Steinberg Nuendo 4 Operation Manual

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When you select the Category search mode, the Filter 
section will show the tag columns, each with its own list of 
tag values. 
The default setup of Category search mode
By clicking on individual tag values in the tag columns, you 
define the search filter: only the files that match the se-
lected tag values will be displayed in the Viewer. Select 
more tag values from other columns to further refine your 
search.Selected tag values in the same tag column form an OR 
condition.
This means that files must be tagged according to either one or the other 
value to be displayed in the Viewer section.
For the “Style” tag, the files found will show either the “Blues” OR the 
“Jazz” tag value.
Tag values in different columns form an AND condition.
This means that files must be tagged according to all these values to be 
displayed in the Viewer section.
The files found will belong to the “E. Guitar” sub category tag AND 
show “Blues” for the Style tag.
Categorization by tagging makes it easy to organize your 
media files. How to assign tag values to your files is de-
scribed in the section “The Tag Editor” on page 323 and 
in the section “Tagging media files” on page 325. 
ÖNote that you can use existing tags or use the user tag 
feature (see “Defining user tags” on page 324) to create 
your own categories.
Category searches are used not only in the MediaBay, but 
throughout Nuendo in various SoundFrame-related con-
texts (see the chapter “SoundFrame” on page 311).
!By default, the first two tag columns are set to “Cate-
gory” and “Sub Category”. These tags are directly 
linked to each other: for each Category value, there is 
a number of Sub Category values. Changing to a dif-
ferent Category value in the first tag column will give 
you different values in the Sub Category column!
!Each tag column displays only the tag values found 
in the folder selected in the Browser section of the 
MediaBay! This means that selecting a different 
folder in the Browser may lead to the display of dif-
ferent Category search settings.
These tag values were found in the currently selected folder.
The files displayed in the Viewer match the selected tag values. 
						

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Further options for Category searches
The text field at the top serves as an additional name fil-
ter: you can enter a file name or part of a file name here.
This corresponds to a “Name: contains” Details search, which means 
that the name of the searched file must contain the text you enter here. 
See also “Performing a Details search” on page 320.
In addition to the filter defined by the tag columns, the name of the 
searched file must contain “120bpm”.
You can change which tag is displayed at the top of 
each tag column by clicking on the tag and selecting a dif-
ferent tag from the Filter tag list pop-up menu.
How to configure the Filter tag list is described in the section “Managing 
the tag lists” on page 323.
To select a tag value, simply click on it. To deselect it, 
click the value again.
Note that you can select more than one value in each tag column.
Click the Reset button on the top right of the Filter sec-
tion to clear all settings in the tag columns.
This will also reset the tag list settings.
Previewing files in the Scope section
Below the Viewer you will find the Scope section. It allows 
you to play back files selected in the Viewer section.
The elements visible in this section and their functions 
depend on the type of media file selected in the Viewer.
Previewing audio files
The Scope section for an audio file.
To preview an audio file, simply click the Start button.
When Auto Play is activated, selecting a file in the 
Viewer will automatically start playback.
When “Play in Project context” is activated, the file will 
be played back together with the current project, starting 
at the current project cursor position.
Previewing MIDI files
The Scope section for a MIDI file.
To preview a MIDI file (.mid), you first have to select an 
output device in the Output pop-up.
The “Auto Play” and “Play in Project context” options work in the same 
way as with audio files.
Auto Play and “Play in Project context” work as for audio 
files, see above.
Previewing MIDI loops
To preview a MIDI loop file, click the Start button.
Auto Play works as for audio files, see above.
MIDI Loops are always played in the project context.
!The Scope section does not play back video files or 
project files. Also, it is not possible to preview audio 
track presets in the MediaBay (see below).
Auto PlayPlay in Project 
context Preview level Transport controls
OutputAuto  Play Play in Project 
context Transport controls 
						

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Previewing track and instrument presets
The Scope section for a MIDI track preset.
Track presets for MIDI or Instrument tracks and VST plug-
in presets require MIDI notes for previewing. There are 
two ways these notes can be sent to the track template:
Click the “MIDI Input” button and play MIDI notes on a 
MIDI keyboard connected to your system.
Clicking “Choose MIDI File” will open a file dialog where 
you can navigate to a MIDI file. When you now click “Play”, 
the notes received from the MIDI file will be played with 
the settings of the track preset applied.
Track presets for audio tracks cannot be previewed in the 
MediaBay. You can do this in the Apply Track Template 
dialog (for further information, see “Previewing track or 
VST presets before applying” on page 336).
The Tag Editor
When a file is selected in the Viewer section, the Tag Editor 
shows a two-column list of tags and tag values for this file.
Tags for media files (also called “attributes”) are sets of 
metadata providing additional information on the file. The 
different types of media files have different tags: for exam-
ple, for .wav audio files you will find standard tags like 
name, length, size, sample rate, etc., while for .mp3 files, 
additional tags such as “Artist” or “Genre” are available.The Media Management System provides further tags, 
such as “Category” or “Character”.
You have access not only to the standard tags and the 
preconfigured tags provided by Nuendo, but you can also 
define your own tags and add these to your files. 
The following sections describe how to set up the various 
tag lists, how to edit tags in the Tag Editor, and how to de-
fine user tags.
Managing the tag lists
Lists of tags and tag values are used in various places in 
the MediaBay window. You can configure these lists and 
define certain tag properties in the Manage Tags dialog.
Proceed as follows:
1.Open the Manage Tags dialog by clicking on the Man-
age Tags button in the lower right corner of the MediaBay 
window.
2.Click one of the filter buttons at the top of the Manage 
Tags dialog to select the file type for which you want to 
configure the tag lists.
The Manage Tags dialog shows a list of all tags available for the media 
files supported by the MediaBay, and three columns of checkboxes, one 
for the Filter section, one for the Viewer and one for the Tag Editor.
3.To display a certain tag in the Filter tag lists, the Viewer 
or the Tag Editor, activate the corresponding checkbox for 
this tag:
4.Close the Manage Tags dialog by clicking its close box.
Your settings will be applied.
The Type column shows whether the value for a tag is a 
number, text or a Yes/No-type switch. The Precision col-
umn shows the number of decimals displayed after a point 
for number tags.
 MIDI In activity
The “Category” tag 
is selected for dis-
play in the Filter tag 
lists, the Viewer and 
in the Tag Editor. 
						

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Click and drag in the tag display to select several tags 
(click somewhere outside the selected area to deselect).
This way, you can activate/deactivate all selected check boxes in one go.
To return to the default tag display settings for the Filter, 
Viewer and Tag Editor sections, click the “Reset to Default” 
button (above the tag display) in the Manage Tags dialog.
Displaying tags in the Tag Editor
You can switch the tag display in the Tag Editor:
Click on “Managed” to show only the tags activated for 
display in the Manage Tags dialog.
Use this view to limit the tag display to only those tags that are of interest 
to you.
Click on “All” to show all tags for the file selected in the 
Viewer for which values are available.
Use this display if you wish to see all tags, including standard file at-
tributes such as Name, Size or Date Modified.
Displaying tags in the Viewer
Most of the time, tags displayed in the MediaBay are 
sorted alphabetically. Only in the Viewer can you change 
the tag display order:
Move the mouse pointer to a column heading, click and 
drag that heading to a different position in the display.
Editing tags in the Tag Editor
You can use the Tag Editor to edit tag values of the vari-
ous media files. 
ÖNote that changing a tag value in the Tag Editor may 
permanently change the corresponding file.
When it comes to editing, you will notice that there are dif-
ferent types of tags:
“Display only” tags cannot be edited. Their values are 
displayed in a slightly lighter color.
In this case, the file format probably doesn’t permit changing this value, 
or changing a particular value makes no sense (e. g. you cannot change 
the file size in the MediaBay, because you have no way of adding or re-
moving media information).
Most tag values can be edited by double-clicking in the 
Value column of the Tag Editor.
Tag values can be text, numbers or yes/no switches. Simply enter/change 
the text, number or Yes/No setting in the field displayed for a value.
Renaming a file in the Tag Editor
When clicking in the Value column for “Category”, “Sub 
Category” or “Style”, a pop-up menu opens from which 
you can choose a value.
The tags “Category” and “Sub Category” are directly linked to each 
other. The “Category” pop-up allows you to set a category, the “Sub 
Category” pop-up allows you to set a category and a corresponding sub 
category. If you pick a sub category from a category that is different from 
the category set for the “Category” tag, this tag will be changed as well.
Clicking in the Value column for the “Character” tag will 
open the Edit Character dialog.
Click a radio button on the left or the right side and then click OK to de-
fine values for the Character tag.
Clicking in the Value column for the Rating tag allows 
you to rate the file on a scale from 1 – 5.
For example, use this to indicate the file’s sound quality or its suitability 
for a certain purpose.
Defining user tags
You can define your own tags and save these in the Media-
Bay. You can use such user tags for example to define your 
own filter categories, further refining the categorization of 
your media files.
To define a user tag, proceed as follows:
1.Open the Manage Tags dialog by clicking the Manage 
Tags button in the lower right corner of the MediaBay win-
dow.
2.Click on the Add Tag button.
The Add User Tag dialog opens.
3.Enter a name for the new tag and define its type.
Tags can be of type “Text”, “Number” or “Yes/No” switch.
For tags of type “Number”, you can also specify how 
many decimals should be displayed after a decimal point.
Enter the corresponding value in the Precision field. 
						

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4.Click OK.
The new tag is added to the list of available tags and can be displayed in 
the Tag Editor and the Viewer.
To remove a user tag, select it in the Tags list and click 
the Remove Tag button.
The tag will be removed from all tag lists in which it was previously dis-
played.
Media management
General handling
You can use the [Tab] key on your computer keyboard 
to move the focus between the different sections of the 
MediaBay window. Use the arrow keys to navigate to dif-
ferent folders, files or tags.
When assigning tag values, note that you can select 
several files and assign the same tag value to all files.
File management
You can use the MediaBay for various file management 
tasks, similar to what you can do in the Windows Explorer/
Mac OS Finder.
When the option “Show file extensions” is activated in 
the Preferences dialog (MediaBay page), file name exten-
sions (e. g. “.wav” or “.cpr”) will be displayed in the Media-
Bay. When this is deactivated, file extensions will not be 
shown.
Browser operations
The following tasks can be performed in the Browser sec-
tion:
To delete a folder, right-click on the folder icon and se-
lect “Delete from Disk” from the context menu.
A warning message is displayed, asking you to confirm that you really 
want to move this folder to the operating system’s trash folder.
To rename a folder, select it in the list, click on its name 
and enter a new name.
You can drag & drop a folder to a different location.
You will be asked if you wish to copy or move the folder to the new 
location.
Viewer operations
You can move/copy a file from the Viewer section to a 
different location by clicking and dragging it to a different 
folder in the Browser section.
You will be asked if you wish to copy or move the file to the new location.
To insert a file into the project, right-click the file and se-
lect one of the “Insert into project” options from the con-
text menu.
This will import this file into your current project, either at the start of the 
project or at the current cursor position.
To delete a file, right-click on it in the Viewer and select 
“Delete” from the context menu.
A warning message is displayed, asking you to confirm that you really 
want to move this file to the operating system’s trash folder.
When the option “Allow Editing in Viewer” is activated 
in the Preferences dialog–MediaBay page, you can also 
edit tags in the Viewer.
Otherwise this is possible only in the Tag Editor.
Tagging media files
The search functions, especially the Category search 
mode, become a truly powerful media management tool 
when making extensive use of tagging.
Media files are usually organized in complex folder struc-
tures to provide a logical way of guiding the user to the 
desired files, with the folder and/or file names indicating 
the instrument, style, tempo etc.
To find a particular sound or loop in such a folder structure 
can be very time consuming – tagging is the answer! To 
assign a number of meaningful tags, e. g. to a library of 
loop files, proceed as follows:
1.Copy the loop files to your hard disk.
Tagging means editing the files, so you need them on your system.
2.Open the MediaBay and browse to where the new 
loops are located.
3.Navigate to a folder containing loops.
For example, you might have a folder containing Metal style drum loops, 
at 120 bpm.
4.In the Viewer, select all files contained in this folder.
Make sure that the Deep Results button is deactivated, so that only files 
contained in this folder are displayed. 
						

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5.Assign tags that reflect the information indicated by 
the folder structure.
In the above example, you would put “Metal” as a value for the Style tag, 
and “Drums” for the Instrument tag. The Tag Editor also allows you to 
display a “Tempo” tag, for which you could specify a value of “120”.
You can now use the Category search mode to find quickly 
all Metal style drum loops at 120 bpm, without the need to 
navigate through a large number of folders and subfolders. 
						

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Track Presets 
						

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Track Presets
Introduction
Track presets are templates that you can create from au-
dio, MIDI or instrument tracks – or several of these tracks. 
With these track presets, you can then create new tracks 
or apply them to existing tracks of the same type. 
The idea behind track presets is:
To allow you to quickly access, browse, select, change 
and preview sounds.
To give you an easy way to reuse channel settings 
across projects.
Track presets are part of the SoundFrame concept (see 
“SoundFrame” on page 311) and organized in the Sound 
Browser (a view of the MediaBay, see “The MediaBay” on 
page 314). This allows you to categorize track presets 
with tags like “EPiano” or “Jazz” and search for these tags.
Related topics
Nuendo offers a variety of related functions that allow you 
to handle presets of program settings:
You can save and load channel settings in the mixer (not 
for MIDI), see “Saving mixer settings” on page 146.
You can save and load inserts rack and EQ presets, see 
“Inserts and EQ settings from track presets” on page 337. 
You can export and import tracks as track archives , see 
“Exporting and importing tracks” on page 500.
Types of track presets
There are four kinds of track presets:
Audio
Instrument (this also includes certain VST3 presets, see 
“VST (Instrument) presets” on page 330)
MIDI
Multi (any number of the three preset types above in any 
sequence)
Since the purpose of track presets is to make sound 
handling easier, only parameters are saved that are rele-
vant for the sound of a certain track.
Audio track presets
Track presets for audio tracks include all inserts and ef-
fects that “define” the sound. Since there are big differ-
ences between the typical settings for a trumpet and a 
human voice, for example, audio track presets are a quick 
way to optimize your track.
For example, you can:
Easily audition your audio track with the factory presets.
Use the factory presets as a starting point for your own 
editing.
Save the audio settings that you optimized for an artist 
with which you often work and use the resulting audio 
track preset for future recordings.
Data saved in audio track presets
 Insert FX settings
 EQ settings (including VST effect presets)

 Input Gain + Phase
ÖNote that volume, pan, input gain and input phase will 
be restored only when creating a new track from a track 
preset.
Instrument track presets
Instrument track presets are best choice when handling 
sounds of simple, mono-timbral VST Instruments. Like the 
instrument track, they offer both MIDI and audio features. 
You can use instrument track presets like the audio 
track presets above for auditioning your tracks, inspiration, 
or saving your preferred sound settings. 
In addition, you can directly extract sounds from instru-
ment track presets and VST presets for use in instrument 
tracks.
VST presets also behave like instrument track presets, 
see “VST (Instrument) presets” on page 330. 
						

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Track Presets
Data saved in instrument track presets


 Audio Volume + Pan
 Audio Input Gain + Phase
 MIDI Insert FX

 Input Transformer

And also:
 Staff settings
 Color settings
ÖVolume, pan, input gain and input phase will be re-
stored only when creating a new track from a track preset.
MIDI track presets
MIDI tracks offer more possibilities than instrument tracks; 
therefore, they should be used for multi-timbral VST In-
struments and external instruments.
Due to the resulting complex settings, more details have 
to be taken into account when working with MIDI track 
presets, to ensure that the saved settings are really usable 
as presets for new tracks.
To ensure that saved MIDI track presets for external in-
struments will work again with the same instrument later, 
install the instrument as MIDI device, because in this case 
the MIDI interface and the connecting ports are irrelevant. 
(For this to work, the MIDI device has to have exactly the 
same name as in the original setup.) For more information 
about this, see the separate pdf document “MIDI Devices”.
Include MIDI Channel or MIDI Patch
There is an additional Include option when creating MIDI 
track presets: 
Choose “MIDI Patch” if you want to save the MIDI track 
preset with the currently set patch. This is useful if your ex-
ternal MIDI device offers sounds as certain patches but 
does not require any specific channel settings.
Choose “MIDI Channel” if you want to save the MIDI 
track preset with the currently set channel. This is useful if 
you have the sounds of an external device always on the 
same channel, e.g. strings on channel 12, trumpets on 
channel 13.ÖThe choice is exclusive – you can either save the 
channel or the patch, but not both.
Example 1: Multi-timbral external instrument
Assume you have a multi-timbral external instrument (for 
example, a MIDI Expander), with all sounds available on all 
channels, but the sounds (patches) might change.
In this case, set it up as an external instrument, open a 
MIDI track and select it as output. In the Programs List, 
select a patch. Then save the MIDI track preset with the 
patch included.
Example 2: Multi-timbral external instrument with pre-
configured setup
In a rarer case we have a multi-timbral external instrument 
(for example, a Sampler) which is completely pre-config-
ured. There is no sound (patch) to configure, but only the 
device and the MIDI channel to know. 
In this case, include the channel in the MIDI track preset 
so that the correct channel will be called up.
Example 3: VSTi as pre-configured setup
If you want to use a MIDI track preset for a pre-configured 
VST Instrument setup, the following conditions have to be 
met:
 The VST Instrument(s) are installed in the VST Instruments 
window.
 The VST Instrument patches have not been changed since the 
track preset was saved (that means for example that no other 
FXP/FXB was installed in the meantime).
To ensure this, use a template project with the VSTi setup 
included and put the sounds (track presets) of this tem-
plate project into specific subfolders, as they only work 
within this setup. 
						

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Track Presets
Data saved in MIDI track presets
 MIDI Modifiers (Transpose etc.)
 MIDI Inserts (FX)
 Output + Channel or Program Change
 Input Transformer
 Volume + Pan
And also:
 Staff settings
 Color settings
ÖNote that volume and pan will be restored only when 
creating a new track from a track preset.
Multi track presets
If you select more than one track when creating a track 
preset, the settings of all selected tracks will be saved as 
one multi track preset. Since you can apply a multi track 
preset only if the target tracks are of the same type, num-
ber and sequence as the tracks in the track preset, multi 
track presets are useful when you have a reoccurring situ-
ation with very similar tracks and settings.
For example, this would be the case for:
Recording setups that require several microphones, 
e. g. when recording a drum set or a choir, where you 
record always under the same conditions and have to edit 
the resulting tracks in a similar way.
Layered tracks, where you use several tracks to gener-
ate a certain sound instead of manipulating only one track.
Data saved in multi track presets
For each track type, the respective track preset parame-
ters are saved in the same sequence as the tracks in the 
Project window.
VST presets
As of VST3, VST presets make it easy for you to work with 
VST plug-ins and instruments, substituting the .fxp and 
.fxb files of the VST2 standard.
There are two kinds of VST presets:
 VST presets based on effect plug-ins
 VST presets based on VST Instrument plug-ins
ÖIn this manual, the wording “VST presets” stands for 
VST3 Instrument presets, unless stated otherwise.
VST effect plug-in presets
VST effect plug-ins are available in VST3 and VST2 for-
mat, for example as insert effects like Expander or Limiter. 
Therefore, VST effect presets can be part of audio track 
presets, see also “SoundFrame” on page 311.
VST (Instrument) presets
VST3 (Instrument) presets (extension .vstpreset) are me-
dia files that can be managed in the Sound Browser and 
to which you can assign tags. VST presets are also listed 
in dialogs like the “Add Track” dialog, see below.
The VST presets behave like instrument track presets in 
the context of the Project window and contain a VST In-
strument and its settings but no modifiers, MIDI inserts, in-
serts or EQ settings:
You can create instrument tracks from VST presets just 
like from instrument track presets, see “Creating tracks 
from track presets or VST presets” on page 333.
In the Inspector of the new instrument track, the VST Instrument, the se-
lected program and the name of the applied VST preset are displayed.
You can apply VST presets to instrument tracks just like 
instrument track presets, see “Applying audio, MIDI and 
instrument track presets” on page 334.
When selecting VST presets in the Browse presets 
section or the Sound Browser, you can preview them like 
instrument track presets, see “Creating tracks from track 
presets or VST presets” on page 333.
Like with instrument tracks presets, you can extract the 
“sound” of VST presets, see “Extracting sound from an in-
strument track or VST preset” on page 335.