Steinberg Nuendo 3 Operation Manual

NUENDO
Audio warp realtime processing 18 – 441
11.Click and drag the grid to the right until the second bar in the ruler is 
aligned with the position of the second downbeat of the sample, and 
release the mouse button.
The correct tempo is automatically calculated, based on the time it takes for one bar to 
finish.
12.Now you can enter Musical mode, and the audio clip will adapt to the 
tempo in Nuendo.   

NUENDO
18 – 442 Audio warp realtime processing
Warp tabs and the Warp Samples tool
Warp tabs are a kind of marker or anchor that can be attached to mu-
sically relevant time positions in an audio event, e.g. the first beat of 
every bar. Warp tabs can be dragged to the corresponding time posi-
tions in the project, and the audio will be stretched accordingly. 
A typical application of warp tabs is to make an audio file with a vary-
ing tempo lock to a strict tempo. Using this method, any performance...

NUENDO
Audio warp realtime processing 18 – 443
4.Select the Warp Samples tool (the arrow and clock button) on the 
Sample Editor toolbar.
A grid appears in the waveform display, and warp tabs are automatically added at the 
start and end of the audio clip. These are locked and cannot be removed. 
The Warp Samples tool.
For aligning the tempo you should use Bars and Beats as the ruler 
resolution. When you place the mouse pointer in the waveform display 
it changes to a clock with arrows on either side,...

NUENDO
18 – 444 Audio warp realtime processing
7.In our example the first beat of bar 3 in the audio event is slightly offset 
from the corresponding grid position and thus needs to be moved 
back a bit.
The arrow points to the third downbeat in the audio event.
8.Place the pointer at the position of the first beat in the audio event and 
click and hold.
When you click a warp tab is added.
9.With the mouse button still pressed, drag the warp tab so that the po-
sition lines up with the first beat of the...

NUENDO
Audio warp realtime processing 18 – 445
10.Release the mouse button.
Now the first beat in the audio event is perfectly aligned with the corresponding posi-
tion in the project! 
•If you prefer, you can first add warp tabs at the relevant musical posi-
tions and change their positions later – see page 446.
Beside the warp tab handle in the ruler, a number is shown. This num-
ber indicates the warp factor, i.e. the amount of stretch. Warp factor 
numbers higher than 1.0 indicate that the audio...

NUENDO
18 – 446 Audio warp realtime processing
Editing warp tabs
Moving the destination position of existing warp tabs
•To move an anchored destination position of a warp tab (and thus 
stretch the audio), select the Warp Samples tool and position the 
pointer on the Warp line in the waveform so that the line in the middle 
of the pointer becomes blue. Then click and hold to move the position 
of the warp tab. 
Moving the source position of existing warp tabs
•If you simply wish to move the position of a...

NUENDO
Audio warp realtime processing 18 – 447
Unstretching audio files
By selecting “Unstretch Audio” from the Realtime Processing sub-
menu on the Audio menu, all time stretching (by sizing or by warp 
tabs) can be removed.
Whether the “Unstretch Audio” menu item is available depends on 
whether the time stretching was applied on the event or clip level: 
•If you sized an audio event in the Project window using the “Sizing 
Applies Time Stretch” tool (see page 138), you can undo the time 
stretching by...

NUENDO
18 – 448 Audio warp realtime processing
Warp settings
The “warp settings” pop-up menu, which is located on the Sample 
Editor toolbar, contains various presets affecting the realtime time 
stretching sound quality. These presets have self-explanatory names 
like “Drums” and “Mix”, where the parameters involved have been 
optimized for the corresponding type of audio material. 
Advanced settings
If you select the Advanced menu item, a dialog opens where you can 
manually change the three parameters...

NUENDO
Audio warp realtime processing 18 – 449
Quantizing audio
You can use realtime time stretch to quantize audio. This is achieved 
by using hitpoint detection and adding warp tabs at the positions of 
each detected transient in the audio clip. When you apply audio quan-
tize the warp tabs stretch the detected “hits” to the grid positions the 
selected quantize-grid is set to. Warp tabs that are not quantized will 
be removed.
The quantizing can either be applied by automatically creating warp 
tabs...

NUENDO
18 – 450 Audio warp realtime processing
5.Select a quantize resolution from the Quantize Type pop-up, e.g. 1/8.
Here is a section of the sample before applying Quantize Audio. The hitpoints are 
not on exact grid positions.
6.Select “Quantize Audio” from the Audio menu – Realtime Processing 
submenu.
Now the audio event is quantized by applying time stretch.
7.Open the audio event in the Sample Editor, and either select the Warp 
Samples tool or activate the “Show Warp Tabs” button on the...