ddreamstudio - Archive

NEWS ARCHIVE

5/25/2008 - Version 1.11 coming out Beginning of June! Lots of changes and bug fixes, including: Fewer random crashes, assist tick volume control, removed "File Saved" popup (added Background "Saved to SM/DS" notification instead), spread keys for practice mode, changed default time format to pure seconds like the SM editor, 8000-192000Hz audio supported, and a new logo!

A beta with fewer than all of these features is available through the Forum.

5/12/2008 - New Simfile Demos posted in the Download Page. Version 1.11 is in beta. Go to the Forum under the bug reports section to get it.

1/5/2008 - Version 1.10 (Get It Now), featuring:

Preserves SM data currently unsupported by DDReam (e.g., #BGCHANGES), preserves unsupported stepcharts (e.g., "dance-double") when opening and saving from SM to SM only (Not DS yet),
Fixed "B key improperly inserts both a beat and a subbeat when Shift+B is pressed,"
Added user notification when you try to delete beats in arrow mode, when you are trying to insert beats and you are not in sync mode, and when you are trying to record and you dont have beats yet.
Disabled arrow insert if you dont have enough beats yet.
New music prompt now has the same open file dialog as the normal open file dialog.

12/15/2007 - Version 1.07, featuring: Open File dialog displays all simfiles by default, File Write will now automatically remove some duplicate BPMs to save space. To disable this and write a BPM at every beat (like previous versions of DDReam), go to Tools->Options and uncheck the Duplicate BPM option. Get Version 1.07

12/27/2007 - 1.07 seems to crash less than 1.05 and below when doing random seeks while playing the song. Instead of crashing, it will pop up an "error message" but the program seems to recover from the error successfully. Get the latest 1.07!

9/26/2007 - Updated Beginner and Advanced Manuals. Also, if anyone would like to help, please contact us. 1) Tutorials/YouTube Videos 2) website/forums, 3) demo stepfiles, 4) coding/development 5) Anything else you think is useful. Thanks again to everyone who have helped get DDReam to v.1.05. It started off as an experiment but now it is a sophisticated editor that many people are using.

8/6/2007 - Version 1.05, filtering for the waveform, by Jussi Kujala. Use it to clean up/remove noise from the music so you can see the beats more clearly. Works well with rock/heavy metal songs, at least. To operate, press "I" to open the filter options. The default options should work nicely with many songs.

Yellow: Noisy song where you can't see the beats. Pink: After running the wave filter using default options.

7/16/2007 - Version 1.01, small correction - enhanced noteskins now animate 1/2 as fast so it does not look so spastic. If you want the faster animation, Version 1.00 has the exact same features.

7/15/2007 - Version 1.00, a Monumental Release. Features: ITG-Style Noteskin by VirInPro, DDREAMSTUDIO options load/save from/to an INI file, swap 48th and 64th note colors, select/delete all arrows by note color, scale notes (Expand/Compresses arrows but leaves beats alone). This will be the last release in a long while. Time to take a break.

6/19/2007 - New Version 0.98! Featuring: Record Mode (press R/Ctrl+R/Shift+R and then type the arrow keys to record steps in real time), arrow quantize, arrow turn, window will scroll in that direction if mouse is dragged out of the window (for extended mouse select, etc.), warning message if SM simfile has doubles, warning message if audio is not 44.1 Khz/16-bit/Stereo.

5/29/2007 - DDReam Needs Help! Version 1.0 is just around the corner and there's a lot to be done.

EDIT: Help Wanted, at any time...

1) The website needs to change for the better.

2) A good help file with videos and easy-to-comprehend instructions.

3) We need incredibly high quality song demos that were made with DDReam.

4) DDReam needs a professional logo that is very nice-looking and unique (icons too).

5) Possible future programmers who are able to port DDReam to Mac/Linux/OpenGL and maybe even Flash.

If you are interested, send an email and a sample of your work. Of course, if your stuff is used, you will be given credit on the website and/or on the application program itself. Also feel free to ask any questions.

5/12/2007 - BIG RELEASE 0.95! Featuring: INSTANT PRACTICE MODE (practice anytime, anywhere), Very accurate Assist Tick (greatly improved), very accurate B key for tapping along if you want to sync stuff that way, plain navy blue default wallpaper.

4/24/2007 - Version 0.90 Small Update - Changed the tab order of autofill back to the way it was pre-0.9.

4/23/2007 - NEW VERSION 0.90! Featuring: Beat Grow (press "G" or Ctrl+Mouse Wheel to uniformly grow selected beats to a certain BPM), support for "Beginner" and "Edit" stepcharts, writes more space-efficient SM files, Better Average BPM calculation, mapped F5/F6, Ctrl+P, Shift+P to analogous SM functions (level switch, playback), press "T" to toggle Time formats (normal, beats, samples), BPM Pauses (Stops) now on a distinct layer and pauses can be cut/pasted.

3/31/2007 - UPDATED VERSION 0.88! Featuring: another keyboard shortcut for snapping (Q, E), Fixed Sound Skipping, Fixed rare crash on nudge, supports #BACKGROUND, #BANNER, and #CDTITLE, and press Shift+F1 to fade the BACKGROUND in and out of view.

2/18/2007 - NEW RELEASE version 0.85! Featuring: Level Manager, Auto File Open on program start, Graphical enhancements, "Do you want to save before exit" dialog, Basic BPM stop support, key "M" will also insert beat, fixed rare random crash on song load, right mouse button will now zoom in, shift+right mouse buttom zoom out, F11/F12 legacy support for SM offset adjustment, and now DDReam uses SM Offset instead of DWI Gap.

2/11/2007 - Stay Tuned, lots of new features coming, including BPM stop support and an easier interface.

12/16/2006 - Version 0.81 released. Fixed "crash when opening blank SM files." Added average BPM calculation for sub-beats, more descriptive options, and mouse scroll nudge (Shift+MWHEELUP/MWHEELDOWN).

11/23/2006 - Version 0.80 released. Featuring sub-beat support (for syncing to beats faster than quarter notes), true gap/offset (older versions did "nearest-measure" offset), and improved beat nudging (precision is based on current zoom factor). IMPORTANT: Version 0.80 may not read sm files created by older versions of DDREAMSTUDIO correctly. If you run into problems, they are usually minor, and can be easily fixed by scooting beats/arrows down/up by a certain amount.

10/28/2006 - Version 0.74 released. Featuring 13 zoom levels (that's more than 2x the zooming of version 0.73). Also fixed a minor song skipping bug.

10/26/2006 - Version 0.73 released. Features Random BPM option, and more accurate assist tick. Also, the Geocities site got shut down cause of bandwidth problems so the downloads will be hosted here and possibly in other places too.

10/11/2006 - Version 0.71 BETA released - includes new "Magic Nudge" Feature which is a graphically enhanced version of StepMania's F7/F8 BPM adjustment.

10/6/06 - DDREAMSTUDIO 0.70 is being tested. New in this version - freeze arrows and mines. Here's a screenshot of the progress:

9/28/2006 - COMING SOON...Freeze arrows, mines, more accurate click and clap track, less crashing! Estimated release date - Mid October 2006.

Why DDREAMSTUDIO?

Creating your own dance steps can be a tedious process, but it doesn’t have to be, with the power of DDREAMSTUDIO. Just compare the DDREAM way with the OLD way and decide for yourself (*).

THE OLD WAY	THE DDREAM WAY
1. You pick a good song, and find the tempo (BPM) using a tempo program. The program spits out a tempo value (if it even works at all). A quick test confirms that the given tempo value is wrong. Welcome to the beginning of a long journey of “trial and error” tweaking.	1. You pick a good song, and use DDREAMSTUDIO’s arsenal of precision tools to find the exact tempo. Do it once, do it right.
2. Using the given tempo as a starting point, you blindly try to beat-match your song, so that later, the steps can be placed according to the matched beats. You keep tweaking the given tempo, adjusting it little by little, listening, repeating, and re-listening, but, no matter how hard you try, the beats always drift out of sync after 20 seconds of playback. Not to mention there’s another timing parameter called “Gap”, which confuses things even more. Many people who aren’t music/math geniuses quit by now. Oh, the frustration!	2. The tempo is already perfect (see above). The “Gap” is auto-calculated for you. Syncing problems? No Way!
3. The timing is completely shot, but since you’ve already spent hours on this, you figure you’ll move forward and get this piece of misery over with.	3. Sit back, relax, and turn on the click track! Marvel at your syncing skills! This must be a dream; it couldn’t have been this easy!
4. You choreograph the steps using the powerful StepMania 3.9 editor, but the poor syncing job means you’re in for another painful round of trial and error to get the steps to “match” the song. Also, because the SM editor was made for in-game editing, you resort to awkward keyboard shortcuts to get simple things done. And, there’s no mouse support! You end up spending more time plugging and chugging then letting the creativity flow.	4. Turn on DDREAMSTUDIO's built-in step editor, which gives you the power and control of the StepMania 3.9 editor while in the DDREAM environment! You can even use your mouse!
5. You share your “masterpiece,” but nobody likes it because it's unplayable. You’ll probably lose a few friends over this.	5. Your dance is truly a work of art! People might think you're a professional dance creator! That’s because you are!