User manual

Table Of Contents
525
File handling
Ö You can achieve similar results by using Cubase’s
own loop slicing features, see “Working with hitpoints and
slices” on page 276.
Importing compressed audio files
Cubase can import (and export, see “Mixing down to audio
files” on page 485) several common audio compression
formats. The procedure is the same as when importing any
non-compressed audio file, with one important thing to
note:
When you import a compressed audio file, Cubase cre-
ates a copy of the file and converts 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 imported file is placed in the designated project Audio folder.
The following file types are supported:
MPEG audio files
MPEG, which stands for Moving Picture Experts Group, is
the name of a family of standards used for encoding au-
dio-visual information (e. g. movies, video, music) in a digi-
tal compressed format.
Cubase can read two types of audio MPEG files: 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.
Ogg Vorbis files
Ogg Vorbis is an open and patent-free format that offers
very small audio files maintaining comparatively high audio
quality. Ogg Vorbis files have the extension “.ogg”.
Windows Media Audio files (Windows only)
Windows Media Audio is an audio format developed by
Microsoft, Inc. Due to advanced audio compression algo-
rithms, Windows Media Audio files can be made very
small, maintaining good audio quality. The files have the
extension “.wma”.
Ö For exporting Audio, see the chapter “Export Audio
Mixdown” on page 484.
Exporting and importing OMF files
(Cubase only)
Open Media Framework Interchange (OMFI) is a platform
independent file format intended for the transfer of digital
media between different applications. Cubase can import
and export OMF files (file extension “.omf”), allowing you
to use Cubase in conjunction with other audio and video
applications.
Exporting OMF files
When exporting tracks and files as OMF, you should con-
sider setting up your project to use mono tracks and mono
files, to allow compatibility with audio applications that
provide limited support for interleaved audio files.
1. Pull down the File menu, open the Export submenu
and select “OMF…”.
The Export Options dialog opens.
The Export Options dialog for OMF files
2. Use the track list to the left to select the tracks that
you want to include in the exported file.
To select all tracks, click the “Select All” button. Normally, the whole
project is included – to export the range between the locators only,
activate “From Left to Right Locator”.
!
The resulting Wave/AIFF file will be several times
larger than the original compressed file.