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Synchronization
8. Start the tape (or video, or other master device) that
contains the timecode. Cubase AI starts playing when it
receives 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 240.
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 AI is the slave and the synchroniza-
tion signal can be received from another device con-
nected 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 time-
code is completely correlated. If not, the audio will not be
recorded 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 AI (for editing)
and then back again. If you do not have sample-accurate
synchronization set up, you cannot be sure that the mate-
rial will appear in its exact original position, when trans-
ferred 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 AI. Here the ADAT will be the sync mas-
ter (though it does not necessarily have to be). It provides
both the digital audio (with an inherent word clock) and
position information (timecode) via its ADAT sync proto-
col. The master clock is generated by the ADAT itself.
Hardware and software requirements for APP
• Your computer audio hardware (in the example above, this
would be an ADAT card in your computer) must support all
the functionality required for the ASIO Positioning Protocol.
That is, it must be able to read the digital audio and the corre-
sponding position information from the external device.
• There must be an ASIO 2.0 driver for the audio hardware.
• For resolving to external timecode, the audio hardware must
have an integrated timecode reader/generator.
• For information about which audio hardware models currently
support APP, see the Steinberg web site (www.steinberg.net).
!
When the master device with the timecode is
stopped, you can use the Cubase AI transport
controls as you normally do.
!
This option is only available if your hardware is com-
patible with the ASIO Positioning Protocol.
!
The ASIO Positioning Protocol requires audio hard-
ware with specific ASIO drivers.
The Sync indicator
!
The ASIO Positioning Protocol exploits the specific
advantage of having an audio card that has an inte-
grated timecode reader. With such a card and the
ASIO Positioning Protocol, you can achieve constant
sample-accurate synchronization between the audio
source and Cubase AI.