTunes. First you can edit them in-line. To do so single click on a track to select it. Then single click on a tag and wait a moment and iTunes will highlight the tag allowing you to change it or enter new information.

The the other way is to select a track and then choose “Get Info” from the “File” menu (Crtl – i on Windows or Command – i Mac OS). This will bring up a dialog that allows you to edit all the tags for the file. Clicking on the info tab allows you to edit the Metadata tags.

Formatting Standards

It is best to be consistent in your data entry for files. This allows files to be viewed and organized easily by students. It also allows for sorting between different classes when a student is in more than one concurrently. Please note all spaces or lack of spaces in all tags, this will make for consistent tagging within and between courses.

Tags for All Files

Tags Specific to Video Files

* May be omitted when it does not apply.
** If the number of files is known, enter their position in the list, otherwise, leave blank. Remember to count 1a, 1b, 2, 3a, 3b as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 respectively.

Adding Album Artwork

You can also add artwork to each file that will show in some views inside of iTunes and on portable media players. This can be considered optional since it does not help in organizing and playing back files. It does however increase the level of fit and finish the files will appear to have.

Adding artwork that gets embedded inside the file can only be done inside the Get Info dialog. On the artwork tab you can choose to add or delete artwork.

Artwork Formatting

Finishing

After entering all the tags the files are ready. Since we set up iTunes to do so, all of the files you added are now tagged and ready for delivery.

If you use iTunes on your computer for listening to music, and use the “Copy files to the iTunes Media folder when adding to library” feature, you can turn that back on when not tagging. Remember, turning it off or on does not change the location of files currently in the iTunes library. It only effects files as they are added.

This is not what I was expecting. I am not sure what I was expecting but me writing like the author of The Da Vinci Code was not on the top of my list of things to discover this morning. I did find this rather interesting though.

I write like
Dan Brown

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

As far as I can tell, I will be looking forward to a new and improved method for object orientated programing. Adobe you dropped the ball on this one! We designers are not programmers by trade and you turning one of the funnest programs into some freakish fest of code is a complete buzz kill.  With that said my research into html5 shall begin and hopefully it will be far less stressful than me attempting to write out as3.0 code trying to make something design savvy and functional with code!

I have no regrets in my life. I think that everything happens to you for a reason. The hard times that you go through build character, making you a much stronger person.
Rita Mero
Nothing is more active than thought, for it travels over the universe, and nothing is stronger than necessity for all must submit to it.
Thales

A lot of times when you go through a very traumatic situation and it’s emotionally difficult to deal with you come back spiritually stronger. It changes you in a way.
Elvis Stojko