Generating default chart

[alangustin]

Okay...

I can import a song from SongSelect. A default chord arrangement is not generated, correct? I can print a chart from SongSelect, or save it to a PDF with a PDF converter, but there is no text-based chart generated for the song in the Planning Center program. So essentially, one must hand-type a chart, or go to some guitar TAB site to find a text-based chart? Or pay to download a chart from someplace like PraiseCharts.com?

[fmckinnon]

correct - all you import from SongSelect is the lyric file, with the properties of the sound - essentially, it just loads the song into PCO for you.

Either print the leadsheet out of PCO as a .pdf file and upload to your arrangement, or create your own chord chart - see the video I posted on the front end of TWC for that.

[alangustin]

Either print the leadsheet out of PCO as a .pdf file

What leadsheet from PCO? Do you mean SongSelect?

[alangustin]

I'm watching your vimeo again, and I notice you said "create your own chord chart". So there is no default chord chart created in PCO when importing a song form SongSelect.

Now then, I'm off to find a work-around. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

[pian0dude]

your work around works...

I have over 120 charts in PDF format with Arial font that I'm hand typing into PCO because I need the spacing of chords to be right, so therefore I need to use courier for PCO. This is veeeeery tedious, I'm surprised some other import function or mechanism hasn't been created that assumes people already have a boat load of PDF charts or something like that.

-Brian

[alangustin]

Wow...
The only thing I can come up with is the use of an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program. Not everybody has this, but my HP 4100 series printer/scanner came with OCR software, and I have the full version of Adobe Acrobat, which also has OCR. I can print out a chord chart from SongSelect, then scan it and use the OCR to generate a text file from the scan. The downside is that the chord symbols lose thier alignment over the lyric lines and are justified to the left when the text file is created with OCR. Also, slash chords aren't rendered properly. Instead of D/F#, it shows up as DIF# G/B becomes GIB. You get the picture. At least this way, I don't have to type all the chord symbols, although I have to correct the slashes and properly re-align the chords over the lyrics. I can't decide whether it's worth the hassle, or easier to simply insert the chords into lyric text file downloaded from SongSelect.

I'm gonna contact CCLI and ask them if they'll consider offering a simple mono-spaced text file as a choice for chord charts. I imagine this would be a huge headache for them, and I don't hold out much hope for this.

I suppose I could simply find a good web source for mono-spaced text charts. Or I could just bite the bullet and use the .txt lyric files from SongSelect and add the chord symbols. I just can't believe that in this modern technological age, this can't be done more easily. I suppose I should count my blessings and be glad we don't all have to write out our charts by hand with pen and ink.

[pian0dude]

1. Logging into CCLI and pulling up the lyrcis of the song.
2. Copying/Pasting the lyrics from CCLI into PCO in Courier font.
3. Inserting chord symbols on top of the lyrics

I personally think the function where you type in a name of song in PCO and it checks CCLI's database, it should offer the function where it automatically sucks in the lyrics of that song along with all of the other information from CCLI's records on that song.

[alangustin]

Yes! Can we please get up-to-speed with the whole web technology thing?

Actually, I've done some web dev stuff, and implementing the kind of functionality that you and I desire from PCO would be a pretty heavy undertaking, but it could be done. It's complicated by the fact that it involves two completely independent web sites - PCO and CCLI/SongSelect. Maybe we'll see these features in a future verison of PCO.

Until then... we type... and type... can I get an assistant?!?!?!

[alangustin]

(my email to PCO)...

Katie,

Maybe your web developers could get together with the CCLI/SongSelect web developers and work this out? It would make a lot of people happy to be able to import a mono-spaced text chord chart to be used for transposing and custom editing in PCO. As it stands now, it's not very convenient.

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(reply from Katie @ PCO)...

I think that both Jeff (our developer) and the rest of us here on staff agree that that would be totally convenient. Jeff is already consistently in contact with CCLI so I'm sure if that would be possible, it probably would have already been done. But I can still double-check with him and see.

Thanks again for your feedback! We appreciate hearing from you!

Thanks,

Katie Willard
Community Support Director
Ministry Centered Technologies

[fmckinnon]

Hey Guys -
You're making it waaaay too hard ... just login to SongSelect at CCLI - choose the chord chart, and print it as a .pdf file instead of a regular print. There are dozens of free utilities that allow you to do this. On a Mac, the "Pdf" button is part of the "print" dialog box, so instead of printing to the physical printer, you just save the file to a .pdf. On Windows, if you search google for "create PDF" you can find printer drivers to install that basically do the same thing - instead of printing to your physical printer you print to the PDF driver.

Then, simply upload the .pdf file as an attachment to the song or arrangement.

In the plan, when you click on "rehearse > download all PDFS" - the chord chart will be there.

When possible, I still perfer creating my own as in the video on the homepage because then I can add my custom arrangement and band notes.