ID3v2 Audio Text Tool

Introduction

ATXTTool is an application that adds ATXT frames to the ID3v2 tags of audio files. ATXT frames are defined in the new Accessibility Addendum to the ID3v2 specifications and carry short audio clips providing a verbal expression of the textual metadata carried by a ID3v2 tag.

The application is part of the BBC open source initiative and is maintained as a Sourceforge project.

Warning: ATXT frames are not currently supported by most media players. Although the signalling is unlikely to cause problems it may be some time before you will be able to see a benefit. However, if you are developing a media player which supports ATXT frames you should find this application useful.

The application uses the Java ID3 API developed by Jens Vonderheide and Javadoc for the application classes is available here.

Procedure

To successfully provide audible metadata for your audio file follow these steps:

For each text string in the ID3v2 tag that is to be supported by an ATXT frame you must record a short audio clip containing a spoken narrative of the text string.

Encode the audio clips as necessary (it is recommended to use the same audio encoding format as the main audio file).

Create an XML file describing the required ATXT frames in the format described below.

Run ATXT tool.

XML file format

An example of the required XML file is provided (example.xml). Each frame element in the file provides the information needed to create a single ATXT frame i.e.

the path of the audio clip

the MIME type of the audio clip

the "equivalent text" of the audio clip

The equivalent text must exactly match the text of the corresponding metadata field in the ID3v2 tag.

Requirements and Installation

ATXTTool requires Java 1.4 but should also work with later versions.

You can download the latest release of ATXTTool here.

After unzipping the archive Windows users can launch the application by running ATXTTool.bat whilst Linux users should run ATXTTool.sh

The correct usage is:

    ATXTTool -x <XML file> -a <input MP3 file> -o <output MP3 file>

where:

    <XML file>           is the path of an XML file defining the ATXT frames.
    <input audio file>   is the path of the input MP3 file.
    <output audio file>  is the path of the output MP3 file.

Note that the two JAR files contained in the lib directory must be included in the classpath.

Files are always saved using an ID3v2 version 3 tag but the application will accept input files using either version 2 or 3. Information in the original ID3v2 frames is preserved.

Feedback

Feedback would be appreciated via the project tracker if you find any bugs or would like to submit a feature request.

Patches or code providing useful extensions would also be welcome.