www.mindwarppavilion.org
Stefan / GoblinKing / freestate @ Mind-Warp PaVilion (v2.0 March 2007)

A Guide To Creating An Audio Torrent On Mind-Warp PaVilion
For Mac Users

This guide appeared in its original form on Savage Jaw and has been modified for use by members of Mind-Warp PaVilion.
Big thanks go to all at Savage Jaw for allowing its use.
Special Thanks to Weesam for providing screencaps for Mac software and modifications to this Guide for Mac users!

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It is a requirement that you be familiar with Mind-Warp PaVilion's General Guidelines prior to creating and uploading a Torrent

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For this guide we will be using the
'David Bowie - Live At The Nassau Coliseum New York (Seagull CD005)' 2xCD Silver.

Liberated Bootleg: This means a direct rip from a Silver bootleg, which has been profited from by its manufacture and sale without the artist's consent or control, is being released free of charge via BitTorrent or trade. By this means the content of the original Silver bootleg becomes widely available and the profit-making abilities of the Silver bootleggers becomes reduced.

Please Note: For the purposes of this Guide only Disc 1 is being used for demonstration.

The software used is:
Mac OS X
xACT
Proprietary Scanning Software
BitTorrent

xACT and BitTorrent are both freeware.
Please see HERE for recommendations regarding freeware software versions.
 

Step 1 - Create a folder structure for the complete Torrent contents which will include Disc 1, Disc 2, the artwork, the info text file and fingerprints. It is advisable that you give the root folder a unique name so that you can easily find it again.
 

Step 2 - Open xACT, click the 'util' pane, then click 'CD Extraction'.

Insert Disc 1, select all tracks and drag them to the xACT window. Click 'Execute'.

Step 3 - Save the .wav files in the Disc1 folder you created earlier.

xACT will now extract the files from the CD into the folder as .wav files.

Step 4 - When complete, check for ripping errors. If xACT indicates that ripping errors have occurred, delete the .wav files and rip the CD again.

Because in this example we are using a 2xCD set so repeat Steps 2, 3 and 4 for the second disc but remember to save the second disc .wav files in the Disc2 folder you created.
 

Step 5 - still using xACT
Select the 'encode' panel; Drag the newly created .wav files to the window, select the
'FLAC Compression' radio button, set it to 8 and tick the 'Verify' checkbox.
Click 'Encode'.

Browse to your earlier created Disc1 folder and click 'Choose'.

xACT will encode the .wav files creating FLAC files:

Optional
Step 6 - still in xACT, click the 'checksum' panel, drag the newly created FLAC files to the
window and click the 'Checksum' button;

Click the 'Fingerprint' button;

NOTE: currently MWP does not require that Checksums (md5) and Fingerprints (ffp) be included in an Uploaded Torrent. MWP does, however, recommend that they be included if the creator of a Torrent is confident in their abilities to create them.

Save the ffp file in the Disc1 folder.

Move the .wav files you created out of the Disc1 folder to another location, or delete them, so that only the FLAC files (and the Checksum and Fingerprint files if created) remain in the Disc1 folder.
 

Step 7 - Your Disc1 folder should now look like the one below. We have finished with this folder.

Because in this example we are using a 2xCD set repeat Steps 5, 6 and 7 for the second disc, but remember to save the second disc FLAC files in the Disc2 folder you created.
 

Step 8 - Open your Image Scanning software and scan and save the images into the root folder.
In this case it is Desktop\Nassau.

Some notes about your scanned images:
- If the artwork has a booklet please scan all the artwork.
- Please give the scans intuitive names so that downloaders know which image belongs where.
- Please ensure that the scans are straight.
- Please scan the artwork at a decent resolution. We recommend no less than 400dpi.
 

Step 9 - Your artwork now sits in the root folder and should look like this;

Step 10 - Open TextEdit and create a file called (in this case) BowieNassau.txt and insert details. Here you can copy and paste the MWP Audio Torrent Upload Template into TextEdit and fill in the blanks.

Please Note: It is very important that your info text file contains all the relevant information about your upload.

You will notice that once you've created the info text file you can use it in your Torrent Announce. You've already filled in all the fields so now you just have to copy and paste it into the Announce. If your Torrent originated on another tracker, like DimeADozen for example, please include that info text file in your Torrent if you still have it, and include the information in your own info text file.

Please Note: It is very important when creating your info text file, and later when you create your Torrent Announce, that you state in both the FLAC Level at which you encoded your .wav files to FLAC. This information enables other users to determine whether their audio source is the same as yours by use of Fingerprints (ffp) which in turn allows them to determine whether or not your source might be an upgrade to theirs and/or whether or not they can join your Torrent as a seeder.

A rule of thumb for descriptions of previous uploads to other sites is;
Initial upload (to, for example, DimeADozen) is called "Originally Seeded To.." or "Uploaded To.."
Subsequent uploads to other sites (MWP for example) are called "Seeded To..".
Subsequent uploads to the same site at a later date (MWP for example) are called "Reseeded To..".

We're now ready to create the Torrent.
 

Step 11 - Open BitTorrent, click 'File' -> 'Make New Torrent.'

Click on 'Choose Folder' and browse to the root folder you created which contains the folders Disc1 and Disc2 and also the artwork, the info text file and the fingerprint files.

The title of the .torrent file should include [www.mindwarppavilion.org] as shown above.

'Piece Size' should be Auto.

Click 'Use Tracker'. Ensure that you add the correct Trackers info - for Mind-Warp Pavilion it is found under 'Torrents' -> 'Upload' on the MWP Tracker page:

This is it - http://www.mindwarppavilion.org/ezt/announce.php

When you're ready, click 'Publish'. BitTorrent will build the .torrent file;

When the Torrent has been created you will get a dialogue box asking where you want to save the .torrent file to. We recommended that you save it to a location on your HD where it can be easily found again - the Desktop for example.

A Note About .torrent Naming Conventions: Mind-Warp PaVilion would be grateful if you would include Artist, Title, Torrent Type and MWP's URL in the .torrent file name. To do this simply modify the .torrent file name during this 'save as' phase. In this example, as we save the .torrent file, we are renaming the .torrent file as;

BowieNassau2CDSilverAudio[www.mindwarppavilion.org].torrent

The reasons for asking that MWP's URL be included are simple; it helps everybody remember where the Torrent came from (and this includes you when you're browsing through your harddrives looking for a particular Torrent) and it is also beneficial to MWP and its members to have the .torrent file name point back to MWP should the Torrent appear on an anonymous tracker.

When BitTorrent has built the .torrent file click 'done' and quit BitTorrent.

CAUTION: Once you have created your .torrent file you MUST NOT alter any of the files contained within your Torrent. This includes, but is not limited to, editing your info text file. Any alteration to ANY file within your Torrent after your .torrent file has been created will result in you not being able to seed your Torrent.

Now you're ready to upload your Torrent to the Mind-Warp Pavilion Tracker.
 

Step 12 - Go to MWP's Tracker page - http://www.mindwarppavilion.org/ezt/ and click on
'Torrents' -> 'Upload'.
This will take you to the page where you enter the details of your Torrent;

Note that we're only looking at the top of the page at the moment. When the fields are filled in, for this example, it will look like this:

Note that we have done a copy and paste of the already created info text file into the Description dialogue box. If your info text file is as complete as it should be there won't be a need for any additions to the description. However, the description box allows you to format your text, such as giving the Artist and Title a larger font, different colour, underlining etc.

Here is an example of a completed Audio Torrent Announce as it should appear on the MWP Tracker.

To complete the bottom of the Upload page, fill in the fields as required.

Choose a 'Category' and 'Type' that seem appropriate for your Torrent.
Ensure that you check the boxes relating to MWP's policies regarding;
Torrents Allowed,
General Guidelines and
Prohibited Artists/Bands.
We recommend that you familiarise yourself with these policies and check them often as they are subject to change without notice.

PLEASE NOTE: Do not include a scan of any artwork in your Announce as there is no telling if this image will be available in the future if and when your Torrent is seeded to another tracker or reseeded to MWP . Rather, you should either include the artwork in your Torrent or upload it to the Gallery and provide applicable links.

Click on the 'Upload Torrent' button ONLY ONCE. There may be a delay between your clicking the button and getting the 'Torrent successfully uploaded!' screen. This is normal.

After you see the above screen the Tracker should immediately send the .torrent file back to your computer and you should get a dialogue box asking you where you want to save the .torrent file to. Please note that in order for you to seed the Torrent you have just uploaded you have to download and save the now personalised .torrent file from the Tracker.

Important! Do not save the .torrent file to your root folder. You will get an error if you do. We recommend that you have a folder called, for example, BitTorrent where you can save all your .torrent files in one place whether they are downloads from another seeder, or a Torrent that you are uploading and seeding yourself.

Note: When you see the dialogue box below, or something similar if you use a different web browser, you can choose one of the options available. If your BT Client is set up to automatically handle .torrent files you can choose to have your BT Client open the .torrent file you are downloading, in which case the .torrent file will be saved to your BT Client's folder or to wherever you have specified. If you want to save the .torrent file to another location choose 'Save to disc' and then select a location.

In this case we have saved the .torrent file to the Desktop.

NOTE: Your Torrent will not be visible until you start seeding it yourself. To do this double-click on the .torrent file you downloaded from the MWP Tracker. In this example double-clicking the .torrent file will launch BitTorrent because it has been associated with .torrent files.

Browse to the folder you created that contains the FLACs etc, highlight it and click 'Choose'

When you have selected the correct folder, BitTorrent will perform a check of the files and compare them to the details held in the .torrent file you created.

When BitTorrent has finished checking and has found the files to be exactly what the newly downloaded, personalised .torrent file information contains, BitTorrent will start seeding.

Finished! MWP will send an email to members telling them that your new Torrent exists and your Torrent will become visible on the Tracker.

www.mindwarppavilion.org
Stefan / GoblinKing / freestate @ Mind-Warp PaVilion (v2.0 March 2007)
Special Thanks to Weesam for providing screencaps for Mac software and modifications to this Guide for Mac users!

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