Messages

Done ! Every single musical number now has its background video. They should be crisp enough to be enjoyable on a 1080p display, and lightweight enough to be redistributed and played on even netbooks.

They are all available in the Dropbox "Video" folder.



These videos have no audio track, since Ultrastar / Performous will mute them anyway and just play a MP3/OGG alongside (in sync). They can be re-used for any other language.

https://thebrickyblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/ultrastar-txt-files-in-more-depth/

#TITLE: Title of the song
#ARTIST: Artist behind the song
#MP3: The name of the MP3 being used for this song. Must have a .mp3 extension included here
#GAP: The amount of time, in milliseconds, before the lyrics start. This allows for any instrumental (or other type of) introduction to the song. It is important to note the number of the first note below. If it is not 0 (which is rare) then the #GAP will be less straightforward. If the lyrics aren't set to start until 8 beats into the song, but the singing starts straight away, then the #GAP may need to be set to a negative number, to force the lyrics to start early.
#BPM: Beats per minute. This signifies the rate at which the text should display. Put simply, fast songs have a higher BPM, slow songs have a lower BPM. To complicate it slightly, the BPM can be upped for slower songs as long as more beats are added in the main body of the song below. If the BPM of a song is high then it generally means a good, smooth .txt file with more attention to subtle changes in tone. But if that means nothing to you, then you don't need to worry about this tag. If it is a good .txt file, then it won't need changing.
#GENRE: The genre of the song. As UltraStar has a 'sort by genre' option, it's a useful tag to use. That, and the search option uses the word(s) in the #GENRE tag when you're on the song selection screen, so you can automatically find all 'rock' songs, for example, if you use this tag.
#EDITION: Typically refers to the SingStar edition, if applicable, that the .txt file is taken from. For organisational purposes, it's good to leave this tag in.
#COVER: Typically the single/album art appropriate for the song, to be displayed on the song selection screen. This is not necessary but it does brighten up the look of the game (and makes certain songs identifiable when not selected). This must be in .jpg format and the .jpg extension must be displayed here.
#VIDEO: The name of the video file used for this song. Must have the file extension included out of the many types of video file that UltraStar accepts.
#BACKGROUND: If you don't have a video file, then you may prefer to have a background image displayed instead of a plain background or visualization. This must be in .jpg format and should have the .jpg extension attached. If the song is set to have a #VIDEO file and is linked in properly, then this tag is disregarded. If the .txt is set to have a #VIDEO but the video is not linked in properly for whatever reason, then the game will automatically display the background image.
#RELATIVE: This is an unusual tag that I will talk about later. It is simply set to YES or NO. If it is set to YES, then it specifies a particular format of .txt file that functions in a different way to a typical .txt file. If the tag is absent, or is set to NO, then the .txt file functions as the others do. It is essential for this tag to be applied on a relative .txt file (these are rare. If you find one on USDB then the tag will be readily applied anyway).




A few things to note:

• That file should always use ANSI encoding with CRLF (Windows compatibility)
• The #GAP: should always be 0 in the final releases
• The #CREATOR: tag should be used to credit who synced the song
• Should we fill the #EDITION: tag with "My Little Pony"?
• #GENRE: should be "soundtrack" - maybe we could set something a little more specific here?

CaptainComedy sent me his proper (temp) MP3 rip of this song. This is the file we'll use for all timings.
I updated it in the Dropbox; lyrics are now a tiny bit off-sync, but that will be easy to fix.

I also added the background video. Still can't believe I managed to cram it with a 720p resolution in a relatively small 30Mb file, while keeping a decent quality and perfect lipsync. Gotta thank the KDEnlive dev's some day.

This song is now only missing a CD artwork and a static 1080p wallpaper.

Taken by Aellyx -

Got it, thanks! Added the BG video, you'll be able to test it out from the Dropbox (check your PMs).

[too]

Reviewed it. :D
Well, without actually trying to sing it yet.

It seems just too perfect to be true! Timing is top-notch.

[something@derpy.fr]

I'm starting a little contest. As I own the derpy.fr domain name, I can give out a few email addresses. Only a few, though, because it's just a domain name and there's no hosting plan behind it at all (hence, the redirect to another domain in order to host this project).

I can give out 5 email addresses. Because that's a very limited quantity, they will be given as a prize to our top contributors.
They will look like: something@derpy.fr, with "something" being anything you want (if not already taken).

Webmail access: http://mail.derpy.fr/


I might extend this contest to provide @rainbowdash.fr email addresses later on.

Awesome work!
And I think we'll have to think on how to handle the Golden Notes, in order to make something consistent enough across all songs.

As for the dropbox, check your PM's. ;)

Preview (and some other unrelated stuff)

Working on it!

[http://www.yass-along.com/]

Another neat lyrics editor is YASS, which runs on Java. What sets it appart from Composer is that it supports importing a melody from MIDI or KAR files; is you have a proper file with vocals correctly set up, there's not much more to di after importing it.

Official site: http://www.yass-along.com/

Creating a new file, by importing from .mid:



Editing lyrics:

[http://sourceforge.net/projects/ultratools/]

Windows users only: If you don't enjoy Composer for a reason or another, but still like its workflow, you can give a try to UltraTools.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ultratools/

It offers about the same set of features with another interface. The synth might even be a bit better.

I'm investigating the possibility of creating Duet songs in UltraStar. It seems only USDX and Vocaluxe supports it for now, and the file format is not yet clear.

Duet mode allows two singers to take part in a song with a different vocal track for each. A player can be a lead singer and the other produces the backing vocals, for instance:



It can also be used when two characters are singing. For instance, the first player could sing Fluttershy's verses and the second player could sing RainbowDash's part in the Find a Pet song.

Unfortunately, that's still an experimental feature in USDX, so there isn't much documentation on how to create Duet tracks.

Note: Up to 6 players can join the fun in USDX (but you need a dual-monitor setup, with 3 players per screen). I have no idea if the Duet Mode works with 6 players, with each his/her own track. If it works, this could be awesome to use.

Awesome!

I'll provide the background video later on.
Done! You'll find it in the Dropbox. ;)


I'm experiencing minor issues with MP3 and Composer too on Linux, mostly a bit of lag. Working with the "raw" WAV files could be a good idea, I'll have to investigate that a bit. Thanks for the tip.

Hi there! :D

[Sounds good! How can I help?]

Sounds good! How can I help?

Well, there are many ways to help - two of them being especially appreciated for now! While we currently have all needed audio and background video assets for the official songs, we still need to sync the lyrics and design static art for each song.

Please register on the forum!

First step: get familiar with UltraStar DX (or Performous, or Vocaluxe)
- Install and configure one (or more) of these applications on your computer. Pick your favorite - they all support the same karaoke files.
- Install a reference song (this one is provided by the Ultrastar DX project) to make sure everything works perfectly (ie. no audio lag).

I want to help sync'ing songs!
This part may seem daunting, but it's quite fun and not that hard actually!
- Experiment a bit with an editor.
  ? There are a few to choose from, here's a partial list of tools.
  ? If you plan to use Composer, check out this thread.
  ? Try opening the resulting "song.txt" file in a text editor, to see how it's build
- Pick a song you wish to work on!
  ? We're currently focusing on S1 english songs. Get your MP3s from that thread!
  ? Create a thread (or post) in the W.I.P. section so we all know what you're working on.
  ? Get to work, silly! ;) And release your files in its dedicated thread.

You don't need to bother about anything else at this point. The background videos and various artworks will be added later on.
What's important is to keep both the song's rhythm and pitch as accurate as possible!

I wanna help with the art!
I'd love to see some specifically crafted artworks for this project. Only static images are needed:
- A CD cover, that will appear in the game's menu. To be honest, I have no idea what should be done here so far. Got any suggestion?
- A background, that will be seen during loading times and during the song if no video is displayed (there will be a lighter pack, easier to download, easier to use on low-end systems such as netbooks, with no bg videos at all). Aim for a 1080p picture!

? If a thread for the song you choose already exists in the WIP section, please post your art in here.
? If none exists, create it!  ;)


Going further
We're sharing a Dropbox folder with the work being done. This makes it a lot easier to work on: all the files you might need are already available here, and you'll get a local copy of everything that is being worked on. You can even set up UltraStar / Performous to use the Dropbox folder as its songs directory!

Please request an access to the Dropbox shares in this topic. If you don't already have a Dropbox account, do not create one yet - I'll send you an invite, this will help to gain more free storage for the project. Thanks!

Before:


After:


(The starry background is added by Performous, and won't appear in USDX. The first screenshot was taken in UltraStar)


- Updated the background video with a 720p color-corrected source
- Updated the audio track, now using CaptainComedy's release (re-encoded from FLAC to MP3 VBR -q0)
- Fixed Myke Greywolf's lyrics file starting offset to match the previous assets

This track now needs two pieces of artwork to make it complete and releasable:
- Cover CD art
- Background wallpaper art
+ Golden notes (?)

Testing and feedback is, as always, much appreciated.

[Server: irc.ponychat.netChannel: #karaoke]

The MLP Karaoke project now has an official IRC channel on the Ponychat Network. Join in for live chat, support, fun and massive amount of idling!

Point your favorite IRC client (mIRC, Xchat, irssi...) to:
Server: irc.ponychat.net
Channel: #karaoke
or click on <a href="irc://irc.ponychat.net/karaoke">this link</a>.

If you don't have any IRC client installed on your machine, you can use this web client.
Some recommendations for Windows users: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-7-free-irc-clients-windows-7/

[Music]

Expected assets (min) quality is as followed:

Music (Stereo)
MP3: VBR, -q0, j-stereo
OGG: VBR, -q0, j-stereo
Can't. Has to use CBR, or UltraStar might not interpret the song correctly. Switching to MP3 320kpbs.

Video
As seen here.
- 720p (1280x720), 23.97fps (framerate of the YP/CC releases)
- Container: AVI
- Codec: libx264 /H.264
- Bitrate: approx. 5Mbps Testing shows that a 2-pass 2Mbps libx264 target is decent enough for the project, with a much lower file size.

Pictures
- Wallpapers: 1080p (1920x1080)
- CD Covers: ?

Texts
?

is being done. Yay!

Love is in bloom!
A beautiful bride,
A handsome groom!

Two hearts,
Becoming one!
A bond that cannot be undone!

Because love's in bloom!
A beautiful bride,
A handsome groom!

I said, love's in bloom!
You're starting a life,
And making room...
For us!
-
Your special day!
We celebrate now,
The pony way!

Your friends,
Are all right here!
Won't let
These moments disappear!

Because love's in bloom!
A beautiful bride,
A handsome groom!

I said, love's in bloom!
You're starting a life,
And making room...
For us...
(For us...)
For us!