Steinberg Cubase Ai 5 Manual

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Customizing 
						

							262
Customizing
Background
The user can customize the appearance and functionality 
of Cubase AI in various ways.
User configurable items described in this chapter are:
Setup dialogs
Several parts of the user interface (toolbars, Transport panel, Inspector, 
info lines and Channel Settings windows) provide a Setup dialog, where 
you can configure which items of the respective window area or panel are 
to be shown or hidden and where they should be located – see “Using the 
Setup options” on page 262.
Track list
The controls shown in the Track list can be set for each track type – see 
“Customizing track controls” on page 263.
Appearance
The general look of the program can be adjusted – see “Appearance” on 
page 265.
Track and event colors
You can adjust which colors should be used – see “Applying track and 
event colors” on page 265.
This chapter also contains a section describing where your 
preferences and settings are stored (see “Where are the 
settings stored?” on page 267), to help you transfer your 
customized settings to another computer.
Using the Setup options
You can customize the appearance of the following ele-
ments:
 Transport panel
 Info line
 Channel Settings window
 Toolbars 
 Inspector
The setup context menus
If you right-click the Transport panel, the toolbars, the info 
lines, or the Inspector, the respective setup context menu 
opens. For Channel Settings windows, these options are 
found in the dialog’s context menu, on the Customize 
View submenu. Here, you can activate/deactivate ele-
ments as desired.The following general options are available on the setup 
context menus:
“Show All” makes all items visible.
“Default” resets the interface to the default setting.
“Setup…” opens the Setup dialog (see below).
If presets are available, they can be selected on the lower 
half of the menu.
The info line setup context menu
The Setup dialogs
If you select “Setup…” from the setup context menus, the 
Setup dialog opens. This allows you to specify which ele-
ments should be visible/hidden and to set the order of the 
elements. You can also save and recall setup presets in 
this dialog.
The dialog is divided into two sections. The left section 
displays the currently visible items and the right section 
displays the currently hidden items.
This section shows 
Setup presets, if 
available. 
						

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Customizing
You can change the current show/hide status by select-
ing items in one section and then use the arrow buttons in 
the middle of the dialog to move them to the other section.
Changes are applied directly.
By selecting items in the “Visible Items” list and using the 
Move Up and Move Down buttons, you can reorder the 
items list.
Changes are applied directly. To undo all changes and revert to the stan-
dard layout, select “Default” on the setup context menu.
If you click the Save button (disk icon) in the Presets 
section, a dialog opens, allowing you to name the current 
configuration and save it as a preset.
To remove a preset, select it on the presets pop-up 
menu and click the trash icon.
Saved configurations are available for selection from the 
Presets pop-up in the Setup dialog or directly from the 
setup context menu.
Customizing track controls
For each track type you can configure which track controls 
should be shown in the Track list. You can also specify the 
order of controls and group controls so that they are always 
shown adjacent to each other. This is done using the Track 
Controls Settings dialog.
Opening the Track Controls Settings dialog
There are two ways to open the dialog:
Right-click a track in the Track list and select “Track 
Controls Settings…” from the context menu.
Click the arrow in the top left corner of the Track list and 
select “Track Controls Settings…”.
Setting the track type
The settings made in the Track Controls Settings dialog 
apply to the selected track type, which is shown in the 
menu display in the top left corner of the dialog.
To change the track type, click the arrow to the right in 
the menu display and select a track type from the pop-up 
menu that opens.
All settings made in the dialog will apply to all tracks (current and subse-
quent) of the selected type.
The Track Type pop-up in the Track Controls Settings dialog
ÖAlways make sure that you have selected the desired 
track type when editing the track controls!
Click here to open 
the pop-up menu. 
						

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Customizing
Removing, adding and moving track controls
The dialog is divided into two sections. The left section 
displays controls currently visible on the Track list, and the 
right section displays the controls currently hidden.
You can hide controls from the Track list by selecting 
them in the list to the left and clicking the Remove button. 
To show hidden elements, select them in the list to the 
right and click the Add button.
Click OK to apply the changes.
ÖAll controls can be removed except the Mute and Solo 
buttons.
By selecting controls in the “Visible Controls” list and 
using the Move Up and Move Down buttons, you can 
change the order of the list.
Click OK to apply the changes.
Grouping track controls
If you resize the Track list, the position of the controls will 
change dynamically to accommodate as many controls as 
possible in the available space (given that Wrap Controls is 
activated – see below). By grouping several track controls 
you ensure that they are always be positioned side by side 
in the Track list. To group controls, proceed as follows:
1.Make sure you have selected the correct track type.
2.In the “Visible Controls” section, select at least two 
controls.
You can only group controls that are adjacent to each other in the list. To 
group controls that are currently not adjacent in the list, use the Move Up/
Down buttons first.
3.Click Group.
A number is displayed in the Group column for the grouped controls. The 
first group created has the number 1, the second 2, and so on.
4.Click OK.
The controls are now grouped.
You can ungroup commands by using the Ungroup but-
ton. Please note that this will remove the selected element 
and the elements below it in the list from this group. To re-
move an entire group, select the first (topmost) element 
belonging to this group and click the Ungroup button.
About Wrap Controls
This is activated by default. Wrap Controls allows the con-
trols to be dynamically repositioned when resizing the Track 
list. That is, as many controls as possible will be displayed 
depending on the current size of the Track list.
If you deactivate Wrap Controls, the positions of the con-
trols are fixed, regardless of the size of the Track list. In this 
mode, you may have to resize the tracks vertically (by drag-
ging the dividers between them) to display all the controls.
About the Length column
The Length column in the Visible Controls list allows you to 
set the maximum length for certain text fields, e. g. Name. 
To change the setting, click on the number in the Length 
column and type in a new value.
Resetting Track list settings
You have two possibilities to reset the settings:
Click Reset to restore all default track controls settings 
for the selected track type.
Click Reset All to restore all default track controls set-
tings for all track types.
Saving presets
You can save track controls settings as presets for later 
recall:
1.Click on the Save button (the plus sign) to the right of 
the Presets pop-up menu.
A dialog opens, asking you to type in a name for the preset.
2.Click OK to save the settings as a preset.
Saved presets are available for selection from the Presets pop-up menu 
and from the pop-up menu in the top left corner of the Track list.
To remove a preset, select it in the Track Controls Set-
tings dialog and click the Delete button (the minus sign).
ÖCubase AI comes with a number of Track Control Set-
tings presets available. 
						

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Customizing
Appearance
In the Preferences dialog, you will find a page called Ap-
pearance. The following settings are available:
Basic Appearance Scheme
By selecting an option from this pop-up menu you can adjust the general 
look of the program. After selecting an Appearance Scheme and clicking 
Apply or OK, you need to restart the program for the changes to take 
effect.
Brightness/Intensity sliders
These sliders allow you to fine-tune the brightness and contrast in various 
areas in the program. Changes take effect when you click Apply or OK.
Applying track and event colors
You can use color scheming for easier overview of tracks 
and events in the Project window. Applying colors is di-
vided into two areas; track and event colors.
A track color is shown and can be edited in the Inspector, 
the Track list, and the corresponding channel in the Mixer. It 
is furthermore displayed in all parts and events for the track 
in the event display.
Track colors can be switched on and off globally.
Event colors are shown for parts and events in the event 
display and are independent from the track colors.
ÖAn applied event color “overrides” the track color, if 
both are used.
The color palette can be customized, see “The Event Co-
lors dialog” on page 266.
Track colors
Applying track colors manually
To activate track colors, proceed as follows:
1.Click the Show/Hide Track Colors button at the top of 
the Track list.
This brings up the Track Color Selector in the Inspector, 
the Track list and in the Mixer.2.To bring up the color palette, click the Track Color 
Selector.
Click the arrow in the track name title bar or…
…click the color strip in the Track list.
In the Mixer, click the Channel Color Selector below the channel name.
3.Select a color from the color bar.
The track color is now applied to the Inspector title palette and the Track 
list as well as the channel strips in the Mixer and any parts and events on 
the selected track.
Applying track colors automatically
In the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page), you 
can find the option “Auto Track Color Mode”.
This offers you several options for automatically assigning 
colors to tracks that are added to the project.
Option Effect
Use Default 
Event ColorThe default color (gray) is assigned. 
Use Previous 
Track ColorUses the color of the track above the new one (i. e. the 
track that is selected when you add a new track).
Use Previous 
Track Color 
+1Uses the color next to the color of the track above the 
new one (+1 refers to the color number in the palette).
Use Last 
Applied ColorThe last manually assigned color is used. 
Use Random 
Track ColorTrack colors are assigned randomly. 
						

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Customizing
Coloring parts and events
There are two ways to color parts and events in the 
Project window:
Using the color selector
1.Select the desired parts or events.
2.Choose a color from the Color Selector in the toolbar.
Using the Color tool
1.On the toolbar, select the Color tool.
2.Click the small strip below it to bring up the color pal-
ette.
3.Select a color. 
4.Click on a part/event to assign the color. 
The color is applied to all selected parts/events and over-
rides the track color (if used).
If you press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on a part/event 
with the Color tool, the color palette is displayed and you 
can choose the desired color for an event.
If you press [Alt]/[Option], the Color tool cursor becomes 
a pipette, which can be used to select a color by clicking on 
a part/event.
Customizing the event background
On the Event Display page in the Preferences dialog, you 
can find the option “Colorize Event Background”.
This option affects the display of events in the Project 
window.When this is activated, the events and parts in the event 
display will have the selected background color.
When this is deactivated, the event “content”, e. g. MIDI 
events and audio waveforms, are displayed in the selected 
color and the event background is gray. 
The Event Colors dialog
You can open the Event Colors dialog in two ways: 
Double-click the small strip below the Color tool. 
Open the Color pop-up menu on the toolbar and select 
“Select Colors…”.
In the Event Colors dialog, you can fully customize the 
color palette, apart from the default color (gray).
To add new colors to the color palette, proceed as follows:
1.Click the Insert New Color button in the Event Colors 
section to add a new color.
A new color icon and color name are added to the Event Colors section.
2.Click the color field next to the name field to activate 
the new color for editing.
3.In the Standard Colors section, select the standard 
color. You can modify the selected color as follows:
 Drag the cursor to another point in the color circle.
 Move the handle in the color meter.
 Enter the values for red, green and blue and hue, saturation 
and luminosity manually.
Remove Selected Color Increase/decrease intensity 
for all colors
This Set As 
Default Set
Increase/decrease brightness 
for all colors Insert New 
Color
Use Default Set 
						

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Customizing
4.Click the Apply button in the Standard Colors section. 
The color setting is applied to the selected color field in the Event Colors 
section. 
You can edit every existing event color in the same way.
To delete an event color item, select it and click the “Re-
move Selected Color” button in the Event Colors section.
To increase or decrease the intensity and the brightness 
of all colors, use the corresponding buttons in the Event 
Colors section.
To save the current set as default, click the button “This 
Set As Default Set” in the Event Colors section. You can 
then click the button “Use Default Set” to the right to ap-
ply the default set.
To return to the standard setting of the palette in Cu-
base AI, click Reset.
Where are the settings stored?
As you have seen, there are a large number of ways in 
which you can customize Cubase AI. While some of the 
settings you make are stored with each project, others are 
stored in separate preference files.
If you need to transfer your projects to another computer 
(e. g. in another studio), you can bring all your settings along 
by copying the desired preference files and installing them 
on the other computer.
ÖIt is a good idea to make a backup copy of your prefer-
ence files once you have set things up the way you want!
This way, if another Cubase AI user wants to use his or her personal set-
tings when working on your computer, you can restore your own prefer-
ences afterwards.
Under Windows XP, preference files are stored in the 
folder “\Documents and Settings\\Applica-
tion Data\Steinberg\Cubase AI 5\”.
On the Start menu, you will find a shortcut to this folder for easy access.
Under Windows Vista, preference files are stored in the 
folder “\Users\
						

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Key commands 
						

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Key commands
Introduction
Most of the main menus in Cubase AI have key command 
shortcuts for certain items on the menus. In addition, there 
are numerous other Cubase AI functions that can be per-
formed via key commands. These are all default settings. If 
you want, you can customize existing key commands to 
your liking, and also add commands for menu items and 
functions that have no key command assigned.
How are key commands settings saved?
Every time you edit or add any key command assignment, 
this is stored as a global Cubase AI preference – not as 
part of a project. Hence, if you edit or add a key command 
assignment, any subsequent projects that you create or 
open will use these modified settings. However, the de-
fault settings can be restored at any time by clicking the 
Reset All button in the Key Commands dialog.
In addition, you can save key commands settings as a “key 
commands file”, which is stored separately and can be im-
ported into any project. This way you can quickly and easily 
recall customized settings, when moving projects between 
different computers, for example. The settings are saved in 
an .xml file on the hard disk.
How to save key commands settings is described in the 
section “About key commands presets” on page 270.
Setting up key commands
The following is a description of how you set up key com-
mands and save them as presets for easy access. Key 
commands settings are accessed and edited in the Key 
Commands dialog.
Adding or modifying a key command
In the Key Commands dialog you will find all main menu 
items and a large number of other functions, arranged in a 
hierarchical way similar to the Windows Explorer and Mac 
OS Finder. The function categories are represented by a 
number of folders, each containing various menu items and functions. When you open a category folder by clicking the 
plus sign beside it, the items and functions it contains are 
displayed with the currently assigned key commands.
To add a key command, proceed as follows:
1.Pull down the File menu and select “Key Commands…”.
The Key Commands dialog appears.
2.In the Commands list on the left, choose a category.
3.Click the plus sign to open the category folder and 
display the items it contains.
Note that you can also click the “global” plus and minus signs in the top 
left corner to open and close all category folders at once.
4.In the list, select the item to which you want to assign 
a key command.
Already assigned key commands are shown in the Keys column as well 
as in the Keys section in the top right corner.
5.Alternatively, you can use the search function in the 
dialog to find the desired item.
For a description of how to use the search function, see below.
!You can also assign tool modifier keys, i.e. keys that 
change the behavior of various tools when pressed. 
This is done in the Preferences dialog – see “Setting 
up tool modifier keys” on page 271.
Key commands are displayed here. 
						

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Key commands
6.When you have found and selected the desired item, 
click in the “Type in Key” field and enter a new key com-
mand.
You can choose any single key or a combination of one or several modifier 
keys ([Alt]/[Option], [Ctrl]/[Command], [Shift]) plus any key. Just press the 
keys you want to use.
7.If the key command you entered is already assigned to 
another item or function, this is displayed below the “Type 
in Key” field. 
You can either ignore this and proceed to assign the key command to 
the new function instead, or you can select another key command.
8.Click the Assign button above the field.
The new key command appears in the Keys List.
9.Click OK to exit the dialog.
ÖYou can set up several different key commands for the 
same function. Adding a key command to a function that 
already has another key command will not replace the key 
command previously defined for the function. If you wish 
to remove a key command, see below.
Searching for key commands
If you want to know which key command is assigned to a 
certain function in the program, you can use the Search 
function in the Key Commands dialog:
1.Click in the search text field at the top left of the dialog 
and type in the function for which you want to know the key 
command.
This is a standard word search function, so you should type the command 
as it is spelled in the program. Partial words can be used; to search for all 
quantize related commands, type “Quantize”, “Quant”, etc.
2.Click the Search button (the magnifying glass icon).
The search is conducted and the first matching command is selected 
and displayed in the Commands list below. The Keys column and the 
Keys list show the assigned key commands, if any.
3.To search for more commands containing the word(s) 
you entered, click the Search button again.
4.When you are done, click OK to close the dialog.
Removing a key command
To remove a key command, proceed as follows:
1.Use the list of categories and commands to select the 
item or function for which you wish to remove a key com-
mand.
The key command is shown in the Keys column and the Keys list.
2.Select the key command in the Keys list and click the 
Delete button (the trash icon).
You are asked whether you really want to remove the key command.
3.Click Remove to remove the selected key command.
4.Click OK to close the dialog.
About key commands presets
As mentioned above, any changes made to the key com-
mands are automatically stored as a Cubase AI preference. 
However, it is also possible to store key commands settings 
separately. This way, you can store any number of different 
key command settings as presets for instant recall.
Saving key commands presets
Proceed as follows:
1.Set up the key commands to your liking.
When setting up key commands, remember to click “Assign” to make the 
changes.
2.Click the Save button next to the Presets pop-up 
menu.
A dialog appears, allowing you to type in a name for the preset. 
3.Click OK to save the preset.
Your saved key commands settings are now available on the Presets 
pop-up menu.
!If the key command you enter is already assigned to 
another function, you will get a warning message ask-
ing if you really want to reassign the command to the 
new function.