Steinberg Nuendo 3 Operation Manual

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• It’s also possible to import Songs created in version 3.7x of Cubase for 
Windows.
However, this will only include the basic audio and MIDI data, ignoring most of the set-
tings.
MIDI “effect” devices, such 
as the arpeggiator and IPSRemoved.
Window layouts Ignored.
Key command settings Ignored.
Grooves Ignored.
MIDI Mixermaps Removed.
Dynamic events in audio 
parts (including M-points)Ignored.
Automation The VST channel automation is included, but limited to 
volume, pan and EQ data. Plug-in automation and auto-
mation for DSP Factory settings are ignored.
Left/right locator positions 
and cycle statusIgnored.
Sync settings and status Ignored.
Master track hitpoints Removed.
VST Group channels Removed.
Multiple audio tracks routed 
to the same audio channelWill be replaced by separate audio tracks (with separate 
channels in the mixer). This is because in Nuendo there is 
always one channel per track.
Solo/Mute status of VST 
channelsIgnored. Data Conversion result 
						

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Import Cubase Arrangement
As mentioned above, a Song in previous versions of Cubase could 
contain one or several Arrangements. These contained all the part and 
event data along with file references, but without mixer settings and 
similar, which were global to all Arrangements in the Song. Arrange-
ments could be saved as separate files, with the extension “.arr”.
When you import a Cubase Arrangement into Nuendo, it will be con-
verted to a project, just as when importing a Song. The same limita-
tions apply.
Import Cubase Part
Just as in Nuendo, previous Cubase versions used parts as containers 
for MIDI or audio events. These could be saved as separate files with 
the extension “.prt”. When you import a part file, the following happens:
• A new track is created, with the name of the part.
That is, the name of the part when it was saved in Cubase, not (necessarily) the file name.
• The part appears as a Nuendo part, at the left locator position.
• If the imported part was an audio part, the necessary clips and file references 
are added to the Pool.
Note that none of these file formats contain any actual audio data. Just 
as with Nuendo projects, the files only contain references to audio files. 
This means that you need access to the referenced audio files as well, 
to properly import Songs, Arrangements or Parts with audio.
Importing audio CD tracks
You can import audio from audio CDs, for use in Nuendo projects. 
This is done by selecting “Import Audio CD” from the Pool menu (or 
by selecting the “Audio CD…” option from the Import submenu on the 
File menu).
•If the project window is active, the imported audio CD track(s) will be 
inserted on the selected audio track, at the project cursor position.
It is also possible to import audio CD tracks into the Pool, which may be the preferred 
method if you want to import several CD tracks in one go. 
						

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Selecting one of the Import Audio CD menu items brings up the fol-
lowing dialog:
•If you have more than one CD drive, you use the Drives pop-up menu 
to select the one holding the audio CD.
•The Speeds pop-up menu (Windows version only) lists all possible 
data transfer speeds for the selected CD drive.
While you normally want to use the fastest possible speed, you may have to select a 
slower speed for flawless audio extraction.  
						

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•The main display in the dialog lists all audio tracks on the CD.
The columns have the following functionality:
•You can audition the selected audio CD track by clicking the Play 
button.
The track will be played back from the grab selection start (see below) to the track end 
(or until you click the button again). During playback, the button is labeled “Stop”.
•The arrow buttons next to the Play button allow you to audition the 
start and end of the grab selection only.
The left button will play a short snippet beginning at the start of the grab selection (see 
below), while the right button will play a snippet starting just before the end of the grab 
selection.
•If you want to import a section of an audio CD track only, you select 
the track in the list and specify the start and end of the grab selection 
by dragging the handles in the grab selection ruler.
Use the start and end audition buttons to fine tune the selection boundaries.
Column Description
Grab Activate the checkbox in this column for the track you want to grab (im-
port). To activate more than one checkbox (import more than one track), 
click and drag over the checkboxes (or press [Ctrl]/[Command] or [Shift] 
and click).
Track When you import an audio CD track, the file will be named according to 
the name in this column. You can rename a track by clicking in the Track 
column and typing a new name. You can also apply a name to all audio 
CD tracks (e.g. the name of the album, see below).
Length The length of the whole audio CD track, in minutes and seconds.
Size The file size of the whole audio CD track, in MegaBytes.
Grab Start You can grab a section of a track if you like. This indicates the start of the 
section to be grabbed in the track. By default, this is set to the start of the 
track (0.000) but you can adjust this on the grab selection ruler (see below).
Grab End Indicates the end of the section to be grabbed in the track. By default, this 
is set to the end of the track but you can adjust this on the grab selection 
ruler (see below).  
						

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Note that you can import sections of several audio CD tracks by se-
lecting them in turn and adjusting the grab selection. The grab start 
and end settings for each track will appear in the list.
•If you wish, you can change the generic audio file name in the File 
Name field.
By default, the imported audio files will get this name with a track number added (typ-
ically Track 01, Track 02, and so on). However, if you have adjusted the track name for 
a specific audio CD track in the list, the corresponding audio file will use that name in-
stead.
•By default, imported audio CD tracks will be stored as Wave files 
(Windows) or AIFF files (Mac) in the Audio folder of the current 
project.
You can select another folder by clicking the Change Folder button.
•Clicking the Grab button will convert the selected audio CD tracks 
(the tracks for which the Grab checkbox is ticked) to audio files.
The grabbed files will be listed at the bottom of the dialog – click OK to actually import 
the files into the project and close the dialog, or click Cancel to discard the grabbed 
files.
Importing Audio from Video files
While you can automatically extract the audio when importing a video 
file (see page 623), it is also possible to import the audio from a video 
file without importing the video itself:
1.Pull down the File menu and select “Audio from Videofile” from the 
Import submenu.
2.In the file dialog that appears, locate and select the video file and click 
Open.
The audio in the selected video file is extracted and converted to a Wave file in the 
project’s Audio folder.
•A new Clip is created and added to the Pool. If the Project Window is 
active, an Event will be inserted on the selected Track at the project 
Cursor position.
This works just like when importing regular audio files. 
						

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Importing ReCycle files
ReCycle, developed by Propellerhead Software, is a program designed 
especially for working with sampled loops. By “slicing” a loop and mak-
ing separate samples of each beat, ReCycle makes it possible to match 
the tempo of a loop and edit the loop as if it was built up of individual 
sounds. Nuendo can import two file types created by ReCycle: 
• REX files (export file format of the first versions of ReCycle, extension “.rex”).
• REX 2 files (file format of ReCycle 2.0 and later, extension “.rx2”).
Proceed as follows:
1.Select an audio track and move the project cursor to where you want 
the imported file to start.
You probably want to import REX files to tempo based audio tracks, since this will al-
low you to change the tempo later on (having the imported REX file automatically ad-
just).
2.Select “Audio File…” from the Import submenu on the File menu.
3.Select REX files or REX 2 files with the file type pop-up menu in the 
file dialog.
4.Locate and select the file and click Open.
The file is imported, and automatically adjusted to the current Nuendo tempo. 
Unlike a regular audio file, the imported REX file will consist of several 
events, one for each “slice” in the loop. The events will automatically 
be placed in an audio part on the selected track, and positioned so 
that the original internal timing of the loop is preserved.
5.If you now open the part in the Audio Part Editor, you can edit each 
slice separately by muting, moving and resizing events, adding effects 
and processing, etc.
You can also adjust the tempo and have the REX file automatically follow (provided 
that its track is tempo based).
• You can also achieve similar results by using Nuendo’s own loop slicing 
features.
See page 456. 
						

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Importing compressed audio files
During the last years, various audio compression formats have be-
come very common. The major advantage of using such file formats is 
that the file size is significantly reduced, with very little degradation of 
sound quality. This allows for quick download, mass storage and easy 
transportation.
Nuendo can import (and export, see page 551) several common au-
dio compression formats. The procedure is the same as when import-
ing any non-compressed audio file, with one important thing to note:
If you import a compressed audio file, Nuendo will create a copy of the 
file and convert this to Wave format (Windows) or AIFF format (Mac OS 
X) before importing it (the original compressed file will not be used in 
the project). The Wave/AIFF file will be placed in the designated project 
Audio folder. Please be aware that the converted Wave/AIFF file will be 
several times larger than the original compressed file!
The following file types are supported:
MPEG audio files
MPEG, which stands for Moving Picture Experts Group, is the name 
of family of standards used for coding audio-visual information (e.g. 
movies, video, music) in a digital compressed format. 
Nuendo can read three types of audio MPEG files: MPEG Layer 1 (file 
extension *.mpeg), MPEG Layer 2 (*.mp2) and MPEG Layer 3 (*.mp3). 
Currently, mp3 is the most common of these formats, while the mp2 
format is mostly used in broadcast applications.
• Note that the file extension “.mpeg” can also be used by MPEG video files.
If you select an MPEG video file in the Import Audio dialog you will not be able to im-
port it.
Ogg Vorbis files
Ogg Vorbis is a relatively new format that is open and patent-free and 
offers very small audio files maintaining comparatively high audio qual-
ity. Ogg Vorbis files have the extension “.ogg”. 
						

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Windows Media Audio files (Windows only)
Windows Media Audio is an audio format developed by Microsoft Inc. 
Due to advanced audio compression algorithms, Windows Media Au-
dio files can be made very small, maintaining good audio quality. The 
files have the extension “.wma”.
Options and Settings
Auto Save
If you activate the Auto Save checkbox in the Preferences dialog 
(General page), Nuendo will automatically save backup copies of all 
open projects with unsaved changes.
•You specify how often a backup copy should be created with the Auto 
Save Interval setting.
•Backup copies are named “Name.bak”, where “Name” is the name of 
the project. The files are saved in the project folder.
•Unsaved projects are also backed up in the same way.
Backup copies of unsaved projects will be named “#UntitledX.bak” where “X” is an in-
cremental number, to allow multiple backup copies in the same project folder.  
						

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Startup Options
The “On Startup” pop-up menu in the Preferences dialog (General 
page) allows you to specify what should happen each time you launch 
Nuendo. The following options are available:
Option Description
Do Nothing Nuendo launches without opening a project.
Open Last Project The last saved project is opened on launch.
Open Default Project The default project is opened (see page 640).
Show Open Dialog The Open dialog appears on launch, allowing you to manu-
ally locate and open the desired project.
Show Template Dialog The Template dialog appears on launch, allowing you to cre-
ate a new project from one of the templates.
Show Open Options 
DialogThe Open Document Options dialog appears on launch, see 
below. It allows you to make a different choice each time you 
launch Nuendo.  
						

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Nuendo Open Document Options Dialog
The Nuendo projects you have used recently are displayed in the list. 
To open one of them, select it and click the “Open Selection” button. 
To open another project not listed there, click the “Open Other...” but-
ton. A file dialog appears that allows you to look for the desired file on 
your disk. Click the “New Project” button to create a new project us-
ing a template or not.
If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] while launching Nuendo this dia-
log will always be displayed, regardless of the startup option selected 
in the Preferences dialog (General page).