M4P encoding for dummies (links and howto) for W2K/XP

*** MP4 encoding dummies (W2k/XP) ***

Created 5/21/03

I was tired of all the talk about being *able* to encode to MP4 but not 
having any
real world examples (or having to compile source code to get the damn thing 
working).

Below is a simple step by step process for encoding a WAV file into M4P 
which will
play on your iPod...and it's free!!!! - Screw Ahead software (Nero) for 
charging for
a plugin that is worse quality than what is available for free >:(

----------------
: Installation :
----------------

1. Download the FAAC encoder (there's a gui but it won't "batch" operate on 
a
   directory):

	http://pessoal.onda.com.br/rjamorim/faac.zip

2. Download the MP4 creator (it wraps the AAC files into mp4 files):

	http://rarewares.hydrogenaudio.org/files/mp4creator60.EP.zip

3. Download libmmd.dll (required for the FAAC encoder):

	http://rarewares.hydrogenaudio.org/files/libmmd7.zip

4. Unzip all files to a directory of your choice (for example, unzip them to 
C:\FAAC).

------------------------------
: Ripping/Encoding procedure :
------------------------------

1. Extract a CD into WAV format using your favorite CDRipper (EAC is a good 
choice).
   Point to a directory that will be easy to remember and easy to type ;-)
   Example:   C:\CDRIP.

2. Open a command prompt or type "CMD.EXE" into the start/run dialog.

3. Change to the directory where you extracted the 
FAAC/MP4CREATOR/LIBMMD.DLL files:

	cd \faac

4. Type the following (exactly!) to encode every wav file as an aac file in 
c:\cdrip
   using this command:

	for %x in (c:\cdrip\*.wav) do faac -m 4 -o lc -c 19000 "%~fx" "%~dpnx.aac"

   Two notes about above command line parameters for FAAC:

   a) "-c 19000" is the hi-pass filter selection - the default is 16000Hz 
which would
      cut out too many highs in my opinion. I raised to 19000 to mimic 
LAME's (high
      quality) filter which seems OK.

   b) in FAAC there is no bitrate "value" anymore - it's done as a 
percentage of
      quality 0-100% - default is 100%.  Files are pretty damn small even at
      100% :) The value can be adjusted using -q (n) where (n) is a value 
upto 100.
      Try experimenting if you like.

5. After each file has been encoded to AAC, you need to "wrap" them as MP4s 
and
   rename to M4P...type the following to do it in one shot:

	for %x in (c:\cdrip\*.aac) do mp4creator60 -create="%~fx" -optimize 
"%~dpnx.m4p"

6. Clean up the stuff you don't want using:

  	del c:\cdrip\*.wav
  	del c:\cdrip\*.aac

7. Lauch ephpod (2.70a or above) and add the M4P files from the c:\cdrip
   directory...you now have AAC files on your iPod 8-)

7. Use the ephpod to tag each file in the iTunes database on the iPod.

8. ENJOY AAC!!!!

BTW - you can combine all the commands above into a batch file and use a 
variable for the "wav file directory" like this:

-----BEGIN M4P.BAT-----
@echo off
if not exist %1\*.wav echo bad directory or no .wav files to encode!
if exist %1\*.wav (
   pushd c:\faac
   for %%x in (%1\*.wav) do faac -m 4 -o lc -c 19000 "%%~fx" "%%~dpnx.aac"
   for %%x in (%1\*.aac) do MP4CREATOR60 -create="%%~fx" -optimize 
"%%~dpnx.m4p"
   del %1\*.wav
   del %1\*.aac
   popd
)
----END M4P.BAT-----

Use the batch file thusly:

M4P.BAT C:\WAVENCODE

If you directory name has spaces in it, enclose it in quotation marks (") 
like this:

M4P.BAT "C:\My Waves"

Happy Encoding!!!!!!!

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