= Prepare

At first, we need to do some preparations.

== 1. Start REAPER

Playtime runs within REAPER, so at first you need to start REAPER.

== 2. Set up your audio and MIDI devices

If you haven't done it already, you should let REAPER know which audio and MIDI devices you are planning to use with it, because Playtime will use them as well!

. Open the REAPER preferences via menu:Options[Preferences/Settings...]
. In the section menu:Audio[Device], configure your audio input and output.
. In the section menu:Audio[MIDI Inputs], configure your MIDI input devices, such as music keyboards.
. In the section menu:Audio[MIDI Outputs], configure your MIDI output devices, such as hardware synthesizers.

If you want to know more about this process, please consult the one and only link:https://www.reaper.fm/userguide.php[REAPER user guide].

[[fire-up-playtime]]
== 3. Fire up Playtime

Press the image:screenshots/playtime-toolbar-icon.png[Playtime,width=50, pdfwidth=8mm] button in REAPER's main toolbar, or use any of the alternative ways to start Playtime (described in xref:installation.adoc[]).
After pressing the button, you should see the Playtime window with an empty xref:key-concepts.adoc#matrix[]:

.Playtime window with empty matrix
image::generated/screenshots/main/main-screen-empty.png[]

You can press kbd:[Shift+Cmd/Ctrl+P] to show/hide the Playtime window at any time.

At this point, you could directly continue with xref:usage/create.adoc[], but I strongly recommend to read the following deep dive, as it will improve your understanding of how Playtime works!

.Deep dive: Playtime button
****
Pressing the button actually does multiple things in one go:

. Create a new REAPER track named "Playtime" at the very top of the project.
. Arm the track and set its input to "MIDI: All: All channels".
. Add an xref:helgobox::key-concepts.adoc#instance[instance] of the Helgobox plug-in to the track's FX chain.
. Open the xref:helgobox::app.adoc[] associated with that new Helgobox instance.
. Navigate to the Playtime section of the App.
. Create a xref:key-concepts.adoc#matrix[Playtime Matrix] in this Helgobox instance.


If you wanted, you could do all of those steps manually instead:

* Right-click REAPER's track control panel and choose menu:Insert virtual instrument on new track...[]
* Double-click instrument plug-in "VSTi: Helgobox - ReaLearn & Playtime (Helgoboss)"
* Optionally rename the track to "Playtime"
*  In the xref:helgobox::plug-in/user-interface.adoc[Helgobox plug-in window], press menu:Menu[Show app].
* In the xref:helgobox::app/user-interface.adoc[Helgobox app window], press the image:screenshots/playtime-toolbar-icon.png[Playtime,width=30] button in the xref:helgobox::app/user-interface/navigation-bar.adoc[] on the left.
* Press the button btn:[Create a Playtime Matrix]

What we learn from that:

* Playtime is built into Helgobox, which is an instrument plug-in, so there needs to be an instance of it somewhere in your project. *→ This is a good thing because it means that you can xref:usage/play.adoc[play] it like an instrument!*
* A new Helgobox instance doesn't have a xref:key-concepts.adoc#matrix[Playtime Matrix] by default.
You first need to create one.
*→ This means Playtime doesn't consume any CPU and memory if you don't use it!*
****