[access-uk] Re: RNIB Overdrive - Still titles with conversion problems
- From: "martin wilsher" <martinwilsher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 09:39:03 -0000
Steve:
Plus the ptx1, that was rented as standard with RNIB tb subs, encouraged use
of mem sticks and sd cards.
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Steve Nutt
Sent: 17 December 2014 08:58
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: RNIB Overdrive - Still titles with conversion
problems
Hi Paul,
It sounds to me like RNIB have actually caused themselves more work by
converting from Daisy, which already existed and in a reasonable quality of
file, to low bit-rate, frankly crappy, versions of MP3 files and stripping
out Daisy navigation files, which are tiny, the XML and SMIL files for
example.
I still say they should have left well alone, copied zipped images of the
CDs and let us download them in a secure environment, instead of causing us
to use Overdrive, which in my view, is quite frankly, equally crap. Daisy
books play equally well on non-Daisy media players.
I can't accept the excuse about the security of borrowing books, since all
you need to do is copy the books to a media device and you have the book for
ever.
So my Christmas wish would be to have all the books available in Daisy
format, as they were written to the CDs and memory sticks.
All the best
Steve
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-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Paul Warner
Sent: 17 December 2014 06:00
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] RNIB Overdrive - Still titles with conversion problems
A week ago, I notified this list that I had received an email from the RNIB
Overdrive team advising that they had completed a careful analysis of their
converted titles and that they had removed those which were found to be
faulty. The email contained the assurance, "Firstly, we have hidden away
the faulty titles so don't worry about choosing the books you love."
Unfortunately, this is not the case. I have just downloaded to my PC Our
Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens and proofed the title in the Overdrive
Media Console software. The title is split into 48 files named Part 1 to
Part 48. In this title, a Part file usually contains a complete chapter but
there are quite a few which contain two chapters.
If you start playback in the Overdrive Media Console, you can quickly skip
to the next Part by pressing control shift right arrow. You then hear
'Chapter x' and the relevant text. Skipping through the Parts is about the
easiest way you will have to ensure that the chapters are in the right order
although you won't be sure if a chapter has been completely missed since one
Part file can contain more than one chapter.
The first problem with Our Mutual Friend is that Parts 13 and 14 are
duplicates - they contain exactly the same chapter and their file sizes are
identical when viewed in Windows Explorer.
The same is almost true of Parts 26 and 27 but, in this case, Part 27
includes all of Part 26 plus the subsequent chapter. Windows Explorer shows
that Part 27 is 50% bigger than Part 26. What this means is that unlike
with the repetition in Part 14, you can't easily skip to the next Part (Part
28) in order to skip the repeated chapter since doing so will miss the
additional chapter contained in Part 27. This is very confusing and I am
glad that I identified these issues before reading the book for real.
If users are continuing to download titles from Overdrive to play back on
any platform, I would advise them to do the following:
1. Before reading the book, make sure that chapters are not out of order.
Do this by jumping to the next Part and noting the chapter number which
begins that Part. All you can hope for here is that the chapter number of
the next Part is higher than the one in the previous Part but beware that
more than one chapter can be contained in a Part.
2. If you find any issues at all, you can either fix them yourself or
abandon the book and let the RNIB know. Of course, even if you do try to
fix the problems yourself, you should still tell the RNIB.
3. If you do decide to fix the problems yourself, do not play the book
using the Overdrive software or apps as the amendments you make will cause
the navigation information in the software to become even more unreliable.
Instead, play the files on your media player or use different apps on your
smartphone.
4. Where you spot a duplicated file, delete one of the files in Windows
Explorer. Before doing so, check the respective file sizes of the duplicate
Parts. You might find that one of them includes more chapters so you should
always delete the smaller file.
5. If you find that a Part file contains chapter(s) which are out of order,
you can always rename the file(s) to correct the Part numbers.
6. If you find that all this is too much bother, which frankly it is, do
nothing and just advise the RNIB.
The key point is that it is quite disheartening to find that, despite RNIB
assurances, their quality inspection has not identified and removed all
corrupted titles. I will certainly not begin reading any title until I have
proofed it in the way described above.
Paul
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