EncodingConverter is a helpful Amarok script that converts MP3 ID3v1 tags containing non-latin1 data into unicode with ID3v2 in a simple and easy way.
EncodingConverter is a software designed as an Amarok script that provides the ability to convert MP3 ID3v1 tags with non-latin1 data to unicode with ID3v2. However, it's important to note that this script is currently in an alpha status which means that changes to ID3 tag information could potentially occur. Therefore, it's recommended that users make a backup of relevant files prior to using the software.
While the software only supports a limited number of languages, it's possible to easily add more languages to it. Users can submit encodings along with their general language or language family name (e.g. ISO 8859-1 = west european) to the author to request additional languages. It's important to note that Textcat must be installed for certain languages to be supported.
ID3v1 doesn't specify the encoding used for meta data. Many people assume that only latin1 (ISO 8859-1) should be specified, but as many music files are tagged in the encoding used locally, music players may read ID3v1 meta data as being in latin1 or in a previously specified encoding set for all system wide files. This can result in different encodings being mixed together when playing music files from various sources which makes it impossible to use a default encoding for all files.
To resolve this issue, ID3v2 allows for Unicode. EncodingConverter provides users with a solution to select a supported encoding and even guess the encoding that would be the best match. To use the software, right-click on the file and choose "EncodingConverter" and "Convert to Unicode". This will open a window that shows all relevant tag fields along with an encoding chooser. Users can tick the checkboxes to choose which fields should be converted. By default, all fields will be converted when the user clicks the "Ok" button.
To use EncodingConverter, users need to have PyKDE, PyQt, and Amarok installed on their system. The latest update includes a new version of ngram.py which includes language/encoding pairs even if Textcat is not available. Additionally, the software's documentation has been updated.
While the software only supports a limited number of languages, it's possible to easily add more languages to it. Users can submit encodings along with their general language or language family name (e.g. ISO 8859-1 = west european) to the author to request additional languages. It's important to note that Textcat must be installed for certain languages to be supported.
ID3v1 doesn't specify the encoding used for meta data. Many people assume that only latin1 (ISO 8859-1) should be specified, but as many music files are tagged in the encoding used locally, music players may read ID3v1 meta data as being in latin1 or in a previously specified encoding set for all system wide files. This can result in different encodings being mixed together when playing music files from various sources which makes it impossible to use a default encoding for all files.
To resolve this issue, ID3v2 allows for Unicode. EncodingConverter provides users with a solution to select a supported encoding and even guess the encoding that would be the best match. To use the software, right-click on the file and choose "EncodingConverter" and "Convert to Unicode". This will open a window that shows all relevant tag fields along with an encoding chooser. Users can tick the checkboxes to choose which fields should be converted. By default, all fields will be converted when the user clicks the "Ok" button.
To use EncodingConverter, users need to have PyKDE, PyQt, and Amarok installed on their system. The latest update includes a new version of ngram.py which includes language/encoding pairs even if Textcat is not available. Additionally, the software's documentation has been updated.
What's New
Version 0.2: N/A