Play Functions

[Craig Maier]

Play


This is the key on your toolbar with a black and green arrow, which is pointing towards the right. This key is used to play your file. The playback will begin at the leftmost portion of the yellow highlighted area of your .wav file. You can also access this function by pressing your keyboard spacebar. Playing a Wave file (Tutorial)

1. Launch DCArt10/DC Forensics10.
2. If you haven't already done so, you must define your Output Device.
   1. To do so, click on “Edit /Preferences/Soundcard and then “Device I/O Selection”.
   2. Choose the output device that you desire, and then click on OK.
3. Next, click on “File”, and then on “Open” and browse to the file that you wish to play.
4. You will notice that the waveform will appear in black on a yellow background. This area of the window is the Source workspace. If your .wav file is monophonic, you will see just one waveform displayed in the workspace. If your .wav file is stereophonic, then you will see two waveforms displayed, with the top waveform representing the left channel and the bottom waveform representing the right channel. The length of your .wav file is displayed in Minutes: Seconds: Milliseconds in the timeline at the bottom of the Source Workspace. It’s a good idea to also employ the Time Display window by clicking on View and then checking Time Display. This feature makes time measurements within your .wav file quite easy to do and with a very high degree of precision.
5. To play the file, click on the Play button on the toolbar or depress your keyboard spacebar. You will notice the playback cursor begin to "march" across the workspace as the system plays the file.
6. To terminate playback, click on the stop button on the toolbar or hit the space bar again.
7. If only a portion of the .wav file had been highlighted for playback, and now you desire to playback the entire file, double click on the workspace background, and the entire file will become highlighted, and ready for playback.

Pausing and Resuming Playback

1. To pause playback, click on the Pause button on the toolbar.
2. To resume playback, you can either click on the Play button, Pause button again or depress the keyboard spacebar. If the play button preference (in Preferences) is set to “Play selected area”, the playback will resume from the beginning of the selected area if the space bar is pressed; the spacebar performs a stop and then a rewind.

Note 1: Toggling with the “Loop Play” button behaves like toggling with the spacebar including the rewind to the beginning of the selection operation.

Note 2: If “Play from Cursor” is selected (in Preferences), playback will resume from the stopped position.
Playing and Pausing using the Right Mouse Button

1. To start the playback of your .wav file at a specific location, use your mouse to move the mouse arrow pointer to the desired location in the Source or Destination workspace.
2. Single click the right mouse button and you will notice a "Play from here" option in the menu. Click it and “Play” shall commence from that point forward.
3. The file will continue playing until its end unless you click the right-hand mouse button again anywhere in the Source or Destination workspace. Playback will terminate the moment the right-hand mouse button is clicked.

Play Looped


This button allows you to play either the entire file or a highlighted area over and over again, back to back. Playback will continue until the button is depressed again or the space bar is pressed. You can also access this feature by using the “L” Hotkey.

Note: This feature will not work if the “Play from cursor” method of playback is selected in the Preferences menu.
Time Bracketed Play Range


This feature allows you to play a range of time around a selected area. It is useful when you need to listen for small anomalies on a sound recording in order to find their exact location(s). You can choose between the following, which can be activated from the keyboard using the following keystrokes (shown in brackets): To use this function, select an area by clicking and dragging. You can play this selected area by using the spacebar or the Play button. You can also play the selected area PLUS a specific amount of time in front and behind the selected area by simply hitting the 1 thru 4 keys on your keyboard. For example, if you select an area 10 seconds in length, hitting the 2 key will play starting at a point 2 seconds before the selected area and continue for an area representing 2 seconds after the selected area.

Play Range +/- 0.5 seconds: (Keyboard Key # 1)
Play Range +/- 1 second: (Keyboard Key # 2)
Play Range +/- 2 seconds: (Keyboard Key # 3)
Play Range +/- 4 seconds: (Keyboard Key # 4)