^B00:00:01 >> If you're looking to make ringtones for your iPhone there's an application that you already have that does it all. I'm Brian Tong with CNET.com, and in today's Insider Secret we'll show you how to use iTunes and iTunes only to create your own ringtones. ^M00:00:19 We've shown you how to create iTunes ringtones with other applications before, but this is strictly iTunes for the PC and Mac. So first of all we'll be using iTunes 8.0 for this demo and another thing, this process does not work with songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store with DRM on them. MP3's or AIFF's and not protected AAC files will work just fine, and this works with files purchased from the Amazon Music Store, another reason to check them out. Now if you're not sure what kind of files you have in your music collection, right-click on this bar in iTunes and select "Kind". A column will appear to show you. So let's jump into iTunes. I'll find a song I want to turn into a ring tone, and this is an MP3 of a song I ripped from my own cd. Now right-click on the song and select "Get Info". A window will show up with track information and several tabs, so choose the options tab and look for the start time and stop time settings. Click on the boxes next to those settings for now. I already know where in the song I want this ringtone to start, so I'll put in the time of 1 minute and 13 seconds, and I'll end it 15 seconds after that a 1:28. ^M00:01:24 Now hit the okay button to save those changes. Now we'll go to Advanced in the menu bar, scroll down and click on "Create an AAC Version". You should see a track in your iTunes with the same file name as the original. The time of the track should only be 15 seconds, and it should be an AAC file. We're halfway there now, so stick with us, people. Oh, and a quick note, you'll also want to go back to the original song file and uncheck the start and stop time, so that it plays normally in the future. Now drag and drop the 15 second track we just created in iTunes and it will copy onto your desktop. You should see the file and we're going to change the extension name from M4A an M4R. You'll be asked to confirm the changes and we'll use M4R. Now on Windows Vista, you'll need to go to your control panels, then choose "Appearance and Personalization", select the folder options and in the view tab make sure you have unchecked the box to hide extensions for known file types. That will allow you to see and change the file type as well. Okay. Back to the action--before you bring this ringtone into iTunes, you'll have to delete the 15 second version that we initially created. If you don't do this, iTunes won't accept the new ringtone, so this is an important step. Now, drag and drop the renamed M4R file into the source column and the word "Library" should highlight. We'll copy the file to iTunes, and if this is your first ringtone, and bell icon and ringtone list will now appear. Click on it, and voila, now you have your very own ringtone made from iTunes. Sync up your iPhone and you are good to go. I'm Brian Tong, with CNET.com and there's your Insider Secret for making ringtones with just iTunes 8.0. Use it wisely. ^E00:03:03
