CD Ripper

I have been looking around for a utility that will rip CD tracks to .aiff for import to FCP. Every week my producer gives me a disk with a half dozen or so tracks to use. I find iTunes works for this, but is cumbersome. Does anyone have a favorite utility that does this?

-V

Itunes does the job easily. What's the workflow that you use in Itunes?

My primary issue is that I find it difficult to target the drive/folder I want the files to land in after conversion. The logic of using iTunes as a conversion utilty evades me.

Then, after I am done my iTunes library is littered with music that I don't want in there.

I realize that all these issues can be handled in iTunes, but it is to complicated an app for this. My dream would be to drag the file from the CD onto a utitliy that would then do the coversions to a target folder.

-V

Here's how to target the folder you want to go to.

"By default, songs and other audio files you import are stored in the iTunes Music folder. You can choose to have your imported audio files stored in a different location, as long as you indicate to iTunes where to find them. You can also transfer files you've imported from one location to another. For example, if you buy a new computer, you can move your music files from the old computer to the new one.

To change where imported audio files are stored from now on, choose iTunes > Preferences, then click the Advanced button at the top of the window. Click the Change button and select a new location for your audio files. New songs you import will be stored in the new location. Songs already imported stay in their current location (to move them, see below).

To move songs you've already imported to a new location (for example, a different folder on your hard disk, or a different computer), drag the iTunes Music folder (by default, inside your home folder at Music/iTunes/iTunes Music) to the new location. To make sure any future songs you import are stored in the same place, choose iTunes > Preferences, and click Advanced. If necessary, click Change to choose the location where you just dragged your files.

To change the storage location back to the iTunes Music folder, click Reset (in the Advanced pane of iTunes Preferences)."

(From the help files)
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Whatever utility you use to do this job you will need to tell it where to store the results of your import. There probably is something out there that will do the same job.

Thanks Jude. That is how I am currently doing the transcode. I guess it come down to my not liking the feel of "work around". Just curioius if there was another solution.

-V

PS, why doesn't FCP allow the direct import of .cdda tracks? Apple obviously understands the technology. How come we even HAVE to use a seperate app?

If you just drag the song from the iTunes window...DIRECTLY from the window into a folder or drive or onto the desktop, it copies that track into that location.

I use iTunes for organizing my temp music and sound effects, and drag and drop all the time.

No digging thru folder after folder.

CD tracks are 44.1khz - video requires 48 khz. There was a time when you could directly import cd tracks into FCP and it would even make a copy in your scratch location, but that all went away in version .. 3? Or maybe 4.

One of my pet peeves, in fact.

Thanks Shane. I just tried the drag and drop thing, and it does help.

Too bad, Jude, that they lost the direct import. Seems to me that if Apple has the code for iTunes to make 48k aiff's in iTunes, it would not be technically difficult to include that function in FCP. I'll bet there is a political or legal reason for the exclusion.

-V

There is always QuickTime Pro for converting audio files. It can't be batched, but it does have a more logical workflow in that you open the source file in QT then Export it using the settings you want to the location you want. You can drag/drop the cut from the CD right on to the QT icon to open it. I find this workflow much more intuitive and controllable than using iTunes for it.

Scott

Scott-

Thanks, I will take a look at that. For one offs that would be somewhat easier than the iTunes bit.

-V