Lyrics and lrc format

[Jo The Veteran]

I've just bought a symbian program from Lonely Cat Games company for my nokia 7610 cell than supports lyrics while playing mp3 , and also does allot of other things too, it's great and i recommend it to anyone with a s60 cell
(Btw let me clariffy something. This is NOT and ad , it's just an expression of admiration , so you supers can remove if you don't approve , it's your call).

The program shows lyrics while the song is played, to do that you need an .lrc file together with the mp3 (with the same name i guess), and mp3 tag lyrics aren't supported. I guess that's because the .lrc format is kinda like the subtitles are for movies, it synchronizes with the audio using timestamps, just like the .srts do.
So my question is this. Is there a prog. that extracts the tag into .lrc file ? To do that it whould have to put timestamps that wouldn't be synched right, or that they would have a 0:00.00 value as timestamp or something, but that way at least it would show in the program even without synchronization.
And another thing. I experimented with an .lrc file like this. I created a movie with a fake video steam, but with audio the song that the lyrics i've been making for. I got the lyrics from the leo's lyrics winamp plugin, inputed then sentence by sentence into the subtitle workshop and then synched them with the audio of the fake movie. The program at my cell recognized the lyrics but not the synchronization .
Anyone knows why?
So will anyone help me impove my life?
Thanks in advance.

[Jo The Veteran]

I'm all alone in this world ...

[GTRBudda]

I did a quick Google for "lrc file" and the first link at the top suggests that there are 2 types, sort of a basic and advanced. Perhaps your cell reads one but not the other? Just a guess.

Something that might "improve your life" is that if you start Subtitle Workshop and create a new subtitle, you can copy and paste your song lyrics into the first line, select it, then hit "edit -> texts -> Divide lines...". Where it says "Divide after line number:", run the number down to one and click "Divide!". The first line will have only the first line of lyrics, and there'll be a new line with the rest. Select the new line and repeat the process. I admit, it's a bit tedious but it beats typing in the whole thing. I just did that last week from scratch.... hour and a half long movie.... nightmarish.... I digress Anyway, when it's done, you'll have all your lyrics on seperate lines, but totally out of sync. To fix that, You can use the fake video trick in VisualSubSync. It only reads subrip/Substation Alpha file types so save it that way from Subtitle Workshop (srt or ssa). Once you're done syncing, take the srt from VisualSubSync, reload into Workshop and "Save as..." an lrc file. Simple..... After that movie I mentioned, I can safely say there's nothing simple about subtitling, but those two tools were great a great help.

[Jo The Veteran]

Common now, i've said i've done that already ! I created a fake video stream (a single image with fps 0.004 - that's about 4:30 mins) with vdubmod and inputed the audio (mp3). I've synched the lyric (just like a sub) and then uploaded into my cell. It's out of sync . There has to be something else to do with the timmings in the lrc formats, different than the subs . Bottom line, you can't sync them with subtitle workshop .
And btw, i also did my search in google before asking here (always do ), but i could'nt find anything solid ; editor for lrc, or how to sync application, or specifically how to sync them in the program i got for my cell. All i found was some old plugins (really really old) for winamp, which btw made the winamp 5 i use unstable and i've had to reinstall it .
On the other hand, if i split the lines the way you told it would be easy than to copy-paste for each line, that's for sure. so thanks for that .
However i still need to sync them well .
Anybody?

[GTRBudda]

Yes, yes I understood that you had already made an lrc file. What I was saying was, open it in Workshop, save it as an srt. Open the srt in VisualSubSync, using the fake video (I'm assuming you still have it, or can recreate it) as a reference, and check the sync there. VisualSubSync lets you align the subtitle's lines directly to the audio's wave form. Once your satisfied with the sync, save it, reopen in Workshop, and resave as an lrc.
The question might be, does Workshop make an lrc compatible with your phone? Do you have any lrc files that's already synced properly? I'd be interested to see if you do. Just for comparison, here's a short piece from the start of an lrc file made by Workshop:

[ti:Project title]
[ar:Project author]
[la:af]
Project title

[00:09.93]raa-ii-ya ra raiyora
[00:11.86]
[00:13.25]sora ni migoto na kinoko no kumo
[00:15.21]
[00:17.63]raa-ii-ya ra raiyora 
[00:18.47]
[00:19.15]komichi de e o hamu kotori no gogo wa
[00:20.93]
[00:21.61]komorebi no shiba ni te o furete kimi to katarô
[00:25.70]
[00:25.70]hora ranchi no benchi no ue de yume wa hanasaku
[00:26.70]

Does your's have the same sort of arrangement? Number of time tags, placement, etc. It may still be possible......

[Jo The Veteran]

Haven't tried that. I'll see to it tomorrow and tell you how it went.
thanks again
e.g. Allot of pain for just a lousy lyric. Hmpf...

[Jo The Veteran]

The question might be, does Workshop make an lrc compatible with your phone? Do you have any lrc files that's already synced properly? I'd be interested to see if you do. Just for comparison, here's a short piece from the start of an lrc file made by Workshop:

You've said it yourself. It's just not compatible . I had already done the synch in sub workshop and it checks out the same in VisualSubSync that you suggested, and yes, timestamps look the same. Here's a part of it (i'm sure you'll know it ).

[ti:Project title]
[ar:Project author]
[la:af]
Project title

[00:50.03]Starting from here,let's make a promise
[00:53.67]
[00:54.06]You and me,let's just be honest
[00:57.29]
[00:57.49]We're gonna run,nothing can stop us
[01:00.76]
[01:01.15]Even the night that falls all around us
[01:04.50]
[01:04.86]Soon there will be laughter and voices
[01:08.28]
[01:08.80]Beyond the clouds over the mountains
[01:12.10]
[01:12.35]We'll run away on roads that are empty

Sync is good for the pc, in all programs/players i've tried it, but not good for the phone (to be excact, sync starts good , then deteriorates pretty bad , and in the end it reallings again - if that helps).
Bottom line there has to be another program to do this, maybe also with a less painfull procedure .
Regarding everything, thanks for trying to help .

[GTRBudda]

Aha, a-haaa, I think I have some idea what's going on. Okay, as for Workshop, the lrc files it makes are acceptable Simple LRC files. I went here (http://www.lrcdb.org/) for a couple of lrc files, done by someone besides you or I, for comparison. Here's a few lines from one of their files:

[0:00] 
[0:13.414] All our times have come
[0:20.255] Here but now they're gone
[0:27.002] Seasons don't fear the reaper
[0:29.783] Nor do the wind
[0:31.079] The sun or the rain

basicaly the same as the output from Workshop, except that Workshop is taking the end time of the subtitle and making it the start time of the next lyric, making a line with a timecode but no words. But this is acceptabe for an lrc file. Apparently, it's a pretty flexable format.

So, I tried an lrc file (made by Workshop) with SYLT lyrics plugin for WinAMP (is that one of the ones you tried? It ran fine for me, with the most current Winamp) from here: http://sites.rapidus.net/gpatrick/. Incidentaly, the plugin has an editor that can take plain text and lets you add a time code to it. Don't forget the dependencies zip if you try it.

Getting back to Workshop, you can make it save to an lrc file more like the one above, without the blank lines of timecodes. First, copy and paste this to a text file:

[Information]
Name=SimpleLRC1
Extension=*.lrc
Time structure=m:ss.zzz
Time=True
FPS=29,97
New line char=[Enter]

[Format text]
[0:00]
{RepeatSub}
[{swStart}] {swText}
{EndRepeat}

save and rename it to "SimpleLRC.cfp" and move it to the folder "CustomFormats" in the Workshop program folder. Now, when you choose "Save as..." in Workshop, click the button that says Custom Formats. In the next pop up, click Load project and open the SimpleLRC.cfp, then click "Save!". The lrc file it makes won't have any timecodes with blank lines, only timecodes with lyrics. Note though, this is a one-way trip. Workshop will save to this format, but it won't open it. There has to be a timecode for a subtitle end, like the kind of lrc that Workshop makes in a normal "Save as...", or in a regular subtitle file.

Of coarse, if the SYLT plug in works for you, it's a heck of a lot easier than going from VisualSubSync with a fake avi (or an Avisynth script, works with that too) to an srt file and then to a custom lrc with Workshop.

After all that, though, I still don't know why the lrc file isn't syncing right on your cell. Honestly, I don't think it's the regular lrc from Workshop. Those seem to be acceptable files. What I'm wondering now is, is there a problem with the mp3 itself? Could it be an issue with too high or low a bitrate/sample rate? Stereo or mono? VBR vs CBR? Some issue that I haven't dreamed up yet? Obviously I'm grasping at straws here, but I think this can be beat.

BTW, no, I didn't recognize the lyric you used

[Jo The Veteran]

WoW, that's a big help you've got here, thanks allot
The most importand is the existance of an lrc database . I've searched for this but couldn't find it , though i was sure it would exist somewhere .
Now about workshop, from what i understood, the lrc format it creates shows and hides the text ussing tose timestamps. What i want is only show right? If it's as simple as you say to create a custom format, it would be about the same to read it ussing some other script, but for now just saving will do. Besides, there are so few songs that the lrc database doen't have that i do.
I'm already ussing leo's lyrics plugin for winamp but i'm gonna try the other too. Maybe it'll work better and with sync too :P .
About the mp3 in the cell it's a 32kbps MONO 22Khz standard mp3. Unfortunatelly that's the highest quality of audio that model can produce, any more it wouldn't make any difference in hearing it. I've checked it with workshop (the first thing actually before putting up this post), comparing it with the original (192kbps/44Khz ST), the sub was synced the same, so it's not that either .
I would go with wrong format creation from sub workshop plain and simple .
I'll try everything and let you know how it went .
Btw, the song played in Eurovission in 2003 in Russian language. But you're from US and not from EU so you wouldn't know, my bad .
Take care

[GTRBudda]

Ah, the things you learn when you play with the tools. A little update on something about Workshop: it can open the custom lrc files and plain text files. You'd think it'd be automatic since it defaults to "All supported files", but it's not. I never think to check that sort of thing. The trick is, when you choose "Load subtitle...", go to the box labeled "Files of type:", click the arrow on the right and scroll down and select the type of file you're opening. For text (all the way to the bottom) it adds a one second duration time code to each line of text. For custom/basic lrc it uses the start time of a subtitle as the end time of the previous subtitle. WAY better for bringing in un-timed text than the divide lines thing I mentioned before. Duh, they ain't kiddin' when they say "RTFM!!!!!!!"

Still wondering about CBR vs VBR. GSpot can tell you that, not that I'm sure it'll make any difference.

That's ok with the song, the first one I put up a piece of is in Japanese! Care to name that tune?

[Jo The Veteran]

I was sick to my stomach ( literally) these last days.
I didn't know that trick with workshop.Oh man! What an excellent tool!!
I knew what my mp3s bitrate it, it's not the problem that caused all this mess. I really don't know what it was but i'm sure that if i put all the info from this post down to the test, something good (more likelly many good things) will turn out eventally.
If it's an anime soundtrack, i haven't seen the anime yet ; actually, if a japanese song is NOT from an anime, chances are that i'll never going to (with very few exceptions).

[GTRBudda]

Stomach Bug? I feel for ya', owe. Anyway, my thought on the bitrate wasn't about the numbers, but about constant or variable. Some players can be sensative to that sort of thing, prefering one over the other. There can be audibly imperceptible lags or pushes in the playback, maybe enough to throw the lrc out of sync. Or it's gremlins

Ok, 20 questions name that tune. Yes, it is an anime.......