Steinberg Cubase SE 3 Operation Manual

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The Sample Editor 15 – 281
•To display the level scale after hiding it, right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click 
(Mac) to bring up the Quick menu and activate “Level Scale” on the 
Elements submenu.
This submenu also allows you to select whether you want the zero axis and/or the half 
level axis indicated in the waveform display.
The info line
The info line at the bottom of the window shows information about the 
edited audio clip. You cannot edit the values on the info line.
•To hide or show the info line, click the Show Info button on the toolbar.
•Initially, length and position values are displayed in the format speci-
fied in the Project Setup dialog (see page 81), but you can change 
this by clicking in the middle field of the info line and selecting another 
display format from a pop-up menu.
This selection affects the Sample Editor ruler as well.
Half level axis Zero axis
Audio format and length Current selection range
Selected display format (for info line and ruler) Number of edits made to clipZoom factor 
						

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Operations
Zooming
Zooming in the Sample Editor is done according to the standard 
zoom procedures, with the following special notes:
•The vertical zoom slider changes the vertical scale relative to the height 
of the editor window, in a way similar to the waveform zooming in the 
Project window (see page 83).
The vertical zoom will also be affected if you drag a rectangle with the Zoom tool and 
the option “Zoom Tool Standard Mode” (Preferences – Editing dialog) is deactivated.
•The following options relevant to the Sample Editor are available on 
the Zoom submenu on the Edit menu:
•You can also zoom by resizing the rectangle in the thumbnail display.
See page 279.
•The current zoom setting is shown in the info line, as a “samples per 
screen pixel” value.
•Note that you can zoom in horizontally to a scale with less than one 
sample per pixel! 
This is required for drawing with the Pencil tool (see page 289).
Option Description
Zoom In Zooms in one step, centering on the position cursor.
Zoom Out Zooms out one step, centering on the position cursor.
Zoom Full Zooms out so that the whole clip is visible in the editor.
Zoom to Selection Zooms in so that the current selection fills the screen.
Zoom to Event Zooms in so that the editor shows the section of the clip corre-
sponding to the edited audio event. This is not available if you 
opened the Sample Editor from the Pool (in which case the 
whole clip is opened for editing, not an event).
Zoom In/Out Vertical This is the same as using the vertical zoom slider (see above). 
						

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•If you have zoomed in to one sample per pixel or less, the appearance 
of the samples depends on the option “Interpolate Audio Images” in 
the Preferences dialog (Event Display–Audio page).
If the option is deactivated, single sample values are drawn as “steps”. If the option is 
activated they are interpolated to “curves” form.
Auditioning
While you can use the regular play commands to play back audio 
when the Sample Editor is open, it is often useful to listen to the ed-
ited material only:
• You can adjust the auditioning level with the miniature level fader on the 
toolbar.
By using the Speaker tool
If you click somewhere in the waveform display with the Speaker tool 
and keep the mouse button pressed, the clip will be played back from 
the position at which you clicked. Playback will continue until you re-
lease the mouse button.
By using the Play icon
Clicking the Play icon on the toolbar plays back the edited audio, ac-
cording to the following rules:
• If you have made a selection, this selection will be played back.
• If there is no selection, but the option “Show Event” is activated (see page 290), 
the section of the clip corresponding to the event will be played back.
• If there is no selection, and “Show Event” is deactivated, the playback will 
start at the cursor position (if the cursor is outside the display, the whole clip 
is played back).
• If the Loop icon is activated, playback will continue repeatedly until you deac-
tivate the Play icon. Otherwise, the section will be played back once. 
						

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Scrubbing
The Scrub tool allows you to locate positions in the audio by playing 
back, forwards or backwards, at any speed:
1.Select the Scrub tool.
2.Click in the waveform display and keep the mouse button pressed.
The project cursor is moved to the position at which you click.
3.Drag to the left or right.
The project cursor follows the mouse pointer and the audio is played back. The speed 
and pitch of the playback depends on how fast you move the pointer.
•You can adjust the response of the Scrub tool with the Scrub Re-
sponse (Speed) setting in the Preferences dialog (VST page).
There you will also find a separate Scrub Volume setting.
Adjusting the snap point
The snap point is a marker within an audio event (or clip – see below). 
This is used as a reference position when you are moving events with 
snap activated, so that the snap point is “magnetic” to whatever snap 
positions you have selected. 
By default, the snap point is set at the beginning of the audio event, 
but often it is useful to move the snap point to a “relevant” position in 
the event, such as a downbeat, etc.: 
1.Activate the “Audio Event” option so that the event is displayed in the 
editor.
2.Scroll so that the event is visible, and locate the “S” flag in the event.
If you haven’t adjusted this previously, it will be located at the beginning of the event.  
						

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3.Click on the “S” flag and drag it to the desired position.
When you drag the snap point, a tool tip shows its current position (in the position for-
mat selected on the Sample Editor ruler.
You can also adjust the snap point by setting the project cursor:
1.Place the cursor at the desired position (intersecting the event).
You may want to do this by scrubbing, to spot the right position exactly.
2.Pull down the Audio menu and select “Snap Point To Cursor”.
The snap point will be set to the position of the cursor. This method can also be used 
in the Project window and the Audio Part Editor.
•It is also possible to define a snap point for a clip (for which there is no 
event yet).
To open a clip in the Sample Editor, double click it in the Pool (or drag it from the Pool 
to the Sample Editor). After having set the snap point using the procedure described 
above, you can insert the clip into the project from the Pool or the Sample Editor, tak-
ing the snap point position into account. 
						

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Making selections
To select an audio section in the Sample Editor, you click and drag 
with the Range Selection tool.
•If Snap to Zero Crossing is activated on the toolbar, the start and end 
of the selection will always be at zero crossings (see page 291).
•You can resize the selection by dragging its left and right edge or by 
[Shift]-clicking.
•The current selection is indicated to the right on the toolbar.
You can fine-tune the selection by changing these values numerically. Note that the 
values are relative to the start of the clip, rather than to the project timeline.
Using the Select submenu
The Select submenu on the Edit menu contains the following selection 
functions:
Function Description
All Selects the whole clip.
None Selects no audio (the selection length is set to “0”).
In Loop Selects all audio between the left and right locator.
From Start to Cursor Selects all audio between the clip start and the project cursor.
A selected range 
						

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Editing selection ranges
Selections in the Sample Editor can be manipulated in several ways. 
Please note:
•If you attempt to edit an event that is a shared copy (i.e. the event re-
fers to a clip that is used by other events in the project), you are asked 
whether you want to create a new version of the clip or not (if you ha-
ven’t made a “permanent” choice already – see below).
Select “New Version” if you want the editing to affect the selected event only. Select 
“Continue” if you want the editing to affect all shared copies. 
Note: If you activate the option “Do not show this message again” in the dialog, any 
and all further editing you do will conform to the selected method (“Continue” or “New 
Version”). You can change this setting at any time with the “On Processing Shared 
Clips” pop-up menu in the Preferences dialog (Editing – Audio page).
Cut, Copy and Paste
The Cut, Copy and Paste commands on the Edit menu work accord-
ing to the following rules:
•Selecting Copy copies the selection to the clipboard.
•Selecting Cut removes the selection from the clip and moves it to the 
clipboard.
The section to the right of the selection is moved to the left to fill out the gap.
From Cursor to End Selects all audio between the project cursor and the end of the 
clip. For this to work, the project cursor must be within the clip 
boundaries.
Select Event Selects the audio that is included in the edited event only. This is 
not available if you opened the Sample Editor from the Pool (in 
which case the whole clip is opened for editing, not an event).
Left Selection Side 
to CursorMoves the left side of the current selection range to the project 
cursor position. For this to work, the cursor must be within the 
clip boundaries.
Right Selection Side 
to CursorMoves the right side of the current selection range to the project 
cursor position (or the end of the clip, if the cursor is to the right 
of the clip). Function Description 
						

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•Selecting Paste copies the data on the clipboard into the clip.
If there is a selection in the editor, this will be replaced by the pasted data. If there is no 
selection (if the selection length is “0”), the pasted data will be inserted starting at the 
selection line. The section to the right of the line will be moved to make room for the 
pasted material.
The pasted data will be inserted at the selection line.
Insert Silence
Selecting “Insert Silence” from the Range submenu on the Edit menu 
will insert a silent section with the same length as the current selection, 
at the selection start. 
•The selection will not be replaced, but moved to the right to make room. 
If you want to replace the selection, use the “Silence” function instead (see page 270).
Delete
Selecting Delete from the Edit menu (or pressing [Backspace]) re-
moves the selection from the clip. The section to the right of the 
selection is moved to the left to fill out the gap.
Processing
The functions on the Process submenu on the Audio menu can be 
applied to selections in the Sample Editor, as can the effects on the 
Plug-ins submenu. See the chapter “Audio processing and functions”. 
						

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Creating a new event from the selection
You can create a new event that plays only the selected range, using 
the following method:
1.Make a selection range.
2.Press [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag the selection range to the desired 
audio track in the Project window.
Creating a new clip or audio file from the selection
You can extract a selection from an event and either create a new clip 
or a new audio file, in the following way:
1.Make a selection range.
2.Select “Bounce Selection” from the Audio menu.
A new clip is created and added to the Pool, and another Sample Ed-
itor window will open with the new clip. The new clip will refer to the 
same audio file as the original clip, but will only contain the audio cor-
responding to the selection range.
Drawing in the Sample Editor
It is possible to edit the audio clip at sample level, by drawing with the 
Pencil tool. This can be useful if you need to manually edit out a spike 
or click, etc.
1.Zoom in to a zoom value lower than 1.
This means that there is more than one screen pixel per sample.
2.Select the Pencil tool.
3.Click and draw at the desired position in the waveform display.
When you release the mouse button, the edited section is automatically selected. 
						

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Options and settings
Show audio event
This is only available if you opened the Sample Editor by double clicking 
on an audio event in the Project window or the Audio Part Editor.
When the option “Audio Event” is activated on the Elements submenu 
on the Quick menu (or the Show Audio Event button is activated on 
the toolbar), the section corresponding to the edited event is shown 
with a white background in the waveform display and Thumbnail. The 
sections of the audio clip that are “outside” the event are shown with 
a grey background.
•In this mode, you can adjust the start and end of the event in the clip, 
by dragging the event handles in the waveform display.
When you move the pointer over the event handles (no matter what tool may be se-
lected), it takes on the shape of an arrow, to indicate that you can click and drag.