Steinberg Cubase 6 Manual

221
Surround sound (Cubase only)
The plug-in panel
Double-click on any of the miniature panner controls to 
open the plug-in panel in a separate window.
The SurroundPanner V5 plug-in offers numerous possibili-
ties to position a mono or stereo sound source. If you work 
visually oriented, you can simply drag the sound source 
around in the pan area. To help you execute very exact 
movements you can use modifier keys to limit the move
-
ment direction (e. g. for straight front/rear panning). 
To perform...

222
Surround sound (Cubase only)
Speaker channels – Solo and Mute vs. Disabling
The speakers that are distributed around the surround 
field represent the output configuration. You can disable 
speakers or solo/mute them.
•[Alt]/[Option]-click on a speaker symbol to disable that 
speaker (the speaker symbol is grayed out) so that no au
-
dio will be routed to this surround channel. The signal that 
would otherwise be sent to this speaker is distributed to 
the other speakers instead.
Note that the signal...

223
Surround sound (Cubase only)
ÖTo move one of the panning balls in this mode, you do 
not have to click directly on them. You will always move the 
panning ball that is nearer to the position of the mouse 
pointer.
Overview Mode
When moving the sound source in the pan area, you will 
notice that the positioning handle can leave the visible pan 
area (although the channel panning balls cannot). It can 
be moved so far outside that all channels end up on the 
perimeter where the positioning handle left...

224
Surround sound (Cubase only)
Radius
When using the Orbit Center control, the Radius encoder 
allows you to control the distance of the sound source 
from the center of the surround field (without changing the 
angle).
An example:
The gray circle shows the theoretical path of the sound 
source when orbiting the center. Since the sound source 
cannot leave the pan area, it moves along the perimeter in
-
stead. At the maximum radius setting (a) the theoretical 
path lies outside the pan area so that the...

225
Surround sound (Cubase only)
For example, by using the front divergence, you can 
acoustically intensify the distance from the action on 
screen as perceived by the audience.
•At 0 % the perception is very focused (concentrated in one 
spot). 
•At 100 % the perception is very diffuse (hard to locate). 
ÖThe Center Distribution value and the front divergence 
are combined. If the front divergence is set to 100
 %, the 
Center Distribution has no effect.
Scaling
The Scale controls allow you to control...

226
Surround sound (Cubase only)
Resetting all parameters
[Alt]/[Option]-click the Reset button in the lower right cor-
ner of the plug-in panel to reset all controls to their default 
values.
Constant power
“What goes in, must come out again.” This principle can 
be taken literally with regard to the SurroundPanner V5. It 
means that the power of a source channel is identical to 
the power of the corresponding output signal.
The advantage of this is that the overall volume as per-
ceived by the listener...

19
Automation 

228
Automation
Introduction
In essence, automation means recording the values for a 
particular Mixer or effect parameter. When you create your 
final mix, you will not have to worry about having to adjust 
this particular parameter control yourself – Cubase will do 
it for you. 
Working with automation curves
Within a Cubase project, the changes in a parameter 
value over time are reflected as curves on automation 
tracks. 
About automation curves 
There are two kinds of automation curves: “ramp” and...

229
Automation
ÖYou will also find global Read/Write buttons on the 
Automation panel, see 
“The Read/Write buttons” on page 
235.
Writing automation data 
There are two approaches you can use to create automa-
tion curves: manually (see “Manual writing of automation 
data” on page 229) and automatically (see “Automatic 
writing of automation data” on page 229). While manual 
writing makes it easy to quickly change parameter values 
at specific points without having to activate playback, au
-
tomatic...

230
Automation
6.When you release the mouse button, the number of 
automation events is reduced, but the basic shape of the 
curve remains the same.
This “thinning out” of events is governed by the Reduction Level setting 
in the Automation Settings section of the Automation Preferences, see 
“Automation Settings” on page 241.
7.If you now activate playback, the automated parameter 
will change with the automation curve.
In the Mixer, the corresponding fader moves accordingly.
8.Repeat the procedure if...