images/audio unusable when importing to anki

Request
1

Hi there,
I have followed the exporting instructions for anki (mac) many times and I’m sorry to say I’m close to giving up!

I have pasted the unzipped files (both cvs and the media folder) into the anki media folder. When I go to import it from anki, all the JPEG/mp3 audio files are grey and unusable. Therefore they do not show up when I import them into my anki.

Can someone help me please?
I love the idea of learning words through Netflix/youtube context, but I seemed to have tried everything. I am not very tech-savvy but I have followed the instructions.

Any help would be great,
Thanks

2

I had similar problems, but I am on Windows.
And I use simple Front/Back flashcards plus sound. Whereas Reactor exports phrases for the Cloze-type, it seems.

So before I waste time explaining my work-around, let me ask you this:
What type of card do you intend to use in Anki for the imported phrases?

3

Hi there
Thanks so much for responding.

I am working on a Mac.

I would like the card type to be cloze, but I don’t really mind as long as I can use a “fill in the blank” with the context sentence and the picture/audio from YouTube or Netflix through Language Reactor.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

4

In other words, I am happy with a simple front/back card aswell if I’m able to import the media :slight_smile:

5

This works for me:

  1. I put the audio-files into Anki’s media folder.
    Their file names look like this: 1706103930980.mp3

  2. I open the .csv file in a spreadsheet editor
    Does not have to be Excel, they’re all the same for out basic editing.

The idea is to

  • only keep the columns (read: Anki-fields) I need
  • construct valid references to the sound files

Say I need 3 fields for Anki: front, back, sound
I will group my spreadsheet-columns accordingly, and delete the rest.

The sound-column needs to be replaced:
Instead of 1706103930980.mp3
it should contain [sound:1706103930980.mp3]

To achieve this, I create a new sound-column next to it.
If cell C1 looks like this: 1706103930980.mp3
Then I will put this formula in D1: =“[sound:”&C1&“]”
In other words, I simply concatenate

  • a literal “[sound:” plus the content of C1 plus final “]”
  • the concatenate-smbol is &, therefore the formula reads =“[sound:”&C1&“]”

After confirming the formula with Return, copy it downwards (by dragging the bottom-right cell corner downwards), to fill the rest of the column.

Final step: Replace the formulas in the new column with values (Ctrl Shift V)

  • first select the whole column and copy it
  • then keep the selection in place, and simply paste over it: Paste Special > Convert Formulas to Values

Delete the original sound-column which is no longer needed. Export the 3-column sheet into csv. In my case, this means Save As … > text file UTF-8, Cr-LF Windows — this will ofc be different on a Mac.

Anki-Audio
Anki-Audio771×496 123 KB

6

Thanks so much for your detailed response.

I want to use the screenshots (images) from PhrasePump of certain parts of youtube/Netflix shows that I have watched.
How would images factor into this excel/export situation?
Thanks

7

I have not used images in Anki so far. I’d imagine it to be similar to sound files, but I could be wrong, they may not end up in their own separate fields after all. Would have to see the actual Anki-fields you have in use.

Basically, I expect it to be the same mechanism: image-files are copied to the media folder, then their file names referenced in one or more spreadsheet-columns/ Anki fields.

With the additional workload to tweak this, you may want to export only when you have collected enough material to warrant the roundtrip to Excel. Unless you automate the process with macros.