Journal
Guides & notes
How-tos, answers to the questions people actually ask, and what’s changed in each app.
- Does kanji stroke order matter? Yes, and here are the rules Stroke order can feel like something only calligraphers need. It isn’t. Here’s why it matters even if you rarely write by hand, and the handful of rules that cover most kanji.
- How to add Dolby Vision to an HDR10+ file, without re-encoding An HDR10+ file can gain Dolby Vision profile 8.1 made from its own HDR10+ metadata. Here’s how that works, what it is and isn’t, and how to do it on a Mac.
- How to find out what a DJ is playing, live, without filming the whole set Shazaming a club set one track at a time misses half of it. Here’s how to build a timestamped tracklist of a live DJ set as it happens, with nothing recorded.
- How to add YouTube chapters to a DJ mix Chapters turn a long mix video into something people can find their way around. Here’s what YouTube needs before chapters appear, and how to make the timestamps for a whole set without scrubbing through it by hand.
- How to find the BPM and key of every track in a DJ mix Want the tempo and key of each track in a mix, to see how it was built or to plan your own sets? Here’s how to get them for a whole recording, what Camelot keys mean, and how far to trust the numbers.
- How to remove Dolby Vision from an MKV and keep the HDR10 picture Why some people strip Dolby Vision out of a 4K remux, what’s left afterwards, which files it works on, and how to do it on a Mac without re-encoding.
- Kanji that look alike, and how to tell them apart 未 and 末, 土 and 士, 待 and 持. Some kanji differ by a single stroke. Here are the pairs that trip learners up most, and exactly what to look at to tell them apart.
- How to remove commentary tracks and unwanted languages from an MKV on a Mac A disc remux carries every audio and subtitle track on the disc. Here’s how to keep only the languages you want, drop the commentary, and set the default audio and forced subtitles, without re-encoding.
- On’yomi and kun’yomi, and how to tell which reading a word uses Most kanji have a Chinese-derived on reading and a native Japanese kun reading. Here’s where they come from, a rule of thumb for which one a word uses, and the exceptions worth knowing.
- How to add a Dolby Digital Plus track to a TrueHD remux, without losing the original Why you might want a Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3) track alongside lossless TrueHD or DTS-HD audio in a 4K remux, and how to add one on a Mac while keeping the original.
- How to convert Dolby Vision profile 7 to 8.1 on a Mac without re-encoding A lossless way to turn dual-layer Dolby Vision profile 7 remuxes into single-layer profile 8.1 on macOS, and when you shouldn’t.
- How to convert Blu-ray PGS subtitles to text on a Mac Blu-ray subtitles are pictures, not text. Here’s why that causes problems in a remux, and how to turn PGS subtitles into text subtitles on macOS.
- How to find out what songs were played on a radio show or podcast Radio shows and music podcasts rarely publish full tracklists. Here’s how to identify every song in an episode, with the time it was played.
- How to split a DJ mix into separate tracks, or make a CUE sheet for it Two ways to make a long mix recording easy to navigate — split it into one file per track, or keep it whole with a CUE sheet. Here’s how to do both on a Mac, iPhone or iPad.
- How to tell if a file is Dolby Vision profile 7 or 8, and whether it has a FEL or MEL What Dolby Vision profiles 7 and 8 mean, how to read them in MediaInfo, and how to find out whether a profile 7 remux has a full or minimal enhancement layer.
- How to turn a DJ mix into an Apple Music playlist Heard a mix you love and want every track in your library? Here’s how to go from one long recording to an Apple Music playlist in the right order.
- How to work out a kanji you don’t know from its parts Most kanji are built from smaller components that hint at their meaning or reading. Here’s how to read those clues, with examples, so unfamiliar characters stop being a wall.
- How to learn kanji for the JLPT in a few minutes a day Cramming kanji rarely sticks. Here’s a short daily routine for JLPT N5 to N3 kanji that builds recognition, readings and real usage, without hours of flashcards.
- Why I built Remux Doctor Physical media is having a moment, and owning your films in full quality is worth it. Making sense of the files shouldn’t take a dozen command-line tools and a forum thread, so I built a fast, native Mac app for it.
- How to get a tracklist for a DJ mix, with timestamps Found a mix you love but there’s no tracklist? Here’s how to identify every song in a long recording and get the start time for each one.
- Export a mix tracklist to Rekordbox, Traktor, YouTube chapters or a CUE sheet Which export format to pick for a DJ mix tracklist, and what each one is good for — from YouTube chapters to Rekordbox XML.
- How Kanji Detective’s clues work, and why wrong guesses help you learn Kanji Detective turns every wrong answer into a new clue. Here’s what each clue reveals, how cases are graded, and how to use the daily case to learn kanji.