iTune files

[Matthew Flaschen]

Chris wrote:
> Matthew Flaschen wrote:
>> Chris wrote:
>>> Matthew Flaschen wrote:
>>>>> I use Amarok also. Yes, I can play the m4a (for those that don't know -
>>>>> m4a are the file you you add to iTunes via some other process - IE: rip
>>>>> from CD. Whereas the m4p are the AAC files you purchase from iTunes).
>>>> You can probably convert them to ogg using the program ffmpeg2theora (it
>>>> also converts to vorbis); you can install it from the repositories.  Try
>>>> a command like:
>>>>
>>>> find ~/MyMusic -name "*.mp4" -execdir ffmpeg2theora "{}" ";"
>>>>
>>>> Matt Flaschen
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Isn't the above for video only? As I mentioned, the purchased music from
>>> iTunes is m4p (ACC). From listing the help of the above file, I'm lead
>>> to think this app won't do what I would like it to do.
>> I'm positive ffmpeg2theora can convert audio to vorbis alone; it's just
>> misnamed. :)  Quoting from the man page, "ffmpeg2theora is a program
>> that converts any media file that ffmpeg can decode to Ogg Theora for
>> video and Ogg Vorbis for audio."  I just checked by encoding an MP3, but
>> it should work for MP4/AAC too, since that's supported by ffmpeg.
>>
>> By the way, I'm very impressed by ffmpeg in general.  It deserves more
>> credit in general.
>>
>> Matt Flaschen
>>
> 
> Aha - I see that. I tried to use this app however, it could not do what
> I wanted it to. The thing is, iTunes has 3 file formats.
> 
> m4a - files you rip from a CD and have converted to ACC (these are
> unprotected, not iTune purchased music files.

Right.  This is the only one ffmpeg2theora can handle.  It's going to be
harder (and illegal in the U.S.) to convert DRM-protected files.  See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairPlay and particularly
http://hymn-project.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1553 .

Of course, there's also the slow but (more?) legal method of using
iTunes to burn the songs to audio CD, then ripping them with anything.

Matthew Flaschen