Is there a program for OS X 10.4 that will automatically create a chaptered playlist/m3u file for a large mp3?

April 17, 2010 7:22 PM

Is there a program for OS X 10.4 that will automatically create a chaptered playlist/m3u file for a large mp3, or slice the mp3 into chunks?

I have an mp3 player which has an extremely weak fast-forward/rewind function. As in, barely faster than listening in real-time. The mp3 player also doesn't, regrettably, allow seeking by entering a running time position.

I like using my mp3 player to listen to audiobooks. Some of my audiobooks are hour-long (or longer) single mp3 files. This makes it extremely unpleasant to try and locate where I was if I press the wrong thing and lose my place in that file.

Is there an application (preferably for OS X Tiger) that would automatically create a playlist file (.m3u) for an mp3 based on time intervals? Like, "cut" the file into 5 minute chunks or something?

Alternatively, I'd be okay with an app that automatically literally did cut the mp3 into five-minute chunks, too.

This would be a big help. Thank you.

posted by Unhyper to computers & internet (4 answers total)

mp3split will do everything you want, and more. Split based on CDDB, cue files, auto-split on silence, the works. (It's not a native Aqua application, but hopefully that won't matter too much.)
posted by buxtonbluecat at 7:54 PM on April 17, 2010

Thanks for that link, buxtonbluecat, but...how do I install it?
posted by Unhyper at 10:30 PM on April 17, 2010

If you're a one-click sort of person, this might seem a bit intimidating, but honestly, it's not that bad.

1. For the clicky-mousy version, you'll need X11; it's part of 10.4 but is not installed by default, so if it's not in your applications folder, you'll need your install disk and double click the "Optional Installs" .mpkg

2. Install macports - package for 10.4 is here.

3. Next, in a terminal window, type:

sudo port install mp3splt

You'll have to wait quite a while but then you'll be able to use the command line version.

man mp3splt

will tell you all you need to know.

4. If you want clicky-mousy, type:

sudo port install mp3splt-gtk

and wait some more - it could be quite a long time, depending on your machine.

5. From a command line,

mp3splt-gtk

should fire up the GUI.You may need to start X11 first, 10.4 may not do that for you since it's pre-launchd.

Have fun.
posted by buxtonbluecat at 8:51 AM on April 18, 2010

Oh, and post here or memail me if you get bogged down.
posted by buxtonbluecat at 8:51 AM on April 18, 2010