SonoBat v.4.3 - Its what you need for next Field Season!
Santa was good to me this year and I was able to get my hands on a brand spanking new, full working version of SonoBat version 4.3 What a gift! Besides having an entirely new (and pleasing) look and feel (sleeker, darker, less pastel-colored and easier on the eye in the dark, which is of course where we most often work), there are some great new features “under the hood” that I think old SonoBat users will love and new users should feel especially grateful for. So, prepare to be dazzled!
First off, if you’ve not dabbled with version 4 yet, the whole SonoBatch (that is, the AutoID report generation) is totally different. You don’t automatically get the file-level and project-level spreadsheet outputs. All the Batch does now is write all the call parameters to a tiny little chunk in the actual WAV file. This sounds scary, but actually it’s pretty cool because with all the parameters, when SonoBat gets updated you can update your AutoID results without having to re-batch. Now you get your AutoID classifications thru the “SonoVet” button and this allows you to customize your spreadsheet output so it matches whatever workflow you’ve developed over the years, or use one of the standard layouts available from the built in templates.
But, by far the best thing is the new viewer layout. Even if you haven’t run an AutoID batch, you can get both sequence level and pulse-level ID’s on any WAV file you load up. And, most importantly, the ID decision on each and every pulse in the sequence is now displayed if you toggle the “show” button. This helps a lot with manual vetting and making sequence-level ID decisions on your own. I find it much easier to justify a species ID if it’s based on 3 or 4 high-quality looking pulses than if it’s based on 6 or 8 mediocre ones.
There’s lots of other technical improvements on the classifier algorithms too. Joe has a PDF that explains some of this, but I’m looking forward to the next season of training courses from Bat Survey Solutions so I can get the kinds of hands-on and 1-on-1 experience with the program from Joe and Janet and John and the rest of the gang.
Where can I get SonoBat 4?
Of course there’s no time like the present to get SonoBat4 so you can start re-training your muscle-memory on the new workflow (don’t worry, it’s not hard). And, purchasing is even faster and easier now with the new SonoBat website (check it out, if you haven’t already), or at BCM. Sales are handled thru something called “SendOwl” which provides instant downloads for your region of choice or for a full working copy (or upgrade if you are already in the system). As always, the software is available for both Mac and PC . . . tho the Mac version allows you to run better, faster, and more crash-free . . . but that’s the subject of a future blog!
About Echo The Bat Geek
I am EchoTheBatGeek and I have been recording bats since the first AnaBat unit came out, long before many of todays bat-workers were even born. I also spend entirely too much time playing with bat detectors and reviewing every echolocation call I collect, sometimes with every piece of software available. None of this is done for profit, just for fun and personal growth. I hope you can benefit from some of the wisdom of my experience and not have to start your own bat work at “ground-zero, like I did. Happy Batting Everyone!
- Echo The Bat Geek
