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Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual

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    							CUBASE SX/SLAutomation 14 – 321
Automation track operations
Opening automation subtracks 
Every track/channel has a number of automation subtracks, each 
showing one automation parameter.
For audio, group, MIDI and FX channel tracks, there are two ways you 
can open an automation subtrack for the channel:
•By right-clicking (Win) or [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) the track in the Track 
list and selecting “Show Automation” from the pop-up that appears.
•By clicking on the “Show/Hide Automation” button (the plus sign) in 
the Track list for the channel.
An automation subtrack opens in the Track list, and a straight black horizontal line is 
shown as well as a greyed out mirror image of the audio events’ waveform (or MIDI 
events for MIDI tracks) in the event display. By default, the volume parameter is as-
signed to the first subtrack.
Click the “+” button to open an automation subtrack.
For VST Instruments, automation tracks appear automatically when 
you add VST Instruments.
For ReWire channels and input/output busses, automation tracks are 
automatically created when the Write automation button (see page 
328) is activated in either:
• The corresponding channel strip in the mixer.
• The corresponding Channel Settings window.
• The mixer common panel (“Write All”).
• The area above the Track list (“Write All”)
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    							CUBASE SX/SL14 – 322 Automation
Opening additional automation subtracks
•If you click on the “Append Automation Track” button (the “+” sign) for 
an automation subtrack, another subtrack opens, by default showing 
the next parameter in the Add Parameter list (see below).
Assigning a parameter to an automation subtrack
Default parameters are already assigned to automation subtracks 
when you open them, according to their order in the Add Parameter 
list (see below). To select what parameter an open subtrack should 
display, proceed as follows:
1.If none exists, open an automation subtrack using one of the methods 
described above.
2.Click in the parameter display for the automation subtrack.
A pop-up list is shown containing some of the automation parameters plus the item 
“More...” at the bottom of the list.
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    							CUBASE SX/SLAutomation 14 – 323
•If the parameter you wish to automate is on the pop-up you can select 
it directly.
The parameter will then replace the current parameter in the automation subtrack. 
•If you wish to add a parameter not available on the pop-up and want 
to view all parameters that can be automated, go on to the next step.
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    							CUBASE SX/SL14 – 324 Automation
3.Select “More...”.
The Add Parameter dialog appears. This dialog shows a list with all parameters, sorted 
into different categories, that can be automated for the selected channel, including the 
parameters for any assigned insert effects. See page 319 for a list of the available pa-
rameters according to channel type.
The Add Parameter dialog for an audio track.
4.Select a parameter from the list and click OK.
The parameter will then replace the current parameter in the automation subtrack.
• To view the parameters in each category click the “+” sign for the cate-
gory folder.
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    							CUBASE SX/SLAutomation 14 – 325
• Note that the “replacing” of the parameter displayed in the subtrack is 
completely non-destructive. 
For example, if the subtrack contained any automation data for the parameter you just re-
placed, this data would still be there, although it would not be visible after you replaced 
the parameter. If you click in the parameter display you can switch back to the replaced 
parameter. All automated parameters are indicated by an asterisk (*) after the parameter 
name on the pop-up menu.
The Volume parameter is automated.
You can click the “Show/Hide Automation” button (the plus sign) for 
the automation subtrack to open additional subtracks and repeat the 
above procedure to assign a parameter to each subtrack.
Removing automation subtracks 
To remove automation subtracks from the Track list, proceed as follows:
•To remove a single subtrack, click the parameter name and select “Re-
move Parameter” from the pop-up menu.
Note that this will also delete any automation events on the subtrack, and the subtrack 
will be closed.
•To remove all currently unused subtracks from a track in the Track list, 
select “Remove Unused Parameters” from any of its subtrack para-
meter name pop-ups.
All subtracks that do not contain automation events will be closed for the selected track.
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    							CUBASE SX/SL14 – 326 Automation
Hiding automation subtracks
•To hide a single automation subtrack, click the “Hide Automation” 
button (the minus sign) in the Track list.
•To hide all automation subtracks for a track, right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-
click (Mac) the track for which you wish to hide the automation sub-
tracks, and select “Hide Automation” from the pop-up menu that ap-
pears.
•To hide all automation subtracks for all tracks in the Track list, right-
click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) any track and select “Hide All Automa-
tion” from the pop-up menu that appears.
This option is also available on the Project menu.
Showing only used automation subtracks
If a lot of automation subtracks are used, it may be impractical to have 
them all open in the Track list. If you want to view only the subtracks 
that are used (i.e. those that actually contain automation events) and 
hide all empty automation subtracks, do one of the following:
•Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) any track in the Track list and 
select the option “Show Used Automation for All Tracks” from the 
pop-up menu.
This will close all automation subtracks not containing any automation events, while leav-
ing used subtracks open for all tracks. This option is also available on the Project menu.
•Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) a specific track and select the 
option “Show Used Automation” from the pop-up menu.
This will close all automation subtracks not containing any automation events, while 
leaving used subtracks open for the selected track.
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    							CUBASE SX/SLAutomation 14 – 327
Muting automation subtracks
You can mute individual automation subtracks by clicking their Mute 
buttons in the Track list. While clicking the Read (R) button (see page 
328) for an automation subtrack will activate or deactivate Read mode 
for all automated parameters of the track, using the Mute button allows 
you to turn off automation for a single parameter.
The “Automation follows Events” setting
If you activate “Automation follows Events” on the Edit menu (or in the 
Preferences–Editing dialog), automation events will automatically fol-
low when you move an event or part on the track. 
This makes it easy to set up automation related to a specific event or 
part, rather than to a specific position in the project. For example, you 
can automate the panning of a sound effect event (having the sound 
pan from left to right, etc.) – if you need to move the event, the auto-
mation will automatically follow! The rules are:
•All automation events for the track between the start and end of the 
event or part will be moved.
If there are automation events in the new position (to which you move the part or 
event), these will be overwritten.
•If you duplicate an event or part (by [Alt]/[Option]-dragging or by us-
ing the Duplicate or Repeat functions) the automation events will be 
duplicated as well.
•This function affects copying and pasting as well.
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    							CUBASE SX/SL14 – 328 Automation
Using Write/Read automation
All track types except folder, marker, video and ruler tracks feature 
Write (W) and Read (R) buttons in the mixer, in the Track list and in the 
Channel Settings window. Furthermore, the control panels for all plug-
in effects and VST Instruments also feature Write and Read buttons.
The Write and Read buttons for a channel in the mixer, and for an automation 
subtrack in the Track list.
•If you activate Write for a channel, all mixer parameters you adjust dur-
ing playback for that specific channel will be recorded as automation 
events.
•If you activate Read for a channel, all your recorded mixer actions for 
that channel will be performed during playback, just like you performed 
them in Write mode.
•The W and R buttons for a track in the Track list are mirrors of the W 
and R buttons in the corresponding channel strip in the mixer.
•Some track types require that you activate the Write button (either for 
the track or globally – see below) to create an automation track for it.
These are: VST Instrument, ReWire and Input/Output tracks. The first time the Write 
button is activated for these track types, automation subtracks will be created for them. 
You can then proceed with automating the parameters of the tracks (by editing the au-
tomation subtracks or by writing, as described below). To play back the automation, 
make sure the Read button for the tracks is activated.
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    							CUBASE SX/SLAutomation 14 – 329
There are also global Read All and Write All Automation buttons in the 
mixer’s common panel and at the top of the Track list:
The global Write and Read buttons in the mixer, and in the Track list.
•When Read All is activated, all your recorded mixer actions for all 
channels will be performed during playback.
•When Write All is activated, all mixer actions you perform during play-
back (for all channels) will be recorded as automation events.
The “MIDI Controller Input to Automation Tracks” preference 
(Cubase SX only)
If you have set up a remote device to control parameters and settings 
in the program, you can record automation with that remote device - 
just activate Write as usual. However, if you are recording a MIDI track 
and want to record automation at the same time, the controller data 
sent by the remote device will be recorded “twice” - as automation 
and as MIDI controller data on the MIDI track.
To avoid this, activate the MIDI Controller Input to Automation Tracks 
setting in the Preference-MIDI dialog. When this is activated, the con-
trollers will be recorded as automation only, not as MIDI controller 
data on the recorded MIDI track.
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    							CUBASE SX/SL14 – 330 Automation
About the five automation modes (Cubase SX only)
In Cubase SL the automation mode is always “Touch Fader”.
When recording automation, you can choose one of five automation 
modes (available on the Project window toolbar):
•When Touch Fader mode is selected, the program starts writing the 
automation as soon as you click the control and stops writing when 
you release the mouse button.
If you are overwriting existing automation, the Automation Return Time setting (next to 
the automation mode pop-up menu) determines how fast the automated parameter re-
turns to its original automated value when you release the mouse button.
For most plug-in parameters (audio effects and VST Instruments), there 
is no way for the program to “know” whether a control is “pressed” or 
not (this information is not passed back by the plug-in interface). For 
this reason, automation of most plug-in parameters will work as in Au-
tolatch mode (see below), even if Touch Fader is selected.
•When Autolatch mode is selected, the program starts writing the au-
tomation as soon as you click the control and stops writing when you 
stop playback or turn off the Write function.
The last automation value will be continuously written until you stop or turn off Write. 
This is useful if you want to overwrite a long section of previous automation, and also 
when you are recording automation from a remote device (because then there is no 
way for the program to know when you “release” the control). However, make sure you 
only touch the desired control(s) when recording automation in Autolatch mode – and 
remember to stop playback when you’re done!
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