Creating CD+G files
Before creating CD+G file that can be burned to a CD+G disc you need to make sure that your song looks good.
There are several ways of changing the appearance of CD+G song:
Once the song looks good you are ready to write it to CDG file.
You may play CD+G song with Power CD+G Player
Karaoke CD+G Creator does not burn CD+G discs. To do this you need Power CD+G Burner. To learn move visit Power CD+G Burner website.
USING CD+G PREVIEW WINDOW
CD+G preview window is located above the lyrics editor.
It displays the CD+G preview of the current part of the lyrics -- this is how your song will look on the TV screen. Please observe that the content of the preview window changes as you change the position of the cursor in the lyrics editor -- it always displays the page cursor is currently at.
TIP: If your computer is slow, rendering preview make take a long time and your work will be uncomfortable. To avoid this either hide the preview window or disable automatic updates (clicking Update button will render the preview at the current cursor position).
USING STYLES
To apply a predefined visual style to your song click Styles button on the toolbar (
) or select Styles command from Create menu.
Song details section of the dialog box allows you to enter title of the song, artist name, and text that will be displayed as your company information (probably something like Presented to you by DOBLON). Credits are displayed after the song is finished.
Tip: To force a new line in Title, Artist, or Company name fields, use ^ character.
What is style?
Karaoke Creator allows to set styles for:
· Title: image displayed before the song
· Credits: image displayed after the song is finished
· Song: colors, text formatting, page layout, and image (in Pro version only) of the lyrics
Each of this styles can be applied individually, or it is possible to use presets.
Style preset combo box allows to select one of predefined templates. It will change all styles in Applied styles. You may store your combination of Title, Song, and Credit styles using Add button. To save changed combination use Save button. Delete button removes your preset from the list.
Applied styles lists styles used for each of the sections of the song. To change the style select it in Applied styles list and then choose the new style from Available styles combo. Selecting (Unused) will disable the style.
Style editor button starts Style Editor dialog box which allows you to create your own styles.
Preview window displays the preview of the style selected in Applied styles list.
Selected styles will be applied to the song when you select OK button.
To continue with the tutorial select Rock style preset and click OK button.
MODYFYING CD+G SETTINGS
Usually you will want to adjust CD+G parameters to your liking. To open CD+G Settings dialog box click CD+G Settings button on the toolbar (
) or select CD+G Settings command from Create menu.
Font
This setting specifies which font will be used for the lyrics and how large the letters should be. If you are trading you PKD files make sure that you use fonts that are installed on the destination computer.
Text Effects
Select the text effect you want to apply. You have the choice of Outline (you may choose the size of the outline), Shadow and Heavy shadow. The color of the text effects can be set in Colors dialog box.
You may enable any of the following text effects:
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· None |
Text effects are disabled |
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· Outline |
Text is outlined by a single pixel |
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· Shadow |
A one pixel shadow is added to text |
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· Heavy shadow |
A two pixel shadow is added to text |
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· Outline (2-5 pixels) |
An outline of a selected width is added to the text |
The color of the effect is controled separately from the color of the text. By default efects are painted in black.
Note: Enabling text effects decrease the speed of display the text. For the fast-paced songs it is recommended to disable the text effects.
Vertical alignment
Allows to change the placement of the lines of the text. You may select Center, Top, or Bottom which would place the text at the appropriate part of the screen, or choose Space evenly, which makes sure that the first line is at the top, the last at the bottom, and all the spaces between the lines are equal.
Horizontal alignment
This setting controls the way the individual lines of text are placed. You have the choice of Center, Left, and Right.
Lines per screen
Allows to specify the maximum number of lines to be shown. Note that if the font size is too large, the actual number of lines may be lower.
Additional spacing
The number of pixels to insert between the lines.
Squeeze text and do not break lines
When this option is selected Karaoke CD+G Creator will not break lines -- it will resize it horizontally so every line fits the screen. This may help placing the text in the song, but if the lines are too long may decrease the readability of the text.
Sweep words
Uncheck this option if you want to highlight the entire word at once, instead of coloring it gradually as it is sung.
Smart page breaks
Pages will be changed during the longest pauses between the lines
Make lyrics uppercase
Lyrics will be converted to the uppercase letters, but they will not be modified in the editor
Colors
Allows to change the background, border and text color. Simply choose the appropriate color from the list or use More button to select the custom color.
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Display mode You may also select the text display mode. Choosing Page by page will result in the standard paged display. Overwrite will disable the screen erasing and the new words will overwrite the already sang. And Scrolled mode will generate the long flow of text that will move upwards with the highlighted line always in the middle. Mode information on display modes can be found in Display modes section. |
Images
This group of options allows to select the pictures that are to appear before the song and after the song. By default these pictures are disabled. Checking Insert silence to accommodate the picture ensures that the title picture will not interfere with the flow of the song (this option works for BIN files only).
To learn more about using images in Karaoke CD+G Creator see Images section.
Preset
You may save a current set of options and use it later for different song using the Save button. To invoke the preset select if from a pop-down list. To delete the existing preset use Delete button.
Apply
Display modes
Note: These settings are available in Pro version only. Karaoke CD+G Creator has paged display mode only.
Karaoke CD+G Creator Pro has 3 display modes.
Page by page will result in the standard paged display. Full page of lyrics is displayed, and when it is fully highlighted, a new page is presented.
Overwrite will disable the screen erasing and the new words will overwrite the already sang. This mode should be used when there is an image on screen -- it will ensure that image is not erased.
Scrolled mode will generate the long flow of text that will move upwards with the highlighted line always in the middle. Note that some songs (faster ones) can not be presented properly in Scrolled mode.
WRITING CD+G FILES
Click Create CD+G File button on the toolbar (
) or select Create CD+G File command from Create menu. You may also press F2 key on the keyboard.
If you want to write this track to a CD, you need to select BIN as the output type. Selecting CDG output type will allow you to preview the result in Power CD+G Player. By default the output file is created in the same directory as the soundtrack file. Make sure that you have all necessary user privileges, or change the output file location.
Please note that most of the settings is the same as those in CD+G Settings dialog box.
If you would like to preview the output file, make sure that Open in Power CD+G Player when done option is checked. You may select a different software CD+G player if you have one -- use Choose player button to do this.
Tip: If Siglos Karaoke Player/Recorder is installed on your computer, you will be prompted to use it as a default CD+G player in AI Karaoke CD+G Creator.
Click here to visit Siglos Karaoke Player/Recorder website.
Now click OK to create CD+G file.
PLAYING CD+G FILES
Power CD+G Player can be used to play the tracks you create with Karaoke CD+G Creator.
It is a good idea to view the song in full before burning it to the CD.