After much struggle I have made some critical break through in regards to music formatting, cropping resolutions and theme creation. So I thought I would update my old 2018 guide.

Tools Needed

• GIMP
• Looping Audio Converter 1.3.3** (NOTE: this is the best version of the converter to use, you need to use the brawl lib plugin to successfully convert mp3 to bcstm)
• My Crop Outline (I have measured the boxes and put text in telling you where to crop your image)
• Usagi Theme Editor

Step One: Adjust the Image
Put your desired image over the scrolling (blue) or regular (red) layer as desired. Use the Unified Transform Tool to resize the image to fit within the parameters (it's right next to the crop tool).

Spoiler: Q: Why the gap between top and bottom images?

A: The gap between 3DS screens on the XL is 56 pixels, and all other 3DS models have a similar sized gap. Lots of theme makers ignore the gap, but certain things can look weird if there's that few mm gap where someone's arm or head is supposed to be.

Spoiler: Q: Why are the black crop boxes not aligned?

A: Usagi combines themes left to right, so when you crop at 512 it cuts off 100 pixels on the right side, but this also means the bottom screen crop won't be positioned even with the top screen so we need to have its position at 146 by 396. Bottom resolution is 320x240 > 320 - 412 = 92, divide that by 2 and we get 46 pixels, so to get them pixel perfect we take the 100 x position and add 46 to get the perfect bottom screen crop.

Spoiler: Example 1

Step Two: Crop The Images
Use the cropping tool on GIMP to select the appropriate areas for both top and bottom screens.

Regular top and bottom crops will be done at 512x256, HOWEVER only the area in the RED will be visible.

Position 100 by 100 for top images
Position 146 by 396 for bottom images.​

Scrolling themes are 1024x256 but only the area in BLUE will display on your 3DS.

Position 100 by 100 for top images
Position 100 by 396 for bottom images.​

Spoiler: Why crop past the 3DS internal resolution?

1.) nicer image quality, 2.) scrolling themes sometimes have glitches and not reach properly. I cropped all my old themes according to internal resolution and the images came out with glitches, didn't align properly, and looked especially bad on scrolling themes.

Spoiler: Example 2

Step Three: Usagi Theme Editor
Place the top and bottom image into Usagi as shown below. You can play around within here to get background music or custom colors.

Spoiler: Example 3

Step Four: Looping Audio Converter
Using Looping Audio Converter 1.3.3 find the appropriate song, and convert from MP3 to BCSTM using BrawlLib RSTM decoder.

The bgm file MUST be under 3.3mb and you can ensure this by converting to mono and lowering the Hz of the audio. Please note that a 3.3mb mp3 might be 10mb as an unmodified bcstm which is why mono and new sample rates are helpful in getting the file size where we want it. Use audacity or other tools to edit.

In the old days of theme creation, we had to convert mp3 to wav, then to bcsrm, then bcstm but using 1.3.3 and the brawl plugin you'll always create compatible bgm. You don't need to convert between any additional formats.

Spoiler: Example 4

Once you have the music file under 3.3mb rename it bgm.bcstm and place it in the folder with the other saved usagi files. If you want to put it on your 3ds without uploading to themeplaza.eu then you best put it in a .ZIP file.

Spoiler: Some Final Notes

I've made a lot of 3ds themes, but I made many of them WRONG. So this guide is a way of helping other people avoid the mistakes I've made. The biggest one I've done was cropping the images. Originally I did so at the 3ds resolution instead of Usagi's 512x256 (or 1024x256 for scrolling themes) and this created lots of streching or glitches with the image themselves, especially in scrolling themes. My old 2018 crop tool didn't work very well, and my newer one didn't account for that new piece of information. So the one I have uploaded here is positioned in a way to allow perfect scrolling.

 

[Memedew]

Alright, im having lots of issues with this program and need help.

1. What is the () for

2. i cant align two images together in the program (basically cutting a tall image in two and then resizing the bottom & upper part to their size and never align properly.)

 

[Maximumbeans]

Thanks for the resources but I have to say this guide really sucks for beginners. It just lists what needs to be done and not how to actually do it in any detail.

 

[Kyochu]

Everything is working , however there is a problem. When i try to install the theme onto my 3DS, it installs but never puts it on the background. At all. I tried reseting it, tried doing different types of downloads, taking it out of the zip folder, making a new zip folder, replacing the old themes folder, even remade the entire theme from scratch.

Any idea why it wont work? And what can I do?

Post automatically merged: Apr 15, 2023

Everything is working , however there is a problem. When i try to install the theme onto my 3DS, it installs but never puts it on the background. At all. I tried reseting it, tried doing different types of downloads, taking it out of the zip folder, making a new zip folder, replacing the old themes folder, even remade the entire theme from scratch.

Any idea why it wont work? And what can I do?

I think its an issue with Anemone tbh. Not quite sure-

 

[girlwiki]

ok so im making this for peace of mind. while i appreciate this tutorial, i think it could use improvements still especially when it comes to the audio section. i can't be bothered to make my own post especially because im very new to this (made babys first theme a week ago) so ill just be adding onto this one

i made a theme but realised the audio wasnt looping and i kept searching how to make it loop, every answer kept saying it was part of the drop down menu and selecting the force loop option. i felt like i was going insane searching for a drop down menu that isnt there. to loop the bgm for your theme, click on export loop segment and only use the (loop) bcstm file

only use mono as a last resort. mono means the audio will only come out of one ear, which imo is never worth it. lowering the hz is the better option. id recommend also converting the file to an mp3 afterwards and listening to it to see if the quality isnt awful

if you dont want to download gimp then photopea works perfectly. its a free web photoshop alternative and its a little complicated if you dont know photoshop, but its what i personally use. i imagine other art programs like firealpaca will also work

if you want to create a theme without uploading it to themeplaza then first follow the steps in the original guide (i highly recommend downloading a theme on themeplaza anyway just so you're able to see how files work). i originally downloaded the theme i put on themeplaza and just put an (e) on it, im pretty sure the folder name doesnt matter

name - put this as the name of your theme, but from what i tested i dont think it matters what you put
bgm.bcstm - make sure its called bgm and that its in lowercase
preview - this should be the combined preview of your theme (top and bottom screen)
icon - icon for your theme in anemone. im unsure if it matters what you put for this either
body_LZ.bin - make sure its spelt like that (LZ capital). this bad boy can cause such a headache
info.smdh - this is what the title & description of your theme will be in anemone. you can change it using usagi or a smdh creator online (im new so i cant link it but its the first result on google if you search for smdh creator)

files in ext_previews:
pt_bottom - preview of bottom screen
pt_combined - preview of both screens
pt_top - preview of top screen

im unsure if you need all of these files (especially ext_previews since i assume that means external) but id put them in regardless just to make sure. you should get body_LZ.bin, info.smdh and preview just from using the usagi editor. you can export bottom & top previews from usagi as well (file > generate preview). you have to make the icon yourself though (48 x 48 pixels)

if youre using smdh creator or usagi to create a theme description, short description is the title anemone will display & long description is the actual description anemone will display (its best to make the 'long description' short)

plug in your 3ds sd card, go into themes and put the folder you made in there. dont compress it and add it as a zip otherwise anemone will throw a hissy fit and blame body_LZ.bin for it. aand then you should be done!

if you want to add sfx then click on page 3 on this thread and scroll to Ryouten's reply. ive never used sfx on my 3ds themes, mainly bc ive only made one so far, so id have no clue how to help you there!

 

[goblin_hoarder]

is it possible to create a theme with the top screen in 3d? I have a stereoscopic design that i want to see about using, but i dont know if it's possible