CDS3TOOL version 04 build #1 (c) 2008 - 2011 by E-Synthesist


CDS3TOOL - CDS3 (OMI) Emulator II CDROM Extractor for Windows XP or higher
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This package contains a free utility for the Emulator II.

It requires Windows XP or higher.
It's a COMMANDLINE tool, so you'll have to open an MSDOS or COMMAND window in Windows :-)

The CDS3TOOL software is a small utility which is capable of extracting all Emulator II banks from original CDS3 cdroms, like the Universe of Sound cdroms produced by OMI.

The original CDS3 cdroms can only be used in CDS3 cdrom players that were sold by OMI in the eighties. Unfortunately these cdrom players are very hard to find now and even if you can find one, it will most probably not work anymore.

Thanks to the CDS3TOOL however, the Emulator II soundbanks on these proprietary cdroms can now be extracted into a format that can be used with EMXP and with the widely available Sound Designer for Emulator II software for Mac.  

The files created by CDS3TOOL are plain vanilla Sound Designer for Emulator II files. 

CDS3TOOL v3 can process either the CDS3 cdrom itself or an ISO image copy of such a cdrom.

Please note that the OMI cdroms are copyrighted. You should have a legal copy of these cdroms before extracting soundbanks from them with CDS3TOOL. 


How to use the CDS3TOOL: a STEP-BY-STEP explanation.
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The CDS3TOOL zipfile contains a little program called OMI.EXE.

This program must be started in a DOS command box, because you have to specify an inputfile as a parameter. 
Here's a step-by-step description of how to convert your CDROMS:

1/ Create a new folder and put the OMI.EXE file in this folder. E.g. "Omi" folder in "My documents" folder.

2a/ If you start from a CDS3 cdrom: put the cdrom in the PC's cdrom drive and find out which drive letter has been assigned to the drive (e.g. "F")
OR
2b/ If you start from an ISO image copy of a CDS3 cdrom: put the ISO image in the folder of step 1 and rename the file if the original name contains spaces. E.g. if the original name is "OMI Volume 1", then you should rename it to "OMIVolume1" or something like that.

3/ Open a DOS command box

4/ Enter the DOS command to "go to your newly created folder". By default the DOS box will prompt the My Documents folder. If this is true, you just have to enter "CD OMI <enter>" (which is true if you called your folder OMI and have created it in the My Documents folder...). You might have to play with the CD dos command if the folder is somewhere else. I hope you know DOS... :-)

5a/ If you start from a CDS3 cdrom: enter the command "OMI" + space + cdrom drive letter + ":" + space + the name of the ISO file that will be created from the cdrom (don't forget to add the extension if the file has an extension, e.g. ".ISO"). 
E.g. if the drive is F and the image should be called "OMIVolume1.ISO" then enter the command "OMI F: OMIVolume1.ISO <enter>"
OR
5b/ If you start from an ISO image copy of a CDS3 cdrom: enter the command "OMI" + space + the name of the ISO file (don't forget to add the extension if the file has an extension, e.g. ".ISO"). 
E.g. if the ISO image is called "OMIVolume1.ISO" then enter the command "OMI OMIVolume1.ISO <enter>"

   IMPORTANT NOTE for step 5a or 5b:
   Some of the Universe Of Sounds Volume 1 cdroms contain an error.
   A lot of banks don't belong to the banknames given to them,
   and one bank has been burned on the wrong location on the cdrom.
   This software can autocorrect these problems when extracting banks.
   To achieve this, you have to add a letter A as a last parameter:
     5a: e.g. "OMI F: OMIVolume1.ISO A <enter>"
     5b: e.g. "OMI OMIVolume1.ISO A <enter>"
   
   This autocorrection will only be applied for the Volume 1 cdrom !

6/ the program will now copy the CDROM to an ISO file (only if you start from a cdrom) and extract all banks from the CD ISO image. It will automatically create subfolders for each of the sound categories on the CD, and it will put all banks in the correct subfolder. Also a report file with the index of the CD will be created. All of this will take a while of course...


That's it.


COPYRIGHT and DISCLAIMER
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The CDS3TOOL is free of charge, but copyrighted (c) 2008 - 2011 by Kris Van de Cappelle - Belgium.
The software may not be sold nor be included in commercial software.
Using this software and the output produced by this software is at risk of the user. 
The author is not responsible nor accountable for any damage caused by using this software.
Please note that the OMI cdroms are copyrighted. You should have a legal copy of these cdroms before extracting soundbanks from them with CDS3TOOL.

Emulator II is a trademark of Emu Systems.
CDS3 and OMI are trademarks of Optical Media Instruments
Sound Designer is a trademark of Digidesign
  
If you don't agree with this disclaimer, do not use this software.


New features in version 02:
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- Autocorrection of errors which can be present on some UOS1 cdroms from OMI.


New features in version 03:
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- CDS3 cdroms are supported directly - CDS3TOOL can create an ISO image of the cdrom itself.


New features in version 04:
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- CDS3TOOL is more tolerant for the type of image taken from the CDS3TOOL. Some non-100 pct compatible ISO images are supported too...


Build notes:
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- Build 04.1 - 2011-02-04: Initial build.

                                  

2011-02-04
///E-Synthesist