Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual

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Quantizing MIDI and AudioThe Quantize Panel
Reset
Click this button to undo the slicing and restore the original state of the audio events.
The Crossfades Section
The Crossfades section becomes available after you have sliced the audio events. 
The functions in this section are designed to correct the overlaps or the gaps that 
might appear due to the re-positioning of your audio. 
Clicking the Crossfade button cuts the end of the first event at the start position of the 
following event (in case of overlaps), and stretches the second event until it starts at 
the end of the previous event (in case of gaps). 
In some cases, you might want to achieve seamless transitions, applying crossfades 
after closing the gaps. For this purpose, use the following parameters:
•Open Crossfade Editor
This opens the Crossfade editor, where you can specify curve kind, length, and 
other parameters for your crossfades, see 
“The Crossfade dialog” on page 148.
•Nudge Crossfade Left/Right
Clicking these buttons moves the fade area in the audio event to the left or to the 
right in steps of one millisecond. This is useful if the Offset value in the section 
“Slice Rules” was not high enough, and you want to avoid that the crossfade cuts 
an attack. 
•Length
With this parameter you can specify the length of the crossfade area.
Options for AudioWarp Quantizing Multiple Audio Tracks
The “Warp Marker Creation Rules” section becomes available when you activate 
AudioWarp quantizing for multiple audio tracks.
Priority
In this column, you can define a priority for each track. The track with the highest 
priority defines where the warp markers are created. 
If you set up the same priority for several tracks, the warp marker position is defined by 
the track that contains the first hitpoint within the specified range. This is decided for 
each warp marker position anew.
•Click and drag the mouse to the right or to the left to specify a priority.
If you drag the mouse to the far left so that no star is shown, the hitpoints on the 
corresponding track are not taken into account.
Range
Two hitpoints on different tracks are considered to mark the same beat if they are 
located within a certain distance from each other. The Range parameter lets you 
specify this distance. The following rules apply:
- If one of the tracks has a higher priority, its hitpoint is used to create the warp 
marker.
- If the tracks have the same priority, the first hitpoint in the range is used.
Reset
Click this button to undo the creation of warp markers. 
						

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Quantizing MIDI and AudioAdditional Quantizing Functions
Create
If you click the Create button, warp markers are created for all the tracks.
Additional Quantizing Functions
Freezing MIDI Quantizing 
The Freeze MIDI Quantize function on the Edit menu, Advanced Quantize submenu, 
makes the start and end positions of MIDI events permanent. This is useful in 
situations where you want to quantize a second time, based on the current quantized 
positions rather than the original positions. 
Reset Quantize 
This command on the Edit menu reverts your audio or MIDI to its original, unquantized 
state. This function is independent from the regular Undo History.
ÖThe Reset function also resets any length changes that you performed using the 
“Scale Length/Legato” slider, see 
“The Length section” on page 486.
Creating Groove Quantize Presets
To generate a groove quantize map based on hitpoints that you have created in the 
Sample Editor, proceed as follows: 
1.Open the Sample Editor for the audio event from which you want to extract the 
timing.
2.Create and edit hitpoints.
For further information, see “Working with hitpoints and slices” on page 347.
3.On the Hitpoints tab, click the “Create Groove” button.
The groove is extracted.
If you open the Quantize pop-up menu on the Project window toolbar, you will find an 
additional item at the bottom of the list, with the same name as the file from which you 
have extracted the groove. You can select it as a base for quantizing, just like any 
other quantize value.
4.To save the groove, open the Quantize Panel and save it as a preset, see 
“Save/Remove Preset” on page 137. 
						

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Fades, crossfades, and envelopes
Creating fades
There are two types of fade ins and fade outs in audio events in Cubase: event-based 
fades that you create by using the fade handles and clip-based fades created by 
processing (see 
“Clip-based fades” on page 145).
Event-based fades
Selected audio events have triangular handles in the upper left and right corners. 
These can be dragged to create a fade in or fade out, respectively.
Creating a 
fade in
The fade is automatically reflected in the shape of the event’s waveform, giving you a visual 
feedback of the result when dragging the fade handle.
Fades created with the handles are not applied to the audio clip as such but 
calculated in realtime during playback. This means that several events referring to the 
same audio clip can have different fade curves. It also means that having a large 
number of fades may require more processing power.
•If you select multiple events and drag the fade handles of one of them, the same 
fade is applied to all selected events.
•A fade can be edited in the Fade dialog, as described on the following pages. 
You open the dialog by double-clicking in the area above the fade curve, or by 
selecting the event and selecting “Open Fade Editor(s)” from the Audio menu 
(note that this will open two dialogs if the event has both fade in and fade out 
curves).
 
If you adjust the shape of the fade curve in the Fade dialog, this shape will be 
maintained when you later adjust the length of the fade.
•You can make the fade longer or shorter at any time, by dragging the handle.
You can do this without selecting the event first, i. e. without visible handles. Just 
move the mouse pointer along the fade curve until the cursor turns into a 
bidirectional arrow, then click and drag.
•If the “Show Event Volume Curves Always” option is activated in the Preferences 
dialog (Event Display–Audio page), fade curves are shown in all events, regardless 
of whether they are selected or not.
If the option is deactivated, the fade curves are shown in selected events only.
The fade handles are visible when you point 
the mouse at the event. 
						

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Fades, crossfades, and envelopesCreating fades
•If the “Use Mouse Wheel for Event volume and Fades” option is activated in the 
Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio page), moving the mouse wheel moves the 
volume curve up or down. 
When you press [Shift] while moving the mouse wheel, and position the mouse 
pointer somewhere in the left half of the event, the fade in end point is moved. 
When the mouse pointer is in the right half of the event, the fade out start point is 
moved.
ÖIn the Key Commands dialog (Audio category) you can set up key commands for 
changing the event volume curve and any fade curves, see 
“Key commands” on page 
711.
ÖCubase only: As an alternative to dragging the fade handles, you can use the “Fade In 
to Cursor” and “Fade Out to Cursor” options on the Audio menu to create fades. 
Position the project cursor on an audio event where you want a fade in to end or a 
fade out to begin, and select the appropriate option from the Audio menu. A fade will 
then be created, ranging from the event’s start or end to the position of the cursor.
Creating and adjusting fades with the Range Selection tool
Event-based fades can also be created and adjusted with the Range Selection tool.
Proceed as follows:
1.Select a section of the audio event with the Range Selection tool.
2.Open the Audio menu and select “Adjust Fades to Range”.
The result depends on your selection:
- If you select a range from the beginning of the event, a fade in is created within the 
range.
- If you select a range that reaches the end of an event, a fade out is created in the 
range.
- If you select a range encompassing a middle section of the event, but not reaching 
neither the start nor the end, a fade in is created from the beginning of the event to 
the beginning of the selected range, and a fade out is created from the end of the 
selected range to the end of the event.
About the volume handle
A selected audio event also has a square handle in the top middle: the volume handle. 
It provides a quick way of changing the volume of an event in the Project window. 
Note that dragging the volume handle also changes the value on the info line.
!You can select multiple audio events on separate tracks with the Range Selection tool, 
and apply the fade to all of them simultaneously.
Drag the Volume handle up or down to change 
the volume of the event. The volume change is displayed numerically on the info line.
The event waveform reflects the volume change. 
						

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Fades, crossfades, and envelopesThe Fade dialogs
Removing fades
To remove the fades for an event, select the event and select “Remove Fades” from 
the Audio menu.
If you want to remove the fades in a specific range only, select the fade area with the 
Range Selection tool and select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.
Clip-based fades
If you have selected an audio event or a section of an audio event (using the Range 
Selection tool), you can apply a fade in or fade out to the selection by using the “Fade 
In” or “Fade Out” function on the Process submenu of the Audio menu. These 
functions open the corresponding Fade dialog, allowing you to specify a fade curve. 
Fades created this way are applied to the audio clip rather than to the event. 
- If you later create new events that refer to the same clip, these will have the same 
fades.
- You can remove or modify the fades at any time using the Offline Process History 
(see 
“The Offline Process History dialog” on page 315).
If other events refer to the same audio clip, you will be asked whether you want the 
processing to be applied to these events or not.
- Continue will apply the processing to all events that refer to the audio clip.
- New Version will create a separate, new version of the audio clip for the selected 
event.
•You can also activate the “Please, don’t ask again” option. Regardless of whether 
you then choose “Continue” or “New Version”, any further processing will conform 
to the option you select.
You can change this setting at any time in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio 
page), under “On Processing Shared Clips”.
The Fade dialogs
The Fade dialogs appear when you edit an existing fade or use the Fade In/Fade Out 
functions on the Process submenu of the Audio menu. The picture below shows the 
Fade In dialog; the Fade Out dialog has identical settings and features.
If you open the Fade dialog(s) with several events selected, you can adjust the fade 
curves for all these events at the same time. This is useful if you want to apply the 
same type of fade in to more than one event, etc.
!The length of the fade area is determined by your selection. In other words, you 
specify the length of the fade before you open the Fade dialog. You can select multiple 
events and apply the same processing to all of them simultaneously. 
						

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Fades, crossfades, and envelopesThe Fade dialogs
The available options are:
Applying a fade
Depending on whether you are editing a fade made with the fade handles or applying 
a fade using processing, different buttons are shown in the bottom row of the Fade 
dialog.
The Edit Fade dialogs have the following buttons:
OptionDescription
Curve KindThese buttons determine whether the fade curve consists of 
spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments 
(middle button), or linear segments (right button).
Fade displayThis shows the shape of the fade curve. The resulting waveform 
shape is shown in dark gray, with the current waveform shape in 
light gray.
Click on the curve to add points, and click and drag existing 
points to change the shape. To remove a point from the curve, 
drag it outside the display.
Curve shape buttonsThese buttons give you quick access to some common curve 
shapes.
Restore buttonThis button is only available when editing fades made by 
dragging the fade handles. Click this to cancel any changes you 
have made since opening the dialog.
Fade Length ValueThis parameter is only available when editing fades made by 
dragging the fade handles. It can be used to enter fade lengths 
numerically. The format of values displayed here is determined 
by the Time Display in the Transport panel.
When you activate the Apply Length option, the value entered in 
the Fade Length value field is used when clicking Apply or OK. 
When you set the current fade as the default fade, the length 
value is included as part of the default settings.
PresetsIn this section you can set up presets for fade in or fade out 
curves that you want to apply to other events or clips.
To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu.
To rename the selected preset, double-click on the name and 
type in a new one.
To remove a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu and 
click Remove.
As Default buttonThis button is only available when editing fades made by 
dragging the fade handles. Click this to save the current 
settings as the default fade, to be used whenever you create 
new fades by dragging event handles. 
ButtonFunction
OKApplies the set fade curve to the event, and closes the dialog.
CancelCloses the dialog without applying any fade.
ApplyApplies the set fade curve to the event, without closing the dialog. 
						

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Fades, crossfades, and envelopesCreating crossfades
The Process Fade dialogs have the following buttons:
Creating crossfades
Overlapping audio material on the same track can be crossfaded, for smooth 
transitions or special effects. You create a crossfade by selecting two consecutive 
audio events and selecting the Crossfade command on the Audio menu (or by using 
the corresponding key command, by default [X]). The result depends on whether the 
two events overlap or not:
•If the events overlap, a crossfade is created in the overlapping area.
The crossfade will be of the default shape (linear, symmetric), but you can change 
this as described below.
ÖThe default crossfade length and shape are set in the Crossfade dialog (see “The 
Crossfade dialog” on page 148).
•If the events do not overlap but are directly consecutive (lined up end-to-start, with 
no gap) it is still possible to crossfade them – provided that their respective audio 
clips overlap! In this case, the two events are resized so that they overlap, and a 
crossfade of the default length and shape is applied.
•If the events do not overlap and cannot be resized enough to overlap, a crossfade 
cannot be created.
•You can specify the length of the crossfade using the Range Selection tool: make 
a selection range covering the desired crossfade area and use the Crossfade 
command on the Audio menu.
The crossfade is applied to the selected range (provided that the events or their 
clips overlap, as described above). 
ÖYou can also make a selection range after creating the crossfade and use the function 
“Adjust fades to Range” on the Audio menu.
•Once you have created a crossfade, you can edit it by selecting one or both 
crossfaded events, and selecting “Crossfade” from the Audio menu again (or by 
double-clicking in the crossfade zone). 
This opens the Crossfade dialog.
ButtonFunction
PreviewPlays back the fade area. Playback will repeat until you click the 
button again (the button is labeled “Stop” during playback).
ProcessApplies the set fade curve to the clip, and closes the dialog.
CancelCloses the dialog without applying any fade.
Crossfade area 
						

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Fades, crossfades, and envelopesThe Crossfade dialog
Removing crossfades
To remove a crossfade, proceed as follows:
•Select the corresponding events and select “Remove Fades” from the Audio 
menu.
•Use the Range Selection tool to select all fades and crossfades you wish to 
remove, and select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.
•Select a crossfade by clicking, and drag it outside the track.
The Crossfade dialog
Options and settings
The Crossfade dialog contains separate, but identical, sections for the fade-in and 
fade-out curve settings in the crossfade on the left, and common settings on the right:
OptionDescription
Fade curve  
displays
These displays show the shape of the fade out and fade in curve, 
respectively. Click on a curve to add points, click and drag existing 
points to change their shape, or drag a point outside the display to 
remove it.
Curve buttonsThe curve kind buttons determine whether the corresponding fade 
curve consists of spline curve segments (left button), damped 
spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button).
The curve shape buttons give you quick access to some common 
curve shapes.
Equal Gain Activate this parameter to adjust the fade curves so that the 
summed fade in and fade out amplitudes will be the same all along 
the crossfade region. This is often suitable for short crossfades.
Equal PowerActivate this parameter to adjust the fade curves so that the 
energy (power) of the crossfade will be constant all along the 
crossfade region.
 
Equal Power curves have only one editable curve point. You 
cannot use the Curve kind buttons or the presets when this mode 
is selected. 
						

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Fades, crossfades, and envelopesAuto fades and crossfades
Auto fades and crossfades
Cubase features an Auto Fade function that can be set both globally, and separately 
for each audio track. The idea behind the Auto Fade function is to create smoother 
transitions between events by applying short (1 to 500
 ms) fade ins and fade outs.
ÖAuto fades are not indicated by fade lines!
Play buttonsThese buttons allow you to audition the whole crossfade, or the 
fade out part, or the fade in part. You can set up key commands for 
this in the following categories of the Key Commands dialog:
Media category – Preview Start (triggers crossfade playback), 
Preview Stop (stops crossfade playback).
Transport category – StartStop (triggers global playback), Stop 
(stops global playback) and StartStop Preview (triggers crossfade 
playback).
For further information, see “Key commands” on page 711.
Pre-roll and Post-rollActivate pre-roll to start playback before the fade area. Activate 
post-roll to stop playback after the fade area. 
 
In the time fields you can enter the desired time (in seconds and 
milliseconds) for the pre-roll and post-roll length.
LengthThis specifies the length of the crossfade area. Cubase tries to 
center the crossfade, i.
 e. the length change will be applied equally 
to both sides. To be able to resize a crossfade, it must be possible 
to resize the corresponding event. For example, if the fade out 
event already plays its audio clip to the end, its end point cannot 
be moved any further to the right.
Presets sectionClick the Store button to the right of the Presets pop-up menu to 
save the settings of your crossfade so that you can apply them to 
other events later.
 
To rename a preset, double-click on the name and type in a new 
one. 
 
To remove a preset, select it on the pop-up menu and click the 
Delete button.
Default buttonsClick the As Default button to save the current settings as default. 
These settings will then be used whenever you create new 
crossfades.
 
Click the Recall Default button to apply the curves and settings of 
the default crossfade to the Crossfade dialog.
Option Description
!As event-based fades are calculated in realtime during playback, a higher number of 
audio events provokes to a higher the demand on the processor when Auto Fades is 
activated.  
						

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Fades, crossfades, and envelopesAuto fades and crossfades
Making global Auto Fade settings
1.T o  m a k e  A u t o  F a d e s  s e t t i n g s  g l o b a l l y  f or a project, select “Auto Fades Settings…” 
from the Project menu.
This opens the Auto Fades dialog for the project.
2.Use the Length value field to specify the length of the Auto Fades or Crossfades (1 
to 500
 ms).
3.Use the checkboxes in the upper right corner to activate or deactivate Auto Fade 
In, Auto Fade Out, and Auto Crossfades.
4.To adjust the shapes of Auto Fade In and Auto Fade Out, select the Fades tab and 
make settings as in the regular Fade dialogs (see 
“The Fade dialogs” on page 145).
5.To adjust the shape of the Auto Crossfade, select the “Crossfades” tab and make 
settings as in the regular Crossfade dialog (see 
“The Crossfade dialog” on page 
148).
6.If you want to use your settings in future projects, click the “As Default” button.
7.Click OK to close the dialog.
Making Auto Fade settings for individual tracks
By default, all audio tracks will use the settings you have made in the project’s Auto 
Fades dialog. However, since Auto Fades use computing power, a better approach 
may be to turn Auto Fades off globally and activate them for individual tracks, as 
needed:
1.Right-click the track in the track list and select “Auto Fades Settings…” from the 
context menu (or select the track and click the “Auto Fades Settings” button in the 
Inspector).
The Auto Fades dialog for the track opens. This is identical to the project’s Auto 
Fades dialog, with the addition of a “Use Project Settings” option.
2.Deactivate the “Use Project Settings” option.
Any settings you now make are applied to the track only.
3.Set up the Auto Fades as desired and close the dialog.
Reverting to project settings
If you want a track with individual Auto Fade settings to use the global Auto Fade 
settings, open the Auto Fades dialog for the track and activate the “Use Project 
Settings” checkbox.