Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual
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Setting Up Your System Setting Up Video 21 Setting Up Video Cubase plays back video files in a number of formats, such as AVI, QuickTime, or MPEG. QuickTime is used as the playback engine. Which formats can be played back depends on the video codecs that are installed on your system. There are several ways to play back video, for example, without any special hardware, using a FireWire port, or using dedicated video cards. If you plan to use special video hardware, install it and set it up as recommended by the manufacturer. NOTE Before you use the video hardware with Cubase, we recommend that you test the hardware installation with the utility applications that were provided with the hardware and/or the QuickTime Player application. RELATED LINKS Video on page 980 Video Output Devices on page 982
22 VST Connections To play back and record in Cubase, you must set up input and output busses in the VST Connections window. Here, you can also set up group and FX channels, external effects, external instruments, and the Control Room (Cubase Pro only). The bus types that you need depend on your audio hardware, on your general audio setup, for example your surround speaker setup, and on the projects that you use. VST Connections Window The VST Connections window allows you to set up input and output busses, group and FX channels, external effects, and external instruments. Furthermore, you can use this window to access and configure the Control Room (Cubase Pro only). • To open the VST Connections window, select Devices > VST Connections. Inputs/Outputs Tab The Input and Output tabs allow you to set up and configure input and output busses. The following options are available above the bus list: +- All Expands/Collapses all busses in the bus list. Add Bus Opens the Add Input Bus dialog, where you can create a new bus configuration.
VST Connections VST Connections Window23 PresetsOpens the Pres ets menu, where you can select bus configuration presets. The Store button allows you to save a bus configuration as preset. The Delete button deletes the selected preset. The following columns are available for the bus list: Bus Name Lists the busses. Click the name of a bus to select or rename it. Speakers Indicates the speaker configuration (m ono, stereo, surround formats (Cubase Pro only)) of each bus. Audio Device Shows the currently selected ASIO driver. Device Port Shows which physical inputs/outputs on your audio hardware are used by the bu s. Expand the bus entry to show all speaker channels. If the bus entry is collapsed, only the first port that is used by this bus is visible. The De vice Port pop-up menu displays how ma ny busses are connected to a given port. The busses are shown in square brackets next to the port name. Up to three bus assignments can be displayed in this way. If more c onnections have been made, this is indicated by a number at the end of the port name. For example, “Adat 1 [Stereo1] [Stere o2 ] [Stereo3] (+2)” means that the Adat 1 port is already assigned to three stereo busses plus two additional busses. Click (Outputs tab only) You can route the metronome click to a specific output bus, regardless of the actual Control Room out put, or even when the Control Room is disabled. Group/FX Tab This tab allows you to crea te group and FX channels/t racks and to make output assignments for these. The following options are available above the bus list:
VST Connections VST Connections Window 24 +- All Expands/Collapses all busses in the bus list. Add Group Opens the Add Group Channel Track dialog, where you can create a new group channel track. Add FX Opens the Add FX Channel Track dialog, where you can create a new FX channel track. The following columns are available for the bus list: Bus Name Lists the busses. Click the name of a bus to select or rename it. Speakers Indicates the speaker configuration (mono, stereo, surround formats (Cubase Pro only)) of each bus. Output Routing Lets you select the output routing for the corresponding bus. External FX Tab (Cubase Pro only) This tab allows you to create send effect or return busses. You can use these to connect external effects which can then be selected via the effect pop-up menus from inside the program. The following options are available above the bus list: +- All Expands/Collapses all busses in the bus list. Add External FX Opens the Add External FX dialog, where you can configure a new external FX. Favorites Lets you store external effect configurations as favorites that you can recall. The following columns are available for the bus list:
VST Connections VST Connections Window 25 Bus Name Lists the busses. Click the name of a bus to select or rename it. Speakers Indicates the speaker configuration (mono, stereo, surround formats (Cubase Pro only)) of each bus. Audio Device Shows the currently selected ASIO driver. Device Port Shows which physical inputs/outputs on your audio hardware are used by the bus. Expand the bus entry to show all speaker channels. If the bus entry is collapsed, only the first port that is used by this bus is visible. The Device Port pop-up menu displays how many busses are connected to a given port. The busses are shown in square brackets next to the port name. Up to three bus assignments can be displayed in this way. If more connections have been made, this is indicated by a number at the end of the port name. For example, “Adat 1 [Stereo1] [Stereo2] [Stereo3] (+2)” means that the Adat 1 port is already assigned to three stereo busses plus two additional busses. Delay Allows you to enter a value to compensate for an inherent delay (latency) of your hardware effect device during playback. You can right-click the Delay column for the effect and select Check User Delay to automatically determine the delay value. NOTE The latency of the audio hardware is handled automatically by Cubase. Send Gain Allows you to adjust the level of the signal that is sent to the external effect. Return Gain Allows you to adjust the level of the signal that the external effect sends. NOTE Excessive output levels from an external effect device can cause clipping in the audio hardware. You cannot use the Return Gain setting to compensate for this. You must lower the output level on the effect device instead. MIDI Device When you click in this column, a pop-up menu opens where you can disconnect the effect from the associated MIDI device, select a MIDI device, create a new device, or open the MIDI Device Manager to edit the MIDI device.
VST Connections VST Connections Window 26 Used Whenever you insert an external effect into an audio track, this column shows a checkmark (x) to indicate that the effect is being used. External Instruments Tab (Cubase Pro only) This tab allows you to create input/output busses that can be used to connect external instruments. The following options are available above the bus list: +- All Expands/Collapses all busses in the bus list. Add External Instrument Opens the Add External Instrument dialog, where you can configure a new external instrument. Favorites Lets you store external instrument configurations as favorites that you can recall. The following columns are available for the bus list: Bus Name Lists the busses. Click the name of a bus to select or rename it. Speakers Indicates the speaker configuration (mono, stereo, surround formats (Cubase Pro only)) of each bus. Audio Device Shows the currently selected ASIO driver. Device Port Shows which physical inputs/outputs on your audio hardware are used by the bus. Expand the bus entry to show all speaker channels. If the bus entry is collapsed, only the first port that is used by this bus is visible. The Device Port pop-up menu displays how many busses are connected to a given port. The busses are shown in square brackets next to the port name.
VST Connections VST Connections Window 27 Up to three bus assignments can be displayed in this way. If more connections have been made, this is indicated by a number at the end of the port name. For example, “Adat 1 [Stereo1] [Stereo2] [Stereo3] (+2)” means that the Adat 1 port is already assigned to three stereo busses plus two additional busses. Delay Allows you to enter a value to compensate for an inherent delay (latency) of your hardware effect device during playback. You can right-click the Delay column for the instrument and select Check User Delay to automatically determine the delay value that is used for delay compensation. NOTE The latency of the audio hardware is handled automatically by Cubase. Return Gain Allows you to adjust the level of the signal coming in from the external instrument. NOTE Excessive output levels from an external effect device can cause clipping in the audio hardware. The Return Gain setting cannot be used to compensate for this. You must lower the output level on the effect device instead. MIDI Device When you click in this column, a pop-up menu opens where you can disconnect the instrument from the associated MIDI device, select a MIDI device, create a new device, or open the MIDI Device Manager to edit the MIDI device. Used Whenever you insert the external instrument into a VST instrument slot, this column shows a checkmark (x) to indicate that the instrument is being used. Studio Tab (Cubase Pro only) This tab allows you to enable and configure the Control Room. The following options are available above the bus list:
VST Connections VST Connections Window28 +- AllExpands/Collapses all busses in the bus list. Add Channel Opens a menu where you can select the ty pe of channel that you want to add. You can add the following channels: • External Input •T alkback •Cue • Headphone • Monitor Presets Opens the Pres ets menu, where you can select bus configuration presets. The Store button allows you to save a bus configuration as preset. The Delete button deletes the selected preset. Control Room Activates/Deactivates the Contro l Room. Control Room Mixer Opens the Control Room Mixer window, where you can set up the Control Room . Configuration Displays the selected channel configuration. The following columns are available for the bus list: Bus Name Lists the busses. Click the name of a bus to select or rename it. Speakers Indicates the speaker configuration (m ono, stereo, surround formats (Cubase Pro only)) of each bus. Audio Device Shows the currently selected ASIO driver. Device Port Shows which physical inputs/outputs on your audio hardware are used by the bu s. Expand the bus entry to show all speaker channels. If the bus entry is collapsed, only the first port that is used by this bus is visible. The De vice Port pop-up menu displays how ma ny busses are connected to a given port. The busses are shown in square brackets next to the port name. Up to three bus assignments can be displayed in this way. If more c onnections have been made, this is indicated by a number at the end of the port name.
VST Connections Renaming the Hardware Inputs and Outputs 29 For example, “Adat 1 [Stereo1] [Stereo2] [Stereo3] (+2)” means that the Adat 1 port is already assigned to three stereo busses plus two additional busses. RELATED LINKS Control Room (Cubase Pro only) on page 352 Renaming the Hardware Inputs and Outputs Before you set up busses, you should rename the default inputs and outputs of your audio hardware. This allows transferring projects between different computers and setups. For example, if you move your project to another studio, the audio hardware may be of a different model. But if you and the other studio owner have agreed on identical names for your inputs and outputs, Cubase corrects inputs and outputs for your busses. NOTE If you open a project that was created on another computer and the port names do not match or the port configuration is not the same, the Missing Ports dialog appears. This allows you to manually re-route ports that are used in the project to ports that are available on your computer. PROCEDURE 1. Select Devices > Device Setup. 2. On the VST Audio System page, make sure that the correct driver for your audio hardware is selected. If this is the case, your audio card is listed in the Devices list on the left of the Device Setup window. 3. In the devices list, select your audio card. The available input and output ports on your audio hardware are listed on the right. 4. In the Show As column, click on a port name and enter a new name. 5. Repeat the previous step until you have renamed all required ports. 6. Click OK. RELATED LINKS Re-Routing Missing Ports on page 76
VST Connections Adding Input and Output Busses 30 Hiding Ports You can hide ports that you are not using. Hidden ports are not displayed in the VST Connections window. PROCEDURE 1. Select Devices > Device Setup. 2. In the devices list, select your audio card. 3. In the Visible column, deactivate the ports that you want to hide. 4. Click OK. Activating and Deactivating Ports (Mac only) On Mac operating systems, you can specify which input and output ports are active. This allows you to use the microphone input instead of the line input or to deactivate the audio card input or output. NOTE This function is only available for built-in audio, standard USB audio devices, and a certain number of other audio cards. PROCEDURE 1. Select Devices > Device Setup. 2. In the devices list, select your audio card. 3. Click the Control Panel button. 4. Activate/Deactivate ports. 5. Click OK. Adding Input and Output Busses PROCEDURE 1. In the VST Connections dialog, click the Inputs or Outputs tab. 2. Click Add Bus. The Add Input Bus dialog opens. 3. Configure the bus. 4. Optional: Enter a name for the bus. If you do not specify a name, the bus is named according to the channel configuration.