Steinberg Cubase 5.5 New Features Manual

							61
The Sample Editor
Moving segments horizontally
After cutting a segment it may be necessary to move seg-
ments horizontally, for example, if you notice that a note is 
at the wrong position. Proceed as follows:
1.On the VariAudio tab activate Segments mode.
2.Move the mouse pointer over the upper border of the 
segment.
The mouse pointer becomes a double arrow.
3.Click and drag the whole segment to the left or right.
The segment is moved accordingly. If several segments are selected, they 
are all moved together. Snap is not be taken into account. 
ÖYou can only drag the segment start/end until it reaches 
the start/end of the next segment. Segments cannot over-
lap each other.
Deleting segments
Sometimes it might be useful to delete segments. This is 
the case in situations where you want the original audio to 
be played back, e. g. for non-tonal portions or consonants.
•You can delete segments by selecting them in Seg-
ments mode and pressing [Backspace]. 
Saving the segmentation
The corrected segmentation is saved with the project, no 
additional saving is required. 
Pitch & Warp tool 
If you activate the Pitch & Warp tool on the VariAudio tab, 
you can change the pitch and the timing of your audio.
You can edit the pitch and timing of audio segments for 
corrective purposes but also creatively. VariAudio allows 
you to experiment freely with note pitches in order to 
change the melody with or without preserving a natural 
sound. Furthermore, you can change the timing of the 
audio. 
ÖIn Pitch & Warp mode, the segments are shown with a 
plain background. You can toggle between “Pitch & 
Warp” and “Segments” mode by pressing the [Tab] key.
ÖThere are some restrictions concerning the highest 
and lowest possible note pitch. You cannot choose note 
pitches above C5 and below E0.
Changing the pitch 
If you want to edit the pitch of a segment, proceed as 
follows:
1.On the VariAudio tab activate the Pitch & Warp tool.
2.Move the mouse pointer over the segment.
The mouse pointer becomes a hand symbol to indicate that you can 
change the pitch of the segment. If the zoom factor is high enough, a 
tooltip indicates the found note pitch and the segment’s deviation from 
this pitch in percent. 
!If the resulting segment pitch cannot be calculated 
because of an increase in non-tonal data, the seg-
ment will be deleted.
!Before changing the pitch or timing of your segments, 
make sure that the segments you want to change are 
correct (see “Applying editing, offline processes, and 
VariAudio” on page 58). 
						

							62
The Sample Editor
There are three different modes that affect the way in which 
a note will snap to a certain pitch that can be accessed us-
ing the following modifier keys:
ÖThe default modifier key can be changed in the Prefer-
ences dialog (Editing–Tool Modifier page).
3.Drag the segment up or down to the desired pitch and 
release the mouse. However, be careful: The more the 
pitch deviates from the original pitch, the less likely it is 
that your audio sounds natural.
If the Solo algorithm is not turned on already, a warning appears informing 
you that Cubase has selected it automatically. The segment is pitched ac-
cordingly. While dragging, the original micro-pitch curve of the segment is 
shown in orange. If several segments are selected, they are all pitched. 
You can also use the up/down arrow keys on your com-
puter keyboard to edit the note pitches. 
Proceed as follows:
•Use the up/down arrow keys to change the pitch in 
semitone steps.
•Hold down [Shift] while using the up/down arrow keys 
to change the pitch in cent steps.
Quantize Pitch
You can also quantize the audio pitch upwards or down-
wards to iteratively reduce the deviation from the nearest 
semitone position. 
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the segments that you want to quantize.
2.Move the Quantize Pitch slider to the right.
The selected segments are quantized iteratively. 
You can set up a key command for Quantize Pitch in the 
Sample Editor category of the Key Commands dialog (see 
the chapter “Key Commands” in the Operation Manual). 
When using the key command, the segments are directly 
quantized to the next semitone position.
Tilting the micro-pitch curve
Sometimes changing the pitch of the whole note segment 
is not enough. In these cases you will have to modify how 
the pitch changes inside the segment. This is indicated by 
the micro-pitch curve (see “Understanding the waveform 
display in VariAudio” on page 57). 
Proceed as follows:
1.On the VariAudio tab, activate the Pitch & Warp tool.
2.To change the micro-pitch of a segment, move the 
mouse pointer over the top left/right corner of the segment.
The mouse pointer becomes an up/down arrow. 
3.Drag upwards/downwards with the mouse to change 
the micro-pitch curve.
Option Description Default modifier
Absolute Pitch 
SnappingPitches the segment to the 
next semitone.None
Relative Pitch 
SnappingSnaps the segment in rela-
tion to its current deviation in 
cents, i. e. if the segment has 
a pitch of C3 and a deviation 
of 22 %, and you move it up 
by one semitone, it will be 
pitched to C#3 while keep-
ing the deviation of 22 %.[Ctrl]/[Command]
No Pitch Snapping Lets you edit the pitch freely. [Shift]
!If you pitch-shift audio events with the Transpose op-
tions (see the chapter “The Transpose functions” in 
the Operation Manual) the transposition is added to 
the pitch modifications that you introduced with the 
Pitch & Warp tool, even if this is not reflected in the 
segmentation display.
!The micro-pitch curve displays the progression of 
the pitch for the tonal portion of the segment. For 
non-tonal portions of the audio, micro-pitch curves 
cannot be shown. 
If the pitch falls at the end of the 
segment……activate the Pitch & Warp tool, 
point at the top right corner and 
drag upwards. 
						

							63
The Sample Editor
If you want to change the pitch modulation only for the 
segment start or end, you can set an “anchor point” to 
specify which part of the segment is affected. Proceed as 
follows:
1.Move the mouse pointer over the top border of the 
segment.
The mouse pointer becomes an I-beam symbol.
2.Click at the position where you want to set an anchor.
A vertical line appears at the position where you clicked. A segment can 
only have one anchor.
3.Move the mouse pointer over the top left/right corner 
of the segment and drag upwards or downwards to tilt the 
micro-pitch curve.
The modulation curve is only changed from the segment border to the 
anchor.
•If you press [Alt]/[Option] while dragging up/down, the 
tilt anchor is used as an axis around which the micro-pitch 
curve can be rotated.4.Repeat the steps above to set anchors and tilt the mi-
cro-pitch curve until you are satisfied with the result.
•If you want to remove a tilt anchor from a segment, hold 
down [Alt]/[Option], position the mouse pointer at the top 
border of the segment until it turns to a glue tube, and click.
The tilt anchor is deleted.
Straighten Pitch
If you want to compensate for the rise and fall of notes, i. e. 
the deviation of the micro-pitch curve from the representa-
tive pitch, you can use the Straighten Pitch slider. This cor-
rection comes in handy when a note is played flat (pitch 
rises) or sharp (the pitch falls) at the end. Proceed as fol-
lows:
1.Select the segments whose pitch you want to 
straighten.
2.Move the Straighten Pitch slider to the right.
The pitch of the selected segments is straightened. 
MIDI Input
You can change the pitch on the fly by selecting the seg-
ment you want to change and pressing a key on your MIDI 
keyboard or using the Virtual Keyboard (see the chapter 
“Playback and the Transport panel” in the Operation Man-
ual). 
Move the mouse over the top 
border and click to set an 
anchor……if you only want to compensate 
for the descending pitch at the end 
of the segment. 
If you set a tilt anchor…
…to indicate that you can rotate the 
micro-pitch curve.…and press [Alt]/[Option], the mouse 
pointer becomes a diagonal arrow…
This micro-pitch looks a bit off. By moving the Straighten Pitch slider 
to the right…
…the micro-pitch curve is straightened.  
						

							64
The Sample Editor
Proceed as follows:
1.After having corrected the segmentation, select the 
segment for which you would like to change the pitch.
2.Activate the Pitch & Warp tool and click the MIDI Input 
button.
3.Press a key on your MIDI keyboard or use the Virtual 
Keyboard to change the pitch of the segment.
The pitch of the segment changes according to the note you play. 
The MIDI Input function has two modes: Still mode and 
Stop mode. You can switch between them by [Alt]/[Op-
tion]-clicking on the MIDI Input button:
•In Still mode you can select individual segments by click-
ing on them and change their pitch by pressing a MIDI key. 
You can also select several segments and press a MIDI key 
to change the pitch of several segments simultaneously. 
The pitch of the first selected segment is changed to the 
pitch of the MIDI note you play. The pitches of the other se-
lected segment are changed by the same amount.
•In Step mode you can step through the segments by 
selecting the first segment that you would like to change 
and pressing a MIDI key. The next segment will automati-
cally be selected afterwards. This allows you to work in a 
more creative way, for example, to develop completely 
new melody lines via MIDI.
4.When you are done, deactivate the MIDI Input button.
ÖMIDI controller data like pitchbend or modulation are 
ignored.
Warping segments
Time correction, i. e. warping at segment level, is useful if 
you want to align a musical accent to a certain position, or 
change or quantize the timing of single segments in mono-
phonic vocal recordings. When warping audio segments, 
warp tabs will be created. These are shown on the VariAu-
dio and the AudioWarp tabs of the Sample Editor Inspec-
tor. (For information on warping complete audio files, see 
“Free Warp” on page 51.)
To warp a segment, proceed as follows:
1.On the VariAudio tab activate the Pitch & Warp tool.
2.To change the timing of a segment, move the mouse 
pointer over the start/end of the segment.
The mouse pointer becomes a double arrow and the warp tabs are dis-
played in the ruler.
3.Drag the start/end of the segment to the desired posi-
tion. 
If the Snap button is activated, the segment border will snap to the grid. 
When you drag the segment border, warp tabs are shown not only at the 
border but also at the adjacent segment borders to indicate which por-
tions of the audio are stretched/affected.
ÖWarping a segment will also change the timing of the 
adjacent segments. 
ÖTiming modifications introduced this way will not 
adapt to the project tempo. If this is what you want, use 
Musical Mode (see “AudioWarp: Tempo matching audio” 
on page 47). 
Still mode is activated for MIDI Input. 
Step mode is activated for MIDI Input. 
!Any correction of the segmentation must be applied 
before warping segments. 
						

							65
The Sample Editor
•You can change the insert position of a warp tab in the 
audio by clicking and dragging the warp tab handle in the 
ruler. This will change the warping (see “Editing Warp 
tabs” on page 65).
•Hold down [Shift] (by default) to delete warp tabs. To 
delete a warp tab, hold down the tool modifier so that the 
pointer becomes an eraser and click on the warp handle. 
•If you are not satisfied with your changes, you can revert 
the timing of the selected segments by choosing the 
“Warp Changes” option from the Reset pop-up menu 
(see “Reset” on page 66). 
Editing Warp tabs 
In some cases the beginning of the waveform does not cor-
respond to the beginning of a segment, e. g. when the audio 
starts with non-tonal portions like breath sounds (see “Un-
derstanding the waveform display in VariAudio” on page 
57). But when it comes to warping, any changes you wish 
to make must affect the waveform as a whole.
You can of course change the segmentation to achieve 
this, but if you want to pitch your audio afterwards, this 
would affect also any non-tonal portions of the audio. If 
this is not what you want, proceed as follows:
1.Activate the Pitch & Warp tool and activate the Snap 
button.
In this example the beginning of the segment does not correspond to 
the beginning of the waveform.
2.Move the mouse pointer over the start of the segment 
so that it becomes a double arrow and drag the segment 
start to the beginning of the bar. 
The segment border snaps to the grid at the exact bar position.
Now the beginning of the segment matches the beginning 
of the bar, but we want the beginning of the waveform to 
match the beginning of the bar:
3.Point at the warp handle displayed in the ruler so that 
it turns into a double arrow and drag it to the beginning of 
the waveform.
The background is displayed in orange to indicate which part of the 
waveform is affected by the change. 
						

							66
The Sample Editor
Now the beginning of the waveform matches the desired 
bar position.
Editing warp tabs can also be useful if you change the 
length of a segment that you have already warped. In this 
case, editing warp tabs can help you synchronize your au-
dio again.
Reset
This pop-up menu at the bottom of the VariAudio tab allows 
you to reset the modifications you performed with the Pitch 
& Warp tool. It also lets you reset the changes you made in 
Segments mode by reanalyzing the audio and returning to 
the original segmentation. The following options are avail-
able:
ÖYou can set up key commands for the reset and the re-
analyze function in the Sample Editor category of the Key 
commands dialog (see the chapter “Key Commands” in the 
Operation Manual).
Listening to your modifications
You can listen to the results of your modifications using 
the following methods:
•By activating Acoustic Feedback on the toolbar.
The segments are played back so that you can easily audition your pitch 
modifications while editing. 
•By using the Play tool on the toolbar.
•By using the Audition and the Audition Loop tool on the 
toolbar.
•By using cycle playback in the Project window.
If you want to compare the original to the modified audio 
(i. e. hear the audio without pitch or warp modifications), 
you have the following possibilities: 
•You can disable your pitch modifications by clicking the 
Disable Pitch Changes button on the VariAudio tab or by 
setting up and using the “VariAudio - Disable Pitch 
Changes” key command in the Key Commands dialog, 
Sample Editor category (see the chapter “Key Com-
mands” in the Operation Manual).
•You can disable your warp modifications by clicking the 
Disable Warp Changes button on the AudioWarp tab or 
by setting up and using the “VariAudio – Reset Warp 
Changes” key command in the Key Commands dialog, 
Sample Editor category (see the chapter “Key Com-
mands” in the Operation Manual).
Functions – Extract MIDI…
This function extracts a MIDI part from your audio. This is 
useful if you have an audio event with a voice you like and 
you want to create an identical second voice with a MIDI 
instrument. The extracted MIDI part can then be used to 
print out notes from within the Score Editor or to export it 
as a MIDI file (see the chapter “File Handling” in the Oper-
ation Manual). 
ÖBefore extracting MIDI from your audio you should 
correct the segmentation. Otherwise, you will have to cor-
rect segmentation errors later in the MIDI part. Transition 
changes, tilting the micro-pitch curve, Quantize Pitch, and 
pitch corrections will also be taken into account. 
The result depends on the quality and the characteristics 
of your audio.
Function Description
Pitch Changes If you select this option, pitch changes including micro-
pitch modifications with the tilt micro-pitch tool are reset 
either for the selected segments (if available) or for the 
whole file.
Warp 
ChangesIf you select this option, warp changes are reset.
Pitch + Warp 
ChangesIf you select this option, pitch, micro-pitch, and warp 
changes are reset either for the selected segments (if 
available) or for the whole file.
Reanalyze 
AudioIf you select this option, the audio is reanalyzed and all 
your segmentation changes are reset. 
						

							67
The Sample Editor
Proceed as follows:
1.Open the VariAudio tab.
2.Open the Functions pop-up menu and select “Extract 
MIDI…”.
The “Extract MIDI” dialog opens.
3.Select an extraction mode in the corresponding pop-
up menu to include or exclude pitchbend events.
Pitchbend events are MIDI controller data that is saved in 
a MIDI file and that creates pitch transitions between MIDI 
notes. The following options are available:
4.Open the Destination pop-up menu and select an op-
tion to decide where the MIDI part will be placed.
The following options are available: 
ÖIf you have opened the Sample Editor from the Pool 
and the audio file does not form part of your project, the 
MIDI part will be inserted at the Project start position.
5.Click OK.
A MIDI part is created.
ÖIf your audio event references only a section of the au-
dio clip, only this range will be extracted.You can also use a key command to extract your audio as 
MIDI. In this case no dialog opens and the settings that 
were used for the previous extraction are used instead. 
For further information on setting up key commands, see 
the chapter “Key Commands” in the Operation Manual.
Flattening realtime processing
You can “flatten” realtime processing at any time. This can 
be done to serve two purposes: to reduce the CPU load 
and to optimize the sound quality of the processing. The 
flatten function takes the following into account:
• Warp modifications (see “Free Warp” on page 51 and “Warp-
ing segments” on page 64), even when Bypass is activated. 
After the flattening, your Warp tabs will be lost. However, you 
can undo this function as usual.
• VariAudio pitch modifications (see “Changing the pitch” on 
page 61), even when Bypass is activated. In this case, the Re-
altime algorithm (Solo preset) will be used. After the flattening, 
your VariAudio data will be lost. However, you can undo this 
operation.
• Event transpose (see the chapter “The Transpose functions” 
in the Operation Manual).
•Select the audio event(s) that you want to process and 
select “Flatten” from the Realtime Processing submenu of 
the Audio menu.
Also use this function before applying any offline processing. When the 
flatten processing is applied, a copy of the original file is automatically 
created in the Pool so that the original audio clip remains intact.
Selecting an algorithm for the flattening
When you flatten the realtime processing, you can use the 
MPEX 4 algorithm to process the audio, which may pro-
duce better sound quality than the realtime processing. 
Apart from offline processing, this is the only way to 
achieve polyphonic formant conserving pitch shifting.
Option Description
Just Notes and 
no Pitchbend 
DataIf you select this option, only notes will be included in the 
MIDI part.
Notes and 
Static Pitch-
bend DataIf you select this option, a pitchbend event will be created 
for every segment. Select a pitchbend value from 1 to 24 
in the Pitchbend Range field. When you are working with 
an external MIDI controller, it might be necessary to set it 
to the same value.
Notes and 
Continuous 
Pitchbend 
DataIf you select this option, pitchbend events that correspond 
to the micro-pitch curve will be created. Select a pitch-
bend value from 1 to 24 in the Pitchbend Range field. The 
setting should correspond to the same value on your MIDI 
controller or the VST instrument being controlled. 
Note that although the graphic representation of the pitch-
bend curve is smoothed, all pitchbend data is included.
Option Description
First Selected 
TrackIf you select this option, the MIDI part will be placed on 
the first selected MIDI or instrument track. Note that any 
MIDI parts from previous extractions that are on this track 
will be deleted. 
New MIDI 
TrackIf you select this option, a new MIDI track will be created 
for the MIDI part.
Project Clip-
boardIf you select this option, the MIDI part is copied to the 
clipboard so that you can insert it at the desired position 
on a MIDI or instrument track in the Project window.
!In the Pool, you can select an algorithm for several 
selected clips at a time.
!If you are working with VariAudio pitch shifting, the 
Realtime algorithm (Solo preset) will be used auto-
matically. 
						

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The Sample Editor
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the audio event(s) you wish to process.
2.Select “Flatten” from the Realtime Processing sub-
menu of the Audio menu or use the corresponding button 
on the Process tab.
If you did not perform any pitch modifications, a dialog opens where you 
can select an algorithm for the processing. You can either select the 
MPEX 4 algorithm, which will produce the highest sound quality, or the 
Realtime algorithm which is much quicker but will not improve the audio 
quality of the processing (although it will reduce the CPU load).
ÖThis dialog will not open when the time stretching fac-
tor is outside the range of 0.5 and 2 or when you intro-
duced VariAudio pitch modifications. In these cases the 
Realtime algorithm will be used.
For the MPEX 4 algorithm the following quality settings 
are available:
The Realtime presets can be selected from the Algorithm 
pop-up on the Sample Editor toolbar, see “Selecting an 
algorithm for realtime playback” on page 51. 3.Select an algorithm preset and click OK.
After the processing, any loop that was previously stretched in realtime 
or had been pitch shifted will play back exactly the same, but Musical 
Mode will be deactivated and the realtime pitch shifting will be set to 0.
The audio clip is now like any standard audio clip before 
applying realtime processing, i. e. it does not follow tempo 
changes. The flattening processing function is best used 
when you have determined the tempo or key of a project, 
but you can of course always adapt the audio to a new key 
or tempo. In this case, it is better to revert to the original 
audio clip rather than to process the already processed 
file again.
Unstretching audio files
By selecting “Unstretch Audio” from the Realtime Pro-
cessing submenu of the Audio menu, all realtime time 
stretching (by sizing or by warp tabs) is removed.
ÖNote that realtime transpose (in the info line) and Musi-
cal Mode will not be removed by this.
Whether the “Unstretch Audio” menu item is available de-
pends on whether the time stretching has been applied at 
event or clip level: 
•If you have sized an audio event in the Project window 
using “Sizing Applies Time Stretch”, you can undo the 
time stretching by selecting the event in the Project win-
dow and then applying “Unstretch Audio”.
This removes all time stretching and warp tabs.
•When you have entered a tempo and/or length on the 
toolbar, this information is saved for the source clip.
These changes cannot be undone using “Unstretch Audio”.
Option Description
Preview Use this mode only for preview purposes.
Mix  Fast This mode is a very fast mode for preview. This works best 
with composite music signals (mono or stereo material).
Solo Fast Use this mode for single instruments (monophonic mate-
rial) and voice.
Solo Musical Same as above but higher quality.
Poly Fast Use this for processing monophonic and polyphonic ma-
terial. This is the fastest setting that gives still very good 
results. You can use this for drum loops, mixes, chords.
Poly Musical Use this for processing monophonic and polyphonic ma-
terial. This is the recommended MPEX default quality set-
ting. You can use this for drum loops, mixes, chords.
Poly Complex This high quality setting is quite processor intense and 
should be used only when processing difficult material or 
for stretch factors above 1.3. 
						

							5
Video 
						

							70
Video
Before you start
When working on a project involving a video file, you first 
need to set up your system according to your equipment 
and your demands. The following sections provide some 
general information about video file formats, frame rates, 
and video output devices.
Video file compatibility
Because there are many types of video files, it can be dif-
ficult to determine if one will work on your system. There 
are two ways to figure out if Cubase can play back a cer-
tain video file:
•Open the video file with QuickTime 7.1 or higher, be-
cause Cubase uses QuickTime for playing back video 
files.
•Check the file information of a video file in the Pool. If 
the information reads “Invalid or not supported file!”, the 
video file is either corrupt or the format is not supported by 
the available codecs.
Video container formats
Video and other multi-media files come in a container for-
mat. This container holds various streams of information 
including video and audio, but also metadata such as syn-
chronization information required to play back audio and 
video together. Data regarding creation dates, authors, 
chapter markings, and more can also be held within the 
container format. The following container formats are supported by Cubase: 
Cubase supports all these container formats, but prob-
lems may arise when the computer does not have the cor-
rect software to decode compressed video and audio 
streams within the container file. You must also know the 
type of codec that was used to create the video file.
Codecs
Codecs are methods of data compression used to make 
video (and audio) files smaller and more manageable for 
computers. In order to play back a video file, your com-
puter must have the correct codec installed in the operat-
ing system to decode the video stream.
If you are not able to load a certain video file, the required 
codec is probably not installed on your computer. In this 
case, you can search the Internet (e. g. the Microsoft or 
Apple web sites) for video codecs.
!Because Cubase 5.5 uses a completely new video 
engine, QuickTime 7.1 and a video card supporting 
OpenGL 1.2 (OpenGL 2.0 recommended) are now 
required for video playback!
!If you are not able to load a certain video file, you 
must use an external application to convert the file 
into a compatible format or install the required co-
dec. For more information on codecs, see the sec-
tion “Codecs” on page 70.
Format Description
MOV This is a QuickTime movie.
QT This is also a QuickTime movie, but it is only used in Windows.
MPEG-1 This is the first standard of the Moving Picture Experts Group 
for video and audio compression, used for making video CDs. 
Files of this container format can have the extensions “.mpg” 
or “.mpeg”.
MPEG-2 This container format is used for DVD authoring. It can also 
contain AC3 multi-channel audio and has the file extension 
“.m2v”.
MPEG-4 This format is based on the QuickTime movie standard, can 
contain various metadata for streaming, editing, local play-
back, and interchange of content. Its file extension is “.mp4”.
AVI This format is a multimedia container format introduced by 
Microsoft.
DV This is a video format used by camcorders.
!The names of codecs and container formats can be 
confusing. Because many container formats have the 
same names as the codecs they use within the file, 
make sure to differentiate the container format or file 
type (e. g. .mov, .dv) from the codec used within it.