Steinberg Cubase Studio 4 Operation Manual Studio Manual

							31
The Project window
Audio tracks
For audio tracks, all settings and sections listed above are 
available.
User Panels for audio tracks (Cubase only) can display 
panels for channel controls (such as input phase or the 
linked panner option) or for VST effects currently inserted 
in the channel.
User Panels for audio tracks (Cubase only) are accessed 
by clicking the Open Device Panels button (found in the 
topmost Inspector section, next to the Read/Write buttons). 
This opens up a menu listing all the device panels available for the audio 
track. If panels have not been created yet, you will see “Setup” panels in 
the menu. Double-clicking on one of these will open the Device window 
for that audio track. Here you will be able to create user panels for any 
parameter of the audio track, including VST effects that have been in-
serted. For more information on how to create device and user panels, 
see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.
The device panel browser.
Once panels have been created, they are available from 
the User Panel section of the Inspector. Click on the arrow 
button at the top right of the User Panel section to view 
the available panels.
The User Panel menu in the Inspector
MIDI tracks
When a MIDI track is selected, the Inspector contains a 
number of additional sections and parameters, affecting the 
MIDI events in real time (e.g. on playback). Which sections 
are available for MIDI tracks is described in the chapter 
“MIDI realtime parameters and effects” on page 315.
Marker tracks
When the marker track is selected, the Inspector shows 
the marker list. See “The Marker window” on page 107.
Video tracks
When a video track is selected, the Inspector contains a 
lock button for locking the track (see “Locking events” on 
page 51), a Mute button for interrupting video playback 
and two settings for how the video thumbnails are shown: 
Show Frame Numbers and Snap Thumbnails (see 
“Playing back a video file” on page 443). 
Video tracks make use of the Notepad Inspector tab.
User Panel 
(Cubase only)Here you can display device panels, e.g. for external MIDI 
devices, audio track panels or VST insert effect panels. 
For information on how to create or import MIDI device 
setups, see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.
Quick  Controls Here you can configure quick controls, e.g. to use remote 
devices. See the chapter “Track Quick Controls” on 
page 311. Parameter Description
!The Inspector can only display inspector sized user 
panels. Panels of larger sizes will not be available in 
the Inspector. 
						

							32
The Project window
Folder tracks
When a folder track is selected, the Inspector shows the 
folder and its underlying tracks, much like a folder struc-
ture in the Windows Explorer or Mac OS X Finder.
ÖYou 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 con-
trols and sections are available:
 Edit button.
 Volume control.
 Pan control.
 Output routing pop-up menu.
 Inserts section.
 Equalizers section.
 Equalizer Curve section.
 Sends section.
 Studio Sends section (Cubase only).
 Surround Pan section (Cubase only).
 Channel section.
 Notepad 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 chan-
nels it contains. You can click one of the FX channels shown in the folder to have the Inspector show the set-
tings for that FX channel – this way you don’t have to 
“open” a folder track to access the settings for the FX 
channels in it.
Group channel tracks
When a Group channel track is selected, the following 
controls and sections are available:
 Edit button.
 Volume control.

 Output routing pop-up menu.
 Inserts section.
 Equalizers section.
 Equalizer Curve section.
 Sends section.
 Studio Sends section (Cubase only).
 Surround Pan section (Cubase only).
 Channel section.
 Notepad 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 In-
spector shows the folder and the Group channels it con-
tains. 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.
Ruler tracks (Cubase only)
For ruler tracks, the Inspector isn’t used.
Transpose track
When the transpose track is selected, the following con-
trols and sections are available:
 Mute button.
 Keep Transpose in Octave range.
 Toggle Timebase button.
 Lock button.
 Notepad section.
The Transpose track controls are described in detail in the 
chapter “The Transpose functions” on page 111. 
						

							33
The Project window
The toolbar
The toolbar contains tools and shortcuts for opening other 
windows and various project settings and functions:
ÖIn addition to these, the toolbar can contain a number 
of other tools and shortcuts, not visible by default. How to 
set up the toolbar and specify which tools should be dis-
played or hidden is described in the section “The Setup 
dialogs” on page 466.
The info line
The info line shows information about the currently se-
lected event or part in the Project window. You can edit al-
most all values on the info line using regular value editing. 
Length and position values are displayed in the format cur-
rently selected for the ruler (see “The ruler” on page 34).
To hide or show the info line, click the Show Event Info-
line button on the toolbar.
The following elements can be selected for display and 
editing on the info line:
 Audio events.

 MIDI parts.
 Video events.

 Automation curve points.
 Transpose events.
 Arranger events.
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 ele-
ments 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. 
If you have two audio events selected and 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 absolute 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 (Editing–Tool Modifiers 
page, under the Info Line category).
Active project 
indicatorShow/hide 
Inspector Show/hide 
info lineShow/hide 
Overview
Open Mixer
Open PoolAutomation mode 
(Cubase only)
Constrain delay compensation (see the chapter “VST 
Instruments and Instrument tracks” on page 182).
Automation 
Return time
Project window tools
Transport controls 
(Previous/Next Marker, Cycle, Stop, Play, and Record)
Snap 
on/off
Snap modeGrid pop-
up menuQuantize 
value
Color pop-
up menu
Autoscroll 
on/off
Snap to Zero 
CrossingsProject 
Root key 
						

							34
The Project window
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 transpo-
sition you specify for a part on the info line is added to the transposition 
set for the whole track. For more information on transposing, see the 
chapter “The Transpose functions” on page 111.
Adjusting the Velocity field shifts the velocity for the se-
lected parts – the value you specify is added to the veloci-
ties 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 Preferences (Editing–Tools page), a tool tip will be 
shown for the Arrow tool, displaying information depend-
ing on where you point it. For example, in the Project win-
dow event display, the tool will show the current pointer 
position and the name of the track and event you’re point-
ing at.
The ruler
The ruler at the top of the event display shows the time-
line. Initially, the Project window ruler uses the display for-
mat specified in the Project Setup dialog (see “The 
Project Setup dialog” on page 35), as do all other rulers 
and position displays in the project. However, you can se-
lect 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 anywhere in the ruler).The selection you make here affects the ruler, the info 
line and tool tip position values (which 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 for-
mat in any ruler.
If you use the “Timecode” or “User” options and the op-
tion “Show Timecode Subframes” is activated in the Pref-
erences (Transport page), the frames will also display 
subframes.
There are 80 subframes per frame.
Using multiple rulers – ruler tracks (Cubase only)
As described above, the Cubase Project window contains 
a main ruler at the top of the event display, displaying the 
timeline from left to right.
If needed, you can have several rulers in the Project win-
dow, by adding ruler tracks to the project. Each ruler track 
contains an additional ruler.
!Audio events can also be transposed – see “Real-
time pitch-shifting of audio events” on page 262.
Option Positions and lengths displayed as
Bars+Beats Bars, beats, sixteenth notes and ticks. By default there 
are 120 ticks per sixteenth note but you can adjust this 
with the “MIDI Display Resolution” setting in the Prefer-
ences (MIDI page).
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 dialog (see “The Project Setup dialog” on 
page 35). You can choose between 24, 25, 29.97 and 
30 fps or 29.97 and 30 dfps (“drop frame”).
Samples Samples.
User Hours, minutes, seconds and frames, with a user defin-
able number of frames per second. You set the desired 
number of fps in the Preferences (Transport page).
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 
LinearWhen this is selected, the ruler will be linear relative to 
the meter position – bars and beats. This means that if 
there are tempo changes on the Tempo track, there still 
will be the same distance between bars in Bars+Beats 
mode. If the ruler is set to a time-based mode, the dis-
tance between seconds will vary depending on the 
tempo changes. Option Positions and lengths displayed as 
						

							35
The Project window
To add a ruler track, select “Add Track” from the Project 
menu and from the submenu that appears, select “Ruler”.
A ruler track showing an additional ruler is added to the Track list.
A ruler track set to the display format “Seconds”.
You can add any number of ruler tracks to a project, and 
position them as needed by dragging them up or down in 
the list. Each of the rulers can show a separate display for-
mat:
To select a display format for a ruler track, click on its 
name in the track list and select an option from the pop-up 
menu.
The different display formats are described above.
Note that ruler tracks are completely independent from the 
main event display ruler, as well as rulers and position dis-
plays in other windows. This means that:
 Ruler tracks can all have independent display formats.
 Ruler tracks are not affected by the display format setting in 
the Project Setup dialog (see “The Project Setup dialog” on 
page 35).
 Ruler tracks are not affected if you set the display format glo-
bally with the primary time display in the Transport panel.
ÖRuler tracks are affected by the option “Show Time-
code Subframes” in the Preferences (see above).
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, including any custom templates you may have created 
(see “Save as Template” on page 451). 
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. 
						

							36
The Project window
The following settings are available in the Project Setup 
dialog:Zoom and view options
Zooming in the Project window is done according to the 
standard zoom techniques, with the following special 
notes:
When you are using the Zoom tool (magnifying glass), 
the result depends on the option “Zoom Tool Standard 
Mode: Horizontal Zooming Only” in the Preferences (Edit-
ing–Tools page).
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 verti-
cally.
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:
Setting Description
Start The start time of the project. Allows you to have the 
project start at another time than zero. Also used for set-
ting the sync start position when synchronizing Cubase 
to external devices (see “Setting up Cubase for external 
sync to timecode” on page 426). 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 timecode positions 
– i.e. they will be moved in relation to the start of the 
project. “No” means that all events keep their position rel-
ative to the project start.
Length The length of the project.
Frame Rate Used when synchronizing Cubase with external equip-
ment. If Cubase is slave, this value is automatically set to 
the frame rate of the incoming sync signal. If Cubase is 
the master, this determines the frame rate of the sent 
sync signal. See “Setting the Frame Rate” on page 424.
Display Format This is the global display format used for all rulers and 
position displays in the program, except ruler tracks (Cu-
base only, see “Ruler tracks (Cubase only)” on page 32). 
However, you can make independent display format se-
lections for the individual rulers and displays if you like.
For descriptions of the different display format options, 
see “The ruler” on page 34.
Display Offset Offsets the time positions displayed in the ruler etc., al-
lowing you to compensate for the Start position setting. 
Typically, if you synchronize Cubase to an external source 
starting at a frame other than zero, you set the Start posi-
tion to this value. However, if you still want the display in 
Cubase to start at zero, set the Display Offset to the 
same value too.
Bar Offset This works just like “Display Offset” described above, in 
that it offsets the time positions in the ruler by a number 
of bars, allowing you to compensate for the Start position 
setting. The difference is that Bar Offset is only used 
when the “Bars+Beats” display format is selected (see 
“The ruler” on page 34).
Sample Rate The sample rate at which Cubase records and plays audio.
Record Format/ 
File TypeWhen you record audio in Cubase, the files that are cre-
ated will be of this resolution and file type. See “Selecting 
a recording file format” on page 68.
Stereo Pan Law Decides whether panning should use power compensa-
tion or not (see “About the “Stereo Pan Law” Preference 
(audio channels only)” on page 132).
!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.
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 
SelectionZooms in horizontally and vertically so that the current se-
lection 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 
“Zooming” on page 240).
Zoom In 
VerticalZooms in one step vertically.
Zoom Out 
VerticalZooms out one step vertically.
Zoom In 
TracksZooms in on the selected track(s) one step vertically.
Zoom Out 
TracksZooms out the selected track(s) one step vertically.
Zoom Selected 
Tracks This zooms in vertically on the selected track(s) and min-
imizes the height of all other tracks.
Undo/Redo 
ZoomThese options allow you to undo/redo the last zoom op-
eration. 
						

							37
The Project window
If the option “Zoom while Locating in Time Scale” is ac-
tivated 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 verti-
cally, using the waveform zoom slider in the top right cor-
ner of the event display.
This is useful when viewing quiet audio passages.
If you activate the option Quick Zoom in the Prefer-
ences (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.
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 resize 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.
By default, the controls shown for tracks in the Track list 
will adapt to the track size. This means that when resizing 
a track’s height or width the controls will be placed where 
they best “fit in”.
If you prefer to have the controls in fixed positions, you can deactivate the 
option “Wrap Controls” in the Track Controls settings dialog (see “Cus-
tomizing track controls” on page 467).
You can decide for each track type what controls 
should be shown in the Track list – see “Customizing 
track controls” on page 467.
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 current Project window.
The track height will be adjusted to show only the number of tracks speci-
fied 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 win-
dow.
Tracks can also be divided vertically in lanes – see 
“Editing in Lane Display mode” on page 52.
The Enlarge Selected Track option
When this option is activated on the Edit menu (or in the 
Preferences, Editing–Project & Mixer page), the selected 
track is enlarged automatically. This is useful if you are 
stepping through the tracks in the track list, to check or 
edit the settings. The tracks will revert to the size they had 
before when they are deselected. You can adjust the size 
directly in the Track list if the default enlargement factor 
does not suit you. 
While this is the program behavior you will want in most 
cases, it may be a disadvantage when changing the track 
height you started out with for one or more tracks (i.e. their 
“original” height, before “Enlarge Selected Track” was ac-
tivated). As soon as you try to resize a track, it is selected 
and automatically enlarged. Instead of turning off “Enlarge 
Selected Track”, resizing the desired track(s) and the acti-
vating “Enlarge Selected Track” again, you can resize a 
track in the Track list without selecting it.
!To get an approximate reading on the level of the au-
dio events by viewing the waveforms, make sure this 
slider is all the way down. Otherwise, zoomed wave-
forms may be mistaken for clipped audio.
!This behavior is different when “Enlarge Selected 
Track” is activated on the Edit menu (see below). 
						

							38
The Project window
1.Move the mouse pointer over the lower border of the 
(unselected) track you want to resize.
The mouse pointer turns into a divider symbol.
2.Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the lower border of 
the track until it reaches the desired height.
Now, when you select this track, (and “Enlarge Selected Track” is acti-
vated), it will be enlarged. It will revert to the changed size, when you se-
lect a different track.
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 dis-
played 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 dialog (see 
“The Project Setup dialog” on page 35).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 De-
lete button. 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.
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 
“Zooming to cycle markers” on page 109).
You cannot edit the cycle markers in this pop-up menu. 
For information on editing markers, see “The Marker win-
dow” on page 107.
The Zoom history
Cubase maintains a history of recent zoom stages, allow-
ing you to undo and redo zoom operations. This way you 
can zoom in several steps and then easily go back to the 
zoom stage at which you started.
There are two ways to invoke Undo Zoom and Redo 
Zoom:
Use the items on the Zoom submenu on the Edit menu.
You can also assign key commands for these.
Double-click with the Zoom tool (magnifying glass) to 
Undo Zoom.
Press [Alt]/[Option] and double-click to Redo Zoom.
Click here…
…to open the context menu.
!Zoom presets are global for all projects, i.e. they are 
available in all projects you open or create.
!Only the cycle markers you create in the current 
project are available on the menu. 
						

							39
The Project window
Adjusting how parts and events are shown
The Preferences on the File menu (the Cubase menu, un-
der 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:
The Event Display–Video page contains settings for video 
events:
The Event Display–Audio page contains settings for audio 
events:The Event Display–MIDI page contains settings for MIDI 
parts:
Option Description
Colorize Event 
BackgroundDetermines whether the backgrounds or “contents” (wave-
forms, etc.) of parts and events will be colorized. See 
“Handling tracks” on page 40.
Show Event 
NamesDetermines whether the names of parts and events should 
be shown in the Project window.
Transparent 
EventsWhen 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.
Option Description
Show Video 
ThumbnailsWhen this is activated, thumbnail frames of the video 
contents are shown on the Video track.
Video Cache 
SizeThis determines how much memory is available for video 
thumbnails. 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.
Option Description
Interpolate 
Audio ImagesIf the option is deactivated, single sample values are 
drawn as “steps”. If the option is activated they are inter-
polated to form “curves”.
Wave Image 
StyleDetermines whether audio waveforms should be dis-
played as solid images, frames or “inverted” images 
(solid+frame). This selection affects all waveform images 
in the Project window, Sample Editor and Audio Part Ed-
itor.
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.
Fade Handles 
always on topWhen this option is activated, the fade handles stay at 
the top of the event, and vertical help lines indicate the 
exact end or start points of fades.
Thick Fade 
LinesIf this option is activated, the fade lines and volume 
curves are thicker, increasing their visibility.
Show 
WaveformsDetermines whether audio waveforms should be shown 
at all.
Background 
Color 
ModulationWhen this is activated, the backgrounds of audio wave-
forms are displayed in a different way, reflecting the wave-
form dynamics. This is especially useful to get an overview 
when working with small track heights.
Option Description
Default Edit 
ActionDetermines which editor should be opened when you 
double-click a MIDI part or select it and press [Ctrl]/
[Command]-[E]: the Key, List, Drum or Score editor. 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 activated.
Part Data 
ModeDetermines if and how events in MIDI parts should be 
shown in the Project window: as score notes, as drum 
notes or as lines. 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 activated.
Show 
ControllersGoverns 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 De-
fault Edit Action setting above).
Note Name 
StyleDetermines how MIDI note names (pitches) should be 
displayed in editors, etc. Option Description 
						

							40
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 dis-
played as boxes. You can use the overview line to zoom in 
or out, and for navigating to other sections of the project. 
This is done by moving and resizing the track view rectan-
gle in the overview line:
The track view rectangle indicates the section of the 
project currently displayed in the event display.
You zoom in or out horizontally by resizing the rectangle.
Resize it by dragging the edges of the rectangle.
You can drag the track view rectangle to view other 
sections of the project.
This can also be done by clicking anywhere in the upper part of the over-
view – the track view rectangle will be moved to where you clicked. The 
number of tracks shown will not change.
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 avail-
able on the Quick menu.
This is accessed by right-clicking in the Track list.
If you select Audio, MIDI, Group Channel or Instrument 
from the Add Track submenu, a dialog opens, allowing 
you to insert several tracks in one go.
Just enter the desired number of tracks in the value field.
For audio and group channel tracks, the channel config-
uration – mono, stereo or a surround configuration (Cu-
base only) – can be set in the Configuration pop-up.
The Browse Sounds option in the Add Track dialog is 
described in the chapter “Track Presets” on page 300.
In the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page, you 
can find the option “Auto Track Color Mode”.
This offers you several options for automatically assigning colors to 
tracks that are added to the project.
Once you have created tracks, you can manipulate and re-
arrange 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.
The track view rectangle