Ahoy, Mateys!
Yesterday I scoured the web for a copy of O Fortuna from Carmina Burana by Carl Orff to try as a temporary scratch track in a scene I'm editing. The only complete version I could find was an MP3 on itunes. So I bought it, my first ever $.99 itunes purchase. When I brought it into Final Cut Pro, it showed up as a blank line. No sound. The file can't be read or played in any program except itunes. Apparently music should be consumed passively only, don't even think of using it in any creative project, even if it's just a scratch track in your home studio, something to experiment with, oh no that wouldn't be passive enough.
Fortunately a friend pointed me to this fine product, and I now have the audio as a useable aiff. Audio Hijack Pro lets you digitally record any audio your computer plays - including those goddamn "protected" itunes. There's a free trial download on the site, which works great. I ended up not liking O Fortuna as a scratch track after all, I chose something else. Now I'm hiring a composer to write something better using similar timing. Ohh, what a terrible threat to the music industry I am, good thing they're "protecting" their "property" from deviants like me.
Comments:
If you need to convert any more music in iTunes, the "official" way (and my preferred method) is to burn the track(s) to an audio CD, then turn 'round and "rip" the tracks back onto the computer, either as AIFF or MP3 or whatever turns yer crank. I usually use a rewriteable CD for this, so I can then reuse the CD once the tracks are back on the computer in nonprotected form. I also, however, make a point of backing up all the original protected files, either right from iTunes (by burning a Data CD instead of Audio CD) or by drag-and-drop from one window to another. The iTunes methods are easiest, in my experience, and the only drawback is having to change the "Burn" preferences back and forth.
Love your stuff, your style, and your senses of humor and outrage. I enjoy the animations you've done (especially "Fetch") and am looking forward to your longer "Ramayana" someday. The sad demise of "The Hots" adds to my paranoia over the swift disappearance of anything that I enjoy, though...
Love your work! Yet another way to get around the DRM protection for iTunes tracks is to use iMovie. I have the same issue when I need to bring something into Final Cut and this seems to be the simplest way without having to burn a CD and while using software you already have...
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060725200656470
Keep up the great work. Can't wait to see the longer/complete version of Sita.
Are we all aware that one can convert the AAC files you get when you purchase a song from iTunes to AIFF directly within iTunes? First, you have to go to your Advanced iTunes Preferences, and under the import option, select AIFF. Then close preferences, select the song, and in the Advanced menu, select "Convert selection to AIFF". All you have to do then is find the new AIFF file in the bowels of the iTunes folder hierarchy.
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