Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual
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![Page 462
Sample Editor
Working with hitpoints and slices
462
Using Hitpoints to Locate Audio Positions in the Project Window
You can navigate through the hitpoints of an audio event in the Project window.
PREREQUISITE
Enable Automatic Hitpoint Detection is activated (File > Preferences > Editing
> Audio).
PROCEDURE
1. Select the audio track that contains the audio event for which you want to
locate hitpoints.
2. Press [Alt]/[Option]-[N] to navigate to the next hitpoint, or [Alt]/[Option]-[B] to
navigate to...](http://img.usermanuals.tech/thumb/86/98229/w64_d_1507296127-steinberg-cubase-8-manual_d-461.png "Page 462
Sample Editor
Working with hitpoints and slices
462
Using Hitpoints to Locate Audio Positions in the Project Window
You can navigate through the hitpoints of an audio event in the Project window.
PREREQUISITE
Enable Automatic Hitpoint Detection is activated (File > Preferences > Editing
> Audio).
PROCEDURE
1. Select the audio track that contains the audio event for which you want to
locate hitpoints.
2. Press [Alt]/[Option]-[N] to navigate to the next hitpoint, or [Alt]/[Option]-[B] to
navigate to...")
![Page 464
Sample Editor
Working with hitpoints and slices
464
Resetting hitpoints
Sometimes it can be useful to reset hitpoints to their original state, e. g. because you
still want them to be affected by the Threshold slider.
PROCEDURE
• To reset hitpoints to their original state, press [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Alt]/[Option]
so that the tooltip “Enable/Unlock Hitpoints” is shown and drag a rectangle
over the hitpoints.
RESULT
All disabled and locked hitpoints within the area defined by the rectangle are reset.
Note...](http://img.usermanuals.tech/thumb/86/98229/w64_d_1507296127-steinberg-cubase-8-manual_d-463.png "Page 464
Sample Editor
Working with hitpoints and slices
464
Resetting hitpoints
Sometimes it can be useful to reset hitpoints to their original state, e. g. because you
still want them to be affected by the Threshold slider.
PROCEDURE
• To reset hitpoints to their original state, press [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Alt]/[Option]
so that the tooltip “Enable/Unlock Hitpoints” is shown and drag a rectangle
over the hitpoints.
RESULT
All disabled and locked hitpoints within the area defined by the rectangle are reset.
Note...")
Sample Editor Working with hitpoints and slices 461 • To disable automatic hitpoint detection, select File > Preferences > Editing > Audio and deactivate Enable Automatic Hitpoint Detection. • In the Project window, hitpoints are shown for the selected event, provided that the zoom factor is high enough. To hide them, select File > Preferences > Event Display > Audio and disable Show Hitpoints on Selected Events. Filtering hitpoints You can filter hitpoints in the Hitpoints Inspector tab of the Sample Editor. You can use the following parameters to filter hitpoints: Threshold This filters hitpoints by their peaks. This allows you to discard hitpoints of quieter crosstalk signals, for example. Minimum Length This filters hitpoints by the distance between two hitpoints. This allows you to avoid creating slices that are too short. Beats This allows you to filter hitpoints by their musical position. This allows you to discard hitpoints that do not fit within a certain range of a defined beat value.
Sample Editor Working with hitpoints and slices 462 Using Hitpoints to Locate Audio Positions in the Project Window You can navigate through the hitpoints of an audio event in the Project window. PREREQUISITE Enable Automatic Hitpoint Detection is activated (File > Preferences > Editing > Audio). PROCEDURE 1. Select the audio track that contains the audio event for which you want to locate hitpoints. 2. Press [Alt]/[Option]-[N] to navigate to the next hitpoint, or [Alt]/[Option]-[B] to navigate to the previous hitpoint. RESULT The project cursor jumps to the respective hitpoint. Auditioning and hitpoints • You can audition the hitpoint slices, that is the area between two hitpoints, by pointing and clicking in any slice area. The pointer changes to a speaker icon and the corresponding slice is played back from the beginning to the end. Navigating between hitpoints • You can navigate between the slices using the arrow keys or by pressing the [Tab] key. • You can select the next or previous hitpoint marker using the “Locate Next/Previous Hitpoint” commands. The default key commands for this are [Alt]/[Option]-[N] and [Alt]/[Option]-[B]. Editing hitpoints You can change the state of a hitpoint, insert new hitpoints manually, and move existing hitpoints. Hitpoints can have three different states: enabled, locked, and disabled. “Enabled” is the normal state a hitpoint has immediately after the detection. Hitpoints can be “disabled” so that they are still visible as gray triangles on the timeline, but will not be taken into account for further operations. “Locking” hitpoints is an easy way to make sure that hitpoints are not accidentally filtered out. Locked hitpoints are not affected by the Threshold slider and Beats pop-up menu.
Sample Editor Working with hitpoints and slices 463 An enabled, a disabled, and a locked hitpoint Disabling and locking hitpoints After applying the different hitpoint filters, you may find that you want to keep individual hitpoints that were filtered out or disable hitpoints that you do not need. Furthermore, you may want to lock certain hitpoints. • To lock a hitpoint, move the mouse pointer over the gray triangle on the timeline so that the tooltip “Lock Hitpoint” is shown. Click on the triangle. This way, enabled and disabled hitpoints can be locked. • To lock a disabled hitpoint, you can also press [Alt]/[Option] and move the mouse over the waveform. At positions where a disabled hitpoint can be locked, a gray hitpoint line and the tooltip “Lock Hitpoint” are shown. Click to lock the hitpoint. • To lock multiple hitpoints, press [Shift]-[Alt]/[Option] so that the tooltip “Lock multiple hitpoints” is shown and drag a rectangle over the hitpoints. All enabled and disabled hitpoints within the area defined by the rectangle become locked. • To disable hitpoints, press [Shift] so that the tooltip “Disable Hitpoints” is shown and click on the line of a single hitpoint or drag a rectangle over all the hitpoints that you want to disable. This way, enabled and locked hitpoints can be disabled. • To disable a locked hitpoint, you can also point the mouse at the blue hitpoint triangle on the timeline so that the tooltip “Disable Hitpoint” is shown. Click on the triangle.
Sample Editor Working with hitpoints and slices 464 Resetting hitpoints Sometimes it can be useful to reset hitpoints to their original state, e. g. because you still want them to be affected by the Threshold slider. PROCEDURE • To reset hitpoints to their original state, press [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Alt]/[Option] so that the tooltip “Enable/Unlock Hitpoints” is shown and drag a rectangle over the hitpoints. RESULT All disabled and locked hitpoints within the area defined by the rectangle are reset. Note that some of the hitpoints may still appear as disabled due to the Threshold slider and Beats pop-up menu settings. Inserting hitpoints If you get too few hitpoints using the filter options, you can insert hitpoints manually. PROCEDURE • To insert a new hitpoint, press [Alt]/[Option] and click at the position where you want to enter the new hitpoint (i. e. at the start of the sound). Manually added hitpoints are locked by default. Moving hitpoints If a hitpoint was either placed too far away from the start of the sound or too far into the sound, you can move it. PROCEDURE • To move a hitpoint, press [Alt]/[Option] and point the mouse at the vertical line of the hitpoint. RESULT The mouse pointer changes to a double arrow and the tooltip “Move Hitpoint” is shown. You can now drag the hitpoint to its new position. NOTE Moved hitpoints are locked by default.
Sample Editor Working with hitpoints and slices 465 Slicing audio Once you have set up the hitpoints as needed, you can slice the audio by clicking the Create Slices button on the Hitpoints tab. Alternatively, you can select the “Create Audio Slices from Hitpoints” command from the Hitpoints submenu of the Audio menu. The following happens: • The Sample Editor closes. • The audio event is “sliced” so that the sections between the hitpoints become separate events, all referring to the same original file. • The audio event is replaced by an audio part, containing the slices (double-click the part to view the slices in the Audio Part Editor). IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT When you create slices, all events referring to the edited clip are also replaced.
Sample Editor Working with hitpoints and slices 466 Also consider activating auto fades for the corresponding audio track – fade-outs set to about 10 ms will help eliminate any clicks between the slices when you play back the part. If the project tempo is higher than the tempo of the original audio event, the slice events are overlapping. Activate auto crossfades for the track to smooth out the sound. Furthermore, you can select the overlapping events inside the part and apply the “Delete Overlaps” function from the Advanced submenu of the Audio menu. The slices in the Audio Part Editor. Here, the project tempo was higher than the clip’s original tempo – the slice events overlap. RELATED LINKS Defining the Track Time Base on page 149 Making global Auto Fade settings on page 256 Making Auto Fade settings for individual tracks on page 257 Slicing multi-track drum recordings If you have a multi-track drum recording that you want to quantize using hitpoints, you can put all the tracks belonging to the recording in an edit group, calculate the hitpoints for the relevant tracks (e. g. Kick, Snare, and Hi-hats), and use the “Divide Audio Events at Hitpoints” command on the Audio menu (Hitpoints submenu) to slice all tracks of the recording at once. RELATED LINKS Quantizing Multiple Audio Tracks (Cubase Pro only) on page 236 Other hitpoint functions On the Hitpoints tab of the Sample Editor Inspector, you will also find the following functions. Many of these functions are also available on the Hitpoints submenu of the Audio menu. If selected on the Audio menu, they can be applied on several events and even range selections at the same time.
Sample Editor Working with hitpoints and slices 467 Create Groove You can generate a groove quantize map based on hitpoints that you have created. RELATED LINKS Creating Groove Quantize Presets on page 246 Create Markers If an audio event contains calculated hitpoints, you can click the Create Markers button on the Hitpoints tab to add a marker for each hitpoint. If your project has no marker track, it will be added and activated automatically. Markers can be useful to snap to hitpoints, e. g. for locating hitpoints and for using the Time Warp tool. RELATED LINKS Markers on page 281 The Time Warp tool (Cubase Pro only) on page 913 Create Regions If your audio event contains calculated hitpoints, you can click the Create Regions button on the Hitpoints tab to automatically create regions from hitpoints. This can be useful to isolate recorded sounds. Create Events If your audio event contains calculated hitpoints, you can click the Create Events button on the Hitpoints tab to automatically create separate events based on the hitpoints. Create Warp Markers If you want to quantize audio based on hitpoints, you can use this option to create warp markers from the calculated hitpoints. This option is identical with using the “Create Warp Markers from Hitpoints” option on the Realtime Processing submenu of the Audio menu. Create MIDI Notes You can export your hitpoints to a MIDI part containing a MIDI note for each hitpoint. For example, you can use this function to double, replace, or enrich drum hits by triggering sounds of a VST instrument at the positions of the hitpoints. To convert the hitpoints into MIDI notes, click the “Create MIDI Notes” button. Make the desired settings in the Convert Hitpoints to MIDI Notes dialog and click OK.
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 468 The following options are available: Velocity Mode/Velocity • Dynamic Velocity Value – The velocity values of the created MIDI notes vary, according to the peak levels of the corresponding hitpoints. • Fixed Velocity Value – The created MIDI notes get the same velocity value. You can set this value using the Velocity field. Pitch/Length • Hitpoints do not contain any information about pitch or duration. Therefore, all created MIDI notes get the same pitch and note length. Use these fields to specify the desired values. Destination • First Selected Track – The MIDI part is placed on the first selected MIDI or instrument track. Note that any MIDI parts from previous conversions that are on this track will be deleted. • New MIDI Track – A new MIDI track is created for the MIDI part. • Project Clipboard – The MIDI part is copied into the clipboard so that you can insert it at the desired position on a MIDI or instrument track. VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) With the AudioWarp features, editing audio in the time domain has become significantly easier. However, editing pitch was limited to having just one single numeric “transpose” value per event or part. VariAudio offers completely integrated vocal editing and pitch alteration of individual notes in monophonic vocal recordings and can solve intonation and timing problems with only a few mouse clicks. It was developed and optimized specifically to be used with monophonic vocal recordings. Though the detection and stretching of notes of other monophonic audio recordings, such as those of a saxophone, may work well, the quality of the end result depends greatly on the generic condition and structure of the recording’s texture. And how does it work? First, the vocal line is analyzed and split into segments shown as graphic representation of the notes sung. After the detection process is complete, the recognized notes can be modified entirely “non-destructively” so that any modifications to the audio material can be undone.
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 469 VariAudio allows you to change your audio on the vertical axis and on the horizontal axis. If you load projects with VariAudio files in Cubase Artist, the original files will be played back and your VariAudio modifications will be ignored. If you want to hear your modifications in Cubase Artist, you will have to bounce the audio files that have been edited with the Cubase Pro VariAudio features. RELATED LINKS Changing the pitch on page 476 Warping segments on page 482 Understanding the waveform display in VariAudio When you open monophonic vocal recordings in the Sample Editor and activate the Segments or the Pitch & Warp tool on the VariAudio tab, your audio is analyzed and segmented to display the tonal portions, i. e. the notes sung or played. This process is called segmentation. The segmentation allows you to easily associate the audio with your lyrics and to introduce pitch and timing changes. In between the different segments you may find gaps where non-tonal portions have been detected, e. g. caused by breath sounds. At the beginning of the waveform, you can see a gap where no segment is shown. 1) Gap 2) Audio waveform 3) Segments
Sample Editor VariAudio (Cubase Pro only) 470 NOTE The audio waveform displayed on the VariAudio tab is always shown as mono, even if you have opened a stereo or multi-channel file. The piano keyboard to the left of the waveform indicates the pitch positions. By moving a segment vertically, you can change its average pitch. Note pitches represent the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. The note A4 is perceived to be of the same pitch as a sine wave of 440 Hz. The notation of pitches is a logarithmic frequency scale. The table below shows the relation between pitch (note name) and frequency in Hz: The average pitch of a segment is calculated from its micro-pitch curve. Micro-pitch curves represent the progression of the pitch for the tonal portion of the audio. Micro-pitch curves The horizontal position of a segment indicates the time position and the length. You can navigate through the segments by using the left/right arrow keys on your computer keyboard. You can zoom in on the segments that you want to edit by holding down [Alt]/[Option] while drawing a selection rectangle. To zoom out, hold down [Alt]/[Option] and click in an empty area of the waveform. If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] and double click in an empty area, the display will be zoomed out to show all segments. C4 C#4/Db4 D4 D#4/Eb4 E4 F4 F#4/Gb4 261.63 277.18 293.66 311.13 329.63 349.23 369.99 G4 G#4/Ab4 A4 A#4/Bb4 B4 C5 392.00 415.30 440.00 466.16 493.88 523.25