ARM Backup/Ar tonelico 2 retranslation/HOWTOs

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=HOWTOs=
This page gives instructions for using various tools.
==Editing TIM and TIM2 files==
TerraBreaker is currently maintaining a post here, with the best-known method of editing TIM and TIM2 graphics.
He made another howto, here, for editing names (due to 4-bit palette issues).
How to play the retranslated game
Possible ways are:
* Mod-chip - easiest
* Swap-Magic - works, but bit of a pain tbh
* HDD (Either HDLoader or ToxicOS) - best, relatively easy, FAT PS2 only
* Emulator 
See this thread for more information.
==How to edit .evd files==
These are the steps TerraBreaker followed to edit 0.evd
These steps alter Laude's first line in the game, where he's saying something about chasing her for 3 years.
* extracted 0.evd and the rest from rpk.bin.
* Extracted the text strings from 0.evd using exar2evd.exe. 
(exar2evd 0.evd 0.evd_dump)
* Altered the strings using UltraEdit in SHIFT-JIS mode.
* Rebuilt the evd file using exar2evd.exe. 
(exar2evd 0.evd 0.evd_dump 0.evd_repack)
* Confirmed changes were reflected in the new file, 0.evd_repack. (They were, no obvious problems)
* Replaced the original 0.evd with the altered version.
* Repacked rpk.bin with everything unchanged except the 0.evd file.
* Rebuilt the AT2 iso file using Gnie's EXPERT tool with the newly made rpk.bin. (This was to ensure that any LBA screwups were fixed)
* Uploaded the altered AT2 iso file to PS2 HDD.
* Tested using ToxicOS. 
=How to rebuild ISO files=
Based on a post by TerraBreaker. See this link for the original, with screen captures:
http://oldarm.isisview.org/ar-tonelico-ii-retranslation-fixes-project-t843-240.html#36807
Fastest & most convenient method: Gnie's Xpert Tool 2
Main advantages
* The program auto-sorts LBA entries into the correct order rather than you having to do it all manually as with most other solutions.
* Everything contained within one interface. 
Tools required:
* Gnie's Xpert Tool 2.0 ("http://www.alucard.cc/forums/index.php?topic=519.0" - need to register - be sure to get the "GOOD Version" not the bugged version.)
* PS2 CdDvd5 Plugin for Gnie's Expert Tool (should be included with the above - filename is "Shrinker_ps2_psp_CdDvd5_iso_v1.04.epi") 
Before starting you should have
* The Ar tonelico 2 ISO file on your hard drive. (For this example I'm using ARTONELICO2.ISO, which I created from my retail copy)
* Around 9GB~ of free space for the extract/rebuild process 
In this example I have an altered RPK.BIN with some graphics edits and SLUS_217.88 holds the updated filesizes + offsets.
1: Open Gnie's Expert Tool, the following is displayed:
2: Change "Plugins" dropdown to "PS2 CdDvd5 [PSP UMD ISO Shriinker v1.04 *.ISO."
3: Click "Open" from the set of icons at the top and find the Ar tonelico 2 iso you created earlier. The buttons to the left will activate.
4: Click "1 - Extract LBA." When done, click OK.
5: Click "2 - Extract File" to extract DVD contents to a directory.
6: Minimise Expert Tool, open the directory where the extracted files were placed ("@ARTONELICO.ISO" in my case)
7: Replace the files with repacked versions. In my example, I'll replace SLUS_217.88 and RPK.BIN with the ones I repacked earlier. Note that the new RPK.BIN is larger than the original.
8: Restore Expert Tool. Select "Relinker" from the Tools menu
9: When the relinker dialog loads as shown below, click "Open" and locate the file "*LSN.TXT" ("ARTONELICO2.ISO-LSN.TXT" in my case) - this contains the info on how files are laid out on the disc. (The tool created this file in the same directory as the ISO when you extracted LBA info earlier.)
10: Click load, the relinker display will be as shown below:
11: Check the "RPK.BIN" file
12: Under "Reindex path" on the right side, click "Select" then click "Relink"
13: Click "Save" then click "Exit"
14: Back in Expert Tool, click "3 - Rebuild File"
15: The ISO file has been rebuild BUT the enlarged RPK.BIN file currently has incorrect LBA info which result in a nice freeze in-game when it tries to access this data. So click "4 - Patch LBA" (4th icon from the left) and you're all done
Misc notes:
Any other files outside of RPK.BIN that are edited (Jakuri cosmosphere movie replacements, etc also need to be "relinked" in stage 11-12. Basically anything where the filesize has changed should be relinked at stage 11-12.
There are also other methods/ variants, but I haven't had need to use them in a long time, Gnie's tool simplified everything so much:
The CD DVD GEN method:
* http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/3/275350 
CD DVD GEN Flash tutorial:
* http://www.exploitstation.com/videos/cdvdgen.htm 
==SFD Files within Ar tonelico 2==
Original post here.
Another (related) thread with more info can be found here.
Another informative SFD-editing post by TerraBreaker here.
Basics
Video can be played pack with latest DivX/Media Player Classic.
Audio is embedded within the SFD file. Cannot be played directly in Media Player Classic due to missing codec.
Aside: Differences between Japanese SFD & English SFD files
Movie clips which contain voice acting have separate versions:
_J suffix is for the japanese-voiced version of the file.
ie:
SSC02.sfd - English Audio
SSC02_J.sfd - Japanese Audio
Therefore, for adding subs to unsubbed movies we can either sub solely the japanese movie or both.
Technical: Jakuri SFDs
Resolution is 640 x 448
Frame rate is 29.97
Total frames after extract: 600.
Extracting video & audio from SFD files
Video & Audio can be ripped using "Cube Media Player 2"
In Cube Media Player 2. Select File>Scan File to select individual SFD files. After this, select the individual data streams to extract, right click them, choose convert.
These were my settings:
Export PSS subtrack - Checked
Export video - Checked
Export audio - Checked
Everything else was unchecked. This will give you the unaltered 1:1 mpg file & audio within the SFD container.
From there, open the movie file in Premiere Pro/After Effects and extract the individual frames to a PNG sequence.