Mute's Pro Syncing Guide ~ UPDATED 11/02/11

[mudkyp]

I use MixMeister to give me a rough estimate.
Use that as a starting BPM.
Set my global to 0 (only when cutting, because the global offset affects the current second marker in the song, I use the stepmania editor's current second markings when cutting so I can create clips.)
And then I adjust the BPM manually using the .sm and reloading from the disk until the first beat lines up with the last to the exact millisecond. (aka the same spikes are lining up well)
After cutting, I move global back to -0.012 and then sync the offset of the song.

Success.

Everybody has their own methods, and as unorthodox and superfluous mine may be, it works for me everytime.

[T-Dog!]

i kind of wish there was a simpler way of doing this. i dont mean to come across as too lazy to learn or anything, but its just that reading mutes guide felt like i was sitting in a calculus lecture. when the instructor is talking, it seems to make perfect sense, but when you get home to to the homework, you look at your book and go "wtf." im a pretty smart dude, but have zero simfile experience, and if there were video tutorials that broke down each step with clear visuals and verbal explainations of whats going on, i would be able to understand the process better.

for instance, looking at the visuals to determine when the beat spikes is confusing, because even when you zoom into the nearest .1 second of a song, its very difficult for me to distinguish which spike is the correct one to follow/determine the quarter note beats.

i honestly just said "groove making my own simfiles" because it seems the syncing process is too complicated to just delve right into without having properly understanding it. is there a shot for a video tutorial mute? for us herpderps that dont entirely understand your guide? even if its an easy ass process, as you claim, maybe a video might shed some light into rather dark areas of my brain regarding my understanding of this guide.

[Gazebo]

I have some tutorials here, they might help. The syncing tutorial specifically is basically a more step-by-step elaboration of mute's method. I think. Syncing becomes easy after the first few songs, as long as you're not choosing songs that drift or have muddy waveforms, as mute says.

P.S. Yes, I use Audacity (too lazy to find/DL other software), shoot me

[mudkyp]

Usually it's the first heavy spike, and then 2 or 3ms after that to account for the ~*~sPeeD oF sOunD~*~

Seriously.

But yeah, just practice using heavy electronic files in which the BPM is consistent and has a super easy waveform to read.

[T-Dog!]

@gazebo, i just read your guide (well, mutes guide thoroughly explained) and it seemed to make much more sense to me (like how to calculate exact bpm, ie, when you put it into a mathematical formula and specified the exact variables and put them into an equation made the explanation quite simple. i might give simfile creation a go now. thank you

[mute]

EDIT: @mute, if you say dont use mixmeister, how is it that you come up with the correct bpm to the .001?

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=12750

[doctort144]

That waveform you showed is a little ambiguous. I'd read a more clear part if possible. (Sometimes snare hits are more crisp than bass kicks, or vice versa.)

To be honest though, I avoid that problem altogether with song selection. 99% of the time, I simply don't step drifty songs or anything with muddy/ambiguous waveforms.

Well that song was the original Healing Vision from DDR 5th Mix... so it's highly likely that that's the case.

Thanks for the tip, I'll try to find a better song that has more clear waveforms.

[mute]

First post updated to include links to Charles' new gimmick tutorial. Which is really fucking good, by the way. Go read it and stop quantizing gimmicks incorrectly. Also updated link to Gazebo's syncing thread.

Furthermore: Could a mod please sticky this? I also think that Charles' gimmick tutorial thread should be stickied.

[Timinator]

Furthermore: Could a mod please sticky this? I also think that Charles' gimmick tutorial thread should be stickied.

Hear hear!

[mudkyp]

First post updated to include links to Charles' new gimmick tutorial. Which is really fucking good, by the way. Go read it and stop quantizing gimmicks incorrectly. Also updated link to Gazebo's syncing thread.

Furthermore: Could a mod please sticky this? I also think that Charles' gimmick tutorial thread should be stickied.

<3333333

[SM MaxX]

Okay just so I understand this, when I set my offset to -0.012, I should pretty much ignore how it sounds on SM and only focus on the Current second value it gives. And then just go by trial and error mostly to find the bpm?

Another question: say it does drift, but you want to step it anyways. How often should I adjust the bpm, like every measure or so?

[Gazebo]

Okay just so I understand this, when I set my offset to -0.012, I should pretty much ignore how it sounds on SM and only focus on the Current second value it gives.

Yes. (Lesson 1 in syncing)

And then just go by trial and error mostly to find the bpm?

You could do trial and error, or try the method in my sync guide, whichever you find easier

Another question: say it does drift, but you want to step it anyways. How often should I adjust the bpm, like every measure or so?


Depends from case to case. If the required bpm changes are small, changing bpm more often is better (not necessarily every measure, but often enough that it stays reasonably on sync without driving you crazy). If the bpm swings are large though, it might be a bit annoying for the player to have to deal with that.

[mute]

Absolutely everything Gazebo said.

[Fraxtil]

I'm pretty sure I understand this guide, but just to make sure - if I have files that were synced to a 0.000 global offset, I would need to increase the simfile's offset value by .012 for r21 play, correct? I personally don't notice offset changes that small on foot yet so I can't figure it out for sure myself.

[mute]

I'm pretty sure I understand this guide, but just to make sure - if I have files that were synced to a 0.000 global offset, I would need to increase the simfile's offset value by .012 for r21 play, correct? I personally don't notice offset changes that small on foot yet so I can't figure it out for sure myself.

Almost. Because of step #3 in my method (subtracting 0.003 seconds to account for the sound travelling to your ear), you could essentially add 0.009 seconds to a song's offset if it was synced to a global offset of 0.000. But otherwise yes, you have the right idea.

At lower skill levels, a 0.012 second offset discrepancy doesn't make a huge difference. A player who gets, say, ~90% on medium charts certainly wouldn't notice the difference. But if you're capable of, oh I dunno, full comboing 9s and passing some easier 12s, that's a different story. I'm not a great player by any stretch of the definition (I've passed a couple 14s and quadded a few easy 9s), but if a song's offset is wrong by 0.012 seconds I will do insanely shitty on it. But then again, I'm an auditory player and not a visual player. Most good players can FA just fine even when song offsets are slightly off.

Also, different players will often have different ideas for what feels "on sync" for them. There are people who think my method feels a bit early and others who think it feels a bit late. That's why I present this guide saying "Hey, this is just what works for me. Draw from it what you will." The most important thing with syncing is to just make sure files don't drift.