Steinberg Cubase Le 8 Manual

							Pool
Working with the Pool
331
Minimizing Files
You can minimize the audio files according to the size of the audio clips referenced 
in the project. The files that are produced using this option only contain the audio 
file portions that are actually used in the project.
This can significantly reduce the size of the project if large portions of the audio files 
are unused. Therefore, the option is useful for archiving purposes after you have 
completed a project.
IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT
This operation will permanently change the selected audio files in the Pool. This 
cannot be undone. If you only want to create the minimized audio files as a copy, 
leaving the original project untouched, you can use the Back up Project option.
NOTE
Minimizing files clears the entire edit history.
PROCEDURE
1. In the Pool window, select the files that you want to minimize.
2. Select Media > Minimize File.
3. Click Minimize.
After the minimizing is finished, the file references in the stored project have become 
invalid.
4. Do one of the following.
• To save the updated project, click Save Now.
• To proceed with the unsaved project, click Later.
RESULT 
Only the audio portions that are actually used in the project remain in the 
corresponding audio files in the Pool Record folder.
RELATED LINKS
Backing Up Projects on page 57
Converting Files
In the Pool, you can convert files to another format or change file attributes.
PROCEDURE
1. In the Pool window, select the files that you want to convert.
2. Select Media > Convert Files.
3. In the Convert Options dialog, make your settings and click OK. 
						

							Pool
Working with the Pool
332
Convert Options Dialog
In this dialog, you can change the file format and attributes of audio files in the Pool.
To open the Convert Options dialog, select a clip in the Pool window, and select 
Media > Convert Files.
Sample Rate
Allows you to convert to another sample rate.
Sample Width
Allows you to convert to 16 Bit, 24 Bit, or 32 Bit Float.
Channels
Allows you to convert to Mono or Stereo Interleaved.
File Format
Allows you to convert to Wave, AIFF, Wave 64, or Broadcast Wave format.
Options
You can use the Options pop-up menu to set one of the following options:
•New Files
Creates a copy of the file in the audio folder and converts this new file 
according to the chosen attributes. The new file is added to the Pool, 
but all clip references still point to the original, unconverted file.
•Replace Files
Converts the original file without changing clip references. However, the 
references are saved with the next save action.
•New + Replace in Pool
Creates a new copy with the chosen attributes, replaces the original file 
with the new one in the Pool and redirects the current clip references 
from the original file to the new file. Select the latter option if you want 
your audio clips to refer to the converted file, but want to keep the 
original file on disk, for example, if the file is used in other projects. 
						

							Pool
Working with the Pool
333
Conforming Files
You can align the file attributes with the project attributes. This is useful if the 
attributes of the selected files are different from the project attributes.
PROCEDURE
1. In the Pool window, select the clips that you want to conform.
2. Select Media > Conform Files.
3. Select whether to keep or replace the original unconverted files in the Pool.
• If you select the Replace option, files in the Pool and in the Audio folder of the 
project are replaced.
•If any Keep option is selected, original files remain in the Audio folder of the 
project and new files are created.
RESULT 
The files are conformed. Clip or event references in the Pool are redirected to the 
conformed files.
Extracting Audio from Video File
You can extract audio from video files. This automatically generates a new audio clip 
that appears in the Pool Record folder.
NOTE
This function is not available for MPEG-1 video files.
PROCEDURE
1. In the Pool window, select Media > Extract Audio from Video File.
2. Select the video file from which you want to extract audio and click Open.
RESULT 
The audio is extracted from the video file. The audio file gets the same file format 
and sample rate/width as in the current project, and the same name as the video file. 
						

							334
MediaBay
With the MediaBay, you can manage all your media files and presets from multiple 
sources.
To open the MediaBay, select Media > MediaBay, or press [F5].
The MediaBay is divided into several sections:
1)Define Locations
Allows you to create presets for locations on your system that you want to 
scan for media files.
2)Locations
Allows you to switch between the previously defined locations.
3)Filters
Allows you to filter the results list using a logical or an attribute filter. 
						

							MediaBay
Working With the MediaBay
335
4)Results
Displays all found media files. You can filter the list and perform text searches.
5)Previewer
Allows you to preview the files shown in the results list.
Working With the MediaBay
When working with many music files, the most important thing is to find the content 
that you need quickly and easily.
The MediaBay helps you to find and organize your content. After scanning your 
folders, all media files of the supported formats that have been found are listed in 
the Results section.
The first thing to do is to set up Locations, that is folders or directories on your 
system that contain media files. Usually, files are organized in a specific way on your 
computer. You might have folders reserved for audio content, folders for special 
effects, folders for combinations of sounds making up the ambience noise that you 
need for a certain film take, etc. These can all be set as different Locations in the 
MediaBay, allowing you to limit the files available in the Results list according to 
context.
Whenever you expand your computer system, you should save the new volumes as 
Locations or add them to your existing Locations.
By using the search and filter options, you can narrow down the results.
You can insert the files into your project by using drag & drop, by double-clicking, 
or by using the context menu options.
Setting Up the MediaBay
You can show and hide the different sections of the MediaBay. This saves screen 
space and enables you to display only the information that you need.
PROCEDURE
1. Click the Set up Window Layout button in the lower left corner of the 
MediaBay.
A transparent pane appears, containing checkboxes for the different sections. 
						

							MediaBay
Define Locations Section
336
2. Deactivate the checkboxes for the sections that you want to hide.
You can also use key commands for this: use the [Up]/[Down] and [Left]/[Right] arrow 
keys to step through the checkboxes and press [Space] to activate/deactivate the 
selected checkbox.
3. When you are done, click outside the pane to exit the setup mode.
Define Locations Section
In the Define Locations section, you can specify which folders or directories you 
want to include in the scan for media files. To do so, activate/deactivate the 
checkboxes for the folders.
The color of the checkmark helps you to identify which folders and subfolders are 
scanned:
• White indicates that all subfolders are scanned.
• Orange indicates that at least one subfolder is excluded from the scan.
To revert to scanning a complete folder including all subfolders, click on an 
orange checkmark.
The scanning status for the individual folders is indicated by the color of the folder 
icons:
• Red indicates that the folder is currently being scanned.
• Light blue indicates that the folder has been scanned.
• Dark blue indicates that a folder is excluded from the scan.
• Orange indicates that the scanning process for the folder was interrupted.
• Yellow indicates that a folder has not yet been scanned. 
						

							MediaBay
Scanning Your Content
337
VST Sound Node
The VST Sound node is a shortcut to your user content and the factory content files, 
including the preset folders.
The folders below the VST Sound node represent the directories in which content 
files and track presets, VST presets, etc. are stored by default.
Scanning Your Content
You can specify which folders or directories you want to include in the scan.
• To include a folder in the scan, activate its checkbox.
• To exclude a folder from the scan, deactivate its checkbox.
• To restrict the search to individual subfolders, activate/deactivate their 
checkboxes.
The scan result is saved in a database file. When you deactivate the checkbox for a 
folder that has already been scanned, a message appears, allowing you to keep the 
gathered scan data in this database file or to completely remove the data for this 
folder from the database file.
• To keep the database entries and exclude the folder from being scanned, 
select Keep.
• To remove the contents from the database, select Remove.
All files that are found in the specified folders are shown in the Results list.
Updating the MediaBay
When you have made changes to the content of media folder or modified attributes, 
you must update the MediaBay. You can update the MediaBay by rescanning or 
by refreshing.
Rescanning
If you have made changes to the content of specific media folders and want those 
changes to be displayed in the MediaBay you must rescan them.
• To rescan the selected folder and its subfolders, click the Rescan button in 
the Define Locations section. You can also right-click a folder and select 
Rescan Disk. 
						

							MediaBay
Locations Section
338
• To rescan only the folders that have changed since the last scan, right-click 
in the Define Locations section, and select Quick Rescan Disk.
Refreshing
If you have modified attribute values or mapped a new network, you must refresh the 
corresponding folders.
• To refresh a folder, in the Define Locations section of the MediaBay 
right-click a folder, and select Refresh Views.
• To display a new network drive, in the Define Locations section of the 
MediaBay right-click the parent node, and select Refresh Views. You can 
then scan the drive for media files.
Locations Section
When you open the Select Defined Browse Location pop-up menu and select a 
location, the media files that are found in that location are shown in the Results list. 
By switching between the locations you defined, you can quickly browse to the files 
you are looking for.
1)Previous/Next Browse Location
Selects the previous/next browse location.
2)Browse Containing Folder
Opens the parent location of the selected folder.
3)Select Defined Browse Location
The following location presets are available by default:
All Media, Local Harddisks, VST Sound, Documents, Desktop, Music, 
Cubase Projects.
4)Remove Browse Location Definition
Removes the selected browse location.
5)Deep Results
If this option is activated, the media files that are located in the subfolders of 
the selected location are also displayed in the results list. 
						

							MediaBay
Locations Section
339
Defining Locations
You can define locations, that is shortcuts to the folders that you want to work with. 
These are shown in the Locations section.
PREREQUISITE 
Set up the Define Locations section and scan the content.
PROCEDURE
1. In the Define Locations section in the MediaBay, select the folder that you 
want to define as a location.
2. Click the Add button.
3. Accept the default name or enter a new name.
4. Click OK.
The new location is added to the Select Defined Browse Location pop-up menu in 
the Locations section.
5. Repeat these steps to add as many locations as you want.
AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK 
Once you have set up your locations, you can hide the Define Locations section 
from view, to save screen space.
Browsing the Locations
You can quickly switch between different locations.
• To change the browse location, select another location from the Select 
Defined Browse Location pop-up menu.
If the available locations do not include the files that you want to display or if 
the folder that you want to scan for files is not part of any of the locations, 
define a new location in the Define Locations section.
• To select the previous or next folder, click the Previous/Next Browse 
Location buttons. These paths are deleted when you close the MediaBay.
• To select the parent folder of the selected folder, click the Browse 
Containing Folder button.
• To remove a location from the pop-up menu, select it and click the Remove 
Browse Location Definition button.
• To show the files contained in the selected folder and any subfolders, activate 
the Deep Results button. When this button is deactivated, only the folders 
and files contained in the selected folder are shown. 
						

							MediaBay
Results Section
340
Results Section
The Results list shows all media files that are found in the selected location.
The info field in the top right corner of the Results section shows how many files 
were found with the current filter settings. As the number of files displayed can be 
huge, you can use any of the filter and search options in the MediaBay to narrow 
down the list.
To set the maximum number of files that are displayed in the Results list, specify a 
new value for Maximum Items in Results List in the MediaBay Preferences.
Search in Progress Indicator
An indicator to the right of the number of files found indicates that a media search 
is in progress.
Inserting Files into the Project
PROCEDURE
• To insert a file into your project, do one of the following:
• Right-click the file and select one of the Insert into Project options.
• Double-click the file.
• Drag it into the project.
RESULT 
Depending on the track type, the following happens:
• Audio files, MIDI loops, and MIDI files are inserted on the active track if this 
matches the file type or onto a new track if no corresponding track is active. 
The files are inserted at the project cursor position.
• If you double-click a track preset it is applied to the active track if the track 
type matches the track preset. Otherwise, a new track is inserted, containing 
the settings of the track preset.