Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Getting Started Manual

							CUBASE SX/SLBasic Methods 6 – 71
Using knobs and sliders
In the VST audio windows, most parameters are shown as knobs, slid-
ers and buttons, emulating hardware interfaces. For knobs and sliders, 
you can select the desired way of making adjustments in the Prefer-
ences dialog (Editing–Controls page):
Knobs
The Knob Mode pop-up menu contains the following options:
Sliders
The Slider Mode pop-up menu contains the following options:
Option Description
Circular To move a knob, you click on it and drag in a circular motion, much like 
turning a “real” knob. When you click anywhere along the knob’s edge, 
the setting is immediately changed.
Relative 
CircularWorks like the “Circular” option, but clicking does not automatically 
change the setting. This means you can make adjustments to the current 
setting by clicking anywhere on a knob and dragging, without having to 
click on the exact current position.
Linear To move a knob, you click on it and drag up or down with the mouse but-
ton pressed – as if the knob were a vertical slider.
Option Description
Jump In this mode, clicking anywhere on a slider will make the slider handle 
instantly move to that position.
Touch In this mode, you have to click on the actual slider handle to adjust the 
parameter. This reduces the risk of accidentally moving sliders.
Ramp In this mode, clicking anywhere on a slider (but not on the handle) and 
keeping the mouse button pressed, will cause the handle to move 
smoothly to the new position.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL6 – 72 Basic Methods
Selecting objects
Selecting Cubase SX/SL objects such as audio and MIDI events is 
generally done with the Arrow tool, according to standard selection 
procedures.
•Clicking on an object selects it (and deselects any previously selected 
objects).
•Holding down [Shift] and clicking on an object selects it without dese-
lecting any other objects.
•You can also create a selection rectangle by clicking in an empty area 
and dragging with the mouse button pressed.
All objects partially or totally enclosed by the rectangle will be selected.
•If an object is already selected, you can use the left and right arrow 
key on the computer keyboard to select the previous or next object, 
respectively.
Holding down [Shift] and using the arrow keys allows you to select the previous/next 
object without deselecting the current object.
There are several additional ways to make selections in the different 
Cubase SX/SL windows. These are described in the corresponding 
Operation Manual chapters.
Relative In this mode, clicking anywhere on a slider does not automatically change 
the setting, but you can make adjustments to the current setting by click-
ing anywhere on a slider and dragging, without having to click on the exact 
current position. Option Description 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLBasic Methods 6 – 73
Zoom and view techniques
Scrolling the view
If the active window isn’t large enough to show all its contents, you can 
scroll the view by using the standard window scroll bars. However, if 
you are using a wheel mouse, there are two additional ways to scroll:
•Rolling the wheel will scroll the view vertically.
If you hold down [Shift] and use the wheel, the view will be scrolled horizontally. Just 
make sure not to point at a value field, as this will edit the value instead.
•If you aim in the main area of a window, click the wheel and keep it 
pressed, the pointer takes on the shape of a hand. You can now scroll 
the view freely by dragging the mouse horizontally and/or vertically.
Zooming
All windows that contain graphical displays can be zoomed horizon-
tally and vertically. While some windows have special zoom functions 
(see the respective chapters in the Operation Manual), a few methods 
are commonly available:
Using the zoom sliders
In the lower right corner of all zoomable displays, you will find two 
zoom sliders.
•To zoom in horizontally, drag the horizontal zoom slider handle to the 
right.
•To zoom in vertically, drag the vertical zoom slider upwards.
There is one exception to this: in the Project window, dragging the vertical zoom slider 
upwards will decrease the height of Tracks (in effect, zooming out). See the chapter 
“The Project Window” in the Operation Manual.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL6 – 74 Basic Methods
•Clicking on a zoom slider will move the handle to the click position, in-
stantly changing the magnification.
If the project cursor is visible when you zoom in or out horizontally, the 
magnification will be “centered on the cursor”. In other words: if possi-
ble, the project cursor will remain in the same position on screen.
Using the Magnifying Glass tool
You can use the Magnifying Glass tool to zoom in and out horizontally, 
using the following methods:
•Click once to zoom in one step.
Zooming will be centered on the click position.
•Double click (or press [Alt]/[Option] and click) to zoom out one step.
•Draw a zoom rectangle by pressing the mouse button, dragging the 
pointer and releasing the mouse button.
The view will zoom in horizontally, so that only the area enclosed in the zoom rectangle 
is visible.
Using the Zoom submenu
At the bottom of the Edit menu, you will find a Zoom submenu with 
various zoom functions. Exactly which items on the submenu are avail-
able depends on the currently active window.
•The Zoom submenu is also available as a separate menu item on the 
Quick menu.
•As with any menu item, you can specify key commands for the func-
tions on the Zoom submenu, for quick access.
Key commands are set up in the Key Commands dialog on the File menu. This is 
described in a separate chapter in the Operation Manual.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SLBasic Methods 6 – 75
Zooming in the ruler
If the option “Zoom while Locating in Time Scale” is activated in the 
Preferences dialog (Transport page), you can use the rulers for zoom-
ing. This allows you to quickly zoom in or out on a certain position, 
without having to select a special tool:
1.Click in the ruler and keep the mouse button pressed.
The project cursor is automatically moved to the click position. If you don’t want to 
move the cursor, press [Shift] and click in the ruler instead.
2.Drag down to zoom in (horizontally) or drag up to zoom out.
Zooming will be centered on the project cursor.
Zooming in the overview
By clicking the Show Overview button on the toolbar, an extra pane 
appears under the toolbar: the project overview line. 
The Show Overview button.
In the overview line, events and parts on all tracks are displayed as 
boxes. You can use the overview line to zoom in or out, and for navigat-
ing to other sections of the project. This is done by moving and resizing 
the track view rectangle in the overview line:
• The track view rectangle indicates the section of the project currently dis-
played in the event display.
• You can zoom in or out vertically by resizing the track view rectangle.
Resizing is done by dragging the edges of the rectangle.
• You can drag the track view rectangle to view other sections of the project.
The number of tracks shown will not change.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL6 – 76 Basic Methods
Window handling
Generally, Cubase SX/SL windows are handled according to the 
standard procedures. However, the Window menu contains some 
functions that make work quicker and easier:
Menu item Description
Close Closes the currently active window. If this is a Project win-
dow, you will close the current project.
Close All Closes all windows, including all open projects.
Minimize All Minimizes all windows.
Restore All Restores all minimized Cubase SX/SL windows.
Tile Horizontally/Vertically 
(Windows version only)Arranges the open windows next to each other on screen.
Cascade 
(Windows version only)Arranges the open windows in a partially overlapping pat-
tern.
Workspaces Allows you to set up different window combinations and 
store these for instant recall. See page 244 and the Oper-
ation Manual.
Windows… See below.
The open windows list Selecting a window from the list at the bottom of the menu 
brings it to front.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SLBasic Methods 6 – 77
The Windows dialog
By selecting “Windows…” from the Window menu, you open the 
Windows dialog. This allows you to manage the open windows in 
various ways.
The display to the left lists all open windows, hierarchically arranged 
(so that editors and other windows that belong to a certain project are 
listed under the corresponding Project window). To the right are vari-
ous window functions. To use one of the functions, proceed as follows:
1.Click in the field below the OK button to select one of the selection 
modes: 
2.If you chose the “Selected” or “Cascaded” modes, select the desired 
windows by clicking in the list.
As usual, you can select multiple items by holding [Shift] or [Ctrl]/[Command] and 
clicking. 
3.Use the buttons to the right to activate (bring to front), minimize, restore 
or close the specified window(s).
Closing a window will also remove it from the list.
4.When you are done, click OK to close the dialog.
Mode Description
Selected Only the windows selected in the list will be affected.
Cascaded The selected windows will be affected, along with all their “sub-win-
dows”. Typically, if a Project window is selected in the list, all open 
windows belonging to that project will be affected.
All All windows will be affected, regardless of the selection.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL6 – 78 Basic Methods
The Devices panel
If you like, you can manage devices from a central Devices panel:
1.Pull down the Devices menu and select “Show Panel”.
The Devices Panel appears.
2.To display a closed or hidden window, click on its button in the Devices 
panel.
3.Clicking the button again will close the window.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SLBasic Methods 6 – 79
Undo
There are two ways to undo operations in Cubase SX/SL: by using 
“regular Undo” and by using the Offline Process History. 
•The regular Undo can be applied to virtually all actions you perform, in 
multiple levels. 
It is accessed by using the “Undo”, “Redo” and “History” items on the Edit menu, as 
described below.
•The Offline Process History allows you to remove and modify applied 
processing, and is different from the “regular” Undo in that you don’t 
have to undo processing functions in the order they were performed. 
The Offline Process History is described in the chapter “Audio Processing” in the 
Operation Manual.
The Undo and Redo commands
Cubase SX/SL offers wide-ranging, multiple Undo, allowing you to 
undo virtually any action you perform.
• To undo the last performed action, select Undo from the Edit menu or use the 
corresponding key command (by default [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Z]).
If you select Undo again, the previously performed action will be undone, and so on.
• To redo the last undone action, select Redo from the Edit menu or use the 
corresponding key command (by default [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Shift]-[Z]).
Undone actions will be available for Redo until you perform another action (at which 
point the “Redo stack” is cleared – see below).
You can specify how many levels of Undo should be available with the 
“Maximum Undo” setting on the General page in the Preferences dialog 
on the File menu (Windows) or Cubase SX/SL menu (Mac). 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL6 – 80 Basic Methods
The Edit History window
Selecting “History…” from the Edit menu opens the Edit History win-
dow. This contains a graphic representation of the “Undo stack” (the 
performed actions, with the most recent action at the top of the stack) 
and the “Redo stack” (the undone actions, with the most recently un-
done action at the bottom of the stack). The two stacks are separated 
by a divider line.
The Redo stack.
The Undo stack. The most recently undone action.
The most recently performed action.