Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual

661
SynchronizationWorking with VST System Link
Making connections
Below, we assume that you are connecting two computers. Should you have more than 
two computers, it is still best to start with two and add the others one by one once the 
system is working – this makes troubleshooting easier if you run into problems. For two 
computers, you will need two digital audio cables, one in each direction:
1.Use the first digital audio cable to connect the digital output of computer 1 to the 
digital input of...

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SynchronizationWorking with VST System Link
The only exception to this procedure is if you are using an external clock – from a 
digital mixing desk or a special word clock synchronizer, for example. In that case you 
must leave all your ASIO cards in clock slave or AutoSync mode and make sure that 
each of them is listening for the signal coming from the synchronizer. This signal is 
usually passed through your ADAT cables or word clock connectors in a daisy chain 
fashion.
VST System Link and...

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SynchronizationActivating VST System Link
4.On computer 2, open the MixConsole and locate the corresponding digital input 
bus.
The audio being played back should now “appear” in the program running on 
computer 2. You should see the input bus level meters moving.
5.Reverse this procedure so that computer 2 plays back and computer 1 “listens”.
Now you have verified that the digital connection works as it should.
ÖFrom this point on in this chapter, we refer to the busses connected to the digital...

664
SynchronizationActivating VST System Link
To set things up, open the VST System Link panel:
1.From the Devices menu, open the Device Setup dialog.
2.In the Devices list to the left, select the “VST System Link” entry.
The VST System Link settings are shown to the right of the Devices list.
3.Use the ASIO Input and ASIO Output pop-up menus to define which channel is 
the networking channel.
4.Activate the Active checkbox at the top left of the panel.
5.Repeat the steps above for every computer in the...

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SynchronizationActivating VST System Link
To put all computers online, proceed as follows:
1.For all computers, activate the Online checkbox on the VST System Link page. 
2.Start playback on one computer to check that the system is working – all 
computers should start almost instantly and play perfectly in time, with sample-
accurate precision.
•The Offset Samples setting allows you to adjust whether one machine will play 
slightly ahead or behind the rest.
This is normally not needed, but...

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SynchronizationActivating VST System Link
3.If you now open the Input or Output Routing pop-up menu, you will find the 
specified System Link ports added to the list of MIDI inputs or outputs.
This allows you to route MIDI tracks to VST instruments running on another computer, 
as described in the application examples (see 
“Using one computer for VST 
instruments” on page 668).
The “Use Selected ASIO Ports for Data only” setting
If you are sending huge amounts of MIDI data at once, there is a small...

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SynchronizationActivating VST System Link
Proceed as follows:
1.Set things up so that you can listen to the audio playback from computer 1.
In other words, you need an unused set of outputs, e. g. an analog stereo output, 
connected to your monitoring equipment.
2.On computer 2, route each of the two audio tracks to a separate output bus.
These should be busses connected to the digital outputs – let’s call them Bus 1 
and 2.
3.Route the FX channel track to another VST System Link bus (Bus 3).
4.Route...

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SynchronizationActivating VST System Link
Setting up a larger network
Setting up a larger network is not much more difficult than a two-computer network. 
The main thing to remember is that VST System Link is a daisy chain system. In other 
words, the output of computer 1 goes to the input of computer 2, the output of 
computer 2 goes to the input of computer 3, and so on around the chain. The output 
of the last computer in the chain must always go back into the input of computer 1, to 
complete the...

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SynchronizationActivating VST System Link
Even with a slow computer you should be able to stack a whole bunch of extra VST 
instruments this way, expanding your sound palette considerably. Do not forget that 
VST System Link MIDI is also sample-accurate, and thus has much tighter timing than 
any hardware MIDI interface ever invented!
Creating a virtual effect rack
The effect sends for an audio channel in Cubase can either be routed to an FX 
channel track or to any activated group or output bus....

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Video
Introduction
Cubase supports the integration of video files in your project. You can play back video 
files in various formats and via different output devices from within Cubase, edit your 
music to the video, extract the audio material from a video file, and replace the audio 
later with different audio material.
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...