User manual

427
Synchronization
• You can also set this with the function “Set Timecode at
Cursor” on the Project menu.
This is useful if you know that a certain position in your project coincides
with a certain timecode position in the external device. Move the project
cursor to the desired position, select “Set Timecode at Cursor” and
specify the corresponding timecode position in the dialog that appears –
the Start value is adjusted accordingly.
5. In the dialog that appears, you are asked if you want to
keep the project content at its timecode positions. Select
“No”.
This will make all events and parts keep their positions relative to the
project start.
6. Close the Project Setup dialog.
7. On the Transport panel, activate the Sync button (or
select Use External Sync from the Transport menu).
8. Start the tape (or video, or other master device) that
contains the timecode. Cubase starts playing when it re-
ceives timecode with a position “higher” than, or equal to,
the project Start frame.
You can wind the device that sends the timecode to any
position and start from there.
You should also take a look at the Sync Options, see
“Sync Options” on page 431.
The Sync indicator
On the Transport panel you can check the status of in-
coming timecode by observing the sync indicator. It
switches between “Offline” (not waiting for sync), “Idle”
(ready for sync but no signal is coming in), and “Lock xx”
(where xx indicates the frame rate of the incoming signal).
ASIO Audio Device
In this mode, Cubase is the slave and the synchronization
signal can be received from another device connected to
a digital interface of the audio hardware.
About the ASIO Positioning Protocol (APP)
The ASIO Positioning Protocol is a technology that ex-
pands on the type of sync described above and makes
sample-accurate positioning possible.
When transferring audio digitally between devices, it is im-
portant that synchronization using word clock and timecode
is completely correlated. If not, the audio will not be re-
corded at the exact intended (sample-accurate) position,
which can cause various types of problems, such as inac-
curately positioned audio material, clicks and pops etc.
A typical situation is when transferring material from a dig-
ital multi-track tape recorder to Cubase (for editing) and
then back again. If you do not have sample-accurate syn-
chronization set up, you cannot be sure that the material
will appear in its exact original position, when transferred
back to the tape recorder.
In order to take advantage of the ASIO Positioning Proto-
col, your audio hardware must be suitably equipped and
the functionality must be included in the ASIO driver for
the hardware.
An example of a system for doing sample-accurate trans-
fers, would be transferring audio tracks from an Alesis
ADAT to Cubase. Here the ADAT will be the sync master
(though it doesn’t necessarily have to be). It provides both
the digital audio (with an inherent word clock) and position
information (timecode) via its ADAT sync protocol. The
master clock is generated by the ADAT itself.
!
When the master device with the timecode is
stopped, you can use the Cubase transport controls
as you normally do, when it is not synchronized.
The Sync indicator
!
This option is only available if your hardware is com-
patible with the ASIO Positioning Protocol.
!
ASIO Positioning Protocol requires audio hardware
with specific ASIO drivers.