DJ Toolkit offers tools for managing and validating a DJ library, ensuring that all Hot and Memory Cues are properly organized and ready for performance. This guide provides step-by-step instructions for importing a Rekordbox collection, defining and validating Hot Cue schemas, measuring time between Cues, and generating a detailed report.
IMPORTANT: DJ Toolkit DOES NOT alter any files in the Rekordbox collection, making it completely safe to use.
Import Collection Tree
The Imported Collection Tree displays all folders, playlists, and tracks once they have been imported into DJ Toolkit.
Exporting Tracks from Rekordbox:
Open Rekordbox.
Navigate to the ‘File’ menu.
Select ‘Export collection in XML format’.
A prompt will appear to create a folder and name the XML file.
Import XML file into DJ Toolkit:
Open DJ Toolkit.
Click on the ‘File’ menu.
Select ‘Import’.
Locate the XML file and click ‘Open’.
If the import is successful, all playlists and tracks will be displayed.
Hot Cue Scehema Definition
The Hot Cue Schema section allows the definition of rules for validating Hot Cues. There are 8 rows, each corresponding to a specific Hot Cue in Rekordbox.
Inc - Tick the checkbox to include a Hot Cue in the validation process.
Name - In this field, enter the expected name for the Hot Cue e.g. "Drop". Wildcards can be used for flexibility. For example, if the Hot Cue name should be "Drop 4" or "Drop 8", enter "Drop \\d" where \\d represents a single digit. If the name could be "Drop 8" or "Drop 16", use "Drop \\d*" to signify any number of digits.
Req - Tick the ‘Req’ checkbox if the Hot Cue must be present in every track. Leave it unticked if it's optional. This is useful in cases where not all tracks have this cue e.g. an outro loop.
Case - Tick the ‘Case’ option if the Hot Cue Name check should be case-sensitive.
Type - Use the dropdown to select the type of Hot Cue e.g. Cue, Loop etc.
Colour - The colour option will be supported in later releases.
NOTE: The schema will be automatically saved once created or edited.
Validation Selection
In the Validation Selection section, determine which validations to run on the selected playlists or tracks.
Validate HC - Tick the ‘Validate HC’ option to validate the Hot Cues of all the selected tracks against the defined Schema.
Match MC - Check the ‘Match MC’ option to see if each Hot Cue in the selected tracks has a matching Memory Cue. This validation verifies that the Hot Cues and Memory Cues are named identically and occur at the same point in the track, measured in milliseconds.
NOTE: This option does not use the Hot Cue Schema if selected alone. A recommended workflow is to first validate Hot Cues, resolve any issues, and then check the Memory Cues.
The section labeled ‘1st HC’, ‘2nd HC’, ‘Sec’, and ‘Diff’ allows for the measurement of time, in seconds, between any two Hot Cues.
Select the initial Hot Cue (1-8) and then the second. The second Hot Cue must be higher than the first (e.g. 1-8 or 2-5). Enter the number of seconds to validate against e.g. 180, and specify whether the difference should be less or greater than the entered value.
Example Use Case: For tracks that should last no more than 4 minutes between the 1st and 3rd Hot Cue, set the options to 1, 3, and 240 with ‘>>’. This will report any tracks that exceed this duration, allowing for review and potential adjustment of the Hot Cues.
Execution Progress & Output File Selection
Press the "Execution" button to run the selected validations. The progress bar on the left will display the status of the process.
DJ Toolkit generates a report indicating which tracks passed or failed the validation checks. The report is output in XML format by default. I recommend Chris Lovett's "XML Notepad" to review the XML reports available free HERE
To save the report in plain text as well, tick the ‘TXT’ option. Click inside the output box to specify where the Validation report will be saved.
Log Window
The log window will report status updates and any errors as appropriate.
Support And Community
Please join the Discord server HERE for any further technical support, to chat with the community, and to stay updated with new releases.
