Brain Products Press Release July 2011, Volume 39 Support Tip Did you know how to set up a Recorder workspace with the latest BrainVision Recorder? by Dr. Davide Riccobon Setting up a workspace allows you to define user-specific recording and viewing parameters such as the location of the EEG files, the amplifier settings (e.g. channel name and number, sampling rate, digital port settings, etc.), software filters, segmentation and average parameters, the selection of passive or active electrodes using ControlBox, various view settings and so on. Some of these parameters can be set using a wizard-driven procedure, while other parameters can be adjusted in the Amplifier and Configuration menus. As we were developing the new BrainVision Recorder 1.20 program, we took particular care to improve the usability of our recording software. This naturally also implied resolving the issues mentioned above. The way that workspaces in BrainVision Recorder 1.20 are handled is both more error-resistant and more intuitive: all the values defined for a given workspace are saved in the workspace and are loaded with it automatically. If you have to switch between workspaces because you have different experiments running in parallel, or if you want to import a workspace from an existing computer to a new one, you can do it without manually changing the recording parameters (and without the risk of forgetting to do it!). Everything runs automatically. There are only two points you need to pay particular attention to: When you create a new workspace, after completing the wizarddriven procedure you must also check, and if necessary adjust, the parameters set in the Amplifier and Configuration menus. These parameters are automatically imported from the older workspace, and might not match the requirements of the new experimental design. If this is the case you will have to edit them. The new values will be saved automatically. Recorder In previous versions of Recorder, the parameters set using a wizard were linked to the workspace. The other parameters were independent of the workspace selected and were tied to the computer being used. This had the following implications: • Switching between different experimental settings required not only switching workspaces, but could also involve the need for repeated editing of the Amplifier and Configuration parameters. This procedure was particular error-prone and could lead to entire recording sessions being rendered invalid. • The transfer of a particular workspace from one computer to another could also involve having to completely reset the Amplifier and Configuration parameters. www.brainproducts.com Workspaces created with an older version of the Recorder program do not include the Amplifier and Configuration parameters. When Recorder 1.20 opens one of these workspaces it will therefore be unable to locate those parameters. Instead, the Recorder program will automatically load the parameters for the most recently opened workspace. These might differ from the parameters you require. Accordingly, when you open workspaces created with older versions of Recorder you should always verify that the Amplifier and Configuration parameters are set correctly. (Please refer to the BrainVision Recorder manual for more detailed explanations regarding the individual processing steps and the significance of the various parameters: h t t p : // w w w . b r a i n p r o d u c t s . c o m /d o w n l o a d s . php?kid=5&tab=2#dlukat_53 ) page 9 of 14