Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual
Have a look at the manual Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual online for free. It’s possible to download the document as PDF or print. UserManuals.tech offer 523 Steinberg manuals and user’s guides for free. Share the user manual or guide on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
331 The Pool Changing the Pool Record folder All audio clips that you record in the project will end up in the Pool Record folder. The Pool Record folder is indi - cated by the text “Record” in the Status column and by a red dot on the folder itself. By default, this is the main Audio folder. However, you can create a new Audio subfolder at any time and designate this as your Pool Record folder: 1.Select the Audio folder or any audio clip. You cannot designate the Video folder (or any of its subfolders) as the Pool Record folder. 2.Select “Create Folder” on the Media or context menu. A new empty subfolder named “New Folder” appears in the Pool. 3.Select the new folder and rename it as desired. 4.Select “Set Pool Record Folder” on the Media or con- text menu, or click in the Status column of the new folder. The new folder now becomes the Pool Record folder, and any audio re-corded in the project will be saved in this folder. Organizing clips and folders If you accumulate a large number of clips in the Pool, it may sometimes be difficult to quickly find specific items. In such cases, organizing clips in new subfolders with suit - able names that reflect the content can be a solution. For example, you could put all sound effects in one folder, all lead vocals in another, etc. Proceed as follows: 1.Select the type of folder, audio or video, for which you want to create a subfolder. You cannot put audio clips in a video folder and vice versa. 2.Select “Create Folder” on the Media or context menu. A new empty subfolder named “New Folder” appears in the Pool. 3.Rename the folder as desired. 4.Drag and drop the clips you wish to move to the new folder. 5.Repeat steps 1–4 as necessary. Applying processing to clips in the Pool You can apply audio processing to clips from within the Pool in the same way as to events in the Project window. Simply select the clip(s) and choose a processing method from the Audio menu. To find out more about audio pro - cessing, see the chapter “Audio processing and func- tions” on page 263. Undoing processing If you have applied processing to a clip, in the Project win- dow, the Sample Editor, or in the Pool, this is indicated by the red and gray waveform symbol in the Status column. This processing can always be undone using the Offline Process History, see “The Offline Process History dialog” on page 275. Freeze Edits You can use the Freeze Edits function to create a new file with processing applied or to replace the original with a processed version, see “Freeze Edits” on page 277. Minimize File The “Minimize File” option on the Media or context menu allows you shrink the audio files according to the size of the audio clips referenced in a project. The files produced using this option only contain the audio file portions actu - ally used in the project. This can significantly reduce the size of the project, if large portions of the audio files are unused. Therefore, the option is useful for archiving pur - poses after you have completed a project. ÖThis operation will permanently alter the selected au- dio files in the Pool. This cannot be undone! If this is not what you want, you can use the “Back up Project” option on the File menu instead, see “Back up Project” on page 54. This function also has the option of minimizing files, but copies all files into a new folder, leaving the original project untouched.
332 The Pool Proceed as follows: 1.Select the file(s) you wish to minimize. 2.Select “Minimize File” on the Media menu. An alert appears, informing you that the entire Edit History will be cleared. Click Minimize to proceed or Cancel to stop the process. 3.After the minimizing is finished, another alert appears, because the file references in the stored project have be - come invalid. Click Save Now to save the updated project or click Later to proceed with the unsaved project. Only the audio portions actually used in the project remain in the corresponding audio file(s) in the Pool Record folder. Prepare Archive The “Prepare Archive” option on the Media menu is useful if you want to archive a project. For detailed information about the Prepare Archive feature, see “Prepare Archive” on page 54. Importing and exporting Pool files You can import or export a Pool as a separate file (file ex- tension “.npl”), by using the “Import Pool” and “Export Pool” options on the Media or context menu. When you import a Pool file, the file references in it are “added” to the current Pool. ÖSince the audio and video files are only referenced but not saved in the Pool file, the Pool import is only useful if you have access to all referenced files (which preferably have the same file paths as when the Pool was saved). You can also save and open libraries. These are stand- alone Pool files that are not associated with a project. Working with libraries 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 li - brary (in which media files will be stored). The library ap- pears 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”). Convert Files Selecting the “Convert Files” option on the Media or con- text menu opens the Convert Options dialog which oper- ates on selected files. Use the pop-up menus to specify which audio file attributes you want to keep and which you want to convert. The available settings are: •Sample Rate Keep as is, or convert to a sample rate between 8.000 and 96.000 kHz. •Sample Width Keep the sample width (resolution) as is, or convert to 16 Bit, 24 Bit or 32 Bit Float. •Channels Keep as is, or convert the file to Mono or Stereo Interleaved. •File Format Keep as is, or convert to Wave, AIFF, Wave 64 or Broadcast Wave format. Options When you convert a file, you can use the Options pop-up menu to set one of the following options regarding what to do with the new file: OptionDescription New FilesCreates a copy of the file in the audio folder and converts this new file according to the chosen attributes. The new file is added to the Pool, but all clip references will still point to the original, unconverted file.
333 The Pool Conform Files By using this command, you will change all selected files that have different file attributes than what is specified for the project, to conform to this standard. Proceed as follows: 1.Select the clips in the Pool. 2.Select “Conform Files…” on the Media menu. A dialog opens allowing you to choose between keeping or replacing the original unconverted files in the Pool. The following applies: • Clip/event references in the Pool are always redirected to the conformed files. • If any “keep” option is selected, original files remain in the Project’s Audio folder and new files are created. • If you select the “Replace” option, files in the Pool and in the Project’s Audio folder are replaced. Extract Audio from Video File This Media menu item allows you to extract the audio from a video file on disk. It automatically generates a new audio clip that will appear in the Pool Record folder. The result - ing clip will have the following properties: •It will get the same file format and sample rate/width as in the current project. •It will get the same name as the video file. ÖThis function is not available for MPEG video files. Replace FilesConverts the original file without changing clip references. The references are however saved with the next save action. New + Replace in PoolCreates a new copy with the chosen attributes, replaces the original file with the new one in the Pool and redirects the cur-rent clip references from the original file to the new file. This is the option to select if you want your audio clips to refer to the converted file, but still want to keep the original file on disk (e. g. if the file is used in other projects). Option Description
335 The MediaBay Introduction One of the biggest challenges in typical computer-based production environments is how to manage the ever-growing number of plug-ins, instruments, sounds, presets, etc. from multiple sources. Nuendo features an efficient database for media file management that allows you to handle all your media files from within your sequencer program. The MediaBay is divided into several sections: • Define Locations – Here, you can create “presets” for locations on your system that you want to scan for media files, see “Defin- ing Locations” on page 338. • Locations – Here, you can switch between the previously de- fined Locations. • Filters – Here, you can filter the Results list using a logical or an attribute filter, see “The Filters section” on page 345. • Results – Here, all found media files are displayed. You can also filter the list and perform text searches, see “The Results list” on page 339. • Previewer – This section allows you to preview the files shown in the Results list, see “Previewing files” on page 342. • Attribute Inspector – In this section, you can view, edit and add media file attributes (or tags), see “The Attribute Inspector” on page 347. By default, the Locations section, the Results list, the Pre- viewer section and the Attribute Inspector are shown. Accessing the MediaBay To open the MediaBay, select the MediaBay command on the Media menu. You can also use the corresponding key command (by default F5). Setting up the MediaBay window You can show and hide the different sections of the MediaBay (except for the Results list). This is handy, as it allows you to save screen space and enables you to dis - play only the information you need for your work. The Previewer section The Attribute Inspector The Define Locations sectionThe Locations section The Filters section The Results list
336 The MediaBay Proceed as follows: 1.Click the “Set up Window Layout” button in the lower left corner of the MediaBay window. A transparent pane appears, covering the window. In the center of it is a gray area containing checkboxes for the different sections. 2.Deactivate the checkboxes for the sections you want to hide from view. Any changes you make here are directly reflected in the MediaBay window. Note that the Results list cannot be hidden. ÖYou can also use key commands for this: use the up/ down and left/right arrow keys to step through the check - boxes and press [Space] to activate/deactivate the de- sired checkbox. 3.When you are done, click outside the gray area to exit the Setup mode. Alternatively, you can wait a few seconds for the pane to disappear auto-matically. •You can change the size of the individual MediaBay sec- tions by dragging the divider line between two sections. Working with the MediaBay When working with many media files, the most important thing is to find the content you need quickly and easily. The MediaBay helps you find and organize your content in an effective and efficient way. After the first scan of the folders you have activated for scanning (which will take a certain time), all the files that were found are there for you to browse, tag or modify. At the beginning, all media files of the supported formats are listed in the Results section: far too many to get a good overview. However, by using the search and filter techniques, you get the desired results very quickly. The first thing to do is to set up “Locations”, that is folders or directories on your system that contain media files. Usually, files are organized in a specific way on your com - puter. For example, you might have folders reserved for audio content, folders for special effects, folders for com - binations of sounds making up the ambience noise you need for a certain film take, etc. These can all be set as different Locations in the MediaBay, allowing you to limit the files available in the Results list according to context. Whenever you expand your computer system (for exam- ple, by adding new hard disks or an external volume con- taining media files you want to work with), you should make it a habit to save the new volumes as Locations or add them to your existing Locations. Afterwards, you can hide the Define Locations section from view. That way, the MediaBay occupies less screen space and you can con - centrate on the important thing: the Results list. For this list, you can specify which file types are displayed, see “Filtering according to media type” on page 339. If there are still too many files to choose from, you can nar- row down the results using a text search function, see “Performing a text search” on page 340. This is often all it needs to display what you want, allowing you to proceed by previewing the files before inserting them into your project (see “Previewing files” on page 342). However, if you need very complex and detailed filtering, this is also possible using either attribute or logical filtering, see “The Filters section” on page 345. For filtering or searches, the use of attributes is recommended: By specifying specific attribute values for your files (categorizing them as pro - duction sound, foley, special effects, etc.), you can con- siderably speed up the browsing process, see “The Attribute Inspector” on page 347. Finally, the files can be easily inserted into the project, by using drag & drop, by double-clicking or using the context menu options, see “Inserting the files into the project” on page 341.
337 The MediaBay The Define Locations section When you open the MediaBay for the first time, a scan for media files is performed on your system. You specify which folders or directories you want to be included in the scan by activating/deactivating the checkboxes for the folders in the Define Locations section. Depending on the amount of me - dia files on your computer, the scan may take a while. All files that are found in the specified folders are shown in the Results list. •To include a folder in the scan, activate its checkbox. •To exclude a folder from the scan, deactivate its check- box. •To restrict the search to individual subfolders, activate/ deactivate their checkboxes. The color of the checkmark helps you to identify which folders and subfolders are scanned: • A white checkmark indicates that all subfolders are scanned. • An orange checkmark indicates that at least one subfolder is excluded from the scan. •To revert to scanning a complete folder (including all subfolders), click on an orange checkmark. The checkmark becomes white, to indicate that all folders are scanned. The scanning status for the individual folders themselves is indicated by the color of the folder icons: • A red icon means that the folder is currently being scanned. • A light blue icon means the folder has been scanned. • A dark blue icon is displayed for folders which are excluded from the scan. • An orange icon is displayed when the scanning process for the folder was interrupted. • A yellow icon is displayed for folders that have not yet been scanned. The scan result is saved in a database file. When you de- activate the checkbox for a folder that has already been scanned, a message appears, allowing you to keep the gathered scan data in this database file or to completely remove the data for this folder from the database file. Se - lect Keep if you want to keep the database entries, but want to exclude the folder from being scanned (when you trigger a re-scan for example). Select Remove if you do not want to use the contents of this folder in your projects. •When you activate the “Please, don’t ask again” option, no further warning messages will be shown when you de - activate other checkboxes, for as long as the program is running. When you quit and re-launch Nuendo, these warning messages will be displayed again. The VST Sound node The Define Locations section provides a shortcut to user content and factory content files, including the preset folders: the VST Sound node. •The folders below the VST Sound node represent the directories in which content files and track presets, VST presets, etc. are stored by default. To find out the “true” location of a file, right-click on it in the Results list and select “Open in Explorer” (Win)/“Reveal in Finder” (Mac). This will open an Explorer/Finder window in which the corresponding file is high -lighted. Please note that this function is not available for files which are part of a VST Sound archive.Some subfolders of this folder are excluded from the scan. All subfolders of this folder are included in the scan.
338 The MediaBay Updating the display You can update the display in two ways: by rescanning or by refreshing. Rescanning When you click the Rescan button, the selected folder is rescanned. If a folder contains a large number of media files, the scanning process may take some time. Use this function if you have made changes to the content of spe - cific media folders and want to scan these folders again. ÖYou can also rescan the selected folder by right-click- ing on it and selecting Rescan Disk from the context menu. Refreshing In addition to the Rescan Disk option, the context menu for the selected node or folder in the Define Locations section also contains a Refresh Views option. This re - freshes the display for this location without rescanning the corresponding media files. This is useful in the following situations: •When you have modified attribute values (see “Editing attributes (tagging)” on page 348) and want to update the Results list so that these values are displayed for the cor- responding files. •When you have mapped a new network drive, for exam- ple, and want this to appear as a node in the Define Loca- tions section. Simply select the Refresh Views option for the parent node and the new drive will appear in the Define Locations section (ready to be scanned for media files). Defining Locations When you have set up the Define Locations section ac- cording to your preferences, and the content is scanned, it is time to make it available in a meaningful way. For this, you can define locations, i. e. shortcuts to the folders you want to work with, that will be available from the Locations section for convenient access. To define a location, proceed as follows: 1.In the list to the left, select the desired folder. 2.Click the Add button. A naming dialog for the new location is displayed. 3.Accept the default name or enter a new name. 4.Click OK. The new location is added to the Locations pop-up menu in the Loca- tions section (see below). 5.Repeat these steps to add as many locations as you need. Once you have set up your locations, you can hide the Define Locations section from view (see “Setting up the MediaBay window” on page 335), to save screen space. ÖSome Location presets are available by default. These are: “All Media” (the topmost node in the Define Locations section), “Local Harddisks” (the local harddisks in your computer system) and “VST Sound” (the folder in which Steinberg sound files, loops and presets are stored by default). The Locations section When you open the Locations pop-up menu and select a location, the media files found in that location are shown in the Results list. By switching between the locations you defined, you can quickly browse to the files you are look - ing for. •To change the browse location, simply select another location from the pop-up menu. If the available Locations don’t yield the desired results or if the folder you want to scan for files is not part of any of the locations, define a new Location in the Define Locations section. •To select the previous or next folder in a sequence of selected folders, use the “Previous/Next Browse Location” buttons. These paths will be deleted when you close the MediaBay. Previous/Next Browse LocationBrowse Containing FolderClick here to open the pop-up menu and select the desired Location. Remove Browse Location Definition Deep Results
339 The MediaBay •To select the parent folder of the selected folder, click the “Browse Containing Folder” button. •To remove a location from the pop-up menu, select it and click the “Remove Browse Location Definition” button. •To show the files contained in the selected folder and any subfolders (without showing these subfolders), acti - vate the Deep Results button. When this button is deactivated, only the folders and files contained in the selected folder are shown. The Results list The Results list is at the heart of the MediaBay. Here, you will find all the files found in the selected location. As the number of files displayed can be huge (the info field in the top right corner of the Results section shows the number of files found with the current filter settings), you might want to use any of the filter and search options in the MediaBay to narrow down the list. The available op - tions are described below. ÖThe maximum number of files that are displayed in the Results list can be set by specifying a new value for “Max - imum Items in Results list” in the Preferences (see “Prefer- ences” on page 352). Filtering according to media type The Results list can be set to display only a particular me- dia type or a combination of media types. •Click in the field where the currently displayed media types are shown (by default “All Media Types”) to open the Show Media Types dialog. Here, you can activate the media types you want to be displayed in the Results list. When you have filtered the list to show a particular media type, this is indicated by the corresponding icon to the left of media type field. When you have selected several media types, the Mixed Media Type icon is used. The media types In the “Show Media Types” dialog, you can activate the media types you want to be displayed in the Results list. The following types are available: OptionDescription Audio FilesWhen this is activated, the list shows all audio files. The supported formats are .wav, .w64, .aiff, .aifc, .rex, .rx2, .mp3, .mp2, .ogg, .sd2, .wma (Windows only). Clip PackagesWhen this is activated, the list shows all clip pack-ages (file name extension .package). Clip pack-ages contain a number of audio parts and events, which make up a special sound. For more informa-tion, see “Clip packages” on page 566. MIDI FilesWhen this is activated, the list shows all MIDI files (file name extension .mid). Select this option to display all types. Here, the last four media type selections you made are listed. The media types you activate here are shown in the Results list.
340 The MediaBay Setting up the Results list columns For each media type, or for combinations of media types, you can specify the attribute columns that are displayed in the Results list. In most cases, you will probably only want to display a few main attributes in the Results list and use the Attribute Inspector to view the complete list of attribute values for the files. Proceed as follows: 1.Select the media type (or combination of media types) that you want to make settings for. 2.Click the “Set up Result Columns” button and activate or deactivate the options on the submenus. Activate the attributes that you want to be displayed in the Results list. ÖIf you want to see none of the attributes of a certain category, choose the “Select None” option on the corre - sponding submenu. ÖWhen the “Allow Editing in Results List” option is acti- vated in the Preferences dialog, you can also edit attributes in the Results list. Otherwise this is only possible in the At - tribute Inspector. Performing a text search You can limit the number of results in the Results list using the text search function. When you enter text in the Text Search field, only media files whose attributes match the entered text will be displayed. For example, if you are looking for all audio loops relating to drum sounds, simply enter “drum” in the search field. The search results will contain loops with names such as “Drums 01”, “Drumloop”, “Snare Drum”, etc. Also, all me - dia files with the Category attribute Drum&Percussion, or any other attribute that contains “drum” will be found. When you enter text in the field, its background becomes red, to indicate that a text filter is active for the list. To re - set the text filter, delete the text. MIDI LoopsWhen this is activated, the list shows all MIDI loops (file name extension .midiloop). Pattern Banks (Nuendo Expansion Kit only)When this is activated, the list shows all pattern banks (file name extension .patternbank). Pattern banks are generated by the MIDI plug-in Beat De -signer. For more information, see “Previewing pat-tern banks (Nuendo Expansion Kit only)” on page 344 and the separate PDF document “Plug-in Reference”. Track PresetsWhen this is activated, the list shows all track pre-sets for audio, MIDI, and instrument tracks (file name extension .trackpreset). Track presets are a combination of track settings, effects and mixer settings that can be applied to new tracks of vari -ous types. For more information, see the chapter “Working with track presets” on page 356. Plug-in PresetsWhen this is activated, the list shows all VST pre-sets for instrument and effect plug-ins. These pre-sets contain all parameter settings for a particular plug-in. They can be used to apply sounds to in-strument tracks and effects to audio tracks. For more information, see the chapter “Working with track presets” on page 356. Video FilesWhen this is activated, the list shows all video files. For information about the supported video formats, see “Video file compatibility” on page 521. ProjectsWhen this is activated, the list shows all project files (from Cubase, Nuendo, Sequel): .cpr, .npr, .steinberg-project. Option DescriptionClick here to open the pop-up menu.