How to keep your podcast on time

Put the clock where your guests can see it

Click the clock next to ● REC, or choose View → Recording clock. Drag the window to the TV and double-click it: it fills the screen (Esc brings it back). Next time you open OnAirCut, it opens again by itself, on the same screen.

Choose when it starts: automatically, or when you decide

In Settings → Recording clock, When it starts: Automatically starts the clock with the recording — when you press ▶, since Always REC comes on, or ● REC if you turn it off — so the sound check before it doesn’t count. When you decide lets you start it with ⌘T — or a right-click on the clock — when the episode really begins, even if you’re already recording the warm-up. ■ always stops it, and it stays at the final time.

Choose how it starts counting: right away, or with a countdown

How it starts counting: Right away counts from 00:00:00 at once. With a countdown, STARTS IN first counts down the minutes you choose, so your guests get ready; at zero a message shows for a few seconds — ON AIR!, or your own — and the clock counts from zero. Recording starts at zero, so the wait before the show isn’t recorded.

Whoever is operating sees it too, even without looking at the TV: the app’s clock, next to ● REC, turns amber with a “−” and STARTS IN above it. At zero, ON AIR! appears there as well, with a notice at the bottom — so nobody starts talking before the show does.

Show the time of day

If your studio is rented by the hour, turn on Show the time of day in Settings → Clock look. The Mac’s time goes at the bottom right, in 12 or 24 hours, with or without seconds: your guests see what time it is and how long they’ve been recording, at a glance.

Never forget to record

• Always REC (Settings → General, on by default): every ▶ records too, and the recording goes with the session — only ■ stops it.
• ■ asks first while recording, and Cancel is the default: a stray click doesn’t end the take.
• The disk is checked before recording: with less than an hour of room, OnAirCut asks before it starts.

Mark the good moments with M

While recording, press M whenever something happens — a clip for social media, a slip to cut. The line under the clock counts them. Each marker shows on the Podcast Editor’s timeline, numbered, and goes into the export: markers in Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve, sequence markers in Premiere Pro. No more scrubbing a whole hour to find that one answer.

Make it yours

In Settings → Clock look, add your logo and choose the background, the digits and the recording color; Reset brings back the broadcast look. With Always on top, no other window covers the clock. In Settings → Recording clock, the clock can also count in timecode, with its frames.