CTR_Paul
Established Member
I like many PS3 owners I have a fairly extensive CD & MP3 collection, which I'd love to be able to put onto my PS3 to play thanks to it's nippy booting up times and the fact my g/f can use it with ease.
I'm sure a fair few of you will have being disappointed by the lack of PS3 support for M3U playlists and Album art on any external USB HDD you're using.
After some research and a little trial and error I've established a way to do the following:
- Order MP3's the way you want them ordered (in the order they are on an album!)
- Add Album art to tracks that reside on a USB HDD.
Ordering MP3's on your PS3:
The PS3 basically orders music by folder name, then by the title of the track. Ordering by folder name initially isn't an issue, it's quite nice to have it all in alphabetical order, ordering by track name though is a nightmare.
To get round this problem I've adjusted my MP3 collection that sits on my USB HDD to include the track number before the track title, so for example;
Wish You Were Here.Mp3
changes to
01 Wish You Were Here.Mp3
Simple enough, but how can you do that for 12,000 MP3 files? The answer I found is called MP3Tag, a free program that allows you to make bulk changes, with some very nifty features: http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ You'll need to download it for what follows:
Step 1:
Within MP3Tag load in the MP3 files you wish to amend for your PS3 (note I advise that you keep a backup copy of your MP3 files, as making an error when learning how to use MP3Tag is to be expected!) by going to File > Change Directory, select the portable media your using be it a Memory Stick or USB HDD that you have plugged into your PC.
Step 2:
Ok, hopefully you'll now see all your MP3 files listed. This is where the changes are made to your MP3s. Make sure you're ordering your list of MP3's by filename, as these will almost certainly already be in the correct order down the page (If they're not in order you'll need to sort that prior to continuing with this).
Step 3:
Highlight all the MP3 files for that album (they go grey when highlighted), then go to Tools>Auto numbering Wizard. Make sure the bottom two options of this box are ticked, they should read "Leading Zeros..." and "Reset Counter..." and make sure the initial tick box is unticked. You also want "Begin at Tracknumber" to be 1. Once you've done that click on OK. A message will come up telling you a number of tags have being amended. You'll note that the not much seems to have changed, but when you scroll to the right of the page the track number should start with 01 and end after however many tracks. Why do you have to do this? Well a PS3 orders like a PS3 so it would order the following files like so:
1.mp3
10.mp3
11.mp3
2.mp3
3.mp3
4.mp3
5.mp3 etc.
By adding in that initial 0 to all tracks we get rid of this issue as it will happily order 01.mp3 followed by 02.mp3.
Step 4:
Ok that was all pretty easy right? Now on to something a little more tricky! We're going to make an Action in MP3Tag. For those who use Word/Excel/Access etc read Action as Macro, to me they appear to be much of a muchness.
Click on the Convert drop down and select "Actions".
Step 5:
On the right hand side of the box that has opened click on the "new" button which is signified by a star.
Step 6:
In the box that appears select a name for your action, I called mine 'PS3 Title Edit' but you can call it whatever you feel like. Now Click on Ok.
Step 6:
Another damn box I bet your thinking! In this box (titled actions still!) Select the Star icon again on the right hand side. A box called "Select Action Type" appears. Select "Format Value" from the drop down list and click OK.
Step 7:
Click on the drop list under "Field" and select TITLE.
Step 8:
In the box called format string type the following:
%track% - %title%
This will give you Track titles like so: "01 - Song Title"
Click OK and you'll return to the initial Actions menu, your new Action will have a tick next to it.
Step 9:
Now to test it works, Click on the OK button and the files you had highlighted should change to read "01 - Song Title" "02 - Song Title" etc.
Step 10:
If you are feeling brave it's possible to use this method to alter huge amounts of MP3's in two clicks of a button, JUST SO LONG AS THEY ARE ALREADY IN ORDER, if they're not... the Undo button will help you.
I was pretty careful (only doing 5 or 6 albums at once) about it when I did it so changing half of my MP3's took under 10 mins.
Add Album Art - Simple Way:
To do this I embedded the album art into the MP3 files, this means that all my covers show up on my USB drive, happy days! Here's how I did it (note I'll presume you've read the above first, although you don't need to really!):
Step 1:
Open MP3 Tag.
Step 2:
Select the files you wish to add album art for
Step 3:
On the toolbar at the top look for "Extend Tags" which is next to the "Actions" quick link. Click on it.
Step 4:
On the right hand side of the screen you'll see that little Star again next to an area called "Cover" click on it and you can browse for the album art you want to associate with those tracks.
Step 5:
Click Ok and the album art is written into the MP3 tags, so your PS3 will pick it up.
Add Album Art Trick Way, but better if you don't have the image:
Step 1:
Open MP3 Tag and make sure your MP3 files are ordered by filename, and more importantly that the ordering by filename is correct! Most 'downloads' come with the file names ordered correctly, so hopefully this won't be an issue for many people.
Step 2:
Highlight the files and click on the little Globe icon, this opens a series of new menus that enable you to update your albums Tag information, including that of an image, if you click on Save when prompted! You can select from four sources for your Tag information, Amazon.com and Amazon.de both appear pretty decent and picked out some fairly odd stuff I have on my PS3.
Step 3:
Use the Auto Number Feature to write tags with 01,02 etc as the downloaded Tags don't use the inital zeros.
Step 4:
Run your Action to name the tracks correctly, as detailed extensively above.
It's quite a long job initially, but... Once your MP3 collection is ordered like that you'll be able add a new album or two in the same format within seconds thanks to the Action functions.
Can't beat having pukka album art !
HTH
Paul
I'm sure a fair few of you will have being disappointed by the lack of PS3 support for M3U playlists and Album art on any external USB HDD you're using.
After some research and a little trial and error I've established a way to do the following:
- Order MP3's the way you want them ordered (in the order they are on an album!)
- Add Album art to tracks that reside on a USB HDD.
Ordering MP3's on your PS3:
The PS3 basically orders music by folder name, then by the title of the track. Ordering by folder name initially isn't an issue, it's quite nice to have it all in alphabetical order, ordering by track name though is a nightmare.
To get round this problem I've adjusted my MP3 collection that sits on my USB HDD to include the track number before the track title, so for example;
Wish You Were Here.Mp3
changes to
01 Wish You Were Here.Mp3
Simple enough, but how can you do that for 12,000 MP3 files? The answer I found is called MP3Tag, a free program that allows you to make bulk changes, with some very nifty features: http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ You'll need to download it for what follows:
Step 1:
Within MP3Tag load in the MP3 files you wish to amend for your PS3 (note I advise that you keep a backup copy of your MP3 files, as making an error when learning how to use MP3Tag is to be expected!) by going to File > Change Directory, select the portable media your using be it a Memory Stick or USB HDD that you have plugged into your PC.
Step 2:
Ok, hopefully you'll now see all your MP3 files listed. This is where the changes are made to your MP3s. Make sure you're ordering your list of MP3's by filename, as these will almost certainly already be in the correct order down the page (If they're not in order you'll need to sort that prior to continuing with this).
Step 3:
Highlight all the MP3 files for that album (they go grey when highlighted), then go to Tools>Auto numbering Wizard. Make sure the bottom two options of this box are ticked, they should read "Leading Zeros..." and "Reset Counter..." and make sure the initial tick box is unticked. You also want "Begin at Tracknumber" to be 1. Once you've done that click on OK. A message will come up telling you a number of tags have being amended. You'll note that the not much seems to have changed, but when you scroll to the right of the page the track number should start with 01 and end after however many tracks. Why do you have to do this? Well a PS3 orders like a PS3 so it would order the following files like so:
1.mp3
10.mp3
11.mp3
2.mp3
3.mp3
4.mp3
5.mp3 etc.
By adding in that initial 0 to all tracks we get rid of this issue as it will happily order 01.mp3 followed by 02.mp3.
Step 4:
Ok that was all pretty easy right? Now on to something a little more tricky! We're going to make an Action in MP3Tag. For those who use Word/Excel/Access etc read Action as Macro, to me they appear to be much of a muchness.
Click on the Convert drop down and select "Actions".
Step 5:
On the right hand side of the box that has opened click on the "new" button which is signified by a star.
Step 6:
In the box that appears select a name for your action, I called mine 'PS3 Title Edit' but you can call it whatever you feel like. Now Click on Ok.
Step 6:
Another damn box I bet your thinking! In this box (titled actions still!) Select the Star icon again on the right hand side. A box called "Select Action Type" appears. Select "Format Value" from the drop down list and click OK.
Step 7:
Click on the drop list under "Field" and select TITLE.
Step 8:
In the box called format string type the following:
%track% - %title%
This will give you Track titles like so: "01 - Song Title"
Click OK and you'll return to the initial Actions menu, your new Action will have a tick next to it.
Step 9:
Now to test it works, Click on the OK button and the files you had highlighted should change to read "01 - Song Title" "02 - Song Title" etc.
Step 10:
If you are feeling brave it's possible to use this method to alter huge amounts of MP3's in two clicks of a button, JUST SO LONG AS THEY ARE ALREADY IN ORDER, if they're not... the Undo button will help you.
I was pretty careful (only doing 5 or 6 albums at once) about it when I did it so changing half of my MP3's took under 10 mins.
Add Album Art - Simple Way:
To do this I embedded the album art into the MP3 files, this means that all my covers show up on my USB drive, happy days! Here's how I did it (note I'll presume you've read the above first, although you don't need to really!):
Step 1:
Open MP3 Tag.
Step 2:
Select the files you wish to add album art for
Step 3:
On the toolbar at the top look for "Extend Tags" which is next to the "Actions" quick link. Click on it.
Step 4:
On the right hand side of the screen you'll see that little Star again next to an area called "Cover" click on it and you can browse for the album art you want to associate with those tracks.
Step 5:
Click Ok and the album art is written into the MP3 tags, so your PS3 will pick it up.
Add Album Art Trick Way, but better if you don't have the image:
Step 1:
Open MP3 Tag and make sure your MP3 files are ordered by filename, and more importantly that the ordering by filename is correct! Most 'downloads' come with the file names ordered correctly, so hopefully this won't be an issue for many people.
Step 2:
Highlight the files and click on the little Globe icon, this opens a series of new menus that enable you to update your albums Tag information, including that of an image, if you click on Save when prompted! You can select from four sources for your Tag information, Amazon.com and Amazon.de both appear pretty decent and picked out some fairly odd stuff I have on my PS3.
Step 3:
Use the Auto Number Feature to write tags with 01,02 etc as the downloaded Tags don't use the inital zeros.
Step 4:
Run your Action to name the tracks correctly, as detailed extensively above.
It's quite a long job initially, but... Once your MP3 collection is ordered like that you'll be able add a new album or two in the same format within seconds thanks to the Action functions.
Can't beat having pukka album art !
HTH
Paul