6.0

17
Setting up your system
Setting up MIDI ports in Cubase
The Device Setup dialog lets you set up your MIDI system
as follows:
Ö When you change MIDI port settings in the Device
Setup dialog, these are automatically applied.
Showing or hiding MIDI Ports
The MIDI ports are listed in the Device Setup dialog on the
MIDI Port Setup page. By clicking in the “Visible” column
for a MIDI input or output, you can specify whether or not
it is listed on the MIDI pop-up menus in the program.
If you are trying to hide a MIDI port which is already se-
lected for a track or a MIDI device, a warning message will
appear, allowing you to hide – and disconnect – the port
or to cancel the operation and keep the MIDI port visible.
Setting up the “All MIDI Inputs” option
When you record MIDI in Cubase, you can specify which
MIDI input each recording MIDI track should use. How
-
ever, you can also select the “In ‘All MIDI Inputs’” option
for an input port, which causes any MIDI data from any
MIDI input to be recorded.
The “In ‘All MIDI Inputs’” option on the MIDI Port Setup
page allows you to specify which inputs are included when
you select All MIDI Inputs for a MIDI track. This can be es
-
pecially useful if your system provides several instances of
the same physical MIDI input – by deactivating the dupli
-
cates you make sure only the desired MIDI data is recorded.
Ö If you have a MIDI remote control unit connected, you
should also make sure to deactivate the “In ‘All MIDI In-
puts’” option for that MIDI input. This will avoid accidentally
recording the data from the remote control when the “All
MIDI Inputs” option is selected as input for a MIDI track.
Connecting a synchronizer
When using Cubase with external tape transports, you will
most likely need to add a synchronizer to your system. All
connections and setup procedures for synchronization are
described in the chapter
“Synchronization” on page 303.
Setting up video
Cubase plays back video files in a number of formats,
such as AVI, QuickTime, or MPEG. QuickTime is used as
playback engine. Which formats can be played back de
-
pends on the video codecs installed on your system, see
the chapter
“Video” on page 316.
There are several ways to play back video, e. g. without any
special hardware, using a FireWire port, or using dedicated
video cards, see
“Video output devices” on page 317.
If you plan to use special video hardware, install it and set
it up as recommended by the manufacturer.
Before you use the video hardware with Cubase, we rec-
ommend that you test the hardware installation with the
utility applications that came with the hardware and/or the
QuickTime Player application.
Optimizing audio performance
This section gives you some hints and tips on how to get
the most out of your Cubase system, performance-wise.
Some of this text refers to hardware properties and can be
used as a guide when upgrading your system. This text is
very brief. Look for details and current information on the
Cubase web site.
Two aspects of performance
There are two distinct aspects of performance with re-
spect to Cubase.
Tracks and effects
Simply put: the faster your computer, the more tracks, ef-
fects and EQ you will be able to play. Exactly what consti-
tutes a “fast computer” is almost a science in itself, but
some hints are given below.
!
Make sure that all equipment is turned off before
making any connections!