RipCast Help Index
Getting Started with RipCast
Downloading streaming audio with RipCast takes four easy steps.

1. Select the 'Station Browser' tab.


2. Click 'Tune In!' for a webcaster you would like to download from.


3. Uncheck the "Always ask before opening this type of file" check box. Then click the "Open" button.


4. The RipCast Agent window will appear. Click 'Rip it with RipCast' button.


. You will then be taken to the 'Current Downloads' tab and your download will begin.


What is RipCast Agent?


RipCast Agent is a tool that sits between your web browser and RipCast itself. RipCast will associate RipCast Agent with streaming audio links in your web browser. This way whenever you click a streaming audio link in your web browser RipCast Agent will open and allow you to rip the audio in RipCast or play it in a media player. With RipCast Agent you are no longer limited to easily listening to only what is available in the station browser. RipCast Agent works well for Live365.com streaming audio stations and many others. RipCast Agent only works for streaming audio that is compatible with RipCast, and not all streaming audio is at this time.


Using RipCast Agent to Avoid Faulty Servers
The majority of the time when using RipCast Agent you will simply click 'Rip it with RipCast'. When you click 'Rip it with RipCast', RipCast Agent sends the first server address in the list of addresses to RipCast. This works flawlessly most of the time. However, sometimes the first server in the list is faulty, it might not be accepting connections or may be acting buggy. If you experience problems connecting or downloading from a certain server just go back to RipCast Agent and instead of clicking 'Rip it with RipCast', just double-click a server address in the list of addresses other then the first one. More times then not, this will solve any connection or download problems you might have been experiencing before.


Uninstalling RipCast Agent
RipCast Agent will still be associated with *.pls and *.m3u file types when you uninstall RipCast. If you want to restore these file types back to their original value you need to check the "Disable RipCast Agent" check box. When you close RipCast Agent make sure that box is checked and RipCast Agent will restore the file types back to their original state.


Configuring an 'Auto-Record Timer'
RipCast's new Auto-Record timer allows you to set a time (Just like an alarm clock) that you would like RipCast to start recording.

RipCast menu "View->Options->Timer Options".

There are two things you must specify to set the timer. A server address and the time you would like the recording to start.

The easiest way to obtain the server address for a webcaster is to use RipCast Agent. Open RipCast Agent on the webcaster you wish to record from. Then in the list of server addresses 'Right-Click' and select 'Copy Address to Clipboard'.
Note: You can now 'Paste' the server address in any text field you wish.


Now in the 'Timer Options' window clear the server address text box and 'Right-Click' then select paste.


Now just select a time from the drop down boxes and press 'Set Timer'.

Note: If you want to set the timer for midnight you must select 'Tomorrow' at '12:00 AM'

Once the timer has been set, RipCast's status bar will display how much time is left until the recording will begin.



At any time before the auto record timer triggers you may disable the timer by clicking the 'Un-Set Timer' button in the Timer Options pane.

Note: It is advised that you test recording from the server address before setting the auto record timer.


Creating Sequenced Download Sets

Checking the "Sequence MP3 filenames" check box does more then append a sequence number to the beginning of each downloaded track.


RipCast Menu "View->Options->File Settings"

This option creates a separate download sub folder for each recording session that you begin.

Inside the broadcaster download folder will be a folder named by the date and time you started recording(ex. '[Set 4-22-2003 19.50.8]'). Inside this folder each track downloaded in this 'session' will be numerically sequenced. Included in this folder will be the auto created .pls playlist file that also contains each downloaded track within this session.

Smart Split v2.0
Smart Split is RipCast's method of determining the best point to split tracks when given a chunk of audio where song transitions should occur. Smart Split v2.0 is new to RipCast 1.5. Even though smart split happens behind the scenes, it is one of RipCast's most advanced and complex features. With the use of MP3 audio codecs and audio amplitude algorithms. Smart Split does the best it can in determining the most silent point between track transitions which improves RipCast's overall output.

Turning off smart split causes RipCast to not use any form of silence detection and songs are likely to be split inaccurately.

Outputting the transition buffer allows you to listen to what audio RipCast has to work with when trying to determine the split point. The transition buffer is written to disk in the download folder as an mp3 file.


Monitoring Bandwidth Usage to Ensure Optimal Audio Quality
In RipCast's status bar you will see a pane that shows the 'Expected Bandwidth' and the 'Used Bandwidth' in Kbits per second.



The 'Used Bandwidth' value displays the total number of Kbits per second used by all downloads. This value does not include external bandwidth usage outside of Ripcast. If the 'Used Bandwidth' value is consistently much lower then the 'Expected Bandwidth' value then there is a good chance that songs will skip. There are two reasons this will happen, either because the broadcasting server is 'lagging' or because your internet connection is. If your internet connection is too slow to meet the 'Expected Bandwidth' then you should lower the number of simultaneous downloads or choose lower bitrate streams. Also be aware that heavy external bandwidth usage outside of RipCast may cause songs to skip if it consumes bandwidth for large periods of time.


RipCast Favorites Menu

You can add your favorite webcasters to the 'Favorites Menu'. Once you've started a download in the current downloads tab you can Right-Click a download and select "Add to Favorites". This webcaster name and address will now be saved to the favorites menu.

Note: Webcaster addresses may periodically change. Thus meaning, your saved favorites may not work sometime in the future. If you experience this problem, select "Edit Favorites..." from the "Favorites" menu and delete the old favorite.


Visiting the Webcasters Website
You can now easily visit the webcaster's website by "Right-Clicking" a download and selecting 'Visit Stream Website..'. Your default web browser will open with the website of the webcaster who you are downloading from.

RipCast Agent doesn't open when I click 'Tune-In'

RipCast Agent should appear when you click 'Tune-In' links in the station browser. If for some reason RipCast Agent does not appear. Please try these steps to get it to function properly.

1. Open 'Windows Explorer / My Computer'.

2. Open menu 'Tools'->'Folder Options'

3. Select 'File types' Tab.

4. In the 'Registered Filetypes' list. Select the 'PLS' entry.

5. Click the 'Change...' button to change the filetype association.

6. Browse and/or select 'RipCast Agent 1.1'. Press 'OK'

Tune-In links should now open with RipCast Agent. You may need to close and re-open RipCast.