transflac - Man Page

convert FLAC audio files to lossy formats.

Synopsis

transflac [input_FLAC_directory] [output_lossy_directory] [lossy_format] [codec_quality]

Description

The process of converting FLAC files to lossy formats and preserving tag information can be a bit tedious. transflac is designed to automate this. It will start at the input_flac_directory and recursively walk the directory structure converting each flac audio file to the specified lossy codec - preserving all associated tag information.  Additionally, any cover art (stored in the directory structure as folder.jpg) will be duplicated in the target lossy directories.

Configuration

transflac sources two configuration files on startup - /etc/transflac.conf and $HOME/.transflac.conf, in that order.

The configuration options stated in those files can be overridden by providing the appropriate flags at runtime.

The configuration variables have to be set as follows:

VARIABLE="value"

"value" needs to be quoted.

All shell escaping/quoting rules apply.
Here is a list of options transflac recognizes:
input_flac_dir=""

Specifies the directory starting point which will be recursively search for FLAC audio files.  All FLAC audio files in the directory structure will be converted to the specified lossy codec. Default value is "$1" which is arg1 from the command line invocation. This value is case sensitive.  Any symlinks that are encountered will be resolved and the physical path will be displayed.

output_lossy_dir=""

Specifies the target directory which will be used to store the lossy audio files which are created during the conversion process. Default value is "$2" which is arg2 from the command line invocation. This value is case sensitive.  Any symlinks that are encounted will be resolved and the physical path will be displayed.

lossy_codec=""

Specifies the lossy codec which will be used to convert the FLAC audio files.  Default value is "$3" which is arg3 from the command line invocation.  This value is NOT case sensitive. OPUS generally will provide the best sound quality for a given filesize or bitrate - and is the recommended codec.
Valid values are: OPUS | OGG | AAC | MP3

codec_quality=""

Specifies the quality preset which will be used to encode the lossy audio files.  Default value is "$4" which is arg4 from the command line invocation.  This value is NOT case sensitive. OPUS STANDARD quality provides Full bandwidth stereo music, good quality approaching transparency - and is the recommended setting.
Valid values are: LOW | MEDIUM | STANDARD | HIGH | PREMIUM

CODECLOWMEDIUMSTANDARDHIGHPREMIUM
OPUS48 kbps64 kbps96 kbps128 kbps192 kbps
OGG80 kbps96 kbps112 kbps128 kbps160 kbps
AAC40 kbps80 kbps96 kbps128 kbps224 kbps
MP385 kbps100 kbps115 kbps130 kbps165 kbps

Examples

Possible ways one can call transflac:

transflac

"You will be prompted to enter all options.  If you have customized options in $HOME/.transflac.conf those values will be substituted.

transflac [input_flac_dir] [output_lossy_dir] [lossy_codec] [codec_quality]

transflac processing will proceed with the options entered on the command line.

Backend Tools

transflac requires the following backend tools to work:

See Also

opusenc(1), oggenc(1), flac(1), ffmpeg(1)

Author

Gerald Cox <gbcox@fedoraproject.org>

WWW

https://bitbucket.org/gbcox/transflac/