Presenting Your Mix - NFO & Cue Files

[ScatCat]

Introduction


I have been asked by Chris to write a quick guide on Presenting Your Mix focusing on NFO Files and Cue Files.

This is a simple but effective way to make your mix stand out from the crowd.

The NFO file can be used to write your track list and provide info you want the rest of the world to know about such as your own websites etc.

The Cue file can turn a single file mix MP3 into a multi track image (in supported media players), this will allow us to skip from Track to Track in your mix and show us Artist and Title info like a regular CD.

This guide will be divided into two parts:

- Part 1 NFO Files
- Part 2 Cue Files

Following this guide is not compulsory and you can still post your sets, however following it and making yourself known by posting in non download areas such as the Chat Room may encourage people to download and listen to your sets.

[ScatCat]

Part 1 - NFO Files


What is an NFO file ?

An NFO is a information file, a typical NFO file is elaborate and highly decorated, and usually includes a large ASCII art logo along with software release and warez group information. (see fig 1 below)


Fig 1 - Example of NFO with ASCII Art logo



ASCII art uses characters defined by a standard from 1963 which is rarely used nowadays but the term is also loosely used to refer to Text Based Art in general. One of the main reasons ASCII art was born was because early printers often lacked graphics ability and thus characters were used in place of graphic marks.


Fig 1a - Shows a real ASCII based NFO in a ASCII viewer as compared to the text based version most of us see.



This guide will only focus on NFO basics using Text Based Art, real old fashioned ASCII art requires an understanding of ASCII plus a viewer to view the image on. (if you interested a good viewer to see real ASCII NFOs on is ACiD View v6)

NFOs are commonly associated with warez groups who include them to declare credit of and "bragging rights" over said release. They are normally found as part of the downloaded package in Torrents, Rapidshare, MegaUpload RAR files etc etc

You can make these yourself to provide:

- General track information such as Artist, Title, Genre, Format, Length
- Your own logo
- Links to your own website (useful advertising if your releases are uploaded elsewhere)
- Links to Trance Community (useful advertising if your releases are uploaded elsewhere)
- Credits to collaborators

How do I open an NFO File ?

A lot of people never get to see the contents of an NFO file as they don't know how to open them. For a standard user they look as in Fig 2 and clicking on it just opens a Window showing System Summary information.


Fig 2 - NFO file before opening with text editor



However this is not the information you should be seeing, to see the real contents of an NFO file you need to open the file with a text editor.

You can download many programs to view these files but there is no need as you can just use Notepad.

1. Browse to the NFO file on your computer
2. Right-click on the file and click Open With - (If you are given several options in the menu here, select Choose Default Program)
3. Select Notepad (this maybe under Recommend Programs or Other Programs)
4. Make sure that Always use the selected program to open this kind of file is checked.
5. Click OK

Now when you click on the NFO you will see the real info as per Fig 3.


Fig 3 - NFO file when opened in Notepad



Important: Choose you font wisely, I use Notepads default font which is Lucida Console Regular 10, changing this even slightly can mess up the whole design.

Example: I design my NFO in font Lucida Console Regular 10 and your Notepads default font is set to Arial Regular 10 you get the mess displayed in Fig 4.


Fig 4 - Wrong display font - exactly same file was opened


Useful Information Regarding NFOs

- To create your NFO file you open a simple .txt file enter in all your information and then change the file extension from .txt to .nfo.
- It may take a while to make your NFO the first time but after that it's just a case of copying and pasting in the info that's changed.
- Remember to make your design with a suitable font (Lucida Console Regular 10 is Notepads default font)
- Keep it simple, NFO files are ment to be small info files and not huge works of art.
- Making Text Based Art or real ASCII art images manually can take hours and can be very frustrating, it can be done a lot quicker using the tools such as the website below.

For text just go to: http://www.network-science.de/ascii/
- Type your text in the text box
- For you font choose "all fonts with your text" to generate a list of your text in all styles.
- Play around with the other settings till your happy (for long words try increasing the width)
- Then just copy and paste to wherever you want to display your text.

For creating images in ASCII Art there are plenty tools and converters on the web, I'll leave you to find the best one yourself.

So What's The Difference Between A Readme And NFO File ?

In short not much it is just a normal text file and can contain the same info as an NFO, generally it will be a README.txt file and typically contain:

- configuration instructions
- installation instructions
- operating instructions
- a file manifest
- copyright and licensing information
- contact information for the distributor or programmer
- known bugs
- troubleshooting
- credits and acknowledgments
- a changelog


I hope this guide help you understand what and NFO file is and some of its uses :)

[ScatCat]

Part 2 - Cue Files (click reveal to see screenshots)


This guide will give you an understanding of what a cue file is and how it works.
There are many tools out there to help you make cue files some a lot better than others, unfortunately I can't go into detail for each one as setting up and using them would be a guide in itself.

There are also lots of Media Players and Editors out there that support Cues files a quick Google will tell you if yours does, unfortunately Microsoft haven't added this feature to Windows Media Player yet.

Microsoft uses. m3u files instead, I think there are some .m3u converters (and vice versa) out there, it I find a good one I'll update the post.


So What is a cue file ?

A cue sheet, or cue file, is a metadata file which describes how the tracks of a CD or DVD are laid out. Cue sheets are stored as plain text files and commonly have a ".cue" filename.

Cue sheets are especially useful when burning or listening to live sets where all tracks are recorded in one file, they virtually divide a single music file into separate tracks with titles and performers.

Spoiler: Fig 1 and Fig 1a shows the difference between a single mix mp3 and mix mp3 accompanied with a cue file when opened in a compatible media player 

Fig 1 - Single mix mp3 file




Fig 1a - Single mix mp3 file with cue file.

In the second picture the exact same mp3 was used the only difference was the cue file, this allows to now skip from song to song and provides Artist and Title information.
All a cue file is a .txt file with the extension changed to .cue, like NFO files you can open cue files in notepad.

Below is part of the contents of the cue file as used in my last mix.

  PERFORMER "ScatCat"
  TITLE "Mix 6 - October 2009"
  FILE "ScatCat.mp3" WAVE
    TRACK 01 AUDIO
      TITLE "Strobe"
      PERFORMER "Deadmau5"
      INDEX 01 00:00:00
    TRACK 02 AUDIO
      TITLE "Not Exactly (Tricks & Kubic Remix)"
      PERFORMER "Deadmau5"
      INDEX 01 09:45:05
    TRACK 03 AUDIO
      TITLE "Empty Streets (Aurora Remix)"
      PERFORMER "Late Night Alumni"
      INDEX 01 14:12:05
    TRACK 04 AUDIO
      TITLE "Polar Wind"
      PERFORMER "Max One" 
    INDEX 01 19:47:20

(The mp3 file was called - ScatCat.mp3 I would name the cue file ScatCat.cue)


Breakdown of the components that make up a cue files

There's is a whole lot more to cue files I am only providing the need to know info.

The parts in Black below never change and will be the same in all your cue files the parts in Red are the variables you need to change.



Entering most of the info in a cue file is just a case of copying and pasting, except for getting the track start time for the INDEX 01 line. For this a good WAVE Editor is needed so you can visualize where you what the track to start. Its best to set this on the first beat of a bar near where your mix starts or where the next tune drops.

Some of the tools mention in the next section include a WAVE Editor if not, I am sure you already have one, and all should be able to display the track using minutes, seconds and frames 00:00:00.

So that's basically what a cue file is, I can now play your mix as if it's a CD, I can also now burn you mp3 to a CD and it will include all Track and Artist information plus I can skip from song to song. I could also use the cue file to split your mix up into individual tracks.


Tools To Help Make Cue Files

The web is full of them and to find a good one can be very difficult, below are a few I found myself I have tested them all and they all produce good results. As I mentioned before I am not going to write a full guide for each one but will provide a quick overview.


WARNING: Some of the tools below do more than just make a cue file they can also cut, spilt and edit your files so make sure you have a backup of your mix before using these for the first time.


QeD The Ultimate Liveset Cuesheet Editor - V2

Basic little program but does the job well and makes a perfect cue sheet just fill in the sections, you will need a good Wave Editor to get the INDEX 01 info though.

Spoiler: Fig 2 QeD - generated cue file and how it will look in your media player. 

CD Wave Editor

This programs is nice and easy to use, it has a Wave Editor simply click on where you want the track marker to be and hit split, you can then rename the track name (title), click file and save as cue sheet.

As you can see from Fig 3 some info is missing.

It will a only add the title section to the cue file, it will still work and you can fill in the data as Artist name/ Track name (or add the performer line yourself for each tune )

You will have to open the file in Notepad and add some code to the top but the INDEX 01 info is done automatically.

PERFORMER ""
TITLE "Mix 6 - October 2009"
FILE "ScatCat.mp3" WAVE

[Note if you add the Performer name to this part it will populate it for every track]

Other limitations it only works with wave files and doesn't like the file two big (didn't test to find what the limit was).

Spoiler: Fig 3 - Wave Editor, and created cue sheet, note how it will show in you media player as Artist name/ Track name with the Artist name missing. 

mp3 Direct Cut - WARNING make a copy of you mix before using this one as its very easy to cut a lump out of the middle of it.

I thought I cracked it with this one it will make an almost perfect cue file, it has a good enough Wave display to be able to find your way in the track and it supports mp3 files (no .wav support)

Quick Instructions
Click on the WAVE where you want to split the track, press the delete key it will split the track on the bottom bar, highlight a track on the bottom bar and click edit> Name and part properties you can then enter Artist and Title info (you only need to fill out the top part if you tick cue).
Once you have added all the tracks to save click special>save cue sheet and edit with notepad. The Cue sheet this generates is very good you only need to edit the main CD TITLE and add the Performer line. All the tracks will get added automatically from the Name and part properties you added earlier.

This program takes a bit of getting used to, the navigation button are a right pain but there sensitivity can be adjusted. Also you can make the wave bigger and adjust its colour to something more clearer in configuration settings.
Note when you are clicking on the wave to select your start point make sure the line stays dotted dragging the mouse will make it select an area and may cut a lump out, you can do this without noticing look out for a thin line, the same colour as the selection tool. ( you will get a error message sating - " to create a cue sheet, the project must not contain cuts or insertions" if this is the case)
You can also make it use the lame codec by adding the lame_enc.dll (from the lame package) to the programs directory.

Spoiler: Fig 4 - mp3 direct and it's generated cue sheet (note I only quickly filled in the TITLE & PERFORMER fields to save time) 

EAC - Exact Audio Copy- will make a cue sheet from a CD


Very powerful little program used for ripping CDs it take a bit of work to get it set up. If your interest in using it check out some of the guides here LINK

I only use this program to make a cue sheet from a CD. If the CD has CD text it will fill in all the information for you. If the CD doesn't have CD text it will still make a cue sheet you can use.

You first need will first need to do some setting up as per instruction here LINK

Then stick in a CD hit actions>create cue sheet>single wave file you will then get a cue sheet that will work for any file type you will just need to change the file type to whatever format your going to rip the CD to e.g. FILE "filename.mp3" WAVE (and not FILE "Range.wav" WAVE)

Spoiler: Fig 5 Using EAC with a CD with CD Text and generated cue file 

Spoiler: Fig 5 a Using a CD without CD Text still generates a usable cue sheet but when opened in a media player the Artist etc will be missing although you will still be able to skip from tune to tune. 

Conclusion


So that's basically it you should now be armed with a basic understanding of what an NFO and CUE Sheet do, and with a bit of patience and practice you should be able to make your own.

If you have any questions feel free to ask me and I will do my best to answer them.

If you think I missed something out or know of any better tools please let me know and I will update the post.

Extras


Download a MS Word Document (1.14MB) of this guide with larger and clearer screenshots and a copy of the four Cue File making tools (6MB) mentioned here:

Hidden

The End

[CHRIS]

Now thats a brilliant Tutorial [thumbsup]

Well done and much appreciated.

Definitely stickied

[ZeutZ.Trance]

:idea:Thanks, brillant tutorial..![thumbsup]

[Roper]

thanks mate

[theuntouchable]

Brilliant tutorial
Thank you for your time!

[TTBoy]

Thanks that helped a lot

[buzshaws]

Thanks for the logical, clearly detailed explanation. I'm having problems getting cue files to be read as cue instead of txt files in Vista, even though I changed the association. I associated .cue files with Burrrn and now even files with the .txt extension also open with Burrrn.

Also when trying to D/L the MS Word file, Rapidshare says The file of the above link no longer exists.

[themanwithnoplan]

Nice tips. Many thanks!