Steinberg Nuendo 3 Operation Manual

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The Sample Editor 16 – 401
Window overview
The Elements menu
If you right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) in the Sample Editor to 
bring up the Quick menu, you will find a sub menu called “Elements”. 
By activating or deactivating options on this submenu, you can decide 
what you want shown in the editor window. Some of these options are 
also available as icons on the toolbar.   

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The toolbar
The toolbar contains tools and various settings:
• You can customize the toolbar by right-clicking it (Win) or [Ctrl]-clicking 
it (Mac) and using the pop-up menu to hide or show items.
Selecting Setup from the pop-up menu allows you to reorder sections 
on the toolbar, store presets, etc. See page 678.
The Sample Editor toolsAudition, Loop & 
Volume controls
Show regions
AutoscrollShow Event
Show info line
Snap to Zero CrossingLength of the current selection...

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The thumbnail display
The thumbnail display provides an overview of the whole clip. The sec-
tion currently shown in the Sample Editor’s main waveform display is in-
dicated by a blue rectangle in the thumbnail, while the current selection 
range is shown in blue.
•You can move the blue rectangle in the thumbnail to view other sec-
tions of the clip.
Click in the lower half of the rectangle and drag it to the left or right to move it.
•You can resize the blue rectangle...

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The waveform display and the level scale
The waveform display shows the waveform image of the edited audio 
clip – in the style selected in the Preferences dialog (Event Display–
Audio page), see page 117. To the left of it, a level scale can be 
shown, indicating the amplitude of the audio.
•When the level scale is shown, you can select whether the level 
should be shown as a percentage or in dB.
This is done by right-clicking the level scale and selecting an option...

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•To display the level scale after hiding it, right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click 
(Mac) to bring up the Quick menu and activate “Level Scale” on the 
Elements submenu.
This submenu also allows you to select whether you want the zero axis and/or the half 
level axis indicated in the waveform display.
The info line
The info line at the bottom of the window shows information about the 
edited audio clip. You cannot edit the values on the info line.
•To hide or show the info...

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Operations
Zooming
Zooming in the Sample Editor is done according to the standard 
zoom procedures, with the following special notes:
•The vertical zoom slider changes the vertical scale relative to the height 
of the editor window, in a way similar to the waveform zooming in the 
Project window (see page 113).
The vertical zoom will also be affected if you drag a rectangle with the Zoom tool and 
the option “Zoom Tool Standard Mode” (Preferences – Editing dialog) is...

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•If you have zoomed in to one sample per pixel or less, the appearance 
of the samples depend on the option “Interpolate Audio Images” in 
the Preferences dialog (Event Display–Audio page).
If the option is deactivated, single sample values are drawn as “steps”. If the option is 
activated they are interpolated to “curves” form.
Auditioning
While you can use the regular play commands to play back audio when 
the Sample Editor is open, it is often useful to listen to the...

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Scrubbing
The Scrub tool allows you to locate positions in the audio by playing 
back, forwards or backwards, at any speed:
1.Select the Scrub tool.
2.Click in the waveform display and keep the mouse button pressed.
The project cursor is moved to the position at which you click.
3.Drag to the left or right.
The project cursor follows the mouse pointer and the audio is played back. The speed 
and pitch of the playback depends on how fast you move the pointer.
•You can...

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3.Click on the “S” flag and drag it to the desired position.
When you drag the snap point, a tool tip shows its current position (in the position for-
mat selected on the Sample Editor ruler.
•If the Scrub tool is selected when you move the snap point, you will 
hear the audio while dragging (just like when scrubbing).
This makes it easier to find the correct position.
You can also adjust the snap point by setting the project cursor:
1.Place the cursor at the desired...

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Making selections
To select an audio section in the Sample Editor, you click and drag 
with the Range Selection tool.
•If Snap to Zero Crossing is activated on the toolbar, the start and end 
of the selection will always be at zero crossings (see page 419).
•You can resize the selection by dragging its left and right edge or by 
[Shift]-clicking.
•The current selection is indicated to the right on the toolbar.
You can fine-tune the selection by changing these values...