Welcome to Lightning
Congratulations on the purchase of TuneTracker Lightning, which we think you'll rapidly discover is one of the handiest tools around. Lightning comes free with TuneTracker Command Center, and is available as a separate purchase for owners of TuneTracker Basic, giving Basic users a drag-n-drop way to edit program logs.
Lightning is capable of much more than what you can tell by looking at it. The instructions below cover the basics. For a much more comprehensive demonstration of its "powers," get the FastTracker DVD covering Lighting, a link for which is at the bottom of this page.
USES FOR LIGHTNING
- Finding songs Lightning-fast during request shows, and dropping them directly into Command Center.
- Editing program logs in a drag-n-drop environment.
- Creating specialty playlists such as "sports logs," for use during ballgames
- Finding a specific grouping of songs you wish to drop into Army Knife, so you can add to, or change their attribute information.
HOW TO USE LIGHTNING FOR SEARCHES
When you first launch Lightning, it starts building a list of all the audio files on your hard drives of your choice. You can specify whether you want Lightning to scan all your drives, some specific drives, or one specific drive, by clicking on the drop-down box just below the Lightning logo and checking or unchecking drives. You do not need to wait for Lightning to finish its exhaustive list. Just start searching right away if you like.
- To find audio files, type in whatever seach criteria you wish to use. Feel free to fill in as many or as few attribute fields as you like, to broaden or narrow your search. Partial words are fine.
- Hit the Enter key, the Tab key, or click the Update button. Immediately, a list will form in the upper right window pane, containing all the files meeting your criteria. Remember that in order to find files using the attribute fields listed (such as Artist, Title, Album, etc.,), your audio files must have information stored in those fields.
Any found file shown in the upper window pane can be immediately dragged and dropped into the program log list in Command Center, where you can position it for playback later on, or right-click to make it next-to-play.
SAVING YOUR SEARCH, RE- USING OLD SEARCHES
The search criteria can be saved using the Save Search button, and retrieved from the "Saved Searches" tab by double-clicking on the saved search item. Any search can be dragged to the desktop or into the lower window pane, to create an instant playlist. If you drag a file or files from the lower window pane to the desktop, you'll create a playlist. You can also save playlists using the buttons beneath the playlist pane.
EDITING PROGRAM LOGS IN LIGHTNING
To edit a TuneTracker program log (or any other playlist file), simply drag it and drop it on Lightning, and after a few seconds, it will appear in the lower window pane. To add items to your program log, drag and drop them from the upper window pane (or from the BeOS/Zeta desktop) to the lower window pane. You can easily rearrange audio files in your program log by dragging and dropping them. You may need to wait a few seconds for the program to refresh the list after doing so.
If you right-click on an item in the lower window pane, you can copy and paste it elsewhere.
- Right-click on an item and choose "Copy"
- Left-click on the item just above the location where you want to paste
- Right-click on the "just above" item, and choose "Paste."
You can use the "Save" button to save an edited program log or other playlist file using its original filename, or the "Save As" button to save it using a different name and/or location.
TIPS AND TRICKS
Tricks that let you use Lightning your way.
- If you right-click a file in the upper window pane, you can choose "Play" to hear it immediately (not advisable if your computer is playing over the air at the time!).
- If you drag a file or files from the "Matching Items" window pane to a folder on your desktop or elsewhere, you'll make a copy of those files in the destination folder.
- The found items in the upper window pane can be dragged and dropped into the lower window pane to create a save-able playlist,
- You can even edit a currently-running TuneTracker program log! Just drop in the log, make your changes, and afterward go into TuneTracker and double-click on the log in the queue so TuneTracker notices the changes you've made. After doing so, be certain the next-to-play song is what you wish it to be.
GET THE DVD
A FastTracker Learning Series DVD that covers Lightning in much greater depth and shows you all the amazing things you can do with it is available. It is an excellent way to learn all of Lightning's ins and outs, and to train other staffers in its use.
ORDER LIGHTNING
If you do not yet have Lightning, ordering information is available at our web site.
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