How to Use C700: Outputting to .spc/.smc
First things first – you're going to need one additional file from the C700 download page, and that is "playercode.bin". Here is a direct link to that file, and a GDrive mirror just in case. This is necessary to record your .spc or .smc.
The "Set Recorder…" Pane
By clicking Set Recorder… at the bottom of the VST, an additional pane of options related to file output can be accessed. These settings tell C700 how to create your chiptune file (or ROM).
Again, first up – if this is your first time, go ahead and locate playercode.bin after clicking "Load" to the right of PlayerCode. The VST should remember this from now on.
Select a Save Path at the top, which is the directory your .spc/.smc will be created in.
Tick the boxes for "Save as *.spc" and/or "Save as *.smc" as desired. As discussed in the beginning, you may cause a memory overload with .spc (the SNES song format), so .smc (the SNES ROM format) is recommended instead. You will have ample space to work with if using .smc. Note that you can also switch between generating an NTSC or PAL ROM via a setting at the top right.
The Record Start Position, Loop Start Position and Record End Position are set by moving your DAW's playhead (cursor) to a specific point in the song and then clicking "Set" on the right. (Values may ostensibly be typed in, although in my experience they are not saved when you press Enter.) The "Record End Position" must be set in order for the VST to record anything at all. In our example, it's set to 16.000 which equates to 16 beats, or 4 bars of 4/4 time.
By default, your song will start to loop after the Record End Position is reached. If you don't want it to loop from the beginning, set "Loop Start Position" to wherever you want the loop to begin. If you don't want it to loop at all, add a bit of blank space after your song ends, then set the Loop Start Position and Record End Position somewhere within the blank space after your song. This way it loops silence indefinitely.
There is an interesting behavioral difference in loops between .spc and .smc. The two settings at the bottom, Repeat number for spc and Fade milliseconds for spc, control how many loops will occur and the length of the fadeout after the final loop concludes, respectively. However, as the names might imply, these settings only apply to .spc; an .smc ROM file will continue looping and never fade out.
The remaining five options fill in metadata for .spc files. Most of these do not apply to .smc either, although Game Title will be preserved. SPC metadata can also be added after-the-fact with tools like the foobar2000 or Winamp plugins that enable .spc playback (foo_gep and SNESamp respectively). Metadata for .spc is stored in a custom tag named "ID666".
Let's get recording, then!
As long as you have Save as *.spc/*.smc checked, the C700 recorder is listening. It will start recording at your chosen Record Start Position, and once it reaches the Record End Position, your .spc/.smc will be output to the File Path you selected. (Note that there is no indication within the plugin that this is happening.)
One option to record is simply to play back your song in real time. You should be able to achieve the same result by exporting an audio or MIDI file from your DAW, too, if you (understandably) don't want to record in real time every time.
Recording in real time does have lots of interesting implications for knob-twiddling enthusiasts. As mentioned in the beginning, this is a recorder, meaning what's being written to the .spc/.smc file is, plain and simple, whatever's being fed through it. This means, rather than meticulously adding automation data to your DAW, you could make changes in the interface while your song plays back. Those changes will be reflected exactly as you made them during the recording process. The obvious downside to this method is that you would have to make those adjustments every single time you wanted to record. However, it is still a fun way to be creative with C700!