AutoRec Instructions
The time based automatic recorder -
player for radio broadcast.
version 1.2 January, 2002, Copyright Chris Scott
NOTE:
The schedule files included in the download are just samples and not demo files
- you must customize these to fit your needs prior to your use. I recommend
that you print this page for reference prior to use.
---- DESCRIPTION ----
Auto
Recorder will record or play wav audio files, and execute batch or other
executable application programs at scheduled times. It operates sequentially, processing jobs in strict chronological
order, accurate within one-tenth of a second for audio operations, and one
second for .exe and .bat file operations.
The primary use for Auto Recorder is automatic, unattended recording and
playback of network or other satellite-delivered radio station program
material, sometimes termed time shifting; airing a program at a time other than
when the syndicator feeds it. The .exe
or .bat file execution feature allows renaming, copying, or other file handling
operations, providing greater flexibility in practical radio station
applications.
The
Auto Recorder software is free, entirely unwarranted and unsupported. You accept sole responsibility for all
liability whatsoever. If you're
uncomfortable with this, don't install or use it. You may not redistribute it
without permission, but may publish the web page url: www.scott-inc.com/html/software.htm Autorec has been tested and found robust on
recent 32 bit Windows, with several different sound cards - but your results
may vary. Please note that upon installation you must manually create a
c:\wav folder and place your audio files there, or else edit the
AutoRec.ini setup file to reflect the path of your audio files. The ini is located in the same folder that AutoRec.exe
is installed.
---- OPERATION ----
Auto
Recorder uses written instructions contained in a text (.txt) file, of which
there are seven, named appropriately for each day of the week. Up to 99 events
per day can be scheduled, with each day's operations independent of every other
day's. These .txt "event"
instruction files can be created and edited with the internal schedule editor,
which also provides a basic syntax checking utility to help identify
typographical errors prior to attempted execution. Note that events cannot span
the midnight boundary, and must be strictly sequential - no overlapping
times. An event must complete before
the next event starts. Recordings make permanent their .wav file at stop time,
and this process can last anywhere from several seconds to several minutes. The
time required for saving varies greatly depending upon disk i/o speed, but can
be determined experimentally by checking in the AutoRec log file for the
difference between the stop time and the saved time. This saving io action can take several minutes for long (hour)
programs recorded in stereo at 44.a khz. Saving to a network drive can also
slow things down. So, be careful about
how close you schedule consecutive events.
Auto
Recorder works with normal windows compatible soundcards, which the audio
quality is completely dependant upon.
11.025, 22.050, 32 and 44.1 khz sample rates, mono or stereo are
supported. All recordings are 16 bits (since 8 bits is inferior.) Prior to
using Auto Recorder, make sure your soundcard and mixer levels are configured
correctly. AutoRec does not do this for
you. Use another audio application like
sound recorder or CoolEdit to configure the Windows mixer before deciding that
Auto Recorder doesn't work. Your levels
are between you and your soundcard mixer. Again: Autorec does not set or
control levels.
Shown
below is a schedule file. Every
separate line contains instructions for one event. Anything after an apostrophe (') is considered an optional
comment, and is ignored by AutoRec. Here are two sample events:
'
Afternoon
News ,R,13:00:00,00:05:00,AftNews1,22,M 'Record AP newscast for later play
'
AftNews
Playback,P,17:00:00,0,Aftnews1,0,0 ' Play AP newscast
These
two event instruction lines define the recording and later playback of a five
minute newscast. The general format for
a line is as follows:
Label,Rec
or Play or Bat or Exe,Start Time,Length,Filename prefix, 22 or 32 or 44 ,Mono
or Stereo 'Comment
All
parameters for an instruction line must be separated by commas. In fact, every valid instruction line must
have exactly six commas. This is a useful syntax check - every valid
instruction line must have exactly six commas.
A record instruction line contains the following, in
order:
1.
Label for internal use, up to 16 characters long. This does not affect operation, but is simply a plain-language
description of the event.
2. R or
Rec for record.
3. The
start time in 24 hour format: ##:##:##
4. The
length (duration) of the recording in 24 hour format: ##:##:##
5. The
prefix of the actual .wav filename to be recorded, up to eight characters or
numbers without punctuation or spaces, i.e. Aftnews1
6. Two
digits representing the sample rate of the recording: 11 or 22 or 32 or 44.
This is interpreted as 11.025, 22.05 32, or 44.1 khz.
7. M or
S specifying mono or stereo
After
that, on the same line, optional comments can be used following an
apostrophe. If blank lines are used
between instructions to improve readability, it's best to have an apostrophe
first.
For the
purposes of playback, the format becomes
simpler:
1.
Label
2. P or
play
3.
Playback start time ##:##:##
4. (Not
applicable) use dummy number 0
5. The
prefix of the actual .wav file to be played; don't include ".wav".
6. (Not
applicable) 0
7. (Not
applicable) 0
---- INI FILE ----
The
program initialization file is located in the same folder as the AutoRec.exe
file, usually c:\Program Files\AutoRec, customizes the configuration to suit
user preferences. Here is the default
autorec.ini file:
---
Auto
Recorder configuration file
must be
in same folder as .exe file.
WAVPLAY=
1
WAVPATH=
C:\wav
OFF-SET=
0
KILLDAY=
SUNDAY
---
Edit
this file if required using wordpad, notepad, or other ASCII text editor.
WAVPLAY=
1 designates playback using the first soundcard device. Edit this entry to 0,
1,2 or other if you get no playback, a system error, or playback from the wrong
soundcard. See known bug below.
WAVPATH=
C:\wav ... this is folder / path
where all play and record .wav files will be.
Mapped network drives can be used, but be aware that the save operation
which is automatically performed immediately after a record event can take
significantly longer than when local drives are used.
OFF-SET=
0 sets the number, in tenths of one
second that record and play events actually occur, relative to the system
clock. This number can range from -20
(two seconds early) to 20 (two seconds late).
This feature is allows sub second accuracy. Often due to satellite delays, network times may be slightly
offset from real time, and this setting allows fine tuning. Start with 0 and
adjust according to experience with up-cutting or clipping start and end
times. Note that AutoRec can only be as
accurate as your computer's clock; time sync software is available to maintain
agreement with national standards, and more accurate techniques using GPS sync
or network "relay closures" are available but are beyond the scope of
this help.
KILLDAY=
SUNDAY this refers to the AutoRec.log
file which can be viewed using the schedule editor. Each week the log file is renamed to Lastweek.log, and a new
week's log is created. This occurs at
the beginning of the killday. The log
is very useful for determining if something actually occurred as planned, and
for debugging an event line if things go awry.
The log can be viewed with the internal schedule editor.
Note
that when using a PC for broadcast use, it's a good idea to disable user
feedback system sounds that the operating system generates to prevent them from
being broadcast. Normally this will be
in the control panel under sounds - select the "no sounds" scheme.
---- WAV FORMAT ----
Because
the WAV format is so universal, so editable, and without distortion artifacts
introduced by lossy compression systems like Mpeg, apt-x, etc, it delivers
superior audio quality, limited only by your soundcard. About 7.7 megabytes per minute are required
for stereo, half that for mono. Current hard drive storage capacities now make
this uncompressed and very clean audio storage very practical. 16 bit audio is
far superior to 8 bit, and is most suitable for broadcast. To achieve the
maximum quality deliverable over FM broadcast use a 32 khz sample rate setting
during recording (or ripping). A 44 khz sample rate will deliver additional
frequency response to achieve true CD quality, but will use 25% more data and
provides no additional quality benefit for broadcast purposes. Sample rate
limits only frequency response, not distortion or noise. All three of these are key quality
ingredients - sample rate is not the only factor affecting quality. FM
broadcast frequency response is 15 khz, which the 32 khz sample rate provides.
For AM station or news use, 22 khz may be optimum. WAV file editors and recorders are widely available. CoolEdit
(www.syntrillium.com) is inexpensive and highly recommended.
---- ADVANCED ----
It was
mentioned that .exe (executable programs)or .bat ("dos command line")
batch files can also be scheduled in addition to audio record or play events.
Using autorec this way is quite similar to the "scheduler" in
windows, but keeps audio operations integrated in one package. If you're comfortable working with these
files they can add great utility to autorec operations. Here is sample event
syntax:
'
Overnite
Backup,B,00:10:00,0,C:\Batch\Backit.bat,0,0 ' copy all wav files to network
drive - backit.bat required
'
For the
purposes of .bat or .exe execution, the format is very simple, with one key
item different from audio use:
1.
Label
2. B
(bat) or E (exe)
3.
Execution time ##:##:##
4. (Not
applicable) use dummy number 0
5. The
complete path and filename of the exe or bat file
[Note
that this is different - for audio applications, only the prefix is used.]
6. (Not
applicable) 0
7. (Not
applicable) 0
'
comment
Of
course, it's up to you to write the Backit.bat file located in the C:\Batch
folder. This is a sample only and as a
practical matter you will need to dream up your own. This requires an understanding of "dos" command-line
syntax. As a simple example, here are
the contents of Backit.bat allowing nightly backup of all audio files to a
network drive:
COPY
C:\wav\*.wav H:\backup
This
would assume that H: is a valid drive and \backup is a valid folder on H: Depending upon how much .wav file material
you're moving with this operation and network file transfer speed, this could
take seconds or hours. Although Auto
Recorder can process audio events just seconds after executing a batch or
executable file, if your execution is preoccupying, the CPU or disk I/O,
dropouts or pauses may occur.
----
KNOWN BUGS ----
There
are no known bugs that affect operation or reliability.
But:
1.
Users have reported errors during the install process. These have to date been false alarms, not
causing any problems, but appear mighty unpromising when you see them. Please report these but let me know
specifically if any operational issues are seen.
2. It
is a bad idea to edit a schedule file while an event is recording or playing -
do this at your own risk. If Auto
Recorder thinks its close to an event time when you enter the schedule editor,
it will warn you about this, but will allow it if you insist. The time shown may or may not be correct.
3. It
is very important to check the schedule file for errors after editing - a
button is provided to do this. For this
to work correctly, you must first SAVE the changes, which will exit the
schedule editor, then re-enter the schedule editor, select the just-changed
file, and press the check errors button.
4. Some
report that they are unable to record long programs - at 44 khz stereo, about
one hour is all that will be recorded, even though the log reports the
recording continued longer. This is an
issue with some 9x versions of windows - due to an OS maximum file size. It may
also be related to which format your hard drive is using (fat16, fat32, or
NTFS) The fix is to either use a combination which reduces file size like
switching to mono or lowering the sample rate, or else upgrade to w2000. Using 2000, Autorec has had no file size
issues and regularly records 2 hour programs.
---- Revision History ----
V 1.2
Fixed failure to load new day's schedule under certain conditions.
----
I
welcome bug reports, but PLEASE provide enough detail so that I may have a
chance to recreate the problem.
The
current version can be found at: www.scott-inc.com/html/software.htm
I can
be reached by clicking the "Send Email " on that page.
Chris
Scott
January,
2002