dj-data-converter

A command-line app for converting data files to and from different DJ software formats, such as Traktor, Rekordbox and Serato DJ.

In addition to an automated test suite comprising specification-driven tests on expected input and output data, this app has been manually tested with Traktor Pro 2 and Rekordbox 5.7.0 on Windows 10.

Features

(1) Will be released in a new version TBA

Motivation

Unlike other apps for handling this task, this app is open source and available on Windows, in addition to Mac OS.

Install

Download the Basic Edition from the releases page as a zip or tar.gz archive, and then extract the archive into a directory.

To download the Pro Edition, please contact me for pricing.

Usage

Windows

1. Open a command prompt and change to the directory where the archive was extracted:

   cd <download-dir>

2. Now execute the app, providing the location of the Traktor collection file, or an exported Rekordbox collection file:

   dj-data-converter-win.exe [options] <traktor-or-rekordbox-collection-file>

   For example, assuming Traktor is installed in the default location on Windows:

   dj-data-converter-win.exe "C:\Users\<your-user-name>\Documents\Native Instruments\Traktor <version-number>\collection.nml"

   A converted rekordbox.xml or collection.nml file will be created in the current directory.

   If the conversion fails due to an error, an error-report.edn file will be created, also in the current directory.

Mac

1. Open a terminal and change to the directory where the archive was extracted:

   cd <download-dir>

2. Now execute the app, providing the location of the Traktor collection file, or an exported Rekordbox collection file:

   ./dj-data-converter-macos [options] <traktor-or-rekordbox-collection-file>

   For example, assuming Traktor is installed in the default location on Mac OS:

   ./dj-data-converter-macos "/Users/<your-user-name>/Documents/Native Instruments/Traktor <version-number>/collection.nml"

   A converted rekordbox.xml or collection.nml file will be created in the current directory.

   If the conversion fails due to an error, an error-report.edn file will be created, also in the current directory.

Options

  -h, --help

Importing to Rekordbox

• In the Rekordbox preferences:
  • Go to View and under Layout enable rekordbox xml
  • Go to Advanced Database and under rekordbox xml change Imported Library to the location of the generated rekordbox.xml file
• The rekordbox xml entry should now be visible in the tree lower-left.
• Click the refresh icon to load the file.
• Expand the rekordbox xml icon in the tree and select the All Tracks entry
• The converted tracks should now be listed in the track list.
• Right-click and select Import to Collection as normal.
• Now load the converted tracks and check the converted data. Report any problems as GitHub issues in this project.

Importing to Traktor

• Back up any existing collection.nml file. The location of this file will depend on whether the app is being used on Windows or Mac:

  OS	File Location
  Windows	C:\Users\<your-user-name>\Documents\Native Instruments\Traktor <version-number>\collection.nml
  Mac	/Users/<your-user-name>/Documents/Native Instruments/Traktor <version-number>/collection.nml

• When the backup is complete, copy the created collection.nml file to the above location, overwriting the existing file.
• Open Traktor. Care must be taken to ensure that Traktor doesn't overwrite grid data converted from Rekordbox, otherwise any cue points or loops may not align with the grid. Before loading tracks converted from Rekordbox, it is recommended to either:
  • Enable analysis lock for the tracks, or
  • Right-click the tracks, select Analyze (Async), and tick Special, Key and Gain, and untick BPM.
• Now load the converted tracks and check the converted data. Report any problems as GitHub issues in this project.

Why a Command-Line App Instead of a GUI App?

This app is mostly concerned with availability, correctness and transparency, for which a command-line app is more than adequate.

• Availability: downloads for multiple platforms, including Windows.
• Correctness: determining the most appropriate conversion rules to follow.
• Transparency: to build user trust around the claimed feature set.

However, usability is important, and lack of familiarity can be an problem for command-line apps; this will be addressed in good time!

Donations

Donations for the Basic Edition are most welcome! Becoming a sponsor will help to support more DJ software formats, add new features, improve performance and fix bugs.

Conversion Rules

From Traktor to Rekordbox

• For each cue point in Traktor:
  • An indexed hot cue is created, with the index matching the index in Traktor.
  • An additional non-indexed memory cue is added for convenience, tagged with the prefix [djdc]. These tagged cues will be removed when converting from Rekordbox back to Traktor.
  • If the cue point is a grid cue, a tempo is created.
• The cue point names are copied over as-is.
• Tracks without a playtime are not copied (Rekordbox requires this as total time).
• Tracks without a location set are not copied.

• The cue point types are mapped as follows:

  Traktor Type	Traktor Colour	Rekordbox Type	Rekordbox Colour
  Cue	Blue	Cue	Green (default)
  Fade-in	Orange	Cue	Pink
  Fade-out	Orange	Cue	Pink
  Load	Yellow	Cue	Yellow (unchanged)
  Grid	White	Cue	White (unchanged)
  Loop	Green	Loop	Orange (default)

From Rekordbox to Traktor

• For each indexed hot cue in Rekordbox, a cue point is created, with the index matching the index in Rekordbox.
• For each non-indexed memory cue in Rekordbox, a non-indexed cue point is created, but only if there is no matching indexed hot cue by type and position. This is to avoid unnecessary additional cue point "noise" in Traktor.
• For each tempo in Rekordbox, a non-indexed grid cue point is created, tagged with the prefix [djdc]. These tagged cues will be removed and re-created as tempos, when converting from Traktor back to Rekordbox.
• Note that unlike Rekordbox, Traktor grids only allow a single BPM value for the whole track, so if there are multiple tempos with different BPM values in Rekordbox, the result in Traktor will have the same BPM for all grid cue points.
• The hot cue and memory cue names are copied over as-is.

• The hot cue and memory cue types are mapped as follows:

  Rekordbox Type	Traktor Type
  Cue	Cue
  Loop	Loop

Field Mapping

Current Limitations

• The conversion from Rekordbox to Traktor is currently the simplest possible implementation, it cannot merge with an existing Traktor collection.
• If dynamic analysis has been used for a track in Rekordbox, the result in Traktor will be undesirable, with a large number of non-indexed grid point cues sharing the same BPM; Traktor only allows a single BPM value for the whole track.
• For reasons unknown, on some tracks Rekordbox likes to create a large number of tempos, even when the BPM is fixed for the whole track and dynamic analysis has not been used. When converting to Traktor, this will currently manifest as (the same) large number of non-indexed grid point cues.
• Disabling the "Store Beatmarker as Hotcue" Traktor setting is not supported.
• Performance is not yet optimal, however a ~10,000 track Traktor or Rekordbox collection should convert in under two minutes.

Bug Reports

Please report any possible bugs as GitHub issues in this project, and remember to include the steps performed, what was expected and the actual result. If an error occurred during the conversion, please attach the generated error-report.edn file.

Roadmap

To see planned and upcoming features, refer to the Unreleased section at the top of the Changelog.

Feature Requests

Requests are welcome, please create them as GitHub issues in this project. However, before creating any new requests, please check the Unreleased section at the top of the Changelog first, to see if the feature is already planned for.

Developers

Developers will need to install Java, NodeJS and the Clojure command line tools.

Running the Tests

clj -Adev:test-cljs

Starting a CIDER-compatible NREPL Server

clj -Adev:nrepl-server

Credits

• Phoebox for the suggested cue point colour mapping

License

Copyright © 2018 Digital DJ Tools

Released under the MIT license.