Creating ringtones for iPhone 3g without buying through iTunes.

longtimer

Just got my iPhone 3G today and to my utter disgust realized that I couldnt set any song on the iPod as a ringtone. Itunes says that I need to have purchesed the song through iTunes to be able to do so. I belive i have the latest version of iTunes (how do I check?).

Does anybody know a way of getting around this? Would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Kane-N-Nite

longtimer wrote: »

Just got my iPhone 3G today and to my utter disgust realized that I couldnt set any song on the iPod as a ringtone. Itunes says that I need to have purchesed the song through iTunes to be able to do so. I belive i have the latest version of iTunes (how do I check?).

Does anybody know a way of getting around this? Would really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

Im in the same boat. As far as I know it can only be done in the U.S.

mobius42

You can customise the ringtones. On a Mac it's simple, just use Garageband to pick which part of the song you want (max of 40 seconds, I think) and it'll export it to iTunes for you. See here: http://lifehacker.com/software/how-t...way-334073.php On Windows, either visit http://iringer.net/ or use these instructions I got off lifehacker.com:

1. Start iTunes and find the [DRM-free] song you want to convert to a ringtone. Right-click on it and select the Get Info option.
   itunes ringtone get info.png
2. On the Options tab locate the Start Time and End Time options. This is where you want to specify the portion of the song you wanted converted into a ringtone. Check both of the boxes, and make sure your ringtone is under 30-seconds. Press OK when finished.
   itunes ringtone time.png
3. Right-click on the song you just modified, and choose the Convert to AAC option. If you don’t see this in the context menu navigate to Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Importing, and make sure the AAC Encoder is selected in the Import Using menu.
   itunes ringtone aac.png
4. Once the song has finished being converted to the new format it will appear in your music list, and the “Time” should reflect the correct duration of the ringtone (which should be less than 30-seconds). Now navigate to your iTunes music folder to find the converted song. Here’s an example of where my Green Day ringtone was located:
   itunes ringtone folder.png
5. Make sure you’re able to see the file’s extension (.M4A) like in the screenshot above. If you don’t see the extension go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View (Organize -> Folder and Search Options on Vista), and uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types box. Then click OK.
6. Copy the music file (with the .M4A extension) to your desktop. Once you’ve done that rename the file’s extension to .M4R which will make iTunes recognize it as a ringtone. Make sure there are no symbols (underscores, hyphens, etc…) in the file name.
   itunes ringtone m4r.png
7. In iTunes go to File -> Add File to Library, and then browse for the file from step 6. Once you’ve selected it press the Open button. iTunes will place the ringtone in the respective section in your library:
   itunes ringtone library.png
8. Sync your iPhone with iTunes and your newly created ringtone should get transferred over. If it doesn’t be sure to check the Ringtones tab in the iPhone configuration section of iTunes to verify that it is setup to sync your ringtones.

drunkmonkey

mobius do you know where's there any gargeband tutorial sites...

longtimer

Thanks a million mate.

I can't use the program yet until I update OSX is the only thing. Have you got a link to an older version of it that might work for me? I can't seem to find one.

andrewh5

You can do it on a PC as well through Itunes. Copy the song, select the portion you want to use (max 30 secs) then save. Change the extension to .m4r then double click it to import itno the ringtones section of itunes. Simple!

mobius42

drunkmonkey wrote: »

mobius do you know where's there any gargeband tutorial sites...

Here's how to use it to make ringtones:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1358?viewlocale=en_US

And here's other tutorials:
http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#garageband

mobius42

longtimer wrote: »

Thanks a million mate.

I can't use the program yet until I update OSX is the only thing. Have you got a link to an older version of it that might work for me? I can't seem to find one.

You need Garageband 4.1.1 or later to make ringtones and this is the latest version. Sorry, but there is no older version that will work.

animaX

andrewh5 wrote: »

You can do it on a PC as well through Itunes. Copy the song, select the portion you want to use (max 30 secs) then save. Change the extension to .m4r then double click it to import itno the ringtones section of itunes. Simple!

+1. I use this method. Just make sure your import setting on itunes are set to "AAC encoder". Right click on any song -> get info -> options -> set the start time and end time to whichever 30 second segment you want. Click ok.

Then right-click on the song again and choose "create AAC version". This will give you the 30 clip from the song. Now right-click on the 30 second version and choose "show in windows explorer" (for windows only obviously!). Change the extension of the 30 second clip from .m4a to .m4r and you're almost done.

In itunes, go to File -> add file to library -> and locate the .m4r file you just created. Itunes should automatically import it and make it a ringtone! (or just double-click on the m4r file as andrew mentioned)

Note that itunes will no longer recognise the 30 second clip you originally made (since you changed the extension) but you can just delete it from itunes since you don't need it

longtimer

mobius42 wrote: »

You need Garageband 4.1.1 or later to make ringtones and this is the latest version. Sorry, but there is no older version that will work.

No problem at all. Thanks a million.

Sorry to be a pain but I downloaded a song specifically from iTunes to make a ringtone but when I right click it and say "Create ringtone" iTunes tells me to make sure my network connection is active. It's obviously active though seeing as I just downloaded a song from it.. Frustrating.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

longtimer

I FOUND THE ANSWER!!!!

I found a program that lets you convert any mp3 into a ringtone for the iPhone. I've only tried it on the 3G so I don't know if it will work on any other model but I don't see why not.

Here's the download: http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/itoner/

You only get a 30 day trial and it costs like $15 for the license but it works a treat. All you have to do is drag an MP3 into the program and then edit it into a 40 second track (which is piss easy) and then press the sync button and it goes straight into the iPhone ringtones menu. It doesn't go through Itunes though so it won't show up there.

Thank christ.