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Countdown

The Countdown screen provides a visual and audio countdown before recording begins, giving you time to prepare.

Screen Preview

Countdown
███████ █ █ ███████ █ █ ███████ Get ready... Recording starts soon! Press ESC to cancel

Countdown Sequence

The countdown runs from 5 to 1, then displays GO! before recording begins.

Visual Display

Each number is displayed as a large ASCII art digit:

Count Color Audio
5 Orange 880 Hz beep
4 Orange 784 Hz beep
3 Dark Orange 698 Hz beep
2 Dark Orange 622 Hz beep
1 Red 554 Hz beep
GO! Green None

Number Display Examples

Countdown Numbers
███████ █ █ ███████ █ █ ███████ █ ██ █ █ █ █ ███ ██████ ██████ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ███ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██████ ██████ ██

Audio Beeps

The countdown includes descending-frequency audio beeps to help you track progress even when not looking at the screen.

Frequency Mapping:

5 → 880 Hz (A5)
4 → 784 Hz (G5)
3 → 698 Hz (F5)
2 → 622 Hz (D#5)
1 → 554 Hz (C#5)

Audio System Priority

The application tries multiple audio backends in order:

  1. FFmpeg + PipeWire (pw-cat)
  2. FFmpeg + ALSA (aplay)
  3. speaker-test (ALSA direct)
  4. PulseAudio (paplay with system sounds)
  5. Console bell (fallback)

Silent Systems

If your system doesn't have audio configured, the countdown will still work visually.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key Action
Esc Cancel countdown and return to setup
Q Cancel countdown and return to setup

Cancellation

If you press Esc or Q during the countdown:

  1. Countdown immediately stops
  2. No recording processes are started
  3. You return to the Recording Setup screen
  4. All your settings are preserved

After Countdown

When the countdown completes:

  1. GO! is displayed briefly in green
  2. Recording processes start (screen, audio, webcam)
  3. Screen transitions to Recording screen
  4. Status indicator shows "REC" with elapsed time

Timing

Event Duration
Each number (5-1) 1 second
"GO!" display 0.5 seconds
Total countdown ~5.5 seconds

Workflow Position

1
Previous: Recording Setup → Press "Go Live"
2
Current: Countdown (this screen)
3
Next: Recording → After countdown completes

Technical Details

The countdown is implemented using:

  • 7-segment style ASCII art for digit display
  • tea.Tick for timing intervals
  • goroutines for non-blocking audio playback
  • Alternative screen buffer for clean display