Rock Band at Anthrocon (featuring C3 customs and RBHP)
- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
In case anyone wants to give it a peek. This was the last half hour or so before the video gaming room closed, next year we’ll try to get more footage/better angles and audio.
MC Lars, “This Gigantic Robot Kills”
Metallica, “Frantic”
Dethklok, “Murmaider”
DJ Snake, “Turn Down for What”
Europe, “The Final Countdown”
Good stuff. I sure hope you used the Setlist Manager to export your setlist and kept the link to C3 on it, or in some other way linked back to C3 to give us some exposure!
I had typed up a custom setlist using Google Docs, and had a column for where each song originated from (RB1, C3, GH:WoR, for example). I’d also tell anyone about the customs who was interested in them, and linked one guy to the site via Twitter.
Any reason why you’re doing the setlist manually rather than one of the many many export options built in to the Tools? Serious question, I use it all the time but I have always wondered if anyone else was actually using it.
Because I’m just that anal about doing it my way.
I’ve also been told by someone who uses one of the setlist exporters that a lot of customs give an error saying “cannot parse custom” how it is in the field. Something along those lines.
I have used Setlist Manager extensively and never gotten that error. They may have been using pksage’s tool, and/or an old version of his tool or my tools.
But fair point, if you don’t like any of the many ways you can export your setlist, I can understand that. For me, it really saves so much time now.
Grand Canyon sighting @ 17:00
Seriously though, looks like this was pretty fun. I couldn’t tell if I was hearing the plastic drums or the recorded drums during Frantic though.
Seemed like a lot of fun indeed, if I had attended I would probably have spent a lot of time in the game room for sure
” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_cheeky.001.gif” />Figured I’d hop on this thread, TrojanNemo, because it’s relevant.
I love the setlist manager in C3 CON Tools. It’s a fantastic piece of kit, and I’ve been using it to track my song list basically since you added it (so long, Google Spreadsheet!).
Unfortunately the weakest part of the tool is the PDF exporter. The interface to choose your layout is less than stellar, with the only way to see how it’ll look when exported is to… well, to actually export it. The layouts make poor use of the available space on the page, there’s way too much white space (mostly gaps between son names and artists), and the export tool does not itself have a way to choose whether songs are listed by song or by artist. I know you can do this, but it’d be easier and simpler to incorporate this into the export process itself.
I find myself, then, using pksage’s song cache exporter and Troy Davis’ karaoke song list maker more often than not. The layout is simpler, fits on significantly fewer pages (4-5 for my song cache as opposed to the 20+ page PDFs C3 CON Tools generates) and is very easily customizable. I cohost a geek singles night here in Los Angeles where the PDF booklets are invaluable, and people are always asking me about my customs. It’d be so much easier if I could point them to the C3 website on the booklets… but I can’t.
I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining because I’m not – like I said, the setlist manager is a cracking tool, and has become invaluable to my setlist management process. It’s just the PDF generator leaves a lot to be desired, and lacks the polish of other areas of the toolset.
Unfortunately the weakest part of the tool is the PDF exporter. The interface to choose your layout is less than stellar,I can see that.
with the only way to see how it’ll look when exported is to… well, to actually export it.I could add an image of what they typically look like, but there is no [reasonable] way of showing a preview of what your particular export will look like. You’ll notice tdavis’ tool also does not do this. Considering exporting takes less than a second, it’s not that much work. And presumably, once you know which format you like, that’s the same one you’ll always use, no?
The layouts make poor use of the available space on the page, there’s way too much white space (mostly gaps between son names and artists),That’s just because this is designed to my taste. I very strongly dislike what tdavis’ tool gives you. It looks poorly made, cramped, and it would be a nightmare to read in a dimly lit bar when people are half drunk, which is the large majority of the use my booklets get. I have 2952 songs and my booklets are 26 pages long for the printed booklets and 49 pages for the detailed, online-only version (I provide a QR code on the cover of the booklet to access this one)
and the export tool does not itself have a way to choose whether songs are listed by song or by artist. I know you can do this, but it’d be easier and simpler to incorporate this into the export process itself.I can probably do this.
I find myself, then, using pksage’s song cache exporter and Troy Davis’ karaoke song list maker more often than not.
My original intention was never to export myself. It was to interface with tdavis’ tool. He, in short, mocked my lack of knowledge of secure web apps and chose not to work with me. This in turn led to me learning how to make PDFs and Excel files myself, and I (personally) find my exports much more detailed, carefully crafted and aesthetically pleasing than his. Not to mention, my tool gives you a hell of a lot more options than his does.
The layout is simpler,The Basic 1 and 2 layouts are modeled after his own, and with changing some of the settings you can make it look almost exactly as his, except you got more control on my tool. So I’m not sure what you’re referring to there.
fits on significantly fewer pages (4-5 for my song cache as opposed to the 20+ page PDFs C3 CON Tools generates)I guess this is a personal taste thing. I don’t want 3000 songs listed on 5 pages. That to me is going to make reading the list annoying as hell.
and is very easily customizable.I really am lost here on how his tool has more options than my exporter.
and people are always asking me about my customs. It’d be so much easier if I could point them to the C3 website on the booklets… but I can’t.Just because you don’t like any of the 5 PDF formats, doesn’t mean you can’t refer them to the tools. You do have the option to export to Excel, which a bunch of options, the 5 PDF formats, with a bunch of options, and to CSV. Obviously without pksage’s initial work my tool wouldn’t even exist, but relying on direct cache-to-booklet printing without using Setlist Manager to manage the setlist first, is a bad idea in my mind.
It’s just the PDF generator leaves a lot to be desired, and lacks the polish of other areas of the toolset.It’s been mentioned more than once that it was designed to my tastes. I think that is always a given, I can only use my preferences when designing things, but I thought with the vast variety of options I added, I was thinking of others enough.
I don’t mind the feedback. I don’t think since the tool was released I had ever gotten this kind of feedback on it or any recommendation on how to make it better, and since it works exactly as I want it, I had nothing i wanted to fix on it. I’ll see how much of what you’ve mentioned I can implement myself, but if you have specific ideas or a specific format you’d like to see added, shoot me a PM. But be prepared to provide specifics.
…I’ll see how much of what you’ve mentioned I can implement myself, but if you have specific ideas or a specific format you’d like to see added, shoot me a PM…How is Nemo awesome? One fine example right here. ^ ^
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.