Steinberg Cubase SE 3 Operation Manual

							CUBASE SE
The Project window 5 – 81
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 templates 
you may have created (see page 541). 
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. 
						

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5 – 82 The Project window
The following settings are available in the Project Setup dialog:
While most Project Setup settings 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. When you change this setting you will be 
asked whether you want to keep the project content at its timecode 
positions. “Yes” means that all events will stay at their original time-
code positions - i.e they will be moved in relation to the start of the 
project. “No” means that all events keep their position relative to the 
project start.
Length The length of the project.
Frame Rate Used when synchronizing Cubase SE with external equipment. If 
Cubase SE is the master, this determines the frame rate of the sent 
sync signal. See page 502.
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 79.
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 SE 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 SE to start at zero, set the Display Offset 
to the same value too.
Sample Rate The sample rate at which Cubase SE records and plays audio.
Record Format / 
File TypeWhen you record audio in Cubase SE, the files that are created will 
be of this resolution and file type. See page 40.
Stereo Pan Law Decides whether panning should use power compensation or not. 
This is explained on page 167. 
						

							CUBASE SE
The Project window 5 – 83
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 you are using the Zoom tool (magnifying glass), the result de-
pends on the option “Zoom Tool Standard Mode: Horizontal Zooming 
Only” in the Preferences – Editing dialog.
If this is activated and you drag a selection rectangle with the Zoom tool, the window 
will only be zoomed horizontally (track height will not change). If the option is off, the 
window will be zoomed both horizontally and vertically.
•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.
You find the following options are available on the Zoom submenu on 
the Edit menu:
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 and vertically so that the current selection 
fills the screen.
Zoom to Selection 
(Horiz)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 282).
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 Selected 
Tracks This zooms in vertically on the selected track(s) and minimizes the 
height of all other tracks. 
						

							CUBASE SE
5 – 84 The Project window
•If the option “Zoom while Locating in Time Scale” is activated in the 
Preferences (Transport page), you can also zoom by clicking in the 
main ruler and dragging up or down with the mouse button pressed.
Drag up to zoom out; drag down to zoom in.
•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.
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 (Editing 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 – activate 
this if screen redraws are slow on your system. 
						

							CUBASE SE
The Project window 5 – 85
Resizing tracks in the Track list
• You can change the height of an individual track by clicking on its lower border 
in the Track list and dragging up or down.
To change the height of all tracks simultaneously, hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and re-
size one of the tracks in this way. If “Snap Track Heights” is activated on the Track 
scale pop-up (see below), the track height will change in fixed 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 will by default adapt to 
the 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. 
						

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5 – 86 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 Full” preset is always available. Selecting this option 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 dia-
log (see page 81).
•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 Delete button. The 
preset is removed from the list. 
						

							CUBASE SE
The Project window 5 – 87
•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 any cycle markers you have added 
in the project:
•If you select a cycle marker from this menu, the event display is zoomed 
in to encompass the marker area (see page 134).
•You cannot edit the cycle markers in this pop-up menu. For information 
on editing markers, see page 128.
Only the cycle markers you create in the current project are available on 
the menu.
Adjusting how parts and events are shown
The Preferences dialog on the File menu (the Cubase SE menu, under 
Mac OS X) contains several settings for customizing the display in the 
Project window.
The Event Display page contains common settings for all track types:
Option Description
Colorize Event 
BackgroundDetermines whether the backgrounds or “contents” (waveforms, 
etc.) of parts and events will be colorized. See page 90.
Show Event Names Determines whether the names of parts and events should be 
shown in the Project window.
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. 
						

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5 – 88 The Project window
The Event Display–Audio page contains settings for audio events:
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 se-
lection affects all waveform images in the Project window, Sam-
ple 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.
Show Waveforms Determines whether audio waveforms should be shown at all.
Background Color 
ModulationWhen this is activated, the backgrounds of audio waveforms are 
displayed in a different way, reflecting the waveform dynamics. 
This is especially useful to get an overview when working with 
small track heights. 
						

							CUBASE SE
The Project window 5 – 89
The Event Display–MIDI page contains settings for MIDI parts:
The Event Display–Markers page contains settings for marker events:
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, Drum, List or Score editor. Note that this setting is overrid-
den for tracks with drum maps if the option “Edit as Drums when 
Drummap is assigned” (see below) is activated.
Part Data Mode Determines if and how events in MIDI parts should be shown in 
the Project window: as lines, as score notes or as drum notes. If 
“No Data” is selected, events will not be shown at all. Note that 
this setting is overridden for tracks with drum maps if the option 
“Edit as Drums when Drum Map is assigned” (see below) is ac-
tivated.
Show Controllers Governs whether non-note events (controllers, etc.) should be 
shown in MIDI parts in the Project window.
Edit as Drums 
when Drum Map is 
assignedIf this is activated, parts on MIDI tracks with drum maps assigned 
will be shown with drum note symbols in the Project window. 
Also, the parts will automatically open in the Drum editor when 
double clicked (overriding the Default Edit Action setting above).
Note Name Style Determines how MIDI note names (pitches) should be displayed 
in editors, etc.
Option Description
Show Marker Names When this is activated, the names of the Markers are shown.
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. 
						

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5 – 90 The Project window
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 items on the “Add Track” submenu are also available on the 
Quick menu.
This is accessed by right-clicking (Win)/[Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) in the Track list.
•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.
The number of tracks to add is entered in the “Count” value field. You can set whether 
audio, MIDI or group tracks should be created by selecting from the Track pop-up in 
the dialog. For audio and group tracks, the channel configuration – mono or stereo – 
can be set in the Configuration pop-up.
Once you have created tracks, you can manipulate and rearrange 
them in various ways:
•To rename a 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.