Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual

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The MediaBayThe Attribute Inspector
You have access to the standard attributes and the preconfigured attributes provided 
by Cubase. Additionally you can define your own attributes and add these to your 
files.
Attributes can be shown in the Attribute Inspector in two different ways:
•Click the Dynamic button to show all available attribute values.
This list is automatically generated by Cubase. Use this view if you want to see the 
attributes the selected files have already been tagged with.
•Click the Defined button to show a configured set of attributes for the selected 
media type.
In this mode, you can choose which attributes are displayed (regardless of 
whether corresponding values are available for the selected files). For more 
information on how to set up the list of displayed attributes, see 
“Managing the 
attribute lists” on page 414.
Editing attributes (tagging)
The search functions, especially the attribute filter, become a truly powerful media 
management tool when making extensive use of tagging, i.
 e. when adding and editing 
attributes.
Media files are usually organized in complex folder structures to provide a logical way 
of guiding the user to the desired files, with the folder and/or file names indicating the 
instrument, style, tempo, etc.
To find a particular sound or loop in such a folder structure can be very time 
consuming – tagging is the answer! 
Editing attributes in the Attribute Inspector
In the Attribute Inspector, you can edit attribute values of the various media files. 
Attribute values can be chosen from pop-up lists, entered as text or numbers, or set to 
Yes or No.
ÖNote that changing an attribute value in the Attribute Inspector will permanently 
change the corresponding file (unless the file is write-protected or part of a VST 
Sound archive).
You can edit attributes in the following way:
1.Select the file that you want to make settings for in the Results list.
The corresponding attribute values are displayed in the Attribute Inspector.
2.Click in the Value column for the attribute. 
						

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The MediaBayThe Attribute Inspector
Depending on the selected attribute, the following happens:
•For most of the attributes, a pop-up menu opens from which you can choose a 
value. This can be a name, a number and an on/off state. For example, this is the 
case for the attributes Name, Family Name, or Author.
Some of the pop-up menus also have a “more…” entry to open a window with 
more attribute values. These attribute selection windows also feature a Text 
Search button that you can use to find specific values more quickly.
•For the Rating attribute, you can click in the Value column and drag left or right to 
modify the setting.
•For the Character attribute (Musical group), the Edit Character dialog opens.
Click a radio button on the left or the right side and then click OK to define values 
for the Character attribute.
3.Set the attribute to the desired value.
•Many attribute values can also be edited by double-clicking in the Value column of 
the Attribute Inspector.
Simply enter/change the text or number setting in the field displayed for a value.
•To remove the attribute value from the selected files, right-click in the 
corresponding Value column and select “Remove Attribute” from the context 
menu.
•“Display only” attributes cannot be edited.
If this is the case, the file format probably does not permit changing this value, or 
changing a particular value makes no sense (e.
 g. you cannot change the file size in 
the MediaBay).
ÖYou can also select several files and make settings for them simultaneously (except 
for the name, which must be unique for every file).
About the color scheme used in the Attribute Inspector
The colors used for the displayed values in the Attribute Inspector have the following 
meaning:
Information on the meaning of the colors used in the Attribute Inspector are also 
displayed in a tooltip when you move the mouse pointer over one of the color icons 
below the Attribute Inspector.
ColorDescription
WhiteThis represents a “normal” attribute: One or more files are selected in the 
Results list, and they have the same values.
YellowYellow color stands for an “ambiguous” attribute: Multiple files are selected 
in the Results list, and their values differ.
OrangeThis stands for an “ambiguous static attribute”: Multiple files are selected in 
the Results list, with differing values, and which cannot be edited.
RedRed values are displayed for a “static attribute”: One or more files are 
selected in the Results list, whose values cannot be edited. 
						

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The MediaBayThe Attribute Inspector
Editing attributes in the Results list
You can also edit attributes directly in the Results list. This allows you for example to 
assign tags to a number of loop files.
Proceed as follows:
1.In the Results list, select the file(s) for which you want to change an attribute value.
2.Click in the column for the value you want to change and make the desired 
settings.
As in the Attribute Inspector, you can choose a value from a pop-up menu, enter 
the new value directly, etc.
Editing the attributes of multiple files simultaneously
There is no limit as to how many files can be tagged at the same time, but you need to 
be aware that the tagging of a large amount of files in one go may take quite a while. 
This operation is executed in the background, so that you can continue with your work 
as usual. By looking at the Attribute Counter above the Results list, you can see how 
many files still have to be updated.
•If you close Cubase before the Attribute Counter has gone down to zero, a dialog 
with a progress bar is displayed, indicating how long the updating process will 
take. You can choose to abort this process.
In this case only the files that were updated before you clicked “Abort” will have 
the new attribute values.
Editing the attributes of write-protected files
Media files may be write-protected due to a number of reasons: They may belong to 
content that was provided by someone else who write-protected the files, you may 
have write-protected them yourself in order not to overwrite them accidentally, or the 
file format could restrict write operations by the MediaBay.
In the MediaBay, the write protection status of files is shown as an attribute in the 
Attribute Inspector and in the Write Protection column in the Results list.
However, there may be cases when you want to define attributes for write-protected 
files. For example, you might want to apply attributes to the content files that came 
with Cubase or you are working on the same files with several people and cannot 
modify these files. In these scenarios, you still want to be able to find files quickly and 
improve your workflow.
Therefore, it is possible to change the attribute values of write-protected files in the 
MediaBay. These changes are not written to disk though and occur in the MediaBay 
only.
•When you specify attribute values for a file that is write-protected, this is reflected 
in the Pending Tags column next to the Write Protection column in the Results list.
Note that if you rescan the MediaBay content and a media file on your hard disk 
has changed since the last scan, all pending tags for this file will be lost.
•If a file has pending tags, and you want to write the corresponding attributes to the 
file, you need to remove the write protection first, and then select the “Write Tags 
to File” command from the context menu.
!This is only possible if “Allow Editing in Results List” is activated, see “Preferences” 
on page 416. 
						

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The MediaBayThe Attribute Inspector
ÖIf the Write Protection and/or the Pending Tags column are not visible, you may have 
to enable the corresponding attributes for the file type in question in the Attribute 
Inspector.
•You can change the write-protection status of your media files, provided that the 
file type allows write operations and you have the necessary operation system 
permissions: To set or remove the write protection attribute for a file, simply select 
the file in the Results list and select “Set/Remove Write Protection” from the 
context menu.
ÖIf you use other programs than Cubase to change the write-protection status of a file, 
this will not be reflected in the MediaBay until you rescan the files!
Managing the attribute lists
In the Attribute Inspector, you can define which attributes are shown in the Results list 
and in the Attribute Inspector itself. For different media types, individual “attribute 
sets” can be configured.
Proceed as follows:
1.In the Attribute Inspector, click the Defined button.
2.Click the “Configure Defined Attributes” button to the right of the Defined button.
A number of controls are displayed.
3.Click the leftmost button below the Defined/Dynamic buttons to open the “Select 
Media Types” pop-up menu, activate one or more of the media types, and click 
anywhere in the MediaBay.
The Attribute Inspector now shows a list of all attributes available for these media 
types.
•If you have activated more than one media type, your settings affect all selected 
types. 
An orange checkmark indicates that the current display settings for an attribute 
differ for the selected media types.
•The display settings made for the Mixed Media Type option are applied whenever 
you select files of different media types (for example audio and MIDI files) in the 
Results list or the Attribute Inspector.
4.To select a certain attribute, activate the corresponding checkbox.
•You can also select several attributes and activate/deactivate their checkboxes in 
one go.
•You can reset the display settings you made by clicking the “Reset to Default” 
button in the top right corner.
This will reset the display settings for all media types to their default settings.
ÖTo make settings for another media type, make sure to only select this type in the list 
in the dialog.
The Type column shows whether the value for 
an attribute is a number, text, or a Yes/No 
switch.
The Precision column shows the number of 
decimals displayed for number attributes. 
						

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The MediaBay The Loop Browser, Sound Browser, and Mini Browser windows
5.When you have set up the attributes for all the media types you are working with, 
exit the Configuration mode by clicking the “Configure Defined Attributes” button 
again.
Defining user attributes
If you find that the available attributes are not suitable for your work, you can define 
your own attributes and save these in the MediaBay database and the corresponding 
media files.
Proceed as follows:
1.In the Attribute Inspector, activate the Defined button and click the “Configure 
Defined Attributes” button to enter configuration mode.
A number of controls are displayed.
2.Click the “Add User Attribute” button (the “+” sign).
A dialog opens.
3.Specify the type of the attribute.
Attributes can be of the types “Text”, “Number” or “Yes/No” switch. For “Number” 
attributes, you can specify how many decimals are displayed, by entering the 
corresponding value in the Precision field.
4.In the text field below, enter the name for the new attribute.
Note that this is the name as it will be displayed in the program. Below the text 
field, you will see the name as it will be used internally (e.
 g. in the MediaBay 
database). This way, you will see immediately if a certain name is invalid and 
cannot be used.
5.Click OK.
The new attribute is added to the list of available attributes and will be displayed in 
the Attribute Inspector and the Results list.
•To remove a user attribute, select it in the attribute list and click the “Remove User 
Attribute” button (the “-” sign).
The attribute is removed from any attribute list.
•Cubase recognizes all user attributes that are included in media files. For example, 
if you load content from another user, who has assigned his own user tags to the 
files, these tags are also shown in the MediaBay.
The Loop Browser, Sound Browser, and Mini Browser windows
The Loop Browser, Sound Browser, and Mini Browser items on the Media menu open 
different “views” of the MediaBay. The Loop Browser is preconfigured for quickly 
browsing your “loops”, i.
 e. audio files, MIDI loops, and pattern banks. Similarly, the 
Sound Browser is set up for you to be able to quickly search the desired sound, 
without having to configure the window. By default, it is set to display track presets 
and plug-in presets. The Mini Browser is very small, which makes it perfect to be 
placed along instruments like LoopMash or Groove Agent One.
These Browser windows offer the same functions as the MediaBay, i. e. you can 
specify different browse locations, define searches, set up the available panes, etc., 
as described previously in this chapter. 
						

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The MediaBayPreferences
Preferences
In the Preferences dialog in Cubase, you can find options and settings that control the 
global behavior of the program. The Preferences dialog contains a special MediaBay 
page. These settings are also available from within the MediaBay.
To open the Preferences pane for the MediaBay, proceed as follows:
1.Click the MediaBay Preferences button in the lower left corner of the window.
•A transparent pane appears, covering the window. In the center of it is a gray area 
where the available preferences for the Locations section and the Results list are 
displayed.
2.Configure the MediaBay to your liking by activating/deactivating the options.
The following options are available in the Locations section:
OptionDescription
Show Managed 
Locations OnlyActivate this to hide all folders that are not scanned for files. This 
will keep the tree view in the Define Locations section less 
cluttered.
Use Current Selection 
as Base LocationActivate this to show only the selected folder and its subfolders. 
To switch back to the display of all folders, deactivate this option.
Scan Folders Only 
when MediaBay is 
OpenWhen this is activated, Cubase only scans for media files when 
the MediaBay window is open. 
When this is deactivated, the folders are scanned in the 
background even when the MediaBay window is closed. 
However, Cubase will never scan folders while playing back or 
recording. 
						

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The MediaBayKey commands
The following options are available in the Results section:
Key commands
You can display the available MediaBay key commands from within the MediaBay 
window. This is useful if you want to get a quick overview over the assigned and the 
available MediaBay key commands.
To open the Key Commands pane, proceed as follows:
•Click the Key Commands button in the lower left corner of the window.
A transparent pane appears, covering the window. In the center of it is a gray area 
where the available key commands are displayed.
•If you only want to get an overview over the key commands, you can exit the pane 
by clicking on its background (not in the gray area).
•If you want to assign or modify key commands, click in the gray area.
The Key Commands dialog opens, in which you can set up and edit key 
commands, see the chapter 
“Key commands” on page 711.
OptionDescription
Maximum Items in 
Results ListUse this parameter to specify the maximum number of files that are 
displayed in the Results list. This avoids unmanageably long lists of 
files. 
Note that the MediaBay does not warn you if the maximum number of 
files has been reached and there might be situations where a certain 
file you were looking for could not be found, because the maximum 
number of files was reached.
Allow Editing in 
Results ListWhen this is activated, you can also edit attributes in the Results list. 
When this option is deactivated, editing can only be done in the 
Attribute Inspector.
Show File 
Extensions in 
Results ListWhen this is activated, file name extensions (e. g. .wav or .cpr) are 
displayed in the Results list.
Scan unknown File 
TypesWhen scanning for media files, the MediaBay ignores files with an 
unknown file extension. However, when this option is activated, the 
MediaBay tries to open and scan any file in the search location and 
ignores those files that cannot be recognized. 
						

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The MediaBayWorking with MediaBay-related windows
Working with MediaBay-related windows
The MediaBay concept can be found throughout the program, for example when 
adding new tracks or when choosing presets for VST instruments or effects. The 
workflow in all MediaBay-related windows is the same as in the MediaBay. Below 
follow a few examples.
Adding tracks
When you select one of the Add Track options on the Project menu, the following 
dialog opens:
The Add Track dialog for audio tracks
Click the Browse button to expand the dialog to show the Results list (as you can find 
it in the MediaBay). However, only file types that can be used in this context are 
shown.
You can also apply track presets to existing tracks. The dialog that opens in this case 
is the same as above. 
						

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The MediaBayWorking with MediaBay-related windows
Applying effect presets
When you have added an insert effect, you can choose from a variety of presets via 
the Presets pop-up menu for the effect slot. 
The Presets browser opens:
Applying instrument presets
When working with VST instruments, you can choose from a variety of presets via the 
Presets pop-up menu. 
The Presets browser opens:
VST presets for instruments can be divided into two groups: “presets” containing the 
settings of the whole plug-in (for multi-timbral instruments, this means the settings for 
all sound slots as well as the global settings) and “programs” containing only the 
settings for one program (for multi-timbral instruments, this means only the settings for 
one sound slot). In the MediaBay, they can be recognized by their icons. This way, you 
can see directly whether a VST preset contains a single sound or more.  
						

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The MediaBayWorking with Volume databases
Presets and programs have the following icons:
Working with Volume databases
Cubase stores all media file information used in the MediaBay, such as paths and 
attributes, in a local database file on your computer. However, in some cases, it might 
be necessary to browse and manage this kind of metadata on an external volume. For 
example, a sound editor might have to work both at home and in a studio, on two 
different computers. Therefore, he has stored his sound effects on an external storage 
medium. When he is working on a different computer, he wants to connect the 
external device and directly browse its contents in the MediaBay, without having to 
scan the device again. This can be achieved by creating a volume database for the 
external device.
Volume databases are files that can be created for drives of your computer or for 
external storage media. They contain the same kind of information about the media 
files on these drives as the regular MediaBay database.
Creating a volume database
To create a separate volume database file for a drive, proceed as follows:
1.In the Define Locations section of the MediaBay, select the external storage 
medium, drive or partition of your computer system that you want to create a 
database for.
2.Right-click on it and select “Create Volume Database” on the context menu.
The file information for this drive is now written into a new database file.
When the new database file is available, this is reflected by the symbol to the left of 
the drive name.
For this volume a volume database has been created.
IconDescription
This preset contains settings for all loaded programs.
This program only contains settings for the first or the selected instrument 
slot.
!You must select the topmost level (root) for this. You cannot create a database file for 
a lower-level folder.
!If the drive contains a large amount of data, this process may take a while.