Importing CDG+mp3 files from hard drive

[kiwisinger]

Hi Everyone. Greetings from New Zealand.

Firstly, thank you MTU for this awesome program Hoster. I've been running Karaoke full time now for nearly 15yrs, but only with Hoster for the last 3yrs. What a God send!! Thank you guys!

When I started backing up all my disc's prior to Hoster, I was using a software program called CDRwin. It saved my files as .bin. I kept every disc in its own folder. Disc 01, Disc 02 etc etc

I saw a friend using WinAmp but I had to convert my .bin files to CDG+mp3 first. I kept them all in their individual Disc folders. Reason being, all my books were under the disc number format.

Well, I had renamed every file according to its numbered disc folder as follows:
Eg: Folder Disc 001:

Disc/Trk Title Artist

01 - 01 Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.cdg
01 - 01 Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.mp3
01 - 02 I'm so excited - The Pointer Sisters.cdg
01 - 02 I'm so excited - The Pointer Sisters.mp3
01 - 03 Strokin' - Clarence Carter.cdg
01 - 03 Strokin' - Clarence Carter.mp3
01 - 04 Come on ride the train - Quad City Dj's.cdg
01 - 04 Come on ride the train - Quad City Dj's.mp3

etc
etc As you can appreciate, this took so many many hrs to do.

I have tried to import these files into Hoster but without success. How I've been using hoster is loading the .mp3 file via the MP3G button, going to the particular folder and loading the song thru "Add MP3+G Song to SongList."

It works but man I would love to be able to search and load with Hoster the proper way.

Can anyone help me out here? I would appreciate your suggestions

[ddouglass]

That is an easy one. Look at the manual for the section on Import from HDD. It will tell you exactly how to set up the import to add these to the song book. Click on Import up top and then click on Import from HDD, then follow the steps in the manual.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by kiwisinger

Eg: Folder Disc 001:

Disc/Trk Title Artist

01 - 01 Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.cdg
01 - 01 Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.mp3
01 - 02 I'm so excited - The Pointer Sisters.cdg
01 - 02 I'm so excited - The Pointer Sisters.mp3
01 - 03 Strokin' - Clarence Carter.cdg
01 - 03 Strokin' - Clarence Carter.mp3
01 - 04 Come on ride the train - Quad City Dj's.cdg
01 - 04 Come on ride the train - Quad City Dj's.mp3

I just notice all you have is a single space between the track and the Title and you are right that won't work. I hope you have the originals as that may be the only way to import them or rename them all again to get a usable format.

[OneEskalera]

KIwisinger

Me too, had saved my CDG's to CDG+mp3 or MP3+g format eversince with my own DiscId numbering.

You have to rename all your files to have a separator between tract No. and title and your good to go

01 - 01 - Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.cdg
01 - 01 - Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.mp3

for Hoster to accept it.
(be carefull to have same separator and space to these two files or it will get separated.)
and from now on save your files to this format
DiscID - track - tittle - artist

To import your mp3+g files,
01. Click IMPORT TRACTS
02. Click IMPORT HARD DRIVE FILES
03. Click MP3+G, select the folder you want import and highlite one of the file in the folder and click SELECT
04. Again highlite one of the file then
05. Define field Order as, DiscID - track - title - artist, fill in Brand, DiscID as Disc01, Click next on BookID Root, click Batch/add files then Click import files
If DiscID changes enter Disc01 again and your ready to import your file to a folder where you want to save your files.

Remember to use the same computer where you have your old kma database was saved, so BookID will be consistent.

[Robster]

The files have to be named in the right way i use karaoke song list converter to rename my Discs stored as MP3+G , its the quickest way i have found. once renamed hoster recognises them

[gd123]

This is very simple to do with your CURRENT naming scheme. In other words, disregard those suggesting that you RENAME everything, again.

Get to the HD Import window and select the MP3G Button.

Navigate to the desired folder and click OK.

Set your DEFINE FIELD ORDER "E X A C T L Y" as listed below (left to right):
Box 1 = DiscID (Select from the Drop Down Box)
Box 2 = SpaceDashSpace (Select from the Drop Down Box)
Box 3 = Track (Select from the Drop Down Box)
Box 4 = Space (You will need to TYPE in a SPACE as the powers that be didn't see a need to put a SINGLE SPACE in the Drop Down Box. [hit the spacebar ONCE])
Box 5 = Title (Select from the Drop Down Box)
Box 6 = SpaceDashSpace (Select from the Drop Down Box)
Box 7 = Artist (Select from the Drop Down Box)
Box 8 = Period (Select from the Drop Down Box)

Now that the DEFINE FIELD ORDER is correct, click on one of the SONGS listed in the FILE LIST WINDOW. All Tracks for a unique DiscID should appear in the TRACK LIST WINDOW.

You will need to assign a BRAND, as your "01" DiscID Prefix will not be recognized by Hoster as a valid Brand. Once BRAND, DISCID, and BOOKID are present, you will be able to perform the actual IMPORT.

Done

[kiwisinger]

Wow! Firstly thanx so much eveyrone for your import and help. I really am greatful and do appreciate your response. Cheerz!!

My biggest fear, as Im sure you all can appreciate, was having to rename all my 1000s of files! :(

I must admit, I got all excited with the reply of "gd123". I have tried every way possible with your suggestion "gd123" but kept coming up with the following window:

" The separator characters that end field [4] were not found in the Selected Filename. Please enter the characters (with spaces if any are present) exactly as they appear after field [4] in your Selected Filename"

NB: You said in Box 8 = Period. Excuse my ignorance here, what is a "period?" I just went thru and tried everyone of the choices in that box but it still didnt work. I was so hoping it was gonna work! Thank you so much anyway for your help "gd123".

ONE IDEA DID WORK. But unfortunitly it means I have to rename every file grrrrr.

"OneEskalera" your suggestion worked perfectly!! Thank you so much. I am "definately" not looking forward to renaming every file!

Thank you again and happy singing guyz

[Deeter]

Norton Commander has a very slick "multi-file rename" tool. You may try buying a copy of it and doing the renaming there.

[gd123]

NB: You said in Box 8 = Period. Excuse my ignorance here, what is a "period?"

A "PERIOD" is a punctuation symbol placed at the end of a sentence. <---

In files, a "PERIOD," also known as a DOT, separates the a FILENAME from its EXTENSION.
i.e. SC8107-01 - ARTIST - TITLE.ZIP or, when saying it outloud or in a text message:

SC8107DASH01SPACEdashSPACEARTISTSPACEdashSPACETITLEDOTZIP

OR

SC8107DASH01SPACEdashSPACEARTISTSPACEdashSPACETITLEPERIODZIP

You, simply set the FIELD ORDER as the FILE READS from left to right.

01 - 01 Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.cdg

BRANDSPACEdashSPACETRACKSPACETITLESPACEdashSPACEARTISTDOTcdg

Field 4 is where your SINGLE SPACE appears. Are you trying to TYPE the WHOLE word "SPACE" instead of entering the SPACE CHARACTER?

If you are not able to IMPORT with the above instructions, then you are using a "Degraded" version of Hoster, which is not uncommon at MTU.

I'm using v3.301, and is the ONLY version I use to IMPORT anything, and renamed one of my TRKS to match one of yours and it added correctly for importing using the above outline, which is why I posted it.

[ddouglass]

A single space will not work because it doesn't know which single space to use since there are several between the words. That is why I said it will not work that way. He did try what you said and it didn't work.

[OneEskalera]

It will not work because you have space between track space hot space hot space hot

[OneEskalera]

I had the same dilema before, I just have to add that dash between track and title on every file, but did it one disc/folder a time. Time consuming but no choice. Vista will do add the dash in the same song.

Have to highlite both cdg and pm3 file same time and add the ( - ).

for the meantime, use the mp3g/k-oke button to play those files.

[mindonstrike]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

A single space will not work because it doesn't know which single space to use since there are several between the words. That is why I said it will not work that way. He did try what you said and it didn't work.

Actually I used gd123's suggestion to import a song. The file wasn't setup like the examples in question. I just took an existing file I had and replaced the dash with a space inbetween the diskid and track and imported without any problems.

Sam

[gd123]

Thanks to those that tested this and proved it works.

Further:
01 - 01 Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.cdg
parses correctly because the first "Hot" is NOT a "Separator Character."

There is no "hot" listed in the Drop Down Boxes of the FIELDS.

Hoster is programmed to INCLUDE ALL until the NEXT "Separator Character" is seen, which, then, tells Hoster to STOP INCLUDING.

At Field #4, Hoster is told to see a SINGLE SPACE and perform a separation at that point. Then, Hoster INCLUDES everything after the SINGLE SPACE through Field #5 where Hoster is told to include everything as a TITLE and STOP INCLUDING at Field #6 where a SPACEdashSPACE "Separator Character" tells Hoster that the TITLE Field has ended. etc...

However, in the example above, there would be a problem parsing if there was ONLY a SPACE between the Title and Artist, as the file would appear to have ONE LONG TITLE: i.e
01 - 01 Hot hot hot Buster Poindexter.cdg

in which case, the Title and Artist may not be parsed correctly.

But, who would name any Karaoke file like that?

Norton Commander

This is now know as Total Commander and is FREEWARE that works 100%.

I have been using it since the 80's when it was DOS Norton Commander and is very good for renaming files.

The unlicensed version makes you Click a Numbered Button to OPEN the Program. But, it tells you which Numbered Button to Click.

Of course, purchasing software helps support further development.

[kiwisinger]

Hi gd123,

Quote: "Field 4 is where your SINGLE SPACE appears. Are you trying to TYPE the WHOLE word "SPACE" instead of entering the SPACE CHARACTER?"

I just pushed the space bar. Nothing I did worked.

Thank you so much for explaining what a period is and understanding how to set up files.

Ive downloaded Total Commander you've recommended and hopefully it will rename my files by putting the " - " between the 'Track & Title'.

Thank you again so much for your help everyone!! I really do appreciate it

[Big City DJ]

Use me3-g toolz net.4
This will convert your files to bin.

[Big City DJ]

Sorry, that was supposed to be mp3+G toolz .net.4

[gd123]

To RENAME using Total Commander:

For all files starting with 01
as with:
01 - 01 Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.cdg
01 - 01 Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.mp3
01 - 02 I'm so excited - The Pointer Sisters.cdg
01 - 02 I'm so excited - The Pointer Sisters.mp3
01 - 03 Strokin' - Clarence Carter.cdg
01 - 03 Strokin' - Clarence Carter.mp3
01 - 04 Come on ride the train - Quad City Dj's.cdg
01 - 04 Come on ride the train - Quad City Dj's.mp3

Do this:
Highlight all the files you want to change by Right-Clicking on a file and DRAGGING DOWN. This will turn all the selected files RED. Or, move all the files that start with 01 to a separate folder and Click at the TOP where it says MARK and, in the Drop Down Menu, Click SELECT ALL.

Once all the files are RED, Click FILES, at the TOP LEFT, and, in the Drop Down Menu, Click MULTI-RENAME TOOL.

In the SEARCH & REPLACE you will type into the
SEARCH FOR:
01SpaceDASHSpace??Space
REPLACE WITH:
01SpaceDASHSpace??SpaceDASHSpace

Note: do not type the actual words that mean SPACE and DASH.

Then, Click the START Button located near the Middle at the Bottom.

Files are now RENAMED.

RESULT:
01 - 01 - Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.cdg
01 - 01 - Hot hot hot - Buster Poindexter.mp3
01 - 02 - I'm so excited - The Pointer Sisters.cdg
01 - 02 - I'm so excited - The Pointer Sisters.mp3
01 - 03 - Strokin' - Clarence Carter.cdg
01 - 03 - Strokin' - Clarence Carter.mp3
01 - 04 - Come on ride the train - Quad City Dj's.cdg
01 - 04 - Come on ride the train - Quad City Dj's.mp3

Repeat for all files beginning with 02 by replacing the 01, in the example above, to 02.

There is an UNDO feature if you name something WRONG. Just re-highlight, go back into the MULTI-RENAME TOOL and Click UNDO.

[kiwisinger]

Thank you so so much gd123......you have made me a very happy man!!

I have downloaded Total Commander.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME OUT TO HELP ME. I REALLY DO APPRECIATE YOUR HELP!

THANK YOU