Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual
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![Page 566
Surround Sound (Cubase Pro only)
Using the SurroundPanner V5566
Speaker channels – Solo and Mute vs. Disabling
The speakers that are distributed around the surround field represent the output
configuration. You can disable speakers or solo/mute them.
This speaker is muted.
This speaker is soloed.
This speaker is disabled.
• [Alt]/[Option]-click on a speaker symbol to
disable that speaker (the speaker
symbol is grayed out) so that no audio will be routed to this surround channel.
The signal that...](http://img.usermanuals.tech/thumb/86/98229/w64_d_1507296127-steinberg-cubase-8-manual_d-565.png "Page 566
Surround Sound (Cubase Pro only)
Using the SurroundPanner V5566
Speaker channels – Solo and Mute vs. Disabling
The speakers that are distributed around the surround field represent the output
configuration. You can disable speakers or solo/mute them.
This speaker is muted.
This speaker is soloed.
This speaker is disabled.
• [Alt]/[Option]-click on a speaker symbol to
disable that speaker (the speaker
symbol is grayed out) so that no audio will be routed to this surround channel.
The signal that...")
Surround Sound (Cubase Pro only) Using the SurroundPanner V5 571 The LFE encoder Use the LFE encoder in the plug-in panel to set the signal amount sent to the LFE (Low Frequency Effects) channel. NOTE The LFE channel is used as a full range channel, no low-pass filtering is applied. Center Distribution The Center Distribution control is used to distribute part or all of the center signal to the left and right front speakers. For example, this can be useful in the following situation: The center signal is panned directly to the center speaker and the Center Distribution is set to 0 %. However, the signal is too discrete for your liking, and you want to add part of the signal to the left and right front speakers to widen it. You can do this by raising the Center Distribution value. At 100 %, the center source is provided entirely by the phantom image created by the left and right speakers and using a value in between you can distribute the signal to the three speakers. A blue line at the top of the surround field indicates the distance up to which a phantom signal is added. If you position the source signal inside this range, the signal is sent to all three channels. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT Note that for this to work, the front speaker configuration needs to be symmetrical and there can never be more than 3 speakers involved. Divergence controls The three divergence controls (Front, F/R, and Rear) determine the attenuation curves used when positioning sound sources for X-axis front, Y-axis (front/rear), and X-axis back. If all three controls are set to 0 %, positioning a sound source on a speaker sets all other speakers to zero level. With higher values, the other speakers receive a percentage of the sound source.
Surround Sound (Cubase Pro only) Using the SurroundPanner V5 572 Blue horizontal and vertical lines visualize the effects when changing the divergence settings. For example, by using the front divergence, you can acoustically intensify the distance from the action on screen as perceived by the audience. •At 0 % the perception is very focused (concentrated in one spot). •At 100 % the perception is very diffuse (hard to locate). NOTE The Center Distribution value and the front divergence are combined. If the front divergence is set to 100 %, the Center Distribution has no effect. Scaling The Scale controls allow you to control the horizontal (Width) and vertical (Depth) expansion of the sound source. 100 % corresponds to the complete width or depth of the surround field. If you reduce both values to 0 %, the distance is reduced to zero and all source channels are centered in one spot. These controls influence the perception of spatiality and ambience, as well as the traceability of signals. • At 100 % you get a very transparent, clear sound that conveys much spatiality. •At 0 % the signal is less transparent and movements cannot be traced easily. NOTE The Depth parameter is only available for configurations with front and rear channels. Input and output level meters The meters to the left and right of the pan area show the volume of all input and output speaker channels, respectively. The numeric values below the meters indicate the peak level that has been measured for any of the channels.
Surround Sound (Cubase Pro only) Using the SurroundPanner V5 573 General plug-in controls The Bypass Effect button At the top left of the plug-in panel you will find a button to bypass the SurroundPanner V5. If this is activated, the panner attempts to route the input signals to the appropriate output channels (e. g. the left and right front speakers if panning a stereo signal to a 5.1 configuration). Mute/Solo buttons At the top of the plug-in panel you will find a Mute and a Solo button that are identical with the channel’s Mute/Solo controls. Read/Write buttons Like any other effect plug-in, the SurroundPanner V5 has Read and Write buttons at the top of the window to apply and record automation data (see below). RELATED LINKS Using Solo and Mute on page 322 Automation Most of the parameters in the SurroundPanner V5 plug-in can be automated just like any other channel or insert parameter. Recording automation for the Orbit controls and the independent positioning mode is handled differently, however. Automation data for these parameters is written as a combination of the front-rear panning, left-right panning and the Rotate Signal parameters. For the independent positioning mode, Scaling is added. Due to this you cannot easily modify existing automation data since this would involve too many different parameters. If an automation pass did not yield the desired result, simply try again. RELATED LINKS Writing Automation Data on page 577 Resetting all parameters [Alt]/[Option]-click the Reset button in the lower right corner of the plug-in panel to reset all controls to their default values.
Surround Sound (Cubase Pro only) Using the MixConvert V6 plug-in 574 Constant power “What goes in, must come out again.” This principle can be taken literally with regard to the SurroundPanner V5. It means that the power of a source channel is identical to the power of the corresponding output signal. The advantage of this is that the overall volume as perceived by the listener (= the power) is always the same, regardless of the signal panning, e. g. when you move the sound source in the pan area, disable specific speaker channels, or use the divergence controls. Using the MixConvert V6 plug-in MixConvert V6 is a special plug-in that converts one multi-channel audio source into another multi-channel destination. It is most frequently used to “downmix” a multi-channel surround mix into a format with fewer channels, for example, a 5.1 surround mix into a stereo mix. This plug-in can be used as an insert effect in the MixConsole like other plug-ins but it also has special functions. Cubase automatically inserts MixConvert V6 instead of the SurroundPanner V5 when the channel (audio track, group channel, etc.) is routed to a destination with fewer audio paths. MixConvert V6 is also inserted in place of any cue send panner when the destination has a different audio path than the source. The MixConvert V6 plug-in is described in detail in the separate PDF document “Plug-in Reference”. NOTE There is one exception to this behavior. When a stereo channel is routed to a mono destination through the channel routing or a cue send routing, a normal stereo panner will be inserted. However, this panner will control the balance of the left and right channels as they are blended into the mono destination. The center position blends both channels together by equal amounts. With the pan set all the way to the left, only the left channel can be heard, and vice versa. Exporting a surround mix When you have set up a surround mix, you can choose to export it using the Export Audio Mixdown function. You have the following export options when working with a surround configuration: • Export to “split” format, resulting in one mono audio file for each surround channel. • Export to interleaved format, resulting in a single multi-channel audio file (e. g. a 5.1 file, containing all six surround channels).
Surround Sound (Cubase Pro only) Exporting a surround mix 575 • On Windows systems, you can also export a 5.1 surround mix to a file in Windows Media Audio Pro format. This is an encoding format tailored for 5.1 surround. RELATED LINKS Export Audio Mixdown on page 938 Windows Media Audio Pro files (Windows only) on page 951
576 Automation In essence, automation means recording the values for a particular MixConsole or effect parameter. When you create your final mix, Cubase can adjust this particular parameter control. Automation Curves Within a Cubase project, the changes in a parameter value over time are reflected as curves on automation tracks. There are two kinds of automation curves: 1)Ramp curves Ramp curves are created for any parameter that generates continuous multiple values, such as fader or encoder movements. 2)Jump curves Jump curves are created for on/off parameters such as mute. Static Value Line When you open an automation track for the first time, it does not contain any automation events. This is reflected in the event display as a straight horizontal black line, the static value line. This line represents the current parameter setting. If you manually added any automation events or used write automation for the corresponding parameter and then disable the reading of automation data, the automation curve is grayed-out in the event display and the static value line is used instead. As soon as Read is enabled, the automation curve becomes available.
Automation Write/Read Automation 577 Write/Read Automation You can automation enable tracks and MixConsole channels by activating their automation write W and read R buttons. • If you activate W for a channel, virtually all MixConsole parameters that you adjust during playback for that specific channel are recorded as automation events. •If R is activated for a channel, all your recorded MixConsole actions for that channel are performed during playback. The R and W buttons for a track in the track list are the same as the R and W buttons in the MixConsole. NOTE The R button is automatically enabled when you enable the W button. This allows Cubase to read existing automation data at any time. You can separately deactivate W if you only want to read existing data. There are also global read and write indicator buttons Activate/Deactivate Read/Write for All Tracks on the MixConsole toolbar and at the top of the track list. These buttons light up as soon as there is an enabled R or W button on any channel/track within your project. Furthermore, they can be clicked to activate or deactivate the R/W buttons of all tracks simultaneously. NOTE R/W buttons are also available on the Automation panel. RELATED LINKS Read/Write Buttons on page 585 Writing Automation Data There are two approaches that you can use to create automation curves: manually and automatically. • Manual writing makes it easy to quickly change parameter values at specific points without having to activate playback. • Automatic writing lets you work almost as if you were using a real mixer. With both methods, any applied automation data is reflected in both the MixConsole (a fader will move for example) and in the corresponding automation track curve. RELATED LINKS Manual Writing of Automation Data on page 578
Automation Writing Automation Data 578 Automatic Writing of Automation Data Every action that you perform is automatically recorded on automation tracks which you can later open for viewing and editing. PROCEDURE 1. In the track list, click Show/Hide Automation for a track to open its automation track. 2. Click W to enable the writing of automation data on this track. 3. Start playback. 4. Adjust the parameters in the MixConsole, in the Channel Settings window, or in the effect control panel. The value settings are recorded and displayed as a curve on the automation tracks. When automation data is being written, the color of the automation track changes to red and the delta indicator in the automation track shows the relative amount by which the new parameter setting deviates from any previously automated value. 5. Stop playback and return to the position where you started playback. 6. Click W to disable the writing of automation data. 7. Start playback. RESULT All actions that you recorded are reproduced exactly. When you drag a plug-in to a different insert slot on the same channel, any existing automation data moves with the plug-in. When you drag it to an insert slot on a different channel, any existing automation data is not transferred to the new channel. Manual Writing of Automation Data You can add automation events manually by drawing automation curves on an automation track. PROCEDURE 1. In the track list, click Show/Hide Automation for a track to open its automation track. 2. Click the automation parameter name and select the parameter from the pop-up menu. 3. Select the Draw tool.
Automation Writing Automation Data 579 4. Click on the static value line. An automation event is added, read automation mode is automatically activated, and the static value line changes to a colored automation curve. 5. Click and hold to draw a curve by adding many automation events. When you release the mouse button, the number of automation events is reduced. NOTE To adjust the thinning out of events, select File > Preferences > Editing and change the Automation Reduction Level. 6. Start playback. RESULT The automated parameter changes with the automation curve, and the corresponding fader in the MixConsole moves accordingly. AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK Repeat the procedure if you are not happy with the result. If you draw over existing events, a new curve is created. Tools for Drawing Automation Data Apart from the Draw tool, you can use the following tools to draw automation events: •Object Selection tool If R is activated and you click on an automation track with the Object Selection tool, you can add automation events. NOTE Events that are introduced between two existing events that do not deviate from the existing curve are removed as soon as you release the mouse button. To activate the Line tool in any other available mode, click the Line tool and click again to open a pop-up menu where you can select the mode. The following Line tool modes are available: Line mode If you click on the automation track and drag with the Line tool in Line mode, you can create automation events in a line. This is a quick way to create linear fades, etc.
Automation Editing Automation Data 580 Parabola mode If you click and drag on the automation track with the Line tool in Parabola mode, you can create more natural curves and fades. NOTE The result depends on the direction from which you draw the parabolic curve. Sine, Triangle, or Square mode If you click and drag on the automation track with the Line tool in Sine, Triangle, or Square mode and snap to grid is activated, the period of the curve (the length of one curve cycle) is determined by the grid setting. If you press [Shift] and drag, you can set the period length manually, in multiples of the grid value. NOTE The Line tool can only be used for ramp type automation curves. Editing Automation Data Automation events can be edited much like other events. You can cut, copy, paste, and nudge events, etc. • If you move an event or part on a track and you want the automation events to follow automatically, select Edit > Automation follows Events. All automation events for the track between the start and end of the event or part are moved. Any automation events at the new position are overwritten. Selecting Automation Events • To select an automation event, click it with the Object Selection tool. The event turns black, and you can drag it in any direction between two events. • To select multiple events, [Shift]-click the events or drag a selection rectangle with the Object Selection tool. All events inside the selection rectangle are selected and the automation track editor becomes available. • To select all automation events on an automation track, right-click the automation track and select Select All Events from the context menu.