Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual
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VST Instruments Import and Export Options 611 Filtering According to Media Type on page 530 Exporting MIDI Loops You can export MIDI loops to save a MIDI part together with its instrument and effect settings. This allows you to reproduce patterns that you created without having to search for the correct sound, style, or effect. PROCEDURE 1. Select an instrument part. 2. Select File > Export > MIDI Loop. A file dialog opens. 3. In the New MIDI Loop section, enter a name for the MIDI loop. 4. Optional: To save attributes for the MIDI loop, click the button below the New MIDI Loop section at the bottom left. The Attribute Inspector section opens, allowing you to define attributes for your MIDI loop. 5. Click OK to close the dialog and save the MIDI loop. RESULT MIDI Loop files are saved in the following folder: Windows: \Users\\AppData\Roaming\Steinberg\MIDI Loops Mac: /Users//Library/Application Support/Steinberg/MIDI Loops/ The default folder cannot be changed. However, you can create subfolders within this folder to organize your MIDI loops. To create a subfolder, click the New Folder button in the Save MIDI Loop dialog. Exporting Instrument Tracks as MIDI File You can export instrument tracks as standard MIDI files. NOTE As there is no MIDI patch information in an instrument track, this information is missing in the resulting MIDI file. NOTE If you activate Export Inspector Volume/Pan, volume and pan information of the VST instrument are converted and written into the MIDI file as controller data. RELATED LINKS Exporting MIDI files on page 1021
VST Instruments External Instruments (Cubase Pro only) 612 External Instruments (Cubase Pro only) An external instrument bus is an input (return) to your audio hardware, along with a MIDI connection via Cubase and few additional settings. External instrument busses are created in the VST Connections window. All external instrument busses that you have created will appear on the VST Instrument pop-up menus and can be selected in the same way as any VST instrument plug-in. If you select an external instrument, you play it via MIDI as usual (you have to create a MIDI device to play it) and the sound (synth audio output) will come in to the VST environment where you can apply processing, etc. RELATED LINKS Setting Up External Instruments on page 37
613 Installing and Managing Plug-ins Installing VST plug-ins Cubase supports the VST 2 and VST 3 plug-in standards. You can install effects and instruments that comply with these formats. A plug-in is a piece of software that adds a specific functionality to Cubase. The audio effects and instruments that are used in Cubase are VST plug-ins. NOTE If an effect or instrument plug-in has its own installation application, you should use this. Dragging an already installed plug-in to a different location may lead to problems. As a general rule, always read the documentation or readme files before installing new plug-ins. Cubase comes with a number of effect plug-ins included. These effects and their parameters are described in the separate PDF document Plug-in Reference. Installing VST 3 Plug-ins on Mac OS X Systems To install a VST 3.x plug-in on a Mac OS X system, quit Cubase and drag the plug-in file into one of the following folders: • /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ This is only possible if you are the system administrator. Plug-ins that are installed in this folder are available to all users, for all programs that support VST 3. • /Users//Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ is the name you use to log on to the computer. The easiest way to open this folder is to open your Home folder and use the path /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ from there. Plug-ins that are installed in this folder are only available to you. When you scan for newly installed plug-ins, or relaunch Cubase, the new effects appear on the effect selectors. In the VST 3 protocol, the effect category, subfolder structure, etc. are built-in and cannot be changed. Therefore, you find the effects in the corresponding category folders.
Installing and Managing Plug-ins Plug-in Manager 614 Installing VST 2 Plug-ins on Mac OS X Systems To install a VST 2.x plug-in on Mac OS X systems, quit Cubase and drag the plug-in file to one of the following folders: • Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ This is only possible if you are the system administrator. Plug-ins that are installed in this folder are available to all users, for all programs that support VST 2.x. • user name>/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ is the name you use to log on to the computer. The easiest way to open this folder is to go to your Home folder and use the path /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ from there. Plug-ins that are installed in this folder are only available to you. When you scan for newly installed plug-ins, or relaunch Cubase, the new effects appear on the effect selectors. Installing VST 3 Plug-ins on Windows Systems On Windows systems, VST 3 plug-ins are installed by dragging the files with the extension .vst3 into the VST3 folder in the Cubase application folder. When you scan for newly installed plug-ins, or relaunch Cubase, the new effects appear on the effect selectors. In the VST 3 protocol, the effect category, subfolder structure, etc. are built-in and cannot be changed. Therefore, you find the new effects in the corresponding category folders. Installing VST 2 Plug-ins on Windows Systems On Windows systems, VST 2.x plug-ins are installed by dragging the files with the extension .dll into the Vstplugins folder in the Cubase application folder, or into the Shared VST Plug-ins folder (Windows 32 bit only). When you scan for newly installed plug-ins, or relaunch Cubase, the new effects appear on the effect selectors. Plug-in Manager The Plug-in Manager provides lists of the effects and VST instruments that are installed on your computer. These lists are used in the selectors for VST instruments and effects. The Plug-in Manager allows you to do the following: • You can view lists of all effects and VST instruments that are loaded by Cubase when you launch the program.
Installing and Managing Plug-ins Plug-in Manager 615 The lists of all effects or VST instruments are created automatically every time you start Cubase. You can also initiate a rescan at any time. This ensures that these lists are always up-to-date. • You can create your own lists of effects or instruments for use in the selectors for effects or instruments. User-defined lists are called collections. Collections allow you to create sub-sets of the available effects or instruments, for example, to give you a better overview of the effects used in a project. NOTE If an installed effect or instrument cannot be loaded by Cubase, it does not appear in the list of all effects or instruments. Also, the effect or instrument is grayed out in any collections in which it is included. For example, this can happen if a copy-protection dongle required to run the effect or instrument is missing, or after deinstallation of a plug-in. Plug-in Manager Window You can manage your effects and VST instruments in the Plug-in Manager window. • To open the Plug-in Manager window, select Devices > Plug-in Manager. The Plug-in Manager window shows the following: VST Effects/VST Instruments Open these tabs to see lists of all VST effects and VST instruments that were loaded by Cubase when you launched the program.
Installing and Managing Plug-ins Plug-in Manager616 Collection listBy default, the window section to the right shows the Defa ult collection, which contains all effects or VST instru ments currently loaded by the program. The Default collection cannot be changed. You can compile your own collections of effects or VST instruments by clic king New Collection and dragging and dropping items from the list of all effects or VST instruments to the collection list. Collections are shown in the selectors for effects/VST instruments, and all c hanges made to collections in the Plug-in Manager are immediately reflected in the selectors. Enter the name of a plug-in in the search field. The list of all effects or VST instruments is filtered to show only those plug-ins whose names contain the text that you entered. The Toggle list to show all/show only FX/VSTi not in current collection button allows you to filter the lists of all effects or VST instruments to show either all loaded plug-ins, or only those that are not part of the current collection. The New Folder button allows you to create a new folder in the current collection. The Delete button allows you to delete the selected item in the current collection. The New Collection button allows you to create a new collection. To create a new, empty list, select Em pty. To create a new collection based on the list of all effect, select Add All Plug-ins. To create a new collection based on the current collection, select Add Current Collection. The User Collections drop-down menu allows you to select a different collection, and to rename or delete the current collection. To remove unavailable plug-ins from all collections, select Remove U navailable Plug-ins from All Collections . The Show Plug-in Information button opens a section at the bottom of the window in which more information about the selected item is shown. If you select several plug-ins, the information for the plug-in that you have selected first is shown. In this section, you can also deactivate selected plug-ins. Deactivated plug-ins are no longer available in collections. This is useful if you have plug-ins installed that you do not want to use in Cubase.
Installing and Managing Plug-ins Compiling a New Effects Collection617 The Plug-in Manager Settings button opens a section at the bottom of the window in which all current paths to VST 2 plug-ins are listed. You can add or remove folder locations by usin g the corresponding buttons. Click Rescan All to rescan your computer for plug-ins. R ELATED LINKS Plug-in Manager on page 614 Compiling a New Effects Collection You can create a new collection of effects or VST instruments for use in the plug-in selectors. P REREQUISITE A number of effect plug-ins is correctl y installed on your computer, and these plug-ins are listed on the VST Effects tab of the Plug-in Manager window. PROCEDURE 1. In the Plug-in Manager window, click the New Collection button and do one of the following: • To create a new collection based on the list of all effects, select Add All Plug-ins . • To create a new collection based on the current collection, select Copy Curren t Collection. 2. Enter a name for the new collection and click OK. 3. Drag items from the list of all effects and drop them to the new collection. A blue line indicates the drop position. • Click the New Folder button to create folders and place items directly in them. • You can drag items to new positions within the collection. • Drag items from the collection list to the list of all plug-ins to delete them, or select items and click Delete. RESULT The new collection is saved automatically. The procedure is the same for compiling collections of VST instruments. In the plug-in selectors, found, for example, in the Pr oject window > track inspector > Inserts tab, collections are available as tabs at the top of the selector.
618 Track Quick Controls Cubase can give you instant access to up to 8 different parameters, for example, track, effect, or instrument controls. This is done with the aid of the Quick Controls, set up on the Quick Controls tab in the Inspector for the corresponding track. The Quick Controls tab can be used as a kind of track control center, an area in which your most important parameters are assembled in one place. This saves you from having to click your way through the various windows and sections pertaining to your track. Cubase also allows you to assign these Quick Controls very quickly to an external remote control device. This does not only give you manual control of your most important track parameters, but also allows you to conveniently use an external MIDI device such as a foot controller to control effect parameters. • Quick Control assignments are saved with the current project. • Since Quick Control settings are part of the track setup, you can save them as track presets, allowing you to re-use your settings across different projects. • You can automate the parameter settings on the Quick Controls tab using the Read/Write buttons (R and W). • You can also assign parameters to Quick Controls in the MixConsole. RELATED LINKS Track Presets on page 160 Automation on page 576 Channel Racks on page 300
Track Quick Controls Assigning Parameters to Quick Controls 619 Assigning Parameters to Quick Controls The Quick Controls tab shows eight slots, one for each quick control. To start with, these slots are empty. Parameters can be assigned manually or retrieved automatically. 1) QC Learn Mode 2) Get default QCs from Plug-in 3) Remove all QC Assignments Assignment via the Learn Function Using the QC Learn Mode button on the Quick Controls tab in the Inspector, you can assign a parameter by moving the corresponding control. This procedure applies to all automatable controls. PROCEDURE 1. In the Inspector for your track, open the Quick Controls tab. 2. Activate QC Learn Mode. 3. Select the slot to which you want to assign a parameter. 4. Use the desired control. Assignment via Plug-in Panels You can assign effect parameters to Quick Control slots directly from within plug-in panels. You can assign an effect parameter either to the next empty slot or to a specific Quick Control slot. NOTE These options are only available for VST 3 plug-ins that support this function.
Track Quick Controls Assigning Parameters to Quick Controls 620 PROCEDURE • Right-click the parameter. • To assign the parameter to the next empty slot, select Add “x” to Quick Controls (where x is the name of the parameter). • To assign the parameter to a specific slot, select Add “x” to Quick Controls Slot (where x is the name of the parameter). Then select the slot from the submenu. Assigning Parameters from Racks or Channel Settings You can assign several parameters to Quick Control slots directly from within racks or channel settings in the MixConsole. Some specific racks and channel settings allow you to add several parameters directly to the Quick Controls tab in the Inspector. • Pre (Filters/Gain/Phase) •Equalizers • Channel Strip You can assign an effect parameter either to the next empty slot or to a specific Quick Control slot. NOTE These options are only available for VST 3 plug-ins that support this function. PROCEDURE • Right-click the parameter. • To assign the parameter to the next empty slot, select Add “x” to Quick Controls (where x is the name of the parameter). • To assign the parameter to a specific slot, select Add “x” to Quick Controls Slot (where x is the name of the parameter). Then select the slot from the submenu. RELATED LINKS Track Quick Controls on page 618