Steinberg Cubase LE Operation Manual
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CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 51 The Track list The Track list is the area to the left in the Project window. It contains name fields and various settings for the tracks. Different track types have different controls in the Track list. To see all the controls you may have to resize the track in the Track list (see page 61): •The Track list area for an audio track: •The Track list area for the automation subtrack (revealed by clicking the + button on a track): •The Track list area for a MIDI track: Mute & SoloRecord Enable Track name Output activity indicator Show/hide automation Indicates whether effect sends, EQ or insert effects are activated for the track. Click to bypass.Stereo on/off Monitoring on/off Lock track button Automation Read/ Write buttons Edit channel settings Automation Read/Write buttonsAutomation parameter (click to select parameter) MuteLock track button Solo MuteRecord Enable Track name MIDI Output Bank Program MIDI channel Output activity indicator Drum map assign button Lock track button Monitoring on/off Automation Read/ Write buttons
CUBASE LE3 – 52 The Project Window The Inspector The area to the left of the Track list is called the Inspector. This can show additional controls and parameters for the track you have se- lected in the Track list. If several tracks are selected (see page 67), the Inspector shows the setting for the first (topmost) selected track. To hide or show the Inspector, click the Inspector icon in the toolbar. The Inspector icon. The contents and usage of the Inspector depends on the selected track’s class, as described below. •For some track classes, the Inspector is divided in sections. You can hide or show sections by clicking the tabs in their top right corner. Clicking the tab for a hidden section brings it to view and hides the other sections. [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking the tab allows you to hide or show a section without affect- ing other sections. Finally, [Alt]/[Option]-clicking a tab shows or hides all sections in the Inspector. • Folding a section does not affect the functionality but merely hides the section from view. In other words, if you have set up a track parameter or activated an effect, your settings will still be active even if you fold the Inspector section.
CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 53 Audio tracks For audio tracks, the Inspector contains the same controls as the Track list, as well as some additional buttons and parameters: Parameter Description Edit button Opens the Channel Settings window for the track, allowing you to view and adjust effect and EQ settings, etc. See page 147. Volume Use this to adjust the level for the track. Changing this setting will move the track’s fader in the Mixer window, and vice versa. See page 143 to learn more about setting levels. Delay This adjusts the playback timing of the audio track. Positive values delay the playback while negative values cause the track to play ear- lier. The values are set in milliseconds. Pan Use this to adjust the panning of the track. As with the Volume set- ting, this corresponds to the Pan setting in the Mixer. Inserts section Allows you to add up to 2 insert effects to the track, see page 173. The Edit button at the top of the section opens the Channel Settings window for the track. Equalizers sectionLets you adjust the EQs for the track. You can have up to four bands of EQ for each track, see page 149. The Edit button at the top of the section opens the Channel Settings window for the track. Sends section Allows you to route the track to one or several send effects (up to four), see page 168. There are two edit buttons at the top of this section – the left opens the VST Send Effects window and the right opens the Channel Settings window for the track. Channel section Shows a duplicate of the corresponding Mixer channel strip.
CUBASE LE3 – 54 The Project Window MIDI tracks When a MIDI track is selected, the Inspector contains a number of pa- rameters and effects, affecting the MIDI events in real time (e.g. on playback). This is described in a separate chapter, see page 321. Marker tracks When a marker track is selected, the Inspector shows the marker list. See page 105. Folder tracks When a folder track is selected, the Inspector shows the folder and its underlying tracks, much like a folder structure in the Windows Explorer or Mac OS X Finder. • You can click one of the tracks shown under the folder in the Inspector to have the Inspector show the settings for that track. This way, you don’t have to “open” a folder track to access the settings for the tracks within it. Here, an audio track within the folder is selected.
CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 55 Other tracks For the remaining track classes, the Inspector isn’t used. The toolbar The toolbar contains tools and shortcuts for opening other windows and various project settings and functions: Active project indicator Show/hide InspectorShow/hide info line Show/hide OverviewOpen Pool Open Mixer Project window tools Autoscroll on/off Transport controls (Stop, Play, Record and Cycle) Snap on/off Snap modeGrid pop-up menu Quantize valueColor pop-up menu
CUBASE LE3 – 56 The Project Window The info line The info line shows information about the currently selected event or part in the Project window. You can edit almost all values in the info line using regular value editing. Length and position values are dis- played in the format currently selected for the ruler (see page 57). •To hide or show the info line, click the corresponding icon on the tool- bar. The following elements can be selected for display and editing on the info line: • Audio events. • Audio parts. • MIDI parts. • Video events. • Markers. • Automation Curve Points. ❐Note that the info line will only display information if a single element is selected.
CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 57 The ruler The ruler at the top of the event display shows the timeline. Initially, the Project window ruler uses the display format specified in the Project Setup dialog (see page 58), as do all other rulers and position dis- plays in the project. However, you can select an independent display format for the ruler by clicking on the arrow button to the right of it and selecting an option from the pop-up menu that appears. •The selection you make here affects the ruler, the info line and tool tip position values (appear when you drag an event in the Project window). You can also select independent formats for other rulers and position displays. •To set the display format globally (for all windows), use the display for- mat pop-up on the Transport panel, or hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and select a display format in any ruler. Option Positions and lengths displayed as Bars+Beats Bars, beats, sixteenth notes and ticks, with 120 ticks per sixteenth note. Seconds Hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds. 24 fps Hours, minutes, seconds and frames, with 24 frames per second. 25 fps Hours, minutes, seconds and frames, with 25 frames per second. 29.97 fps Hours, minutes, seconds and frames, with 29.97 frames per second. 30 fps Hours, minutes, seconds and frames, with 30 frames per second. 29.97 dfps Hours, minutes, seconds and frames, “Drop frame” with 29.97 frames per second. 30 dfps Hours, minutes, seconds and frames, “Drop frame” with 30 frames per second. Samples Samples.
CUBASE LE3 – 58 The Project Window Operations Creating a new project You create a new project in the following way: 1.Select “New Project” from the File menu. A dialog appears, listing a number of project templates, including any custom tem- plates that you have created (see page 505). 2.Select a template and click OK. A file dialog appears, allowing you to specify a location for the project folder. This will contain all files related to the project. 3.Select an existing folder or type the name of a new one. Click OK. A Project window appears. The new project will be based on the selected template, and include tracks, events and settings from the template. The Project Setup dialog General settings for the project are made in the Project Setup dialog. This is opened by selecting “Project Setup...” from the Project menu.
CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 59 The following settings are available in the Project Setup dialog: ❐While most settings in the Project Setup can be changed at any time, you should select a sample rate once and for all when starting with a new project! All audio files must be of this sample rate to play back correctly. Setting Description Start The start time of the project. Allows you to have the project start at another time than zero. Also used for setting the sync start position when synchronizing Cubase LE to external devices (see page 463). Length The length of the project. Frame Rate Used if you are synchronizing Cubase LE with external equipment. If Cubase LE is master, this determines the frame rate of the sent sync signal. See page 466. Display Format This is the global display format used for all rulers and position dis- plays in the program. However, you can make independent display format selections for the individual rulers and displays if you like. For descriptions of the different display format options, see page 57. Display Offset Offsets the time positions displayed in the ruler etc., allowing you to compensate for the Start Position setting. Typically, if you synchro- nize Cubase LE to an external source starting at a frame other than zero, you set the Start Position to this value. However, if you still want the display in Cubase LE to start at zero, set the Display Offset to the same value too. Sample Rate This is the sample rate by which Cubase LE records and plays back audio files. Record Format When you record audio files in Cubase LE, they are recorded with this resolution. See page 26. Record File Type Determines which file types should be created when you record au- dio. See page 26. Stereo Pan Law Decides whether panning should use power compensation or not. This is explained on page 146.
CUBASE LE3 – 60 The Project Window Zoom and view options Zooming in the Project window is done according to the standard Zoom procedures (see the Getting Started book), with the following special notes: •When using the vertical zoom sliders, the tracks are scaled relatively. In other words, if you have made any individual track height adjustments (see below), the relative height differences are maintained. The following options are available on the Zoom submenu on the Edit menu: •You can zoom the contents of parts and events vertically, using the Waveform Zoom slider in the top right corner of the event display. This can be useful to better view quiet audio passages. Option Description Zoom In Zooms in one step, centering on the project cursor. Zoom Out Zooms out one step, centering on the project cursor. Zoom Full Zooms out so that the whole project is visible. “The whole project” means the timeline from the project start to the length set in the Project Setup dialog (see above). Zoom to Selection Zooms in horizontally so that the current selection fills the screen. Zoom to Event This option is available only in the Sample Editor (see page 244). Zoom In Vertical Zooms in one step vertically. Zoom Out Vertical Zooms out one step vertically. Zoom In Tracks Zooms in selected track(s) one step vertically. Zoom Out Tracks Zooms out selected track(s) one step vertically. Zoom Tracks ExclusiveThis zooms in vertically on the selected track(s) and minimizes the height of all other tracks.