Auto Start/Stop Recording
This allows you to set up certain timers or conditions under which recording will start and stop. You would typically create a new file, and then select this command to set up the recording options. These options only apply to the current file, and are not saved with the file.
You can select a preset and then fine-tune the options for your particular setup and for the material you are recording. There are presets for timer recording and voice-activated recording.
Under "Start Recording," when "Manually" is selected, recording always starts as soon as you press the record button in the current file's window. The manual option is the default setting when you create a new file. The "start recording at peak level" option tells the recording to wait until the peak audio level, which you can see in the "Input Levels" palette window, rises above a certain decibel level, which you can set in the box next to this option. This option can be used when recording from a tape or vinyl record, so that you can tell Sound Studio to wait until the music starts before recording. You can also use it when the computer and your audio equipment are far away from each other, and you don't want to record several seconds of silence while you walk over to your audio equipment to start playback.
Under "Pause Recording," you can turn on the option to automatically pause recording if the levels drop below a certain decibel threshold for a certain length of time. The recording will be automatically restarted when the levels rise above the threshold. This is useful if you are recording someone speaking and there are sections of silence you want to cut out during recording.
Under "Stop Recording," you can set up the condition under which recording will stop. The manual setting will let recording continue until the disk runs out of free space.
The total time option lets you specify how long the file should be, and recording will stop when the duration of the entire file is equal to the time you enter in the box next to this option. You can enter the time in hours, minutes, seconds, or samples. Sound Studio looks at the length of the entire file, and not just the current recording session, so if you set the limit to 30 minutes and the file is already over 30 minutes long, it won't record anything which would add to the file's length.
The "At the time" option lets you specify an exact time of day when recording should stop. This is useful if you are going to record or have already started recording a radio or television program that stops at an exact time.
The "Stop recording at peak level" option tells Sound Studio to stop recording when the peak levels drop below a certain decibel level for a certain length of time. You can monitor the peak levels in the "Input Levels" palette window. This option is useful in many situations. If you are recording from a tape or record, when the audio ends, you will only hear silence, so you can have it stop recording when it detects a long period of silence. When used in conjunction with the "start recording at peak level" option, you can have it start and stop recording when it hears audio above a certain level. This way, you can avoid recording a lot of silence if you go away from the computer and are not around to stop the recording manually.