Steinberg Cubase LE Operation Manual

							28
File Handling 
						

							CUBASE LE28 – 502 File Handling
File Operations
New Project
The New Project command on the File menu allows you to create a 
new project, either empty or based on a template:
1.Select New Project from the File menu.
A list of templates is displayed. When you install Cubase LE, a number of templates for 
various purposes are included, but you can also create your own (see page 505).
2.Select a template from the list, or select “Empty”.
A project file dialog appears, allowing you to specify a folder for the new project.
3.Select an existing project folder or create a new one by typing its 
name in the dialog.
A new, untitled project is created.
Open
The Open command on the File menu is used for opening saved 
project files.
•Several projects can be open at the same time.
The active project is indicated by the red Activate button in the upper left corner of the 
Project window. To make another project active, click its Activate button.
An active project.
•You can also open project files by selecting a shortcut from the “Re-
cent Projects” submenu on the File menu.
This submenu lists the projects you have recently worked with, with the most recent 
one at the top of the list.
•Projects can also automatically be opened when you launch Cubase 
LE.
See page 516. 
						

							CUBASE LEFile Handling 28 – 503
Close
The Close command on the File menu closes the active window. If a 
Project window is active, selecting Close will close the corresponding 
project.
•If the project contains unsaved changes, you will be asked whether 
you want to save the project before closing it.
If you select “Don’t Save”, and have recorded or created new audio files since saving, 
you get the choice to delete or keep these.
Save and Save As
The commands Save and Save As allow you to save the active project 
as a project file (file extension “.cpr”). The Save command stores the 
project under its current name and location, while Save As allows you 
to rename and/or relocate the file. If you haven’t yet saved the project, 
or if it hasn’t been changed since it was last saved, only Save As will 
be available.
❐Generally, we recommend that you save project files in their project fold-
ers, to keep the projects as manageable as possible.
A word about file extensions
Under Windows, file types are indicated by three letter file name ex-
tensions (such as *.cpr for Cubase LE Project files). Under Mac OS X, 
it is not necessary to use file name extensions, since the file types are 
stored internally in the files. However, if you want your Cubase LE 
Projects to be compatible with both platforms, you should make sure 
the option “Use File Extension in File Dialog” is activated in the Prefer-
ences dialog (User Interface page) - this is the default setting. When 
this is activated, the proper file name extension is automatically added 
when you save a file. 
						

							CUBASE LE28 – 504 File Handling
Saving a Default Project
If you always want the same default project to open when you launch 
Cubase LE, you can save a default project:
1.Set up a project the way you want it.
2.Select “Save As” from the File menu and save the project in the Cu-
base LE application folder, under the name “default.cpr”.
❐This is the one case when the file name extension is crucial under Mac 
OS X as well!
3.Open the Preferences dialog and select the User Interface page.
4.Open the “On Startup” pop-up menu and select “Open Default 
Project”.
The next time you launch Cubase LE, the default project is automatically opened. For 
details on the other Startup options, see page 516.
Save Project to new folder
This function is very useful if you want to move or archive your project. 
If you select this item, you will first be asked where to store the saved 
project. Then a dialog will appear, with the following options:
Item Description
Project Name By default, this will be the current name of the project you’re sav-
ing, but you can change it if you like. 
						

							CUBASE LEFile Handling 28 – 505
When you’ve made your settings, click OK to save the project in the 
new folder. The original project isn’t removed or affected.
Save as Template
This function allows you to save the current project as a template. 
Templates are always stored in the Templates folder (within the Cu-
base LE program folder). When you create a new project, the avail-
able templates will be listed, allowing you to base the new project on 
a template.
•Templates can contain clips and events, just like regular projects.
If this is not what you want, make sure to remove all clips from the Pool before you save 
the project as a template.
Revert
If you select Revert from the File menu, you will be asked whether you 
really want to revert to the last saved version of the project. If you click 
“Revert”, all changes you have made since the last saving will be dis-
carded.
•If you have recorded or created new audio files since saving, you will 
be asked whether you want to delete or keep these.
Minimize Audiofiles If this is activated, only the audio file portions that are actually 
used in the project will be included. This can significantly reduce 
the size of the project folder (if you are using small sections of 
large files), but it will also mean you cannot make use of the re-
maining audio file portions if you continue working with the 
project in its new folder.
Freeze Edits This will perform a Freeze Edits operation, making all processing 
and applied effects permanent to each clip in the Pool. See page 
235.
Remove Unused 
FilesWhen this is activated, only files in the Pool that are actually used 
in the project will be stored in the new folder. Item Description 
						

							CUBASE LE28 – 506 File Handling
The “Cleanup” function
The Cleanup function on the File menu helps you to save hard disk 
space by locating, and if you like, deleting unused audio files in the 
project folders on your disk.
1.Select “Cleanup…” from the File menu.
If there are any open projects, an alert will appear, allowing you to close these. Clicking 
“Close” closes all open projects and brings up the Cleanup dialog.
2.If you want to restrict the Cleanup function to a certain folder only, 
click the “Search Folder” button and select the folder.
You should only select a specific folder if you are certain it doesn’t contain audio files 
used in other projects (outside the folder)! See the note below.
If you want the Cleanup function to be applied to all folders on all hard disks, you don’t 
need to make any special settings, as this is the default mode. After selecting a folder 
you can reset the function to search all folders by opening the “Search Folder” dialog 
again and clicking “Cancel”.
3.Click the Start button.
Cubase LE will now scan the selected folder (or all hard disks) for Cubase LE project 
folders and check for audio and image files (in the Audio, Edits, Fades and Images 
subfolders) that are not used by any project. The found files are listed in the dialog.
4.When the scan is complete, you can select files by clicking in the list.
Use [Ctrl]/[Command]-click to select several files, and [Shift]-click to select a range of 
files. You can also click the Select All button to select all files in the list.
❐There are situations when the Cleanup function will list files that are not 
unused! 
- If you have moved or renamed files or folders (without updating the 
project files to use the new paths), there is no way for Cubase LE to 
know that these files are used in a project. 
- If you are performing the Cleanup function on a folder in which there 
are audio files belonging to other projects (outside the folder), these 
files will be considered “unused”. 
- Also, make sure you don’t delete any files used in other applications, or 
files that you generally want to keep!
However, you can safely delete Image files and Fade files (files within 
the Fades folder of a project) since these can be reconstructed by the 
program if necessary. 
						

							CUBASE LEFile Handling 28 – 507
5.Delete any files you don’t want to keep, by selecting them and clicking 
Delete.
6.Close the dialog by clicking its close button.
Exporting and Importing MIDI Files
Cubase LE can import and export Standard MIDI Files, which makes it 
possible to transfer MIDI material to and from virtually any MIDI applica-
tion, on any platform.
Exporting MIDI Files
To export your MIDI tracks as a Standard MIDI File, pull down the File 
menu and select “MIDI File...” from the Export submenu. A regular file 
dialog appears, allowing you to specify a location and name for the 
file. You will then be asked whether the MIDI file should be of Type 0 
(all data on a single track, but on different MIDI channels) or Type 1 
(data on separate tracks). Which type to choose depends on what 
you want to do with the MIDI file (in which application or sequencer it 
should be used, etc.).
• The MIDI File will contain the Master Tempo, including all changes in the 
Tempo track.
• Inspector settings for the tracks are not included in the MIDI file! 
To include these, you need to convert the settings to “real” MIDI events and properties 
by using the Merge MIDI in Loop function for each track, see page 329.
Importing MIDI Files
To import a MIDI file from disk, proceed as follows:
1.Select “MIDI File...” from the Import submenu on the File menu.
2.In the dialog that appears, select whether you want the MIDI file to be 
imported into the current project, or whether a new project should be 
created.
3.Locate and select the MIDI file in the file dialog that appears, and click 
Open. 
						

							CUBASE LE28 – 508 File Handling
4.If you chose that a new project should be created, you are asked to 
specify a project folder for the new project.
Select an existing project folder or create a new one by typing its name in the dialog.
The MIDI file is imported, starting at the beginning of the project. The 
result depends on the type of MIDI file:
• If the MIDI file is of Type 0 (all data on a single track), only one MIDI track will 
be created.
This track will be set to MIDI Channel “Any”, allowing all MIDI events to play back on 
their original channels. You can use the Dissolve Part function on the MIDI menu to dis-
tribute the events onto different tracks with different MIDI Channels (see page 348).
• If the MIDI file is of Type 1 (data on several tracks) a number of new MIDI 
tracks and parts will be created.
In both cases, the Tempo track is adjusted according to the tempo 
track in the MIDI file.
Importing older Cubase files
It is possible to import files created in older versions of Cubase. There 
are three options for this on the File – Import submenu:
Import Cubase Song
This will open a Song file (Windows file extension “.all”) created in Cu-
base 5.0 or later and convert it to a Cubase LE project. When import-
ing a Song, you will be asked to specify a folder for the new project, 
as usual.
• Cubase Songs can contain more than one Arrangement (containing in-
dependent part and event data). If this is the case, you will be asked 
which one of these Arrangements to import.
To import all Arrangements in a Cubase Song, simply repeat this for all Arrangements, 
and save each as a separate project.
The conversion has the following limitations:
Data Conversion result
MIDI output setting 
for MIDI tracksIf the output information stored in the original Song doesn’t 
match the current outputs, a “Pending Connections” dia-
log will appear, allowing you to remap each MIDI output in 
the Song to a new output. 
						

							CUBASE LEFile Handling 28 – 509
MIDI track play parameters 
(Inspector settings)Only the volume and transpose settings are included; the 
other parameters (velocity, compression, length and pan) 
are ignored.
MIDI part play parameters 
(Inspector settings)All settings are included, except transpose.
Group tracks Removed.
Style tracks Removed.
Chord tracks Removed.
Drum tracks Converted to MIDI tracks with drum maps. MIDI output 
settings for individual drum sounds will be ignored.
Solo/Mute status of tracks Ignored.
MIDI “effect” devices, such 
as the arpeggiator and IPSRemoved.
Window layouts Ignored.
Key command settings Ignored.
Grooves Ignored.
MIDI Mixermaps Removed.
Dynamic events in audio 
parts (including M-points)Ignored.
Automation The VST channel automation is included, but limited to vol-
ume, pan and EQ data. Plug-in automation is ignored.
Left/right locator positions 
and cycle statusIgnored.
Sync settings and status Ignored.
Master track hitpoints Removed.
VST Group channels Removed.
Multiple audio tracks routed 
to the same audio channelWill be replaced by separate audio tracks (with separate 
channels in the Mixer). This is because in Cubase LE there 
is always one channel per track.
Solo/Mute status of VST 
channelsIgnored. Data Conversion result 
						

							CUBASE LE28 – 510 File Handling
• It’s also possible to import Songs created in version 3.7x of Cubase for 
Windows.
However, this will only include the basic audio and MIDI data, ignoring most of the set-
tings.
Import Cubase Arrangement
As mentioned above, a Song in previous versions of Cubase could 
contain one or several Arrangements. These contained all the part and 
event data along with file references, but without mixer settings and 
similar, which were global to all Arrangements in the Song. Arrange-
ments could be saved as separate files, with the extension “.arr”.
When you import a Cubase Arrangement into Cubase LE, it will be 
converted to a project, just as when importing a Song. The same limi-
tations apply.
Import Cubase Part
Just as in Cubase LE, previous Cubase versions used parts as con-
tainers for MIDI or audio events. These could be saved as separate 
files with the extension “.prt”. When you import a part file, the follow-
ing happens:
• A new track is created, with the name of the part.
That is, the name of the part when it was saved in Cubase, not (necessarily) the file 
name.
• The part appears as a Cubase LE part, at the left locator position.
• If the imported part was an audio part, the necessary clips and file references 
are added to the Pool.
❐Note that none of these file formats contain any actual audio data. Just 
as with Cubase LE projects, the files only contain references to audio 
files. This means that you need access to the referenced audio files as 
well, to properly import Songs, Arrangements or Parts with audio.