This is my basic workflow for making the song. This is also good approach for quick check if it's worth to do the song (checking out the tab).

Disclaimer: This is not the only one approach but it's the best practice for minimizing manual frustrating error-prone work and it allows you to actually go back and fix anything in the sync, tab, sections or phrases easily. (You can use this tutorial even if you later decide to maintain chart completely in EoF.)

Note for tabbing: I have found GP/GPA combo to be great for creating tabs from scratch - I figure out the BPM, sync the measures and progressively fill them up with notes (hearing GP tab immediately or slowing down the GPA playback and playing along the song is great help).

Repeat signs: I didn't have any issues in GPA so you can do this later, but you might need to replace repeats to avoid EoF import issues and I don't recommend to import GP3 format. Without repeats you also get more control over partitioning phrases/sections.

Replacing repeats is trivial in TuxGuitar once you get hold of it:

1. remove start and end sign (note the number at the end sign = N)
2. copy those measures (all tracks, you want to copy all instruments)
3. go to the next measure and let TuxGuitar paste it in new measure N times (otherwise it will be overwritten)
4. if it is alternate ending, you need to do one additional paste at the last (alternate ending) measure

Synchronization

1. You should have correct GP tab prepared and also MP3 file, it will be hard to sync if notes in tab are not in place. Make sure you have at least one empty measure at the start (otherwise you will need to do the sync again later).

2. Install Go PlayAlong and load GP and MP3 files into it. You might want to add few seconds of silence first if it starts too soon, you can use Audacity and its Generate -> Silence function. It is possible to add it later too and set EoF project Delay value but it always keeps bugging you to convert it to empty measures which you shouldn't do if you follow this approach.

3. Place some links on notes and peaks of the waveform, preferably only on measure boundaries, don't try to fix the tab by overriding the timing (especially if you are trying to sync both guitar and bass at once). Do this manually for the whole song to ensure high precision. Hardest point is the start, you should make sure you get it right, doing high frequency (guitar or loud drum beats) is easiest, but you need to check if both arrangements are in sync once you're done. Use zoom and slow down the playback to make this easier.

If you place first link after the actual first note of arrangements you care about, go back and place a link before them too to avoid possible EoF import issue (measures up to first link will be shifted forward/backward depending on where the first measure fits). discussion

4. Check if the result is correct for all relevant arrangements.

5. Export. Licensed GPA is needed to do this but it's absolutely essential, you can calculate BPMs manually but there will be a lot of imprecisions this way and I don't recommend it. (If export fails, check artist/songbook name and remove any space in front of it.)

6. Now you can create EoF project and import XML file with Guitar Pro import. If you don't need to change timing you will never have to do this again, you can clear sections/phrases and notes and import them directly from GP file if you fix anything.

7. Now you are ready to save and create a package with toolkit. Be sure to save package template for future rebuilds (each arrangement has unique IDs which identify score and progress in Rocksmith).

There is also fairly recent feature of slowing down playback in EoF which is a great help for checking note sync but everything should be the same as in GPA.

Phrases and sections

(Make sure you use EoF r1300 and later to prevent phrase import issues.)

Note that you can manage section and phrase names directly in GP tab (section names and text markers), I use alternate EoF setting for importing phrases from section names and sections from text markers on first beat of measure. If you intend to split phrases and sections differently or name them differently you need to keep separate GP tabs and EoF project for each arrangement (I recommend it, having correctly labeled phrases and noguitar sections for both bass and guitar adds a lot to the chart quality).

Sections (text markers) need to be on the first beat of measure and phrase name (measure marker) is required at the same position. Section is the part that is selectable in riff repeater.

You can name phrases whatever you want but you should use the same name for this particular phrase throughout the tab, this will instruct Rocksmith to advance them at once.

Section names are restricted to these Rocksmith names (use only the word in quotes, EoF accepts both forms but the first one is canonical):

    {"intro", "Intro"},    {"outro", "Outro"},    {"verse", "Verse"},    {"chorus", "Chorus"},    {"bridge", "Bridge"},    {"solo", "Solo"},    {"ambient", "Ambient"},    {"breakdown", "Breakdown"},    {"interlude", "Interlude"},    {"prechorus", "Pre Chorus"},    {"transition", "Transition"},    {"postchorus", "Post Chorus"},    {"hook", "Hook"},    {"riff", "Riff"},    {"fadein", "Fade In"},    {"fadeout", "Fade Out"},    {"buildup", "Buildup"},    {"preverse", "Pre Verse"},    {"modverse", "Modulated Verse"},    {"postvs", "Post Verse"},    {"variation", "Variation"},    {"modchorus", "Modulated Chorus"},    {"head", "Head"},    {"modbridge", "Modulated Bridge"},    {"melody", "Melody"},    {"postbrdg", "Post Bridge"},    {"prebrdg", "Pre Bridge"},    {"vamp", "Vamp"},    {"noguitar", "No Guitar"},    {"silence", "Silence"}

"noguitar" section is used for silent parts and is excluded from Riff Repeater. If only one arrangement is silent then you should make a copy of GP tab and EoF project and do different version of section naming.

If you want to see purple bars in the song chart you need to have more than one difficulty. I wouldn't do that manually in EoF, you can use either DDC or I use a script to do exact copy so I have 2 identical levels.

Technique import

(My notes about how EOF imports various techniques and known issues, if you know about some, let me know.)

Should work (let me know if you notice issues):

- Note/chord
- Palm mute
- Sustain
- Accent
- Slide to note/chord
- Dead note/chord
- Hammer on/pull off
- Slap/pop
- Vibrato (only single frequency, probably only visual effect)
- Tremolo (see import issues)
- Harmonic (& harmonic pinch?)
- Tap
- Bend
- Chord notes techniques should be mostly supported

Some issues:
- Tremolo - EOF project needs to be set to remove difficulty limitations
- Slide to no destination exports as 1 fret slide
- Trill - according to @@raynebc it needs to be converted to hammer-on/pull-offs (discussion)
- Arpeggio chord outline can be added if you add chord notes as ghost notes and then manually set Arpeggio mark with Ctrl+Shift+G in EoF at each arpeggio appearance

Unsupported import to EOF:
- Unpitched slides (no TuxGuitar support?)
- Chord slides limited to same offset?

Unsupported techniques in RS2 (ignored):
- Ghost note (effect)
- Grace note (effect)
- Dotted (lenghtened duration)
- Staccato (shortened duration)
- swing/shuffle or Triplet? (duration)

Additional tips

I recommend starting off with official song and DLC tones (in manifest files), choose one that fits and improve it. You need to use toolkit to unpack game and DLC psarc files to access them and then import them to your toolkit template (you can import your new or modified tones from RS profile too). Some tones of interest:

- punk distortion: Versus Them - 6AM Salvation
- clean ska guitar: Weezer - Say It Ain't So - Filter Clean
- tight punk bass: Clash - London Calling
- deep bluesy bass: Albert King - Born Under A Bad Sign
- dubby bass: Clash - Guns Of Brixton
- reverb clean guitar: Disonaur - Space Ostrich
- jazz clean: (couldn't find any official so I customized one for Le Chat)

TuxGuitar is a free replacement for Guitar Pro, also supports PTB tabs. Latest SVN version can read GPX (GP6) but you need to build it yourself (run "mvn clean package" in "build-scripts/$PLATFORM" depending on your target operating system). (Update: here's a ZIP with Windows version https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcwzmptqxgrp9om/tuxguitar-1.3-SNAPSHOT-windows-x86.r1104.zip - requires Java)

I download tuxguitar 1.3 snapshot ver per the Shrubbery link to convert my gpx to gp5 to be able to upload my .xml to EOF but I'm getting error when launching with JVM. I've updated java so I'm not sure what else to do.  Any advice?

With tuxguitar you can save the tab you got to GP5. And then use that tab on GPA

Yes I understand that I just can't get tuxguitar to run. Is there some code I need to change? I have java for 32 and 64 bit installed running windows 8.

I downloaded Tuxguitar from another page and worked great here with Windows 7 64 bits

Try to download from other webpage

Knowing the Java error message would help us help you.

I download new version of tuxguitar and it runs fine but don't see a conversion for gpx files.  Found out you can convert this in GP6 which I have so I'm good. Thanks anyway.

I download new version of tuxguitar and it runs fine but don't see a conversion for gpx files.  Found out you can convert this in GP6 which I have so I'm good. Thanks anyway.

Load the GPX file, then put "Save As" and you can see that you can convert the GPX to GP5, GP4, GP3 and more 

Getting the right Bpm can be a nightmare. 

While working on Lay Down, Priestess, the Bpm from the mp3 was 122.

The Guitar Pro tab was 120, but the first beat started in 3/4 at 184 to the end which was not imported in EOF.

Manually, I found the perfect Bpm at 183 for EOF. 

This was still easy, compared to other songs, but I never can see the math logic in this.

 

I experienced Goplayalong with Hurry Sundown, Outlaws,

I linked the first note and the last, then some between, then auto-sync added another 20 links

Exported and imported xml in EOF. Ten minutes work, and no trouble with illogical maths.

When the Tab is good (lenght equal to the mp3), Goplayalong is best choice.

 

Every beat in EOF is anchored though, I hope this doesn't have negative issues. 

It shouldn't be a problem, Rocksmith only cares what timestamp each beat is at, it doesn't seem to formally process anything like tempo changes.

then auto-sync added another 20 links

You shouldn't be relying on that even if it looks quite right, even little change in consistency can throw you off in Rocksmith.

Thank you so much.  You have made my life easier with some songs.

I think it's funny that I feel this had made my life easier and than I try syncing As the Pages Burn by Arch Enemy and it's just a big giant headache now.

So I'm kind of stuck here. Wanted to import my gp5 file into EOF, but the first 2 Notes are missing. I can't seem to find an error within the tab, since there are just plain 8ths for the bass part. Is there an option to add a beat in the beginning of the chart? Can't seem to find one. 

 

P.S.: yay, new user :)

If a note isn't importing from the GP file, it's usually something like it's on one of the alternate voices (ie. not the lead "voice" in Guitar Pro) or it's a ghost note or something that isn't expected to import. You can add a beat to the currently selected beat's location in EOF using the Beat>add function, but only if you have anchored (ie selected and pressed the A key) one of the beats that is further into the chart. Then you could author the missing notes manually.

Help please! When I try to import the xml file into EOF, EOF just crahses... Some time before whe I tried to import I got an malformed xml error - that was because the filename of the gp file in the xml was not correct(I think)... i changed that but now it just crashed.... Everything was fine a few days ago... I don't know what to do when I try to import just the gp-file it crashes too.

 

 

(PS:For some reason EOF always tells me that there are more than 6 strings used,,, why is that? - normally i just click on thickest and i am fine - bu now: crash)

If you can send me the GP file I'll look into it. The prompt about more than 6 strings is usually because the drum track is encoded in the file as having 8 strings. I'll eventually improve that warning to only show up if the user tries to actually import a track having more than 6 strings.

Hello again!

One question: If I don't replace any repeats will it get imported incorrectly? Because in GPA it seems fine... did you have any issues with that? And what was the problem with gp3? Because right now I am workign with a gp3... should I just save it as gp5?

Hello again!

One question: If I don't replace any repeats will it get imported incorrectly? Because in GPA it seems fine... did you have any issues with that? And what was the problem with gp3? Because right now I am workign with a gp3... should I just save it as gp5?

Well, you'll see if it imports correctly, mostly it should work. Unwinding repeats is useful also for phrase/section markers and because real songs tend to do variations. Fixing multiple identical sections by copy-pasting is also easy so there's no huge reason to keep them.

 

I really don't remeber, it might even be corrupting EOF or maybe that was another bug. Anyway it's better to resave as GP4/GP5 to avoid issues.

 

Hello again!

One question: If I don't replace any repeats will it get imported incorrectly? Because in GPA it seems fine... did you have any issues with that? And what was the problem with gp3? Because right now I am workign with a gp3... should I just save it as gp5?

Well, you'll see if it imports correctly, mostly it should work. Unwinding repeats is useful also for phrase/section markers and because real songs tend to do variations. Fixing multiple identical sections by copy-pasting is also easy so there's no huge reason to keep them.

 

I really don't remeber, it might even be corrupting EOF or maybe that was another bug. Anyway it's better to resave as GP4/GP5 to avoid issues.

 

ok - thanks!  yeah i normally would copy-paste the sections but I somehow just looked at the gp-file in GPA and there the repeats were not visible... so I started syncing and realized later that there were those repeats in the file.

Well - I will see...

 

 

Hello again!

One question: If I don't replace any repeats will it get imported incorrectly? Because in GPA it seems fine... did you have any issues with that? And what was the problem with gp3? Because right now I am workign with a gp3... should I just save it as gp5?

Well, you'll see if it imports correctly, mostly it should work. Unwinding repeats is useful also for phrase/section markers and because real songs tend to do variations. Fixing multiple identical sections by copy-pasting is also easy so there's no huge reason to keep them.

 

I really don't remeber, it might even be corrupting EOF or maybe that was another bug. Anyway it's better to resave as GP4/GP5 to avoid issues.

 

ok - thanks!  yeah i normally would copy-paste the sections but I somehow just looked at the gp-file in GPA and there the repeats were not visible... so I started syncing and realized later that there were those repeats in the file.

Well - I will see...

 

Repeats are not a problem for GPA, it always unwinds them internally and you can replace them any time.

There are no known issues with GP import and repeats in the current hotfix of EOF.  Give it a try and check the results.

I just tried GPA for the first time and it worked fine for a short simple song, but when I loaded a 8 minute song with a complex GP5. All went fine until it got stuck half way through syncing and kept returning to the first bar. I managed to export the xml but EoF gave an error on import and ditched. "Error parsing sync point 0." Rather disappointing. Has anyone else run into this? Maybe GPA is limited on file size or length. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? I rebooted and tried over a few times. No luck.

If you can send me the GPA files (GP5, mp3 and XML) I can look at it. It's likely some kind of unusual syncing situation EOF doesn't account for or perhaps the XML file itself is broken.

Update: Thanks to @@raynebc's testing, I discovered the issue was with my gp5 which worked on GP5 my machine, but not his. So I did a hasty fix getting rid of grace notes, triplets and dots off a lot of the 32nd notes and suddenly it synced in GPA. So thanks to Raynebc, the project is back on track.

Also GPA is worth the $20.00 after all. I judged it harshly when the issue lay elsewhere. (I think it was the dotted notes.)

GP4 is different.