Document how to create a more interesting VideoFont

[vidi-player.git] / README.md

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4c4180c..9d2d858 100644 (file)
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -10,17 +10,56 @@ vidi-timeline allows to create more easily videos like these:
 * Vittorio Saggiomo - Mario Bros Column Chromatography - https://youtu.be/mxi3z2vDV_0
 
 
-Examples of use
-===============
+How to create a VideoFont
+=========================
 
-vidi-timeline.py
-----------------
+Synthetic VideoFont
+-------------------
 
 Create a synthetinc VideoFont:
 
     $ ./create_test_videofont.py videofont/
 
 
+From a video recording
+----------------------
+
+A VideoFont can also be created by recording a video, and then splitting the
+recording in samples, one sample per note.
+
+For an example of a master VideoFont see
+[keyboard videofont master C4 B5](https://youtu.be/7Btp80LPqRs)
+
+A file like the one above can be analyzed with [Audacity][1] to find the start
+and the  end time of the individual samples:
+
+* use the `Analyze -> Sound Finder...` to find the samples;
+* use the [`Pitch Detect" plugin`][2] to find the pitch of the samples and name
+  them accordingly;
+* maybe add  an interval named "rest" to represent the absence of sound;
+* export the labels track with `File -> Export Labels...`;
+
+[1]: http://www.audacityteam.org/
+[2]: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Nyquist_Analyze_Plug-ins#Pitch_Detect
+
+An example of such a file prodiced by audacity can be found in the `contrib/`
+directory and it can be used as follows:
+
+    $ youtube-dl -t https://youtu.be/7Btp80LPqRs
+    $ ./contrib/ges-split-samples.py \
+        "keyboard videofont master C4 B5-7Btp80LPqRs.mp4" \
+        "contrib/keyboard videofont master C4 B5-samples.txt" \
+        videofont/ > split.sh
+    $ mkdir videofont/
+    $ sh split.sh && rm split.sh
+
+
+Examples of use
+===============
+
+vidi-timeline.py
+----------------
+
 Play the timeline from a MIDI file using the samples from the VideoFont:
 
     $ ./vidi-timeline.py examples/Beyer\ Op.\ 101\ -\ Exercise\ 008.midi videofont/