Stepmania University: We'll make your files suck less (under construction)

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by YaBoySM

Mixmeister BPM Analyzer, google it.

Not always the best choice.

[TC_Halogen]

I. Fundamentals
------------------------------
With nowhere to start, you have nowhere to improve. It may be difficult to lay down your own sync, BPMs, and have a decent portion of your song (if not the whole thing) to step right from the start. That is, unless you are doing a re-step. You really shouldn't be attempting a re-step of a pad chart if you're looking at this though, as a re-step is usually intended to make a better chart than the previous one.

First off, it is VERY important that every chart you work on/release has really good sync. Accuracy on ITG and DDR is a bit less forgiving than StepMania typically is, and you also have to take into account that players are using their legs to coordinate with the steps rather than their fingers (the often misconception being that if it can be done on index, it can be done on pad; this is NOT true). If you are planning to make pad charts, it's more than likely going to be used as an ITG custom chart, so sync is of the utmost importance. Since this section is about the important foundation of your simfile, I will give a quick little (refresher?) course on how to sync up a song well, without having to spend a large amount of time on it.

- Find the BPM of your song. A good and accurate way to do this is to use an analyzer.

MixMeister is very good for nailing a BPM right on the nose ONLY IF the song does not drift at ALL. Otherwise it will take the average of the song, and you will get a very bad reading. If you are stepping a techno/electronica/trance song, this should work pretty nicely. Live songs will not do well at all.

AutoBPM is a very powerful tool that reads the input of your sound card and compares the repetition of sounds to form a general BPM. If you have a live song, it can be very useful for putting a general BPM down, and then syncing it as you go.

If you have a song that will simply not hold a constant BPM, DDream Studio will fix your problems. I highly recommend looking here if you don't want to read any tutorials. It's around 10 minutes long, but it will be worth it if you plan on using DDream, because it's an invaluable resource to syncing live songs.

Find the first beat of your song. Note: I didn't say first sound--some songs have "pick-up" beats that must be accounted for. Also take note that since you haven't touched the BPM, it won't be on a red beat, it may very well be somewhere random. This is normal--just use your assist tick to pinpoint where your first beat is. Once you have your first beat of your song, use the time that StepMania gives you, and use the offset keys (F11/F12) to move that time to the first beat of the editor.

Place a few quarter notes (red) down the editor, and see if it syncs up nicely. If it does, you're done with the syncing!

Also, while you are doing this, here's two questions for yourself:

Is the song quality perfect?
Do I really want/need to use this entire song?

If you answered no to either of these questions, you may need to make a song cut. This is talked about more in depth in the advanced topics, as it does require a little bit of music orientation.

[TC_Halogen]

II. Basic Level Topics
------------------------------
Alright! By this point, you should (and I will assume this) have a nicely synced simfile. Now it's time to lay down some steps in the editor. By reading this part of the guide and on, you are agreeing from this point forward to NEVER INTENTIONALLY USE CTRL+R (record function) IN STEPMANIA TO PLACE A MAJORITY OF YOUR STEPS. It's understandable if you need to use it to pinpoint a single sound or two that you cannot seem to find, but do us all a favor and put the steps in manually like all good step-artists do.

This part of the guide will show you basic pattern usage. Try to retain these patterns, and understand how they work. A good way to do this is to slowly play them out on index, or even better so, "shadow-stepping" (actually physically attempting the pattern on your feet).

Let's move on. You have your song, and you may have a general rhythm for a section, but you aren't quite sure if your patterns make sense, or you don't have an idea as to what you want to put at all. Well, thankfully, with only 4 arrows, it's quite easy to start. Let's take a look at these basic patterns.


First pattern we have here is a foot sweep. The reason it's called that is because if the pattern keeps repeating, the player's body continues to forcefully be moved from the back of the pad to the front of the pad, with no lead-in on the way back.


Our next pattern is a staircase. The reason for it being called this is because it actually looks like one. The player's body gets forcefully gets moved front to back, but the difference from the sweep is that the last three steps of the pattern lead the player back to the starting pattern. Because of this, it takes more stamina to do it at a higher speed.


Now, we have the ladder. I don't remember where or how this name got coined, but so be it. The pattern is very similar to a sweep, the only difference is the middle two arrows are flipped. The movement is similar to a sweep, but instead, the player starts on the front area of the pad and works their way back.


This pattern is called an anchor. The reason why it's called an anchor is because one foot is forced to stay in the same spot, or "anchored" to an arrow, while the other foot does the other arrows. Stick with these two for now, because anchors also step into the crossover territory, something I want to mention later.


And our last pattern (for now), is a term I like to call pad tagging. Why? This pattern is often used in fast runs because it takes almost no energy to do as a player--they hit three steps on the back side of the pad, then three forward, or vice-versa, with no leading into or out of any patterns.

These are your most basic patterns to start with. Each pattern can be mirrored as well. With proper usage, these patterns can be used to make a decently flowing chart.

Now, of course--with only four arrows, you don't want to just use a single arrow for every beat of the song; you want to have a good chart with variety so you don't bore the player. That's where jumps and freeze arrows come in. Because of where we are in this guide, we will try and avoid up and down arrow jumps. Jumps can be used for a variety of things; anything from accenting a loud sound, to some sort of switch within the chart itself (like a BPM change or a stop). Even more so, they can simply be used to add a technical value to your chart, rather than serving as a simple accent. Because there are multiple ways to use a jump properly, it may get confusing as to when to use it in each case. For now, let's just use jumps as accents--this way we'll have something to build off of in the later sections of the guide. But, What qualifies to be an accent in a pad chart? Well, that answer is completely subjective--and it varies even more so with the amount of energy a song has. If a song is strong, with a lot of cymbal crashes or accents, it's more likely to have a lot of jumps. If a song is quiet, like a piano ballad of some sort, it's likely to have very few jumps. Song style can be the deciding factor to how a chart comes out. Do not over-do it when using jumps. If you have a constant 8th note stream of nothing but jumps, you are probably following something that you think is an accent but really isn't, and you may be better off using single arrows in the first place.

"There are a bunch of sounds in my song that last for a long time, and using single steps makes it look empty." Well, just like in keyboard charts, you can have freeze arrows in your chart too. Just like jumps, freezes have multiple purposes too, but relax--those will come later. Improper usage of freezes arrows can make a chart's flow die out completely, and because of this, we will only stick to the left and right arrows for freezes. Freeze arrows are a nice thing to have in pad charts--here's a good example: say you have a long held out note, and a loud crash happens while the freeze is happening. You can insert a single arrow while the freeze is happening, and look--you've interpreted both sounds into steps in your chart. If you are having trouble with minimizing jumps in your chart, freezes can sometimes be used to replace them. Freezes can be efficient accents, but be aware of using short freezes. Some people do it in their charts, others choose not to, I personally would advise against it because it makes your chart look really strange. Try to steer away from freezes shorter than 1/8 of a note.

My final note of this section--is to simply mention double-steps. They are the ultimate killer to pad charts; a chart that is found to have a lot of double-steps will get played once, and then get chastized more often than not because it simply is not fun to play. A double-step is when a player is forced to use the same foot twice in a row when not given an obvious clue that the pattern must be done in that way. If a player opts to not use the same foot twice in a common double-step situation, they may be forced to spin, or put themselves in extremely ridiculous positions. All I'll say for now, is to use the patterns that are given to you for the moment, as I will include a section on how to minimize the amount of double-steps in the next part of the guide.

[i love you]

Well said AJ.

[~Zero~]

Originally Posted by TC_Halogen

Freezes can be efficient accents, but be aware of using short freezes. Some people do it in their charts, others choose not to, I personally would advise against it because it makes your chart look really strange. Try to steer away from freezes shorter than 1/8 of a note.

:[

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by ~Zero~

:[

I had a feeling I'd see you say something about it. That is why I said that I "personally" advise against it. It's not wrong, but it just takes the aesthetic value out of the chart--it looks extremely strange.

My hope after this guide (is finished) is that people will understand enough of these concepts so that they can create their own stepping style.

[Patashu]

IMHO it's kind of a blueball to use holds in a pad file that have absolutely no effect on the choreography. They have a lot more importance than on spread since you only have two feet for four columns, after all.

For pad patterns in general, it's important to recognize that you have a lot of control over how easy or hard the pattern is to execute, and you can craft patterns that are on any point of this 'continuum':
Trills
Minitrills
Adjacent-movement-only-runs (where feet only move to panels that are diagonally adjacent)
Adjacent-movement-only-runs plus quick movements across the pad (e.g. that feeling of throwing your weight back and forward LDURLDUR or LUDRLUDR gives that LDLRDRLULR doesn't)
Also including candles (a candle is any step that lifts a foot over the center of the pad; patterns like the infamous LDURDULDURDU make you candle every three steps)
Fast candles (LDLULDLU for example makes you candle every two steps)
Basic crossovers (LDRDLDUR has a crossover then carries on)
Advanced crossovers (patterns that can be alternated feet on if you're technically proficient (for example LDRLUR: try alternating your feet through it, or maybe even RDLDURUL?) or lots of crossovers in a short period of time (LDRDLURUL...alternates crossovers and candles!!)
Spins or otherwise unflowing patterns that can't be alternated through without facing away from the machine (e.g. LDRULDRU or LDRLDRLDR)

A clever pad file maker might create more difficult streams to emphasize more intense parts of the music over others, for instance.

[Joe D]

"Make ur files suck less"........I wanna join,I wanna join!

[operationstrawbarry]

Originally Posted by Patashu

operationstrawberry: turned into drop j/k [url]http://www.mediafire.com/?

LOL. I hate you!

From now on, I just have to step on my desktop and manually transfer it into my laptop... what a ****ty experience LOL


At least I figured out how to do this mediafile crap.

[Dorby]

Originally Posted by YaBoySM

Mixmeister BPM Analyzer, google it.

nooooooooooooooooo been there done that. Besides, it only gives you one bpm, what about the countless number of songs that has multiple?

[Frozen Beat]

Halogen already told you.

DDReam Studio.

Look at the tutorial or you'll go: aasiwaat.

[leonid]

Bump

I'm still paying the tuition.

[who_cares973]

am i still a mentor

[i love you]

Omg, bring this thread back. This actually gave me motivation to actually get better at stepping.

[t-rogdor]

Seconded

[TC_Halogen]

Oh wow, I forgot about me making a lecture here. I should really finish that. xD

[Wineandbread]

Lol this thread
Let's all invade the irc gogo

[Ghakimx]

Cool, I'll join. How do I start? I have IRC and what not.

[who_cares973]

im in #smu right now

[Ghakimx]

I have forgotten how to use IRC. Gah.

Seriously though, what's the port number of the server and so on?