Steinberg Nuendo 3 Operation Manual

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Save New Version
This function is only available as a key command, by default 
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+S (Windows) or [Command]+[Option]+S (Mac). When 
you use this function, a new version of the project is saved (or in other 
words, the project is saved under a new name). The new file will have 
the same name as the original project but with an incremental number 
attached. For example, if your project is called “My Project” you will 
get new versions called “My Project-01”, “My Project-02”, and so on.
Save New Version is useful if you are experimenting with edits and ar-
rangements and want to be able to go back to a previous version at 
any time. The most recent new versions you have created will be listed 
on the Recent Projects submenu on the File menu, for instant access.
Save as Template
This function allows you to save the current project as a template. Tem-
plates are always stored in the Templates folder, which on a Windows 
system is created under \Documents and Settings\\Ap-
plication data\Steinberg\Nuendo 3\templates. On the Mac they are 
stored inside /Users//Library/Preferences/Nuendo 3. 
When you create a new project, the available templates will be listed, 
allowing you to base the new project on a template.
•Templates can contain clips and events, just like regular projects.
If this is not what you want, make sure to remove all clips from the Pool before you save 
the project as a template. 
						

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Save Project to New Folder
This function is very useful if you want to move or archive your project. 
If you select this item, you will first be asked where to store the saved 
project. Then a dialog will appear, with the following options:
When you’ve made your settings, click OK to save the project in the 
new folder. The original project isn’t removed or affected.
Revert
If you select Revert from the File menu, you will be asked whether you 
really want to revert to the last saved version of the project. If you click 
“Revert”, all changes you have made since saving will be discarded.
•If you have recorded or created new audio files since saving, you will 
be asked whether you want to delete or keep these.
Item Description
Project Name By default, this will be the current name of the project you’re saving, 
but you can change it if you like.
Minimize 
AudiofilesIf this is activated, only the audio file portions that are actually used in 
the project will be included. This can significantly reduce the size of 
the project folder (if you are using small sections of large files), but it 
will also mean you cannot make use of the remaining audio file por-
tions if you continue working with the project in its new folder.
Freeze Edits This will perform a Freeze Edits operation, making all processing and 
applied effects permanent to each clip in the Pool. See page 391.
Remove Unused 
FilesWhen this is activated, only files in the Pool that are actually used in 
the project will be stored in the new folder.  
						

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Working with Libraries
A Library is a stand-alone Pool, that is not associated with a project 
file. You can use Libraries to store sound effects, loops, Video Clips, 
etc., and transfer media from a Library into a project by using drag and 
drop. The following library functions are available on the File menu:
New Library
Creates a new library. Just as when creating new projects, you will be 
asked to specify a project folder for the new library (in which media 
files will be stored). The Library will appear as a separate Pool window 
in Nuendo.
Open Library
Opens a file dialog for opening a saved library file.
Save Library
Opens a file dialog for saving the library file (file extension “.npl”).
The Cleanup function
The Cleanup function on the File menu helps you to save hard disk 
space by locating, and if you like, deleting unused audio files in the 
project folders on your disk.
1.Select “Cleanup…” from the File menu.
If there are any open projects, an alert will appear, allowing you to close these. Clicking 
“Close” closes all open projects and brings up the Cleanup dialog.
2.If you want to restrict the Cleanup function to a certain folder only, 
click the “Search Folder” button and select the folder.
You should only select a specific folder if you are certain it doesn’t contain audio files 
used in other projects (outside the folder)! See the note below.
If you want the Cleanup function to be applied to all folders on all hard disks, you don’t 
need to make any special settings, as this is the default mode. After selecting a folder 
you can reset the function to search all folders by opening the “Search Folder” dialog 
again and clicking “Cancel”. 
						

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3.Click the Start button.
Nuendo will now scan the selected folder (or all hard disks) for Nuendo project folders 
and check for audio and image files (in the Audio, Edits and Images subfolders) that 
are not used by any project. The found files are listed in the dialog.
4.When the scan is complete, you can select files by clicking in the list.
Use [Ctrl]/[Command]-click to select several files, and [Shift]-click to select a range of 
files. You can also click the Select All button to select all files in the list.
• There are situations when the Cleanup function will list files that are not 
unused! 
- If you have moved or renamed files or folders (without updating the project files to 
use the new paths), there is no way for Nuendo to know that these files are used in a 
project. 
- If you perform the Cleanup function on a folder in which there are audio files belong-
ing to other projects (outside the folder), these files will be considered “unused”. 
- Also, make sure you don’t delete any files used in other applications, or files that you 
generally want to keep!
However, you can safely delete Image files since these can be recon-
structed by the program if necessary.
5.Delete any files you don’t want to keep, by selecting them and clicking 
Delete.
6.Close the dialog by clicking its close button. 
						

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Exporting and importing tracks
You can export Nuendo tracks (of any type) for later import into other 
Nuendo projects. Everything associated with the tracks will be ex-
ported (mixer channel settings, automation subtracks, parts and 
events etc.) and a separate “media” folder will be created, containing 
copies of all referenced audio files.
Project specific settings such as tempo are not part of the exported 
track files.
Exporting tracks
1.Select the tracks that you wish to export.
2.Pull down the File menu and open the Export submenu. 
3.On the submenu, select “Selected Tracks...”.
A file dialog appears allowing you to select or create (and name) an empty destination 
folder for the exported tracks.
4.Click OK.
The tracks will be saved in the specified folder, and will contain two 
items; a XML file named after the enclosing folder and a subfolder 
named “Media” which will contain any associated audio or video files.
Importing tracks
The Import Track Archive function lets you import track exported from 
another Nuendo project.
•Note that the sample rate used in the project you import tracks to has 
to match the sample rate in the original project!
If not, audio files will play back at the wrong speed.
1.Pull down the File menu and open the Import submenu.
2.On the submenu, select “Track Archive...”.
3.In the file dialog that appears, select the XML file and click Open.
The “Copy files to Project Folder?” dialog appears just like when importing audio files. 
4.Click Yes to copy the files into your current project or No to leave 
them in their current location.
The tracks are imported, complete with all contents and settings. 
						

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Exporting and importing AAF files
The Advanced Authoring Format (AAF) is a multimedia file format used 
to exchange digital media and metadata between different systems 
and applications across multiple platforms. Designed by the top media 
software companies, including Pinnacle, this format will help media 
creators by allowing them to exchange projects between applications 
without losing valuable metadata such as fades, automation and pro-
cessing information.
Exporting AAF files
1.Select “AAF...” from the Export submenu on the File menu.
The Export Options dialog for AAF files.
2.You can choose which tracks will be exported from your project by 
clicking in the export column for each track name in the list.
A check mark will appear next to each track that will be exported. You may also click 
the “Select All” button to select every track in the project for export.
3.If you wish to only export the portion of project that is between the left 
and right locators, check the box marked “From Left to Right Locator.”
If an event crosses over the left or right locator, it will be trimmed in the AAF file to the 
point of the locator. Only the portions of events that lie within the boundaries of the lo-
cators will be included in the exported file.  
						

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4.If you want to create copies of all the media files, choose the “Copy 
Media” option.
By default, the copied audio files are placed in a sub-directory in the export destination 
folder. To specify a different location for the copied files, use the Media Destination 
Path text field.
5.If you want to copy only the portions of audio files that are used in the 
project, select the Consolidate Events option. 
You can also define handle lengths in milliseconds to include audio outside each event 
boundary for fine tuning later. If you do not have any handles when consolidating audio 
files, you will not be able to adjust fades or edit points when the project is imported in 
another application.
• Even when selecting neither of the above two options, you can still enter 
a media destination path.
All file references will be set to this path. You can create references to media destina-
tions that don’t exist on the system you are currently working with, making it easy to 
prepare files for use in projects on another system or in an networked environment.
6.In the Options section, you have the choice of exporting all data to 
one file or to create media references to files from within the AAF file.
Exporting only one file makes transfers simpler, but, at the time of writing of this man-
ual, certain applications cannot handle single AAF files. Check with each software 
manufacturer for up-to-date information regarding AAF support in other applications.
7.You can choose the Sample Size by using the pulldown menu. 
This defaults to keeping the same setting as the project.
8.You can choose to quantize events to frame boundaries by checking 
the last option.
Quantizing events to frame boundaries is sometimes necessary when exporting projects 
to video workstations that limit the accuracy of edits to the frame. Any events that begin 
or end not on a frame boundary can exhibit odd behavior or be moved when imported 
into a workstation of this type.
Importing AAF files
1.Select “AAF...” from the Import submenu on the File menu.
2.Once you have selected a valid AAF file, Nuendo will ask you if you 
wish to create a new project. Choosing Yes will import tracks into a 
new project. 
						

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3.Select a directory or create one for the new project. 
If you choose not to create a new project, the imported tracks will be added to the cur-
rently active project.
4.In the dialog that appears, select the tracks you wish to import by click-
ing in the Import column next to each track.
You can also click the Select All button to import all tracks in the AAF file.
5.Click OK.
The import process will begin. Depending on the size of the imported project and if the 
files are embedded or referenced, the import process may take a while.
Exporting and importing AES31 files
The AES31 standard is an open file interchange format, developed by 
the Audio Engineering Society as a means of overcoming format in-
compatibility issues between different audio hardware- and software. 
It can be used for transferring projects via disk or network from one 
workstation to another, retaining time positions of events, fades, etc.
AES31 uses the widely used Microsoft FAT32 file system with Broad-
cast Wave as the default audio file format. This means that an AES31 
file can be transferred to and used with any digital audio workstation 
that supports AES31, regardless of the type of hardware and software 
used, as long as the workstation can read the FAT32 file system and 
Broadcast Wave files (or regular wave files).
Exporting AES31 files
1.Select “AES31...” from the Export submenu on the File menu.
2.Select a name and location for the new file and click Save.
The exported file will contain all Audio Track data, including audio file references. If any 
of the audio events in your project has real-time fades (as set up with the fade handles 
for the events), these will automatically be converted to fade audio files and stored in a 
fades folder next to the AES31 file.
The following will not be included in the resulting AES file:
• Any mixer settings or automation made in Nuendo. 
• MIDI Tracks.
The saved file will be an xml file (but with the extension “.adl”, for audio 
decision list) – this means you can open it in any text editor to check 
file references etc. 
						

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Importing AES31 files
1.Select “AES31...” from the Import submenu on the File menu.
2.Navigate to the location of the AES31 file (extension “.adl”), select it 
and click Open.
You are now prompted to select or create a project folder for the new project.
3.After specifying the name and location of the project folder, the new 
project opens containing all the audio tracks and events stored in the 
AES31 file.
Exporting and importing OMF files
Open Media Framework Interchange (OMFI) is a platform independent 
file format intended for transfer of digital media between different ap-
plications. Nuendo can import and export OMF files (file extension 
“.omf”), allowing you to use Nuendo in conjunction with other audio 
and video applications.
Exporting OMF files
1.Pull down the File menu and open the Export submenu. 
2.On the submenu, select “OMF...”.
The OMF Export Setup dialog appears.
3.Use the track list to the left to select which tracks should be included 
in the exported file.
To select all tracks, click the “Select All” button. Normally, the whole project is included 
- to export the range between the locators only, activate “From Left to Right Locator”.
4.Select “1.0 File” or “2.0 File” depending on which OMFI version is 
supported by the application in which you plan to import the file.
5.Select whether you want to include all audio data in the OMF file 
(“Export All to One File”) or use references only (“Export Media File 
References”).
If you choose “Export All to One File”, the OMF file will be totally “self-contained”, but 
possibly very large. If you choose “Export Media File References”, the file will be small, 
but the referenced audio files must be available for the receiving application. 
						

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6.If you selected the “2.0 File” option above you can choose whether to 
include the volume settings and fades for the events (as set up with 
the event volume and fade handles) as well as the clip names – to in-
clude these in the OMF file, activate “Export Clip Based Volume”, 
“Use Fade Curves” and/or “Export Clip Names” respectively.
7.Specify a sample size (resolution) and sample rate for the exported 
files (or use the current project settings).
8.If you activate “Quantize Events to Frames”, the event positions in the 
exported file will be moved to exact frames.
9.Click OK, and specify a name and location in the file dialog that 
appears.
The exported OMF file will contain (or make reference to) all audio files 
that are played in the project (including fade and edit files). It will not in-
clude unused audio files referenced in the Pool, or any MIDI data. Video 
files are not included, but Nuendo stores the start positions of Video 
Events in the OMF file, allowing you to manually import video files in the 
other OMF application (see below).
Importing OMF files
1.Pull down the File menu and open the Import submenu.
2.On the submenu, select “OMF...”.
3.In the file dialog that appears, locate the OMF file and click Open.
A project file dialog appears, allowing you to specify a folder for the new project.
4.Select an existing project folder or create a new one by typing its 
name in the dialog.
5.If the OMF file contains Video Event information, you are asked whether 
you want to create Markers at the start position of the Video Events.
This allows you to manually import the video files, using the Markers as position refer-
ences.
A new, untitled project is created, containing the Audio Events of the 
imported OMF file.