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I'm posting this up as a simplified reference for the CDLC creation process. Its a bit hard to understand what you're doing initially & I find that just having the steps laid out in a more detailed but brief overview is helpful. I will update the post with download links for the software & any other tips/points I think of.
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Software you'll need
EOF
DLC Builder
WWISE
GuitarPro or some tab editor that will let you edit/save/export GP tab files
Basic audio editor like SoundForge(paid) or Audacity (free) (not required but very helpful to prepare audio files)
Foobar2000 is helpful for easy conversion between audio formats if needed
UltraStar Creator for creating the lyrics if you want
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Preparation:
I create a folder for my song and put the tab file(s) in there along with the song audio file. I create a folder in this folder called "eof" which will hold my EOF project files.
(Optional) Adding silence to the start of the song, a step to make it more compatible with Rocksmith. I load my song into a sound editor like SoundForge or Audacity & I insert 10 seconds of silence at the start, and resave the file in the EOF folder. You can also use the add silence option inside EOF, set it to 10000ms for 10 seconds and you will need to select the re-encode option because the other option never works.
(Optional) I open my guitar tab file and insert 1 measure at the beginning of my tabs so when I import the tab into EOF, it places an empty bar at the first bar. If you don't have an empty bar at the start, it will give you an error every time you save about not having a count in phrase before the first notes. (Make sure that all the guitar/bass tracks in the tab file have at least 1 empty bar before the first bar with a note)
I also like to go through my tabs and re-label the sections so they make sense as phrases in Rocksmith. So I will label the intro, verse, bridge, solo, etc any section that you would want to riff repeat. I get all those sections ready in the tab so I can just import the sections from the tab. Make sure you name them one word with only letters & numbers, no spaces.
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Make your EOF window larger
By default EOF starts in a small window & its very annoying to work with. It took me a while to figure out you could enlarge the window size.
File -> Display -> Display
Here it will show a couple options or you can choose custom and type in a size. I choose custom and type in a size slightly smaller than my screen resolution to maximize to full size. In my case it is 1900x1000
Starting the Chart
1. Load the audio into a new EOF file - select the audio file you saved in the "eof" folder with the 10 seconds silence added. Choose "save to current audio's folder" and it will save your project in that "eof" folder you created.
2. Hit F5 to show the audio waveform
3. Drag the first bar to the first beat of the song (generally where the audio starts but can be a little tricky if there is a fade in or different kind of start to the song)
4. Look at the tempo in the tab file to see what its set at, then in EOF hit "estimate BPM" in the Beat menu - if its close to the tempo in the tab then I click OK on accept BPM and apply it. If the given number is about double the BPM in the tab, then I divide the given number in half and use that. You can also determine the song's tempo yourself by using a tap tempo website/program and play the song while tapping out the tempo.
5. Make sure to save your EOF file now as its at a proper starting point.
6a. (OPTIONAL - I have been skipping this step and although EOF gives a warning message at save, it has not been a problem in RS for me) If your tab file doesn't have 1 resting measure at the start, insert an empty bar at the first measure of the tab (in Guitar Pro or Tux). Next go to EOF and select "Beat -> Push Offset Back" and do this 4 times (if its a 4/4 time signature, if its not 4/4 adjust accordingly) so that it pushes the offset (starting line) back 4 times. This will result in a full bar being added to the starting point in EOF. Now when you import your tab, the empty bar/measure at the start will line up with the pushed back starting point in EOF, and you'll see the first notes line up with the start of the audio in measure 2. The reason you do this is because you need at least 1 bar at the start before any Riff Repeater Phrases or you will get an error. If you don't do this at the very beginning, it will be a big headache to add later because it messes with your beatsync.
6b. Import the tab and choose a part that will be good for beatsync - the bass track often works well because its simpler and often on the beat. Choose yes for importing the time signature of the tab. You can import the phrase sections also, but I usually wait until the very end to do this. I like to have at least one tab track active while doing the beatsync because seeing the notes helps me figure it all out. Hit M to hear the metronome and start sync'ing the beat - I do this both by listening to the metronome and the song, and visually looking for the beat in the waveform, along with looking at the tab notes compared to the audio. Its also very helpful to slow playback down to 50%-75% if you're having trouble.
Go measure by measure (bar by bar) and drag the starting point of each bar to the first beat. Watch for the waveform in the previous and current bar and it should line up with the audio spikes in the waveform.
Note that if you loaded a tab part, you may notice parts where the notes are off. This is fairly common because tabs will have errors that have to be corrected. About half the time I encounter a tab where sections enter at the wrong time & I have to load the tab and shift the 2nd half of the song over by 8 bars or whatever. If you encounter errors in the tab, you'll have to edit the tab and reimport the corrected one.
Note #2 I've found that for some reason EOF will screw up the timing of the notes about halfway through the song when I'm doing the beatsync with the tab loaded. If you notice the notes are off but the beatsync is accurate, re-import the tab part again and it will load correctly.
7. Once you finish that, its mostly done, you just need to add specific phrases to riff repeater sections, tone changes where needed and making sure all the small details are correct like finger hand positions.
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Handshapes, Fingerings and Fret Hand Positions (FHPs)
(This section is a work in progress and is currently incomplete)
Handshapes
To specify a handshape for a group of notes, select all the notes for the desired handshape
Goto Note -> Rocksmith -> Handshape -> Mark (CTRL SHIFT H)
This will highlight all those notes and make them part of the same handshape, with each note included shown at the first note in the group. If you click on the first highlighted note and press F, you can specify the fingering.
You can specify the fingers for each note or chord by selecting it and pressing F. When possible, you should use handshapes to define the finger positions. Using the handshape allows you to define the fingering position of a group of notes (such as a chord that is arpeggiated) and also makes your CDLC much more easy to read. When you specify the handshape for a group of notes, Rocksmith will display that handshape the entire time, making it very easy to read as you play. If you do not specify the handshape, Rocksmith with only display the fingering for each individual note/chord as it plays, so for example Finger 1 will flash on and off as that note comes and goes. Its a little hard to explain in text but the difference is huge when you're playing in game.
Also of major importance is that although Rocksmith will automatically generate the fingerings for known chords, the generated fingerings are often not correct in relation to how the song is played. When certain notes/chords follow each other, it can often change from the normal finger positions and if Rocksmith displays the wrong fingerings, it can be extremely confusing while the player is learning the CDLC. So you want to be sure to at least review your CDLC for any problematic chords that are displaying wrong fingers in Rocksmith and correct them.
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Fret Hand Positions (FHPs)
Once your tab is fully complete and loaded onto your EOF chart, you'll want to apply Fret Hand Positions.
To automatically generate FHPs:
Goto Track-> Rocksmith -> Fret Hand Positions -> List and click Generate (CTRL SHIFT F). It will automatically generate all the FHPs for you. Do this on each track (lead/rhythm/bass).
You'll want to do this after you define all your hand positions and fingerings. If you define the FHPs and then make changes to the fingerings, it can cause conflicts with the FHP if they do not match up. You can also define the FHPs and then delete them all and re-generate after making any changes.
Note that the automatically generated FHPs are not necessarily the best or correct positions for your chart. You may want to consider editing the FHPs where needed or generating all FHPs manually. To set a FHP or edit an existing one, go to the bar / note position and hit SHIFT+F and enter the fret number where finger 1 would be placed. Do this every time the position of finger one changes through the song.
Now when the song is playing in Rocksmith, it will highlight the starting fret position and the correlating fret numbers at the bottom under the current notes.
Setting FHP:
Select a note/chord where you want to specify the FHP (the fret where the index finger would be located. In Rocksmith, the FHP determines where the fretboard is highlighted at the bottom and it always highlights 4 frets based on where each of the 4 fingers should be). Press SHIFT+F and input the fret number into the box. You can see in this screenshot that it is set to fret 2, and a red 2 is displayed at the top along with a red line. At measure 6, the FHP changes to fret #6. Setting a correct FHP helps a lot to make a chart more readable while playing, and it also tells the player where each finger should be when set accurately. This means during more complex riffs & solos, you'd need to change the FHP every note where the index finger is moving to a new location.
If you're working a riff or solo with a lot of changes, or need to make a change to a note that isn't located on one of the beats, use the shortcut SHIFT+PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN to move to the next/previous note and set the FHP. Here's a screen shot where SHIFT+PAGEUP was used to move to the 0 note, where you can see the green bar sits on top of the 0 now.
SHIFT+F11 will cycle between what is displayed at the top, phrases, FHPs, chord names, just hit SHIFT+F11 until you see what you need to see:
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Some tips on improving the chart details
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Slides, Bends and Link to Next
See this thread for a detailed breakdown on using Tech Notes to add pre-bends, bend and release, etc:
Any slides that do not end at a specific fret such as a general slide down need to be converted to unpitched slides or it will give you an error in EOF & RS will display it as a one fret slide instead of a general slide- select the note/chord where the slide starts and convert to unpitched slide via the Note-> Pro Guitar->Slide menu.
All slides that end at a specific fret need to have the end fret defined. Select the first note where the slide begins, press "N" to view note properties and select the box "Linknext", then go the Note menu->Pro Guitar->Slide->Set end fret and set the end fret to fret the slide ends on. You will see the end fret now displays underneath the slide.
Note that if the slide contains multiple notes then you need to select each note in the slide, press "N" and select "Linknext" for each note in the slide, except for the very last one where the slide ends. This will link all the notes/frets together and display in RS as one long slide. If you do not check the "Linknext" value for each note in the slide, then it will display each note as a picked note in RS in the slide, instead of being displayed as a fluid slide without picks.
This also applies to bends where you have multiple repeated notes in the tab for an extended bend, or really any time you have an extended note that isn't picked again but has more than one note value carried over. You need to check "Linknext" for all of these notes or it will display each as a picked note instead of as one long, extended note/bend.
Slide in from above or below
EOF does not support these slides and when tabs have notes including a slide in from above/below you have to create a special notation in EOF. Say its just a quick 8th note, 1 fret slide in - you would add a note 1/8th before on the previous fret, set it to slide up to the next note and check "Linknext"
You could also arrange the tab before hand to so it reflects this notation instead of using the slide in from above/below notation so you don't have to change it inside EOF. I usually do it in EOF once, and then copy/paste through the song where needed.
Note that EOF will also display anything imported from a tab with slide in notation incorrectly - it will display the note as a different note with a slide lasting the whole duration. You will need to at least correct it to the correct note and remove the slide if nothing else.
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Ghost Notes
Before applying this, be sure to consider the ghost notes that are present in the tab and if you want them all to be displayed as played notes in RS. This will change all ghost notes to regular notes because Rocksmith doesn't show ghost notes and they won't show up when you're playing. Select all notes in a track by pressing Ctrl + A, then go to the Note menu->Pro Guitar-> Remove ghost note. This will remove all ghost notes from a track and make them normal notes instead.
(Make sure you do this at the very start after importing your tab. Do not do this after applying handshapes. Handshapes create ghost notes and require them to function. If you remove all ghost notes after creating handshapes, your handshapes will be jacked up.)
Note properties & Finger Positions
You can select any note or chord and press "N" to view its notes properties. Press "F" to view the finger positions. You'll want to make sure the finger positions are correct for any chords that are played in a non-standard way, or it will apply the standard fingering and this can result in confusing charts when its showing bad finger placement.
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Load the chart into DLC Builder
0. Go to File -> "Configuration" and put your name in the Charter field. You can specify a Test Folder location for your test builds, I created a test folder in my RS DLC directory for this purpose. Under Profile Path, input the folder which contains your RS game profile which will allow you to quickly & easily import guitar tones you have saved in game. The directory path may be slightly different for you depending on your installation path, the folder contains the file ending with _PRFLDB and the directory looks like this: \programs\Steam\userdata\141554572\221680\remote
1. Click the "+" icon next to Arrangements to add an arrangement. Select the xml file for the arrangement you want to add from the EOF project folder (guitar/bass/vocal)
2. Fill in any missing values on the left like Album Name and Year. Click the vinyl record image to add album art.
3. Add the audio by clicking the folder icon underneath "No Main Audio" and select the guitar.ogg file in the EOF project folder. Create the preview audio clip by clicking the scissors icon and specify the time values if you want to create a preview from a specific time in the song.
4. Output CDLC file for testing
Build Test will create a test CDLC file you can play in RS for testing.
Build Release will create the final CDLC file(s).
Play test your CDLC in Rocksmith & make adjustments
Load the CDLC in Rocksmith and playtest all parts. Check that all notes display correctly and that the volume levels on the tones are good. You may notice some small things that could be improved like points where it would be helpful to have a phrase marker placed for Riff Repeater. Or maybe there are some notes that need something added or chords that are showing the wrong fingers. You'll have to go back into EOF and make these changes, and then generate the CDLC file again.
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Add the lyrics
Open UltraStar Creator and load the guitar.ogg file from your EOF folder. Don't bother filling in any of the song details unless you want to, it doesn't matter for our purposes. Copy the lyrics text from a site such as genius.com and paste the lyrics into the text box. Remove anything that isn't actually lyrics like the song sections (Verse, etc).
Start playback of the song and hit the spacebar every time you hear the selected word in the lyrics. Hold the spacebar down for as long as the word is audible. As you hold the spacebar down, it will bind the time to the selected word. Each time you press/hold/release spacebar it moves to the next word. The process is a bit of a pain in the butt. When you reach the end, you can save the results to a txt file.
In EOF, go to Import -> Lyrics and select your saved text file. It will import the lyrics into the Vocals track. If you select the Vocals track, you can make adjustments to each word by selecting the box under the word and dragging it around, or extend/shorten the duration the word is held. Press "L" to change the word text when the box is selected.
I'm still a newb at this process. What I do is get a basic timing done in UltraStar Creator and then refine the timings in EOF, going through the whole song and dragging each word around and extending the lengths as needed. For some reason I do not know, it doesn't always show the updated lyric timing in EOF but it does display correctly in Rocksmith.
Inserting line breaks in the lyrics: Select the lyric and in EOF go to Note -> Lyrics -> Lyric Lines -> Mark (or just push CTRL X) - you will see the lyric section turn blue. This lyric will now show up on its own line and the next lyric will be on a new line. If you don't do this, the lyrics will be all grouped together on the same line across the screen.