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MetaX changing content?

S

Shuttleworth

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 23, 2008
196
0
UK
Can MetaX change or corrupt an m4v file? I've got a few ripped DVD's that have no sound now, the only thing I've done to them is tidy them up with MetaX (which has been great and really makes your library look good BTW:)). If so is there any way of getting the sound back?
 
This has happened to me with several files, TV shows and movies. Perfect prior to editing with MetaX; afterward, no sound.

It seems to happen randomly (e.g. one episode out of six of the same series - even from the same disc). All files ripped with MTR, sent through Handbrake, then MetaX.

After recovering original files and re-sending to MetaX, the result is the same.

I even downloaded lostify - and for the same files that lose their audio, the same thing happens.

The only thing I use MetaX for is to add content ratings to my files. Sometimes actors/directors with movies.
 
I've seen the same thing.

Basically a perfect m4v file for Apple TV is pushed through MetaX (latest versions on both 10.4 and 10.5) and it corrupts the movie so it reboots apple TV. Copy the original file back over (without meta data) and it works fine, so it is definitely MetaX corrupting the file.

Now I took a look at the MetaX site and it uses a modified version of Atomic Parsley (released under the GPL) so I thought, OK that's good I can go and actually have a look at the MetaX source code and see if I can spot the issues.

Oh, no the devs haven't released the MetaX source under a violation of the GPL, as they are distributing an app using GPL code they MUST release the source of their code to anyone that requests it (and their FAQ states the source is not public!)

Not good guys!
 
TwinCities Dan said:
hmmm...I've used metax 200+ times with zero errors? What am I doing wrong!?! ;)
Click to expand...

No idea, it doesn't happen for me with every file, I suspect it's something to do with the data pulled from Amazon.com. For example I added about 20 files to iTunes this weekend all tagged with MetaX.

5 of them failed when attempting to play on Apple TV (iTunes has no such issue with them).

So far I've re-tagged one of them and it's now working fine, however a second one still doesn't work. The file without MetaX tags works fine though.
 
I think, fingers crossed, I've figured out what was causing the MetaX problems in my case.

I don't know if it affects all regions or installations but for me here in the UK three of the files which broke I've fixed because they had accented characters in the actor's names. I removed those characters, sync'd and it all worked fine.

Hopefully that was the cause of the problem!

Examples: Changing Beyoncé Knowles to Beyonce Knowles in Austin Powers fixed that one and changing Téa Leoni to Tea Leoni fixed Bad Boys.
 
Three of mine were Back to the Future 1,2 and 3. I had the tags done fine and it worked, then I changed the pictures and they all lost audio. At the time I hadn't changed my Amazon region from USA to UK.

I changed the Genre of Deep Blue Sea the other day this time using the built in iTunes tag editor, it immediately killed the file, no sound or picture.

Have you contacted the MetaX dev? He says contact for more info. I still use it a lot as it is very easy to use, and makes the library look so much better.
 
I'm not sure yet, but I think I may have found the problem.

When converting files with Handbrake, I've always used the ATV settings so that the audio looks like this:

Track 1: Dolby Pro Logic II
Track 2: AC3 Passthrough

Well, without knowing it, oddly my ATV setting changed to the following audio settings:

Track 1: Stereo
Track 2: Stereo

Since changing the settings back to the default audio settings for ATV, I haven't had any problems with MetaX (~20 files).
 
I have had the same issue with various m4v files that have been run through metax for no discernable reason or logic. They are tagged right the first time, but any attempt to alter the tags down the road with metax, lostify, or itunes, and the file becomes corrupted with either no sound, no picture, or both. Dynaflash - if you're reading this, you might know the answer. What are tags most of us don't see in an m4v with relation to resolution, audio, and video properties? What I mean is, are there tags in the video that might have been mistakenly modified that we don't usually see in metax or the 'get info' tab in itunes that are needed to be read by quicktime?
 
I think we all need to enable the "Put Originals in Trash" option so we have a backup copy of the file before it writes any tags!

From MetaX help:

Put originals in Trash -- If this option is enabled, MetaX will put a copy of your original file in the trash before writing any tags. This provides a ready backup should anything go wrong during the tagging process. This will extend the time needed to process your files since they must be copied to your Mac’s local trash before writing.
 
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