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I think I owe all of you a beer. Or something. :D
Did you update the files in the Dropbox already (apparently yes, just making sure)?

Oh sweet!

...Wait... you've done BOTH?
The awesomeness has been doubled!

Hi there! I'm pleased to see you join the project. ;)

In order to start up, I'd advise you to set up a few things:
- Install UltraStar DX and/or Performous (both are great - Performous has a nice "training" mode that can help build a song, too)
- Install at least one default song to test it out! See the UltraStarDX main page (right column) for a few samples knows to be well-made for instance.
- Install Composer
- You may want to install DropBox too, see this topic for more info and request access. Once you have access to the shared folder,, you'll also be able to try out the songs other people worked on.

The basic workflow then is to:
- pick a (Season 1) song that has yet to be done: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AoG1Y_EMdd9odEZua1E0WXZoeFNwZVl3Mk1seEZORkE#gid=0
- create a thread in this subforum so we know what you picked
- get its lyrics and its MP3 from this thread, or from the Dropbox
- use Composer to sync and tune the lyrics. Here's a piece of advice from LardonCru too.
- Test it over and over again by exporting it to the USDX file format and actually singing it ;)
- Once satisfied, share it in your thread (or store it in the dropbox)

There's no need to add a background or any other artwork yet, only to sync the song. You may suggest some stuff if you have something in mind thought!

Depending on who's online, some kind of Live Help can be available on IRC (see here). Don't hesitate to ask either there or on this very forum.

Thanks again and godspeed!

Hello Bloodstar and welcome!

You're probably talking about nsrenard, and no, I'm not that guy. I'm no impostor either, been using that name long before he became famous. :P

Hello kokairu and welcome here!

Thanks for explaining how duet songs currently work in USDX. To be honest, I feel that the file format - as it is nowadays - is very incomplete, and its lack of features lead me think that it might (should be ?) completely redesigned, breaking compatibility with the current UltarStar mods. Not to mention that these mods are not released as "stable" versions, and the format is not supported at all (yet ?) by alternatives such as Performous. As changes might be in the work, it might not be that safe to start creating songs for that format.

Also, I tried installing that USDX Challenge Mode on my Windows 7 session but couldn't get the songs to display at all. :/
Didn't try to fix that yet.

There are two things in favour of Duet Songs so far:
- I have no idea how many songs (approx) were created using the current Duet Mode file format. If the number is high enough, that might motivate the devs not to break compatibility with what's now available when implementing a solid format.
- If the format changes, it won't be by much and it will be easy enough to update the files (by merely copy-pasting the content, I guess)


There's a real opportunity to use Duet for a few songs, including Winter Wrap Up or Find a Pet. Will definitely have to look into this. ;)

I opened a Google Doc spreadsheet to track the overall progress of the project.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AoG1Y_EMdd9odEZua1E0WXZoeFNwZVl3Mk1seEZORkE


So far:

Thanks to LardonCru's work on the original Cutie Mark Crusaders song, this should be quite easy to do!

Also, this version totally sounds epic.

Done !

There's no background at all yet; work is being done to restore the official video (and remove its on-screen lyrics), since the source is a low-resolution interlaced VOB file.



Could someone give it a try? Thanks!

To separate two words, you have to manually add a space to the closest word when creating the song in your editor.

There are two ways of doing this: adding a space before the next word starts (A) and after a word ends (B):




According to the USDX documentation, the recommended way of doing it is A (before each word) so I'd advice to use this. It also makes things easier to read when opening the raw txt file. ;)

So I made a quick video of my overall workflow in Composer.

This seems to be a common issue when songs are created using Composer: the last syllable of phrases doesn't render fully, and the game clips to the next phrase.

Here's a brief frame-by-frame breakdown showing the issue. Focus on the blue bar and notice how it doesn't go all the way to the end:


















YASS seems to be aware of that common issue, and offers a way to fix it automatically in its own editor.



However, using that feature might break the song.

I don't know of any reliable way of fixing the issue yet, so just keep syncing as usual and we'll figure out how to resolve this eventually.

I'll take this slot. I won't actually try to create a lyrics track at first, but convert what the Pony Rock Project worked on first and see how it will turn out.

Flagged for review.

I have a feeling there's a lack of granularity on this one.

Composer tends no to separate phrases enough, meaning that often a singer has less than 50 milliseconds to hit the last note of each one (and Ultrastar will have already cleared the line out of the screen in order to make room for the next one).

This is easily fixed by using YASS, which can detect such common issues (View ? Errors) and automatically fix them. The end result is then absolutely clean in all circumstances. ;)

This is a lot harder to sync than I actually thought. :D
Pinkie, you're singing wayyy too fast and randomly!

Made a few small changes:
- Credited you in the notes.txt file as the file creator
- Fixed the abrupt end of some phrases
- Added some Golden Notes

Man, you're fast.

And the Cutie Mark Crusaders song was designed to be "cheesy '80s with 3 out of tune soloists."


I'ill definitely work on This Day Aria to split it into a Duet Mode track, since it's worthy a lot. But that's still non-standard and will only work in UltraStar Challenge Mod (unstable) and Vocaluxe. That format needs some clarification before trying that.

Also, I'd really want to release a Season 1 full pack before moving to the amazing S2 songs. :P

Added the vocals-only tracks in the common Dropbox.

These tracks consist of only the Central Channel of the 5.1 soundtrack, with only voices and close to no instrumentation. They are perfectly timed with the regular tracks. This means you can use them to double-check the pitch, and even import them into Composer to build and sync the lyrics with no ambient noise, and later switch back to the regular music track.

The files should only be considered as tools and won't be part of the songpack releases.

Seeing your result screens of these songs, I can only assess that you're a faaaaaaaaaar better singer than I am. :P