[Koralatov]

I have an external hard-drive with about eight-hundred video files, all of which share the same basic naming-scheme ("Season x, Episode xx - "Episode Name".avi"). I was wondering if there was a way to mass-rename the all, somewhat akin to a search and replace? I could do it one file at a time, but the thought of it is too great.

Any ideas on how to do it all at once?

[JKT]

Automator:


You'll have to traverse any folder hierarchy you have but far easier to select all the files in one folder and rename them all at once, then the files in the next folder you open, etc., than to do it one at a time.

[allblue]

I've never tried to rename 800 files using File Sequencer (freeware), but it has always worked perfectly for me. Get it here:

File Sequencer 1.0 - Mac OS X - VersionTracker

[besson3c]

If you need something more, you can also do this via a shell script.

[- - e r i k - -]

This is the one I use, but to each his own:

Renamer4Mac 2.8 - Mac OS X - VersionTracker

[Koralatov]

I tried JKT's method, and it worked perfectly for me. Many thanks for all your advice everyone. Next time I have this problem (hopefully there won't be one--I intend to name my files better from now on), I might try one of the other solutions suggested.

Again, thanks for the help everyone!

[peeb]

Originally Posted by JKT 

Automator:


You'll have to traverse any folder hierarchy you have but far easier to select all the files in one folder and rename them all at once, then the files in the next folder you open, etc., than to do it one at a time.

That looks cool - how do I take a bunch of weirdly (arbitrary) named files and rename them file1, file2 etc?

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by peeb 

That looks cool - how do I take a bunch of weirdly (arbitrary) named files and rename them file1, file2 etc?

If there is no way to do this using Automater, I can help you do this through your Terminal.

[peeb]

Thank you Besson - I was just curious to know whether there was a simple way, and don't actually need to do it right now, so I won't trouble you - appreciate the offer though.

[JKT]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

If there is no way to do this using Automater, I can help you do this through your Terminal.

Haven't tested it, but this seems as though it would do it:

[peeb]

Wehey - that's what I want - thanks!

[itai195]

Originally Posted by besson3c 

If there is no way to do this using Automater, I can help you do this through your Terminal.

Since Automator can run shell scripts, you can do that in Automator too

[MacLover08]

if i may ask, how would you go about accomplishing this is the terminal?

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by MacLover08 

if i may ask, how would you go about accomplishing this is the terminal?

Something like this:

count = 1;for i in /path/name/*; do mv $i file_$count; count++; done


Haven't tested it, but I'm sure it's pretty close to functional if not already so.

[tintub]

If you use the vastly superior zsh instead of bash, then you can put "autoload zmv" into your .zshrc and get zmv for free.

Usage:
zmv [OPTIONS] oldpattern newpattern
where oldpattern contains parenthesis surrounding patterns which will be replaced in turn by $1, $2, ... in newpattern. For example,
zmv '(*).lis' '\$1.txt'
renames 'foo.lis' to 'foo.txt', 'my.old.stuff.lis' to 'my.old.stuff.txt', and so on. Something simpler (for basic commands) is the -W option:
zmv -W '*.lis' '*.txt'
This does the same thing as the first command, but with automatic conversion of the wildcards into the appropriate syntax. If you combine this with noglob, you don't even need to quote the arguments. For example,
alias mmv='noglob zmv -W'
mmv *.c.orig orig/*.c

[besson3c]

Cool... file operations based on Perl regular expressions?

[glypht]

I find R-Name to be excellent for doing this. Donationware...

[Sal]

FYI guys, there's a tutorial on how to rename on the AUTOMATOR.US website. Also contains a lot more information on Automator and free downloads. Check out AUTOMATOR.TV for videos. Enjoy!

[xmattingly]

Personally, I like this program:

A Better Finder Rename

It functions as part of your contextual menus in the Finder, and has an INSANE amount of easy-to-use file renaming schemes to pick from. You can also create droplets for renaming schemes that you might use regularly. I haven't heard of the other ones that were mentioned though; definitely worth checking out!

[PaperNotes]

Another vote for A Better Finder Rename. Indispensable app.