Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual
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MixConsole VCA Faders (Cubase Pro only) 311 Assigning VCA Faders to Link Groups You can link channels and assign VCA faders to control them. PREREQUISITE You have selected channels. PROCEDURE 1. Click Link on the MixConsole toolbar. The Link Group Settings dialog opens. 2. Click in the Name field to enter a name for the link group. 3. Activate Use VCA Fader. The Volume parameter is automatically deactivated. 4. Specify if you want to create a new VCA fader or select an existing VCA fader from the pop-up menu. 5. Click OK. RESULT The channels are now linked to the VCA fader. At the top of the fader section, the display line shows the number and the name of the link group. The VCA fader also displays the link group name. NOTE • If you want to assign the VCA fader to a different link group, you can open the pop-up menu of the VCA fader, select VCA Fader Controls Link Group: , and select a different group from the list of available link groups. • If you want to add a VCA fader quickly, select Add VCA Fader to Selected Channels. This automatically creates a VCA fader with a default name. Removing VCA Faders from Link Groups You can remove VCA faders from link groups. PREREQUISITE You have selected the VCA fader that you want to remove. PROCEDURE 1. Click Edit Link Group Settings on the MixConsole toolbar. The Link Group Settings dialog opens. 2. Deactivate Use VCA Fader. The Volume parameter is automatically reactivated.
MixConsole VCA Faders (Cubase Pro only) 312 3. Click OK. 4. Specify if the channels in the link group keep the combined automation. RESULT The VCA fader is removed from the link group and is deleted from the list of channels. NOTE You can keep the VCA fader in the fader section. In this case, open the VCA fader pop-up menu, select VCA Fader Controls Link Group: , and select None. This removes only the VCA fader assignment. Nested VCA Faders VCA faders can control other VCA faders. If you use several VCA faders that control different link groups, you can create another VCA fader that controls the VCA faders. This allows you to control the volume level of several link groups at the same time. Nested VCA faders for different drum types Technically, a VCA fader that controls other VCA faders affects the volume level of all VCA faders and linked channels. EXAMPLE A VCA fader (main fader) controls a nested VCA fader that has been set to -10 dB. The latter VCA fader controls a linked channel that had an original level of -3 dB and that is currently set to -13 dB. If you change the main fader level from 0 to +4 dB, the controlled VCA fader is set to a level of -6 dB, and the linked channel is set to a level of -9 dB.
MixConsole VCA Faders (Cubase Pro only) 313 VCA Fader Automation VCA fader automation influences the automation of link groups. When you create VCA faders, their tracks in the Project window contain the static value line that is default for all automation tracks and that turns into an automation curve once you start writing automation. When you write automation for a VCA fader of a link group, it affects the volume automation of the linked channels. This has different effects: • If a linked channel has no automation, the VCA fader automation curve is automatically added to the automation tracks of the linked channels. The automation tracks of the linked channels show the automation that is applied through the VCA fader. • If a linked channel has volume automation, the VCA fader automation modifies the existing volume automation of the linked channel. The VCA fader automation and the linked channel automation are combined. The automation tracks show the original automation and the combined automation of VCA fader and linked channels. EXAMPLE The VCA fader track automation affects all channels in a link group. For the linked channels, the original static value line is adjusted by the volume level of the VCA fader track. EXAMPLE The VCA fader track automation affects an existing volume automation of an audio track. Automation of an audio track
MixConsole Metering (Cubase Pro only) 314 The lighter static value line displays the VCA fader automation that has not been written yet. VCA fader track automation The VCA fader track has a different automation curve that affects the automation of the audio track. Original audio track automation and combined automation of VCA fader and audio track The underlying darker automation curve displays the original automation of the audio track. The overlaying lighter automation curve displays the combined automation. EXAMPLE The automation of a main VCA fader track affects linked channels and nested VCA faders. Audio track automation VCA fader track automation Combined automation of VCA fader track and audio track Main VCA fader track Combined automation of main VCA fader and nested VCA fader Combined automation of main VCA fader, nested VCA fader, and audio track If you modify the automation curve of any of the respective tracks, it always has an effect on the combined automation displayed in the audio track. Metering (Cubase Pro only) The MixConsole features a master meter and a loudness meter that can be shown to the right of the fader section.
MixConsole Metering (Cubase Pro only) 315 Displaying Meters PROCEDURE 1. In the MixConsole, click the Set up Window Layout button on the toolbar and activate Control Room/Meter. 2. Click the Meter tab at the top of the Control Room/Meter section. By default, the master meter is displayed. Master Meter The master meter is a multi-channel true peak meter. 1)Control Room view Activates the Control Room section in the MixConsole. 2)Scales Lets you select a scale according to different broadcast standards (Digital, DIN, EBU, British, Nordic, K-20, K-14, or K-12). The headroom is indicated by red lines in the meter scale. 3)Alignment level standards Lets you select an alignment level (offset) for your scale. This is unavailable for digital and K-System scales. The broadcast meter scales DIN, EBU, Nordic, and British have a default alignment level of -18 dBFS. 4)Reset RMS and PPM Max Resets the measurement.
MixConsole Metering (Cubase Pro only) 316 5)AES17 standard Activates the AES17 standard that adds an offset of 3 dB to the RMS value. 6)RMS/Peak meter Shows the RMS and peak hold values as blue lines and the peak values as gray lines. The following parameters are available: RMS Max Shows the maximum RMS value. Peak Max Shows the maximum peak value. RELATED LINKS Control Room (Cubase Pro only) on page 352 Loudness Meter The loudness meter complies to the loudness recommendation R 128 of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Measurements that correspond to this recommendation consider loudness, loudness range, and maximum true peak level values. Loudness is measured in LUFS (Loudness Unit, referenced to Full Scale) or LU. • To activate the loudness meter, click the Loudness tab at the bottom of the meter display.
MixConsole Metering (Cubase Pro only) 317 1)Control Room view Activates the Control Room section in the MixConsole. 2)Loudness meter Shows the Momentary Max value as a green triangle in the left meter scale and the Integrated value as a gray triangle in the right meter scale. 3)Measure Loudness Activates the loudness measurement. 4)Switch between LUFS and LU Switches the meter scale between LUFS (absolute values) and LU (relative values). 5)Configure Loudness Settings Lets you specify a threshold value for the Short-Term, the Integrated, and the True Peak clipping indicators. If values above the set thresholds are detected, the corresponding indicators turn red. To reset all values on playback start, activate the Reset on Start option. 6)Reset Loudness Resets all loudness values.
MixConsole Input Levels 318 The following parameters are available: Momentary Max Shows the maximum loudness measured over a duration of 400 ms. Short Term Shows the loudness measured over a duration of 3 ms. Integrated Shows the average loudness measured from start to stop. The period of measurement is shown in the Time display. The recommended value for the integrated loudness is -23 LUFS. This absolute value is the reference point for the relative LU scale where -23 LUFS equals 0 LU. Range Shows the dynamic range of the audio measured from start to stop. This value helps you to decide how much dynamic compression you can apply. The range that is recommended for highly dynamic audio such as film music is 20 LU. True Peak Shows the true peak level of the audio. The maximum permitted true peak level in production is -1 dB. Time Shows the duration of integrated loudness measurement. RELATED LINKS Control Room (Cubase Pro only) on page 352 Input Levels When recording digital sound, it is important to set the input levels high enough to ensure low noise and high audio quality. At the same time, you must avoid clipping (digital distortion). Setting Input Levels PROCEDURE 1. Click Filter Channel Types and activate Input Channels. In this mode, the input channel level meters show the level of the signal at the input of the bus, before any adjustments, such as input gain, EQ, effects, level, or pan are made. This allows you to check the level of the unprocessed signal coming into the audio hardware. 2. Select Functions > Global Meter Settings > Meter Position and activate Input.
MixConsole Copying and Moving Rack and Channel Settings 319 3. Play back the audio and check the level meter for the input channel. The signal should be as loud as possible without exceeding 0 dB that is the clipping indicator for the input bus should not light up. 4. If necessary, adjust the input level in one of the following ways: • Adjust the output level of the sound source or the external mixer. • If possible, use the audio hardware’s own application program to set the input levels. See the documentation for the audio hardware. • If your audio hardware supports the ASIO control panel function, it may be possible to make input level settings. To open the ASIO control panel, select Devices > Device Setup and in the list to the left (below VST Audio System), select your audio card. When this is selected, you can open the control panel by clicking the Control Panel button in the settings section to the right. 5. Optional: Select Functions > Global Meter Settings > Meter Position and activate Post-Fader. NOTE This allows you to check the level of the audio being written to a file on your hard disk which is only necessary if you make any adjustments to the input channel. 6. In the Channel Racks section, in the Inserts rack, click a slot and select an effect, or in the Equalizers rack, make your EQ settings. For some effects you may want to adjust the level of the signal going into the effect. Use the input gain function for this. Press [Shift] or [Alt]/[Option] to adjust the input gain. 7. Play back the audio and check the level meter of the input channel. The signal should be reasonably loud without exceeding 0 dB that is the clipping indicator for the input bus should not light up. 8. If necessary, use the input channel fader to adjust the signal level. Clipping Clipping typically occurs in the audio hardware when an analog signal is too loud and therefore converted to digital in the hardware’s A/D converters. Clipping can also occur when the signal from the input bus is written to a file on your hard disk. The reason for this is that you can make settings for the input bus, adding EQ, effects, etc. to the signal while it is being recorded. This may raise the level of the signal, which causes clipping in the recorded audio file. Copying and Moving Rack and Channel Settings You can use drag and drop to copy or move rack and channel settings. Drag and drop works between different channels or different rack slots on the same channel. When you drag, a blue frame indicates the sections where you can drop your settings.
MixConsole Fader Section 320 The following applies: • To copy the rack settings from one rack to another, drag the rack and drop it on the rack to which you want to copy the settings. • To move the rack settings from one rack to another, press [Alt]/[Option], drag the rack, and drop it on the rack to which you want to move the settings. • To copy the channel settings from one channel to another, drag the channel and drop it on the channel to which you want to copy the settings. You can copy rack and channel settings between different types of channels, provided that the target channels have corresponding settings. • For example, copying from input/output channels leaves the sends settings in the target channel unaffected. • Cubase Pro only: For projects with surround sound, any insert effects that are routed to surround speaker channels become muted when the settings are pasted to a mono or stereo channel. Fader Section The fader section is the heart of the MixConsole. It shows input and output channels together with audio, instrument, MIDI, group, FX, VCA fader (Cubase Pro only), and ReWire channels that appear in the same order as in the track list.