Steinberg Cubase SE 3 Operation Manual

							CUBASE SE
The Project window 5 – 71
•The Track list area for an automation subtrack (revealed by clicking 
the + button on a track):
•The Track list area for a MIDI track:
The Inspector
The area to the left of the Track list is called the Inspector. This shows 
additional controls and parameters for the track you have selected in 
the Track list. If several tracks are selected (see page 90), 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.
Automation Read/Write buttons
Automation parameter 
(click to select parameter) Expand automation track 
(show more parameters)
MuteLock track button
Record Enable
Track name
MIDI Output Bank Program  MIDI channel
Drum map assign Lock track Monitoring on/off
Read/Write buttons
Edit channel settings
Mute & Solo
Indicates whether effect sends or insert effects 
are activated for the track. Click to bypass.  
						

							CUBASE SE
5 – 72 The Project window
•For most track classes, the Inspector is divided into a number of sec-
tions, each containing different controls for the track. You can hide or 
show sections by clicking on their respective headlines.
Clicking the headline for a hidden section brings it to view and hides the other sec-
tions. [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking the headline allows you to hide or show a section 
without affecting other sections. Finally, [Alt]/[Option]-clicking a headline shows or 
hides all sections in the Inspector.
•It’s also possible to use key commands for showing different Inspec-
tor settings.
These are set up under the Inspector heading in the Key Commands dialog.
• 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 for example, 
your settings will still be active even if you fold the Inspector section.
Which sections are available in the Inspector depends on the selected 
track’s class.   
						

							CUBASE SE
The Project window 5 – 73
Sections
In general, the Inspector contains the same controls as the Track list, 
but there are also some additional buttons and parameters. Below is a 
list of all common, possible settings and sections, their controls and 
usage, followed by descriptions of which sections are actually avail-
able for each type of track:
Parameter Description
Auto Fades 
Settings buttonOpens a dialog in which you can make separate Auto Fade settings 
for the track. See page 151.
Edit button Opens the Channel Settings window for the track, allowing you to 
view and adjust effect and EQ settings, etc. See page 168.
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 164 to 
learn more about setting levels.
Pan Use this to adjust the panning of the track. As with the Volume setting, 
this corresponds to the Pan setting in the mixer.
Delay This adjusts the playback timing of the audio track. Positive values de-
lay the playback while negative values cause the track to play earlier. 
The values are set in milliseconds.
In This lets you specify which Input bus or MIDI input the track should 
use (see page 14 for information about Input busses).  
						

							CUBASE SE
5 – 74 The Project window
Audio tracks
For audio tracks, all settings and sections listed above are available.
MIDI tracks
When a MIDI track is selected, the Inspector contains a number of ad-
ditional sections and parameters, affecting the MIDI events in real time 
(e.g. on playback). Which sections are available for MIDI tracks is de-
scribed in the “MIDI Devices and Features” pdf document.
Marker tracks
When the marker track is selected, the Inspector shows the marker list. 
See page 128.
Video tracks
When a Video track is selected, the Inspector contains a lock button 
for locking the track (see page 106) and a mute button.
Out Here you decide to which output the track should be routed. For au-
dio tracks you select an output bus (see page 14) or Group channel, 
for MIDI tracks you select a MIDI output.
Inserts section Allows you to add insert effects to the track, see page 190. The Edit 
button at the top of the section opens the control panels for the added 
insert effects.
Equalizers 
sectionLets you adjust the EQs for the track. You can have up to four bands 
of EQ for each track, see page 170. 
Equalizer Curve 
sectionLets you adjust the EQs for the track graphically, by clicking and 
dragging points in a curve display.
Sends section Allows you to route an audio track to one or several FX channels (up to 
eight), see page 195. For MIDI tracks, this is where you assign MIDI 
send effects. The Edit button at the top of the section opens the con-
trol panel for the first effect in each FX channel.
Channel section Shows a duplicate of the corresponding mixer channel strip. The 
channel overview strip to the left lets you activate and deactivate 
insert effects, EQs and sends. Parameter Description 
						

							CUBASE SE
The Project window 5 – 75
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 make settings for tracks within it.
Here, an audio track within the folder is selected.
FX channel tracks
When an FX channel track is selected, the following controls and sec-
tions are available:
• Edit button.
• Volume control.
• Pan control.
• Output routing pop-up menu.
• Inserts section.
• Equalizers section.
• Channel section.
FX channel folder tracks
FX channel tracks are automatically placed in a special folder, for easier 
management. When this folder track is selected, the Inspector shows 
the folder and the FX channels it contains. You can click one of the FX 
channels shown in the folder to have the Inspector show the settings for 
that FX channel – this way you don’t have to “open” a folder track to ac-
cess the settings for the FX channels in it. 
						

							CUBASE SE
5 – 76 The Project window
Group channel tracks
When a Group channel track is selected, the following controls and 
sections are available:
• Edit button.
• Volume control.
• Pan control.
• Output routing pop-up menu.
• Inserts section.
• Equalizers section.
• Sends section.
• Channel section.
Group channel folder tracks
Just like FX channel tracks, all Group channel tracks are placed in a 
separate folder – when this is selected, the Inspector shows the folder 
and the Group channels it contains. You can click one of the Group 
channels shown in the folder to have the Inspector show the settings 
for that Group channel – this way, you don’t have to “open” a folder 
track to access the settings for the Group channels in it. 
						

							CUBASE SE
The Project window 5 – 77
The toolbar
The toolbar contains tools and shortcuts for opening other windows 
and various project settings and functions:
• In addition, the toolbar can contain a number of other tools and short-
cuts, not visible by default. How to set up the toolbar and specify which 
tools should be displayed or hidden is described on page 561.
Active project 
indicator
Show/hide 
InspectorShow/hide info line
Open PoolOpen Mixer
Constrain delay compen-
sation (see page 217)
Project window tools
Transport controls 
(Previous/Next Marker, Cycle, Stop, Play, and Record)
Snap on/off
Snap modeGrid pop-up menu
Quantize valueColor pop-up menu
Autoscroll on/off 
						

							CUBASE SE
5 – 78 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 79).
•To hide or show the info line, click this icon on the toolbar:
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.
When several elements are selected
• If you have several elements selected, the info line will show information about 
the first item in the selection. The values will be shown in yellow to indicate 
that several elements are selected.
• If you edit a value on the info line, the value change is applied to all selected 
elements, relatively to the current values. 
An example: You have two audio events selected. The first is one bar 
long and the other two bars long. The info line shows the length of the 
first event (one bar). If you now edit this value to 3 bars in the info line, 
the other event will be resized by the same amount – and will thus be 
4 bars long.
• If you press [Ctrl]/[Command] and edit on the info line, the values will be abso-
lute instead. In our example above, both events would be resized to 3 bars. Note 
that [Ctrl]/[Command] is the default modifier key for this – you can change this 
in the Preferences dialog (Editing-Tool Modifiers page, under the Info Line cat-
egory). 
						

							CUBASE SE
The Project window 5 – 79
Editing Transpose and Velocity for MIDI parts
When one or several MIDI parts are selected, the info line contains 
Transpose and Velocity fields.
•Adjusting the Transpose field transposes the selected parts in semitone 
steps.
Note that this transposition doesn’t change the actual notes in the part – it’s just a 
“play parameter”, affecting the notes on playback. The transposition you specify for a 
part on the info line is added to the transposition set for the whole track with the Trans-
pose track parameter in the Inspector.
•Adjusting the Velocity field shifts the velocity for the selected parts – 
the value you specify is added to the velocities of the notes in the parts.
Again, this velocity shift only affects the notes on playback, and again, the value you 
specify is added to the Vel.Shift. value set for the whole MIDI track in the Inspector.
Getting on-the-fly info with the Arrow tool
If the option “Select Tool: Show Extra Info” is activated in the Prefer-
ences (Editing page), a tool tip will be shown for the Arrow tool, display-
ing various info depending on where you point it. For example, in the 
Project window’s event display, the tool will show the current pointer 
position and the name of the track and event you’re pointing at.
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 81), 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 the arrow button to the right of it and 
selecting an option from the pop-up menu that appears (you can also 
bring up this pop-up menu by right-clicking (Win) or [Ctrl]-clicking 
(Mac) anywhere in the ruler).
Option Positions and lengths displayed as
Bars+Beats Bars, beats, sixteenth notes and ticks. By default there are 120 
ticks per sixteenth note. 
						

							CUBASE SE
5 – 80 The Project window
•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 primary 
display format pop-up on the Transport panel, or hold down [Ctrl]/
[Command] and select a display format in any ruler.
•If you use the “Timecode” option and the option “Show Timecode 
Subframes” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Transport page), 
the frames will also display subframes.
There are 80 subframes per frame.
Seconds Hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds.
Timecode This format displays hours, minutes, seconds and frames. The 
number of frames per second (fps) is set in the Project Setup di-
alog (see page 81). You can choose from 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 
fps or 29.97 and 30 dfps (“drop frame”).
Samples Samples.
Time Linear When this is selected, the ruler will be linear relative to time. This 
means that if there are tempo changes on the Tempo track, the 
distance between the bars will vary in Bars+Beats mode.
Bars+Beats Linear When this is selected, the ruler will be linear relative to meter po-
sition – bars and beats. This means that if there are tempo 
changes on the Tempo track, there will still be the same distance 
between bars in Bars+Beats mode. If the ruler is set to a time-
based mode, the distance between seconds will vary depending 
on the tempo changes. Option Positions and lengths displayed as