Extracting MP3 audio from video files

Here is a small Bash script that converts any supported ffmpeg video format; such as .MKV, .MP4 or .MOV and extracts the audio to an .MP3 file, It will also split that MP3 file into chunks and put them in a convenient directory. You will need to install ffmpeg and mp3splt for your particular platform.

Example Usage:

./mkv2mp3 "big fat file.mkv"

1	./mkv2mp3 "big fat file.mkv"

This uses ffmpeg to convert “big fat file.mkv” to “big fat file.mp3” and then uses mp3splt to create a directory “big fat file” containing the files 01 – big fat file.mp3, 02 – big fat file.mp3, etc. The MP3 files will be encoded at 128k Constant Bit Rate and each file will be around 50 minutes in length. To install in Debian/Ubuntu use: sudo apt-get install ffmpeg mp3splt

#!/bin/bash
INFILE=$1
BITRATE="128k"
LENGTH="50.0"

FILENAME=$(basename "$INFILE" | cut -d. -f1)
if [[ -z "${FILENAME// }" ]]; then
   echo "filename missing"
   exit 1
fi

echo "$FILENAME"
ffmpeg -i "$INFILE" -vn -acodec libmp3lame -b:a "$BITRATE" "$FILENAME".mp3
mp3splt -t "$LENGTH" -d "$FILENAME" -a -o @n+-+@f "$FILENAME".mp3

#!/bin/bash

INFILE=$1

BITRATE="128k"

LENGTH="50.0"

FILENAME=$(basename "$INFILE" | cut -d. -f1)

if [[ -z "${FILENAME// }" ]]; then

echo "filename missing"

exit 1

echo "$FILENAME"

ffmpeg -i "$INFILE" -vn -acodec libmp3lame -b:a "$BITRATE" "$FILENAME".mp3

mp3splt -t "$LENGTH" -d "$FILENAME" -a -o @n+-+@f "$FILENAME".mp3

mp3splt can find the audio in a quiet region near where the split is desired rather than midway through a word, this should make for much cleaner playback across tracks.

Alternative Method

This script gives the same results but uses ffmpeg to split the large MP3 file and then adds track numbering metadata using id3v2. To install in Debian/Ubuntu use: sudo apt-get install ffmpeg id3v2

#!/bin/bash
INFILE="$1"
BITRATE="128k"
LENGTH="3000"    # 50 minutes in seconds

FILENAME=$(basename "$INFILE" | cut -d. -f1)
if [[ -z "${FILENAME// }" ]]; then
   echo "filename missing"
   exit 1
fi

echo "$FILENAME"
MP3FILE="$FILENAME".mp3
ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE" -vn -acodec libmp3lame -b:a "$BITRATE" "$MP3FILE"

OUTDIR="$FILENAME"
mkdir "$OUTDIR"

ffmpeg -y -i "$MP3FILE" -vn -f segment -segment_time "$LENGTH" -c copy "$OUTDIR"/%02d-"$MP3FILE"

TRACK=1
IFS=$'\n'
FILES=($(find "$OUTDIR" -name "*.mp3" | sort -n))
for file in "${FILES[@]}"; do
  TN=$(printf %02d $TRACK)
  id3v2 --track "$TN" --TIT2 "$FILENAME" "$file"
  TRACK=$((TRACK+1))
done

#!/bin/bash

INFILE="$1"

BITRATE="128k"

LENGTH="3000" # 50 minutes in seconds

FILENAME=$(basename "$INFILE" | cut -d. -f1)

if [[ -z "${FILENAME// }" ]]; then

echo "filename missing"

exit 1

echo "$FILENAME"

MP3FILE="$FILENAME".mp3

ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE" -vn -acodec libmp3lame -b:a "$BITRATE" "$MP3FILE"

OUTDIR="$FILENAME"

mkdir "$OUTDIR"

ffmpeg -y -i "$MP3FILE" -vn -f segment -segment_time "$LENGTH" -c copy "$OUTDIR"/%02d-"$MP3FILE"

TRACK=1

IFS=$'\n'

FILES=($(find "$OUTDIR" -name "*.mp3" | sort -n))

for file in "${FILES[@]}"; do

TN=$(printf %02d $TRACK)

id3v2 --track "$TN" --TIT2 "$FILENAME" "$file"

TRACK=$((TRACK+1))

done

Creating an Audiobook

Taking this further, I was thinking that it would be nice to have these converted into the M4B Audiobook format for use on my elderly iPod. The script below assumes that you have processed the files as above and have added metadata tags using a tool like mp3tag (yes I know this is for Windows).

To complete this we need to: Combine the multiple MP3 files into one big file, or read the original big file then convert that to M4B format at 96K bit and add chapter marks every ten minutes. For this I have used ffmpeg v3.2.12 and libmp4v2 (for the mp4chaps utility), to install in Debian/Ubuntu use: sudo apt-get install libmp4v2-dev mp4v2-utils ffmpeg

This script works best from a single MP3 file rather than from those that have been re-combined back into a single file, recombining the files caused ffmpeg to exclaim “invalid packet size” and “invalid data” errors. It is able to tell the difference between a directory and a single MP3 and processes the file accordingly, don’t forget to add metadata tags and cover art before you run the script.

#!/bin/bash
INFILE="$1"

BITRATE="96k"
MP3TITLE=""
MP3ARTIST=""
MP3ALBUM=""
MP3COMMENT=""
MP3YEAR=""
MP3PERFORMER=""

####
####  FUNCTIONS
####

function setMP3variables() {
  TAG="$1"
  VALUE="$2"

  case "$TAG" in
    title)
      MP3TITLE="$VALUE"
      ;;
    artist)
      MP3ARTIST="$VALUE"
      ;;
    comment)
      MP3COMMENT="$VALUE"
      ;;
    album_artist)
      MP3PERFORMER="$VALUE"
      ;;
    album)
      MP3ALBUM="$VALUE"
      ;;
    date)
      MP3YEAR="$VALUE"
      ;;
   esac
}

## get the tag text from the metadata
## if the line contains an equals (=) then split by the first equals.
function getMP3tags() {
  MP3METADATA="$1"
  while read -r line
  do
    case "$line" in
      *=*)
        TAG=${line%%"="*}
        VALUE=${line#*"="}
        setMP3variables "$TAG" "$VALUE"
        ;;
    esac
  done < "$MP3METADATA"

  if [[ ! -z "${MP3TITLE// }" ]]; then
    OUTFILE="$MP3TITLE".mp3
    M4BFILE="$MP3TITLE".m4b
  fi
}

####
####   BEGINS
####

FILENAME=$(basename "$INFILE" | cut -d. -f1)
if [[ -z "${FILENAME// }" ]]; then
   echo "filename missing"
   exit 1
fi
OLDIFS=$IFS
OUTFILE="$FILENAME"_out.mp3
M4BFILE="${OUTFILE:0:-4}".m4b
METADATA="${OUTFILE:0:-4}".metadata
JPGFILE="${OUTFILE:0:-4}".jpg


## check if input is a diretory
if [ -d "$INFILE" ]; then
  # get the name of the first MP3 file in the directory
  FIRSTFILE=$(find "$INFILE" -name "*.mp3" | sort -n | head -1)
  FIRSTFILE=$(basename "$FIRSTFILE")

  if [[ -z "${FIRSTFILE// }" ]]; then
    echo "no mp3 files in directory"
    exit 1
  fi

  ## save the MP3 tag metadata from the first file
  ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE/$FIRSTFILE" -f ffmetadata "$METADATA"
  ## save out the cver art image
  ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE/$FIRSTFILE" -an -vcodec copy "$JPGFILE"
  ## process the tag metadata - put it into the $MP3* strings, set $OUTFILE and $LOGFILE from the title
  getMP3tags "$METADATA"

  ## make a bar seperated list of the MP3 files that are to be combined
  MP3FILES=""
  IFS=$'\n'
  FILES=($(find "$INFILE" -name "*.mp3" | sort -n))
  for files in "${FILES[@]}"; do
    MP3FILES+="$files|"
  done
  MP3FILES=${MP3FILES:0:-1}

  ## combine all the MP3 files into one big file
  ## $OUTFILE is set using either the $FILENAME or $MP3TITLE if that has been used
  ffmpeg -y -i "concat:$MP3FILES" -vn -vsync 2 -acodec copy "$OUTFILE"
else
  ## process a single MP3 file
  ## save the MP3 tag metadata from the first file
  ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE" -f ffmetadata "$METADATA"
  ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE" -an -vcodec copy "$JPGFILE"
  ## process the tag metadata - put it into the $MP3* strings, set $OUTFILE and $LOGFILE from the title
  getMP3tags "$METADATA"
  #ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE" -vn -vsync 2 -acodec copy "$OUTFILE"
  OUTFILE="$INFILE"
fi

## if there is a cover image, these are are the options for adding it back in
WITHJPG=()
if [ -e "$JPGFILE" ]; then
   IFS=$OLDIFS
   WITHJPG=(-i "$JPGFILE" -metadata:s:v comment="Cover (front)")
fi

## create the audiobook M4B file
## and write the metadata into the output file
ffmpeg -y -i "$OUTFILE" -i "$METADATA" "${WITHJPG[@]}" -map_metadata 1 -id3v2_version 3 -acodec aac -b:a "$BITRATE" -strict -2 -f mp4 "$M4BFILE"
## add the chapters every 10 minutes
mp4chaps -e 600 "$M4BFILE"

## tidy up
rm "$MP3METADATA"
if [ -e "$JPGFILE" ]; then
   rm "$JPGFILE"
fi
#rm "$OUTFILE"
echo "finished"

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

132

133

134

135

136

137

138

139

#!/bin/bash

INFILE="$1"

BITRATE="96k"

MP3TITLE=""

MP3ARTIST=""

MP3ALBUM=""

MP3COMMENT=""

MP3YEAR=""

MP3PERFORMER=""

####

#### FUNCTIONS

####

function setMP3variables() {

TAG="$1"

VALUE="$2"

case "$TAG" in

title)

MP3TITLE="$VALUE"

;;

artist)

MP3ARTIST="$VALUE"

;;

comment)

MP3COMMENT="$VALUE"

;;

album_artist)

MP3PERFORMER="$VALUE"

;;

album)

MP3ALBUM="$VALUE"

;;

date)

MP3YEAR="$VALUE"

;;

esac

}

## get the tag text from the metadata

## if the line contains an equals (=) then split by the first equals.

function getMP3tags() {

MP3METADATA="$1"

while read -r line

case "$line" in

*=*)

TAG=${line%%"="*}

VALUE=${line#*"="}

setMP3variables "$TAG" "$VALUE"

;;

esac

done < "$MP3METADATA"

if [[ ! -z "${MP3TITLE// }" ]]; then

OUTFILE="$MP3TITLE".mp3

M4BFILE="$MP3TITLE".m4b

}

####

#### BEGINS

####

FILENAME=$(basename "$INFILE" | cut -d. -f1)

if [[ -z "${FILENAME// }" ]]; then

echo "filename missing"

exit 1

OLDIFS=$IFS

OUTFILE="$FILENAME"_out.mp3

M4BFILE="${OUTFILE:0:-4}".m4b

METADATA="${OUTFILE:0:-4}".metadata

JPGFILE="${OUTFILE:0:-4}".jpg

## check if input is a diretory

if [ -d "$INFILE" ]; then

# get the name of the first MP3 file in the directory

FIRSTFILE=$(find "$INFILE" -name "*.mp3" | sort -n | head -1)

FIRSTFILE=$(basename "$FIRSTFILE")

if [[ -z "${FIRSTFILE// }" ]]; then

echo "no mp3 files in directory"

exit 1

## save the MP3 tag metadata from the first file

ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE/$FIRSTFILE" -f ffmetadata "$METADATA"

## save out the cver art image

ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE/$FIRSTFILE" -an -vcodec copy "$JPGFILE"

## process the tag metadata - put it into the $MP3* strings, set $OUTFILE and $LOGFILE from the title

getMP3tags "$METADATA"

## make a bar seperated list of the MP3 files that are to be combined

MP3FILES=""

IFS=$'\n'

FILES=($(find "$INFILE" -name "*.mp3" | sort -n))

for files in "${FILES[@]}"; do

MP3FILES+="$files|"

done

MP3FILES=${MP3FILES:0:-1}

## combine all the MP3 files into one big file

## $OUTFILE is set using either the $FILENAME or $MP3TITLE if that has been used

ffmpeg -y -i "concat:$MP3FILES" -vn -vsync 2 -acodec copy "$OUTFILE"

else

## process a single MP3 file

## save the MP3 tag metadata from the first file

ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE" -f ffmetadata "$METADATA"

ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE" -an -vcodec copy "$JPGFILE"

## process the tag metadata - put it into the $MP3* strings, set $OUTFILE and $LOGFILE from the title

getMP3tags "$METADATA"

#ffmpeg -y -i "$INFILE" -vn -vsync 2 -acodec copy "$OUTFILE"

OUTFILE="$INFILE"

## if there is a cover image, these are are the options for adding it back in

WITHJPG=()

if [ -e "$JPGFILE" ]; then

IFS=$OLDIFS

WITHJPG=(-i "$JPGFILE" -metadata:s:v comment="Cover (front)")

## create the audiobook M4B file

## and write the metadata into the output file

ffmpeg -y -i "$OUTFILE" -i "$METADATA" "${WITHJPG[@]}" -map_metadata 1 -id3v2_version 3 -acodec aac -b:a "$BITRATE" -strict -2 -f mp4 "$M4BFILE"

## add the chapters every 10 minutes

mp4chaps -e 600 "$M4BFILE"

## tidy up

rm "$MP3METADATA"

if [ -e "$JPGFILE" ]; then

rm "$JPGFILE"

#rm "$OUTFILE"

echo "finished"

When encoding to the M4B using a re-combined file I saw a few of these errors from ffmpeg:

[mp3 @ 0x7fffc3bc9ea0] Header missing
Error while decoding stream #0:0: Invalid data found when processing input

1 2	[mp3 @ 0x7fffc3bc9ea0] Header missing Error while decoding stream #0:0: Invalid data found when processing input

These appear to be caused by the mp3splt program from when the original MP3 file was being split into 50 minute chunks, but I can’t hear any effect on the output.

Lots of information about the file can be gotten using mediainfo, to install in Debian/Ubuntu use: sudo apt-get install mediainfo, example use:

mediainfo --fullscan "big fat file.m4b"

1	mediainfo --fullscan "big fat file.m4b"

Links and References

ffmpeg, encode AAC: https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/Encode/AAC
ArchLinux audiobook howto

g7smy.co.uk

Extracting MP3 audio from video files

Alternative Method

Creating an Audiobook

Links and References

COMPUTERS, ROBOTS AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Alternative Method

Creating an Audiobook

Links and References

Share this:

COMPUTERS, ROBOTS AND PHOTOGRAPHY