Steinberg Cubase Studio 5.5 New Features Manual
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Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer, Heike Schilling The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publica- tion may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Windows XP is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Windows Vista is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The Mac logo is a trademark used under license. Macintosh and Power Macintosh are registered trademarks. MP3SURROUND and the MP3SURROUND logo are registered trademarks of Thomson SA, registered in the US and other countries, and are used under license from Thomson Licensing SAS. Release Date: May 12, 2010 © Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2010. All rights reserved.
4 5Introduction 6Welcome! 7Working with the new features 8The Project Assistant dialog 9Saving templates 9The Jog/Scrub wheel 9General editing improvements 10User interface improvements 10Enhanced editing in the VST Connections window 12New and improved automation features 14Project Synchronization Setup dialog improvements 14Export Audio Mixdown improvements 15Gain inverse for channel EQ 16Redesign of the Marker window 17Support for the Yamaha XF data format 17Track Quick Controls improvements 18The MediaBay 19Introduction 20Working with the MediaBay 21The Define Locations section 22The Locations section 23The Results list 26Previewing files 28The Filters section 30The Loop Browser and Sound Browser windows 30Preferences 31Key commands 31Working with MediaBay-related windows 33The Sample Editor 34Window overview 37Operations 42Options and settings 43AudioWarp: Tempo matching audio 47Free Warp 48Working with hitpoints and slices 52Flattening realtime processing 53Video 54Before you start 56Preparing a video project in Cubase Studio 56Video files in the Project window 57Playing back video 59Editing video 59Extracting audio from a video file 60Replacing the audio in a video file 61Plug-in updates 62AmpSimulator 62Groove Agent ONE 1.1 update 64Index
6 Introduction Welcome! Welcome to Cubase Studio 5.5! This free update to Cu- base Studio 5 is packed with new features and improve- ments across several application areas. Most of these are direct results of the Nuendo 5 development that we do not want to withhold from Cubase Studio 5 – the introduction of a completely redesigned MediaBay or the new Video Engine with OpenGL support to name a few. This docu- ment lists and describes features that have been added or changed since the release of Cubase Studio 5.0. Some chapters known from the previous documentation have been completely rewritten and are therefore included in their entirety, e. g. for the Sample Editor, where many de- tail changes can be found. Please take some time to read through this documentation for the full scope of all these improvements. It will help you getting the most out of Cu- base Studio 5.5. This version is compatible with Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6) and Microsoft Windows 7. About the program versions The documentation covers two different operating sys- tems or “platforms”; Windows and Mac OS X. Some features and settings are specific to one of the plat- forms. This is clearly stated in the applicable cases. In other words: ÖIf nothing else is said, all descriptions and procedures in the documentation are valid for both Windows and Mac OS X. About the screenshots Most of the screenshots in this document are taken from Cubase. Therefore some of them show features that are not available in Cubase Studio. Key command conventions Many of the default key commands in Cubase Studio use modifier keys, some of which are different depending on the operating system. For example, the default key com- mand for Undo is [Ctrl]-[Z] under Windows and [Com- mand]-[Z] under Mac OS X.When key commands with modifier keys are described in this manual, they are shown with the Windows modifier key first, in the following way: [Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]-[key] For example, [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Z] means “press [Ctrl] under Windows or [Command] under Mac OS X, then press [Z]”. Similarly, [Alt]/[Option]-[X] means “press [Alt] under Win- dows or [Option] under Mac OS X, then press [X]”. ÖPlease note that this manual might refer to right-click- ing, e.g. to open context menus. If you are using a Mac with a single-button mouse, hold down [Ctrl] and click.
8 Working with the new features The Project Assistant dialog The Project Assistant dialog is opened by selecting the “New Project…” command on the File menu. In this dialog you can access recently opened projects and create new projects, which can either be empty or based on a template. The Project Assistant dialog will also open in the following cases: •If you launch Cubase Studio with the option “Show Project Assistant” selected on the “On Startup” pop-up menu in the Preferences (General page). •If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] while launching Cu- base Studio. Opening recent projects The Recent category in the category bar of the Project As- sistant dialog contains a list of recently opened projects. When you select an item in this category, the Create but- ton changes to “Open”, allowing you to open the corre- sponding project. This list is similar to the list in the Recent Projects submenu on the File menu. Choosing a template In the category bar of the Project Assistant dialog, the available factory templates are sorted into the predefined categories Recording, Production, Scoring, and Master- ing. Furthermore, there is a More category which contains the default project template and all templates that are not assigned to any of the other categories. When you click on one of the category items, the list be- low the category bar shows the available factory tem- plates for this category that were installed with Cubase Studio. Any new templates that you create are added at the top of the corresponding list for convenient access. •To create an empty project that is not based on a tem- plate, select the “Empty” entry in the More category and click the Create button. An empty project is also created if no template is selected in the cur- rently shown category. •You can rename or delete a template by right-clicking it in the list and selecting the corresponding option on the context menu. Choosing a project location The options in the lower part of the dialog allow you to specify where the project is stored. •Select “Use default location” to create the project in the default project location (as shown in the path field), and click Create. In the “Project folder” field you can specify a name for the project folder. If you do not specify a project folder here, the project will reside in a folder named “Untitled”. ÖTo change the default project location, simply click in the path field. A file dialog opens, allowing you to specify a new default location. •Select “Prompt for project location” and click Continue to create the project in a different location. In the dialog that appears, specify a location and a project folder. Open Other The “Open Other” button allows you to open any project file on your system. This is identical to using the Open command from the File menu. Category bar Template list Location options Open Other button
9 Working with the new features Saving templates The “Save as Template” dialog now has an Attribute In- spector section, where you can assign the template to one of the template categories shown in the Project Assistant dialog and/or enter a description for the template. This de- scription will also be visible in the Project Assistant dialog. •Simply select a category value from the Template Cate- gory pop-up menu and/or enter a description in the Con- tent Summary field. ÖIf you do not choose a Template Category attribute, the new template will be shown in the More category in the Project Assistant dialog. The Jog/Scrub wheel The Jog/Scrub wheel is now available in Cubase Studio. The Shuttle Speed control The shuttle speed control (the outer wheel on the Trans- port panel) allows you to play the project at any playback speed, forwards or backwards. This provides a quick way to locate or “cue” to any position in the project. •Turn the shuttle speed wheel to the right to start play- back. The further to the right you move the wheel, the faster the playback speed. •If you turn the wheel to the left instead, the project will play backwards. Similarly, the playback speed depends on how far to the left you turn the wheel. Project scrubbing – the Jog Wheel The middle wheel on the Transport panel serves as a jog wheel. By clicking and dragging it to the right or left you will move the playback position manually forwards or backwards – much like scrubbing on a tape deck. This helps you pinpoint exact locations in the project. In the Transport category of the Key Commands dialog you can also set up key commands for the commands Jog Left/ Right. For more information about the Key Commands di- alog, please refer to the Key Commands chapter of the Operation Manual. •Note that the jog wheel is an “endless rotary encoder” – you can turn it as many times as needed to move to the desired location. The faster you turn the wheel, the faster the playback speed. •If you click the jog wheel during playback, playback will automatically stop. The nudge position buttons The + and – buttons in the middle of the Shuttle/Jog sec- tion allow you to nudge the project cursor position one frame at a time to the right or left. General editing improvements New event selection option There is a new option on the Select submenu of the Edit menu called “Events under Cursor”. It automatically se- lects all events on the selected tracks that are “touched” by the project cursor. Zooming with the mouse wheel You can now press [Ctrl]/[Command] and turn the mouse wheel to zoom in on or out of the current mouse pointer position.
10 Working with the new features User interface improvements Consolidated toolbars The toolbars in the Project window, the Sample Editor, and the MIDI editors have been slightly redesigned and now present a consolidated look and feel. Some items were regrouped to move elements belonging together closer to each other. The Set up Window Layout button The toolbars now feature a “Set up Window Layout” but- ton that allows you to show or hide various window ele- ments, such as the info line. There are no longer individual buttons to show or hide these elements. When you click the “Set up Window Layout” button, a transparent pane appears, covering the window. In the center of it is a gray area containing checkboxes for the different elements. In this pane, activate or deactivate the elements that you want to see or hide (respectively). ÖIn the Key Editor and Drum Editor, this button is named “Show Info Line”. Use it to directly hide or show the info line. The Select Color pop-up menu The Color Selector and the small color strip below the Color tool have been merged into a single pop-up menu. New look for Add Track dialogs The Add Track dialog has a new design that fits in with the new look and feel of the MediaBay. It is described in detail in the section “Working with MediaBay-related windows” on page 31). Redesign of the info line The appearance of the info line in the Project window and all editors was enhanced to improve readability. It shows the same information as before. Redesign of the Edit History dialog The Edit History dialog has a new look and feel. It works as before with the only difference that it is now set to stay “always on top”. Enhanced editing in the VST Connections window On the different tabs of the VST Connections window, the corresponding busses are shown in a table containing a tree view with expandable entries. When you have set up all the required busses for a project it might be necessary to edit the names and/or change port assignments. Cu- base Studio provides a number of new features to make such tasks easier. Determining how many busses a device port is connected to To give you an idea how many busses a given port is al- ready connected to, the busses are shown in square brackets on the Device Port pop-up menu, to the right of the port name. Up to three bus assignments can be displayed in this way. If more connections have been made, this is indicated by a number at the far right. Therefore if you see the following: Adat 1 [Stereo1] [Stereo2] [Stereo3] (+2)... this means that the Adat 1 port is already assigned to three stereo busses plus two additional busses.