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Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Discuss CD+G's, VCD's, song book creators, and any other karaoke related software.
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bwriter
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Location: Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by bwriter »

This software is driving me nuts. I have mastered most of the basics: entering the lyrics and music, synchronising them and producing an MP3 and CDG file. These play perfectly on Karafun and I am well chuffed. But I have a problem.
I can not figure out how to handle the FIXED TEXT function. At the appropriate point in the lyrics, I have inserted the words 'GUITAR SOLO'. I click the 'FIXED' button and sure enough, GUITAR SOLO appears on the screen. But it fades after a couple of seconds.
Can anyone tell me how to keep this text on the screen for the duration of the guitar solo?
Please, someone help me while I still have some hair left to pull out.


crazyface
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Post by crazyface »

Did you find out? I've just got this software and am learning each day how to do things. Their "help" bit is worse than useless. :evil:
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bwriter
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Location: Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Post by bwriter »

I did get it to work once. I'm still not sure how I did it. But I think you have to synchronize the song first. Then you add a gap above your lyrics, add text and then edit the word TEXT to what you want your fixed text to say. Click each line of your introductory text and select 'FIXED'. Remember to insert an extra gap so as to separate the intro screen from the first screen of lyrics.
As I said, I think this will work.
The other thing I discovered by accident is how to set a different style for each line. You must click on the next empty slot beneath 'male', 'female' etc. I think it's slot 5. Now enter a name and set up the font and colours etc that apply to this slot. From then on, apply this slot to a line for it to adopt the parameters you have assigned to it.
Sorry if this is all a bit vague; I uninstalled this software in a fit of rage. May reinstall later.
It would be immensley helpful if one of the people who have figured these things out were to start a set of instructions. Perhaps this could be made into a sticky for all the thickos like me who need help.
Any volunteers?
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bwriter
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Location: Kirkcaldy, Scotland

Post by bwriter »

Okay, I've been playing around with KBS again and I think I have worked out how to create a title screen and other fixed text. For those who are still struggling with the extremely oblique help files, here's a blow-by-blow account of what I did. As (and if) I discover more, I'll come back and post the details.

After the lyrics and music have been synchronized you are invited to save the project in a .kbp file but you don’t have to. However, if you’re worried you might somehow lose all your work, go ahead and save. You can overwrite this when the track is completed.

Now you can begin to build your intro screen.
Click the mouse cursor on the first line of your lyrics. Now click ADD TEXT, for each line of text your intro will need.

You should now have the word TEXT displayed for each line. You can select each line separately (or select all the lines together) and click ‘FIXED’. Now select each appearance of TEXT in the box at bottom left and edit it to what it should say. For example, you might have three lines saying:
Jailhouse Rock
in the style of
Elvis Presley

Click on the first line of the following page. This would normally be the first line of the lyrics.

Click SPLIT page.

Your title screen and the first page of lyrics will now be on separate pages. You can ADD gaps above the lyrics lines to position them vertically.

Now all the real work is waiting to be done in the EDIT screen.

Enter the EDIT screen and select DISPLAY/REMOVE. The red line sweeps from left to right as the music plays. As it progresses it will pass over each text block. If these blocks overlap on the EDIT screen, they will also overlap on the final display. Adjust them so that they do not.

If there is an instrumental break (a guitar lead or a drum solo, say) in the song, then click OK to return to the main screen and select the line of lyrics immediately following the break. Click ADD TEXT then EDIT the word TEXT (in the same way you did for the title screen) to what you want it to say. E.g., GUITAR or DRUM SOLO. If you want a space between this and the lyrics, click ADD gap.

At this point, click BUILD. The software will now build the CDG file, save it and ask if you want to play it. You’ll probably want to do this to see how it looks. If this is not the first time you’ve clicked BUILD you’ll be asked if you want to replace the existing file. If you’re happy with the state of things so far, go ahead and save.

Now you should save the project. This will allow you to return to it in the future and make any changes that might occur to you. If you did not save this .kbp file, then you would need to start all over entering text, selecting the music file, synchronizing and all the rest.

After playing the finished track a few times you’ll probably start to notice places where the text isn’t being swept just right. Return to the EDIT screen and select LYRICS SWEEPING. Here the red line sweeps vertically over your text. When you reach the exact point you want the sweeping to start, tap the spacebar. This will pause the sweep. Now adjust the text blocks in either length or position so that the sweeping feels right.

When you are happy with everything, don’t forget to save the project again and build the CDG file to keep all your changes.
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dbassani
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by dbassani »

This was a lot of help! Thank you! Now can you tell me how to export my finished build so I can put it on a flash drive and use in my karaoke player on another computer? Been struggling for a week!
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wiseguy
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by wiseguy »

You'll want to export the tracks as MP3+G. Virtually all modern software karaoke players support this format.
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dbassani
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by dbassani »

Thank you for that but how do you export?
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wiseguy
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by wiseguy »

Actually, I have no idea. I was going by the website where it said "the MP3+G format is covered too". I took that to mean that the finished song could be exported to the MP3+G format. I downloaded and installed Karaoke Builder to see how it handled MP3+G files and found that it only exports (Builds) CD+G and BIN files. CD+G files are useless alone as they are only the song graphics with no audio. They would have to synchronized with a separate MP3 file to create an MP3+G song.

Bin files are full karaoke song tracks containing both audio and graphics. They have a large file size which means they use up a lot of space on a flash drive. One BIN file will take up the space of about 8 MP3+G files. They are typically used to create CD+G discs. If you are able to create suitable BIN files you could use a program like Power CD+G Burner to convert them to MP3+G.

After playing around with Karaoke Builder for about 15 minutes I deleted the piece of crap. It is way more complicated than it needs to be, only accepts WAV audio files, and has no way (that I can find) to export finished song tracks to MP3+G. Karaoke CD+G Creator and Karaoke Home Producer are both much better and easier to use programs.
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dbassani
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by dbassani »

Thank you SOOOO much!! You have been a great help and I really appreciate the time you spent to help me! God bless!
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wiseguy
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by wiseguy »

You're certainly welcome. Let us know how things work out.
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DanG2006
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by DanG2006 »

wiseguy wrote: Wed Mar 28, 2018 9:55 pm Actually, I have no idea. I was going by the website where it said "the MP3+G format is covered too". I took that to mean that the finished song could be exported to the MP3+G format. I downloaded and installed Karaoke Builder to see how it handled MP3+G files and found that it only exports (Builds) CD+G and BIN files. CD+G files are useless alone as they are only the song graphics with no audio. They would have to synchronized with a separate MP3 file to create an MP3+G song.

Bin files are full karaoke song tracks containing both audio and graphics. They have a large file size which means they use up a lot of space on a flash drive. One BIN file will take up the space of about 8 MP3+G files. They are typically used to create CD+G discs. If you are able to create suitable BIN files you could use a program like Power CD+G Burner to convert them to MP3+G.

After playing around with Karaoke Builder for about 15 minutes I deleted the piece of crap. It is way more complicated than it needs to be, only accepts WAV audio files, and has no way (that I can find) to export finished song tracks to MP3+G. Karaoke CD+G Creator and Karaoke Home Producer are both much better and easier to use programs.
You need the separate music file for the finished bin. It just stays separate after the graphics portion is synced. That's what an MP3+G is, two separate files to make a full product.
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wiseguy
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by wiseguy »

A BIN file is a complete song including the audio. It is the finished product after you complete mixing the song track. An MP3+G is an MP3 audio file with a CD+G graphics file. Karaoke Builder does not have an option to export to MP3+G. Your options are BIN (the complete song without audio compression) or CD+G which is the graphics only. The only way I see to end up with an MP3+G song track is to use a separate program to convert the BIN to MP3+G.
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DanG2006
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by DanG2006 »

The cdg file is the g file in the MP3+G.. All you have to do is name both the same. You are thinking about the cdg format from microstudio or khp. Whole different animal. All an MP3+G is an MP3 with a graphics file with the same name. The original KHP was the only Karaoke creator where the CDG file couldn't be used as the graphics for a MP3+G pair because it was basically a bin file under a different name.
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wiseguy
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by wiseguy »

I'm pretty much an expert on the MP3+G format. I've been working with this format since TriceraSoft invented it. In fact, I was one of their beta testers (for lack of a better term). I also worked with MTU before they stopped using their CD+G format. I am not confused about anything here.

A karaoke BIN file is a complete song track. It has a large file size because the audio is not compressed. Think of it as a WAV file compared to an MP3. BIN files are typically used to copy CD+G discs or to make compilation CD+G discs. They are rarely used for computer karaoke because of their large file size. A BIN file is never another name for a CD+G graphics file. The MTU CD+G format was a complete karaoke song and basically a renamed BIN file. You are referring to the earliest version of KHP. They soon added MP3+G functionality. All but the earliest version will output to MP3+G (two files), WAV+G (two files), or BIN. I've been using this software for many years.

The MPG+3 format was created to reduce the file size of karaoke song tracks just like MP3 was created to reduce the size of standard audio tracks. TriceraSoft separated karaoke songs ripped from a CD+G disc (BIN files) into two parts, .cdg and .mp3 so the audio could be compressed thus reducing the size of the song track. The .cdg cannot be and is not compressed. The size of an MP3+G song track depends on the bitrate of the MP3.

Karaoke Builder outputs only to a cdg graphics file or a BIN file. It only accepts WAV audio files. So creating an MP3+G is not as simple as naming an mp3 the same as the cdg. The easiest solution I can think of is to output to BIN files and then convert the BIN files to MP3+G with a program like Power CD+G Burner. Of course, the real solution is to not use Karaoke Builder at all and opt for Karaoke CD+G Creator or Karaoke Home Producer.
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DanG2006
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Re: Karaoke Builder Studio - fixed text problem

Post by DanG2006 »

Converting the way file to MP3 takes about the same amount of time and energy as converting a bin file to MP3+G. So I don't see your point of being easier.
In fact you don't even have to convert the audio file because most Karaoke players, if you are accessing the cdg file won't care what format the audio file is, whether it's MP3, wav or wma, as long as both files share the same filename.
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