[bhodges164]

I started charting vocals using Reaper and watching the “Making RB3 Customs: Charting Vocals” video that C3 has on their website. I will start off by saying I made the mistake of skipping the first few steps like generating silence tempo mapping etc. yes I know its important but I really wanted to chart some vocals using my Korg Chromatic Tuner then see how it was looking on the Xbox THEN go back start all over with doing tempo mapping and such. Key is I want to see how my MIDI file looks on the xbox and put my MIDI file into Magma after hitting a few roadblocks with trying to understand how CON files are made.

 

Since C3’s video tutorial of Magma doesn’t cover how to Build the song I’ve been kinda winging it, at the moment in Magma I have:

 

1. My MIDI file loaded into the Game Data section which only contains a PART VOCALS Track.

 

2. In the Audio section of Magma I have EVERYTHING checked off except for Vocals/SOLO/HARMONY 1 Dry Vocals since the song Im wanting to see how it looks only has a Part Vocals MIDI file.

 

3. In the Audio section of Magma next to the VOCALS box I just put the mp3 of the song Im working on in that box and seems to accept it just fine BUT in the box below it however (the SOLO/HARMONY 1 Dry Vocals box) I tried doing the same and I get a message saying “Dry vocals tracks sample rate must be 16kHz”. I have no idea what that means but I guessed that it meant it needed some amount of silence, so since the mp3 is already accepted in Magma as well as the MIDI file that came from Reaper (not counting it telling me it has no tempo map) I figured hey maybe I can record a few minutes of silence from my phone and put that mp3 in the SOLO/HARMONY 1 Dry Vocals box since the mp3 that goes with the custom seems to be working in the Vocals box (It plays the song just fine when I hit the play button in Magma). So now I have a recording of silence for about a minute .wav file in the SOLO/HARMONY 1 Dry Vocals box, but now I have a message saying “File does not seem to be a valid .wav

 

So now I hit another roadblock. So Is there anyway anyone can please help me with how I can see how it looks playing my custom on the xbox so far without me having to start over in Reaper and generate silence at the beginning of my song? If there isn’t a way without starting over that’s fine I just need to know, because obviously if I NEED silence within Reaper before my mp3 starts its gonna mess up where my vocals pitched parts that I charted are being sung and Id have to pitch each word Ive done so far all over again. Which again is okay…… But is there ANY other way that I can see how the MIDI file looks on the xbox so far???????? Please let me know(Yes I know Its going to be a CON file after Magma stops giving me these error messages)

[BornGamerRob]

Pretty sure all that is covered in the docs as I’d have not been able to create a custom.

 

BUT, let me try to make this simple:

 

The VOCALS should have the silent track in it. I mean, absolutely silent. Not at the beginning. Not at the end. The entire length of the song silent. So mute your audio and count in track (and all other tracks for that matter since the vocal produces sound) and render it from Reaper (File > Render) at 44,100 (Sample rate), Stereo (Channel), 16 bit (WAV bit depth).

 

The BACKING should have the song in it. Full length audio with the count in (if you use count in). So now render your audio track from Reaper (File > Render) at 44,100 (Sample rate), Stereo (Channel), 16 bit (WAV bit depth).Be sure to mute your vocals track as, again, it produces sound.

 

For the SOLO/HARMONY 1 Dry Vocals do this; only have the audio track unmuted (mute ALL other tracks) and render it from Reaper (File > Render) at 16,100 (Sample rate), Mono (Channel), 16 bit (WAV bit depth). Once you do that, it will accept the track.

 

Make sure you load the tracks as rendered into the proper spots.

 

Hope that helps and you should read the docs to help with creating the actual custom:

 

TUTORIAL DOC

http://pksage.com/ccc/IPS/index.php?/topic/11357-the-complete-c3-tutorial-for-new-authors/

 

ONLINE RBN DOCS

http://docs.c3universe.com/rbndocs

[Whizzer]

Your MIDI also requires BEAT, EVENTS and VENUE tracks, regardless of which instruments are authored. VENUE can be empty, so that Magma generates the missing information, but you’ll have to do some work on the other two. Refer to the second link posted above for more information.

[bhodges164]

Thank yall all so much I’ll spend some time reading these docs right away and post any questions i have back on here. Real quick question and Im not sure if the docs cover this but un-pitched vocals…… How do I do them? If you don’t know what Im talking about the best example I can think of is RBN’s Asking Alexandria – “A Prophecy” when the singer screams you can basically say anything do any pitch you want into the mic and it will count, its the blank blue bar that rolls across the lyrics to a song when your playing rockband ha ha I don’t know how to explain it more. I read that all you have to do is add a “#” sign (without quotations) at the end of a word in a lyric in Reaper and even if you have that particular word pitched, if it has a # sign at the end of it, the game will count it as the un pitch blue bar where you can say anything you want. Is my info right? Or no?

[Farottone]

Thank yall all so much I’ll spend some time reading these docs right away and post any questions i have back on here. Real quick question and Im not sure if the docs cover this but un-pitched vocals…… How do I do them?

 

They go over it, make sure you read the docs first and come back with questions later so it’s easier on everyone, you included. ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_wink.gif”>

[bhodges164]

Okay I decided to start over with a count in and tempo map and try what will hopefully be an easier song to chart! I did read through both documents and in http://pksage.com/cc…or-new-authors/ Its important to note Im trying to make a Vocal MIDI file that will be playable on Rockband 3 Im not interested in Guitar Authoring, Bass, Authoring or Keys Authoring although I did skim through it to make sure it doesn’t say any important information about how to get your MIDI file for Vocals to work and I didn’t see anything.

 

I eventually found my way into the Vocal Authoring part since I’m trying to make a Vocal MIDI file. All it says is to watch:

 

 

 

Which is what lead me to forums to the first place in my first song I tried, after watching and making sure I followed every instruction in the video and my song still wasn’t working in Magma. I did read that this tutorial however uses an existing MIDI file it doesn’t teach you how to make one from scratch it basically says “Go to one of these 3 websites and you should find an incomplete MIDI to work on”, but I found zip notta nothing in this example I’m trying to find an existing vocal MIDI of A Day To Remember – Mr. Highway’s Thinking About The End

 

I checked http://www.midi-hits.com. Nothing

http://www.songgalaxy.comNothing

http://www.backingtracksworld.com/Also Nothing

 

So the best thing to do is follow the video which I did… And Again followed every step afterwards I went to the Animations Section since again Im only trying to make a VOCAL MIDI File. 1st off are animations needed to make a Con file work on the xbox? If no please disregard the next question and move on to the next paragragh if yes however ……. I don’t understand what the tutorial is saying it says “To have the singer move, all you need are the animation states mentioned at the start of this tutorial. You don’t need those animation states for the harmonies, only in PART VOCALS” Which that I DO UNDERSTAND but then it says “The game will generate the lipsync based on the lipsync file you give Magma. You want the following, in order of animation accuracy: 1) dry vocal track (i.e. no effects, reverb, etc.) 2) wet vocal track (i.e. the stems we get from Guitar Hero, The Beatles, most online multitracks) 3) your own recording (equivalent of a dry vocal track but presumably not as accurate) 4) rendered MIDI track (see below)” and I have no idea what that means.

 

If Animation ISNT required for it to work on the xbox however. After reading through http://docs.c3universe.com/rbndocs

 

Again it does not say anything about making a Vocal MIDI from scratch or how to get it working on the xbox so the YouTube video mentioned earlier is my best bet to follow along with. I did read that indeed “#” after lyrics inside “Lyric Events” in Reaper automatically make the pitch a blank blue bar orange bar or whatever you might be playing at the time in this case I decided to make a HARM 2 Track MIDI from scratch and have made each Screamed Lyric in Mr Highway’s Thinking About The End “Lyric Events” end in an “#” sign.

 

So after reading from http://pksage.com/cc…or-new-authors/ its time to go into the Events and tell Reaper where the song ends by typing [end] in the EVENTS Track in Reaper making sure [music_start] is at the beginning of the song, [music_end] is near the end and [end] is where the score is displayed insuring there is no beats afterwards then Render audio files as BornGamerRob says, placing them in the correct sections of Magma then even as an extra precaution, as Whizzer said above the BEATS, EVENTS and VENUE Tracks CANNOT be empty in order for my MIDI file to be converted and I indeed made sure there was a [music_start], [music_end] and [end] in the proper places then exporting my MIDI file and putting it into Magma but ….. I try and Build Song and I get this:

 

Loading MagmaCompilerC3.exe…
Reading the archive
Project Compiler: Reading project ‘C:UsersshellDesktopMrHighway.rbproj’…
Project Compiler: Entering Phase 1 of 5…
Metadata Compiler: Starting…
Metadata Compiler: Done.
Project Compiler: Entering Phase 2 of 5…
MIDI Compiler: Starting…
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (BEAT): MIDI events at [129:1:000] after the end event at [128:4:240]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (MIDI FILE): Could not find MIDI track authored for vocals, possibly due to incorrect track name event
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (VENUE): Bad MIDI note 60 at [1:1:000]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (VENUE): Bad MIDI note 61 at [1:1:000]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (VENUE): Bad MIDI note 62 at [1:1:000]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (VENUE): Bad MIDI note 63 at [1:1:000]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (VENUE): Bad MIDI note 64 at [1:1:000]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (VENUE): Bad MIDI note 70 at [1:1:000]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (VENUE): Bad MIDI note 71 at [1:1:000]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (VENUE): Bad MIDI note 96 at [1:1:000]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (EVENTS): crowd_noclap at [160:4:240] cannot come after end at [128:4:240]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (EVENTS): More than one music_end event; original is at [124:4:240]; duplicate is at [161:2:240]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (EVENTS): music_end at [161:2:240] cannot come after end at [128:4:240]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (EVENTS): More than one end event; original is at [128:4:240]; duplicate is at [162:4:240]
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (VENUE): verse event at [1:1:000] is not allowed
MIDI Compiler: Done.
ERROR: Project Compiler: Midi compiler failed.

 

What am I doing wrong? There is no CON File to be Found Please Help.

[bhodges164]

UPDATE: So I think i found out somewhat what was wrong so The BEAT VENUE and EVENTS Tracks in Reaper automattically make a [music_start]event and [music_end] event in each track it was at the very end of my mp3 like way after the song ended, I facepalmed myself and deleted those right away, also i think it was the VENUE Track that had these default events like [cut_camera] i dont remember the other two I go into Magma now and….It still giving me a bunch of errors some of whicch i understood what it didnt like because it literally tells you what and where in Reaper it doesnt like stuff,

 

So after playing around with it i finally get only one error and dont know what to do about it:

 

Loading MagmaCompilerC3.exe…
Reading the archive
Project Compiler: Reading project ‘C:UsersshellDesktopMrHighway.rbproj’…
Project Compiler: Entering Phase 1 of 5…
Metadata Compiler: Starting…
Metadata Compiler: Done.
Project Compiler: Entering Phase 2 of 5…
MIDI Compiler: Starting…
ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (MIDI FILE): Could not find MIDI track authored for vocals, possibly due to incorrect track name event
MIDI Compiler: Done.
ERROR: Project Compiler: Midi compiler failed.

 

Help Please? ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” />

[BornGamerRob]

You have an incorrect track name. Look over this thread (http://customscreators.com/index.php?/topic/17400-events-track-supposedly-missing-but-its-not/) as you have the same issue he has. His was missing the EVENT name. Yours is missing the VOCALS name. So just put a VOCALS marker (Track Name) on 1.1.0 and it will clear up that error.

 

The best advice I can give you for the future is start with the C3 template. Neither one of you did. And if you did, you deleted things out of it since everything you need for proper compilation is in the template. That has all the track names and track events you need already in there and you don’t have to bother with creating them.

 

Good luck!

[bhodges164]

Can you tell me what this error code is trying to tell me?

 

ERROR: MIDI Compiler: (PART VOCALS): Vocal notes exist, but no vocal phrases found

 

I know now that Phrase markers are supposed to be put in how many words can be sung in a single breath for an average player, but my charted lyrics are only in HARM 2 (I was going to go back and make charted lyrics for other vocal parts after seeing how HARM 2 looked on the Xbox) Is this trying to tell me to make the same Phrase markers for PART VOCALS that I have in HARM 2? Even if there isn’t any charted lyrics in PART VOCALS? I do know it says vocal notes exist but in the PART VOCALS MIDI editor I ensured there was no charted vocals and there isn’t just text events like [play] and [idle] and I even tried removing those and its still giving me the same error code

[Whizzer]

Try copying your HARM2 notes and phrase markers to vocals for now. You can’t have harmonies without vocals, so you’ll need a temporary placeholder.

 

Beyond that, you’ll probably also need something in HARM1 as well. If so, place something at the start or end of the song, and copy phrase markers from HARM2 to HARM1. All notes in HARM2 and HARM3 must be covered by phrase markers in HARM1.

[bhodges164]

Yup actually thought about doing that exact thing but same exact error

[bhodges164]

I think I fixed it? And I don’t even know how. Ha ha Now I’m finally in phase 5 of 5

 

But it tells me this:

 

Starting RBA -> CON conversion…
ERROR: RBA file has one or more spaces in the name. We can’t allow that.
Trying to rename the RBA file to comply…
Renamed file successfully from: C:UsersshellDesktopMrHighway is coming_rb3con.rba to C:UsersshellDesktopmrhighwayiscoming
Error extracting the RBA file: Could not find file ‘C:UsersshellDesktopMrHighway is coming_rb3con.rba’.
Something went wrong converting your RBA to CON.
Please read above for any error messages.
Your RBA file is fine, try converting it with C3 CON Tools in the meantime.

 

So I try and go to the C3 CON Tools as it says and use CON Creater and drag and drop mrhighwayiscoming file into the files and then convert, into a CON which is successful then drag the created CON file into RB to USB which the transfer is also successful but when I plug it into my Xbox the song is nowhere to be found why?

[Whizzer]

 

ERROR: RBA file has one or more spaces in the name. We can’t allow that.

 

I think you missed this line.

 

It renamed successfully, but used the older file to convert, which failed.

Stick to names without spaces. Good advice in general in technical processes.

[bhodges164]

Yup, that was it ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_biggrin.gif” /> Got my song up and running on xbox and I think i understand how to make customs now thank all you guys so so so much with your patience with me, I really super appreciate it and this what have made on C3 is an awesome awesome community again thank you so much Im so happy to see my custom working and for it to be playable. ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_biggrin.gif” />

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