6.1.1 Making a Recording
It is possible to record audio using the
editor – any audio source connected to the ‘audio in’ connector on the computer
soundcard can be recorded. (For details
on configuring soundcard inputs and other record parameters, see section 7.1 –
‘Audio IO setup’)
The first stage is to set the tracks which are to be recorded onto into ‘rec ready’. Like a tape recorder, this tells the editor which tracks the recording should appear on.
To set the rec ready status, the record enable button on the appropriate tracks should be pressed.
Record can then be pressed on the main transport toolbar.
The editor then goes into record-pause. The audio input level can be verified using the track meters to the right of the rec ready button.
Notes
· If the project you are working on has not been saved, you will be prompted to save the project before continuing. You cannot record into a project which has not been saved – see section 3.1.2 ‘Working with Projects’ for more information.
An additional transport window also appears. This is the record status window. To start recording, click the play icon in this window
The recording then commences. The record marker traverses from left to right, and the waveform associated with the audio begin recorded is displayed.
Each time a recording is made, a new audio cut is created. This is given a default name – this can be changed later. (For more details see section 4.1.13 – ‘Naming an audio cut’)
To stop the recording, press the ‘Stop’ icon in the recording transport window.
Notes
· The actual recording is made in .wav file format to the folder where the project is stored. The name of the file is given by the track label of the upper track – see section 4.2.10 ‘Altering track labels’ for more information.
· When recording from a stereo source, the left hand channel is recorded into the lower (odd) number track, the right hand channel into the higher (even) number track. Mono recordings can be made onto any track.
6.1.2 Insert recording marker
Pressing Z on the keyboard will place a recording marker where the playback marker is located at that instance. Starting recording before this marker, it will act as an “insert-to-zero” or “insert record” marker. All audio up till the marker will be overwritten, whereas audio after the marker will be pushed forward until recording stops.
When the Magnet function is active (magnet button pressed), the recording will be inserted into the project file, i.e. all audio following the rec-marker (red-and-white) will be pushed forward in time until the recording session ends.
The ins.rec. marker, however, will superseed the magnet+rec. function, if both are used.
6.1.3 Editing whilst recording
It is possible to edit the audio cut being recorded. To do this:
Follow the procedure outlined in section 6.1.1 ‘Making a recording’ to start recording.
Whilst the editor is recording click the ‘Stop’ icon in the main toolbar – note this is not the same as the ‘Stop’ icon in the recording toolbar.
The playback marker can now be placed where required, and all the normal editing procedures used. The recording will continue until the ‘Stop’ icon in the recording toolbar is used. Clicking ‘Stop’ in the main toolbar will not affect the recording.
Notes
· Editing the recording as it is being made will not affect the audio recorded on the disk – the recorded audio file will consist of the audio input to the editor between the ‘play’ icon on the recording toolbar and the ‘stop’ icon on the recording toolbar being pressed.
· For this function to work correctly, it is necessary to mute the input of the soundcard so the recording source is not heard during editing operations. Note that this is not possible with all models of soundcard.
· Audio editing, playback and mixdown functions may be safely carried out even over the record marker position.
6.1.4 Mixing an EDL to a stereo file
When the edit session is complete, the EDL can be stored as a project for later retrieval. This keeps all the original sound files intact, and no re-recording is carried out.
In order to export the finished edit to another package (such as a radio playout system), it is necessary to make a single stereo sound file representing the finished edit. One way of achieving this is to simply play the finished edit into a suitable recorder or computer in real time. This is the approach many editors require you to take. The BMS editor, however, can perform a mixdown to a stereo file in the background.
To use this feature, select ‘Mix to File’ from the ‘File’ menu. A standard Windows dialog box will prompt you for the file name and location you want to save the mixdown file to.
After selecting a name and location, click OK. The editor commences a background mixdown. A status display shows you its progress.
The mixdown process can be aborted at any time by clicking ‘Cancel’
The mix to file function takes a ‘snapshot’ of the EDL at the time that the function is used. This means the finished file will represent what would have been output from the editor if the finished edit had been played from start to end.
Note
· The setting of the master mixdown volume at the time when the mixdown is activated will be reflected in the final output file. Therefore if the master mixdown fader is set to –20dB when mixdown commences, the finished file will have a –20dB level offset. For more information about setting the mixdown output level, see section 5.1.1 ‘Changing the master output level’
It is possible to continue editing whilst
the background mixdown is happening. Any changes made after the mixdown
function is used will not be reflected in the output file. This means, for
example, in a news environment you can edit the
Note
· The speed at which the mixdown function happens depends on the speed of your computer, and what you do whilst it is happening (doing intensive editing will cause the mixdown function to take longer, for example). Typically it happens at around 1.5 times real speed.
· To mixdown just a portion of the EDL, simply select the area you would like to mixdown using the SELECT tool. Then proceed as above.
6.1.5 Normalising a recording during mixdown
When performing a background mix to file (see section 6.1.3 ‘Mixing an EDL to a stereo file’ for more details) it is possible to normalise the finished output file.
During this process, the editor looks for the loudest single sample in the entire output file. It then sets a positive gain offset such that that sample is at 0dBFS – i.e. maximum level.
For example, if the loudest point in the output file was –10dBFS, the editor adds 10dB of gain to the output file.
To switch the normalise function on, use the ‘Audiocard’ setting in the ‘Option’ menu. This calls up the ‘Setup Audiocard’ dialog:
To switch the Normalise function on, click the Normalise checkbox such that it is checked. To switch the normalise function off, uncheck the box.
For details on other settings within the Setup Audiocard
dialog, see section 7.1 ‘Audio IO setup’.