Steinberg Cubase 5 Operation Manual
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191 Automation The Automation panel The Automation panel is a floating window, similar to the Mixer and Transport panel. You can leave it open while you work – the Project window will always have the focus. To open the Automation panel, open the Project menu and select the Automation Panel option or click the Automa- tion Panel button on the Project window toolbar. The Automation panel gives you access to all automation options in Cubase. By default, all sections are displayed. You can change the panel configuration using the Setup dialog, see “Using the Setup options” on page 471. The following sections will explain all modes and options. Automation modes Cubase provides three different punch-out modes for au- tomation, available on the Automation Mode pop-up menu on the main toolbar and in the Mode section on the Auto- mation panel. The three modes available are Touch, Auto-Latch and Cross-Over. In all three modes, automation data will be written as soon as a parameter control is touched in play mode. They differ in the way the writing of automation data is ended, i. e. in their “punch-out” behavior. Which mode to use depends on what is required in your particular working situation. ÖNote that you can change the automation mode at any time, i. e. in play or stop mode or during an automation pass. You can also assign key commands to the automa- tion modes so you can quickly change between them. See “Automation key commands” on page 196. General punch-out conditions The current automation pass will always punch-out as soon as one of the following conditions is met, indepen- dent of which automation mode is selected: If you Disable Write If you Stop playback If you activate Fast Forward/Rewind If the project cursor reaches the right locator in Cycle mode. If you click in the ruler to move the project cursor (note that this function is user-definable – it can be controlled via the Automation panel, see “Allow Continue Writing after Trans- port Jump” on page 196). Selecting the automation mode in the Automation panel and the Cubase toolbar.
192 Automation Touch Typically, you would use Touch mode in situations where you want to make a change lasting only a few seconds to an already set up parameter. As the name implies, Touch will write automation data only for as long as you actually touch a parameter control – punch-out occurs as soon as you release the control. After punch-out, the control will return to the previously set value. The Return Time setting (see “Return Time” on page 195) determines how long it takes for the parameter to reach the previously set value. Automation mode: Touch Auto-Latch In Auto-Latch mode, there is no specific punch-out condi- tion other than those valid in all modes, see above. Auto-Latch is probably the automation mode you will use the most, in all situations where you want to keep a value over a longer period of time – for example when making EQ settings for a particular scene. Once your pass has started, the writing of automation data continues for as long as playback lasts or Write is enabled. The last value setting will be kept until you stop writing. Automation mode: Auto-Latch ÖThe automation mode for On/Off switches is always Auto-Latch (even if another mode is selected globally or for the track). Cross-Over Think of the Cross-Over mode as a kind of “manual return time” option (see “Return Time” on page 195). The Cross- Over mode can be used in situations where you are not happy with an already existing automation curve or with the automatically applied return settings. Cross-Over mode al- lows you to perform a “manual return” to ensure smooth transitions between new and existing automation settings. For Cross-Over, the punch-out condition is crossing over an already existing automation curve after touching the parameter for a second time. Look at the figure below: Like in Auto-Latch mode, once the automation pass begins with the first touching of the parameter control, automation data is written for as long as playback lasts. When you have found the correct value setting, you can release the fader – the automation pass continues, with the value setting remaining the same.
193 Automation Now, re-touch the fader and move it towards the original value. As soon as you cross the original curve, punch-out occurs automatically. Automation mode: Cross-Over Trim This is described in the section “Trim” on page 193. The Read/Write buttons in the Mode section At the bottom of the Mode section, you find two Read and two Write buttons. These are used to globally enable or disable the Read and Write buttons on all tracks. The All Automation to Read/Write buttons in the Mode section Click “All Automation to Write” to enable all Write but- tons (and, at the same time, all Read buttons) on all tracks/channels of your project. Clicking “All Automation Write off” will disable all Write buttons. The Read buttons will remain enabled. Click “All Automation to Read” to enable all Read but- tons on all tracks/channels of your project. Clicking “All Automation Read off” will disable all Read buttons. Automation performance utilities The automation modes described above become far more effective when used in combination with the Cubase auto- mation performance utilities. These are a number of op- tions and functions tailored to specific situations, allowing you to write automation data quickly and efficiently. You will find these utilities on the Automation panel. Trim Trim is available from the Automation panel only. Trim is a way of manipulating an already written automation curve, rather than an automation mode. ÖTrim works for channel volume and aux send level adjustments. When enabling Trim, a channel volume fader is positioned in the exact middle position, and will not move with any ex- isting volume automation curve. You can use Trim either in Stop mode or in Play mode. In Stop mode, moving the fader with Trim activated will move the existing automation curve between the left and right locators up or down. In Play mode, as the project cursor moves along the timeline, your Trim moves will adjust the existing break- points on the automation curve. ÖNote that the exact result of your trim moves in Play mode will only be visible after punch-out. ÖNote that Trim is not merely a matter of rewriting the automation curve using the fader movements you perform. Instead, the settings from the existing curve and the set- tings calculated from your fader movements are used to re- calculate the automation curve as soon as you punch-out. !When selecting Trim as the automation mode for a track, the punch-out behavior will always be as in Auto-Latch.
194 Automation The Suspend options The parameters or parameter groups selected here are excluded from the reading or writing of automation data – giving you full manual control of these parameters. ÖNote that the Others options refer to all parameters not covered by any of the options Volume, Pan, Mute, EQ, Sends or Inserts. Suspending Write Imagine the following situation: To help you concentrate while working on a particular track, you mute several other tracks. However, because automation Write is active on these tracks, this mute state is also automated during the next automation pass – a classic situation in mixing. To avoid inadvertently excluding whole tracks from your mix in this way, you can exclude Mute from all automation writing. Simply click Mute below the Suspend Write but- ton in the Suspend section on the Automation panel. To suspend the writing of automation data for all param- eters/parameter groups, click the Suspend Write button at the top of the section. When any of the options below the Suspend Write button are enabled, clicking Suspend Write will disable these buttons. When an automation pass is in progress for a particular parameter and you write-suspend this parameter, it will punch-out of the automation pass. Suspending Read Imagine you have already automated several tracks. While working on the current track, you want one of the other tracks to be louder, to better identify a particular position in your audio material. By suspending Read for the volume parameter, you regain full manual control and can set the volume to the required level.To suspend the reading of automation data for all pa- rameters/parameter groups, click the Suspend Read but- ton at the top of the section. When any of the options below the Suspend Read button are enabled, clicking Suspend Read will disable these buttons. The Show options The Show options on the Automation panel always affect all tracks. Clicking on these buttons opens the automation tracks for the corresponding parameters, e. g. volume or pan. This makes it easy to look at your EQ settings on sev- eral tracks, for example. When you click either Volume, Pan, EQ, Sends or In- serts, this will open the corresponding automation track(s) for all tracks. The automation tracks will be opened even if no automation data was re- corded on these tracks. For parameter groups (i. e. Pan, EQ, Sends and Inserts) you can step through the individual parameter sets by re- peatedly clicking the respective button. When the Used Only button is enabled, clicking one of the options will show you only the automation tracks for which automation data has already been written. “Empty” automation tracks will not be displayed. When you click Show Used, only automation tracks that contain automation data will be displayed. Hide All will hide all open automation tracks.
195 Automation The Settings section In the Settings section of the Automation panel you will find a number of global options and commands. The Functions pop-up menu At the top of the Settings section, you will find the Func- tions pop-up menu, which contains a number of global commands affecting automation. ÖYou can always undo these actions! Delete All Automation in Project This global command will remove all automation data from your project. Use this option with great caution, otherwise you may loose your work. Delete Automation of Selected Tracks When you select this command, all automation data for the selected track(s) will be removed. Make sure you have selected the right track(s) before using this option. Delete Automation in Range This command will delete, on all tracks, all automation data between the left and right locator. Be sure that this is what you want to do before proceeding! Global options Return Time The Return Time setting determines how fast the auto- mated parameter returns to any previously automated value when you release the mouse button. The default setting is 33 ms. Make sure that the return time is set to a value higher than 0, to prevent sudden jumps in your parameter settings (which may lead to crackles). Reduction Level The automation reduction function automatically reduces the number of automation events. During an automation pass (or when drawing automation with the Pencil tool), these are added as a continuous stream of densely packed break-points. This is necessary because the program can- not “guess” what you will be doing next. However, when punching out, the reduction function will remove all break-points that are not needed. The automa- tion curve will contain only the break-points necessary to reproduce your actions. For example, all break-points that lie between two other points, but do not deviate from the curve, will be automat- ically removed by reduction. If you try to add a break-point that does not deviate from the existing curve between two existing points… …it will be removed when the mouse is released. If you move the se- lected break-point by any amount so that the resulting curve is not a straight line, a new event will be added. If you are unhappy with the default setting (a reduction of roughly 50 %), you can change it, but normally the de- fault setting works well. !The higher the number of automation events, the higher the CPU load. If performance is an issue in your workflow, you should consider raising the re- duction level, to remove more events.
196 Automation The Options pop-up menu Show Data on Tracks When this option is activated, audio waveforms or MIDI events will be displayed not only on the audio or MIDI tracks, but also on the corresponding automation tracks. ÖNote that this depends on two options in the Prefe- rences dialog: The events will be displayed only when the option “Show waveforms” (Event Display–Audio) is en- abled and when “Part Data Mode” (Event Display–MIDI) is set to an option other than “No data”. Allow Continue Writing after Transport Jump Normally, when you are writing automation data and locate to another position in the project during this process, the writing will be stopped until the mouse button is released or until the Transport Stop command is received. This is to make sure that you do not inadvertently overwrite existing automation (e. g. if the Cycle is active or if you are using the Arranger functions). However, when you activate “Allow Continue Writing after Transport Jump”, the recording of automation will not be blocked, allowing for example for multiple automation passes in Cycle mode. Hints and further options Automation key commands In the Key Commands dialog (opened from the File menu in Cubase), in the Commands section on the left, you will find an Automation category which lists all automation commands to which you can assign key commands. How to assign key commands is described in detail in the chapter “Key commands” on page 479. About linking and automation Cubase allows you to link, in the mixer window, various parameters between different channels (see “Link/Unlink channels” on page 129). When automating the settings of a channel that is linked to another channel in the mixer, the parameters of the linked channel will NOT be automated. Cubase only: Also, in the channel settings window, you can link a send’s panorama settings to the panorama set- tings displayed in the channel strip (by enabling the option “Link Send Routing Panners to Channel Panner as Default” in the Preferences–VST page). For linked panners of sends and channels, automating one panner will automate the linked panner as well. About automation undo Every automation write operation you perform creates its own event in the undo history, so you can undo or redo any of your automation moves at any time. Automation track operations About automation tracks Audio tracks, group channel tracks and FX channel tracks all have automation tracks. These allow you to view and edit the automation of all mixer settings for the track, including settings for the track’s insert effects. There is one automa- tion track for each parameter, and automation tracks can be shown or hidden in any combination. Similarly, MIDI tracks have automation tracks for mixer set- tings, track parameters and (if used) for send and insert ef- fect settings. VST Instruments have special automation tracks that ap- pear in the Project window when you load a VST Instrument via the VST Instruments window. There is one automation track for the plug-in parameters, and one track for each mixer channel used by the instrument. These tracks have automation subtracks, giving you access to all parameters and mixer settings. Instrument tracks, as a combination of a MIDI track and a VST Instrument, have automation tracks that provide auto- mation parameters for the VST Instrument itself, for the VST Instrument channel and the respective MIDI automa- tion parameters. Finally, for ReWire channels and input (Cubase only)/out- put channels, automation tracks are automatically added as soon as you activate automation (with the Write button) in the corresponding mixer channel strip or in the Channel Settings window or globally (“All Automation to Write Sta- tus”) in the Mixer common panel or above the track list. These tracks also have automation tracks for all parameters.
197 Automation Opening automation tracks Every track has a number of automation tracks, each showing one automation parameter. For audio, Instrument, group channel, MIDI and FX chan- nel tracks, there are two ways you can open an automa- tion track for the channel: By right-clicking the track in the Track list and selecting “Show Automation” from the context menu. By clicking along the left edge of the track in the Track list. (Also, when you position the mouse pointer over the lower left corner of the track, a corresponding arrow icon (“Show/Hide Automation”) appears.) An automation track opens in the Track list. By default, the volume para- meter is assigned to the first automation track. If you position the mouse pointer over the lower left cor- ner of an automation track, a “+” sign (“Append Automa- tion Track”) will appear. If you click this, another automa- tion track opens, by default showing the next parameter in the Add Parameter list (see below). Assigning a parameter to an automation track Default parameters are already assigned to automation tracks when you open them, according to their order in the Add Parameter list (see below). To select which parameter an open automation track should display, proceed as follows: 1.If none exists, open an automation track using one of the methods described above. 2.Click in the parameter display for the automation track. A pop-up list is shown, containing some of the automation parameters plus the item “More…” at the bottom of the list. The contents of the list depend on the track type. If the parameter you wish to automate is on the pop-up menu, you can select it directly. The parameter will then replace the current parameter in the automation track. If you wish to add a parameter not available on the pop- up menu or want to view all parameters that can be auto- mated, go on to the next step. 3.Select “More…”. The Add Parameter dialog appears. This dialog shows a list with all pa- rameters that can be automated for the selected channel (sorted into dif- ferent categories), including the parameters for any assigned insert effects. To view the parameters in each category, click the “+” sign for the category folder. The Add Parameter dialog for an audio track Click here to open an automation track.
198 Automation 4.Select a parameter from the list and click OK. The parameter will then replace the current parameter in the automation track. ÖNote that the “replacing” of the parameter displayed in the automation track is completely non-destructive. If the automation track contained any automation data for the parameter you just replaced, this data will still be there, although it will not be visible after you replaced the parameter. If you click in the parameter display you can switch back to the replaced parameter. On the pop-up menu, all au- tomated parameters are indicated by an asterisk (*) after the parameter name. The Mute parameter is automated. You can click the “Append Automation Track” button (the “+” sign) for the automation track several times to open additional automation tracks. Repeat the above procedure to assign a parameter to each automation track. ÖNote that tempo changes cannot be automated on au- tomation tracks. This is done using the tempo recording function in the Tempo Track Editor, see “Recording tempo changes” on page 405. Removing automation tracks To remove automation tracks, proceed as follows: To remove an automation track, click the parameter name and select “Remove Parameter” from the pop-up menu. Note that this will also delete any automation events on the automation track, and the automation track will be closed. To remove all currently unused automation tracks from a track in the Track list, select “Remove Unused Parameters” from any of its automation track parameter name pop-ups. All automation tracks that do not contain automation events will be closed for the selected track. Use the Delete options in the Functions pop-up menu of the Automation panel, see “The Functions pop-up menu” on page 195. Using these commands will also lead to the removal of automation tracks. Showing/hiding automation tracks To hide a single automation track, position the pointer over the top left border of the automation track in the Track list and click the “Hide Automation Track” button (the minus sign). To hide all automation tracks for a track, right-click the track for which you wish to hide the automation tracks, and select “Hide Automation” from the context menu. To hide all automation tracks for all tracks in the Track list, right-click any track and select “Hide All Automation” from the context menu. This option is also available on the Track Folding submenu of the Project menu. On the Automation panel, you can hide or show auto- mation tracks using the options in the Show section. See “The Show options” on page 194. Showing only used automation tracks If a lot of automation tracks are used, it may be impractical to have them all open in the Track list. If you want to view only the automation tracks that are used (i.e. those that actually contain automation events) and hide all empty au- tomation tracks, do one of the following: Right-click any track in the Track list and select the op- tion “Show All Used Automation” from the pop-up menu. This will close all automation tracks not containing any automation events, while leaving used automation tracks open for all tracks. This op- tion is also available in the Track Folding submenu of the Project menu. Right-click a specific track and select the option “Show Used Automation (Selected Track)” from the context menu. This will close all automation tracks for the selected track not containing any automation events, while leaving used automation tracks open.
199 Automation Muting automation tracks You can mute individual automation tracks by clicking their Mute buttons in the Track list. Unlike the Read (R) button, which will activate or deactivate Read mode for all auto- mation tracks of a track, the Mute button allows you to turn off automation for a single parameter. The “Automation follows Events” setting If you activate “Automation follows Events” on the Edit menu (or in the Preferences–Editing page), automation events will automatically follow when you move an event or part on the track. This makes it easy to set up automation related to a spe- cific event or part, rather than to a specific position in the project. For example, you can automate the panning of a sound effect event (having the sound pan from left to right, etc.) – if you need to move the event, the automation will automatically follow! The rules are: All automation events for the track between the start and end of the event or part will be moved. If there are automation events in the new position (to which you move the part or event), these will be overwritten. If you copy an event or part, the automation events will be duplicated as well. Recording plug-in automation Every parameter for every assigned effect or VST Instru- ment can be automated in much the same manner as de- scribed above. The following example assumes that you have assigned an insert effect to an FX channel track (see the chapter “Au- dio effects” on page 150), and describes how to record automation for the effect: 1.Select the FX channel track in the Track list and open its Inserts section in the Inspector. 2.Open the control panel for the effect by clicking the Edit button (“e”) above the insert effect slot in the Inspector.3.Click the Write button in the control panel to enable Write mode. The Read button is enabled as well. All effects and VST Instruments have Write/Read buttons on their control panels. These work exactly like the corresponding buttons in the mixer or in the Track list. 4.Start playback and adjust some effect parameters in the control panel. When you are finished, stop playback and return to the position where you started playback. 5.Disable Write. The Read button remains enabled. 6.Start playback and watch the control panel. All actions you performed during the previous playback will be repro- duced exactly. Dragging and dropping of insert plug-ins You can drag an insert plug-in from one insert slot to an- other, either on the same channel or on a different channel. When dragging a plug-in to a different insert slot on the same channel, any existing automation data will move with the plug-in. When dragging a plug-in to a different insert slot on a different channel, any existing automation data will not be transferred to the new channel. Working with automation curves About automation curves There are two kinds of automation curves, “ramp” and “jump”: Jump curves are created for any parameter that only has on/off values, like a Mute button, for example. Ramp curves are created for any parameter that gener- ates continuous multiple values, such as fader or encoder movements, etc. Examples of jump and ramp automation curves
200 Automation About the static value line When you open an automation track for a parameter for the first time, it does not contain any automation events (unless you have previously adjusted that parameter with write au- tomation activated), and this is reflected in the event display as a straight horizontal black line, the “static value” line. This line represents the current parameter setting. If you have manually added any automation events or used write automation for the corresponding parameter, and then disable the reading of automation data, the auto- mation curve will be grayed-out in the automation track event display and the static value will be used instead. As soon as Read mode is enabled, the automation curve will become available. Editing automation events Drawing automation events By using write automation in the mixer, you generate auto- mation events by moving parameter encoders and faders in the mixer. You can also add them manually by drawing automation curves on an automation track. Proceed as follows: 1.Open an automation track for the track you want to make settings for. The static value line is shown in the event display for the automation track and the Volume parameter is selected. 2.Select the Pencil tool. You can also use the various modes of the Line tool for drawing curves, see below. 3.Click on the static value line. An automation event is added, read automation mode is automatically activated, and the static value line changes to a blue automation curve.4.If you click and hold, you can draw a curve by adding a multitude of single automation events. Note that the track color in the Track list changes to red to indicate that automation data is being written. 5.When you release the mouse button, the number of automation events is reduced to a few events, but the ba- sic shape of the curve still remains the same. This “thinning out” of events is governed by the Reduction Level setting in the Settings section of the Automation panel, see “Reduction Level” on page 195. 6.If you now activate playback, the volume will change with the automation curve. In the mixer, the corresponding fader moves accordingly. 7.Simply redo the operation if you are not happy with the result. If you draw over existing events, a new curve is created. If the automation track is in Read mode already, you can also add automation events by clicking with the Arrow tool. If you are trying to add a break-point between two existing points and the new point does not deviate from the existing curve, it will be removed by reduction as soon as you release the mouse button (see “Reduction Level” on page 195). Using the various modes of the Line tool to draw automation curves The Line tool can be very useful for drawing automation events. The various modes are accessed by selecting the Line tool on the toolbar, clicking on it a second time and selecting from the pop-up menu that appears. Clicking and dragging with the Line tool in Line mode shows a line in the automation track and creates automa- tion events aligned with this line. This is a quick way to create linear fades, etc.