Audio extraction only?

[rattler14]

Hi. I like to have the audio of certain documentaries to listen on my iPod. There are commercially available audio only extractors, but it can be done in handbrake if first made into an .mp4 file and then extracted to a wave file via quicktime pro and then FINALLY converted to an AAC in iTunes!

I would be most appreciative if there was a one step handbrake option for an audio only extraction. It seems like the entire engine is already there, and would just require a button or two.

But, I'll do the long way for now... just looking for ways to make the program better!

Cheers

[rattler14]

Anyone else have thoughts on this? Not really useful? Too complicated to implement?

At least for OS X, there is a huge gap for this type of program. For windows, you can pay 30-40 bucks for an audio only extraction program (and there are numerous ones out there), so there is obviously demand.

[risck]

Just wondering... what would happen if you set the video encoder to some very low... like 1 kbps then use QT and to pull the audio track?

[rhester]

Just wondering... what would happen if you set the video encoder to some very low... like 1 kbps then use QT and to pull the audio track?

It will, of course, work just fine - the same thing can be accomplished with MP4Box and other tools.

Rodney

[rattler14]

Just wondering... what would happen if you set the video encoder to some very low... like 1 kbps then use QT and to pull the audio track?

Yes, you can do that... but it's 3 steps.

1. Handbrake w/low quality vid + high quality audio in .mp4 format.
2. QT Pro .mp4 to .WAV
3. Import to iTunes and then convert .WAV to .mp3 (after all, documentaries do not require 5.1 surround sound quality here).

So what is preferable is a one step process using handbrake (a damn fine program for moving my DVDs to an iPod format... which has been awesome) directly to mp3 or even .WAV. Either way it at least eliminates the QT pro step.

Again, I certainly can jump through the other hoops, and will if push comes to shove. It's just not a very "elegant" solution.

[fullerflyer]

Anyone else have thoughts on this?...

...a lot of us have wanted this:

http://handbrake.m0k.org/forum/viewtopi ... highlight=

I can't figure out why the devs are not supportive of this request. Most of the replies to this request are grounded in the sentiment that this process can already be done with other, already established working programs.

While this is possible, it is not user-friendly, and as mentioned takes several steps. Further, I've not found a process that gets an accurate final product, as some of the programs required do not translate the final track to the original length of the audio as on the DVD... a two hour concert ends up being 2 hrs., 1 minute, because the audio ends up slowing down/being stretched or something of the sort. Anyway, I digress...

I'll continue to lobby for this as a future implementation of the program.

[rhester]

...a lot of us have wanted this:

http://handbrake.m0k.org/forum/viewtopi ... highlight=

OK...and?

I can't figure out why the devs are not supportive of this request. Most of the replies to this request are grounded in the sentiment that this process can already be done with other, already established working programs.

Because the app isn't written "for the people". Please see my dissertation on this phenomenon: http://handbrake.m0k.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=501 (It also happens to be a sticky at the top of this very forum.)

In short, it hasn't been done because it doesn't interest any of the developers. We just don't need it. Of this giant pool of people who do, surely one of them can manage to make the few necessary code changes to the core. But that would also mean staggering changes to the GUI, wouldn't it? If you're going audio-only, there are an awful lot of things you need to disable...and what if one title is audio-only and another isn't? Ouch...gee, maybe there is a reason it hasn't already been done.

See the point?

While this is possible, it is not user-friendly, and as mentioned takes several steps. Further, I've not found a process that gets an accurate final product, as some of the programs required do not translate the final track to the original length of the audio as on the DVD... a two hour concert ends up being 2 hrs., 1 minute, because the audio ends up slowing down/being stretched or something of the sort.

That actually isn't the issue at all. It's a question of how the data is broken into frames. I'm sure that pretty much all the software you've tried have come quite close to an "accurate final product" - you simply fail to understand how accuracy is defined when transcoding between radically different formats.

I'll continue to lobby for this as a future implementation of the program.

I'll continue to anxiously look forward to your code.

Rodney

[rattler14]

rhester,

apologies for the begging! I do write code as well (although mainly scripting for calculations and not full fledged GUI applications) and was hoping it would be as easy as a checkbox with little work required in the back end. But if it's not meant to be, I do understand and will look elsewhere.

[zahadum]

Anyone else have thoughts on this?...

...a lot of us have wanted this ...

I can't figure out why the devs are not supportive of this request. Most of the replies to this request are grounded in the sentiment that this process can already be done with other, already established working programs.

... I'll continue to lobby for this as a future implementation of the program.

dont hold your breath!

the devs have firmly established ideas about what "IsIsnt" going to be in HB.

user requests that things be done simply or completely or differently are often just dismissed as being of only marginal benefit; or else (as in this case of mistaken unix minimalism) the job of some other app.

i dont have a catalogue but that is the impression that many people i have talked to - which is why folks are often frightened off from posting in the first place.

yes, it seems like a no-brainer: handbrake should be able to access any content element & process it in any way desired. Indeed the very touchstone they cite (eric raymond's 'the art of unix') makes the aesthetically compelling point that no code should be written by hand that could be generated by other code instead! ....

by this principle, handbrake should be engineered as a compositional engine: routing content this way or that way should be a programatic exercise for any good functional programmer (in contradistinction to generative techniques in C++ which are notoriously convoluted to implement - especially to debug).

however, the code for handbrake does not not in fact seem to rigorously follow the very same precepts to which the devs pay homage (or should that be lip service?) ... instead, they use the principle of minimalism as an excuse NOT to do things which ARE _inherenetly_ related ---- mostly, i think, because it simply does not suit them!

That sounds pretty harsh, i know ...

and we shouldnt confuse tough criticism with a lack of appreciation for all the great effort they do invest into HB to make our lives better (THANX!)

we shouldnt forget that for one minute! ... but nor should we let it dull our criticism.

[dynaflash]

zahadum: you have got to be kidding. That is the most long winded bunch of garbage I ever heard.

Its this simple: none of the current devs have a need for it, so no one has taken time away from their family to do it for free. Simple. Nothing more, nothing less. As rhester said, if so many people want it, then hopefully there is a coder amongst them. Many of Handbrakes current features were introduced in this very way.

But, quite frankly, that diatribe above is completely ridiculous and very misleading.

[jbrjake]

Doug McIlroy's first axiom of *nix philosophy:

(i) Make each program do one thing well. To do a new job, build afresh rather than complicate old programs by adding new features.

HandBrake is for converting DVD-style MPEG-2 video to MPEG-4. It is for getting movies onto your computer in a usable form.

If you are so certain that libhb is the best way to make an audio transcoder, then build an audio transcoder around the library instead of browbeating us to do it for you and mandating how HandBrake "should be" engineered when you have never contributed a single thing to the project.

[hawkman]

rattler14: It has been covered before, and as mentioned the biggest problem is none of the busy developers need it. I think that I'm also right in saying HB is based around video in its core, and fits the audio in with that - rather than the other way around. So there are more plumbing problems than there might first appear.

HB can do mp3 encoding for some containers, so perhaps you could use that to your advantage somehow?

[rattler14]

Good news everyone, I found a reasonably easy open source alternative. It actually wasn't that easy to find initially, but whatever.

http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/09/09/ho ... sing-os-x/

It's a combination of mac-the-ripper and ffmpegX and works brilliantly for a quick AC3 extraction to mp3 in two very quick steps.

windows users already have a ton of commercial options, so you'll have to go digging yourself. A list can be found here.
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Best ... d_rip.html

So while it would be cool in handbrake, this solution is just as easy and keeps handbrake confined to what it does best.

Cheers

-rattler14

[hawkman]

Thanks for doing the legwork on this rattler14. I'll keep that link handy for next time this comes up (grumble grumble)