a few questions on switching from SLM to Bandhelper

[dcraftfrombr]

Ok, about to try switching to Bandhelper and had a few questions.
1. Is there any easy way to transfer my recordings on my IOS iPad to Bandhelper (not one at a time). Especially if I don't have the mp3s stored in a neat folder on my PC. Any 3rd party apps that would transfer the itunes files?
2. Do my customer layouts and settings transfer over to Bandhelper easily?
3. What if the iPad or Android tablet I use is not connected to the Internet all the time?
4. Do the midi presets transfer? Do my songs midi choices transfer?
5. Do I still have separate databases in Bandhelper? Can I easily transfer all databases over?
6. In SLM, I have created playlists in iTunes and used the batch import to import my mp3s which created the songs, attached the recordings and set the duration. If I used a song in more than one database, I can copy the songs to a different database.
7. Do all my Settings for a database transfer over? For instance, remote control options for my foot pedals to control scrolling, chord colors, lyric fonts and sizing?
8. So simply, how much trouble will it be for me to switch over to Bandhelper, if I have multiple databases (one for each band), midi presets assigned to each song, lyrics and chords in the lyrics field of each song, custom screen layouts, custom colors in the lyrics field, etc....
9. I assume SLM will still work until I can get Bandhelper totally up and running?

Thanks,
Dale

[arlo]

1. You will need to collect iTunes recordings from the iTunes folders on your computer. For recordings that you've added directly to Set List Maker, or documents, you can get them all from the Set List Maker data folder on one of your devices. This video walks you through the options: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qexwLOosrM

2. Yes, your layouts will be included when you export your Set List Maker databases.

3. Devices only have to be online to sync new changes. Everything is saved locally for offline access.

4. Yes and yes.

5. BandHelper uses "projects," which are similar to Set List Maker databases but more flexible because you can share items across multiple projects. More info is here: https://www.bandhelper.com/tutorials/projects.html. You can import each Set List Maker database into a separate BandHelper project. However, if you have the same song in multiple Set List Maker databases, you will then have separate copies of that song in each BandHelper project. That's not a problem, and is preferred if you are playing different versions of the song, but if the two copies are the same and you want to share a single copy instead, you can use the Find Duplicates button on the Repertoire > Songs page after doing all your importing.

6. I don't see a question here.

7. You could export Set List Maker settings from the import/export button in the top toolbar, and import them into BandHelper from the import button at the top of the Settings menu. Note that Set List Maker has separate settings for each database, while BandHelper shares settings across projects, so you will only need to do this once, from one Set List Maker database.

8. Importing everything but documents and recordings is easy. Importing documents and recordings will be some degree harder depending on how comfortable you are with things like finding files, putting them into folders and zipping them. You can also expect some cleanup after importing depending on how clean your Set List Maker databases are and how much duplicate info you have across your multiple databases.

9. Yes, but if you continue making edits in Set List Maker after exporting to BandHelper, you will need to repeat those same edits in BandHelper until your transition is complete.

[dcraftfrombr]

So how exactly do the recordings work? Do I simply choose the songs on my PC in Bandhelper and they will then synchronize over to the iPads and tablets? Or does each user have to import the songs into their own iPad or tablet? What is the easiest correct procedure for getting multiple tablets setup with the same recordings?

and one last question, do I start by loading Bandhelper on a PC, or start with the iPad?

Thanks,
Dale

[arlo]

You can add recordings from the website or any of the mobile apps. However you add them, they will then sync to all the other devices in your band. If you commonly use a computer and have your recordings there, it would be easiest to add them through the website. The different options are listed here:

https://www.bandhelper.com/tutorials/attaching_recordings.html

You can register and get started from the website or the mobile apps. Again, it depends on what you're most comfortable with; personally I find a computer to be more efficient for setting up data, and the website has more batch import and batch update options. But some people are more mobile-oriented and prefer to set things up in the apps.