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This will be spread across multiple posts for reasons of organization. For a while a lot of the posts will just be placeholders, but I'll eventually fill things out. This will be pretty comprehensive, and I hope touch on some things that aren't addressed in other tutorials, and also bring together a lot of accumulated knowledge that's now scattered across this site. It will also be in mostly text and pictures, simply because it's easier to update text and pictures than video, and probably less time-consuming overall for both me and you. I'll probably be skipping some of the more basic things that are contained in other tutorials. For example, the basics of what programs you'll need and how to arrange them are covered in @@Darjusz's tutorial. Some of the later material is outdated because of updates to the software from some of our hardworking developers (for example, you don't need to work directly with Wwise anymore, but can instead put guitar.ogg into the toolkit and it will produce the .wem from that), but it provides an excellent introduction to most of the tools you'll be using. Also, don't expect every CDLC of mine to perfectly implement everything that I mention here. Some things I've learned since making certain CDLC and haven't updated yet, others I might have decided weren't worth the time for the song, and so on and so forth. We do this as a hobby, so we can't really expect everything to make everything perfect. But if we find a flaw, we should notify the creator so it can be fixed - fixing this will not only improve the quality of that CDLC, but also likely will help improve subsequent output from that charter. I guess I'll start with my philosophy on making CDLC. First thing is to do what I can to make sure things are accurate. My sense of rhythm is pretty good, so it's pretty easy for me to tell if something is off rhythm or not once synced. My sense of pitch is pretty bad, but even so I can usually tell if something (like in a guitar solo) goes significantly higher or lower than the tab and the melody is completely off. If I see things like this that are off, I then have to decide whether to scrap the project, fix it myself, or release as is and try to get someone from the community to help with fixing it. Next is to make learning the song more approachable - you shouldn't (intentionally or unintentionally) make it harder to learn a song. There's a lot to do here, some of which may get noticed (RR sections and DD), but much of which probably won't (Fret Hand Positions/FHP, chord fingerings) but can still be very important, especially for songs that beginners will play or will prove popular. The rest of this guide will be spread throughout several replies to this post. The topics will include (they will be presented in this order, but probably won't be written in this order): The basics of spectrogram view (not started)Syncing a song in EoF (not started)Preparing tabs for import (in progress)Sectioning, and adding DD (Mostly done)Fixing up slides (Mostly done, but needs examples and images)Miscellaneous technique stuff (in progress)Fixing up FHP (Mostly done, but needs examples and images)Lyrics (mostly done)Miscellaneous Toolkit stuff (In progress)I'm almost certainly not the foremost expert in all of these subjects on here, so if anyone wants to assist in the writing on some of these subjects, or just present an alternative perspective on one, all help would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there are any other topics you think should be included, let me know! It's a little hard to judge the quality of a DLC without playing it, but here's a rough guide of what I'd consider important for a good DLC that I'll come back to often and enjoy playing. The exact order can depend on the content of the DLC (techniques, chords, arpeggios, etc.), so don't take the order too seriously. The essentials: Accurate tab, with good fretboard logicBeat synced, not note syncedHigh quality audioUseful RR sections. If there's something that's both new and hard (it could be a chord progression, a new idea in a solo, a fill, etc.), it should be towards the beginning of a section, and I shouldn't have to wait too long to practice it each time around.Well done slides. Too many bad slides (which often means slides left alone after import, as a lot of tabs manage slides incorrectly) can ruin the experience of an otherwise good custom. Pay attention to slide timing, whether it should be legato or not, whether it's a slide in or a slide out, and whether the slide should be pitched or unpitched.Tones. At the very least, have a tone. Even if you can't come up with tones that fit every part of the song exactly, it's better to have something (that people can switch away from if they choose) than to break the tone engine of everyone who ever plays your DLC.Of great utility (sometimes): FHP. This is especially important for tapped sections, or places where the index finger is rooted and one reaches over more than 4 frets (quite common in solos given the size of frets higher up the fretboard, but also possible lower down). If these aren't done manually it can create a lot of visual clutter and be quite confusing, which does not help anyone trying to learn these (generally tough) passages.Chord fingerings. It can sometimes be a bit of a chore to enter them all, but it's really frustrating trying to learn a new chord while actually playing the song (especially if its chord pane is partially obscured by other chord panes), and if you don't put in the chord fingering (and maybe a chord name), it won't appear in the chord book.Suitable scroll speed. The RSToolkit default of 2.0 is often way too slow. Most official DLC have a scroll speed of 1.3, and some are faster. More technical songs often benefit from higher scroll speeds, and rhythm and lead often benefit from faster scroll speeds than bass (so that chord panes get space out appropriately). It's down here because if people dislike your scroll speed, it's one of the easier changes to make.DD. It's also reasonably simple for the user to add if the charter doesn't, but more time consuming. I don't consider it essential since I'd usually rather play the full riff at a slow speed than a simplified version at full speed so I don't use it very much unless I absolutely can't sightread something. But I know many others will disagree with me and consider it essential.Good use of tech notes and techniques. Accurate bends can add a lot of nuance to a solo. Good use of handshapes and arpeggios can make it much easier to understand complicated passages. Using the wrong techniques in some places can be confusing (for example, harmonics shouldn't have slides, bends, or vibratos, but pinch harmonics can have these techniques. Also palm muting vs. fret hand muting, as sometimes tabbers get these wrong, or just leave out palm mutes).Nice to have: Alternative/bonus arrangements. If there are multiple guitarists that trade off solos, it might be nice to have arrangements for each individual guitarist in addition to a lead path that has all solos. If a custom uses a 5-string bass, it is nice to have an arrangement for 4-string bass so that most people can play it.Lyrics. And please, if you're going to go to the effort of making lyrics, make sure they're synced appropriately and have line breaks at natural places (I've seen a lot of CDLC with the entire song as one line, which means the game makes line breaks once enough text has accumulated, which only rarely coincides with actual lines).Most of the other posts will expand on the topics introduced in this post. Thanks for reading!