Steinberg Cubase LE Operation Manual

							CUBASE LEVST System Link 25 – 481
The “Active ASIO Ports for Data only” setting
If you are sending huge amounts of MIDI data at once, there is a small 
possibility that you might run out of bandwidth on your VST System 
Link network. This will manifest itself by notes “choking” or timing be-
coming erratic. 
If this happens, you can devote more bandwidth to MIDI by selecting 
Active ASIO Ports for Data only in the VST System Link Setup panel. 
When this is active, the VST System Link information will be sent on 
the entire channel instead of just one bit, more than enough for all the 
MIDI you could ever hope to use. The downside is that you can no 
longer use this ASIO channel for audio transfer (do not connect it to a 
speaker!), thus leaving you only 7 channels of audio in our ADAT ca-
ble example. Depending on how you work this might be a reasonable 
compromise.
Hearing the network audio
If you are using an external mixing desk, hearing your audio really isnt 
an issue – just plug the outputs of each computer into the desired 
channels on the external mixing desk, press Play on one of the com-
puters, and youre good to go. 
However, many people prefer to mix internally inside the computer 
and just use a desk for monitoring (or maybe not use any external 
mixer at all). In this case youll need to select one computer to be your 
“main mix computer” and send the audio from your other computers 
into this. 
In the following example, we assume you are using two computers, 
with Computer 1 as your main mix computer and Computer 2 running 
two additional audio tracks, a reverb plug-in and a VST instrument 
plug-in with stereo outputs.
1.First you want to set things up so that you can listen to the audio play-
back from Computer 1.
In other words, you need an unused set of outputs, e.g. an analog stereo output, con-
nected to your monitoring equipment.
2.Go to Computer 2 and assign each of the two audio tracks to a sepa-
rate VST System Link output bus.
For example, assign the audio tracks to Bus 1 and 2. 
						

							CUBASE LE25 – 482 VST System Link
3.Assign the output of the reverb to another bus (e.g. Bus 3).
This is done using the output routing pop-up menu in the VST Send Effects window.
4.Assign the VST instrument stereo channel to yet another bus (e.g. 
Bus 4).
5.Go back to Computer 1 and add four new stereo audio tracks.
These should be routed to the bus you use for listening, e.g. to the analog stereo out-
puts.
6.Use the Input pop-up menus in the Mixer to select the four VST Sys-
tem Link buses (one for each track).
7.Activate monitoring for the four tracks.
If you now start playback, the audio from Computer 2 will be sent 
“live” to the new tracks on Computer 1, allowing you to hear them to-
gether with any tracks you play back on Computer 1.
Adding more tracks
OK, but if you have more audio tracks than you have VST System Link 
buses (physical outputs)? Then you just use the VST Outputs window 
on Computer 2 as a small submixer: Assign several audio tracks to the 
same Output bus and then set the fader in the VST Output window to 
make sure you are sending the right level to your main mix computer.
Note also that if your audio cards have multiple sets of input and out-
put connections you can link up e.g. multiple ADAT cables and send 
audio via any of the buses on any of the cables.
Internal mixing and latency
One problem with mixing inside the computer is the latency issue we 
mentioned earlier. The VST engine always compensates for record la-
tencies, but if you are monitoring through Computer 1 you will hear a 
processing delay while you listen to signals coming from your other 
computers (not on your recording!). If your audio card in Computer 1 
supports ASIO Direct Monitoring you should definitely turn this on – 
youll find the setting in the VST Multitrack Device Setup panel (see 
page 29). Most modern ASIO cards support this function. If yours 
doesnt you may want to change the Offset value in the VST System 
Link Setup panel to compensate for any latency issues. 
						

							CUBASE LEVST System Link 25 – 483
Setting up a larger network
This is not much more difficult than a two computer network. The main 
thing to remember is that VST System Link is a daisy chain system. In 
other words, the output of Computer 1 goes to the input of Computer 
2, the output of Computer 2 goes to the input of Computer 3, and so 
on around the chain. The output of the last computer in the chain must 
always go back into the input of Computer 1, to complete the ring.
Once youve done this, the transmission of all the transport, sync, and 
MIDI information to the whole network is handled pretty much auto-
matically. However, where you may run into confusion in a large net-
work is in the transmission of audio signals back to a central mix 
computer. 
If you have lots of hardware inputs and outputs on your ASIO cards 
you dont need to send audio via the chain at all, but can transmit it di-
rectly to the master mix computer via one or more of its other hard-
ware Inputs. For example, if you have a Nuendo Digiset interface or 
9652 card on Computer 1 you could use ADAT cable 1 for network-
ing, ADAT cable 2 as a direct audio input from Computer 2, and 
ADAT cable 3 as a direct audio input from Computer 3.
You can also transmit audio via the ring system if you dont have 
enough hardware I/Os for direct audio transmission. For example, in a 
four computer scenario you could send audio from Computer 2 into a 
channel in the mixer in Computer 3, and from there to a channel in the 
mixer in Computer 4, and from there back to the master mixer in Com-
puter 1. This can certainly be tricky to set up, so generally it is recom-
mended that if you want to set up a complex network, you should 
make sure to use ASIO cards with at least three separate digital I/Os.  
						

							CUBASE LE25 – 484 VST System Link
Application examples
Using one computer for VST instruments
In this example, you are using one computer as your main record and 
playback machine, and want to use another computer as a virtual 
synth rack. 
1.Record a MIDI track into Computer 1. 
2.Once you have finished recording, route the MIDI output of that track 
to System Link MIDI port 1. 
3.Now go to Computer 2, open up the VST Instrument rack and assign 
an instrument to the first slot in the rack.
4.Create a new MIDI track in the Project Window of Computer 2, and 
assign the MIDI output of the track to go to the VST Instrument you 
selected earlier. 
5.Assign the MIDI input of the track to be VST System Link port 1. 
Now, the MIDI track on Computer 1 is routed to the MIDI track on Computer 2, which 
in turn is routed to the VST Instrument.
6.Now activate monitoring for the MIDI track on Computer 2, so that it 
will listen and respond to any MIDI commands coming in.
In Cubase LE, you would click the monitor button in the Track list or Inspector.
7.Press play on Computer 1.
It will now send the MIDI information on the track to the VST Instrument loaded on 
Computer 2. 
Even with a slow computer you should be able to stack a whole bunch 
of extra VST Instruments this way, expanding your sound palette con-
siderably. Dont forget that VST System Link MIDI is also sample ac-
curate, and thus has much tighter timing than any hardware MIDI 
interface ever invented! 
						

							CUBASE LEVST System Link 25 – 485
Creating a virtual effect rack
The effect sends for an audio channel in Cubase LE can either be 
routed to an effect (in the VST Send Effects rack) or to any activated 
Group or Output bus. This allows you to use a separate computer as 
a “virtual effect rack”, by setting things up in the following way:
1.Go to Computer 2 (the machine you will use as effect rack) and add a 
new stereo audio track.
2.Add the desired effect as an insert effect for the track.
Let’s say you add a high-quality reverb plug-in.
3.Open the Mixer and select one of the VST System Link buses as input 
for the audio track.
You want to use a separate System Link bus, which will only be used for this purpose.
4.Activate monitoring for the track.
5.Now, go back to Computer 1 and select a track to which you want to 
add some reverb.
6.Bring up the effect sends for the track in the Inspector.
7.Pull down the send routing pop-up menu for one of the sends, and se-
lect the System Link bus assigned to the reverb in step 3.
8.Use the send slider/knob to adjust the amount of effect as usual.
The signal will be sent to the track on Computer 2 and processed 
through its insert effect, without using any processor power on Com-
puter 1.
You can repeat the steps above to add more effects to the “virtual ef-
fect rack”. The number of effects available this way is only limited by 
the number of ports used in the VST System Link connection (and of 
course by the performance of Computer 2, but given that it won’t have 
to handle any recording or playback, you should be able to use quite a 
lot of effects). 
						

							CUBASE LE25 – 486 VST System Link
Getting extra audio tracks
All computers on a VST System Link network are locked with sample 
accuracy. Therefore, if you find that the hard drive on one computer 
isn’t fast enough to run as many audio tracks as you need, you could 
record new tracks on one of the other computers instead. This would 
create a “virtual RAID system”, with several disks all operating to-
gether. All tracks will remain locked together just as tightly as if they 
were all running on the same machine. This means that you effectively 
have an unlimited track count! Need another 100 tracks? Just add an-
other computer. 
						

							26
Video 
						

							CUBASE LE26 – 488 Video
Background
Video support in Cubase LE
Cubase LE for Windows can play back video films using one of three 
different playback engines: DirectShow, QuickTime and Video for Win-
dows. This ensures compatibility with as wide a range of video hard-
ware as possible. Cubase LE for Mac OS X plays back video using 
Quicktime.
Generally there are two ways to play back video:
• Without any special hardware at all, using the computer CPU.
In this case, the “codec” is in software. While this will be fine in many situations it does 
put a limit on the size of the video window as well as the quality of the image.
• Using video hardware that for example connects to an external monitor.
Mac OS X: Using a FireWire port, you can playback video on an external mon-
itor using a DV-to-analog converter or a DV camera (see also page 491).
This is valid for DV video and QuickTime is used for playback.
❐Continuously updated information about video hardware support and 
compatibility is available on www.steinberg.net. 
						

							CUBASE LEVideo 26 – 489
Operations
About the video playback engine
In Cubase LE for Windows, you select a playback engine in the Device 
Setup dialog, under the “Setup” tab for the Video Player device:
What playback engine to select depends largely on which type of 
video system you are using, as well as on the file format and codec of 
the video files you want to work with. Below is a brief guide to which 
formats you may be able to use with the different playback engines. 
However, this also depends on the video hardware – please consult 
the hardware documentation for detailed information.
• Generally, you can expect most Windows hardware to work with Direct-
Show.
• For the Quicktime playback method to be available, you must have 
QuickTime installed on your computer.
A QuickTime installer is included on the Cubase LE CD if required.
❐Under Mac OS X, the Quicktime playback engine is always used, sup-
porting the formats AVI, MPEG, QuickTime and DV.
Playback engine Video file formats Codecs
DirectShow AVI, MPEG Cinepak, DV, Indeo, M-JPEG, MPEG
QuickTime QuickTime, AVI, MPEG Cinepak, DV, Indeo, M-JPEG, MPEG
Video for Windows AVI Cinepak, Indeo, M-JPEG (with some 
video cards) 
						

							CUBASE LE26 – 490 Video
Importing a video file
Video files are imported just as audio files, see page 68.
•By using the File menu (Import Videofile).
•By using drag and drop.
•By importing to the Pool first and then dragging to the Project window 
(see the Pool chapter for details).
Note:
• To be able to play back the video, you must add a video track (by using the 
Add Track submenu on the Project menu or Quick menu). You can only have 
one video track in each project.
• All video files on the track must be of the same size and compression format.
• The audio in the video file is not included.
Playing back a video file
Video files are displayed as events/clips on the video track, with 
thumbnails representing the frames in the film.
A video event on a video track.
To view the video on the computer screen (as opposed to on an exter-
nal monitor), proceed as follows:
•When you are using Cubase LE under Mac OS X, open the Device 
Setup from the Devices menu, click Video Player in the list and make 
sure “Onscreen Window” is selected in the Video Output section of 
the dialog. 
•Pull down the Devices menu and select Video (or use a key command 
– by default [F8]).
A video window appears. In stop mode, this displays the video frame at the project cursor 
position.
Playback is done together with all other material, using the Transport 
panel.