Steinberg VST Sampler HALion 3 Operation Manual

							HALionEditing in the Loop page view 8 – 101
Using the thumbnail display
The thumbnail display contains a small overview of the whole wave-
form. By dragging from the left or right edge of the thumbnail display 
you zoom in on the waveform. 
•Dragging from the left edge to the right increases the zoom level and 
shifts the visible range towards the end of the waveform.
The highlighted area inside the blue rectangle indicates the area of the waveform cur-
rently in view.
•Dragging from the right edge to the left increases the zoom level and 
shifts the visible range towards the start of the waveform.
The smaller the blue rectangle is, the higher the magnification.
•When you click and drag to the left or right with the mouse pointer in-
side the blue rectangle, the visible range of the waveform also moves 
to the left or right.
•When you click and drag up or down with the mouse pointer inside the 
blue rectangle, you can move both edges of the blue rectangle at the 
same time.
Moving the pointer up moves the handles further apart, zooming out on the waveform 
and vice versa.
•By using the left/right arrow keys you can focus the view on either the 
start or the end of the sample, respectively.
Loopsets
The Loop page view allows you to set not one but two sets of sustain 
and release loops for comparison purposes. Loopset A is selected by 
default. You change between loopset A and loopset B by clicking the 
A or B button at the bottom right of the Loop page view.  
						

							HALion8 – 102 Editing in the Loop page view
Setting a sustain loop
A sustain loop determines which range within a sample should be 
looped when you hold down a key. To set a sustain loop, proceed as 
follows:
1.Make sure that the Loop button is activated.
If it isn’t, click on it.
2.Click in the waveform and keep the mouse button pressed.
The pointer takes on the shape of a double arrow indicating that you can drag in both 
directions to create a loop area. If the sample already has a set sustain loop you can 
not create a new loop as described above, but you can move the loop or change the 
loop start and end points.
•The loop range edges have a light blue background, and the area in 
the middle is dark blue. 
If you click in the middle of the selected range, you can move the loop to the left or 
right in the waveform. If you click the edges you can change the corresponding loop 
start and end points.
Moving the looped area.
•You can also set a loop range by using the numerical value fields be-
low the waveform display.
The functionality is the same as for setting the sample start and end.
3.Select an appropriate loop range in the waveform.
The selected loop area is indicated by a light blue background.
4.To audition the loop, click the Play button, under the Loop button.
The loop will repeat until you click the Play button again.   
						

							HALionEditing in the Loop page view 8 – 103
The Loop start and end points can automatically snap to zero cross-
ings, if the waveform button at the top right of the page view is acti-
vated. A zero crossing is where the wave crosses the zero level axis. 
This helps to avoid clicks and pops when setting loops. If you don’t 
want the loop to begin and end at zero crossings you can disable this 
function by deactivating the waveform button.
Crossfading the loop (Smooth)
If you press [Alt] while clicking in the loop and moving the mouse 
pointer out of the loop range at either edge, you will add crossfades at 
both ends of the loop. This makes the loop seamless and “smooth”, 
which is also the name of the function. To remove crossfades, [Alt]-
click inside the loop, in an area that is not part of the crossfade.
Setting loop playback mode
When you are happy with your loop, you can set how it should play 
back by clicking the Mode field in the section to the right of the Loop 
and Play buttons. This opens a pop-up menu with the following items:
• Loop Until Release – this will play the loop for as long as you hold down a key.
• Loop Once – this will repeat the loop once and then play to the set end point.
• Play Until End – this will simply play the whole sample until the set end point.
• Play Reverse – this will play the whole sample reversed.
❐If you hold down [Alt] and change the loop playback mode, all selected 
samples will be affected.  
						

							HALion8 – 104 Editing in the Loop page view
Setting the release loop
The release loop determines which range within the sample should 
loop after the key is released. Setting the release loop is done using the 
same methods as for the sustain loop, except that you should have the 
release loop button activated instead. When you switch to the release 
loop mode, the sustain loop becomes dark. The currently selected loop 
is always shown in light blue. In the thumbnail display, the sustain loop 
is dark blue, and the release loop is green.
•You can switch selection between the loop and the release loop using 
the [1]/[2] keys (not on the numeric keypad).
•The Mode setting allows you to set either a Continuous or a Single 
release loop. 
A continuous loop will repeat until the release portion of the DCA envelope begins.
❐If you hold down [Alt] and change the release loop mode, all selected 
samples will be affected.  
						

							HALionEditing in the Loop page view 8 – 105
Loop tuning
You can tune the sustain and release loop independently up or down a 
semitone (in cent steps) by using the loop tuning parameters.
Loop context menu items
[Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) or right-clicking (Win) in the waveform window 
brings up a context menu with the following items:
Option Description
Rename… Allows you to rename the current sample.
Zoom to Loop Zooms the view to the currently selected loop.
Zoom to Start/End 
OffsetsZooms the view to the currently set Start/End offsets.
Zoom Full Zooms the view to the whole sample between the start and end 
handles.
Start/End Offsets 
to LoopSets the start/end offsets to the sustain loop.
Loop to Start/End 
OffsetsSets the sustain loop to the start/end offsets.
Copy Loop to
Release LoopThe start and end values for the loop are copied to the release 
loop (by default this is applied to the view selected sample – to 
apply this to all selected samples, press [Ctrl] (Win)/[Command] 
(Mac) while selecting this option).
Copy Release 
Loop to LoopThe start and end values for the release loop are copied to the 
loop (by default this is applied to the view selected sample – to 
apply this to all selected samples, press [Ctrl] (Win)/[Command] 
(Mac) while selecting this option).
Edit in External 
EditorThis will open the sample in an external audio editor, if installed.
Unload Unloads the preloaded portion of a sample from RAM. When a 
sample is unloaded, this option changes to “Load“.
Locate Start Offset Focuses the view on the start offset of the sample.
Locate End Offset Focuses the view on the end offset of the sample. 
						

							HALion8 – 106 Editing in the Loop page view
Select Loop Selects the sustain loop.
Select Release
LoopSelects the release loop.
Locate Start Loop Focuses the view on the start of the current loop.
Locate End Loop Focuses the view on the end of the current loop.
Undo Allows you to undo the last Cut, Copy, Paste, or Delete action.
Select All Selects the whole sample as the current loop.
Sample Info At the bottom of the menu, information about the currently view 
selected sample is shown.  Option Description 
						

							9
Editing in the Sound page view 
						

							HALion9 – 108 Editing in the Sound page view
Introduction
This page view contains the main sound related parameters for tweak-
ing your samples, by applying filters, envelopes, modulation etc. The 
parameters can either be applied to a Program as a whole or to se-
lected samples. 
The Sound page view is divided into an upper and a lower half. The 
lower half always contains the filter section (DCF), the amplifier sec-
tion (DCA) and the LFOs. 
The upper half of the Sound page view can display one of three main 
views; the Envelope section (“Env”), the Modulation section (“Mod”) 
or the Effects section (“FX”). Each of these main views have further 
sub-pages. 
You select which main view is currently shown using the three vertical 
buttons to the far left in the upper half of the window. You select sub-
pages for each main view by using the row of horizontal buttons at the 
top of the window.  
						

							HALionEditing in the Sound page view 9 – 109
The filter section (DCF)
The filter section has the same basic parameters as described for the 
Macro page view, see page 47. The main difference is that in the 
Sound page view, you can make filter settings for all or all selected 
samples in a Program.
In addition, the filter section here contains three parameters not 
present in the Macro page view:
Velocity
Normally this is set to 50 %. This will produce a brighter timbre if keys 
are struck harder, like many real instruments.
Fatness
This parameter adds a warm, tube-like distortion to the signal.
DCF Bypass
This bypasses the filter section.
Envelope Bypass
This bypasses the DCF.  
						

							HALion9 – 110 Editing in the Sound page view
The amplifier section (DCA)
The amplifier section contains a number of parameters only available 
in this page view. Again, all or all selected samples are affected.
•The Env. Amount, Velocity and Volume parameters are the same as 
described in the Macro page view chapter, see page 50.
Panorama/Spread
The Panorama parameter sets the stereo position for the currently 
selected samples.
Spread is an automatic panner. The function distributes the signal of 
each single note randomly within the stereo spectrum:
• If the dial is turned fully left, the signal is played back at the position defined by 
the Panorama dial. The more you turn the dial to the right, the wider the signal 
will be distributed.
• If the Panorama dial is set to its middle position, Spread will distribute the sig-
nal across the whole stereo spectrum. If it is set to “10 o’clock”, Spread will 
distribute the notes between the extreme left and the middle of the stereo 
spectrum etc.