Steinberg Cubase LE Operation Manual

							CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 61
❐To get an approximate reading on the level of the audio events by view-
ing the waveforms, make sure the slider is all the way down. Otherwise, 
zoomed waveforms may be mistaken for clipped audio.
•If you activate the option Quick Zoom in the Preferences (Event Dis-
play page), the contents of parts and events will not be continuously 
redrawn when you zoom manually.
Instead, the contents are redrawn once you have stopped changing the zoom – acti-
vate this if screen redraws are slow on your system.
Resizing tracks in the Track list
• You can change the height of an individual track by clicking on its lower bor-
der in the Track list and dragging up or down.
To change the height of all tracks, hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and resize one of the 
tracks in the same way. If “Snap Track Heights” is activated on the Track scale pop-up 
(see below), the track height will change in larger increments when you resize it.
• You can also change the width of the Track list area, by dragging the border 
between the Track list and the event display. 
• The controls shown for tracks in the Track list are adaptable to track size. This 
means that when resizing a track’s height or width some of the controls will be 
dynamically placed where they best “fit in”.
• You can use the Track scale pop-up (opened by clicking the arrow button 
above the vertical zoom control) to set the number of tracks to view in the cur-
rent Project window.
The track height will be adjusted to show only the number of tracks specified on the 
pop-up menu. By selecting “Zoom N Tracks” from the pop-up you can manually set the 
number of tracks to fit in the current Project window. 
						

							CUBASE LE3 – 62 The Project Window
Zoom presets and Cycle markers
The pop-up menu to the left of the horizontal zoom control allows you 
to select, create and organize zoom presets. These are useful if you 
want to toggle between different zoom settings (e.g. one where the 
whole project is displayed in the project window and another with a 
high zoom factor for detailed editing). With this pop-up menu, you can 
also zoom in on the area between cycle markers in the project.
The upper part of the menu lists the zoom presets:
•To store the current zoom setting as a preset, select Add from the 
pop-up menu.
A dialog appears, allowing you to type in a name for the preset.
•To select and apply a preset, select it from the pop-up menu.
•The “Zoom to Locators” preset is always available. Selecting this op-
tion zooms in on the range between the left and right locators, so that 
only this range is shown in the event display.
Cycle markersZoom presets 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 63
•If you want to delete a preset, select “Organize…” from the pop-up 
menu. 
In the dialog that appears, select the preset in the list and click the corresponding but-
ton in order to delete the preset. The preset is removed from the list.
•If you want to rename a preset, select “Organize…” from the pop-up 
menu.
In the dialog that appears, select the desired preset in the list and click the Rename 
button. A second dialog opens, allowing you to type in a new name for the preset. 
Click OK to close the dialogs.
❐Zoom presets are global for all projects, i.e. they are available in all 
projects you open or create.
The middle part of the pop-up lists the cycle markers you created for 
the project:
•If you select a cycle marker form this menu, the event display is 
zoomed in to encompass the marker area (see page 111).
•You cannot edit the cycle markers in this pop-up menu. For informa-
tion on editing markers, see “Using Markers”.
❐Only the cycle markers you created in the current project are available on 
the menu. 
						

							CUBASE LE3 – 64 The Project Window
Adjusting how parts and events are shown
The Preferences dialog on the File menu (on the Mac, the Preferences 
dialog is located on the Cubase LE menu) contains several settings 
for customizing the display in the Project window.
On the Event Display page you will find common settings for all track 
types:
The Event Display–Audio page contains settings for audio events:
Option Description
Colorize Event 
BackgroundDetermines whether the backgrounds or “contents” (wave-
forms, etc.) of parts and events will be colorized. See page 68.
Quick Zoom If this is activated, the contents of parts and events are redrawn 
once you have stopped changing the zoom.
Transparent Events When this is activated, events and parts will be transparent, 
showing the waveforms and MIDI events only.
Show Data on Small 
Track HeightsIf this is activated, the contents of events and parts will be 
shown, even if the height of a track is very small.
Show Event Names Determines whether the names of parts and events should be 
shown in the Project window.
Option Description
Interpolate Audio 
ImagesIf the option is deactivated, single sample values are drawn as 
“steps”. If the option is activated they are interpolated to form 
“curves”.
Wave Image Style Determines whether audio waveforms should be displayed as 
solid images, frames or “inverted” images (solid+frame). This 
selection affects all waveform images in the Project window, 
Sample Editor and Audio Part Editor.
Note that the “Framed” and “Solid and Framed” styles are more 
demanding for the computer. If the system feels slower in these 
modes, please switch back to “Solid” wave image style.
Show Event Volume 
Curves AlwaysIf this is activated the “volume curves” created with the volume 
and fade handles are always shown – if not, the curves are only 
shown for selected events. 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 65
The Event Display–MIDI page contains settings for MIDI parts:
The Event Display–Video page contains settings for video events:
Option Description
Default Edit Action Determines which editor should be opened when you double 
click a MIDI part or select it and press [Ctrl]/[Command]-[E]: the 
Key, List or Score editor. 
Part Data Mode Determines how events in MIDI parts should be shown in the 
Project window: as lines, as score notes or as drum notes. 
Show Controllers Governs whether non-note events (controllers, etc.) should be 
shown in MIDI parts in the Project window.
Note Name Style Determines how MIDI note names (pitches) should be displayed 
in editors, etc.
Option Description
Show Video 
ThumbnailsWhen this is activated, thumbnail frames of the video contents 
are shown on the Video Track.
Video Cache Size This determines how much memory is available for video thumb-
nails. If you have long video clips and/or work with a large zoom 
factor (so that a lot of frames are shown in the thumbnails), you 
may have to raise this value. 
						

							CUBASE LE3 – 66 The Project Window
Zooming and navigating in the overview line
By clicking the Show Overview button on the toolbar, an extra pane 
appears under the toolbar, the project overview line. 
Show Overview button
In the overview line, events and parts on all tracks are displayed as 
boxes. You can use the overview line to zoom in or out, and for navi-
gating to other sections of the project. This is done by moving and re-
sizing the track view rectangle in the overview line:
• The track view rectangle indicates the section of the project currently dis-
played in the event display.
• You can zoom in or out vertically by resizing the track view rectangle.
Resizing is done by dragging the edges of the rectangle.
• You can drag the track view rectangle to view other sections of the project.
The number of tracks shown will not change.
The track view rectangle 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 67
Handling tracks
To add a track to the Project, select “Add Track” from the Project 
menu and select a track type from the submenu that appears. The 
new track is added below the currently selected track in the Track list.
•The “Add Track” menu is also available as a separate item on the 
Quick Menu.
•There is an additional option at the bottom of the Add Track submenu, 
called “Multiple...”. Selecting this brings up a dialog allowing you to 
add more than one track in one operation.
You can set whether audio, MIDI or group tracks should be created by selecting from 
the pop-up in the dialog. The number of tracks to add is entered in the “Count” value 
field.
Once you have created tracks, you can manipulate and rearrange them 
in various ways:
•To rename an audio or MIDI track, double click in the name field and 
type in a new name.
If you hold down any modifier key when pressing [Return] to close the name field, all 
events on the track will get the name you entered.
•To select a track, click on it in the Track list.
A selected track is indicated by a light grey color in the Track list. 
It is possible to select several tracks, by pressing [Ctrl]/[Command]. To select a con-
tinuous range of tracks, use [Shift]-clicking.
•To move a track, click and drag it up or down in the list.
•To duplicate a track, complete with all contents and channel settings, 
right-click in the Track list and select “Duplicate track” from the con-
text menu.
The duplicated track will appear above the original track.
This track is selected. 
						

							CUBASE LE3 – 68 The Project Window
•You can colorize the contents of selected track(s), or selected parts 
and events by clicking the Color button on the toolbar and selecting a 
color from the pop-up menu that appears.
If one or several tracks are selected, all events and parts on the track(s) will get the se-
lected color, as will any events and parts you add to the track later. If individual events 
or parts are selected, only these will be affected. Individually colorized events and/or 
parts will keep the applied color even if the track they belong to is later set to another 
color. The option “Colorize Event Background” in the Preferences dialog (User Inter-
face–Event Display page) determines whether the backgrounds or waveforms of 
events will be colorized.
•To remove the selected tracks, select “Remove Selected Tracks” from 
the Project menu.
You can also right-click directly on a track in the Track list and select “Remove Track” 
from the context menu that appears.
Adding events to a track
There are a number of ways to add events to a track:
• By recording (see page 21).
This is possible for audio and MIDI tracks.
• By selecting “Audio File...” or “Video File...” from the Import submenu on the 
File menu.
This opens a file dialog, allowing you to locate the file you wish to import. When you 
import a file this way, a clip is created for the file and an event that plays the whole clip 
is added to the selected track, at the position of the project cursor.
You can also import MIDI files by using the Import submenu, but this works in a slightly 
different way (see page 507).
• By grabbing audio CD tracks and converting these to audio files, see page 511.
• By using Copy and Paste on the Edit menu.
This allows you to copy all kinds of events between different projects. You can also use 
Copy and Paste for copying events within the project, from the Audio Part Editor or 
Sample Editor.
• By drawing.
Some types of events (markers and automation events) can be drawn directly into the 
Project window. For audio and MIDI tracks, you can draw parts (see page 71). 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 69
• By dragging files and dropping them on the track at the desired position.
You can create events by dragging and dropping from the following locations:
The Desktop.
The Pool.
The Project window of another open project.
The Audio Part Editor of any open project.
The Sample Editor of any open project – press [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag to create 
an event of the current selection.
The “Find media” dialog.
While you drag the clip in the Project window, its position will be indicated by a 
marker line and a numerical position box. See also page 291.
Audio file import options
When you are importing audio files, you can choose to copy the file 
into the project’s audio folder and have the project make reference to 
the copied file instead. This helps you keep your project “self-con-
tained”. Furthermore, you may want all files in the project to have the 
same sample rate and sample size (resolution).
There is a setting for this in the Preferences dialog (Audio page). Se-
lect one of the options on the “On Import Audiofile” pop-up: 
						

							CUBASE LE3 – 70 The Project Window
About Stereo/Mono
Audio tracks can be either stereo or mono. You can change this set-
ting manually as described below, but it can also be done automati-
cally, according to the following rules:
•Whenever a file is imported, copied or moved to a track, Cubase LE 
sets the stereo/mono status of the track according to its contents: If 
the majority of events on the track are in stereo, the track is set to ste-
reo and vice versa.
This means that if you import a file to an empty track, the track is automatically set to 
stereo or mono according to the imported file.
Stereo events on mono tracks (or vice versa) are indicated by the la-
bel “Mono/stereo mismatch”, and will not be played back:
A stereo file on a mono track.
To manually change the stereo/mono status, click the stereo button in 
the Track list or Inspector. A lit button with double circles indicates 
stereo, a dark button with a single circle indicates mono.
Setting the track to stereo.