What I'm searching for is basically a command line version of foobar2000's oggpreview plug-in, with the same functions like copying the tags from the original input. Must have wildcard support! Something like

oggpreview <input files> <options> <output>

would be just great.

options: -q <value> : sets quality to <value>
-l <value> : sets length in seconds
-s <value> : sets size to <value> (for whole preview)
-c : copy all source tags to preview

and maybe optional:

-r : use ReplayGain
-m : multialbum mode
-t <value=X> : sets vorbis tags, ex "comment=30 sec. preview file"

Would be fantastic if it also could support FLAC, Monkey's Audio, WavPack, etc. Of course the appropriate encoder/decoder (i.e., flac.exe, etc) must be in the same path as oggpreview.

example:

oggpreview *.flac -q 2 -l 30 -c preview.ogg

Well, this is just an example of course but something similar would be very convenient! Must be command line as I like to use it in a batchfile.

Does something similar already exist perhaps, or maybe some kind soul would use his program skills to create it?

S'fly

This threads shows up in 3rd position when searching for oggpreview in google, so I'm adding additional information for those looking for more info on this tool.

foobar 0.9 can make a preview from a list of tracks:
- with similar options than oggpreview plugin in foobar 0.8.3.
- you can use the ogg vorbis encoder of your choice, eg: the lancer version which is very fast
- caveat: some formats are not well supported for the moment, eg: monkey's audio

For the original poster: I guess foobar commands could be scripted in a batch file to do what you want, but without the ability to change the options dynamically.
Edit: when creating a preview, foobar asks for a destination folder (I didn't see an option to create the preview in source folder), so I'm not sure this would fit in a script.

Well, it's a work around of course, but I've made a small script with AutoHotkey which kind of automates the process: first it brings foobar2000 to the front, drags and drops a playlist file into the foobar2000 window, selects all files, creates the oggpreview in the source directory, and finally puts foobar2000 back into the systray. It gives me more or less the same results, so for the time beeing, I can live with it. :-)

I'm (still) using foobar2000 v.0.8.3, though.

--
S'fly