I wrote this guide for a friend of mine who wanted to create a RealAudio file from the CD of a choir in which she sings (http://www.laudibus.com)


Dear <enter your name here>

Right, now you are sitting comfortably here's the low-down on what I do to
create RealAudio files.

I'll cover both recording directly from CD and recording to a WAV file first
and converting it. I warn you this is a L o o o o o n g e-mail. You might
think about printing it out for reference. (It is about 6 pages long)

===================================================
HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIRED

I'm going to run through this example using just hardware and software
installed on your average Multimedia-enabled PC. That means:

HARDWARE
* PC :-)
* Monitor (SVGA)
* Keyboard
* Mouse
* CD-ROM drive
* SoundCard

SOFTWARE
* Windows 98
	* Sound Recorder (SNDREC32.EXE)
	* Volume Control (SNDVOL32.EXE)
	* Control Panel
* RealProducer Basic 8.5 (on CD-ROM I sent you)
* RealPlayer Basic 8 (on CD-ROM I sent you)


===================================================
RECORDING DIRECTLY FROM CD

1. 	Insert your favourite Laudibus CD into your CD drive

2. 	Open CD Player -- if you can't find it in your Start Menu it is
	called CDPLAYER.EXE in your C:\Windows folder --

3.	Open RealProducer Basic 8.5 -- from here-on called RPB8.5

4.	A Wizard option screen will pop-up in front of the main RPB8.5
	window

5. 	Select the second (2nd) option "Record from Media Device"
	As it says "This option allows you to capture a media clip
	from a media device such as a Microphone, PC Camera, CD
	Player, or VCR connected to your computer"

6.	Click OK -- You are now in the "Recording Wizard"

7.	The first step is to "prepare the media device that you will be
	capturing from ... and then select the inputs that you want
	to capture."

	In other words: (1) start the CD Player -- which you already
	have done. And (2) tell RPB8.5 where the tunes will be
	comin' from!

8.	You want to have the "Capture Audio" box ticked.

9.	Now this depends very much on your computer setup.
	My PC shows the default as "0. SB AudioPCI 64V Record"

	This is my SoundCard record function "SoundBlaster AudioPCI
	64V Record". This is determined in Control Panel | Multimedia,
	in the "Recording" section of the Multimedia Properties dialog.

10.	When you are happy with what it reads click "Next >"

11.	You now need to enter some information about the RealMedia
	Clip you are creating.

	Title : 	What you would like to appear on the title bar when
		RealPlayer is playing the clip. It will read
		RealPlayer : <title>.

	Author : The name of the clip's creator. Laudibus ? and/or your
		name.

	Copyright : Enter copyright information here.

	Description : Let your imagination loose with this one.

	Keywords : "A new feature in this version of RealProducer Basic
		is the ability to add keywords to your clip. The keywords
		allow you to give search engines a way to recognize
		your streaming media.

		Since RealMedia clips do not contain text like normal Web
		pages, the only way that your audience can search for
		your clip is through the keywords that you specify.
		Therefore, choosing the best keywords is vital. Three to
		four words should be all you need."

12.	Click "Next >"

13.	You now need to select a File Type. The default is "Multi-rate
	SureStream for RealServer G2" As it says "This option combines
	multiple audio... streams into a single file that can be played
	back across a variety of different connection types, from 28K
	dial-up modems to high-speed cable modems"

	Select this one.

14.	Click "Next >"

15.	Now define your Target Audience. The liklihood in the UK is that
	this will be "28K Modem" and "56K Modem"

16.	Click "Next >"

17.	Select and Audio Format. Your options will be "Music" or "Stereo
	Music" -- try "Music" to begin with. If you have special stereo
	effects on the Laudibus recordings which don't reproduce using
	the "Music" setting then re-record with "Stereo Music"

18.	Click "Next >"

19.	Give the file a name and location. Note that the default is the
	title you gave earlier reduced to the 8.3 format. That is, your
	title should be no more than 8 characters followed by ".rm"

20.	Click "Next >"

21.	You will now be given a summary of what you are about to
	record: input and output, target audience, audio format, etc.

22.	If you are unhappy with what you have click "< Back" and
	edit the information. When you are happy with the information
	you have submitted click "Finish"

23.	You will be dumped at the RPB8.5 main window. You will notice
	that the information you submitted is shown. You are
	interested in one button "Start" in the "Recording Controls"
	section of the window. When you click that recording will
	begin... but don't do it quite yet. You need something to
	record.

24.	Okay, is your CD in?
	Is CD Player running?
	Have you selected which track to record?
	Is it paused at the place?

25.	You need to set the volume for playback and recording.
	Launch the "Volume Control" application -- or the
	Volume control or Mixer supplied with your SoundCard
	applications.

	THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR THE DEFAULT VOL. CONTROL
	The default Windows 95/98 Volume Control is at
		C:\Windows\SNDVOL32.EXE

	If it is just showing the Volume -- click Options and select
	Properties. It will show the Mixer Device -- which should be
	the same one selected in RPB8.5.

	You will need to set volumes for both Playback and
	Recording. So click the "Playback" radio button and in the
	"Show the following volume controls" select them all!

	Do the same by clicking the "Recording" button and
	selecting all the devices.

	Click OK.

	You can now set the volumes for playback and record.

	Note that you can't see both playback and record at the
	same time. You will need to go to Options | Properties and
	set either "Playback" or "Record" and click OK. You will
	know which setting you are currently in by the title bar
	reading either "Volume Control" (Playback) or "Recording
	Control" (Recording).

26.	Strangely enough on my PC at least -- the CD control
	doesn't do anything to the volume of my CD Player -- it
	all goes through the Video Audio channel! but that could
	be due to my PC having a DVD Player as the default CD
	playing device! I just mention it in case you have a
	similar setup.

27.	PLAYBACK VOLUME : This is where you will have to begin to
	experiment! You can easily play the CD and set the playback
	volumes.

28.	RECORD VOLUME : Set the Record volume to about half to begin
	with and it is too quiet or too loud adjust it accordingly.

29.	So, you are now about to record the RealMedia file.

	Here's your checklist:

	(1)	RealProducer Basic 8.5 is running and information is
		set within it.
	(2)	CD Player is running and ready to press Play to start
		at the point of the track you want to record
	(3)	Playback Volume is set
	(4)	Record Volume is set

30.	You can now begin recording:

	(1)	press "Start" on RealProducer
	(2)	press "Play" on the CD Player

	You should hear the track being played and on RPB8.5 you will
	see the "Audio Level" (between the two green 'screens') show
	the recording level. You don't want the Audio Level to go into
	the red otherwise the sound will distort.

	It is a good idea to go for a couple of test runs first and while
	recording the RealMedia file adjust the playback and record
	volumes to test what is best for that track. You can
	record over the file again and again until you are happy with
	the balance.

31.	When you have reached the point in the track at which you
	wish to stop recording press "Stop" on the RealProducer first.

	It will ask if you really want to stop encoding -- say Yes.

	It will give you the option to view statistics about the
	recording session.

	Now stop or pause the CD Player.

32.	You can now listen to the file by pressing "Play" in the
	RPB8.5 Recording Controls

The rest is up to you! Just experiment and see what is best for your system.


===================================================
RECORDING TO A WAV FILE FIRST

1.	This method allows you to do some fancy editing of the track
	before you convert it to .rm format. Open the following
	applications:

	* Sound Recorder (in C:\Windows\SNDREC32.EXE)
	* Volume Control (in C:\Windows\SNDVOL32.EXE)
	* CD Player (in C:\Windows\CDPLAYER.EXE)

2.	If you've been successful with the recording direct from CD
	method above then this is much the same except you will
	be creating the source file yourself before running it through
	RealProducer.

	The theory is this:

	> Tell Sound Recorder which source from which to record
	   and the audio quality required
	> Set the Record and Playback volume
	> Start Recording in Sound Recorder
	> Play the CD track and record the track (or as much as you	   require
	> Stop Recording
	> Edit the track using Sound Recorder

	> THEN run the file through RealProducer to create the .rm
	   file

3.	SELECT SOURCE : In Sound Recorder select Edit | Audio
	Properties - select the devices for Playback and Recording
	(these should be your SoundCard defaults). Click OK.

4.	SELECT RECORDING QUALITY : In Sound Recorder select
	File | Properties. In Format Conversion select "All formats" in
	the drop-down list and click the Convert Now... button.

	Select the quality you require : CD, Radio or Telephone -
	these are in the order or Best, Good, Poor. Obviously the
	better quality the bigger the file size it produces. You should
	find that Radio quality is OK for what you require -- i.e.
	broadcast over the net.

5.	SET VOLUME : See intructions above on how to use Volume
	Control.

	TIP: If you leave Volume Control in "Recording Control" mode
	while recording you should be able to see a meter showing you
	whether you are too loud or too soft.

6.	RECORD : You should now be ready to record. So

	> Cue CD track to where you want to begin recording
	> Press Record in Sound Recorder - this will produce a
		silent intro
	> Press Play on the CD Player
	> Record as much of the track as you require
	> Press Stop on CD Player - this will leave a silent outro
	> Press Stop on Sound Recorder

7.	You might like to save the Sound Recorder WAV file at this
	point as a precaution.

8.	Play the WAV file to hear what you have got. If it is okay carry
	on, otherwise re-record the track.

9.	EDIT THE TRACK : Sound Recorder has some very basic
	editing capabilities - Delete Before / After Current position;
	Add Echo, Reverse, Increase / Decrease Speed and Volume.

	The best you can do with Sound Recorder to tidy up your
	WAV file is to edit out or reduce any silent leader or outro.

	With a 3rd party WAV editor you can do more fancy things
	such as producing a fade-in and fade-out for the track.

10.	SAVE FILE : When you are happy with the track record it to
	WAV format.

11.	CREATE REALMEDIA FILE : You are now ready to run the file
	through RealProducer.

	Follow the instructions as above for recording directly from CD
	but instead select the first option in the Recording Wizard
	"Record From File" and direct it to your new WAV file.

12.	Other than that the instructions are exactly the same.

=====================================================

I hope that helps. Any questions -- get in touch at the usual address.

Gareth
gareth@garethjmsaunders.co.uk
http://www.garethjmsaunders.co.uk