Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual

Synchronization
Activating VST System Link
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Settings for the audio hardware
When you exchange VST System Link data between computers, it is important that 
the digital information is not changed in any way between the programs. Therefore, 
you should open the control panel (or additional application) for your audio 
hardware and make sure that the following conditions are met:
• If there are additional “format settings” for the digital ports that you use for 
VST System Link data, make sure that these...

Synchronization
Activating VST System Link
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To set things up, open the VST System Link panel:
PROCEDURE
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...

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Activating VST System Link
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Putting the network online
After each computer’s name you will see whether it is online or not. When a 
computer is online, it will receive transport and timecode signals, and its sequencer 
application can be started and stopped by remote control. If it is off-line, it can only 
be started from its own keyboard – it is effectively an independent machine, 
although it is still on the network.
NOTE
Note that any computer can control any and all of the others...

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Activating VST System Link
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Scrubbing via VST System Link
You can scrub on one computer and have the video and audio on another computer 
scrub along. However, the playback on the linked systems may not be perfectly in 
sync while scrubbing and there are some further restrictions you should bear in 
mind when scrubbing via VST System Link:
• Use the jog/shuttle control on the Transport panel or a remote controller for 
scrubbing.
Scrubbing with the Scrub tool does not work over a VST...

Synchronization
Activating VST System Link
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This allows you to route MIDI tracks to VST instruments running on another computer, 
as described in the application examples.
RELATED LINKS
Using one computer for VST instruments on page 978
The “Use Selected ASIO Ports for Data only” setting
If you are sending huge amounts of MIDI data at once, there is a small possibility 
that you might run out of bandwidth on your VST System Link network. This will 
manifest itself by notes “choking” or timing becoming...

Synchronization
Activating VST System Link
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In the following example, we assume you are using two computers, with computer 
1 as your main mix computer and computer 2 running two additional stereo audio 
tracks, an FX channel track with a reverb plug-in and a VST instrument plug-in with 
stereo outputs.
PROCEDURE
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...

Synchronization
Activating VST System Link
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Internal mixing and latency
One problem with mixing inside the computer is the latency issue we mentioned 
earlier. The VST engine always compensates for record latencies, but if you are 
monitoring through computer 1 you will hear a processing delay while you listen to 
signals coming from your other computers (not on your recording!). If your audio 
card in computer 1 supports ASIO Direct Monitoring you should definitely turn this 
on. You can find the...

Synchronization
Activating VST System Link
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Application examples
Using one computer for VST instruments
In this example, one computer will be used as main record and playback machine, 
and another computer as a virtual synth rack.
PROCEDURE
1. Record a MIDI track into computer 1.
2. Once you have finished recording, route the MIDI output of that track to VST 
System Link MIDI port 1.
3. On computer 2, open up the VST Instruments window and assign an 
instrument to the first slot in the rack.
4. Route...

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Activating VST System Link
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2. Add the desired effect as an insert effect for the track.
Let’s say you add a high-quality reverb plug-in.
3. In the Inspector, select one of the VST System Link busses as input for the 
audio track.
You want to use a separate VST System Link bus, which will only be used for this 
purpose.
4. Route the channel to the desired output bus.
If you are using computer 1 as your main mixing computer, this would be one of the 
VST System Link output busses,...

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Video
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 some general...