[How-To] Playing Customs on Wii
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At last, here is a very in-depth guide to using RockBiink 1.0. I hope everything is clear and concise. Ask questions if you have them.
Using RockBiink
RockBiink is a tool to help you generate RAD Batch List (.rlst) files for use with the RAD Video Tools. The list files build Rock Band-compatible Bink Audio (.bik) files for use in customs. You may want to do this if you don’t want to downmix a multitrack custom in Magma or want finer control in the final output file size to help meet the 40 MB audio size limit.
To use this, you must have the RAD Video Tools installed. This tool was written with Bink version 1.99 in mind. Newer versions may work, but have not been tested.
Here is what RockBiink looks like upon launch.
Put that aside and find the user-authored custom you want to reduce. If you have a CON file, simply run it through the Wii Converter in C3 CON Tools. You’ll get all the files you need this way. In RockBiink, click the button to the right of Update DTA. In the open file dialog, find the songs.dta file that the Wii Converter extracted for you and select it.
Next, another dialog will appear. If you have multiple customs inside a DTA, this lets you choose just the one you want to update in RockBiink. Choose your custom and load it. Now the instruments have been checked according to the audio mix specified in the DTA.
If a song has more than a stereo track for Drums, a dialog will appear reminding you that only 2 tracks are supported in RockBiink. After all, if you need to cut back on file size, you can’t waste it on a full drum mix. Panning and volume data is not preserved.
Right now, it says this custom has: Stereo Drums, Stereo Bass, Stereo Guitar, Stereo Keys, and Stereo Backing. This will be your reference for when you open the mogg file next. Find the mogg file in the song folder and open it in Audacity.
Here is a preview of what this custom’s multitrack looks like. It’s stereo all the way down, in the same order as above.
General rule of thumb is Drums always go stereo. If it’s a 6 track configuration of stereo kick, stereo snare, stereo cymbals, make them stereo, then select the 3 tracks and mix them together. If you’re absolutely desperate for file size and have already exhausted all the options below, then you can make drums mono. This is not recommended since Drums suffer heavily from going mono.
Next, Bass is mono 95% of the time. You can tell because the wave forms are very similar to each other. To make it mono, first make the tracks stereo by clicking the tab of the first Bass track, then choose the Make Stereo Track option. Select the new track and go to Tracks > Stereo Track To Mono.
Guitar is stereo much more often than not. In this case, the tracks are very similar, but you’d lose a certain richness in the sound if it went mono. You may find that often times guitar tracks have very notable differences, such as a panning to the left or right in different parts. You won’t want to make the guitar tracks mono in this case because the resulting audio won’t sound very true to the original.
Though this example doesn’t have Vocals, Vocals go mono more often as well. As they’re usually centered, you don’t lose to much if it’s mono. And for songs that have very few vocals, it’s a sure way to cut down on file size without compromising the overall quality. Reverb effects or certain harmony parts might get muddled if you’re going mono on this.
Keys can vary. Like Guitar, they may have panning requirements that would be lost in a mono mix. Only downmix to mono if the parts look very similar and the audio sounds comparable. And for songs with fewer keys, reducing them to mono may be an option to consider.
Backing is also very situational. Here is this custom’s backing audio. The non-playable parts should end up here most of the time. If there’s a lot going on, like another guitar that isn’t charted, then the same rules from Guitar above apply because you don’t want to lose the good sound. It’s easier to justify making Backing go mono because you may not notice it as well as the others since you’re not playing it. In this example, the audio seems to have a slant to the right channel. Except for the middle part, you can go for a smaller file size making this mono and setting the pan values in the DTA at the end manually. This helps the audio sound closer to the original because the original wasn’t centered panned.
Your goal should be 8-9 tracks or fewer, if reasonably possible.
Now that the audio is accounted for, go back to the top and export each individual track. Do not export audio paired as stereo. This is contrary to how it’s done in Magma. Start with Drums. The first track can be called “Drums L”. Save it as a WAV and continue. The next one can be called “Drums R”. Do this for the rest of the tracks.
Now that you have the audio ready, go back to RockBiink. Drag and drop the audio files to their matching text box. Now that the mix has changed, uncheck boxes as necessary. For example, Bass is now mono, so uncheck the “Bass ®” check box and “Bass (L)” becomes “Bass (M)”.
Here’s what RockBiink looks like now. Everything is ready to go. Of course, since the point is to reduce file size, you may lower the Sample Rate a tad if you anticipate to need it. Quality can also be nudged higher for some more lossiness, if you need it.
When you’re ready, click Generate RAD Batch List. RockBiink will attempt to update your DTA. If something goes wrong, it will say so (but also tell me why that happened). Then, it will ask you where to save the Batch List. This can be saved anywhere convenient. After that, you have the option to run the script right away.
RAD Batch Editor should open now. Run the script by clicking Start. If you get an error about bink.exe not being found, you might need to enable the binkc option in RockBiink. This is because at some point, the bink executable was renamed to binkc.exe
If the script failed to find a file, you may have to actually find your saved script and run it from there.
If everything succeeded, you should have a Bink file in the same folder as the Audio. You should see a notable reduction in the file size of the Bink compared to the mogg. For this already small example, I got it down to 3.81 MB from to the original 5.61 MB. To test the audio quality, you can playback the bink file in VLC or with radvideo.exe which came with the installation of RAD Video Tools.
In the meta folder of the Wii converted custom, there’s now a songs_new.dta file next to the original songs.dta file if you enabled Update DTA. Verify the mix data and make sure the volume and pan values are what you want them to be. Then you can erase the old DTA file and rename the new DTA.
You’re done. That’s it. You now have a Wii-exclusive Bink file to replace your mogg that should be free of any potential hiccup problems. Again, if you have any questions or run into any problems, I’ll do my best to fix it. This thing has become a mess to maintain, but it’s worked for what I need and I hope it works for other users’ needs. It definitely should work in game because it worked for me.
Alright so I am about 24 hours into working on these customs. Still have yet to play one
. I have gotten every error known to man that comes about getting these things to work. I think the only thing that I have left to accomplish is loading the disc with GX, using all 5 instruments/parts, and not getting the “cannot be restored to Wii” error. So flipping through the forum pages is telling me that cIOS 249 is not right andtherefore giving me the error. Can anyone point me to the correct mod tool to use and the correct IOS slot combination? I’ve had like three different ones I have tried. Damn I have to say though I know a LOT about Wii modding now. Way more than I ever wanted to. I even tried putting the app files created and dropping them into my NAND. So far it has been a nightmare. Probably going to cry tears of joy if I ever get a custom working.I even tried putting the app files created and dropping them into my NAND
Those are ment for emulated NAND, not real NAND. I wouldnt suggest using app files on real NAND for 2 reaons: 1. packers were made for emunands, no idea what it could cause on real NAND, 2. Space. Your wii NAND space is 512MB, and every save file, channel, and operating system files are already in there.
Those are ment for emulated NAND, not real NAND. I wouldnt suggest using app files on real NAND for 2 reaons: 1. packers were made for emunands, no idea what it could cause on real NAND, 2. Space. Your wii NAND space is 512MB, and every save file, channel, and operating system files are already in there.
Oh right. Basically the game thinks those are songs and wants to put them on your SD card at every start of the game. It tries, realizes they can’t be converted and then says an unknown error occurred and shuts down the reading of the SD card slot. It doesn’t hurt anything it just doesn’t work.
Is there any reason why I am getting the “cannot be restored on Wii” error based on my syscheck?
And for the batch file packdlc why does it want to open app files in order make bins? “00000001.app: No such file or directory”
Edit: Whoops got it working now. I failed to realize how hex to decimal worked. Not sure why it wanted an app file before though.
Is everything working now? Which content generation are you packing for? And have you installed the necessary WAD for that generation?
Is everything working now? Which content generation are you packing for? And have you installed the necessary WAD for that generation?
Packing for sZFE. Got all of the WADs necessary, but still getting the “cannot be restored” error. Running the disc with cIOS 249. Can you check this and see if everything is okay?http://pastebin.com/fm1d5mZm
I’m not using the ID that syscheck says in my ng_id file, it’s too many characters, correct?
Used multi mod manager’s wad install feature to install all of them. Got the WADs from the youtube video posted awhile back in this forum. I have downloaded official DLC with them fine. Actually whenever I try to download a RBN song (the ones that use the sZFE genereation) I get an error code 201017. That has to be my issue! I’ve triple checked and matched my ID with my keys.bin file and CON Tools ID finder so I know that’s all set. Now where to get another sZFE.wad file hmm… The custom songs used to show up in my song list and the message showed up “[song name] cannot be restored”, but they won’t even do that anymore.
Oh my god I got it!!!!! The issue was having official DLC in the sZFE folder on the SD. Now that I deleted the bin files of official songs, it works great. Guitar Hero songs seem to be stuttering pretty badly though. I’ll do some research on how to fix this. I think this thread has something on fixing this? I can’t remember. Anyway, it’s safe to say I have gotten every error so if anybody has an issue PM me. I’ll break it down into noob terms for you. I’m also running the retail disc with USB Loader GX.
If you’re downloading from the database, obviously get the Wii versions. Any C3 customs that stutter on the Wii version should be noted so I can fix them. If it’s a multitrack from user customs, I’d recommend RockBiink, using the tutorial posted a page ago.
Apparently, Real nand has more chances of stuttering, reading only emunand save reduces it, but if you boot an emunand then boot the game inside it, it’s almost unexistant. On the last scenario I can load songs with 12 tracks, something you can’t do with the other two scenarios. Anyways, that’s the experience I got with my wii. Would be nice if someone was able to confirm.
Apparently, Real nand has more chances of stuttering, reading only emunand save reduces it, but if you boot an emunand then boot the game inside it, it’s almost unexistant. On the last scenario I can load songs with 12 tracks, something you can’t do with the other two scenarios. Anyways, that’s the experience I got with my wii. Would be nice if someone was able to confirm.
Well, I’m not willing to convert to an emunand, but it’s a future option.
If you’re downloading from the database, obviously get the Wii versions. Any C3 customs that stutter on the Wii version should be noted so I can fix them. If it’s a multitrack from user customs, I’d recommend RockBiink, using the tutorial posted a page ago.
ALL of the Metallica converts stutter for me, which sucks because I wanted customs specifically for them. The file sizes are huge because they are Guitar Hero conversions. I thought the sheer number of notes compared to a normal Rock Band song was causing the stutter. If you got around to fixing them, where would they get posted at? I really appreciate your hard work and I’d be even happier if you fixed em up!
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