Steinberg Cubase Le 8 Manual

							Video
Playing Back Video
591
that they are in a lower resolution, i. e. the pictures are not as clear as when they are 
calculated. When the processes that rely heavily on the computer CPU are finished, 
the frames are automatically recalculated, i. e. the program automatically switches 
between realtime calculation of the pictures and using the cache file.
NOTE
There are situations where no thumbnail cache file can be generated, e. g. if you 
import a video file from a folder that is write-protected. If you have access to the host 
folder at a later stage, you can generate a thumbnail cache file manually.
Manually Generating Thumbnail Cache Files
If no thumbnail cache file could be generated during import or if you have to 
“refresh” a thumbnail cache file of a certain video file, because the file has been 
edited with an external video editing application, you have the possibility to generate 
the thumbnail cache file manually.
To create a thumbnail cache file manually, you have the following possibilities:
• In the Pool, right-click on the video file that you want to create a thumbnail 
cache file for and select the “Generate Thumbnail Cache” option from the 
context menu.
A thumbnail cache file is created, or, in case there already existed a thumbnail 
cache file for the video file, it is “refreshed”.
• In the Project window, open the context menu for the video event, and select 
“Generate Thumbnail Cache” from the Media submenu.
• Open the Media Menu and select “Generate Thumbnail Cache”.
NOTE
• “Refreshing” an already existing thumbnail cache file can be done only from 
within the Pool.
• The thumbnail cache file is generated in the background so that you can 
continue working with Cubase.
Playing Back Video
Video is played back together with all other audio and MIDI material, using the 
Transport controls.
IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT

						

							Video
Playing Back Video
592
• You need a video card that supports OpenGL (version 2.0 recommended) for 
proper video playback. A card with OpenGL 1.2 can also be used, but might 
put restrictions on the video functionality.
To check if your video equipment is capable of playing back a video from within 
Cubase, open the Video Player page in the Device Setup dialog. If your system 
does not meet the minimum video requirements, a corresponding message will be 
displayed.
Device Setup
In the Device Setup dialog you determine which device is used for playing back 
video files.
The Video Player page in the Device Setup dialog
You can switch between different output devices during playback.
Setting Up a Video Output Device
PROCEDURE
1. Open the Devices Menu and select “Device Setup...” to open the Device 
Setup dialog, and select the Video Player page.
2. In the Active column, activate the checkbox for the device that you want to use 
for playing back video.
All devices in your system that are capable of playing back video are listed. The 
Onscreen Window device serves for playing back the video file on your computer 
monitor.
3. From the pop-up menu in the Format column, select an output format.
For the Onscreen Window output, only a “fixed” format is available. For the other 
output devices, you can select different output formats for playback depending on the 
device.
4. Adjust the Offset setting to compensate for processing delays.
Due to delays while processing video, the video image may not match with the audio 
in Cubase. By using the Offset parameter, you can compensate for this effect. The 
Offset value indicates how many milliseconds the video will be delivered earlier in 
order to compensate for the processing time of the video material. Each hardware 
setup can have different processing delays, so you must try out different values to 
determine which value is appropriate.
NOTE
• The Offset value can be set individually for each output device. It is saved 
globally for each output device and is independent of the project. 
						

							Video
Playing Back Video
593
• The offset is only used during playback. It is defeated in stop and scrub 
mode so that you always see the correct video frame.
AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK 
If the quality of the video image is not a critical factor or if you are experiencing 
performance problems, try lowering the value on the Video Quality pop-up menu. 
Although higher quality settings make the video display sharper and smoother, they 
also lead to an increased processor load.
RELATED LINKS
Video Output Devices on page 587
Improving Video Performance
Sometimes, video problems, such as stutters during playback, are caused by 
codecs that do not support multi-threading. This can be the case for video files that 
use single-threaded decoding, such as Motion-JPEG, Photo-JPEG, and QuickTime 
DV codecs. These types of video files are typically created when capturing video 
with Decklink/AJA cards.
To compensate for this, you can activate the “Boost Video (Reduces Audio 
Performance)” option on the Video Player page in the Device Setup dialog. This 
excludes one of the available CPU cores from audio processing and reserves it for 
video tasks like decoding and playback. However, this may reduce the audio 
performance.
NOTE
For this option to have an effect, you must also activate the Multi Processing option 
in the Device Setup dialog (VST Audio System page).
Video Player
The Video Player window is used for playing back video on your computer screen.
• To open the Video Player window, open the Devices menu and select the 
“Video Player” option.
Setting the Window Size and Video Quality
To resize the Video Player window and/or change the playback quality of the video, 
select the appropriate option on the context menu of the Video Player window.
Fullscreen Mode
The window is enlarged to occupy the whole (computer) screen. If you are 
working with more than one monitor, you can move the Video Player window 
to an extra monitor. Thus, you can work with Cubase on one monitor and let 
the video play back on another monitor. You can exit full screen mode via the 
window’s context menu or by pressing [Esc] on your computer keyboard. 
						

							Video
Playing Back Video
594
Quarter Size
The window size is reduced to a quarter of the actual size.
Half Size
The window size is reduced to half the actual size.
Actual Size
The window size corresponds to the size of the video.
Double Size
The window is enlarged to twice the actual size.
Video Quality
This submenu allows you to change the quality of the video image.
NOTE
• To resize the Video Player window, you can also drag the borders.
• The higher the resolution, the more processing power is needed for playback. 
If you need to reduce the processor load, you can reduce the size of the Video 
Player window, or lower the value on the Video Quality submenu.
Setting the Aspect Ratio
Resizing the Video Player window by dragging its borders may lead to a distorted 
image. To prevent this, you can set an aspect ratio for video playback.
From the Aspect Ratio submenu of the Video Player context menu, select one of the 
following options:
None
The aspect ratio of the video is not kept when resizing the window. The image 
is enlarged/reduced to occupy the whole Video Player window.
Internal
The Video Player window can be resized at will, but the aspect ratio of the 
video is kept and black borders are displayed around the video image to fill 
the window.
External
The resizing of the Video Player window is limited according to the aspect 
ratio of the video image, i. e. the video image always fills the full window and 
its aspect ratio is kept.
NOTE
When the video is played back in full screen mode, the aspect ratio of the video is 
always kept. 
						

							Video
Editing Video
595
Scrubbing Video
You can scrub video events, i. e. play them back forwards or backwards at any 
speed. This is done by clicking in the Video Player window and moving the mouse 
to the left or to the right. You can also use the Scrub controls on the Transport panel 
or a jog wheel on a remote controller for scrubbing video events.
RELATED LINKS
Project Scrubbing - The Jog Wheel on page 132
Playing Back with the Shuttle Speed Wheel on page 132
Editing Video
Video clips are played back by events just as audio clips are.
You can use all the basic editing operations on video events, just as with audio 
events. You can take a single event and copy it many times for the creation of mix 
variations. A video event may also be trimmed using the event handles to remove a 
countdown for instance. Furthermore, you can edit video clips in the Pool.
It is not possible to fade or crossfade video events. Furthermore, you cannot use the 
Draw, Glue, and Mute tools with a video event.
NOTE
Windows only: If you find that you are unable to edit a video file copied from a CD, 
this might be due to the fact that files copied from CD are write-protected by 
default. To remove the write-protection, in the Windows Explorer, open the 
Properties dialog and deactivate the “Read-Only” option.
RELATED LINKS
Pool on page 313
Extracting Audio From a Video File
If a video file contains audio, the audio stream can be extracted.
As always when importing audio material, a dialog is displayed allowing you to 
select different import options. 
There are several ways to extract audio from a video file:
• By activating the “Extract Audio From Video” option in the Import Video 
dialog.
• By using the “Audio from Video File” option on the Import submenu of the File 
menu.
This will insert an audio event starting at the project cursor position on the 
selected audio track. If no audio track is selected, a new one will be created. 
						

							Video
Replacing the Audio in a Video File
596
• By activating the “Extract Audio on Import Video File” option in the 
Preferences dialog (Video page).
This will automatically extract the audio stream from any video file during 
import.
• By using the “Extract Audio from Video File” option on the Media menu.
This creates an audio clip in the Pool, but does not add any events to the 
Project window.
IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT
These functions are not available for MPEG-1 video files.
RELATED LINKS
Audio file import options on page 616
Importing Video Files on page 588
Replacing the Audio in a Video File
Once you have edited all audio and MIDI data to the video and created a final mix, 
you will need to put the new audio back with the video. You can do this by 
embedding the audio in another stream within the video container file.
PROCEDURE
1. Place the left locator at the start of the video file in Cubase. This will ensure 
that your audio and video streams are synchronized.
2. Open the File menu and select the Audio Mixdown option from the Export 
submenu to export the audio file you wish to insert into the video container file.
3. From the File menu, select “Replace Audio in Video File…”.
A file dialog opens prompting you to locate the video file.
4. Select the video file and click Open.
Next, you are prompted to locate the corresponding audio file.
5. Select the audio file and click Open.
The audio is added to the video file, replacing its current audio stream.
AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK 
Once the process is completed, open the video file in a native media player and 
check for proper synchronization.
RELATED LINKS
Export Audio Mixdown on page 551 
						

							597
ReWire (not in Cubase LE)
Introduction
ReWire is a special protocol for streaming audio between two computer 
applications.
Developed by Propellerhead Software and Steinberg, ReWire provides the 
following possibilities and features:
• Realtime streaming of up to 48 separate audio channels, at full bandwidth, 
from the “synthesizer application” into the “mixer application”.
In this case, the “mixer application” is of course Cubase. An example of a 
“synthesizer application” is Propellerhead Software’s Reason.
• Automatic, sample accurate synchronization between the audio in the two 
programs.
• The possibility to have the two programs share one audio card and take 
advantage of multiple outputs on that card.
• Linked transport controls that allow you to play, rewind, etc., either from 
Cubase or from the synthesizer application (provided it has some kind of 
transport functionality).
• Automatic audio mixing functions of separate channels as required.
In the case of Reason, for example, this allows you to have separate channels 
for the different devices.
• Additionally, ReWire offers the possibility to route MIDI tracks in Cubase to 
the other application, for full MIDI control.
For each ReWire compatible device, a number of extra MIDI outputs will be 
made available in Cubase. In the case of Reason, this allows you to route 
different MIDI tracks in Cubase to different devices in Reason, with Cubase 
serving as the main MIDI sequencer.
• The overall load on your system is much reduced, compared to when using 
the programs together in the conventional way. 
						

							ReWire (not in Cubase LE)
Launching and quitting
598
Launching and quitting
When using ReWire, the order in which you launch and quit the two programs is 
very important.
Launching for normal use with ReWire
PROCEDURE
1. First launch Cubase.
2. Enable one or several ReWire channels in the ReWire Device dialog for the 
other application.
3. Launch the other application.
It may take slightly longer for the application to start when you are using ReWire.
RELATED LINKS
Activating ReWire channels on page 599
Quitting a ReWire session
When you are finished, you also need to quit the applications in a special order.
PROCEDURE
1. First quit the synthesizer application.
2. Then quit Cubase.
Launching both programs without using ReWire
We cannot think of any scenario, in which you would need to run Cubase and the 
synthesizer application simultaneously on the same computer, without using 
ReWire, but you can.
PROCEDURE
1. First launch the synthesizer application.
2. Then launch Cubase.
NOTE
Please note that the two programs now compete for system resources such as audio 
cards, just as when running either with other, non-ReWire audio applications. 
						

							ReWire (not in Cubase LE)
Activating ReWire channels
599
Activating ReWire channels
ReWire supports streaming of up to 48 separate audio channels. The exact number 
of available ReWire channels depends on the synthesizer application. Using the 
ReWire Device panels in Cubase, you can specify which of the available channels 
you want to use.
PROCEDURE
1. Open the Devices menu and select the menu item with the name of the 
ReWire application. All recognized ReWire compatible applications will be 
available on the menu.
The ReWire panel appears. This consists of a number of rows, one for each available 
ReWire channel.
2. Click on the power buttons to the left to activate/deactivate the desired 
channels.
The buttons light up to indicate activated channels. Please note that the more ReWire 
channels you activate, the more processing power is required.
For information about exactly what signal is carried on each channel, see the 
documentation of the synthesizer application.
3. If desired, double-click on the labels in the right column, and type in another 
name.
These labels will be used in the Cubase MixConsole to identify the ReWire channels.
Using the transport and tempo controls
IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT
This is only relevant if the synthesizer application has some sort of built-in 
sequencer or similar.
Basic transport controls
When you run ReWire, the transports in the two programs are completely linked. It 
does not matter in which program you play, stop, fast forward or rewind. However, 
recording (if applicable) is still completely separate in the two applications.
Loop settings
If there is a loop or cycle facility in the synthesizer application, that loop will be 
completely linked to the cycle in Cubase. This means that you can move the start 
and end point for the loop or turn the loop on or off in either program, and this will 
be reflected in the other. 
						

							ReWire (not in Cubase LE)
How the ReWire channels are handled
600
Tempo settings
A s  f a r  a s  t e m p o  g o e s ,  C u b a s e  i s  a l w a y s  t h e  m a s t e r .  T h i s  m e a n s  t h a t  b o t h  p r o g r a m s  
will run in the tempo set in Cubase.
However, if you are not using the tempo track in Cubase, you can adjust the tempo 
in either program, and this will immediately be reflected in the other.
IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT
If you are using the tempo track in Cubase (i. e. the Tempo button is activated on 
the Transport panel), you should not adjust the tempo in the synthesizer application, 
since a tempo request from ReWire will automatically deactivate the tempo track in 
Cubase!
How the ReWire channels are handled
When you activate ReWire channels in the ReWire Device panels, they will become 
available as channels in the MixConsole.
The ReWire channels have the following properties:
• ReWire channels may be any combination of mono and stereo, depending on 
the synthesizer application.
• ReWire channels have the same functionality as regular audio channels.
This means you can set volume and pan, add EQ, insert effects and sends, 
and route the channel outputs to groups or busses. However, ReWire 
channels have no monitor buttons.
• All channel settings can be automated using the Read/Write buttons.
When you write automation, channel automation tracks will automatically 
appear in the Project window. This allows you to view and edit the automation 
graphically, just as with VST instrument channels, etc.
• You can mix down the audio from ReWire channels to a file on your hard disk 
with the Export Audio Mixdown function.
You can export the output bus to which you have routed the ReWire channels. 
You can also export individual ReWire channels directly – “rendering” each 
ReWire channel to a separate audio file.
RELATED LINKS
Mixing down to audio files on page 551