Splasm Software Discussions

Hello,

I bought ABB yesterday and like it really.
I succesfully created some audobooks from mp3 files without any problems.
Now I tried to create an audiobook from m4a files (24 files with 65MB in size total; 128kbit, stereo) -- doing this results in an audiobook of 850MB in size! (normal preset)

This I don't understand at all. Is there a bug (known or unknown)?

Best regards
Juergen

Juergen:

The size of Audiobook Builder's output should by almost completely related to the sum of the length of the input files multiplied by the data rate selected as each Project is created. 128Kbps audio should result in approximately one megabyte per minute. 64Kbps audio should result in approximately half a megabyte per minute. Cover and Chapter artwork will usually add very little to the average.

There's one exception to this. Each of Audiobook Builder's presets enables "pass through", which means if the input files are all M4A, and the audio configuration of every file matches, then Audiobook Builder will simply join the files together instead of recompressing them using the preset's other options.

We haven't received any reports of abnormally large output before now. It would be ideal if we could get the Audiobook Builder Project here so we can duplicate the issue. Can you send it to us? You can send it through a service like http://www.yousendit.com (address it to support@splasm.com) or directly to us via iChat or AIM. If you need to send it directly please send us your iChat/AIM screen name at support@splasm.com and we will contact you soon.

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

Hello,

thanks for your quick reply.

I created a test project of 8MB to save some space and made an upload to yousendit.com.

This test project created an audiobook of 199MB in size on my mac.

kind regards
Juergen

Thanks for the test Project, Juergen. That helped us pinpoint the cause of the issue.

It turns out we have seen this issue before, corrected it in a pre-release build of Audiobook Builder 1.0.5, then dropped the ball and didn't release the fix as planned. We associated the fix we implemented with another symptom - no Chapters in the final output - which also occurs with your test Project. The trigger is the inclusion of ODSM and/or SDSM tracks from the original input files in the final output file(s), which Audiobook Builder is not prepared for when it assembles the audio, text, artwork and metadata at the end of the build process. ODSM and SDSM are usually associated with MPEG-4 video and Audiobook Builder's audio export disregards them anyway. Our fix is to disable all non-audio tracks before we export to AAC.

We tested your Project in Audiobook Builder 1.0.4 on three separate Macs and watched it produce the abnormally large output you see there. We then switched over to 1.0.5 and confirmed it works as expected. We are now pushing to get Audiobook Builder 1.0.5 out the door this afternoon so keep an eye out for it.

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

Hi,

thats' real good news!


So waiting for the update ....

Many thanks
Juergen

Audiobook Builder 1.0.5 is now available at http://www.splasm.com/audiobookbuilder/downloads.html . Please let us know how things work out, Juergen!

_________________
Keith Gugliotto
Primordial Sea Captain
Splasm Software
https://www.splasm.com

Hi Keith,

downloaded, did a test with the files I had problems with, and: DONE -- problem solved!

I must say: great job! It was really a big surprise for me to get the issue solved so fast. Congratulations!

Thanks again and best regards
Juergen