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Re: Cataloging Sounds

Subject: Re: Cataloging Sounds
From: "martin pinsonault" martypinso
Date: Fri Nov 5, 2010 8:41 am ((PDT))
Hi,

Very interesting stuff.  Thanks for sharing.  I have been digging down my sound 
library in the last few months, working with metadatas.  A lot of websurfing 
and 
programs experimentation and I am still figuring out the easiest way to go.  
Here are few discoveries and impressions I have done so far.  


As Rob mentionned,  Tim Prebble sorted out the entire program list in the 
previous email, another one of interest is:
http://www.musicofsound.co.nz/blog/you-and-your-metadata

Soundminer V4 Pro is very interesting.  The more I learn the tricks to play 
with 
batch Metadata, the more I see it being flexible, but it does not do 
everything.  It can be quite dangerous if you hit the wrong keystroke.  
Filename 
corruption problem.  It can be fix on the Finder.  There are many ways to do 
the 
metadata changes in SM.   There are few tricks I got doing it.  Search engine 
is 
very good, fast. 


When you start describing a sound with words, beside writing it or pasting it 
from an other, you could have a predefined list of choices of categories, 
seasons, species, descriptions, perspective, emotions, particularities, sound 
properties that we could use in the futur searches.  I recently started to list 
down all the words we commonly use in sound Description, I already have 600.  I 
will eventually end up with a  definition and a translation.  Some sort of 
automatic category build with keywords. I read few studies very interesting 
about that (look at links at the bottom)   The use of synonyms and other search 
criterias help drastically when it's time to find the right sound fast.  This 
could theorically be done exporting the text file and do it outside the SM box 
but how?  Many new experiments ahead...

On the soundminer site, they strongly suggest to get a text editor,  Text 
Wrangler  I understand why, SM only accepts a specific TXT.  Wave Agent is 
doing 
what it is suppose to, play but you don't have access to the Description Field. 
 
You can use the Notes field (here) and then copy it to Description in SM,  
another turnaround.  I discovered RNAME. for batch renaming.  Simple.  I also 
needed some kind of Interleaver  because if the soundfiles are Multiple Mono 
Files without the .L .R setting, SM does not recognise them as being a stereo 
file.  In SM, You have to write every soundfile with the .L .R, it can become 
long.  Once recognise as a stereo or multiple track sound, SM can easily 
Interleave in batch.  I am still looking for something to batch link the files 
together without going through that process.  As an alternative to SM I tried 
BWF MetaEdit, free and MAC and PC.  It is working but has few bugs, nothing 
automatic, nothing batch, no player but a plain editable list, simple.  A 
combination of Wave Agent and BWF MetaEdit is the cheapest way to go.  There is 
AudioFinder, Snapper 2, they need OS 10.5 and up, I am still 10.4, grrrr.  I 
did 
not try those.

You will see that it's a lot of learning and time to properly catalog your 
sound 
library  but it will eventualy payback every dime and more when you will search 
for something and find it in seconds.  You take time now that will save you 
time 
everyday after.  


Martin Pinsonnault



other links of interest:

Dictionnary:
http://www.onelook.com/?w=roar&ls=a

Tips and Tricks Soundminer V4Pro:
http://www.soundminer.com/assets/v4pro_MetadataTips.mov

Words and Sounds research Taxonomy of Sounds:
http://www.hindawi.com/journals/asmp/2010/654914.html#B13
https://springerlink3.metapress.com/content/k808q52528254084/resource-secured/?target=fulltext.pdf&sid=s4osilnkwnh2faf1yfgnw52u&sh=www.springerlink.com>


The subject of Taxonomy of sounds is an interesting subject to explore.









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