Overnight is better. Use a half-round tip shaper to shape the tip. Onecan be fashioned by tripleing layers of sand paper and shaping it into a 'half-round'. Blacken or darken the sides of the tip. Thisis an optional step.
Some players prefer to keep the side of the tip natural.
I prefer to blacken Elk tips. This operation is performed using aSharpie fine point black marker. Be careful not to blacken the ferrule,theonly way to remove black effectively from a ferrule is sanding, andyou knowwhat that means. My favorite method for blackening a tip is to wet thetip all around the side with the tip of my tongue, then rub the side ofthetip vigorously on the felt of the top rail while spinning the cuetipwithmy hand. This gives the side of the tip a more natural and polishedlook.