[FFmpeg-user] error with metadata addition during wav to alac/m4a conversion

[Michael Bromley]

Hi users,  i've got a problem when adding metadata to an alac file.

Following the
> # from http://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php?title=FFmpeg_Metadata#QuickTime.2FMOV.2FMP4.2FM4A.2Fet_al.
i first used an older ffmpeg using the latest Fedora 16 package via 
rpmfusion-free
> ffmpeg-0.8.5-2.fc16.x86_64 : Digital VCR and streaming server
> Repo        : rpmfusion-free

the command that i run is:
> [userme at lapdog ~]$ ffmpeg -y -i /dev/shm/Music/09-uphill.wav -metadata title="Uphill" -metadata author="Country Town Collective" -metadata album_artist="Country Town Collective" -metadata album="Back When Never" -metadata year="2012" -metadata track="09" -metadata genre="Alternative" -acodec alac /home/userme/Music/mp4-alac/country_town_collective/back_when_never/09-uphill.m4a
> ffmpeg version 0.8.12, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
>   built on Jun 13 2012 09:57:38 with gcc 4.6.3 20120306 (Red Hat 4.6.3-2)
>   configuration: --prefix=/usr --bindir=/usr/bin --datadir=/usr/share/ffmpeg --incdir=/usr/include/ffmpeg --libdir=/usr/lib64 --mandir=/usr/share/man --arch=x86_64 --extra-cflags='-O2 -g -pipe -Wall -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -fexceptions -fstack-protector --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -m64 -mtune=generic' --enable-bzlib --enable-libcelt --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdirac --enable-libfreetype --enable-libgsm --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-librtmp --enable-libschroedinger --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 --enable-libxvid --enable-x11grab --enable-avfilter --enable-postproc --enable-pthreads --disable-static --enable-shared --enable-gpl --disable-debug --disable-stripping --shlibdir=/usr/lib64 --enable-runtime-cpudetect
>   libavutil    51.  9. 1 / 51.  9. 1
>   libavcodec   53.  8. 0 / 53.  8. 0
>   libavformat  53.  5. 0 / 53.  5. 0
>   libavdevice  53.  1. 1 / 53.  1. 1
>   libavfilter   2. 23. 0 /  2. 23. 0
>   libswscale    2.  0. 0 /  2.  0. 0
>   libpostproc  51.  2. 0 / 51.  2. 0
> [wav @ 0xe3e600] max_analyze_duration 5000000 reached at 5015510
> Input #0, wav, from '/dev/shm/Music/09-uphill.wav':
>   Duration: 00:02:18.00, bitrate: 1411 kb/s
>     Stream #0.0: Audio: pcm_s16le, 44100 Hz, 2 channels, s16, 1411 kb/s
> Output #0, ipod, to '/home/userme/Music/mp4-alac/country_town_collective/back_when_never/09-uphill.m4a':
>   Metadata:
>     title           : Uphill
>     author          : Country Town Collective
>     album_artist    : Country Town Collective
>     album           : Back When Never
>     year            : 2012
>     track           : 09
>     genre           : Alternative
>     encoder         : Lavf53.5.0
>     Stream #0.0: Audio: alac, 44100 Hz, 2 channels, s16, 64 kb/s
> Stream mapping:
>   Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
> Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
> size=   15943kB time=00:02:18.01 bitrate= 946.3kbits/s
> video:0kB audio:15931kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead 0.077991%

The .m4a plays fine, but when i view the info either in any
fedora music programs or on a Mac in iTunes it is 'missing' both
the year and artist (ie. author?).   The title, album and genre are
all set correctly.

I have also tried a 'latest' static binary downloaded from
> http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24633983/ffmpeg/index.html

> [userme at lapdog ~]$ ~/bin/ffmpeg-linux64-20121108/ffmpeg -y -i /dev/shm/Music/09-uphill.wav -metadata title="Uphill" -metadata author="Country Town Collective" -metadata album_artist="Country Town Collective" -metadata album="Back When Never" -metadata year="2012" -metadata track="09" -metadata genre="Alternative" -acodec alac /home/userme/Music/mp4-alac/country_town_collective/back_when_never/09-uphill.m4a
> ffmpeg version N-46529-g3affcc9 Copyright (c) 2000-2012 the FFmpeg developers
>   built on Nov  8 2012 14:15:25 with gcc 4.7 (Debian 4.7.2-4)
>   configuration: --extra-cflags=-I../static/include --extra-ldflags='-L../static/lib -static' --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-static --disable-shared --disable-debug --enable-runtime-cpudetect --disable-x11grab --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-libspeex --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libfreetype --enable-libxvid --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libxavs --enable-libtheora --enable-libvo-aacenc --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-gray --enable-libopenjpeg --disable-ffserver
>   libavutil      52.  5.100 / 52.  5.100
>   libavcodec     54. 71.100 / 54. 71.100
>   libavformat    54. 36.100 / 54. 36.100
>   libavdevice    54.  3.100 / 54.  3.100
>   libavfilter     3. 21.106 /  3. 21.106
>   libswscale      2.  1.102 /  2.  1.102
>   libswresample   0. 16.100 /  0. 16.100
>   libpostproc    52.  1.100 / 52.  1.100
> [wav @ 0x20b6b40] max_analyze_duration 5000000 reached at 5015510
> Guessed Channel Layout for  Input Stream #0.0 : stereo
> Input #0, wav, from '/dev/shm/Music/09-uphill.wav':
>   Duration: 00:02:18.00, bitrate: 1411 kb/s
>     Stream #0:0: Audio: pcm_s16le ([1][0][0][0] / 0x0001), 44100 Hz, stereo, s16, 1411 kb/s
> Output #0, ipod, to '/home/userme/Music/mp4-alac/country_town_collective/back_when_never/09-uphill.m4a':
>   Metadata:
>     title           : Uphill
>     author          : Country Town Collective
>     album_artist    : Country Town Collective
>     album           : Back When Never
>     year            : 2012
>     track           : 09
>     genre           : Alternative
>     encoder         : Lavf54.36.100
>     Stream #0:0: Audio: alac (alac / 0x63616C61), 44100 Hz, stereo, s16p, 128 kb/s
> Stream mapping:
>   Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (pcm_s16le -> alac)
> Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
> size=   15932kB time=00:02:18.01 bitrate= 945.6kbits/s
> video:0kB audio:15925kB subtitle:0 global headers:0kB muxing overhead 0.043232%

but i get the same problem.  any clues?  thanks muchly, michael