Creating CDLC tutorial: making sections

[SmellyOrc]

I realize that this has been posted before in video form ( http://customsforge.com/topic/841-how-to-make-cdlc-full-in-depth-tut-completed/ ), but seeing as people still ask about it, and there are still CDLCs showing up without sections or very few sections, I thought It'd be a good idea to make a quick, easy tutorial (no video!) on how to add sections to your arrangements.

Here goes:

 

Sections are what separates your full arrangements into, well, sections e.g. Chorus, Verse, Bridge, which are selectable in RR (Riff Repeater). So, how do we go about making them?

 

1) Load up your eof file

 

2) Select the BEAT MARKER where you want the section to BEGIN. Do this by clicking on the beat marker (the arrow):

 

http://thumbnails112.imagebam.com/34538/2edcca345370955.jpg

 

3) Press Shift + S

 

4) Select one from the list of names. Enable "Also add as RS phrase". Note: The DDC might make its own phrases. I still have "Also add as RS phrase" enabled and ddc works without a hitch.

 

5) If you want the section start to be just for your current arrangement, enable "Specific to <Part x>"

 

http://thumbnails111.imagebam.com/34538/a17db1345371221.jpg

 

6) Press Ok

 

7) Repeat for every beat marker where you want a section to BEGIN.

 

8) ???

 

9) Profit!

 

Now, some notes:

 

1) Use the "noguitar" section name (second to last one in the list) if you have a long part without any notes being played. This allows you to skip this section in RS2014.

 

2a) Always start a section on a beat that has a note on it. If your section starts on a beat marker that has no note at the same time, the section will not be selectable in RS2014. So, do NOT do this:

 

http://thumbnails111.imagebam.com/34538/ea8f0c345371670.jpg

 

2b) In the rare case that your notes will start before or after a beat marker, cheat. Only do this AFTER you've synced up everything (in every arrangement) and AFTER you've confirmed that the section is not selectable if you put in on the beat marker before a note, like so:

 

http://thumbnails111.imagebam.com/34538/56834a345371859.jpg

 

If the section is not selectable in RR, just do the following:

 

Make sure you do not have "Auto adjust notes" enabled

Anchor the previous beat marker (select it and press "a")

Drag the beat marker over the note

Set the BPM back to what it was, and do NOT enable "Adjust Notes"

 

Done!

 

3) There is nothing to "end" a specific section, besides the "noguitar" section. Sections end where the new section starts. Plan accordingly.

 

4) Don't be too stingy, and don't be too generous with sections.

5) If you have too many sections (I believe this starts to become a problem around 25 sections or so), RR might bug out a bit visually, and not show any bars. RR will still work, but the bars visual representation will just be bugged. If this is the case, refer back to note 4 (so, don't be too generous!)

6) RS2014 does not care how many choruses or verses there are.

 

 

That's it.

If I see any new CDLC from now on without proper sections I'll hunt you down!

 

 

 

 

[TomSawyer2112]

I'm not aware that a section starting on a beat without a note could  (would?) cause problems in RR. I never ran into that issue.

 

Look at the start of "Boys of Summer"

No Notes on the Intro Section and DD in RR works fine.

 

http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/ec04/oz4ebk0uclq8qzhbg.jpg?size_id=4  http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/4046/g5lxm7ncpgr004pbg.jpg?size_id=3

 

 

To resync beats on notes,  shift Left-Click+Drag moves the beat without notes,no need to change "Auto adjust notes" in preferences.

 

Sections display the main structure of song.

Sometimes, a chorus may not restart on a main beat, often after a solo with a different speed (time signature).

Instead of moving beats, it may be more correct  to change time signatures (i.e. a 6/4 or two 2/4  instead of 4/4) before the chorus note, and reestablish the main TS 4/4 on the Chorus note.

 

It's useful to say, that phrases in a way subdivide a section.

Being a sub-object of a section, they should not start before or end after a section.

The easiest way to respect this is to keep Sections and phrases 1 to 1 equal by "also add as phrase".

 

But a section can have multiple phrases.

Phrases can have free names, and I guess if they repeat, RS understands this as a same bloc of notes.

If you succeed/fail on one level, all levels of the same name will be adjusted (in official songs)

 

In cDLC, automatic adjusting of Dynamic difficulty works badly, often not at all, because of insufficient structuring the song.

I level 100% of a bloc of notes, but the next same bloc remains at lowest level.

 

One way for better structuring / dividing a song is to "Song/Catalog" a same bloc of notes,

Catalog blocs can be displayed (and played) below the main "Piano roll".

Catalog Fret blocs can be named freely, and their name can be used as phrases "LeadScale1", "BassScale2" ...

You can search (F3) for the bloc's repeats to seek the first beat of this bloc, and give it the same phrase name.

 

I only discovered the "Catalog" feature recently after reworking the shortkeys for EOF.

[MadMaxx]

I'm not aware that a section starting on a beat without a note could  (would?) cause problems in RR. I never ran into that issue.

 

I have one or two customs that have the intro not selectable in RR. If i remember correctly they dont have notes/chords on the beat with the section name so it could be the cause of the problem. Ill give it next time a try and see if moving the section forward will fix it.

 

Sustains going from one section into another can cause i think also a problem with RR.

 

btw. when not having DD how do Section/Phrases need to be placed to get that dynamic blue line below the DD bars to work.

 

I usually place Section the lazy way  with the "Also add as RS Phrase", its usually the fastest way but the blue bright line does not work using this method.

 

The problem is probably that there are a lot of phrases with the same name. I guess that a Section Verse needs have the Phrases called verse1, verse2.

 

Verse 1/verse1, Verse 2/verse2 instead of using Verse 1/verse, Verse 2/verse

[TomSawyer2112]

In a section Intro of another cDLC, I set 4 phrases called "Scale1". And anothers called "Scale2, 3, Riff1 , 2,3"
http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/0d08/puniaho9c981301bg.jpg?size_id=7

 

In a 4th section called "Riff" I set 1 phrase called "Scale1"and others.

http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/f79b/w5235ha5t7lj69dbg.jpg?size_id=6
 

 

I let the files go through the DD creator ( with 6 phrases set) and it kept the 5 phrases I did.

http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/b167/25dmq383jhocdg2bg.jpg?size_id=4

Now, when I increase the level in the section intro (it's not possible to increase the level of a phrase separatly),
the phrase "scale1" in the "Riff" section is automatically increased, and only this phrase.

 

 

XML Level  of the EOF Non-DD : Phrase names get replaced by a phrase ID

 

<phrase disparity="0" ignore="0" maxDifficulty="0" name="Riff1" solo="0"/>
<phrase disparity="0" ignore="0" maxDifficulty="0" name="Riff2" solo="0"/>
<phrase disparity="0" ignore="0" maxDifficulty="0" name="Riff3" solo="0"/>
phrase disparity="0" ignore="0" maxDifficulty="0" name="Scale1" solo="0"/> 
<phrase disparity="0" ignore="0" maxDifficulty="0" name="Scale3" solo="0"/>
<phraseIteration time="5.976" phraseId="4"/>
<phraseIteration time="9.910" phraseId="4"/>
<phraseIteration time="13.845" phraseId="4"/> 
<phraseIteration time="17.779" phraseId="4"/> 
<phraseIteration time="42.369" phraseId="3"/>
<phraseIteration time="46.304" phraseId="4"/>
<phraseIteration time="49.255" phraseId="5"/>

XML Level  of DD Creator : Phrase names of EOF get lost replaced by another name and  phrase ID

 

<phrase disparity="0" ignore="0" maxDifficulty="3" name="p1" solo="0"/>
<phrase disparity="0" ignore="0" maxDifficulty="3" name="p2" solo="0"/>
<phrase disparity="0" ignore="0" maxDifficulty="3" name="p3" solo="0"/>
<phrase disparity="0" ignore="0" maxDifficulty="2" name="p4" solo="0"/>
<phrase disparity="0" ignore="0" maxDifficulty="2" name="p5" solo="0"/>
<phraseIteration time="5.976" phraseId="2" variation="">
<phraseIteration time="9.910" phraseId="3" variation="">
<phraseIteration time="13.845" phraseId="3" variation="">
<phraseIteration time="17.779" phraseId="4" variation="">
<phraseIteration time="40.402" phraseId="8" variation="">
<phraseIteration time="42.369" phraseId="9" variation="">
<phraseIteration time="46.304" phraseId="4" variation="">
<phraseIteration time="49.255" phraseId="10" variation="">
 

And the link to another section seems only made to the last same phrase.

 

I hope I clarified how to go further with the lazy "Section=Phrase" option,

to make cDLC closer to official quality

and make Riff Repeator and Dynamic Difficulty work as they should.

[firekorn]

As long phrases have the same name, they will react the same way to DD, section are just selectable area of a song and the name don't matter for DD but they will be shown in the RS recommandations when they ask you to work on a section of a song.

 

The DDC automatically name phrases so that exact same phrases are named the same and evolved the same way but they need to be exact match.

[Alain24601]

Really good post. I know how to create the sections in eof however being a newbie and no knowledge of music theory, can you suggest a good article on how to create sections if they are not identified in the tablature? Does it matter what you label them?

 

Eof gives you lots of options such as verse, chorus, interlude etc...

 

I guess i am looking for a definition of these options and how to recognize them in tabs...

 

Thanks in advance.

[firekorn]

Rocksmith Section :

Intro : the name is self explanatory.

Outro : the same as the intro except, it's at the end of the song.

Verse : it's mostly used in lyrics to describe the part that change over the course of the song. (can be surrounded by a pre or a post chorus that create the transition)

Chorus : the opposite of the verse it's the lyrics part that repeat itself. (can be surrounded by a pre or a post chorus that create the transition)

Bridge : most of the time unique and toward the end of the song, there's also lyrics going with it (or a solo). (can be surrounded by a pre or a post chorus that create the transition)

Solo : Part where an instrument play something that stand out (mostly without lyrics over it).

Ambient : slow instrumental part of a song.

Breakdown : part where the drums play a break to pass from a section to another of a song (short section).

Interlude : A pause inside a melody or a theme.

Transition : similar to the breakdown but not with the drums.

Hook : can be considered as an intro, something to catch again the attention during a song.

Riff : As the solo but can be found multiple times in the song.

Fade In : as the intro but with a volume augmentation.

Fade Out : as the outro but with a volume diminution.

Buildup : can be considered as a pre-solo part.

Variation : A slight change of the main theme (changing the pitch or the rhythm)

Modulated (chorus, verse or bridge) : as the variation but for those specifics part.

Head : ???

Melody : Main theme of a song

Vamp : same as the buildup

No guitar : Section non selectionnable in Riff Repeater, usefull to allow easy section selection when there's empty space.

Silence : Self explanatory (The No Guitar section is a better option most of the time)

 

It's my own personnal interpretation of what every name means, it might not be exact but it can gives a good idea of what to use when.

[Pojski]

Great tutorial. Thank You for that. I think I know how to make sections. :D

 

The thing is I would like to edit sections of existing songs (for example: Unforgiven: http://customsforge.com/page/customsforge_rs_2014_cdlc.html/_/pc-enabled-rs-2014-cdlc/the-unforgiven-r2187).I'd like to add some sections because they're too long for me. But here's the question. Is it possible to edit existing .psarc file or do I have to create song from scratch? I haven't found a way to load .psarc file into EoF neither to convert .psarc to .eof.

 

I've done some searching but found nothing regarding my problem I just hope I haven't missed anything.

[raynebc]

You'd need to use the toolkit to "unpack" the Rocksmith song package and it should give you audio and XML files, which will be enough to get them into EOF. The Rocksmith 2 exclusive features will get lost when importing it into EOF though.

[coolethan1]

so will this make it possible to make it like real dlc if you turn up the difficulty it will do if it is named 2

[droxid]

Hey there! Thanks for the Info - however I sill can not create sections :( . I am trying for some time now.... I click on the arrow, shift+s... window pops up...Select the name, enable "Also add as RS phrase", press OK... and nothing.... no section created... also tired the hint to place the note exactly on the beat marker... no improvement... tried klicking only on the note instead of the beat marker.. also nothing... what am I doing wrong?

 

I also dont understand the difference between a phrase and a section... could sb explain please?

[firekorn]

Section are what you choose in the Riff Repeater, Phrase on the other are used to define the part for the Dynamic Difficulty (same phrase will level the same way).

 

Are you sure there's no section created? you can change what EOF shows over the chart in the preferences and you can look at the list of section under Beat->All Event to see how many event and where they are.

[droxid]

Section are what you choose in the Riff Repeater, Phrase on the other are used to define the part for the Dynamic Difficulty (same phrase will level the same way).

 

Are you sure there's no section created? you can change what EOF shows over the chart in the preferences and you can look at the list of section under Beat->All Event to see how many event and where they are.

that was it... :)  I didn't select it at the "2D pane shows" checkbox.... Now the sections are visible in EOF... but in RS there are still no sections. when I create the custom I usually just Import the psarc I created before without sections and reimport the new notes.eof - then I generate the package again. Is this a problem? Do I have to create the package from scratch and type everything in (name, artist,..) and also select all the files and tones anew?

 

When I save I always get this error: "Warning: There is no intro RS section, but the beat marker before the first note already has a section. You should move that section, because only one section per beat is exported."

 

My first section starts exactly on the beatmarker and the first note.. however it is the 6th beatmarker of the whole song... could this be the problem?

[firekorn]

You can save a package in the .xml format that can allow you to automatically complete all the field (even the arrangement with the correct path) so that you just have to load the .xml back in the toolkit and click on generate to have a new package updated with your EOF modification.

 

From what i've seen and done, importing a package is usefull to make modification when you don't have the original file that were used for the package creation in the first place, when you are the charter there's no need to import any package to create a new one since you have the sources for the creation.

[droxid]

I made it work... seems that the problem was that my first section(like every other) was called verse. Apparently the first section has to be called Intro.

[droxid]

Maybe you could add how to delete sections to your tutorial - (Beat->Events)

 

Also how to do the push offset back thing and the metronome add for the start was very helpful to me when I couldn't select the first section... read about this in another tutorial, but it fits here too.

[coolethan1]

so how do i do it so if i make a section named riff 1 and a another section named riff 2

will they both go up in difficulty if i'm to increase the difficulty 

[raynebc]

All phrases that have the same name will level up and down together. Sections are instead used to split the song into different parts.

[aggeloura1]

I downloaded cdlc over the mountain-Ozzy Osbourne but unfortunately doesn't t support riff reapeter and difficulty settings in it so the only thing to play it is at 100% difficulty and 100 %. Is there anybody that is very easy for him to make it like the other songs we play ? You can download it on our cdlc' s list.

[Cootee]

Hi so I am just starting off on creating CDLC, I am doing a 7 string song where I have most of the lead minus the solo set as the main lead, on rocksmith its showing the X does not exist HOWEVER, its underneath as an alternate lead, and the 6 string guitar solo section is showing as bonus lead, rhythm is just fine. in the tool kit I have my lead as Lead with lead priority and the solo as lead bonus section.