Extracting album art from mp3

[careca]

Hello, I'd like some help doing that, or discovering why the ID3_v3.4 udf doesn't detect album art on any of my mp3's.

What i got right now for test:

#include <ID3_v3.4.au3>
ReadID3v2APIC()
Func ReadID3v2APIC()
    $Read = _ID3ReadTag('Somefile.mp3', 3)
        MsgBox(64, '$Read', $Read)
    $Fields = _ID3v2Frame_GetFields("APIC", "APIC", 1)
    SplashImageOn("ALBUMART", @ScriptDir & '\AlbumArt.jpg', 300, 300)
    Sleep(2000)
EndFunc   ;==>ReadID3v2APIC

The message box shows what tags the file has, "APIC" is not among them, and that corresponds to the art.

Link to udf

>Link to the udf page

Best regards

[BrewManNH]

Use >BASS_Tag instead, it works for me.

[careca]

How do you go about retrieving the album art from bass? i could not get any info on that.

The example file on tags is empty :

[BrewManNH]

Sorry, I used a combination of BASS_TAGS and the ID3 UDF and I'm actually using ID3 UDF to get the album art.

_ID3ReadTag($Song)
; then I used something like this to extract the album art
If _ID3GetTagField("APIC") <> "" Then
    If _ID3GetTagField("APIC") <> "File Type Unknown" And StringRight(_ID3GetTagField("APIC"), 3) <> "png" Then
        GUICtrlSetImage($idAlbumArt, _ID3GetTagField("APIC"))
    EndIf
EndIf

I used something like that to get the album art.

[careca]

I see, does that still work for you?

[BrewManNH]

That's just a general idea of how to extract the art, it should work and it places the album art in the same folder as the MP3. I haven't played with that code in a while but it worked the last time I tried it.

[TheSaint]

In its simplest form, you should be able to get a result with

$mp3 = @ScriptDir & "\Song.mp3"
_ID3ReadTag($mp3)
$artfle = _ID3GetTagField("APIC")
MsgBox(0, "Artwork", $artfle)

If blank is returned, then either there is no embedded artwork, or another TAG field is causing a problem (carriage return, illegal character, etc).

Further suggestions at UDF topic.

Doing a save with MP3Tag should clear up any issues.

You may also want to use the option in MP3Tag to check on Extended Tags, as they could be interfering/conflict.

Edited July 17, 2014 by TheSaint

[careca]

@BrewManNH: Thanks, but the code doesn't work, here, could you please try it when you have some time?

Thanks for the sugestion TheSaint, to answer what you asked in the udf thread, media player show the art, other players do too.

Do you see anything wrong in the mp3tag screenshot?

Edited July 17, 2014 by careca

[TheSaint]

The only thing I see, that might be the issue, is that there appears to be two embedded images.

That means, there could be a separator involved (carriage return possibly).

I don't think the UDF caters for that.

It certainly hasn't for me in the past, where I've come across multiple years in the year field.

What did you get back when you ran my little script?

Edited July 17, 2014 by TheSaint

[BrewManNH]

Did you try the demo script in the ID3 UDF thread? I believe that shows the album art in the GUI.

[careca]

@TheSaint: Got an empty msgbox.

@BrewManNH: I did try the example, gives out blank album art.

Any ideas? I was thinking about writing something to every field to see if it makes any difference.

EDIT: Doesn't, could someone try and see if it works?

Edited July 18, 2014 by careca

[TheSaint]

As I suggested above, I expect it is because of two embedded images for the artwork.

The UDF would need to be able to cater for that, and I don't think it currently does.

You could extract and remove one of the images using MP3Tag, then check with my script again.

If it works, then you know for sure, that is the issue.

As for modifying the UDF to cater, perhaps a more savvy coder here could look into it, as I don't use multiple images myself, and it could be a while before I have a full and proper look at the current UDF version. From memory, it is all to do with how the data is stored and how it is retrieved ... not plain text obviously (binary conversion).

Edited July 18, 2014 by TheSaint

[careca]

Forgot to say i tried that too, removed one picture with mp3tag..still no dice.

[careca]

I successfully extracted a jpg from a mp3 with a hex editor, where is the image?

Between a sequence "41 50 49 43 00 00 30 1B 00 00 00 69 6D 61 67 65 2F 6A 70 65 67 00 03 00 FF D8 FF E0 00 10 4A 46 49 46 00 01 01 01 00"

and

"50 52 49 56 00 00 00 0E 00 00 50 65 61 6B 56 61 6C 75 65 00 FF 7F 00 00 50 52 49 56 00 00 00 11 00 00 41 76 65 72 61 67 65 4C 65 76 65 6C 00 10 21"

Copied the bytes between and saved as a jpg, and it became an image.

What would be the best way of "grabbing" these bytes with autoit?

EDIT: managed to get the bytes like this:

$File = FileOpen(@ScriptDir & '\08 - Cypress Hill.mp3', 16)
$Read = FileRead ($File)
MsgBox(64, 'Binary', $Read)

Edited July 18, 2014 by careca

[TheSaint]

The UDF should be getting those bytes, but is no doubt interpreting them wrong, and either a conversion doesn't occur or is just wrong compared to what is expected and coded for.

Did you try with both images, deleting either?

It is possible I guess, that removing one of them, might not change anything, as the way the other image is stored could be the problem.

If necessary, I'd remove them both with MP3Tag, and then replace one of them only, using MP3Tag.

I've discovered that some Media Players don't like Progressive Jpegs, but I don't know if that is applicable for MP3's or this issue as well? Only happened for me as folder artwork for movies, music etc ... not one embedded into a file.

Edited July 18, 2014 by TheSaint

[careca]

Yes i did, other images, sizes nothing worked.

I think im very close to be able to get the picture, but there is an issue when writing to file, the hex goes into the file as string..

#include <String.au3>
$File = FileOpen(@ScriptDir & '\08 - Cypress Hill.mp3', 16)
$Read = FileRead ($File)
$StartStr = StringInStr($Read, '415049430000301B000000696D6167652F6A706567000300')
MsgBox(64, '$StartStr', $StartStr)
$EndStr = StringInStr($Read, '505249560000000E00005065616B56616C756500FF7F000050524956000000110000417665726167654C6576656C001021')
MsgBox(64, '$EndStr', $EndStr)
$Mid = StringMid($Read, $StartStr+48, $EndStr-48)
$Mid1 = _StringToHex($Mid)
$Mid2 = _HexToString ($Mid)
FileWrite("pic.jpg", $Mid)

EDIT: Added Screenshot

See what i mean? file at the left is the original picture, extracted with mp3tag, at right the file extracted with the script.. the bytes are in the place of the strings..

How do you write a hexadecimal string to a file?

Edited July 18, 2014 by careca

[TheSaint]

I'm afraid I haven't bothered with hex much, so not my area of expertise.

Going by the other things you've tried, I can only conjecture (because artwork works for me and others), that something is wrong with the image or the mp3 or your copy of the UDF.

Have you tried inserting another image from elsewhere, just something like a simple 300 x 300 jpg?

From my memory of the UDF, it is doing Binary functions.

Have you tried following the code in the UDF to see what it does?

P.S. I'm still using my modified version of the original UDF.

P.S.S. You've got to the limit of where I can really help you at the moment, as I don't have a suitable editor or AutoIt install at hand, and troubleshooting  a UDF with Notepad is just awful. Unless the version of the UDF you are using is broken, then you should be getting something from at least one of the suggestions above. In all reality I was just passing by the Examples forum and saw your query in an old familiar topic, and thought it would be a simple fix. Not setup to do anything more at the moment, so my apologies.

[careca]

Have you tried inserting another image from elsewhere, just something like a simple 300 x 300 jpg?

Have you tried following the code in the UDF to see what it does?

 

I did try to insert random pictures with random sizes, no difference.

The code in the UDF is just too big, i get lost often, because it uses so many variables it gets from so many functions, i get lost.

I appreciate and thank for all the the help you've given.

PS: UDF Version is the last one, available from the udf topic.

Im starting to think it may have something to do with mp3tag application, the way it saves or something, gonna try with other software.

Edited July 18, 2014 by careca

[TheSaint]

Just for the record, I use my program built around my modified version of the UDF, with MP3Tag, without issue, so I doubt it is that. In fact, I use MP3Tag with all mp3 files that aren't my own rips, to fix them, before using them with the auto features etc in my program. And 99.99 % of the time I use my program to replace the artwork, if it exists, as I use a default size of 310 x 310 pixels.

Most of the time, even with my own Lame rips, I need to put my Mp3's through MP3Validator, so they don't have issues on some media players, like PS3's, TV's etc by Sony. Not sure if MP3Validator is easily available anymore? Last time I tried to get an update (few years back) it was no longer being supported. I wrote a Frontend for it.

I also test all MP3's with Tagscanner (tags) and foobar2000 (tags, etc).

Tagscanner also handles my DOS 8.3 renaming, using one of my helper programs (Abbreviation Database).

Edited July 18, 2014 by TheSaint

[careca]

Is this what you're talking about?

http://www.gromkov.com/faq/repair/mp3_validator.html

AKA

http://sourceforge.net/projects/mp3val/

Still available an updated regularly.

Last code i got in an atempt to retrieve the data is this:

#include <String.au3>
$File = FileOpen(@ScriptDir & '\08 - Cypress Hill.mp3', 16)
$Read = FileRead ($File)
$StartStr = StringInStr($Read, '415049430000301B000000696D6167652F6A706567000300')
$EndStr = StringInStr($Read, '505249560000000E00005065616B56616C756500FF7F000050524956000000110000417665726167654C6576656C001021')
$Mid = StringMid($Read, $StartStr+48, $EndStr-48)
$File1 = FileOpen("pic.jpg", 18)
FileWrite($File1, $Mid)
ClipPut($Mid)

I then paste in a hex editor and save with jpg extension, and the image opens

Need some help now, to automate this process.