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NEO+G for Dummies

Discuss CD+G's, VCD's, song book creators, and any other karaoke related software.
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mnementh
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NEO+G for Dummies

Post by mnementh »

Hi everyone.

There is another thread running in the MP3 Karaoke section about issues with downloaded MP3+G files running on a NEO+G player from RSQ.

It's apparent that NEO+G format is not a massively popular Karaoke format but it does have its uses, primarily the option to have lots of tracks per disc.

In fact, RSQ claim you can get 400+ tracks on a single layer (DVD5) disc and up to 1,000 on a dual layer (DVD9) disc.

This is easily equivalent to 20+ CDG discs on a DVD5 and 50-ish CDGs on a DVD9.

The other main factor in favour of NEO+G discs is that they are simple data discs and can readily be copied for backup purposes by virtually any DVD burning software. There is no "hidden" graphics track as with CD+G discs.

This will be a, hopefully, quick tutorial on how to generate NEO+G discs with software that is both free and freely available.

My caveat here is that you must obviously have Karaoke tracks to convert to NEO+G format.

My next post will give an overview of the programs required and a synopsis of the format conversion process.

Sandy


mnementh
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Post by mnementh »

Hi again.

To generate a NEO+G disc, you will need the following software;

RMC.EXE, the NEO+G authoring tool from here; www.rsqaudio.com

Karen's Directory Printer from here; www.karenware.com/powertools/ptdirprn.asp

MIcrosoft Word or Open Office equivalent or a good word processor.

Microsoft Excel or Open Office equivalent or a good Spreadsheet program.

Any DVD data burning software of your choice.


In order to make a NEO+G disc, it is neccessary to produce a "table" showing details of the files you want to process and it's here that problems are potentially sanity threatening.

Any error in setting up this "table" will cause the RMC.EXE program to fail and basically drive you insane trying to correct every tiny error you might have made. A wrong case letter, an extra space, virtually anything will cause the processing to halt with an error message.

Fortunately, the RMC.EXE program will import a text file (in the correct format) and save hours of typing or cutting and pasting data.

In this case, we will generate THREE text files, using Karen's Directory Printer, transform one of the text files to a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file using Word, combine the three files in Excel and generate the RMC.EXE Import text file, also from Excel.

ALthough this sounds complicated, trust me that explaining this will take considerably longer than it will to do the actual process.

Once you have it down pat, you will be able to put together a 400 track NEO+G disc very quickly.

The next post will explain how to get the three text files and generate the CSV file from one of them.

Sandy
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mnementh
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Post by mnementh »

HI again.

OK, I'm going to assume you have the requisite programs AND some files to convert.

To start off, you'll need to create a folder on one of your hard drives as a "Parent" directory. In my case, I created a folder called NeoTest on my "C" drive.

In this "parent" directory, I created a NeoMP3 folder, a NeoCDG folder and a NeoText folder.

Now, copy the files you want to convert into the NeoTest (or whatever YOU have called it) folder and if zipped, unzip them to MP3 and CDG files.

This is necessary as the file conversion requires it, plus it makes getting the text files easier as well.

The first stumbling block, considering we are going to be using text files with lots of commas providing information, is that it is VITAL that there are NO commas in your filenames.

This usually occurs in artist names, e.g. Presley, Elvis, etc.

ALL instances of commas MUST be removed prior to generating our CSV files.

Unfortunately, Windows Explorer won't do the job (unless later versions have been altered) as commas are regarded as "illegal" characters to Legacy programs from old DOS days.

I would recommend downloading ExplorerXP (freeware) as I know this WILL do the job.

Simply select all your files and hit the F2 key when a number of rename options will come up.

Click the replace option and type a comma character in the find box, click the Replace all box.

Hit OK without putting anything in the Replace with box and all the commas will be deleted from the file names.

Next, CUT and PASTE the MP3 and CDG files into their relevant sub-folders.

At this point, fire up Karen's Directory Printer and at the opening screen, select the TAB "Save to Disk" and the main screen will open.

In the "Save Options" section, select the File info only check box.

In the "File Info" section, select ONLY the Full name (Path + File) option.

In the "Formatting" section, check BOTH Omit options.

In the "Select a Folder" window, migrate to and select either of the sub-folders in your "Parent" directory.

Now, click the "Save to DIsk" button.

When prompted, find and select the Text sub-folder in your conversion "Parent" directory and save the file with a suitable name, indicating MP3 or CDG.

Carry out the steps above for the other sub-folder and save in the same way.

Finally, go to the "File Info" section, UNCHECK the "Full name" option and instead check the "File Name" box.

Choose either of your sub-folders and save again as NeoCSV.txt or similar so it is clearly identified.

These are the three text files you need.

Using Windows Explorer, go to your text file sub-folder and double click the NeoCSV.txt file (it turns out we can do this operation in Notepad instead of Word).

When it opens in Notepad, you should see a list of filenames in standard format, i.e.;

Disc ID - Artist - Song, ext (where ext is MP3 or CDG)

Click the EDIT menu option and select REPLACE.

In the Replace box, type in whichever ext value you have, either .CDG or .MP3 (don't forget to type the period)

Don't type anything in the Replace with box then click the Replace All button.

This will remove ALL the ext values.

Again, click the EDIT menu option and select REPLACE.

In the Replace box, type in your separator which should be - (spacehyphenspace) but this time, in the Replace with box type the comma (,) character.

Again click the Replace All button

You will now have a list in Disc ID,Artist,Song format.

Save the file in the Text folder. This is your CSV file.

Not too far to go now.

Sandy
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mnementh
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Post by mnementh »

Hi again.
OK, at this point, all being well, you should have the software listed in post #1 possibly with the addition of ExplorerXP to get rid of commas in your filenames.

You should also have the following by now.

Your MP3 files in a specific folder
Your CDG files in a specific folder
A text file containing a list of the full path and filename for your MP3 files
A text file containing a list of the full path and filename for your CDG files
A text file containg a list of the FILENAMES only of your files with commas as the field separators (a CSV file)

PLease note, this will be detailed, so pretty long and I'll apologise in advance.

You now need to generate your NEO+G import text file, as follows;

CSV files are recognised by many programs, including spreadsheets and in order to simplify things, we are going to cheat a bit by making Excel think our text files are actually CSV files (one really is, if not in name)

You can perform this operation one file at a time or if you have ExplorerXP, all at once.

Simply put, we are going to change the extension designator of the three text files above from .txt to .csv. As easy as that.

For one at a time, highlight each file in turn and press the F2 key.

This will allow you to rename the file, so delete the txt extension and replace it with csv (DO NOT DELETE THE PERIOD . ).

With ExplorerXP, highlight ALL three files, press F2 and select the replace option.

Put txt in the Find What box and csv in the Replace With box. Click OK and all three files will be renamed.

At this time, fire up the RMC.EXE program and have a look at it's layout.

You will see that it looks like a "table" or spreadsheet, with 8 names columns.

Of the 8 columns, ONLY the MPX, CDG file and MP3 file are REQUIRED.

NO is placed automatically so forget that column.

LYRIC and COMPOSER are NOT required and are not remotely useful, so forget them

TITLE and SINGER are not vital but ARE useful, so we WILL add those.

Therefore, of the 8 columns in RMC.EXE, we will generate 5 columns of data, as follows.

Go to your text files folder and locate your now renamed three csv files.

Double click the file corresponding to your MP3 files and it should open automatically in EXCEL or the Open Office equivalent.

You will find in the A column, your full path and filename for your MP3 files.

Looking at the RMC.EXE table, the MP3 files SHOULD appear in column 8 or in the corresponding column in your spreadsheet, i.e. column G.

I'm going to assume you know nothing about spreadsheets, so forgive me if I'm a little simplistic.

To move the data from A to G is done as follows.

Go to the top of the A column and click the LETTER A (the A column should highlight).

Move the mouse into the A column when the cursor should change to a "blocky" white cross.

Move the cross cursor to the right of the column and as it reaches the crossover point between A and B, the cursor will change to a 4 pronged arrow symbol with a normal "arrow" pointing to it. (this is the click and drag cursor).

Now, with confidence, LEFT click and DRAG the A data to the G column. (you will see an indication showing you which column you are currently dragging too)

When you reach the G column, release the mouse button and your data will move across.

If you're not confident, you can RIGHT click anywhere in the highlighted A column, select CUT, tyhen LEFT click the first box below the letter G (G1) RIGHT click and select PASTE. This will do the same thing.

Next, back to your text folder and double click the csv file corresponding to your CDG data and another spreadsheet will open with THIS data in the A column.

This tiime, because we're on a different sheet, we MUST use the CUT & PASTE method, once again, click the LETTER A and when the column highlights, go into the data and RIGHT click anywhere. Select CUT in the drop down menu.

Now is where it gets a bit different.

Go up to the top of the screen and click the Window menu option.

In the drop down menu, you will see a tick mark beside the currently open sheet and below that the first sheet you opened earlier.

Click the other sheet where you will see your previous data in column G

Click the cell below the LETTER F. Now RIGHT click and select PASTE when your CDG data will be placed.

You can now go up to the Window menu, select the other sheet, click menu at the top left, then select close. If queried about saving, select NO and close. If asked about clipboard data select NO again.

You will now revert to your sheet with two columns of data.

Back to your text folder again and double click the csv file with your simpole filename data.

This time, because you actually DO have a csv file, the spreadshhet will automatically format the details in columns A, B and C.

To prove this to yourself, do this.

Move your mouse cursor to the left of the letter A and above the number 1 and click. You will see the whole spreadsheet highlight.

Now, move the cursor along the LETTERS at the top, until you reach the junction of the A nd B when the cursor ( adownward pointing black arrow) will change to a TWO pronged left and right arrow with a vertical bar.

Now double click and the columns will set widths automatically.

Click anywhere in the sheet to unselect everything.

Now, as above, we want to CUT & PASTE only TWO of the columns into the other sheet.

I was going to move them all but realised it isn't necessary and probably simpler this way.

Click the LETER B at the top of the column, then CUT & PASTE it as before into the other sheet but this time, select B1 as the target cell.

Similarly, click the LETTER C then CUT & PASTE the data to A1 in the main sheet.

This has now effectively transposed the SINGER and SONG columns to the correct order for the RMC program.

As before, you can use the Window menu to go to the other sheet and close it in the same way as before.

Very close now, please hang in there.

You should now have a spreadsheet with SINGER in column A
TITLE in B
three blank columns
CDG full path in F
MP3 full path in G

We only need do one more thing before saving the magic file to produce a disc.

Click cell E1 and type in upper case the word "FALSE" (without the "") then hit return

Click the E1 cell again and look carefully at the bottom right hand corner of the cell. You should see a small black square.

Move the mouse cursor CAREFULLY to this small square when the chunky white cross changes to a smal black cross.

BE CAREFUL as various cursor options might appear. You are looking for a SMALL BLACK CROSS.

When the small black cross appears, LEFT click and DRAG downwards when the word FALSE will be automatically copied as far as you drag downward,

Fill the word FALSE all the way down to the bottom of your data.

DO NOT OMIT ONE NOR ADD AN EXTRA ONE!!!!

At last, we are now going to save our RMC import file.

Click FILE at the top of the screen and select SAVE AS

You should be directed back to your Text folder and prompted with a filename. Change this filename to one that is obviously going to be your IMPORT file, e.g. IMPORT.csv

If you get a query asking about format, select YES.

Close EXCEL and if asked to save again, select NO.

I'll finish this in the next post.

Sandy
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mnementh
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Post by mnementh »

OK guys,
last stage.

Go to your text folder and locate your IMPORT file.

In my case, it's called NeoImport.csv and fortunately the RMC program "sees" the csv file as text.

Open the RMC.EXE program and select File at the top, then select IMPORT LIST

Navigate to your text folder and double click your IMPORT file.

Hey Presto! all your data will appear as if by magic.

Click Build at top of screen, then slect DVD5 ( I wouldn't recommend DVD9 as an option)

You'll be prompted for a location to generate the files and then the conversion will take place.

When done, you'll find 5 files in your specified folder, 1 INFO files and 4 1Gb data files.

Burn ALL 5 by whatever software you wish to a single layer DVD and the job is done.

Have fun,
Sandy
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mnementh
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Post by mnementh »

For all of those who have persevered with this NEO+G system, please believe me when I say it's MUCH less complicated to DO than it is to EXPLAIN.

In simple terms, what we've done is;

1)placed up to 350 files (I wouldn't recommend any more) in a designated folder

2)if zipped, unzipped them and placed the MP3 and CDG files in separate folders.

3)generated three text files containing specific info on your files and paths.

4)modified ONE of the text files to csv format.

5)renamed the text files to csv files.

6)imported and manipulated the 3 csv files in a spreadsheet.

7)exported the manipulated spreadsheet as a combined csv file in a format that the NEO+G conversion software can "understand"

8)imported the manipulated file into the NEO+G authoring software.

9)generated the DVD5 files.

10)burned the NEO+G DVD.

I have tried to provide a "foolproof" method to make a NEO+G DVD but any comments or flames are welcome.

In the time it took me to type these posts out, I would have been able to make upwards of ten NEO+G discs, so again, believe me it really is quite straightforward, even if a bit daunting.

Sandy
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wiseguy
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Post by wiseguy »

Quite impressive Sandy. I hope people appreciate your efforts here.
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mnementh
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Post by mnementh »

Thanks Wiseguy.

I realise that in these times of computer Karaoke that NEO+G is possibly not going to be well supported but it IS a valid Karaoke playing system and whatever gets and keeps Karaoke going is fine by me and should be given assistance whenever possible.

After all, that's what this forum is all about.

Sandy.
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ragdyann422
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Post by ragdyann422 »

Wow, Sandy!
I seriously registered just so I could tell you:
This is FANTASTIC!
THANK YOU!!
My husband just gave me an RSQ NEO-22 for my birthday. Through eBay I managed to pick up a ridiculous amount of music & figured I'd consolidate it once I got everything in the mail.
I had a feeling it wouldn't be as simple as they make it sound but I'm thrilled beyond words that I didn't have to figure this out on my own!
Thank you so much!! :D
--jen--
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mnementh
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Post by mnementh »

Hi Jen,
thanks for the praise.

I'm blushing. :redface:

I'm trying to find a way to simplify the process and I believe most of the work can be done in Excel, possibly with a Macro or two, that would greatly automate the process.

I simply haven't bothered, since there were loads of views of the article but next to no response to it.

The method DOES appear very complicated but once you break down what's actually being done and how, it's pretty quick and straightforward.

However, I'll see how easy it would be to "automate" the procedure and re-post if feasible.

Thanks again for the kudos and you're very welcome.

Sandy :mrgreen:
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darkmatter762
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Post by darkmatter762 »

Hi Sandy / anyone who might still be looking at this post....
I just purchased an RSQ HD787 and am trying to follow your instructions on creating NEO-G discs. One of the problems I'm having is trying to locate the RMC.EXE app from RSQ. I've been directed to many download sites that offer it, but it doesn't match the app that instructions are referencing. Maybe its a newer version that now doesn't support these features, but would appreciate any assistance in locating this app.

Cheers!
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darkmatter762
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Post by darkmatter762 »

UPDATE: I was able to find the RMC.EXE file by using the way back machine here: http://web.archive.org/web/200709211937 ... audio.com/

Hope this is useful for others!

Cheers
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mnementh
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Post by mnementh »

darkmatter762 wrote:UPDATE: I was able to find the RMC.EXE file by using the way back machine here: http://web.archive.org/web/200709211937 ... audio.com/

Hope this is useful for others!

Cheers
Hi there,
thanks for finding that.

I don't often check back on this thread and I assumed RSQ would continue to make the RMC.exe file available.

However, what seems to have happened is that they have re-vamped their website but forgotten to actually provide a link to the software.

If you have a look at their web page;

http://www.rsqaudio.com/renewal/

Look down to the right and you will see 3 links about NEO+G but they don't work. I believe they SHOULD link to the relevant software.

I'll email them and ask the question.

However, if anyone is struggling to get the RMC.EXE file, please PM me and I'll send it to you.

Sandy.
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mnementh
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Post by mnementh »

HI again,
after a futile couple of weeks waiting for RSQ to get back to me, I finally gave up and had another trawl through their website.

I found the RMC file hidden in the download user manual section?????

Go here;

http://www.rsqaudio.com/renewal/bbs/boa ... d&sca=USER

and select the the NEO+G convertor option.

This is a zipped file containing the RMC.EXE file.

Sandy.
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