The Audio Playback Window is available from Version 7. It can contain up to eight faders which act as controls for the playback engines.
The display in each cue shows the controls for those audio files that are to be manipulated in that cue.
Before playback can begin, it is necessary to select which of the computer's audio outputs should be mapped to
each of the outputs on the fader panel. Open the Tools/Options/Audio tab and map each output. It is important to use only the outputs described as “Direct Sound”.
To play a piece of audio (Wav file) it must be attached to a fader in a cue. It can either be dragged from Explorer onto a cue in the cue list or onto a fader, or the file open dialogue can be used by clicking on the icon in the Audio Playback Window.
This creates an entry in the Audio Players List in the Event Manager and attaches that player to a fader in the cue. The command button defaults to PLAY.
The level, pan and routing can now be set. To store them to the cue it is necessary to click on the pencil icon in the Audio Playback Window.
To fade a playing cue, drag the instance of that player from the Audio Players List onto the new cue. The Level can now be changed with a fade time entered in the bottom field. The command button defaults to FADE.
The level of a playing cue can be adjusted by moving the fader. The resultant level is not stored into the cue until the pencil icon is clicked. It is important to make sure that you are editing the right cue and it is recommended to run in “view last” mode as then the fader level will reflect the current level of the audio rather than the destination level.
Each fader has a command button which can have the following values:
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PLAY |
Audio playback commences with a fade up over the time specified to the plotted level. |
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FADE | The audio is faded from its current level to the plotted level over the time specified. |
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STOP | The audio is faded from its current level to the plotted level over the time specified and then playback is stopped. |
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LOOP | Audio playback commences with a fade up over the time specified to the plotted level and then loops. |
Right click on the fader panel and select Delete. This will remove the audio from the cue (but not from the cue list or Audio Players List).
Right click on the fader panel and select Replace. Then select the new audio file. This will replace the audio file in that particular player whilst keeping all the settings (level, routing, pan).
Best practice is to keep the audio files in the folder called “audio” beneath the folder where the cue list is saved. If the option “Copy audio files to local folder” is ticked then whenever a file is added to the cue list it is copied to the “audio” folder.
When a cue list is loaded, if a file cannot be found in the folder specified in the cue list, the program then attempts to load it from the “audio” folder. If it still cannot be found then an error message results.