iTunes playlist -> Control4 playlist converter

[sdigrego]

I have used the converter and it works great, thanks for your time to make this available.

I am having an issue importing playlists to C4 HE 1.7.3.68 and wonder if anyone has insight or similar experiences. When I import an XML playlist several things happen; the playlist imports properly, but all my other playlists are deleted at the same time, and, i end of with a list of albums that do not have songs listed in them, I have to rescan to get them back. I have tried several times and every time I import, the previous lists are gone and I lose some of my library. Anyone ideas what might cause this?

Thanks.

[tiba21]

I have used the converter and it works great, thanks for your time to make this available.

I am having an issue importing playlists to C4 HE 1.7.3.68 and wonder if anyone has insight or similar experiences. When I import an XML playlist several things happen; the playlist imports properly, but all my other playlists are deleted at the same time, and, i end of with a list of albums that do not have songs listed in them, I have to rescan to get them back. I have tried several times and every time I import, the previous lists are gone and I lose some of my library. Anyone ideas what might cause this?

Thanks.

sdigrego, I'm glad it was useful and thanks for the feedback!!

I was also confused by how my C4 Composer handled the importing of playlists. But, after working on the converter and using Composer repeatedly, I noticed the wording in Composer. I don't have it in front of me, but the option says, "Import Playlists" (plural is key). That directed me to change the way the converter was originally designed (converts 1 playlist at a time) and make it process multiple playlists at once (combining them in a single file containing all of your playlists).

Now that I think about it, this may be enough of an issue to allow a place in the converter to provide the "exported" playlists along with the other files (to preserve original playlists when converting/adding new ones).

Sorry for the ramble, but short answer is, this is how the C4 tool is intended to work (for better or worse). You may want to export your playlists before you import, just to serve as a backup in case things go wrong.

[sdigrego]

Thanks for the response, it turns out it was exactly as you indicated (of course). Thanks again.

[myopic]

1st off, great tool. It looks like you accept only up to 3 playlists on your website. That is kinda limiting, but then I noticed that you can combine resulting xml files, by just copy/pasting in Notepad the playlist encapsulated in the <album></album> tags over to the xml file you plan on importing.

[tiba21]

1st off, great tool. It looks like you accept only up to 3 playlists on your website. That is kinda limiting, but then I noticed that you can combine resulting xml files, by just copy/pasting in Notepad the playlist encapsulated in the <album></album> tags over to the xml file you plan on importing.

True. I plan to modify the tool so you can add as many playlists as you want. But, like you said, you can manually do this too. The only thing is...you have to be comfortable with XML syntax. Great observation and thanks for the compliment...

Atiba

[strange_brew]

Just found this little gem. First of all, thanks for your efforts. Wondering if you've tested under 2.0? I'm getting a "likely not valid .xml" error when I try to import the file that your app outputs. Any ideas?

[tiba21]

Just found this little gem. First of all, thanks for your efforts. Wondering if you've tested under 2.0? I'm getting a "likely not valid .xml" error when I try to import the file that your app outputs. Any ideas?

Well, I haven't upgraded/tested on 2.0 yet. So, I can't say for certain if C4 has changed their playlists' XML schema/format. I will be upgrading soon though...

If you were to create a playlist with a couple of songs and export the playlists to a XML file and send that file to me, I could tell if that's the issue and/or modify my converter to support 1.x and 2.0.

[strange_brew]

Just found this little gem. First of all' date=' thanks for your efforts. Wondering if you've tested under 2.0? I'm getting a "likely not valid .xml" error when I try to import the file that your app outputs. Any ideas?[/quote']

Well, I haven't upgraded/tested on 2.0 yet. So, I can't say for certain if C4 has changed their playlists' XML schema/format. I will be upgrading soon though...

If you were to create a playlist with a couple of songs and export the playlists to a XML file and send that file to me, I could tell if that's the issue and/or modify my converter to support 1.x and 2.0.

Thanks for the quick response. Here is the sample XML playlist from 2.0

[tiba21]

Thanks for that! Yeah, the format is a little different. Shouldn't be too much trouble making the converter 1.x and 2.0 compliant. Now, I just have to find the time/energy/desire to make the changes. I would be motivated if I upgraded to 2.0....oh well... one day....

[strange_brew]

Thanks for that! Yeah, the format is a little different. Shouldn't be too much trouble making the converter 1.x and 2.0 compliant. Now, I just have to find the time/energy/desire to make the changes. I would be motivated if I upgraded to 2.0....oh well... one day....

Pretty please?...with a giant load of cherries on top!

[tiba21]

OK. I guess the warm feeling of being needed/wanted motivated me to begin working on it today. Just go to my site http://www.contrivdesign.net, under SERVICES->TOOLS. The only catch is, you have to register and be logged in to get access to this tool. I want to be able to track the people using the tool for a variety of reasons (i.e. to be able to provide updates, etc).

Also, keep in mind, since I have not upgraded to 2.0, I don't have the ability to test if this works. So, this is a work in progress. Before you import these playlists into Composer, make sure you backup your current playlists (because it may throw an error and you'll lose the playlists that were originally there and worked).

This "2.0 BETA" version of the Converter adds the following features:

1. Able to select and upload up to 10 iTunes playlists (up from max of 3 in 1.0 of Converter).

2. Support for Control4 1.x and 2.0 versions, since the playlist's XML schema is different between the 2 versions.

With that said, let me know if it works or if you have any problems....

Atiba

[strange_brew]

OK. I guess the warm feeling of being needed/wanted motivated me to begin working on it today. Just go to my site http://www.contrivdesign.net, under SERVICES->TOOLS. The only catch is, you have to register and be logged in to get access to this tool. I want to be able to track the people using the tool for a variety of reasons (i.e. to be able to provide updates, etc).

Also, keep in mind, since I have not upgraded to 2.0, I don't have the ability to test if this works. So, this is a work in progress. Before you import these playlists into Composer, make sure you backup your current playlists (because it may throw an error and you'll lose the playlists that were originally there and worked).

This "2.0 BETA" version of the Converter adds the following features:

1. Able to select and upload up to 10 iTunes playlists (up from max of 3 in 1.0 of Converter).

2. Support for Control4 1.x and 2.0 versions, since the playlist's XML schema is different between the 2 versions.

With that said, let me know if it works or if you have any problems....

Atiba

Thanks Atiba!! I registered and gave it a try. Probably not what you want to hear, but still not there unfortunately. A couple of things going on - when I import my Media list, it only shows 496 songs (there are close 12,000) and when I try to import the XML, I'm still getting the "...not a valid media list. Likely not valid XML" error.

Wish I could report better news. More than willing to pay if we can get this working nicely!

Craig

EDIT: Atiba, do the C4 and iTunes media libraries have to be common? Just wondering if that might be the issue - mine are not (iTunes is on a desktop which replicates to my HC1000 HDD which is where C4 pulls the music from)

[tiba21]

Yeah, that's actually what I expected. After announcing that the tool was available, I realized I should have tested it more. I never been big on testing... With that said, I'll need to use you as a guinea pig so that I can get everything working properly. I would be eager to upgrade, but after talking to a friend last night...it still has a lot of problems. But, I'll make some changes and let you know when I need you to give it another try.

If you can, can you email me your media list XML? Because that schema could have changed with 2.0 as well. Which may be why it's not showing the right number of songs in your media list.

Regarding your question, I don't think the iTunes and C4 library have to be shared. I personally have mine shared (MP3s on shared NAS drive). But, as long as the same songs exist on your desktop and C4 hard drive, you should be good.

[strange_brew]

Yeah, that's actually what I expected. After announcing that the tool was available, I realized I should have tested it more. I never been big on testing... With that said, I'll need to use you as a guinea pig so that I can get everything working properly. I would be eager to upgrade, but after talking to a friend last night...it still has a lot of problems. But, I'll make some changes and let you know when I need you to give it another try.

If you can, can you email me your media list XML? Because that schema could have changed with 2.0 as well. Which may be why it's not showing the right number of songs in your media list.

Regarding your question, I don't think the iTunes and C4 library have to be shared. I personally have mine shared (MP3s on shared NAS drive). But, as long as the same songs exist on your desktop and C4 hard drive, you should be good.

You can definitely use me as a Guinea Pig!

Here's the link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7206893/c4media.xml

Appreciate you helping with this (really think you should put this in the App store btw...)

Craig.

[tiba21]

You can definitely use me as a Guinea Pig!

Here's the link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7206893/c4media.xml

Appreciate you helping with this (really think you should put this in the App store btw...)

Craig.

Cool, thank you. Great minds think alike!!! LOL.

I'm actually going through the documentation and tutorials NOW to learn how I can make this into an app! I'm actually off of work for the next 2 weeks, so I'll likely use that time to get this tool tweaked and/or get my first C4Store app created/started.

Exciting times...I'll be in touch...

[strange_brew]

You can definitely use me as a Guinea Pig!

Here's the link: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7206893/c4media.xml

Appreciate you helping with this (really think you should put this in the App store btw...)

Craig.

Cool' date=' thank you. Great minds think alike!!! LOL.

I'm actually going through the documentation and tutorials NOW to learn how I can make this into an app! I'm actually off of work for the next 2 weeks, so I'll likely use that time to get this tool tweaked and/or get my first C4Store app created/started.

Exciting times...I'll be in touch...[/quote']

Awesome! I think it would be a hugely popular app. Media/playlist management is just such a mess in C4 - need a simple app to let people use iTunes to manage playlists and I think it would go over really well. You have at least 1 customer for sure!

[soundinmotion]

Hiya, yes I'd love to know more about your convertor.

many thanks

[tiba21]

UPDATE: I have modified the 2.0 version of the converter. You have to register to access it as I'm contemplating how long I'll leave this open for public access. The 2.0 version of the Converter supports Control4 1.x and 2.0 and allows you to upload up to 10 iTunes playlists.

Let me know if you have any problems...

Atiba

[dbuono]

I am interested in trying the converter, but have a quick question on how it would work with my system/setup. I have my iTunes media (mp3s and mp4s) on a Buffalo NAS drive. I have scanned that drive from C4 so the media has been identified. Now, if Ii use the playlist converter, does it readd all the songs to the C4 library or does it simply get the new C4 playlist to identify where all the songs are on the network drive? What I am trying to avoid is having duplicate songs if Ii use the playlist converter.

Thank you.

[tiba21]

I am interested in trying the converter, but have a quick question on how it would work with my system/setup. I have my iTunes media (mp3s and mp4s) on a Buffalo NAS drive. I have scanned that drive from C4 so the media has been identified. Now, if Ii use the playlist converter, does it readd all the songs to the C4 library or does it simply get the new C4 playlist to identify where all the songs are on the network drive? What I am trying to avoid is having duplicate songs if Ii use the playlist converter.

Thank you.

Yes, to question number 2. The converter just generates a C4 compatible playlist file that contains all of your iTunes playlist(s). This C4-compatible playlist just points C4 to where your media is on the NAS drive. So, no need to worry about duplication, it's just a reference to existing media (not actually adding media to your C4 or iTunes library).

Let me know if you run into any problems...

[jgavin]

heck yeah, as we say in UT, i'd like to test it.

[ILoveC4]

heck yeah, as we say in UT, i'd like to test it.

Always nice to see a fellow Utahn on the forums...

[jayace]

Hasn't been alot of activity on this thread lately but here goes. I'm getting the same problem with not all the songs in my database being recognized once I upload the list. Only shows a few hundred but I have over 6000 scanned in. Any ideas?

[tiba21]

Hasn't been alot of activity on this thread lately but here goes. I'm getting the same problem with not all the songs in my database being recognized once I upload the list. Only shows a few hundred but I have over 6000 scanned in. Any ideas?

Hmmm....

Well, are you using the new version of the converter (the one that supports both 1.x and 2.0)? I should probably get rid of the original one to eliminate confusion. But, I made some "enhancements" with the new version of the converter that should have helped this issue. My code to match the data must be off. But, it should be better than a few hundred out of 6000!

Let me know what version of the tool you're using and I'll take a look. I may need to enhance the debugging to help trace this problem down once and for all.

[Letran]

How do i get a copy?