Album Art for C64 Remixes - for use with MP3 Players

[RobinsonMason]

600x600 appears to be the standard for album art for use with iPods and other similar MP3 devices, Windows Media Player, etc.

So post your 600x600 album artwork (or links) here!

Here's an example of the size/resolution and how it works. You can use iTunes or similar software to "add album artwork" (then specify the artwork file), and even if you have a Nano it will downscale nicely (even though the samples look huge): http://picasaweb.google.com/TheSpeciali ... 8799486946

I think you will be pleased with the results on your handheld music device - imagine having artwork for all of your favorites!

An easy way to get the job done since there are thousands of remixes would be to take a C64 game screenshot after getting the file from a site like GB64.com and insert the name of the remix and remixer into it. Oh, don't tell me you're rusty with emulators or I may have to redirect you to a tutorial! : http://c64walkabout.com/2008/12/03/step ... -a-pc.aspx

If you go the screenshot route, make sure to double size / double scan your VICE (or whatever) emulator so you don't have to stretch the image much to make 600x600.

Easier yet would be to make a single custom "remixer" for all songs by that remixer - the same artwork for all with the song title and original author added. How awesome would it be if all remixers made artwork for their remixes as part of the release process? Maybe it's just me, but I'd love it.

Of course, I fully expect more creative work from guys with talents like Analog-X64, but this is a sample easy one with a white "Commodore" font I added in to a game screen capture:

(The title screen looks better but I "warp moded" past it in VICE and I was too lazy to reload )

[Analog-X64]

With so many remixers out there, where do you start? And each Remixer has their own style and taste.

This sounds like the start of a big project.

[RobinsonMason]

This is true. I have an idea. The simplest would be for individual remixers (or fans) to make their own generic album "frame" artwork, not specific to any individual tune.

The Frame Artwork would apply to all of Chronberg's remixes, for instance. That way when I'm scrolling through my remixes I'll be able to immediately spot remixes by Chronberg, Amok, LMan, etc. with their frame artwork, and see one element within the frame identifying the game or SID that it comes from.

Frame artwork could be a solid color with the remixers name in a fancy font. Or it could include awesome 3D graphics and mondo details.

The custom area for the generic frame could include a standard size-screenshot from a default-sized VICE Emulator window to fit within a space allowed for screenshots within the frame...

An area above the screenshot would allow for track title and original composer to be manually entered for each remix. Not labor intensive, just requires typing it - or even copy the filename (right click rename, right click copy, cancel, paste into art)

This could be a simple format (600x600 does not show up well since the forum background is white like my sample):

sample.gif (14.03 KiB) Viewed 16354 times

If you like this idea, then give us your artwork!

Heck, I'll volunteer to grab screenshots of the games you made remixes of if you supply the frame.

[RobinsonMason]

I'm bored and since I'd like to see this thread grow I'll go first:

[Analog-X64]

hehehe.. interesting on the Twinkie reference. I might do something on the weekend. I'm having a busy week at work and I have something else that I'm working on that I might post here maybe next week.

Here is a quick Little idea, just a few layers with gradient and pattern fill.

I dont know how this background will look like on an iPod screen.

[RobinsonMason]

Don't forget the glowsticks! haha

That's great for a frame - with custom text for a single remixer, all you'd need would be text (I think getting the text to show up nicely would be more of a challenge than getting it to look good on an iPod)

[Chris Abbott]

If you're going for text, then you can use GDLib to automate the process, given a load of game screenshots and MP3s.

[Analog-X64]

If you're going for text, then you can use GDLib to automate the process, given a load of game screenshots and MP3s.

Got any Links to DGLib?

[Chris Abbott]

If you're going for text, then you can use GDLib to automate the process, given a load of game screenshots and MP3s.

Got any Links to DGLib?

GD is a programming library for manipulating image files that lies behind "ImageMagick": you'd have to write the code to automate it yourself (you'd also need a decent MP3 tag library). Just google for it

[LMan]

RKO does auto-tag the uploads already. Dunno if he wants such a thing on RKO, though.

[RobinsonMason]

GB64, if you have downloaded the torrent, has a load of screenshots for all collected C64 games (over 20,000 or so I think). Much easier than individually pulling them.

Could we use the engine behind SID Find -- it has screenshot associated with the SID, and even links to the remixes already.......!?!

http://www.slayradio.org/sid_info.php?s ... _Ninja.sid

http://www.slayradio.org/sid_info.php?s ... umpman.sid

As an alternative to the 600x600 art it would be just fine to have a screenshot, especially if it gets labeled somehow, so as to distinguish the 170+ Last Ninja remixes....haha.

It would certainly be nice to have some kind of automated screenshot + text system! Even if only the screenshot was a half-manual process of associating with the lower quarter half or bottom half of the "frame". I'd be up for helping with that.

Then, if people wanted to go the extra mile for their favorite remixes, we could just do fancy album art for songs as alternatives.

That way you'd scroll through a sea of good looking standard album art and see one pop up here and there that was enhanced or different --- kinda catching your eye on your "favorites".

Remixers could also do their own enhanced album artwork as a way of promoting their remix to stand out from the automated standard artwork.

For those who DON'T have an iPod, this is what "cover flow" looks like on your iPod as you smoothly scroll through songs with actual artwork:



this is the sad state of C64 remixes on my ipod/itunes:



(sniffle)

[Analog-X64]

Ooops.. Looks I completely misunderstood the point of this thread. I was thinking of doing art from scratch.

but looks like all we need is a clever automated way of attaching names to Screenshots and resized.

[RobinsonMason]

Ooops.. Looks I completely misunderstood the point of this thread. I was thinking of doing art from scratch.

but looks like all we need is a clever automated way of attaching names to Screenshots and resized.

I still think having original art for your personal favorite remixes and posting them here would be nice as an alternative to the stock standard screenies + text.

Especially for those 170+ Last Ninja remixes...!

It hadn't occurred to me to automate, so you actually did get the original intent of this thead. Something easier came up midway.

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

Rather than require people to include cover art, I'd prefer to have a generic RKO/C64 Remix cover that gets automatically added onto submissions as part of the upload process. This would have to be a static image rather than something created on the fly (e.g. using GDLib) as computers can't tell if the end result looks good - at least not the computers I can afford to hang around.

That being said I haven't checked if the GetID3() PHP library has any options to add cover art, so this is all hypothetical.

[Jan Lund Thomsen]

this is the sad state of C64 remixes on my ipod/itunes:



(sniffle)

Since when did Abba and AD/AC do C64 remixes?