Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual
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CUBASE SX/SLAudio effects 11 – 281 Installing and managing effect plug-ins There is a wide range of additional effect plug-ins available in the two formats supported by Cubase SX/SL (VST and DirectX). The two for- mats are handled differently when it comes to installation and organizing: VST plug-ins Mac OS X Plug-ins in Mac OS 9.X format cannot be used. There is a large number of VST plug-ins available for purchase or down- load. To install a VST plug-in under Mac OS X, quit Cubase SX/SL and drag the plug-in file to one of the following folders: • /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ This is only possible if you are the system administrator. Plug-ins installed in this folder will be available to all users, for all programs that support them. • Users/Username/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ “Username” above is the name you use to log on to the computer (the easiest way to open this folder is to go to your “Home” folder and use the path /Library/Audio/Plug- Ins/VST/ from there). Plug-ins installed in this folder are only available to you. When you launch Cubase SX/SL again, the new effects will appear on the effect pop-up menus. • An effect plug-in may also come with its own installation application, in which case you should use this. Generally, always read the documentation or readme files before installing new plug- ins. Windows Under Windows, VST plug-ins are usually installed simply by dragging the files (with the extension “.dll”) into the Vstplugins folder in the Cubase SX/SL application folder, or into the Shared VST Plug-in folder – see below. When you launch Cubase SX/SL again, the new effects will appear on the Effect pop-up menus. • If the effect plug-in comes with its own installation application, you should use this. Generally, always read the documentation before installing new plug-ins.
CUBASE SX/SL11 – 282 Audio effects Organizing VST plug-ins If you have a large number of VST plug-ins, having them all on a single pop-up menu in the program may become unmanageable. For this reason, the plug-ins installed with Cubase SX/SL are placed in ap- propriate subfolders according to the effect type. •Under Windows, you can rearrange this by moving, adding or renam- ing subfolders within the Vstplugins folder if you like. When you launch the program and pull down an Effects pop-up menu, the subfolders will be represented by hierarchical submenus, each listing the plug-ins in the corre- sponding subfolder. •Under Mac OS X, you cannot change the hierarchic arrangement of the “built-in” VST plug-ins. You can however arrange any additional plug-ins you have installed (in the /Library/ Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ folders, see above) by placing them in subfolders. In the pro- gram, the subfolders will be represented by hierarchical submenus, each listing the plug-ins in the corresponding subfolder. About shared VST plug-ins (Windows only) While Cubase SX/SL’s own plug-ins reside in the Vstplugins folder within the Cubase SX/SL program folder, the program can also ac- cess plug-ins in an additional location, called the shared VST plug-ins folder. This lets you use plug-ins installed by other VST compatible ap- plications, etc. You can change what folder is considered the “shared” Vstplugins folder at any time in the Plug-in Information window, see page 284. About the “Earlier VST Plug-ins” and “Cubase 5 Plug-ins” In the Additional Content folder on the program DVD you can find the effects from previous versions of Cubase (Cubase 5 and pre-Cubase 5 effects). The foremost reason for installing these earlier plug-ins is backwards compatibility, allowing you to import old Cubase songs and get the correct effect settings.
CUBASE SX/SLAudio effects 11 – 283 DirectX plug-ins (Windows only) To be able to use DirectX plug-ins, you must have Microsoft DirectX installed on your computer (Version 8.1 – or later – recommended and included on the Cubase SX/SL DVD). DirectX plug-ins should not be placed in the Vstplugins folder, as these are installed under the operating system rather than for Cubase SX/SL exclusively. Rather, you should follow the installation instruc- tions included with the plug-ins. See also page 287. • On the effect menus, all DirectX plug-ins are listed on the DirectX sub- menu. Selecting, activating and editing them is done as with VST effects.
CUBASE SX/SL11 – 284 Audio effects The Plug-in Information window On the Devices menu, you will find an item called “Plug-in Information”. Selecting this opens a dialog listing all the available VST and DirectX compatible plug-ins in your system (including VST Instruments), along with all MIDI plug-ins. The plug-ins are described in the separate “MIDI devices” pdf. Managing and selecting VST plug-ins To see which VST plug-ins are available in your system, click the “VST Plug-ins” tab at the top of the window. The window now displays all plug-ins in the Cubase SX/SL and the shared Vstplugins folder. • The plug-ins are color-coded to help you find plug-ins of a specific type - re- fer to the color fields at the top of the window. • To enable a plug-in (make it available for selection), click in the left column. Only the currently enabled plug-ins (shown with a check sign in the left column) will appear on the effect menus. • The second column indicates how many instances of the plug-in are currently used in Cubase SX/SL. Clicking in this column for a plug-in which is already in use produces a pop-up show- ing exactly where each use occurs - select an instance to open the control panel for the plug-in.
CUBASE SX/SLAudio effects 11 – 285 • Plug-ins which crash when you try to start them, will be marked as "unload- able" in the VST plugin window and skipped at the next start. These plug-ins can be activated again in the VST plug-in window. • If you activate the “Show used only” checkbox, only the plug-ins that are used will be shown in the list. • A plug-in may be in use even if it isn’t enabled in the left column. You might for example have opened a project containing effects that currently are dis- abled on the menu. The left column purely determines whether or not the plug-in will be visible on the effect menus. • All columns can be resized by using the divider in the column header. The other columns show the following information about each plug-in: Column Description Name The name of the plug-in. Nb I/O This column shows the number of inputs and outputs for each plug-in. Category This indicates the category of each plug-in (such as VST Instruments, Surround Effects, etc.). Vendor The manufacturer of the plug-in. VST Version Shows with which version of the VST protocol a plug-in is compatible. Delay (sample) This shows the delay (in samples) that will be introduced if the effect is used as an Insert. This is automatically compensated by Cubase SX/SL. Use Delay CompensationThis option (checked by default) means that plug-in delay compensa- tion is used for this plug-in (see page 251). Note that you can tempo- rarily constrain delay compensation - see page 294. Nb Params The number of parameters for the plug-in. Nb Programs The number of programs for the plug-in. Old Host BehaviourCheck this column for a specific plug-in if you want it to be processed like it was by previous versions of Cubase SX/SL, to avoid problems such as feedback-like sounds. Note that you have to reload the plug-in for the change to take effect. Modified The last modification date of the plug-in file. Path The path and name of the folder in which the plug-in file is located.
CUBASE SX/SL11 – 286 Audio effects Update Button Pressing this button will make Cubase SX/SL re-scan the designated Vstplugins folders for updated information about the plug-ins. Export List button •If you click this button, a text file with the plug-in info is generated. You will be asked to specify a folder where the file should be saved. This document could be useful if you need to contact Steinberg Technical Support – or you might want to use it just as a handy reference of the installed effects. Changing the Shared Plug-ins Folder (Windows only) If you like, you can change what folder is to be the “shared” Vstplugins folder. For example, if you have Steinberg’s Cubase VST 5.1 installed on your computer, you can get access to the Cubase VST 5.1-spe- cific plug-ins in Cubase SX/SL by switching to the Vstplugins folder within the Cubase VST 5.1 folder. The currently selected Shared Folder is displayed in the text field at the top of the window. Clicking the “Change...” button opens a file di- alog where you can browse to another Vstplugins folder on your hard drive. Clicking OK selects the new folder as the shared VST plug-ins folder. After selecting a new shared plug-ins folder, you will first be prompted to confirm your choice, and you will then need to restart Cubase SX/SL for the effects in the new folder to become available.
CUBASE SX/SLAudio effects 11 – 287 •Similarly, you can also add additional Shared Plug-ins folders by click- ing the “Add” button and browsing to another Vstplugins folder on your hard drive. If you have several folders assigned as Shared Plug-ins Folders, you can at any time use the text field pop-up menu to decide which of the assigned folders should be the designated active one. •To remove a Shared Plug-ins Folder, select it and click the “Remove” button. Managing and selecting DirectX plug-ins (Windows only) To see which DirectX plug-ins are available in your system, click the “DirectX Plug-ins” tab at the top of the window. •To enable a plug-in (make it available for selection), click in the left- most column. Only the currently enabled plug-ins (shown with a check sign in the left column) will appear on the Effect menus. The idea here is that there could be a variety of DirectX plug-ins in your system, many of which are not intended for musical audio processing. Disabling these helps you keep the effect menus in Cubase SX/SL more manageable. •The second column indicates how many instances of the plug-in are currently used in Cubase SX/SL. Clicking in this column for a plug-in which is already in use produces a pop-up show- ing exactly where each use occurs. Please note that a plug-in may be in use even if it isn’t enabled in the left column. You might for example have opened a project containing effects that currently are disabled on the menu. The left column purely deter- mines whether or not the plug-in will be visible on the effect menus.
CUBASE SX/SL12 – 290 VST Instruments Introduction VST Instruments are software synthesizers (or other sound sources) that are contained within Cubase SX/SL. They are played internally via MIDI, and their audio outputs appear on separate channels in the mixer, allowing you to add effects or EQ, just as with audio tracks. Some VST Instruments are included with Cubase SX/SL, others can be purchased separately from Steinberg and other manufacturers. The fol- lowing VST Instruments are included and installed with Cubase SX/SL: •A1 – a software synthesizer powered by Waldorf. •VB-1 – a virtual bass instrument built on real-time physical modelling principles. •Embracer - a simple but powerful polyphonic synthesizer designed entirely for producing pads and accompaniment sounds (Cubase SX only). •Monologue - a monophonic analog synthesizer based on physical modeling technology (Cubase SX only). •LM-7 – a 24 bit drum machine. • This chapter describes the general procedures for setting up and using VST Instruments. For descriptions of the included VST Instruments and their parameters, see the sepa- rate pdf document “Audio Effects and VST Instruments”.