Copyright: Copyright © 1999 3SS Software


Browser - Main
The MP3 Browser

This is the MP3 Browser. This is where you add all your MP3 files that you would like to do something with, whatever it is.

If you for example want to Tag a couple of files (most often a whole album), just press the Add Dir button and select the directory where your MP3 files resist, and press Ok. Then select the files you want to Tag (or press CTRL-A to select all files), and then press the Edit Tags button and you will be presented with a screen similar to THIS.

You can enable/disable columns in the MP3 Browser. Just go to the Preferences and move/enable/disable the columns you want to alter.


Output - New
Adds a new Output Format to the list, and starts editing it


Delete Output button
Deletes the selected Output Format


Output - TAG Combo
Here, you select a Tag that you want to review/change the Prefix/Suffix fields on.


Add Up button
Copies the tag selected in the TAG combo to the rename format field.


Output - Prefix
This is what will get at the beginning of the selected tag in the Tag Combo


Output - Suffix
This is what will get at the end of the selected tag in the Tag Combo


Output - Save
Saves the current Output Format to disk


Exit Output Editor
Exits the Output Editor


Save button
Saves the changes to the MP3 file. Remember that the Save ID3 v1.1, Save ID3 v2.3.0 and Save Lyrics 3 checkboxes must be enabled if you want to save the corresponding tags.


Clear button
Clears all the fields in the Tag Editor


Exit Tag Editor
Exits the Tag Editor

If any changes has been made, you will be asked

if you want to save the changes.


Previous file
Goes to the previous file in the list

If the Auto Inc Track checkbox is enabled, the Track Number is increased by one.

If the Save Enabled checkbox is enabled, the file is saved, else any changes will be discarded.

If the Autoplay Song checkbox is enabled, the next file in the list is played in Winamp


All
TAG - All


Next file
Goes to the next file in the list

If the Auto Inc Track checkbox is enabled, the Track Number is increased by one.

If the Save Enabled checkbox is enabled, the file is saved, else any changes will be discarded.

If the Autoplay Song checkbox is enabled, the next file in the list is played in Winamp


Save Enabled
Enable this checkbox to save your changes when pressing the Next or Previous buttons


Auto Increase Track

If checked: Increases the Track Number when pressing Next

Always lock the Total Tracks when using this feature


Make List - Main
The Make List utility

The Make List component is where you can create user-defined lists of your MP3 collection.

The first thing you should see to is that a Predefined list and an Output format exists. You must have at least one of each to create a list.

The first time you enter the Make List component, there should be a Predefined list named Standard HTML which is an example of how to make a nice formatted HTML file for publishing on the Internet, printing on paper or just for easy viewing on your own computer.

There should also be an Output format named Standard. Click here to learn more about Output formats.

Note that there are three Memo's: List Top, Main List and List End. The List Top and List End is only processed once each when you create a list, but the Main List is processed once for each selected file in the MP3 Browser from where you called the Make List component.

The Make List component uses the same method as the Rename component to parse TAGs in a file. That is, if you for example enter the text %00 somewhere in the Main List memo, the Make List replaces that text with (in this case) the Artist/Group of the song.

Click here to see a list of all the TAGs and their representing number. The easiest way to see all the TAG's representing numbers though, is to press the Tag Help button directly in the program.

If you are familiar with HTML you should be able to understand how the creating of lists works if you take a minute or two to look at the Memo's where the text is.


Make List - Make ListBtn
Starts the creating of the list


The "Overview" page
The TAG Editor

The Overview page

This tab shows the contents of an MP3 file. If it contains either ID3 v2.3.0, 1,x or Lyrics 3, the corresponding icon will be enabled, else it is disabled, like the Lyrics 3 icon on this picture.


Browser - Add Files
Add's one or more files to the MP3 Browser


Browser - Add Dir
Adds a whole directory recursive to the MP3 Browser


Browser - Delete
Deletes the selected files in the MP3 Browser


Rename - Main
The Rename utility

When you want to rename files, the only thing you need to do is to select a couple of files in the MP3 Browser, press the 'Rename' button and you will end up with a screen similar to the picture above. The next thing to do is to select a predefined "Output Format" from the combo-box.

The files you want to rename must, of course, have ID3 Tag's. Read more about ID3 Tag's HERE.

The output formats are created or edited with the Output Editor by pressing either the New or the Edit button.

It's as easy as that. The hard part is to create your Output Format's if you haven't done it before. Go to the Output Editor section to learn how to create your own Output Format's.


The "Track Info" page
The TAG Editor

The Track Info page

This is definitely where you will spend most of your time in the TAG Editor. Here is the most relevant information collected in one place.

Description of the fields:

Artist / Group

The 'Artist' frame is intended for the performer(s) of the original recording, if for example the music in the file should be a cover of a previously released song. We recomment that the performers are separated with the "&" character.

Title

The actual name of the piece.

Sub-Title

The 'Sub-Title' frame is used for information directly related to the contents 'Title'. (e.g. "Op. 16" or "Performed live at Wembley")

Album

The 'Album' frame is intended for the title of the recording (or source of sound) which the audio in the file is taken from.

Remix / Cover

Contains more information about the people behind a remix and similar interpretations of aonther existing piece. (e.g. "Chemical Brothers Remix")

Composed By

Intended for the name(s) of the composer(s). Composers are separated with the "/" character.

Lyrics / Text By

Intended for the writer(s) of the text or lyrics in the recording. They are separated with the "/" character.

Copyright

Intended for the copyright holder of the original sound, not the audio file itself. The absense of this frame means only that the copyright information is unavailable or has been removed, and must not be interpreted to mean that the sound is public domain.

Main Genre / Sub Genre / Genre Definition

The 'Main Genre' and 'Sub Genre' are two list with predefined genres based on a standard. The 'Genre Definition' frame is intended for a specified definition of the genre, when the 'Main Genre' and 'Sub Genre' are not enough to describe the genre.

Media Type / Media Definition

The 'Media Type' frame describes from which the media the sound originated. The 'Media Definition' frame is intended for further descriptions of the media (e.g. "CD Maxi")

Encoded By

Contains the name of the person or organisatoin that encoded the audio file. This field may contain a copyright message, if the audio file is also copyrighted by the encoder.

Encoded Using

Includes the audio encoder, the version and it's settings when the file was encoded

Publisher(s)

Contains the name of the label(s) or publisher(s) of the audio file. Separate with the "/" character.

Original Artist / Group

Intended for the Artist or Group of the original recording, if for example the music in the file should be a cover of a previously released song.

Original Album

Intended for the title of the original recording (or source of sound), if for example the music in the file should be a cover of a previously released song.

Original Lyrics Writer

Intended for the text writer(s) of the original recording (or source of sound), if for example the music in the file should be a cover of a previously released song.

Original Release Year

Intended for the year when the original recording (or source of sound) was released, if for example the music in the file should be a cover of a previously released song.

File Owner / Licensee

Contains the name of the owner or licensee of the file and it's contents.

Content Group Description

The 'Content Group Description' is used if the sound belongs to a larger category of sounds/music. For example, classical music is often sorted in differend music sections (e.g. "Piano Concerto", "Weather - Hurricane").

Band / Orchestra

Used for additional information about the performers in the recording.

Conductor / Performer

Used for the name of the conductor.

Track Number / Total Tracks

The 'Track Number' frame is simple the track number of the sound on it's original media, and the 'Total Tracks' is the total number of tracks on the record (or source of sound) and should of course be the same for all files from a single record.

CD / Total CDs

Use the 'CD' and 'Total CDs' if the record (or source of sound) has multiple CDs. The 'CD' field is the number of the CD from where the sound is taken, and the 'Total CDs' is the total number of CDs in the recording.

Year

The year when the recording (or source of sound) was released.

Date (Month - Day)

Contains the date of the recording (or source of sound), starting with the Month and then the day (e.g. 05-20 for the 20th of May)

Beats Per Minute

Contains the beats per minute in the mainpart of the audio. Use the BPM Counter while playing a song to manually calculate the BPM of a song.


Helium - Introduction
A brief introduction to Helium

Helium is a program that manipulates the Tags of an MP3 file in a number of ways. The main purpose of Helium is to provide an easy way to add/edit and even remove ID3 tags from an MP3 file.

The MP3 format has in a very short time become the most popular audio format for storing music. The Internet is totally FULL of MP3 files, both legal and illegal, but of course we assume that you (the user of this program) only uses Helium with legal MP3 files. Since it is legal to take your own CD collection and make MP3's of, we use that as a basic of how to use this program.

To create MP3 files of a CD, the only thing you need is a good MP3 ripper/encoder. The best program is without doubt AudioCatalyst. Go to XingTech to read more about the program and to get information of how to purchase the product.

Note: This helpfile is not finished.


Helium - What's New
Helium NEWS

News in v1.3

The registering-method has been simplified. It's so easy that my mom can manage!

News in v1.2:

Some parts of Helium have new looks. This is because these parts has either been totally re-written or that we have included requested functions from either our beta testers (thanks!) or other users.

•	The TAG Editor has a new look. Many things has been changed here, the functionality of some controls, and also lots of added functions. Our recommendation is that you read the help file, or use the "in-program help" to figure out how everything works. By reading the help, and learn shortcuts in the program you can save lots of time while taging.

•	The "Taging engine" has been totally re-written. The new features are: increased functionality, support of all ID3 v2.3.0 frames, and faster tag loading/saving.

•	Support for VBR encoded files.

•	Attaching pictures to a file, SHOULD work, but might be slow, so be careful when you are attaching pictures >100kb

•	The Make List utility has been rewritten. You now have the possibility to have an unlimited number of pre-defined lists, instead of just one!

•	The internal player (XAudio) has been updated to better support for VBR (Variable Bit Rate). A graphic 10-band equalizer is also included.

•	The adding of Wizards has begun. A Filename To Tag Wizard is included. It takes information from your MP3 files filename's and creates tags out of it.

These functions are locked in the Demo version:

•	BPM Counter to count the BPM (Beats Per Minute) of an MP3.

•	MPEG Checker, which checks and reports invalid "syncs" in an MPEG file

•	Match To Time utility to create a playlist with a total time that you specify. For recording to tapes, you Rio or MP3Man player, etc.

•	TAG Wiper. Deletes ID3v1, ID3v2 and/or Lyrics3 from a file.

•	The Make List utility creates a list with a maximum of 20 files.

•	The Rename utlity only renames 10 files at a time.

What's under construction?

•	Audio Encryption Frame,

•	More Wizards. A Tag Wizard is the first project. It will be a simplified version of the Tag Editor to speed up the taging.

•	Database support is coming. Helium will use standard Paradox7 databases for data storing. This means that you will be able to view your databases in other common database applications, like MS Access or Borland Database Desktop for example.


Helium - How To Register
How To Register

Pricing

The price for Helium is 25 USD. We will keep this price in all versions prior to 2.0 (that is, all 1.x versions).

The 2.0+ versions will include full database-support, which will be the largest part of Helium to create, and therefore we are forced to increase the price. You will still be able to register the latest 1.x version though (the latest will probably be 1.9), but there won't be any updates on that version.

If you have registered any 1.x version before the 2.0 version is released, you will of course get a reduced price for the 2.0 version.

The price for version 2.0 has not yet been set.

Ordering

The ordering of Helium is made through a secure web-form, which accepts VISA or Mastercard. When you have entered all the required information, and your bank-account has been checked you will receive an e-mail with a register-code to unlock the program.'

To unlock Helium, start the program, click on the Help-menu (a question mark: ?) and select "Register". Enter the required information in the fields and click ok. You are now ready to use the FULL version of Helium. Enjoy!

Do NOT loose your registration-code. You might need it if you ever re-install the program!

Updates

When a new version of Helium is out we will announce it on our homepage. Registered users will receive an e-mail with information and news.


Tag Help
The Tag Help window

Here is a list of all the Tag's (and their

representing number) that you can use

in Helium's Make List and Output Editor

for example.

Artist/Group	%00

Title	%01

Sub-Title	%02

Remix/Cover	%03

Comment	%04

Album	%05

Genre	%06

Encoded By	%07

Encoded Using	%08

Song Length	%09

Track Number	%10

Year	%11

BPM	%12

You can always make this window visible

by pressing the Tag Help button, that's

always available when you need it.


Make List - Exit
Exits the Make List utility


Make List - Predef Add
Adds a new Predefined List and opens it for editing


Make List - Predef Rename
Renames the Predefined List


Make List - Predef Delete
Deletes the selected Predefined List


Make List - List Top
On this page you enter the text that will get at the top of the created list


Make List - Main List
This is the page that will be processed once for each file. It's on this page that you add all your "%xx" numbers where xx stands for a number representing a tag in the Tag Help window.


Make List - List End
On this page you enter the text that will get at the bottom of the created list


Make List - Font
Brings up a font-requester, where you specify the font you would like to use in the Memo's of the Make List window


Make List - Save
Saves the current Predefined List to disk


Make List - Memo
This is where you enter the text that will either get at the Top, the Middle or the Bottom. of your list.


Output - Format Combo
This is the list with all your predefined Output Formats


Output Rename
The Output Editor

 Rename Output Formats

It could be hard to understand the purpose and how to use the Output Editor at first, but when you get used to it, it's really powerful.

The Output Editor is used by both the Rename and the Make List component, but the Output Format's are used individually and thus you can't use an Output Format created in the MakeList component in the Rename component. That is because there is a small difference between them. When you run the Output Editor from the Rename component, the second field from the top is named 'Rename Format' and is simply the way the files are going to be renamed.

The fastest and easiest way to get to know the Output Editor is to experiment with the example Output Format that comes with Helium. When you change the Rename Format, Prefix or Suffix field the statusbar at the bottom of the window will show a preview of what the filename will look like.

If you look at the example Output Format you will see that the 'Rename Format' field looks something like: "%10%00%01%02%03". This is the cryptic part, but it is vital to understand this if you are going to make your own Output Formats. If you click the Tag Help button at the bottom of the window you will see a window that describes what the %00 and the rest of the number will be replaced with when renaming. Starting to get the point?

Now that we've got the basics, lets take a look at the bottom part of the window. The TAG combo-box includes the TAGs that you can use while renaming files. Just below that combo-box you see two Edit fields, one named Prefix and one Suffix. If you select a different TAG in the TAG combo-box the "Prefix" and "Suffix" fields is updated with what you have specified for the current TAG, if anything.

A little explanation if you are not following:

If we look at the 'Rename Format' once again it should still be "%10%00%01%02%03". As you can see, all the TAGs is in a straight line without any spaces or anything between. Now take a look at the "Sub-Title" and/or the "Cover / Remix" TAG in the TAG combo-box. As you can see, the "Prefix" and "Suffix" field of the "Sub-Title" is " [" and "]", and the fields in the "Cover / Remix" TAG is " (" and ")".

We COULD have choosen to enter "%10 - %00 - %01 [%02] (%03)" in the "Rename Format" field instead of dealing with Prefixes and Suffixes, but then we wouldn't have got the result we are after when renaming files. If we had used the above format and renamed a file that didn't have a "Cover / Remix" and a "Sub-Title" TAG we would have gotten a filename similar to: 05 - Fatboy Slim - Praise You [] ().mp3. Not too nice huh? But if we instead have used the brackets and parenthesis in the prefix and suffix fields, we would have gotten a correct filename. That is because if a TAG doesn't exist (like the "Sub-Title" for example, which is pretty unusual) nothing is inserted there, and that includes the "Prefix" and "Suffix" fields of course.


Output MakeList
The Output Editor

Make List Output Formats


Output Filename To Tag
The Output Editor

Filename To Tag Output Formats


Output - Rename
Renames the selected Output Format


Edit Output button
Opens the Output Editor to edit the selected Output Format.


The "User Frames" page
The TAG Editor

The User Frames page

Description of the fields:

User Defined Text Information

This frame is intended for one-string text information concerning the audiofile in a similar way to the other Text-frames (i.e. Artist/Group or Album). The "Description" field is intended for a short description of the Text-information, i.e. "Vocals By" or "Featuring". The "Content" field is the actual text you want to add. There may be several user-defined texts but only one with the same description.

Track Comments

Eeh, coming up.

Commercial Information

A URL pointing at a webpage with information such as where the album can be bought.

Copyright Information

A URL pointing at a webpage where the terms of use and ownership of the file is described.

Official Audio File URL

A URL pointing at a file specific webpage.

Official Artist URL

A URL pointing at the artists official webpage.

Official Audio Source URL

A URL pointing at the official webpage for the source of the audio file, e.g. a movie.

Payment URL

A URL pointing at a webpage that will handle the process of paying for this file.

Official Publisher URL

A URL pointing at the official wepage for the publisher.


The "Attached Pictures" page
The TAG Editor

The Attached Pictures page

This is where you add/edit/view or remove pictures from your MP3 file.

To Add a new picture to the file, just click the Add button and you will be presented with a requester asking for information about the picture, what kind of picture it is (i.e. taken from video, record cover etc), and at last you specify where the picture reside.

Note: You can also doubleclick in an empty area above the Add/Edit/Extract/Delete buttons to add a file.

To Edit the information associated with a picture, select the picture in the list and press the Edit button. You will be presented with the same requester as when you Add a file, but without the File row. You can never change the file to another picture once you have added it to the list. If you want to use a different picture, you must Delete the old picture and Add a new.

To Copy a picture to disk just select the picture you want to extract (if there are more than one) and click the extract button. A requester will pop up, asking where to put the file.

To Delete a picture from the MP3 file, just select the picture an click the Delete button.


The "Misc Info" page
The TAG Editor

The Misc Info page


The "Read Only" page
The TAG Editor

The Read Only page


The "Lyrics 3" page
The TAG Editor

The Lyrics 3 page


Case Convert
Enable this checkbox to make the first character in every word you enter in a combo-box to upper-case.

For example:

I you enter "the green nuns of the revolution" in the Artist/Group field and press the Tab key, Helium changes the string to "The Green Nuns Of The Revolution".

It's not necessary to press the Tab key before pressing the Save, Next or Previous buttons. Helium changes the case anyway.


Autoplay Song
Enable this checkbox to make Helium play the current song in the Player


Filename To Tag Wizard
The Filename To Tag Wizard

Use Heliums Filename To Tag Wizard when you have a couple of MP3's with filenames like 01 - Underworld - Shudder [King Of Snake].mp3 or anything similar, but they don't contain any Tags. What the Wizard does, is that it takes the information from the filenames, plus the information you enter manually, and creates Tags from it.

To use the Filename To Tag Wizard you first add a couple of files to the MP3 Browser and press the Wizards button and select the Filename To Tag Wizard.

Page 1

The first thing you should see to, is that the checkboxes at the bottom of the window is rightly configured. The most common configuration is to have the Save ID3v1, Save ID3v2 and Case Convert checkboxes ENABLED. You should only use the Generate Track Numbers checkbox if the filenames lack the Track Number field, but most often it exists. You are now ready to proceed to Page 2. Press the Next button at the bottom of the window.

Page 2

The only purpose of this page is if you have enabled the Generate Track Numbers checkbox on the first page. If you have enabled that checkbox, you will have to manually move the files in the correct order, so that the Track Numbers will be generated correctly. To move a file up or down, just select the file and press either the up-arrow or the down-arrow on the right side of the file-list. When the files are in the correct order, proceed to Page 3.

Note: If you haven't enabled the Generate Track Numbers checkbox, there is no need to have the correct order of the files in the list.

Page 3

On this page, you enter all the information that you cannot get from the filenames, and only if it is the same for all MP3 files you have selected. If the MP3's in the list is from an Album of the same artist, you enable the Same Artist / Group checkbox, and enter the name of the Artist / Group in the field below the checkbox. If you know the Year when the record was released, just press the Include Year checkbox and enter the year. The same goes to the Include CD checkbox. If the record is a part of a set of more than one CD, just click the Include CD checkbox and set the number of the current CD in the first field, and the total number of CD's in the second. When you have entered all the information in the fields, you are ready to proceed to the last step, Page 4.

Page 4

This is where the hard work begins. If you have done this before, though, this is a real time-saver.

If you are already familiar with, for example, the Rename tool, you will see that this is just a reversed version of it.

Below you see a picture of how it could look like if you have made everything right. We will use this picture to refer to in the text below the picture.

The first thing you should check is if there is any Output Format that is correct for the filenames of you MP3's. For example, if your filenames look like in the example: 09 - The Prodigy - No Good (CJ Bolland Remix), you could use the Output Format that comes with Helium, and is named Collection w Remix. When you select a new Output Format, you will see the result immediately. If the fields below the Filename ex looks correct, and the Filename Format field background is Green and not Red, the Output Format is probably correct. If not, you will have to either select another Output Format or edit the Filename Format manually. You can also Edit the Output Formats by selecting one and press the Edit Output button (the second from the left beside the Output Format combo-box), or you can create a new from scratch. That way you will get your own Output Formats that fits your own needs.

If you have a look at the Filename Format field and the Current File field, you will see a connection. For every Tag (Track Number, Artist, etc) in the Current File field, there is a representation of %xx's in the Filename Format field. The best way to get to know the Filename To Tag Wizard is to experiment.

If you find a Filename Format that is correct for the file, you should press the Assign To All button to assign that format to all the files in the list. That is no enough, though. You should always check that ALL files have the correct config before you press the Finish button. Browse through the files with the Back and Forward buttons to check that the Filename Format field is never Red, and that all Tags are places in the right fields.

If all files is correct configured, you just press the Finish button and the Tags will be created.


Save ID3v2
Enable this checkbox to save an ID3v2 Tag.

We strongly recommend to always save an ID3v2 Tag since most of the

information you enter in the Tag Editor is ID3v2 fields, and you would

loose lost of information by not saving that Tag.


Save ID3v1
Enable this checkbox to save an ID3v1.1 Tag.

We recommend to always save this Tag since many programs

are not yet compatible with the ID3v2 Tag. The ID3v1.1 Tag is

only 128 bytes long, so there isn't really any point in NOT saving

that Tag.


Wizards
Helium's Wizards

Helium's Wizards is made to simplify and speed up different sort of tasks.

For the time being, only one Wizard exists.

The Wizards:

•	Filename To Tag