Importing CDG to Hoster from Microstudio

[cccolvin]

I have about a terrabyte of Microstudio files that will not import to Hoster unless I rename them. Throughout the last 5 years or more, I have backed up with Microstudio to my harddrive, all of my original disks. In hoster, I tell it the Brand, ID and tracks but it refuses to import unless the tracks are named exactly right. You could have told me how to name my files 5 years ago! Please make a new radio button "Ignore - Tracks" for the import tracks command. Maybe I have missed something, but I have not seen anything like this in postings. Work around?

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by cccolvin

I have about a terrabyte of Microstudio files that will not import to Hoster unless I rename them. Throughout the last 5 years or more, I have backed up with Microstudio to my harddrive, all of my original disks. In hoster, I tell it the Brand, ID and tracks but it refuses to import unless the tracks are named exactly right. You could have told me how to name my files 5 years ago! Please make a new radio button "Ignore - Tracks" for the import tracks command. Maybe I have missed something, but I have not seen anything like this in postings. Work around?

Don't need a button as you can change the parameters for the import to ignore the track once you have selected the information order from the left side.
Wow, that is a lot of hard drive space! The real question is if you have all of your originals, why would you want to import from five year old backups that even MTU's technology for importing wasn't the quality it is today?
Do yourself and your singers a favor. Import from the originals into Hoster (version 3.314) and you will have the cleanest possible graphics and the best sound quality around.

[gduns - with the Lord]

Dale,
It sounds like he has all of the .bin files uncompressed on the drive, that is why it would be so big, and the quality will be perfect, as it is uncompressed.

However, If converted to .kma files, does it actually compress the .bin files, or leave them fullsize? If it compresses them to full .kma files, then they would be very small less than 10% of the size they are now.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by gduns

Dale,
It sounds like he has all of the .bin files uncompressed on the drive, that is why it would be so big, and the quality will be perfect, as it is uncompressed.

However, If converted to .kma files, does it actually compress the .bin files, or leave them fullsize? If it compresses them to full .kma files, then they would be very small less than 10% of the size they are now.

Gary,
Do you really believe the quality of Microstudio's import from 5 years ago is as good as it is today? I know it isn't so I recommended to go back to the source. And Hoster does compress the full size BIN files when importing to compressed KMA.
Besides his saved files are CDG not BIN (I know they are the same)

[admin]

Originally Posted by cccolvin

1. You could have told me how to name my files 5 years ago!

2. Please make a new radio button "Ignore - Tracks" for the import tracks command.

3. Maybe I have missed something, but I have not seen anything like this in postings. Work around?

1. We didn't even have Hoster importing tracks from Microstudio until about 3 years ago. There is no way we could have predicted the future.

2. No. You can change the Define Field Order manually.

3. Read the manual. It's all there... really!

[cccolvin]

I don't think anyone understands my problem. I have backed up 2000 cd's to my hard drive with Microstudio in CDG format. It took about 500 hours and I don't want to have to do it again! I have sucessfully imported by renaming my files. I can not import and have Hoster name the songs and artist if the file names are not in a specific format. For instance, I have a Druid Performace Tracks CD. My file names are 2005-1.cdg, 2005-2.cdg, 2005-3.cdg,... I select "Disk ID-Track" and then "Ignore" in the first field, then the seperator, and then "track" in the third field. Next, I select "Druid Performance Tracks" for "Brand" and "DPT2005" for "DiskID". (This is in batch mode.) When I click "Add Files", a window pops up and says "You are about to start a batch import of 14 tracks" I click "OK". Another window pops up and says "Please select a brand name". I cannot get Hoster to ignore my file names and blindly name them from the define field order line. If I rename my files DPT2005-1.cdg, DPT2005-2.cdg, DPT2005-2.cdg... there is no problem. The "ignore" command does not work. I have tried other combinations of fields and other brands and I can't fix the problem. As in my original post, I have been importing these tracks for at least 5 years. I know what cd they are but my file names are not what Hoster expects them to be. I was told to read the book again but it does not address my problem. Please help!

[Beavis]

Originally Posted by cccolvin

I don't think anyone understands my problem. I have backed up 2000 cd's to my hard drive with Microstudio in CDG format. It took about 500 hours and I don't want to have to do it again!

no hard drive lasts forever ! better put a monitor on it.

is it really necessary to back up all your cdg's to a hard drive ??

[gpayne]

Originally Posted by Beavis

no hard drive lasts forever ! better put a monitor on it.

is it really necessary to back up all your cdg's to a hard drive ??

I too have been importing disks into Microstudio for a couple of years now. All of my disks are backed up this way. I have also made backup copies of the originals. I did not start doing this right away and therefore some of my disks were scratched from the days before Hoster. I only have 300 disks though. They are big files and I am adding another drive (400gb). You may think it is a waste but there is no way I will be loosing my Karaoke songs. I have never tried to import to Hoster from the Hard Drive. When I get a new disk, the first thing I do is put it in the drive of my backup machine and import it into Microstudio, import it into Hoster and then make a backup. It never leaves the drive until I put the new disk in for the backup. This way, I know there will be no scratches on it. The Microstudio imports are on a diferent drive than the Hoster imports. After this, I import to Hoster on my show machine from the backup. It may be overkill, but it is also good insurance.

gpayne

PS: If I would have needed to reimport for some reason, I could make a custom disk and reimport from that. The custom disk would be better than the original in some cases.(Scratches) Of course, the way Hoster imports now, it probably would not make any difference if the import was from a custom disk or the original.

[Beavis]

Originally Posted by gpayne

I too have been importing disks into Microstudio for a couple of years now. All of my disks are backed up this way. I have also made backup copies of the originals. I did not start doing this right away and therefore some of my disks were scratched from the days before Hoster. I only have 300 disks though. They are big files and I am adding another drive (400gb). You may think it is a waste but there is no way I will be loosing my Karaoke songs. I have never tried to import to Hoster from the Hard Drive. When I get a new disk, the first thing I do is put it in the drive of my backup machine and import it into Microstudio, import it into Hoster and then make a backup. It never leaves the drive until I put the new disk in for the backup. This way, I know there will be no scratches on it. The Microstudio imports are on a diferent drive than the Hoster imports. After this, I import to Hoster on my show machine from the backup. It may be overkill, but it is also good insurance.

gpayne

PS: If I would have needed to reimport for some reason, I could make a custom disk and reimport from that. The custom disk would be better than the original in some cases.(Scratches) Of course, the way Hoster imports now, it probably would not make any difference if the import was from a custom disk or the original.

after i import i never touch the disk again !!! all i do is ghost my drive to another hard drive or make a back up image of the original hard drive.

its not necessary to import as cdg and kma.

if my hard drive fails, all i have to do is pop in the new hard drive and im on my way, windows XP and all !!

[admin]

Originally Posted by cccolvin

...
1. For instance, I have a Druid Performace Tracks CD. My file names are 2005-1.cdg, 2005-2.cdg, 2005-3.cdg,... I select "Disk ID-Track" and then "Ignore" in the first field, then the seperator, and then "track" in the third field. Next, I select "Druid Performance Tracks" for "Brand" and "DPT2005" for "DiskID". (This is in batch mode.) When I click "Add Files", a window pops up and says "You are about to start a batch import of 14 tracks" I click "OK". Another window pops up and says "Please select a brand name". I cannot get Hoster to ignore my file names and blindly name them from the define field order line.

2. If I rename my files DPT2005-1.cdg, DPT2005-2.cdg, DPT2005-2.cdg... there is no problem. The "ignore" command does not work. I have tried other combinations of fields and other brands and I can't fix the problem. As in my original post, I have been importing these tracks for at least 5 years. I know what cd they are but my file names are not what Hoster expects them to be. I was told to read the book again but it does not address my problem. Please help!

First, forget the preset radio buttons (i.e. DiscID-Track button). They are only confusing you.

Second, in the Define Field Order fields, enter this:

Field #1: DiscID
Delimiter #1:- (single hyphen and you can type it in, not just select from the drop-down list)
Field #2: Track
Delimiter #2:. (period)

That's all. It should work. You don't have to use "Ignore" anywhere unless I'm missing something here.

The only thing I can think of is your "DiscID" is a number only. We may currently require it to start with an alphabetic character. If that is the case, we'll take a look at it in Hoster 4.0.

What version of Hoster are you using? Some of the problems you are indicating we thought were fixed in recent versions.

[cccolvin]

I am using Hoster 3.314 and all of my files start with numbers only. This must be the answer to my problem. When will 4.0 come out? I tried to rename my files using the command prompt (ren), but I can't figure out the proper syntax to do a batch at a time.

[mindonstrike]

Originally Posted by admin

First, forget the preset radio buttons (i.e. DiscID-Track button). They are only confusing you.

Second, in the Define Field Order fields, enter this:

Field #1: DiscID
Delimiter #1:- (single hyphen and you can type it in, not just select from the drop-down list)
Field #2: Track
Delimiter #2:. (period)

That's all. It should work. You don't have to use "Ignore" anywhere unless I'm missing something here.

The only thing I can think of is your "DiscID" is a number only. We may currently require it to start with an alphabetic character. If that is the case, we'll take a look at it in Hoster 4.0.

What version of Hoster are you using? Some of the problems you are indicating we thought were fixed in recent versions.

I renamed some of my bins to try this and indeed with {diskid}-{track}. they would import however I could not utilize the database this way. If I selected Brand and Diskid before clicking add files, and then clicked add files, the brand would blank out and diskid would take the one from the file name, and then of course the title and artist fields would be "undefined".Reselecting brand and diskid at this point was of no use.

I tried every which way from Sunday to get them to import with artist and title names, and short of adding a DPT to the front of his diskid name I couldn't use the database.

Sam

[cccolvin]

This is it. OK, I renamed the files with a D in front of the file names. With "ignore" or "DiskID" selected for the filename, it would not access the database. It is hard to explain sometimes, your actual problem. Thank you (mindonstrike). The problem is, not that I can't import, but that it does not access the database and therfore does not give me the artist and song for each file. So, I need to either rename 30,000 files one at a time, or wait for 4.0, which might have a update for my problem, or have a DOS person give me a command line example to rename a batch of files. Maybe something like (ren ????-??.??? DPT????-??.???). DOS 5.1 was a long time ago.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by cccolvin

I can not import and have Hoster name the songs and artist if the file names are not in a specific format. For instance, I have a Druid Performace Tracks CD. My file names are 2005-1.cdg, 2005-2.cdg, 2005-3.cdg,... I select "Disk ID-Track" and then "Ignore" in the first field, then the seperator, and then "track" in the third field. Next, I select "Druid Performance Tracks" for "Brand" and "DPT2005" for "DiskID". (This is in batch mode.) When I click "Add Files", a window pops up and says "You are about to start a batch import of 14 tracks" I click "OK". Another window pops up and says "Please select a brand name". I cannot get Hoster to ignore my file names and blindly name them from the define field order line. If I rename my files DPT2005-1.cdg, DPT2005-2.cdg, DPT2005-2.cdg... there is no problem. The "ignore" command does not work. I have tried other combinations of fields and other brands and I can't fix the problem. As in my original post, I have been importing these tracks for at least 5 years. I know what cd they are but my file names are not what Hoster expects them to be. I was told to read the book again but it does not address my problem. Please help!

The program is working correctly. You are using "Batch" import to import a single CD (14 tracks) which is the wrong way to do it. If you use Single mode giving the Brand Name and DiscID with your "Ignore" for the first field as you have been doing. Then it should import in track order with the correct KMA file name.
What is happening in Batch mode is that the program is only taking the Brand Name and DiscID you entered first as only for use on the first track. Then it is asking for the same information for the next track and so on.

[cccolvin]

It will import with the correct kma filename. When I look up the brand and diskid to play a song, the artist and song are "undefined". My problem is accessing the automatic naming of song and artist not importing as I first thought.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by cccolvin

It will import with the correct kma filename. When I look up the brand and diskid to play a song, the artist and song are "undefined". My problem is accessing the automatic naming of song and artist not importing as I first thought.

How do you expect the database to recognize the file in order for it to add the artist and title? The only one that could would be the internal database and then only if you have added the correct DiscID and it is listed in it. FreeDB doesn't use that ID but uses a unique ID from the CD.

Most programs I have seen usually add the artist and title along with a discid and track as the name of the BIN or CDG file. This saves time when importing into Hoster since the lookup time isn't required. I don't believe Hoster is setup to look up that information if it is missing. MTU may want to change that at some point but that is up to them.

[mindonstrike]

Originally Posted by cccolvin

This is it. OK, I renamed the files with a D in front of the file names. With "ignore" or "DiskID" selected for the filename, it would not access the database. It is hard to explain sometimes, your actual problem. Thank you (mindonstrike). The problem is, not that I can't import, but that it does not access the database and therfore does not give me the artist and song for each file. So, I need to either rename 30,000 files one at a time, or wait for 4.0, which might have a update for my problem, or have a DOS person give me a command line example to rename a batch of files. Maybe something like (ren ????-??.??? DPT????-??.???). DOS 5.1 was a long time ago.

H4.0 is still a ways out. I spotted several file renamers at download.com that looked like they would do the job for you, especially if all you have to do is ad a prefix to the file names.

Sam

[bryant]

I have yet to find a file renamer that does this. If you know of one, please let me know:

1234 - ABCD to ABCD - 1234

Exactly as seen above; simple invert before and after one hyphen. Nothing else???

[mindonstrike]

Originally Posted by bryant

I have yet to find a file renamer that does this. If you know of one, please let me know:

1234 - ABCD to ABCD - 1234

Exactly as seen above; simple invert before and after one hyphen. Nothing else???

I downloaded a couple from download.com last night. I haven't had a chance to check them out yet but they claim to add prefixes (which is what I think cccolvin will need to do), add suffixes, remove or replace portions of the file name, and add numbers that increase sequentialy (which I'm thinking will come in handy for beta testing importing SCDG's files from the hard drive-when the time comes).

If you do a search for file rename at download.com you'll come up with a bazillion of them that range from free to about $30. Although they claim all their programs are spyware and adware free, I would still avoid opening them on your show computers until you check them out.

Sam

[bryant]

There is one called commander that is excellent that I have been using. But am still looking for the above? Thanx.