Operation Manual
Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement.
Table of Contents
8 About this manual 105 Folder tracks 9 Welcome! 10 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 106 106 107 11 11 14 17 17 17 About this chapter Setting up busses Using the busses Setting up Groups and FX channels About monitoring External instruments/effects 109 Using markers 22 The Project window 114 The Transpose functions 23 25 33 55 Background Window Overview Operations Options 115 115 119 58 Playback and the Transport panel 59 60 62 Background Operations Options and Setting
168 Audio effects 238 Audio processing and functions 169 169 170 175 176 180 182 182 183 186 239 239 249 251 252 253 254 255 256 About this chapter Overview Insert effects Send effects Setting up send effects Using the Side-Chain input Using external effects Making settings for the effects Effect presets Installing and managing effect plug-ins 258 The Sample Editor 189 VST Instruments and Instrument tracks 190 190 190 192 194 194 195 195 196 197 200 201 259 260 265 271 272 Introduction VST Instrumen
327 Track Presets 328 328 330 331 333 333 334 336 337 387 The Logical Editor, Transformer and Input Transformer Introduction Types of track presets VST presets Browsing for presets Creating a track preset Creating tracks from track presets or VST presets Applying track presets Previewing track and VST presets Inserts and EQ settings from track presets 388 388 389 389 389 394 395 397 397 397 338 Track Quick Controls 339 339 340 341 Introduction Setting up the Quick Controls tab Options and settings Sett
434 The Track Sheet 486 File handling 435 436 487 489 490 490 491 494 495 496 497 498 498 500 500 501 501 Overview Printing the Track Sheet 437 Export Audio Mixdown 438 438 439 Introduction Mixing down to an audio file The available file formats 445 Synchronization 446 446 447 448 449 454 454 455 460 460 463 466 Background Synchronization signals Synchronizing the transport vs.
1 About this manual
Ö Please note that this manual often refers to right-clicking, e.g. to open context menus, etc. If you are using a Mac with a single-button mouse, hold down [Ctrl] and click. Welcome! This is the Operation Manual for Steinberg’s Nuendo. Here you will find detailed information about all the features and functions in the program. About the program versions The documentation covers two different operating systems or “platforms”; Windows and Mac OS X.
2 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
About this chapter Here’s an example: Let’s say you are using audio hardware with eight analog inputs and outputs and digital stereo connections (10 inputs and outputs all in all). Furthermore, you work with a surround setup in 5.1 format. Here’s a list of busses you may wish to add: Nuendo uses a system of input and output busses to transfer audio between the program and the audio hardware. • Input busses let you route audio from the inputs on your audio hardware into the program.
Preparations The VST Connections window Before you set up busses, you should name the inputs and outputs on your audio hardware. For example, if you are using a 5.1 surround speaker setup, you should name the outputs according to which speaker they are connected to (Left, Right, Center and so on). You add and set up busses in the VST Connections window, opened from the Devices menu. The reason for this is compatibility – it makes it easier to transfer projects between different computers and setups.
Depending on which tab you have selected, Inputs or Outputs, the window lists the current input or output busses, with the following columns: Column Description Bus Name Lists the busses. You can select busses and rename them by clicking on them in this column. Speakers Indicates the speaker configuration (mono, stereo, surround formats) of each bus. Audio Device This shows the currently selected ASIO driver.
Using the busses Setting the Main Mix bus (the default output bus) The Main Mix is the output bus that each new channel in the mixer will be assigned to when it is created. This section describes briefly how to use the input and output busses you have created. For details refer to the chapters “Recording” on page 64 and “The mixer” on page 122. Any one of the output busses in the VST Connections window can be the default output bus.
• If you press [Alt]/[Option] and select an input or output bus in the Mixer Routing View, it will be chosen for all selected channels. • Surround tracks can also be routed to output busses, provided that these have the same input configuration or will not lead to feedback. This makes it easy to quickly set several channels to use the same input or output.
Input channels Output channels The input channels are shown to the left in the mixer. As you can see, each input channel resembles a regular mixer channel strip. Here you can do the following: The output channels are shown to the right in the mixer. Here you can do the following: • Adjust the output level for the busses with the faders. • Check and adjust the recording level using the Input Gain knobs and/or the level fader. • Add effects or EQ. These will affect the whole bus.
Setting up Groups and FX channels About monitoring The Group/FX tab in the VST Connections window shows all Group channels and FX channels in your project. You can create new Group or FX channels by clicking the corresponding Add button. This is the same as creating Group channel tracks or FX channel tracks in the Project window (see “Using group channels” on page 142 and the chapter “Audio effects” on page 168).
Connecting the external effect/instrument 3. In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the external effect and specify the Send and Return configurations. If you want to set up a MIDI device corresponding to the external effect, click the “Associate MIDI Device” button. To set up an external effect or instrument, proceed as follows: 1. Connect an unused output pair on your audio hardware to the input pair on your external hardware device.
Setting up external instruments 8. When you are done, close the VST Connections window. 1. Open the VST Connections window from the Devices menu. Ö Note that external device ports are exclusive, see “Connecting the external effect/instrument” on page 18. 2. Open the External Instrument tab and click “Add External Instrument”.
Setting Description MIDI Device When you click in this column, a pop-up menu opens where you can either disconnect the instrument from the associated MIDI device, select a MIDI device, create a new device or open the MIDI Device Manager in Nuendo to edit the MIDI device. When Studio Manager 2 is installed, you may also select an OPT editor to access your external instrument.
About the “plug-in could not be found” message • Use the arrow buttons next to the Tail Size value field to set the desired Tail length, i.e. the range after the part boundary that should also be included for the freeze. You can also click directly in the value field and enter the desired value manually (the maximum value being 60 s). When you open a project that uses an external effect/instrument, you may get a “plug-in could not be found” message.
3 The Project window
Background Track type Description MIDI For recording and playing back MIDI parts. Each MIDI track has a corresponding MIDI channel strip in the mixer. It’s possible to edit MIDI tracks directly in the Project window, using the Edit In-Place function (see “Edit In-Place” on page 381). A MIDI track can have any number of automation “subtracks” for automating mixer channel parameters, insert and send effect settings etc.
Audio handling When you work with audio files, it is crucial to understand how audio is handled in Nuendo: When you edit or process audio in the project window, you always work with an audio clip that is automatically created on import or when you record audio. This audio clip refers to the audio file on the hard disk that remains untouched. This means, that audio editing and processing is “non-destructive”, in the sense that you can always undo changes or revert to the original versions.
Window Overview The info line The Inspector The toolbar The Project overview The ruler The Track list with various track types The event display, showing audio parts and events, MIDI parts, automation, markers, etc. The Track list • The Track list area for an audio track: The Track list displays all the tracks used in a project. It contains name fields and settings for the tracks. Different track types have different controls in the Track list.
• The Track list area for an automation subtrack (opened by clicking the Show/Hide Automation button on a track): Append automation track Mute Automation Read/Write buttons Lock track button Automation parameter (click to select parameter) • The Track list area for a MIDI track: Drum map (Nuendo Expansion Kit only), Effect sends and insert effects Lock track and Lane display type indicators and bypass Track name • You can also use key commands to show different Inspector sections.
Sections Parameter Description Delay This adjusts the playback timing of the audio track. Positive values delay the playback while negative values cause the track to play earlier. The values are set in milliseconds. Input Routing This lets you specify which Input bus or MIDI input the track should use (see “Setting up busses” on page 11 for information about Input busses). Output Routing Here you decide to which output the track should be routed.
Audio tracks Once panels have been created, they are available from the User Panel section of the Inspector. Click on the arrow button at the top right of the User Panel section to view the available panels. For audio tracks, all settings and sections listed above are available. • User Panels for audio tracks can display panels for channel controls (such as input phase or the linked panner option) or for VST effects currently inserted in the channel.
Folder tracks shown in the folder to have the Inspector show the settings for that FX channel – this way you don’t have to “open” a folder track to access the settings for the FX channels in it. When a folder track is selected, the Inspector shows the folder and its underlying tracks, much like a folder structure in the Windows Explorer or Mac OS X Finder.
The toolbar The info line The toolbar contains tools and shortcuts for opening other windows and various project settings and functions: The info line shows information about the currently selected event or part in the Project window. You can edit almost all values on the info line using regular value editing. Length and position values are displayed in the format currently selected for the ruler (see “The ruler” on page 31).
The ruler Editing Transpose and Velocity for MIDI parts When one or several MIDI parts are selected, the info line contains Transpose and Velocity fields. • Adjusting the Transpose field transposes the selected parts in semitone steps. The ruler at the top of the event display shows the timeline. Initially, the Project window ruler uses the display format specified in the Project Setup dialog (see “The Project Setup dialog” on page 33), as do all other rulers and position displays in the project.
• To set the display format globally (for all windows), use the primary display format pop-up on the Transport panel, or hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and select a display format in any ruler. You can add any number of ruler tracks to a project, and position them as needed by dragging them up or down in the list.
Operations The following settings are available in the Project Setup dialog: Creating a new project Setting Description You create a new project in the following way: Start The start time of the project. Allows you to have the project start at another time than zero. Also used for setting the sync start position when synchronizing Nuendo to external devices (see “Setting up Nuendo for external sync to timecode” on page 451). The format of this value is always in timecode.
Setting Description Stereo Pan Law Decides whether panning should use power compensation or not (see “About the “Stereo Pan Law” Preference (audio channels only)” on page 136). ! While most Project Setup settings can be changed at any time, you should select a sample rate once and for all when starting with a new project! All audio files must be of this sample rate to play back correctly. Option Description Zoom In Tracks Zooms in on the selected track(s) one step vertically.
Resizing tracks in the Track list The Enlarge Selected Track option • You can change the height of an individual track by clicking on its lower border in the Track list and dragging up or down. When this option is activated on the Edit menu (or in the Preferences, Editing–Project & Mixer page), the selected track is enlarged automatically. This is useful if you are stepping through the tracks in the track list, to check or edit the settings.
Zoom presets and Cycle markers • If you want to rename a preset, select “Organize…” from the pop-up menu. The pop-up menu to the left of the horizontal zoom control allows you to select, create and organize zoom presets. These are useful if you want to toggle between different zoom settings (e.g. one where the whole project is displayed in the project window and another with a high zoom factor for detailed editing).
Adjusting how parts and events are shown Option Description The Preferences on the File menu (the Nuendo menu, under Mac OS X) contains several settings for customizing the display in the Project window. Thick Fade Lines If this option is activated, the fade lines and volume curves are thicker, increasing their visibility. Show Waveforms Determines whether audio waveforms should be shown at all.
Zooming and navigating in the overview line Handling tracks By clicking the Show Overview button on the toolbar, an extra pane appears under the toolbar; the project overview line. To add a track to the project, select “Add Track” from the Project menu and select a track type from the submenu that appears. The new track is added below the currently selected track in the Track list. • The items on the “Add Track” submenu are also available on the Quick menu.
• To select a track, click on it in the Track list. Disabling tracks A selected track is indicated by a light gray color in the Track list. It is possible to select several tracks, by pressing [Ctrl]/[Command] and clicking them. To select a continuous range of tracks, use [Shift]-clicking. Tracks can be disabled by selecting “Disable Track” from the Track list context menu. Disabling a track is similar to muting it (see “Muting events” on page 50), since a disabled track will not be played back.
Dividing the Track list Switching between musical and linear time base It is possible to divide the Track list into two parts. Both sections will have independent zoom and scroll controls (if needed), but resizing the window vertically will affect the lower section only (if possible). This is useful if you’re working with a video track along with multi-track audio for example.
Adding events to a track There are a number of ways to add events to a track: • By recording (see “Basic recording methods” on page 65). This is possible for audio and MIDI tracks. While you drag the clip in the Project window, its position will be indicated by a marker line and a numerical position box. See also “By using drag and drop” on page 302. • By selecting “Audio File…” or “Video File…” from the Import submenu on the File menu.
Auditioning audio parts and events • Use Settings. No Options dialog will appear when you import. Instead, you can choose to make any of the options below the pop-up the standard action(s). Activate any number of the following options to have them performed automatically each time you import audio files: Option Description Copy Files to Working Directory If files are not already in the project’s audio folder they are copied there before being imported.
You can adjust the responsiveness of the Scrub function in the Preferences (Transport–Scrub page). Ö It is also possible to “scrub” the whole project with the Jog wheel on the Transport panel. See “Project scrubbing – the Jog Wheel” on page 62. • Note that scrubbing can be quite a burden on your system. To avoid playback problems, you will find the “CPU Saving Scrub Mode” option in the Preferences (Transport–Scrub page). When you activate this option, scrubbing will be less demanding on the processor.
• Note that in the Preferences (Editing page), you can find the option “Use Up/Down Navigation Commands for selecting Tracks only”. Moving events To move events in the Project window, use the following methods: By default, tracks are selected with the up/down arrow keys on the computer keyboard. However, these are also used for selecting events (see above) which can lead to confusing results in some cases.
• Use the Nudge buttons in the toolbar. 2. With the range selection tool selected, point on an audio event or part, press one of the modifiers listed in the table below and click. These move the selected events to the left or right. The amount of movement depends on the selected display format (see “The Project Setup dialog” on page 33) and the value set on the Grid pop-up menu. The mouse pointer will change its shape and the audio event or part will be aligned to the selected range.
You can also align audio events or parts to the project cursor. This is done in the following way: Duplicating events Events can be duplicated in the following ways: 1. Set the cursor to the position where you want to move the audio part or event. • Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the event to a new position. This will be taken as a reference for aligning. If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can copy the events (see “Snap” on page 55). 2.
• You can also perform the Repeat function by dragging: Select the event(s) to repeat, press [Alt]/[Option], click the handle in the lower right corner of the last selected event and drag to the right. Renaming events By default, audio events show the name of their clip, but you can enter a separate descriptive name for separate events if you like.
Gluing events together The actual resizing is done by clicking and dragging the lower left or right corner of the event. If Snap is activated, the Snap value determines the resulting length (see “Snap” on page 55). You can glue events together using the Glue Tube tool. There are three possibilities: • Clicking on an event with the Glue Tube tool glues it together with the next event on the track. The events do not have to touch one another.
• It is also possible to resize events by using the Trim buttons (located in the Nudge palette) on the toolbar. 4. Release the mouse button. The part is “stretched” or “compressed” to fit the new length. This will move the start or end position of the selected Event(s) by the amount set on the Grid pop-up menu. The sizing type currently selected applies to this method too, with the exception of “Sizing Applies Time Stretch” which is not possible with this method.
Group editing operations include: • • • • • • • • • You can adjust the lock options for a locked event by selecting it and selecting “Lock…” from the Edit menu again. Selecting events. Moving and duplicating events. Resizing events. Adjusting fade-in and fade-out (audio events only, see “Creating fades” on page 87). Splitting events (splitting one event will automatically split any other grouped events that are intersected by the split position). Locking events. Muting events (see below). Deleting events.
• You can also mute whole tracks by clicking the Mute (“M”) button in the Track list, the Inspector or the mixer. You can also apply the Bounce Selection function to an audio part. In that case, the audio from all events in the part will be combined into a single audio file. If you choose “Replace” when asked, the part will be replaced with a single audio event playing a clip of the new file. Clicking the Solo (“S”) button for a track mutes all other tracks.
• Note that there will always be an extra, empty lane at the bottom of the track – moving an event there always will add another lane. 3. You can edit the overlapping parts as usual – by cutting, deleting or muting sections in the Project window or by opening them in a MIDI editor. Depending on the number of lanes used, you may want to adjust the vertical zoom for the track – simply drag the track edges in the track list.
Option • By using the Trim buttons on the toolbar. Description The left Trim buttons will move the start of the selection range and the right buttons will move the end. The edges will be moved by the amount specified on the Grid pop-up. All on Selected Only used for event selection (see “Selecting events” on Tracks page 43). Select Event This is available in the Sample Editor (see “Using the Select menu” on page 267).
Making selection ranges for several non-contiguous tracks Using Cut, Copy and Paste When working with selection ranges, you can either use Cut, Copy and Paste on the Edit menu, or use the functions “Cut Time” and “Paste Time” on the Range submenu on the Edit menu. These work differently to their related functions on the Edit menu: You can create selection ranges that cover several tracks by pressing [Alt]/[Option]+[Shift]. However, it is also possible to exclude tracks from a selection range: 1.
Other functions Options On the Range submenu on the Edit menu, you will find three more range editing functions: Snap Function Description Split Splits any events or parts that are intersected by the selection range, at the positions of the selection range edges. Crop All events or parts that are partially within the selection range are cropped, that is, sections outside the selection range are removed. Events that are fully inside or outside the selection range are not affected.
Exactly how Snap works depends on which mode is selected on the Snap mode pop-up menu. Events In this mode, the start and end positions of other events and parts become “magnetic”. This means that if you drag an event to a position near the start or end of another event, it is automatically aligned with the start or end of the other event. For audio events, the position of the snap point is also magnetic (see “Adjusting the snap point” on page 266).
Grid + Cursor This is a combination of the “Grid” and “Magnetic Cursor” modes. Events + Cursor This is a combination of the “Events” and “Magnetic Cursor” modes. Events + Grid + Cursor This is a combination of the “Events”, “Grid” and “Magnetic Cursor” modes. Snap to Zero Crossing When this option is activated in the Preferences (Editing– Audio page), splitting and sizing of audio events is done at zero crossings (positions in the audio where the amplitude is zero).
4 Playback and the Transport panel
Background Active Arranger chain This chapter describes the various methods available for controlling Playback and Transport functions in Nuendo. Current Arranger item Arranger Selector Activate Arranger Mode The Transport panel Below you can find a brief description of each item on the Transport panel. Previous/Next Arranger items The pictures below show the Transport panel with all controls visible and in their default position. The Transport panel is divided into sections, from left to right.
Operations Hiding and showing the Transport Panel The Transport panel is shown by default when you launch a new project. To hide or show it, select “Transport Panel” on the Transport menu (or use a key command – by default [F2]). Setting the project cursor position There are several ways to move the project cursor position: About Preroll and Postroll • By using Fast Forward and Rewind. These items are described in the chapter “Recording”, see “About Preroll and Postroll” on page 83.
Ö If Snap is activated when dragging the project cursor, the Snap value is taken into account. This is helpful for finding exact positions quickly. • The secondary time display is completely independent, and the display format is set on the pop-up menu to the right in the secondary time display. Ö There are also numerous key commands available for moving the project cursor (in the Transport category in the Key Commands dialog).
• The “Locators to Selection” item on the Transport menu (default key command [P]) sets the locators to encompass the current selection. • If you click the jog wheel during playback, playback will automatically stop. This is available if you have selected one or several events or made a selection range. The nudge position buttons The + and – buttons in the middle of the Shuttle/Jog section allow you to nudge the project cursor position to the right or left, respectively.
Playback functions At the beginning of the first chorus you have another program change event which makes the same synth switch to a string sound. Apart from the standard transport controls on the Transport panel, you can also find a number of functions that can be used to control playback on the Transport menu.
5 Recording
Background This chapter describes the various recording methods that you can use in Nuendo. As it is possible to record both audio and MIDI tracks, both recording methods are covered in this chapter. Before you start This chapter assumes that you are reasonably familiar with certain basic recording concepts, and that the following initial preparations have been made: • You have properly set up, connected and calibrated your audio hardware.
• If you activate recording during playback, Nuendo will immediately enter Record mode and start recording from the current project cursor position. • If the Punch Out button is activated on the Transport panel, recording will be deactivated when the project cursor reaches the right locator. This is known as “manual punch in”. This is known as “automatic punch out”.
Audio recording specifics Audio pre-record This feature allows you to capture up to 1 minute of any incoming audio you play in Stop mode or during playback, “after the fact”. This is possible because Nuendo can capture audio input in buffer memory, even when not recording. Selecting a recording file format The format for recorded files is set in the Project Setup dialog on the Project menu. There are three settings: sample rate, record format (bit depth) and record file type.
• The higher the bit depth, the larger the files and the more strain is put on the disk system. Selecting an input bus for a track Here we assume that you have added and set up the required input busses (see “Setting up busses” on page 11). Before you record, you need to specify from which input bus the track should record. You can do this in the Inspector or in the mixer: If this is an issue, you may want to lower the record format setting.
• In the mixer, you select an input bus on the Input Routing pop-up menu at the top of the track’s channel strip. Selecting a folder for the recorded audio files Each Nuendo project has a project folder containing (among other things) an “Audio” folder. By default, this is where recorded audio files are stored.
To check the level of the “unprocessed” signal coming into the audio hardware, you need to switch the level meters to “Meter Input”. In this mode, the input channel level meters will show the level of the signal at the input of the bus, before any adjustments such as input gain, EQ, effects, level or pan: The next step is to check the level of the audio being written to a file on your hard disk.
Monitoring • Tapemachine Style. This option emulates standard tapemachine behavior: input monitoring in Stop mode and during recording, but not during playback. In this context, “monitoring” means listening to the input signal during recording. There are three fundamentally different ways to do this: via Nuendo, externally (by listening to the signal before it reaches Nuendo), or by using ASIO Direct Monitoring (which is a combination of both other methods – see below).
ASIO Direct Monitoring Recording If your audio hardware is ASIO 2.0 compatible, it may support ASIO Direct Monitoring. In this mode, the actual monitoring is done in the audio hardware by sending the input signal back out again. However, monitoring is controlled from Nuendo. This means that the audio hardware’s direct monitoring feature can be turned on or off automatically by Nuendo, just as when using internal monitoring.
Recording overlapping events Recording audio in cycle mode The basic rule for audio tracks is that each track can play back a single audio event at a time. This means that if two or more events are overlapping, only one of them will be heard at any given time. If you are recording audio in cycle mode, the result depends on two factors: • The “Cycle Record Mode” setting on the Transport panel. • The “Audio Cycle Record Mode” setting in the Preferences (Record-Audio page).
Create Events mode (Preferences) This method allows you to quickly combine the best parts of each take, in the following way: 1. Use the Scissors tool to split the events in several sections, one for each part of the take. For example, if you recorded four lines of vocals (in each take), you can split the events so that each line gets a separate event.
Recording audio in Stacked mode When you record audio in cycle mode and the “Stacked” Cycle Record Mode is selected on the Transport panel, the following happens: • Each complete recorded cycle lap is turned into a separate audio event. • The track is divided into “lanes”, one for each cycle lap. • The events are stacked above each other, each on a different lane. “Take” regions in the Pool window. To play back the different “takes”, proceed as follows: 1.
• Nuendo processes audio internally in 32 Bit Float format – recording in the same format means the audio quality will be kept absolutely pristine. The reason is that the effect processing in the input channel (as well as any level or EQ settings you make there) is done in 32 Bit Float format. If you record at 16 or 24 Bit, the audio will be converted to this lower resolution when it’s written to file – with possible signal degradation as a result. 5.
MIDI recording specifics 5. Pull down the View Options pop-up menu for the input channel and select “Inserts”. Activating MIDI Thru Normally, when working with MIDI, you will have MIDI Thru activated in Nuendo, and Local Off selected in your MIDI Instrument(s). In this mode, everything you play during recording will be “echoed” back out again on the MIDI output and channel selected for the recording track. 1. Make sure the option “MIDI Thru Active” is activated in the Preferences (MIDI page). 2.
Naming MIDI ports in Nuendo 4. Pull down the Input Routing pop-up menu and select an input. MIDI inputs and outputs are often displayed with unnecessarily long and complicated names. However, you can rename your MIDI ports to more descriptive names: The available MIDI inputs are shown. The items on the menu depend on the type of MIDI interface you are using, etc. 1. Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu. 2. Select the MIDI Port Setup item in the Device list.
Recording 3. Use the channel pop-up menu to select a MIDI channel for the track. Recording MIDI is done according to the basic recording methods (see “Basic recording methods” on page 65). When you finish recording, a part containing MIDI events is created in the Project window. About overlap and the Record Mode setting MIDI tracks are different from audio tracks when it comes to overlapping parts: Ö All events in overlapping parts are always played back.
Recording MIDI in cycle mode Cycle Record mode: Stacked/Stacked 2 (No Mute) When you record MIDI in cycle mode, the result depends on which Cycle Record mode is selected on the Transport panel: In this mode, the following happens: • Each recorded cycle lap is turned into a separate MIDI part. • The track is divided into “lanes”, one for each cycle lap. • The parts are stacked above each other, each on a different lane. • All takes but the last one are muted (Stacked).
Recording different types of MIDI messages ! System Exclusive messages System Exclusive (SysEx) is a special type of MIDI message used to send data that only makes sense to a unit of a certain make and type. SysEx can be used to transmit a list of the numbers that make up the settings of one or more sounds in a synth. For more about viewing and editing SysEx messages, see the chapter “Working with System Exclusive messages” on page 410.
Filtering MIDI The content of the MIDI buffer (i.e. what you just played) is turned into a MIDI part on the record enabled track. The part will appear where the project cursor was when you started playing – this means that if you played along during playback, the captured notes will end up exactly where you played them in relation to the project. • The Retrospective Record Buffer Size setting in the Preferences (Record-MIDI page) determines how much data can be captured.
Options and Settings An example: Recording-related Transport Preferences 1. Set the locators to where you want to start and end recording. A couple of settings in the Preferences (Transport page) are relevant for recording. Set these according to your preferred method of work: 2. Activate Punch in and Punch out on the Transport panel. 3. Activate the option “Stop after Automatic Punch Out” in the Preferences (Transport page). Deactivate Punch In on Stop 4.
Metronome settings You make settings for the metronome in the Metronome Setup dialog, opened from the Transport menu. Precount Options Description Use Time Signature at Project Time When this is activated, the precount will be in the time signature set in the Tempo track. Furthermore, any tempo changes in the Tempo track during the precount will be applied. Use Signature… This lets you set a time signature for the precount. In this mode, tempo changes in the Tempo track won’t affect the precount.
Recovery of audio recordings after system failure Normally, when a computer crashes, all changes made to your current project since you last saved it will be lost. Usually, there is no quick and easy way to recover your work. With Nuendo, when your system crashes while you are recording (because of a power cut or other mishap), you will find that your recording is still available, from the moment when you started recording to the time when your computer crashed.
6 Fades, crossfades and envelopes
Creating fades • If the option “Show Event Volume Curves Always” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Event Display–Audio page), the fade curves will be shown in all events, regardless of whether they are selected or not. There are two main types of fade-ins and fade-outs in audio events in Nuendo: fades created by using the fade handles (see below) and fades created by processing (see “Fades created by processing” on page 89).
Creating and adjusting fades with the Range Selection tool About the volume handle A selected audio event also has a blue handle in the top middle. This is the volume handle, and it provides a quick way of changing the volume of an event, directly in the Project window. It is linked directly with the volume setting on the info line, that is, dragging the volume handle also changes the value on the info line.
Fades created by processing The Fade dialogs If you have selected an audio event or a section of an audio event (using the Range Selection tool), you can apply a fade-in or fade-out to the selection by using the “Fade In” or “Fade Out” functions on the Process submenu on the Audio menu. These functions open the corresponding Fade dialog, allowing you to specify a fade curve.
Restore button Preview, Apply and Process The Restore button (to the right above the fade display) is only available when editing fades made by dragging the fade handles. Click this to cancel any changes you have made since opening the dialog. The buttons in the bottom row are different depending on whether you are editing a fade made with the fade handles or applying a fade using processing: Fade Length Value The Edit Fade dialog. The Fade Length Value can be used to enter fade lengths numerically.
Creating crossfades Overlapping audio material on the same track can be crossfaded, for smooth transitions or special effects. You create a crossfade by selecting two consecutive audio events and selecting the Crossfade command on the Audio menu (or by using the corresponding key command, by default [X]).
The Crossfade dialog Ö This section describes the default Crossfade dialog. • Click and drag these points to move the fade-out curve (upper) or the fade-in curve (lower), respectively: However, if you activate the option Simple Crossfade Editor in the Preferences dialog (Editing-Audio page), a simplified dialog will be used instead (similar to the regular fade dialogs). The Crossfade display The upper part of the Crossfade dialog shows the shape of the whole crossfade curve and the resulting waveform.
• Click and drag these points to move the Offset Point (the dotted line) for the fade-out curve (upper) or the fadein curve (lower), respectively: Nudge Mode Here, you can specify whether you want the fade or the audio to move when you use the Nudge buttons, see “Using the Nudge controls” on page 95. Point Offset The Offset Point is the “center” of the fade area, i.e. the point where the volume of the event is precisely halfway between full level and zero level.
Curve buttons • To specify how long the pre- and post-roll should be, click in the time fields and enter the desired time (in seconds and milliseconds). • The curve kind buttons determine whether the corresponding fade curve should consist of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button). • The curve shape buttons give you quick access to some common curve shapes. • To activate pre-/post-roll, click the respective button.
Presets • If possible, the length change will be applied equally to “both sides” of the crossfade (i.e. Nuendo tries to “center” the crossfade). If you have set up a crossfade that you may want to apply to other events, you can store it as a preset by clicking the store button (the disk icon). ! • To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu. • To rename the selected preset, double-click on the name and type in a new one.
Auto Fades and Crossfades Using the Overlap controls The Overlap controls let you move the fade area without moving the Offset Point – the “center” of the fade area (see below). This means that the “center” of the fade will be offset in relation to the fade area. Nuendo features an Auto Fade function that can be set both globally, i.e. for the entire project, and separately for each audio track.
Event Envelopes 4. To adjust the shapes of Auto Fade In and Auto Fade Out, select the “Fades” tab and make settings as in the regular Fade dialogs. An envelope is a volume curve for an audio event. It is similar to the real-time fades, but allows you to create volume changes within the event, not only at the start or end. To create an envelope for an audio event, proceed as follows: 5.
7 The Arranger track
Introduction 3. On the Project window toolbar, make sure that Snap is activated, and that the Grid resolution is set to a mode that allows your arranger events to snap to appropriate positions in the project. The Arranger track allows you to work with sections of your project in a non-linear fashion, to simplify arranging to the maximum extent.
Working with arranger events • Double-clicking on the name of an event in the window section on the right (or in the project window). You now have a number of arranger events that form the basic building blocks for your arrangement. The next step is to arrange these events using the functions of the Arranger Editor. When an event is selected in the Arranger chain on the left will add the event above the selected event.
Editing the Arranger chain • Click in the Mode field for an event and select the desired repeat mode. Option Button In the Arranger chain to the left, you can do the following: Description Normal In this mode, your Arranger chain will be played back normally, just as you set it up. Repeat forever In this mode, the current Arranger event will be repeated in a loop until you either click on another event in the Arranger Editor or press play once again.
Managing Arranger chains 2. Activate Playback. The project will now play back exactly as in Arranger mode, but you can view it and work with it as usual. You can create several Arranger chains. This way, you can create alternative versions for playback. In the Arranger Editor, the toolbar buttons on the right are used for this: Button ! Description Click this to rename the current Arranger chain. Flattening the Arranger chain may remove events and parts from the project.
Live Mode The Destination section allows you to choose where the result of the flattening should be saved. The available options are: Option If you have set up an Arranger track and play it back, you have also the possibility to influence the playback order “live”. Note that the Arranger mode has to be activated to be able to use the Live mode. Description Current Project This option is only available, if you have selected “Current Chain” as Source.
The active Arranger event will be played back as long as defined before jumping to the next. Option Description Now Jumps to the next section immediately. 4 bars, 2 bars When one of these modes is selected, a grid of 4 or 2 bars (depending on the setting) will be placed on the active Arranger event. Whenever the respective grid line is reached, playback will jump to the next Arranger event. An example: Let’s say you have an Arranger event which is 8 bars long and the grid is set to 4 bars.
8 Folder tracks
About folder tracks 2. Release the mouse button. The track is now placed in the folder track, and all parts and events on the track will be represented by a corresponding folder part (see “Working with folder parts” on page 107), which is a graphical representation of all parts and events in the folder. A folder track Tracks in the folder Just as the name implies, a folder track is a folder that contains other tracks.
Muting and soloing folder tracks • If there is a gap between parts/events on the tracks, there will be two separate folder parts. One of the main advantages of using folder tracks is that they provide you with a way to mute and solo several tracks as one unit. Muting and soloing a folder track affects all tracks in the folder. You can also solo or mute individual tracks in the folder.
An example Splitting the folder part with the Scissors tool… …will split all contained parts or events present at that position. Editing tracks within folder parts Tracks inside a folder can be edited as one entity by performing the editing directly on the folder part containing the tracks as explained above. You can also edit individual tracks within the folder by showing the contained tracks, selecting parts and opening editors as usual.
9 Using markers
About markers The Marker window columns The Marker window is divided into six columns which are used for performing the following operations: Markers are used to locate certain positions quickly. If you often find yourself jumping to a specific position within a project, you should insert a marker at this position. There are two types of markers: • The leftmost column is the Locate column. Clicking in this column will move the project cursor to the corresponding marker position.
Moving marker positions in the Marker window 2. Enter this ID number in the ID column of the marker you want to access with a key command and press [Enter]. The Move button in the Marker window can be used to “reprogram” marker positions. Proceed as follows: The two marker ID numbers are switched, and the key command now locates to the marker selected in this step. 1. Set the project cursor to the position to which you want to move (or re-program) a marker. 3. Repeat as necessary for other markers. 2.
Editing markers on the Marker track • Removing markers. This is done exactly the same way as for other events, i.e. by selecting them and pressing [Delete], using the Erase tool etc. The following editing functions can be performed directly on the Marker track: • Naming markers. • Adding position markers “on the fly”. A selected marker’s name can be edited on the info line.
Using markers to make range selections in the Project window Operation Description Default key Set Marker 1-9 Moves the specified marker (number 1 [Ctrl]+[1] to [9] to 9) to the current project cursor position. Besides enabling you to quickly move the project cursor and the locators, markers can be used in conjunction with the Range Selection tool to make range selections in the Project window. This is useful if you quickly want to make a selection that spans all tracks in the project.
The Transpose functions
Introduction Transposing your music Nuendo offers transpose functions for audio, MIDI and instrument parts and for audio events. These allow you to create variations of your music or change the harmonics of an entire project or separate sections. In the following sections we will describe the different possibilities of transposing your music. Note that these can also be combined. However, we recommend you to set the root key first, before recording or changing transpose values on the transpose track.
2. Now, open the Root Key pop-up menu in the Project window toolbar and set the project root key. If the events do not contain root key information Let’s say you have created a project by recording audio and importing some MIDI loops, and you want to match the root key of the whole project to the register of a certain singer. The entire project will be played back with this root key. Note that by default, the project root key is not specified (“-”). Proceed as follows: 1.
To check the root key setting of a MIDI part, proceed as follows: Recording with a project root key Let’s say that you want to record a guitar line for a project that is in D# minor, but your guitar player prefers to play A minor and G major. In this case, you can change the project root key to A, so that you can record your guitar. Proceed as follows: 1. Select your MIDI part in the Project window and check the Project window info line. 1. Open your project and set the project root key to A.
Transposing separate sections of a project using Transpose events 4. Click in the transpose value field and enter the transpose value for the transpose event. You can enter the desired value with the computer keyboard, use the mouse wheel or [Alt]/[Option]-click on the transpose value to open a value fader. You can specify values between -24 and 24 semitones. Sometimes you may want to transpose only certain sections of your project, e.g. to create harmonic variations.
Other functions The Global Transpose setting If you are working with drum and percussion loops or with special effects (FX) loops, you normally want to exclude these events from being transposed. This can be achieved by locking them using the Global Transpose setting. Proceed as follows: Indicate Transpositions When you transpose your music, you may sometimes want to visually compare the original sounds and the transposed music.
Ö You will get exactly what you have recorded, i.e. when your record C, F, G and C this will be played back exactly as you recorded it. This is because the recorded event is “Independent” from Global Transpose. 2. Add a transpose track and create a transpose event. By default, the transpose value is set to 0. If no transpose track exists or if no transpose event has been added, Global Transpose will be set to Follow.
4. Set the transpose value to 8 semitones. As “Keep Transpose in Octave Range” is activated, your chord will now be transposed to the nearest interval or pitch. Your chord has been transposed to the nearest pitch, this results in G#2/C3/D#3. ! If you mainly work with audio loops, we recommend to activate “Keep Transpose in Octave Range”.
11 The mixer
About this chapter This chapter contains detailed information about the elements used when mixing audio and MIDI, and the various ways you can configure the mixer. Some mixer-related features are not described in this chapter. These are the following: • Setting up and using audio effects. See the chapter “Audio effects” on page 168. • Setting up and using MIDI effects. See the chapter “MIDI realtime parameters and effects” on page 342. • Surround Sound. See the chapter “Surround sound” on page 202.
Overview The picture shows an extended mixer (see “Normal vs. Extended channel strips” on page 126). • By clicking the Mixer button in the Devices panel. The mixer offers a common environment for controlling levels, pan, solo/mute status etc. for both audio and MIDI channels. You open the Devices panel by selecting Show Panel from the Devices menu.
The order of audio, MIDI, instrument, group and effect return channel strips (from left to right) in the mixer corresponds to the Project window Track list (from the top down). If you reorder tracks of these types in the Track list, this will be mirrored in the mixer. In addition to the above, the following channel types are also shown in the mixer: • Activated ReWire channels (see the chapter “ReWire” on page 482).
Configuring the mixer The fader panel shows the basic controls – faders, pan controls and an associated vertical row of buttons. The extended panel can be set to show EQ, effect sends, insert effects, etc. The input/output settings panel contains input and output routing pop-up menus (where applicable), along with input phase switches and input gain controls. As mentioned earlier, the mixer windows can be configured in various ways to suit your needs and to save screen space.
Selecting globally from the common panel Selecting for individual channels 1. Open any of the mixer windows. Each channel strip in the mixer features a View options pop-up menu, which is used for two things: The leftmost strip is called the common panel and is always shown in the mixer. It contains various global settings and options relating to the mixer. For more information, see “The common panel” on page 131. • To determine what is shown in the extended panel for individual channels in the mixer.
Setting the width of channel strips ! Selecting what channel types to show/hide You can specify what channel types to show or hide in the mixer. In the lower part of the common panel you find a vertical strip with different indicator buttons. Each indicator represents a channel type to show or hide in the mixer: Each channel strip can be set to either “Wide” or “Narrow” mode by using the Channel Narrow/Wide button on the left above the fader strip.
3. A dialog appears, allowing you to enter a name for the view set. 2. Repeat this for all channels you want to hide. 3. Click the top “hide button” (Hide Channels set to “Can Hide”) on the common panel. 4. Click OK to store the current mixer view set. This hides all channels set to “Can Hide”. To show them again, click the Hide button again or click the button at the bottom on the common panel (“Reveal All Channels”).
The audio-related channel strips Channel input/ output routing Channel View options pop-up The speaker configuration for the channel The Can Hide State for the channel Input Gain control Input Phase switch Narrow/Wide button Pan control Level fader Level meter Listen button (see the chapter “Control Room” on page 151) Edit button (opens the Channel Settings window) Channel name Record Enable and Monitor buttons The common panel (see “The common panel” on page 131) Channel automation controls Insert
The MIDI channel strips This opens the control panel for a connected VST Instrument Input Transformer button Channel Narrow/ Wide button The common panel The common panel appears to the left in the mixer windows and contains settings for changing the look and behavior of the mixer, as well as global settings for all channels.
The input and output channels Basic mixing procedures The busses you have set up in the VST Connections window are represented by input and output channels in the mixer. These are shown in separate “panes” (to the left and right of the regular channel strips, respectively), with their own dividers and horizontal scrollbars. The i/o channel strips are very similar to other audio channels and are identical for input and output channels (except that input channels don’t have Solo buttons or Sends).
domain, the maximum level is 0dB – higher levels will cause the clip indicator for each bus to light up. About the level meters for audio channels When playing back audio in Nuendo, the level meters in the mixer show the level of each audio channel. If the clip indicators light up for a bus, this indicates actual clipping – digital distortion which should always be avoided. • Directly below the level meter is a small level readout – this shows the highest registered peak level in the signal.
• Phase polarity is important when mixing together two similar signals. • [Alt]/[Option]-clicking a Solo button activates “Solo Defeat” for that channel. If the signals are “out of phase” with respect to one another, there will be some cancellation in the resulting audio, producing a hollow sound with less low frequency content. In this mode the channel will not be muted if you solo another channel. To turn off Solo Defeat, [Alt]/[Option]-click the Solo button again.
Setting pan in the mixer About the three pan modes If you right-click in the pan control field for a (stereo) audio channel, you can select one of three pan modes: The pan control. The pan controls in the mixer are used to position a channel between the left and right side of the stereo spectrum. By default for stereo audio channels, pan controls the balance between the left and right channels. You can change this in the Preferences.
When moving combined pan controls so that the left or right pan control reaches its maximum pan value, it naturally cannot go any further. If you continue to move further in the same direction, only the other pan control will move, thus altering the set relative pan range until both channels are panned fully to one side. If you move the pan controls in the opposite direction without releasing the mouse, the previously set pan range will be restored.
Ö If you have selected a parameter for the extended channel strip and then switch to “narrow” mode, only the channel overview and the Meter can be shown in the extended channel strip. When you switch back to “wide” mode, the parameter settings are displayed again. Every channel has its own channel settings (although you can view each in the same window if you like – see below). Click the Edit button to open the Channel Settings window.
Making EQ settings You can also select a channel manually (thereby changing what is shown in the open Channel Settings window). Proceed as follows: Each audio channel in Nuendo has a built-in parametric equalizer with up to four bands. There are several ways to view and adjust the EQs: 1. Open the Channel Settings window for any channel. 2. Open the Choose Edit Channel pop-up menu by clicking the arrow button to the left of the channel number at the top of the Fader view.
The Equalizers + Curve pane in the Channel Settings window consists of four EQ modules with parameter sliders, an EQ curve display and some additional functions at the top. Using the curve display When you activate EQ modules and make settings, you will see that your settings are automatically reflected in the curve display above. You can also make settings directly in the curve (or combine the two methods any way you like): 1. To activate an EQ module, click in the curve display.
• In the Inspector (Equalizers tab) and in the Channel Settings window, click the Bypass button (next to the EQ button) so that it turns yellow. EQ in the channel overview If the “Channel” section is selected in the Inspector or the “Overview” view mode is selected in the extended mixer, you will get an overview of which EQ modules, insert effects and effect sends are activated for the channel. Click again to deactivate EQ Bypass mode.
Copying settings between audio channels Initialize Channel and Reset Mixer It is possible to copy all channel settings for an audio channel and paste them to one or several other channels. This applies to all audio-based channel types. For example, you can copy EQ settings from an audio track and apply these to a group or VST Instrument channel, if you want them to have the same sound.
• If “Hold Forever” is activated, the peak levels will remain until meters are reset (by clicking the numerical peak display below the meter). 4. Do the same for the other channels you wish to route to the group. ! If “Hold Forever” is off, you can specify for how long the peak levels will be held with the parameter “Meters’ Peak Hold Time” in the Preferences (VST–Metering page). The peak hold time can be between 500 and 30000ms.
Viewing the output busses in the mixer will unmute the group channel and all other channels directly routed to it. Channels that were muted prior to the group channel being muted will not remember their mute status and will be unmuted when the group channel is unmuted. ! Output busses are shown as output channels in a separate pane to the right in the mixer.
MIDI specific procedures Using Channel Settings For each MIDI channel strip in the mixer (and MIDI track in the Track list or the Inspector), there is an Edit (“e”) button. This section describes basic procedures for MIDI channels in the mixer. Clicking this opens the MIDI Channel Settings window. By default, this window contains a duplicate of the mixer channel strip, a section with four MIDI inserts and a section with four MIDI send effects.
Utilities What will be linked? The following rules apply for linked channels: Link/Unlink channels • Only level, mute, solo, select, monitor and record enable will be linked between channels. This function is used to “link” selected channels in the mixer so that any change applied to one channel will be mirrored by all channels in that group. You can link as many channels as you like, and you can also create as many groups of linked channels as you like.
• By pressing [Alt]/[Option], you can make individual settings and changes for channels that are linked. It is possible to save complete mixer settings for selected or all audio channels in the mixer. These can later be loaded into any project. Channel settings are saved as mixer settings files. These have the Windows file extension “.vmx”. Ö Linked channels have individual automation subtracks. These are completely independent, and are not affected by the Link function.
Load All Mixer Settings Selecting “Load All Mixer Settings” from the context menu allows you to open a saved mixer settings file, and have the stored settings applied to all channels for which there is information included in the file. All channels, master settings, VST Instruments, sends and master effects will be affected.
VST Mixer Diagrams Input Objects Input Channel External Input Channel Talkback Channel Channel Objects Audio Channel ReWire Channel VSTi Channel 148 The mixer External Instrument
Summing Objects Group Channel FX Channel Output Bus Main Mix Bus Phones Channel Studio Channel Monitor Control Room Objects Control Room Channel 149 The mixer
Overall 150 The mixer
12 Control Room
Background The concept The concept behind creating the Control Room features was to divide the studio environment into the performing area (studio) and the engineer/producer area (control room) common to traditional studios. Previously, an analog console or some method of speaker control and monitor routing was necessary to provide this functionality to the DAW environment.
• Adjustable Input Gain and Input Phase on all external inputs and Speaker outputs. • Full-sized meters on every Control Room channel. • Support for up to four aux sends (Studio Sends) for creation of discrete cue mixes for performers. Each Studio output has its own cue mix. • The ability to disable the Control Room Section when working with an external monitoring solution or console. • Full support for the monitoring section functionality of the ID control surface.
Creating a Control Room channel Phones To create a new channel, click on the Add Channel button in the Studio tab of the VST Connections window. A popup menu lists all available channels along with how many of each type are available. Select the type of channel you wish to create and a dialog will appear allowing you to choose the configuration of the channel (stereo, 5.1, etc.). Create a Phones channel if you intend to listen to headphones in the control room.
Disabling the Control Room Output click enabling Once you have created all the channels for your studio configuration, the Control Room functions are available for use. If you need to use Nuendo without the Control Room functions, you can simply press the Disable Control Room button on the Studio tab of the VST Connections window. Any channels you have created will be saved and when you enable the Control Room again, that configuration will be reloaded.
The Control Room Overview The Control Room Mixer You can access the Control Room Overview from the Devices menu. The Control Room Overview is designed to display the current configuration of the Control Room. The window shows all possible channels, with active channels highlighted once they have been created in the VST Connections window. Channels that are grayed out have not been defined in the VST Connections window. The Control Room Mixer is where you access all the features of the Control Room.
The different Control Room Mixer panels are handled in the same way as the Project Mixer panels, see “Configuring the mixer” on page 126. Each Control Room channel has a set of inserts configured as six pre-fader and two post-fader inserts. External inputs and Monitor channels only have the six pre-fader inserts.
Inserts for the Talkback channel Click here to open the MixConvert control panel. The Talkback channel has a separate set of eight inserts. In order to view and adjust them, the Talkback must be enabled via the TALK button located to the lower right of the Control Room Mixer. Click once on the Talkback to latch it on. The inserts for external inputs will now display the Talkback inserts. Once the Talkback is disabled, the view will revert back to external input inserts. ! The Down-Mix Presets section.
Control Room Mixer layout The Control Room Mixer has a variety of controls, some that are similar to the Project Mixer and some that are unique to Control Room operations. The following diagrams show every control, followed by a brief description of what each control does. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1. 7. 8. 29. 9. 6. 10. 11. 28. 12. 13. 27. 26. 14. 25. 15. 24. 6. 23. 6. 22. 21. 20. 159 Control Room 19. 18. 17. 16.
1. Input Phase 12. Listen DIM Each external input and Monitor speaker output has an Input Phase reversal switch. When lit, all audio paths within the channel will have their phase reversed. This gain control adjusts the volume of the Main Mix when channels have been put in Listen mode. This allows you to keep Listen enabled channels in context with the Main Mix. If the Listen DIM is set to minus infinity, Listen enabled channels will be heard by themselves.
22. Channel Labels 30. Individual Speaker Solos These labels reflect the names created in the VST Connections window. Each speaker icon is a solo button for that channel. [Shift]-clicking a speaker will solo all the speakers in that row (front or rear). [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking on a speaker that is already soloed will mute that speaker and solo all other channels. 23. Talkback Level This pop-up fader controls the amount of Talkback signal fed to the output of each Studio. 31. LFE Solo 24.
The Main Mix and the Control Room channel • A brickwall limiter in the last insert of the Control Room channel can prevent accidental overloads and damage to speaker systems. • Use the inserts for the Talkback channel to control the dynamics of the talkback microphone. This will help protect performers’ hearing and ensure that everyone can be heard over the talkback microphone.
The other preferences have the following functionality: • In the Project Mixer, the Studio Sends are accessed by choosing the Studio Sends option from the View options pop-up menu in each channel or by clicking the star icon (“Show Studio Sends”) on the common panel of the extended Project Mixer. • Reference Level This setting determines the Control Room level used when the Reference Level button is activated.
• In the Inspector, a Studio Sends tab can be found. This will display all Studio Sends for the selected track. The name of each Studio is displayed in the Control Room Mixer. To hear the Studio Sends mix in the Studio output, the input selector for each Studio must be set to “Aux”. Please note that not all Inspector sections are available by default. To show/hide a section, right-click on an Inspector section and activate/ deactivate the desired option on the context menu.
2. In the Control Room Mixer, right-click anywhere in a Studio Channel’s mixer strip and a context menu will appear that has the Studio’s name as a submenu. Adjusting the overall Studio Send level Levels in the main mix are often optimized for the loudest signal level possible without clipping. However, when you are creating a “more me” mix, you may find that there is not enough headroom available in the Studio Send to turn up channels without clipping becoming a possibility.
5. Click OK and the level change will be performed. 3. Selecting the “Reset Studio Sends” option changes the Send level of all selected channels to -6dB and sets the signal source to post-fader. It is possible to view these changes as they occur if you have the Project Mixer open and the extended view set to show the Studio Sends. The -6dB level is designed to allow for headroom for “more me” signals in the Studio outputs.
WK-Audio’s ID Controller With the implementation of the Control Room Features, functionality for the Monitoring Section of the ID control surface has been enabled.
13 Audio effects
Ö Please note that this functionality is provided to allow you to load older projects including their original plug-ins on current computers. However, the plug-ins will require higher CPU performance when compared to their native platform. Therefore, it is recommended to use 64 bit versions or Intel Mac (Universal Binary) versions of such plug-ins or instruments once available. About this chapter Nuendo comes with a number of effect plug-ins included.
About tempo sync Be aware, however, that this can lead to a situation where you added more plug-ins on "transport stop" than the system can handle on playback. Therefore, you should always find the passage with the largest number of events playing simultaneously to make sure that your system offers the required performance. Plug-ins can receive timing and tempo information from the host application (in this case, Nuendo).
• If the effect has a dry/wet Mix parameter you can use this to adjust the balance between the dry signal and the effect signal. As you can see, the last two insert slots (for any channel) are post-EQ and post-fader. Post-fader slots are best suited for insert effects where you don’t want the level to be changed after the effect, such as dithering (see “Dithering” on page 173) and maximizers – both typically used as insert effects for output busses.
• To bypass all inserts for a track, click the global bypass button. However, you may want to apply the effect to other speaker channels. This is done in the Channel Settings window: This button can be found at the top of the Inserts section in the Inspector or the Channel Settings window. It lights up in yellow to indicate that the inserts of this track are bypassed. In the track list and the channel strip in the mixer, the Inserts State button will also light up in yellow. 1.
• A line that passes through the effect (with no square input/ output indicators) represent a bypass connection – the audio on that speaker channel passes the effect without being processed. • A “broken” line indicates a broken connection – the audio on that speaker channel will not pass on to the output at all. • Clicking Reset takes you back to the original standard connection. Ö Changes you make in this window are audible immediately.
When should I use dithering? Using group channels for insert effects • Consider dithering when you mix down to a lower resolution, either in real-time (playback) or with the Export Audio Mixdown function. Like all other channels, group channels can have up to eight insert effects. This is useful if you have several audio tracks that you want to process through the same effect (e.g. different vocal tracks that all should be processed by the same compressor).
Freezing (rendering) insert effects for a track Unfreezing Effect plug-ins can sometimes require a lot of processor power. If you are using a large number of insert effects for a track, you may eventually reach a point where the computer cannot play back the track properly (the CPU overload indicator in the VST Performance window lights up, you get crackling sounds, etc.).
Setting up send effects Adding and setting up effects As mentioned above, you can add a single insert effect when you create the FX channel track. To add and set up effects after the FX channel track is created, you can either use the Inspector for the track (click the Inserts tab) or the VST FX Channel Settings window: Adding an FX channel track 1. Pull down the Project menu and select “FX Channel” from the “Add Track” submenu. A dialog appears. 1.
• You can reorder the effects by clicking in the area above the name field and dragging the effect onto another slot. 2. Pull down the routing pop-up menu for a send by clicking in the empty slot, and select the desired routing destination. • You can copy an effect into another effect slot (for the same channel or between channels) by holding down [Ctrl]/[Command] and dragging it onto another effect slot.
6. If you want the signal to be sent to the FX channel before the audio channel’s volume fader in the mixer, click on the Pre-Fader button for the send so that it lights up. • You can also bypass individual sends in the channel overview. Normally you want the effect send to be proportional to the channel volume (post-fader send). The picture below shows where the sends are “tapped” from the signal in pre and post-fader mode.
You set up send panning in the following way: 4. Click and drag the pan control for the desired send(s) in the display. 1. Open the Channel Settings window for the audio channel. You can reset the pan control to the center position by [Ctrl]/[Command]clicking on the pan control. 2. Right-click somewhere in the Channel settings window (not the EQ display), to open the context menu and open the “Customize View” submenu.
• In the mixer, you can use the level fader for the FX channel to set the effect return level. Using the Side-Chain input By adjusting the return level, you control the amount of the signal sent from the FX channel to the output bus. Many VST 3.0 effects feature a side-chain input. Sidechaining allows you e.g. to lower the music volume when someone is speaking (“ducking”) or to use compression on e.g. a bass sound when the drums are hit, thereby “harmonizing” the intensity of the two instruments.
Proceed as follows: Dynamics plug-ins 1. Select the vocal track. Compression, expansion or gating can be triggered by side-chain signals exceeding a specified threshold. 2. On the Project menu, select “Duplicate Tracks”. You may run into a situation where you want to lower the volume of one instrument every time another instrument is played. You could e.g. want to lower the volume of the bass guitar during the bass drum hits.
About drag&drop and Side chain connections Making settings for the effects When you drag effects from one insert slot to another (on the same channel or between different channels), the following applies: Editing effects All inserts and sends have an Edit (“e”) button. Clicking this opens the control panel for the effect, in which you can make parameter settings. • When you move an effect within a channel (e.g. from slot 4 to slot 6), the side chain connections will be kept.
Effect presets 4. Activate playback to audition the selected preset. Simply step through the presets until you found the right sound. It may be helpful to set up cycle playback of a section to make comparisons between different preset settings easier. Effect preset management in Nuendo is very versatile. In the MediaBay – or with certain limits in the Save Preset dialog – you can assign attributes to presets which allow you to organize and browse them according to various criteria.
Saving effect presets • Win: Documents and Settings/User name/Application data/ VST3 presets\\ • Mac: Users//Library/Audio/Presets// You can save your edited effect settings as presets for further use (e.g. in other projects): 1. Click the VST Sound button to open the Preset Management pop-up menu. You cannot change the default folder, but you can add further subfolders inside the individual effect preset folders.
4. After importing, you can convert the current program list to VST presets by selecting “Convert Program List to VST Presets” from the Preset Management pop-up. 6. Select the preset you created from the pop-up menu. After converting, the presets will be available in the Preset Browser, and you can use the Tag Editor to add attributes and audition the presets. The new converted presets will be stored in the VST3 Preset folder.
Ö If an effect plug-in comes with its own installation application, you should use this. Installing and managing effect plugins As a general rule, always read the documentation or readme files before installing new plug-ins. Nuendo supports two plug-in formats; the VST 2 format (with the file name extensions “.dll” on the PC and “.VST” on the Mac) and the VST 3 format (extension “.vst3” on both platforms). The formats are handled differently when it comes to installation and organizing.
The other columns show the following information about each plug-in: About the effects from previous Nuendo versions The Legacy folder on the program DVD contains effects from previous versions of Nuendo. Column The main reason for installing these earlier plug-ins is backwards compatibility, allowing you to import old Nuendo projects and get the correct effect settings. The name of the plug-in. Vendor The manufacturer of the plug-in.
Exporting plug-in information files You can also save plug-in information as an .xml file, e.g. for archiving purposes or troubleshooting. The Export function is available for VST, MIDI and Audio Codec plug-ins. Proceed as follows: 1. Right-click on the desired tab in the Plug-in Information window (for VST, MIDI or Audio Codec plug-ins), to open the context menu and select “Export”. A file dialog opens. 2.
14 VST Instruments and Instrument tracks
Introduction VST Instrument channels VST Instruments are software synthesizers (or other sound sources) that are contained within Nuendo. They are played internally via MIDI. You can add effects or EQ to VST Instruments, just as with audio tracks. You can access a VST Instrument from within Nuendo by creating a VST Instrument channel and associating this channel with a MIDI track. Proceed as follows: Ö This chapter describes the general procedures for setting up and using VST Instruments.
• If you don’t want the plug-in control panels to open every time you load a plug-in, open the Preferences dialog (VST–Plug-ins page) and deactivate “Open Effect Editor After Loading it”. 7. Activate the Monitor button for the MIDI track (in the Track list, Inspector or mixer). When this is activated (or when the track is record enabled), incoming MIDI is passed on to the selected MIDI output (in this case the VST Instrument), see the chapter “Recording” on page 64.
Properties • The second button is used to activate or deactivate the VST Instrument. • Each Instrument track has a corresponding channel strip in the mixer. When an instrument is selected from the instrument pop-up menu, it is activated automatically, i.e. the on/off control lights up in blue. For some instruments you may also bypass the instrument by clicking the Bypass button to the right of the on/off button. • In the Inspector, you can select a VST Instrument from the Instrument pop-up menu.
Restrictions 3. In the Viewer section, select the desired MIDI loop and drag it in an empty section in the Project window. • Instrument tracks have no MIDI Sends. An Instrument track is created and the Instrument part is inserted at the position where you dragged the file. The Inspector will reflect all settings saved in the MIDI loop, e.g. the VST instrument that was used, applied Insert effects, Track parameters, etc.
Automation considerations Exporting instrument tracks as MIDI file You can also export instrument tracks as standard MIDI files, see “Exporting MIDI files” on page 498. • Automation of the VST Instrument channel settings or the settings for an instrument track is done in the same way as automating regular channels. Please note: • As there is no MIDI patch information in an instrument track, this information is missing in the resulting MIDI file.
Instrument Freeze In the instrument track, however, you have one track that includes the MIDI data, the VST Instrument and the channel you wish to automate. Therefore, the information on the automation track will move with the MIDI part. Like all plug-ins, VST Instruments may require a lot of processor power.
3. Click the Freeze button for the VST Instrument (the button to the left of the VST Instrument slot), or the Freeze button in the Inspector for the instrument track. The Freeze button lights up. If you check the Project window at this point, you will find that the relevant MIDI/instrument tracks have grayed out controls in the Track list and Inspector. Furthermore, the MIDI parts are locked and cannot be moved. 5. Play back the project.
Using presets for VSTi configuration For example, if you are looking for a bass sound, simply select the Bass category and you can browse and preview all bass sounds for all instruments. If you know you want a synth bass sound, select Synth Bass as sub-category and all synth bass sounds will be shown etc. About track presets and VST presets Track presets and VST presets allow you to quickly set up tracks or instruments with all the settings required for the sound you want.
4. The Presets browser is opened. It contains three sections (Browser, Search & Viewer and Filter). By default, only the Search & Viewer section is shown. Note that it may take a moment before all available sounds appear in the Viewer. To preview the presets, you have to select a MIDI file or play MIDI notes on your MIDI keyboard because at this stage there is no track connected.
4. Click in the Programs field in the Inspector. Presets are saved into a default folder named VST3 Presets. Within this folder, there is a folder called “Steinberg Media Technologies” where the included presets are arranged in sub-folders named after each instrument. The Preset browser is opened. You cannot change the default folder, but you can add further subfolders inside the instrument’s preset folder.
About latency About earlier VST Instrument presets You can use any VST 2.x Instrument plug-ins in Nuendo. Installing VST Instrument plug-ins works the same way as for audio effects – see “Installing additional VST plug-ins” on page 186. Depending on your audio hardware and its ASIO driver, the latency (the time it takes for the instrument to produce a sound when you press a key on your MIDI controller) may simply be too high to allow comfortable real-time VST Instrument playback from a keyboard.
• VST plug-ins (with higher delay than the threshold value) which are activated for VST Instrument channels, audio track channels that are record enabled, group channels and output channels will be turned off when you activate Constrain Delay Compensation. • VST plug-ins activated for FX channels are not turned off but their delay is disregarded by the program (delay compensation is turned off).
15 Surround sound
Background • Nuendo is ready for surround specific plug-ins, that is plug-ins with multi-channel support specifically designed for surround sound mixing tasks (the included “Mix8to2” plug-in is an example of this). There are also surround aware plug-ins, which are not designed specifically for Surround but which due to their multi-channel support work well in a Surround configuration. An example is the Surrounddither plug-in.
About surround plug-ins The VST Connections window Included with the program are some specific surroundplug-ins. These are: In this window you can add input and output busses. There is a complete selection of common surround configurations available, as well as standard mono or stereo busses. • MatrixEncoder and MatrixDecoder. These are used for working with LRCS Surround encoded material.
Operations Surround in the mixer Surround sound is supported throughout every stage of the signal path in the Nuendo mixer, from input to output bus. Each bus or audio channel can carry up to 12 surround speaker channels. Setting up the surround configuration Output bus configuration Before you can start working with surround sound, you have to configure a surround output bus, through which all the speaker channels of the chosen surround format are routed.
Format Description Format LRC L Description 6.0 Music R C Same as LRCS, but without the surround speaker channel. L R RS LS SL LRS This uses 2 (Left/Right) front channels with Left and Right surround channels and Left and Right Side channels. SR 6.1 Cine L R Left-Right-Surround, with the surround speaker positioned at center-rear. L R C Same as 6.0 Cine but with an Lfe sub-channel added. + S SL LRC+Lfe L R C S 6.1 Music Same as LRC but with an Lfe sub-channel added.
Format Description 8.0 Music C L R Same as 7.0 Music but with the addition of a Center Surround channel. LS SL • You have existing audio material in a specific surround format, and you wish to transfer this material into Nuendo as a single, multi-channel file. • You wish to record a surround setup “live”.
If you have added a child bus within a surround bus (see above), it appears as a submenu item within the surround bus on the output routing pop-up menu. Select this to route a stereo audio channel directly to that stereo speaker pair in the surround bus. 3. You can click and drag directly in the miniature image to move the sound in the surround field. The horizontal red strip to the right controls the subbass (LFE) level (if available in the selected surround format).
The SurroundPan controls Mode – Standard/Position/Angle The Standard Mode/Position Mode/Angle Mode switch allows you to work in three modes: • In both Standard and Position mode, the speakers in the front are aligned, as they would normally be in a cinema-type situation. This means that the front speakers are at a varying distance from the center. Standard mode (default) is the best mode for moving sources between speakers without level attenuation.
• In Angle Mode, a red arc helps you determine the perceived “range” of a source. The sound will be at its loudest in the middle of the arc and will have dropped in level towards the ends. The LFE dial (all modes) Exactly how levels are handled may require some explanation: • When you move a source around, a number will indicate the loudness in each speaker.
Mixconvert Additional parameters (Standard mode) Mixconvert is a special plug-in that converts one multichannel audio source into another multi-channel destination. It is most frequently used to “downmix” a multi-channel surround mix into another format with less channels (a 5.1 surround mix into a stereo mix for example). This plug-in can be used as an insert effect in the mixer like other plug-ins but it also has special functions.
• Under Windows you can also export a 5.1 surround mix to a file in Windows Media Audio Pro format. This is an encoding format tailored for 5.1 surround – see “Windows Media Audio Pro files (Windows only)” on page 442. • You can also export a surround mix to a Dolby Digital AC3 file or a DTS file, if you have the Steinberg Dolby Digital Encoder or the Steinberg DTS Encoder (both optional, separate plug-ins) installed in your system. Please go to www.steinberg.net for details.
16 Automation
Introduction Enabling and disabling the writing of automation data In essence, automation means finding and recording, for each and every moment of your project, the right values for a particular mixer parameter. When you create your final mix, you won’t have to worry about having to adjust this particular parameter control yourself – Nuendo will do it for you. Tracks and mixer channels in Nuendo can be “automation enabled” by activating their automation Write (W) buttons.
These buttons light up as soon as there is a single enabled Read or Write button on any channel/track within your project. There are two approaches you can use to create automation curves: • “Offline”, by manually drawing the curves on automation tracks in the Project window. • When “All Automation to Read/Write Status” is disabled and you click on one of these buttons, all Read/ Write buttons on all tracks/channels are enabled. See “Editing automation events” on page 235.
What can be automated? • Editing curves on automation tracks offers a graphical overview in relation to the track contents and the time position. You can automate virtually every parameter in the Nuendo mixer. This makes it easy to quickly change parameter values at specific points, without having to activate playback.
The Automation panel Click here… …to open the Automation panel. Virgin territory vs. the initial value The Automation panel is a floating window, similar to the Mixer and Transport panel. You can leave it open while you work – the Project window will always have the focus. ! To open the Automation panel, open the Project menu and select the Automation Panel option or click the Automation Panel button on the Nuendo toolbar. The Automation panel gives you access to all automation options in Nuendo.
When no automation data exists for a particular parameter, and you perform an automation pass for this parameter, its value at the moment when you start the automation pass is saved as the initial value. When you punch-out of the automation pass, it is this initial value to which the parameter will return. The idea here is that you find automation only where you actually perform an automation pass – there is no initial value to which the parameter can return.
• When you select one or more break-points of an automation curve with the Arrow tool and press [Delete] or [Backspace], no gap is created. • When you set the “Terminator” option for the last (rightmost) automation break-point of an automation curve to “Yes”, any automation data to the right of this point (as defined by an initial value) is deleted. Instead, the selected break-points are deleted.
Touch Typically, you would use Touch mode in situations where you want to make a change lasting only a few seconds to an already set up parameter. As the name implies, Touch will write automation data only for as long as you actually touch a parameter control – punch-out occurs as soon as you release the control. After punch-out, the control will return to the previously set value.
Now, re-touch the fader and move it towards the original value. As soon as you cross the original curve, punch-out occurs automatically. • When selecting the Global option from the pop-up menu, the track will again use the automation mode selected from the toolbar or the Automation panel. Note that you can use the option “All track modes to Global” in the Key Commands dialog–Automation category to set up a key command that will reset all tracks to using the global automation mode.
Automation performance utilities 4. Move the fader until you have found the setting you want, and release the fader. The automation modes described above become far more effective when used in combination with the Nuendo automation performance utilities. These are a number of options and functions tailored to specific situations, allowing you to write automation data quickly and efficiently. You will find these utilities in the various sections on the Automation panel.
• To use the Loop option, you must first set up a loop range with the left and right locators. When you then select Loop, punching out of automation will set the found value within the range defined by the left and right locator. Fill combinations You can also combine the various Fill options. Note that, even when the project cursor is outside the defined loop, the found automation value will be applied only between the locators.
One shot vs. continuous fill Trim in Play mode The Fill options can be used in two different ways: In Play mode, moving the fader in Trim mode will move the existing break-points by a relative amount as the project cursor passes over them. • When you click one of the Fill options once, it is highlighted, and will be enabled during the next automation pass. • In Play mode, as the project cursor moves along the timeline, your Trim moves will adjust the existing breakpoints on the automation curve.
The Preview options • Note that each automation track has its own Preview button. Clicking this button will enable Preview mode for this particular automation track. This is touch-collecting via automation tracks. 3. Play back the scene (you may want to loop it) and find the parameter setting(s) you want. Preview provides an easy way to find new settings without recording the steps needed to locate them: • Preview allows you to deal with abrupt changes in your audio material, e.g.
Ö Remember: you can use the delta indicator in the automation track as an additional visual aid for comparing the previously found and the currently set parameter values. When in Preview mode, you can also use the left and right locators to automatically punch-in and out at defined positions, using the Auto Punch command. • Use Auto Punch when you want the automation pass to begin and end at defined positions. 4.
• If, however, you want to automate one and only one particular parameter, the Touch Collect Assistant should be disabled to prevent you from inadvertently overwriting any previously created automation data. ! • To specify how many log entries are displayed, click the Max. Log Entries button in the Settings section. If this value is set to 10 entries, the eleventh punch event will overwrite the entry created for the first event, the twelfth will replace the second entry, etc.
The Show options Suspending Write Imagine the following situation: To help you concentrate while working on a particular track, you mute several other tracks. However, because automation Write is active on these tracks, this mute state is also automated during the next automation pass – a classic situation in mixing. To avoid inadvertently excluding whole tracks from your mix in this way, you can exclude Mute from all automation writing.
The Settings section Fill Gaps on Selected Tracks When working with virgin territory (see “Virgin territory vs. the initial value” on page 217), selecting this option will, on the selected track(s), fill the gaps between those sections of the project that show automation curves with a continuous value. The value used is the value of the last break-point (the end point) of a section. This value is written across the gap up to one millisecond before the first break-point of the next automated section.
Hints and further options For example, all break-points that lie between two other points, but do not deviate from the curve, will be automatically removed by reduction. Automation key commands In the Key Commands dialog (opened from the File menu in Nuendo), in the Commands section on the left, you will find an Automation category which lists all automation commands to which you can assign key commands.
Automation track operations • By clicking along the left edge of the track in the Track list. (Also, when you position the mouse pointer over the lower left corner of the track, a corresponding arrow icon (“Show/Hide Automation”) appears.) About automation tracks Audio tracks, group channel tracks and FX channel tracks all have automation tracks. These allow you to view and edit the automation of all mixer settings for the track, including settings for the track’s insert effects.
• If the parameter you wish to automate is on the pop-up menu, you can select it directly. The parameter will then replace the current parameter in the automation track. • If you wish to add a parameter not available on the popup menu or want to view all parameters that can be automated, go on to the next step. 3. Select “More...”. The Add Parameter dialog appears.
Ö Note that the “replacing” of the parameter displayed in the automation track is completely non-destructive. Showing/hiding automation tracks • To hide a single automation track, position the pointer over the top left border of the automation track in the Track list and click the “Hide Automation Track” button (the minus sign).
Ö Please note that not all Inspector tabs are shown by default. You can show/hide Inspector sections by rightclicking on an Inspector tab and activating/deactivating the desired option(s). Muting automation tracks Make sure to click on an Inspector tab and not on the empty area below the Inspector, as this will open the Quick context menu instead. You can mute individual automation tracks by clicking their Mute buttons in the Track list.
• To view VST Instrument parameters, you use the same method. previously adjusted that parameter with write automation activated), and this is reflected in the event display as a straight horizontal black line, the “static value” line. This line represents the current parameter setting. As described earlier, each VST Instrument has two or more automation tracks – one for the plug-in settings and one for each VST Instrument mixer channel.
4. If you click and hold, you can draw a curve by adding a multitude of single automation events. 4. Release the mouse button. At the moment of release, a final automation event is created. The automation curve is written from this last break-point through to the end of the project. Note that the track color in the track list changes to red to indicate that automation data is being written. You will find this works the same for all the other Fill options.
Selecting automation events Editing automation events • To select a single automation break-point, click on it with the Arrow tool. Automation events can be edited much like other events. You can use cut, copy and paste, you can group and nudge events etc. There are, however, four items on the Edit menu that are not applicable to automation events. These are: The break-point turns red, and you can drag it in any horizontal or vertical direction between two points.
17 Audio processing and functions
Background Audio processing in Nuendo can be called “non-destructive”, in the sense that you can always undo changes or revert to the original versions. This is possible because processing affects audio clips rather than the actual audio files, and because audio clips can refer to more than one audio file. This is how it works: 1. If you process an event or a selection range, a new audio file is created in the Edits folder, within your project folder.
Common settings and features Acoustic Stamp If there are any settings for the selected Audio processing function, these will appear when you select the function from the Process submenu. While most settings are specific for the function, some features and settings work in the same way for several functions: The “More…” button If the dialog has a lot of settings, some options may be hidden when the dialog appears. To reveal these, click the “More…” button.
Load Impulse button Filter controls Clicking the “Load Impulse” button allows you to load an impulse response file from disk. These are ordinary wave or aiff audio files, with a maximum duration of 12 seconds. The name of the currently loaded impulse response file is shown above the display. The three sliders to the right allow you to tailor the tonal character of the processed sound.
Envelope Gain Allows you to change the gain (level) of the selected audio. The dialog contains the following settings: Gain The Envelope function allows you to apply a volume envelope to the selected audio. The dialog contains the following settings: Curve Kind buttons These determine whether the envelope curve should consist of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button). Fade display Shows the shape of the envelope curve.
Merge Clipboard This functions mixes the audio from the clipboard into the audio selected for processing, starting at the beginning of the selection. ! For this function to be available, you need to have cut or copied a range of audio in the Sample Editor first. The dialog contains the following settings: Sources mix Allows you to specify a mix ratio between the original (the audio selected for processing) and the copy (the audio on the clipboard).
Normalize The Normalize function allows you to specify the desired maximum level of the audio. It then analyzes the selected audio and finds the current maximum level. Finally it subtracts the current maximum level from the specified level and raises the gain of the audio by the resulting amount (if the specified maximum level is lower than the current maximum, the gain will be lowered instead). A common use for Normalizing is to raise the level of audio that was recorded at too low an input level.
Volume/Amplitude Option Description Allows you to lower the volume of the pitch-shifted sound. Poly Musical Use this for processing monophonic and polyphonic material. This is the recommended MPEX default quality setting. You can use this for drum loops, mixes, chords. Poly Complex This high quality setting is quite processor intense and should be used only when processing difficult material or for stretch factors above 1,3.
Envelope display Range Shows the shape of the envelope curve over the waveform image of the audio selected for processing. Envelope curve points above the center line indicate positive pitch shift, while curve points below the center line indicate negative pitch shift. Initially, the envelope curve will be a horizontal, centered line, indicating zero pitch shift. This parameter determines the vertical pitch range of the envelope.
7. Create a new curve point to set the duration of the pitch bend, i.e. the time the pitch should remain transposed by 2 semitones. Resample 8. Finally, create a point where you want the pitch bend to end. You don’t need to create a new point if you are at the end of the audio file, since there is always an end point at the right side of the waveform display. 9. If necessary, make additional settings in the Pitch Shift Mode section, see “Pitch Shift Mode” on page 245. 10. Click Process.
Stereo Flip Time Stretch This function works with stereo audio selections only. It allows you to manipulate the left and right channel in various ways. The dialog contains the following parameters: This function allows you to change the length and “tempo” of the selected audio without affecting the pitch.
Resulting Length section Algorithm section These settings are used if you want to stretch the audio to fit within a specific time span or tempo. The values will change automatically if you adjust the Time Stretch Ratio (see below). Allows you to select a time stretch algorithm: MPEX 3 and Realtime mode. Parameter Description Samples The desired length in samples. Seconds The desired length in seconds. BPM The desired tempo (beats per minute).
The process plug-in dialog Tail This parameter is useful if you are applying an effect that adds material after the end of original audio (such as reverb and delay effects). When the checkbox is activated, you can specify a tail length using the slider. The tail time is included when playing back with the Preview function, allowing you to find the appropriate tail length. Pre/Post-CrossFade The process plug-in dialog for the StudioChorus effect.
The Offline Process History dialog • To modify the settings of the selected processing, click the “Modify” button. Procedures This opens the dialog for the processing function or applied effect, allowing you to change the settings. This works just as when you applied the processing or effect the first time. If you want to remove some or all processing from a clip, this can be done in the Offline Process History dialog.
Batch Processing Nuendo features a Batch Processing function that lets you apply a chain of audio processing to one or several events in one go – in either the Project window or the Pool. Batch Processing is based on operations in the Offline Process History dialog, described above. That is, the list of applied processes in this dialog is what can be made to constitute a batch process.
Managing Batch Processes You can delete and rename created batch processes in the Manage Batch Processes dialog. Freeze Edits The Freeze Edits function on the Audio menu allows you to make all processing and applied effects permanent for a clip: 1. Select the clip in the Pool or one of its events in the Project window. 2. Select “Freeze Edits…” from the Audio menu.
Detect Silence The Detect Silence function on the Advanced submenu of the Audio menu searches for silent sections in an event and either splits the event, removing the silent parts from the project, or creates regions corresponding to the nonsilent sections. Proceed as follows: 1. Select the event in the Project window or the Audio Part Editor. You can select several events if you like, in which case you will be allowed to make separate settings for each selected event. 2.
• You can use the Preview function to listen to the result. The event is played back repeatedly in its entire length, but with the “closed” sections silenced. 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you are satisfied with the result. 6. Select the desired result, by activating either the “Add as Regions” or the “Strip Silence” checkbox, or both. “Add as Regions” will create regions according to the non-silent sections.
3. Click the “Process” button. The spectrum is computed and displayed as a graph. • If you analyze stereo audio and selected the “Stereo” option in the first dialog, the graphs for the left and right channel are superimposed in the display, with the left channel graph in white and the right channel graph in yellow. The display in the upper right corner shows the values for the left channel – to see the right channel values, hold down [Shift].
Item Description Estimated Pitch The estimated pitch of the audio selection. Sample Rate The sample rate of the audio selection. Min. RMS Power The lowest loudness (RMS) measured in the selection. Max. RMS Power The highest loudness (RMS) measured in the selection. Average The average loudness over the whole selection.
18 The Sample Editor
Background The Sample Editor allows you to view and manipulate audio at the audio clip level, by cutting and pasting, removing or drawing audio data, processing or applying effects (see “Audio processing and functions” on page 238).
Window overview The Elements menu The toolbar The toolbar contains the tools… The Sample Editor tools Audition, Loop & Volume controls Show Inspector Show Audio event Autoscroll Show Use Snap regions … and information about the edited audio clip: Global Transport status Audio format and length If you right-click in the Sample Editor to bring up the Quick menu, you will find a submenu called “Elements”.
Ö You can show/hide Inspector sections by right-clicking on an Inspector tab and activating/deactivating the desired option(s). Initially, length and position values are displayed in the format specified in the Project Setup dialog. If you click in the middle field, a pop-up menu opens, where you can select another display format. This selection affects the Sample Editor ruler as well.
The Definition tab The Playback tab The topmost tab of the Sample Editor Inspector is used to define the musical context of your audio. Here, you can define the grid, i.e. measure the audio tempo and the groove. Open this tab, if you want to use your audio in a musical context, so that you can later activate the Straighten Up mode, create a groove quantize map or slices. In this tab, the audio grid and the tempo of the audio can be adjusted to the project grid by activating the Straighten Up mode.
The Hitpoints tab The Range tab In this tab you will find some utility functions for working with ranges and selections (see “Making selections” on page 267). The Process tab In this tab, the transients, i.e. hitpoints of the audio can be marked. Adjust the sensitivity slider to determine how many hitpoints should be shown, and edit them with the Edit Hitpoints tool, if necessary. If you want to clear all hitpoints, e.g. to re-detect hitpoints, click the Remove All button.
The ruler • To display the level scale after hiding it, right-click to bring up the Quick menu and activate “Level Scale” on the Elements submenu. The Sample Editor ruler is located between the thumbnail and the waveform display. It shows the timeline in the display format specified in the Project Setup dialog (see “The Project Setup dialog” on page 33).
General Operations • If you have zoomed in to one sample per pixel or less, the appearance of the samples depend on the option “Interpolate Audio Images” in the Preferences (Event Display–Audio page). Zooming Zooming in the Sample Editor is done according to the standard zoom procedures, with the following special notes: If the option is deactivated, single sample values are drawn as “steps”. If the option is activated, they are interpolated to “curves” form.
By using the Speaker tool Adjusting the snap point If you click somewhere in the waveform display with the Speaker (“Play”) tool and keep the mouse button pressed, the clip will be played back from the position at which you clicked. Playback will continue until you release the mouse button. The snap point is a marker within an audio event (or clip, see below).
You can also adjust the snap point by setting the project cursor: • You can resize the selection by dragging its left and right edge or by [Shift]-clicking. 1. Place the cursor at the desired position (intersecting the event). • The current selection is indicated in the corresponding fields in the Range tab of the Sample Editor Inspector. You may want to do this by scrubbing, to spot the right position exactly. You can fine-tune the selection by changing these values numerically.
Editing selection ranges • Selecting Paste copies the data on the clipboard into the clip. Selections in the Sample Editor can be processed in several ways. Please note: If there is a selection in the editor, this will be replaced by the pasted data. If there is no selection, the pasted data will be inserted starting at the selection line. The section to the right of the line will be moved to make room for the pasted material. • If you attempt to edit an event that is a shared copy (i.e.
Processing Creating a region Processing (on the Select Process menu in the Process tab of the Sample Editor Inspector or in the Process submenu on the Audio menu) can be applied to selections in the Sample Editor, as can the effects (on the Select Plugin menu in the Process tab of the Sample Editor Inspector or in the Plug-ins submenu on the Audio menu). See the chapter “Audio processing and functions” on page 238. 1. Select the range you want to convert into a region. 2.
Editing regions Making selections from regions The region selected in the list is displayed in gray in the waveform display and thumbnail. If you select a region in the list and click the Select Region button above, the corresponding section of the audio clip is selected (as if you had selected it with the Range Selection tool). This is useful if you want to apply processing to the region only.
Drawing in the Sample Editor • In this mode, you can adjust the start and end of the event in the clip by dragging the event handles in the waveform display. It is possible to edit the audio clip at sample level by drawing with the Pencil tool. This can be useful if you need to manually edit out a spike or click, etc. When you move the pointer over the event handles (no matter what tool may be selected), it takes on the shape of an arrow, to indicate that you can click and drag. 1.
Audio Warp realtime processing / Tempo matching audio to the project tempo Determining the audio tempo automatically and time-stretching your audio If you want to use an audio file with an unknown tempo in your project context, the easiest way to determine the tempo is to define a loop. You can then determine the tempo of the loop automatically (or manually) and finally match the tempo of this loop to the project tempo in Nuendo.
• Make a selection range in a longer clip and click the Audition Loop button. When you click Auto Adjust, the following happens: • If you created a loop by defining a selection range in a longer audio file, the snap point (S symbol) will be moved to the loop start. • In the waveform, vertical lines will be displayed. The thick lines should match the bar positions and the thin lines the beat positions. You can adjust these lines by means of the Manual Adjust tool, see below.
In this pop-up you can find various options that govern the audio quality of the realtime time-stretching.
About the Straighten Up mode When you have correctly set a tempo or length for an audio clip, this information is saved with the project. This allows you to import files into the project with Straighten Up mode already activated. The tempo (if set) is also saved when exporting files. The Straighten Up mode is one of the key audio warp features. It allows you to lock audio clips to the project tempo by using realtime time-stretching.
! 7. Place the mouse pointer at the start of the second bar in the waveform display. You can change the modifiers for this in the “Define Auto Grid” category in the Preferences dialog (Editing-Tool Modifier page). 8. Click and drag the red flag (Stretch Bars) to the left or right until the second bar in the ruler is aligned with the position of the second downbeat of the sample, and release the mouse button. 2. Audition the file to determine where the first downbeat occurs. 3.
Determining the tempo of an audio loop and slicing your audio 10. Now have a look at the single beats in between the bars, and, if necessary, hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] to use the blue flag (Adjust Beat Position - Single) to adjust them. 1. Import a suitable audio file, for example a drum loop. Drag the flag until the single beat position is aligned with the waveform, and release the mouse button. 2. Double-click the loop to open it in the Sample Editor.
Working with hitpoints and slices Calculating hitpoints and slicing a loop Before proceeding, find a suitable loop using the criteria above. Proceed as follows: Hitpoint detection is a special feature of the Sample Editor. It detects attack transients in an audio file and then adds a type of marker, a “hitpoint”, at each transient.
4. If you now move the hitpoint sensitivity slider to the left, this gradually hides the hitpoints. Moving the slider to the right increases the sensitivity to reveal additional hitpoints detected during the calculate process. 7. If you activate cycle playback on the Transport panel, the loop should now play back seamlessly at the tempo set in the program! 8.
Auditioning slices 2. Open the Hitpoints tab and select the Edit Hitpoints tool. A slice is a section of the waveform, from one hitpoint to the next. When you point in the waveform display, the pointer changes to a speaker icon. Click on this button to edit hitpoints 3. Now you can simply point and click in any slice area and the corresponding slice will be played back from the beginning to the end. Listen for “double hits” and slices that contain parts of a single sound.
Disabling slices You might run into situations where there are too many slices – a single sound may have been split into two slices, for example. You could of course reduce the sensitivity to get rid of the hitpoints you don’t want, but then other hitpoints could disappear too, which may be undesirable. What you need to do in a situation like this is to disable an individual slice: 1. Open the Hitpoints tab in the Sample Editor Inspector and select the Edit Hitpoints tool. 2.
6. Click on the handle to lock the new slice. • If you click and keep the mouse button pressed, you can adjust the position of the new hitpoint by dragging. Locked hitpoints are displayed in a darker color. 7. Drag the sensitivity slider to the original setting. Releasing the mouse button adds the hitpoint. The locked hitpoint will remain shown. 5. Audition the new slice with the Audition tool to make sure you got what you wanted.
• To activate Q-points, open the Preferences (Editing– Audio page) and activate the option “Hitpoints have QPoints”. You can change the tempo and have the loop automatically follow (provided that the track is set to musical time base, see “Switching between musical and linear time base” on page 40). Furthermore, you can double-click the part to edit the slices in the Audio Part Editor to: Next time you use the Calculate Hitpoints function, the hitpoints will have Q-points.
4. If you now pull down the Quantize Type pop-up menu in the Project window you will find an additional item at the bottom of the list, with the same name as the file from which you extracted the groove. Close Gaps This Advanced submenu function on the Audio menu is useful, if you have sliced a loop for tempo changes. Lowering the tempo below the loop’s original tempo will create gaps between the slices. The lower the tempo is in relation to the original tempo, the wider the gaps will be.
Free Warp 4. Click the Auto Adjust button so that the audio event is stretched to the project tempo. The Straighten Up mode is automatically activated. 5. Select the Free Warp tool by clicking on it. For aligning the tempo, you should use Bars and Beats as the ruler resolution. When you place the mouse pointer in the waveform display, it changes to a clock with arrows on either side, and a vertical line in the middle which represents the pointer.
8. In our example, the first beat of the third bar in the audio event is slightly offset from the corresponding grid position and thus needs to be moved back a bit. 11. Release the mouse button. Now the first beat in the audio event is perfectly aligned with the corresponding position in the project! The third downbeat in the audio event. 9. Place the pointer at the position of the first beat of the third bar in the audio event and click and hold. When you click, a warp tab is added.
This example illustrates the general methods of using warp tabs and the Free Warp tool. But you can of course use warp tabs for other operations than aligning downbeats to grid positions. With the Free Warp tool, you can literally stretch any region within a sample to any position! Unstretching audio files By selecting “Unstretch Audio” from the Realtime Processing submenu of the Audio menu, all realtime time-stretching (by sizing or by warp tabs) can be removed.
Realtime pitch-shifting of audio events Flattening the realtime processing You can “flatten” any realtime processing at any time. This can be done to serve two purposes; to conserve CPU power and to optimize the sound quality of the processing. Audio events can be pitch-shifted in realtime just like MIDI events. The process is very simple: • Select the audio event(s) you wish to process and select “Flatten Timestretch and Transpose” from the Realtime Processing submenu of the Audio menu. 1.
The MPEX3 algorithm allows you to select one of seven different quality settings: Option Description Preview This mode should only be used for preview. Mix Fast This mode is a very fast mode for preview. This works best with composite music signals (mono or stereo material). Solo Fast Use this mode or single instruments (monophonic material) and voice. Solo Musical Same as above but higher quality. Poly Fast Use this for processing monophonic and polyphonic material.
19 The Audio Part Editor
Background Window overview The Audio Part Editor allows you to view and edit the events inside audio parts. Essentially, this is the same type of editing that you do in the Project window, which means that this chapter contains a lot of references to the chapter “The Project window” on page 22. Audio parts are created in the Project window in one of the following ways: • By selecting one or several audio events on the same track, and selecting “Events to Part” from the Audio menu.
About lanes Overlapping events If you make the editor window larger, this will reveal additional space below the edited events. This is because an audio part is divided vertically in lanes. Only one event per track can be played back at the same time! This means that if you have overlapping events (on the same lane or different lanes) these will cut each other off, according to the following rules: • For events on the same lane, the ones that are on top (visible) will be played.
Operations ! Zooming, selecting and editing in the Audio Part Editor are done just as in the Project window (see “Operations” on page 33). • Note that if a part is a shared copy (i.e. you have previously copied the part by [Alt]/[Option]+[Shift]-dragging), any editing you perform will affect all shared copies of this part.
Handling several parts When you open the Audio Part Editor with several parts selected – all on the same track or on different tracks – they might not all “fit” in the editor window, which can make it hard to get an overview of the different parts when editing.
Creating an audio part from regions 1. In the Project window, select the event you recorded in Cycle mode. After recording, this will play the last take. 2. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Events to Part”. You are asked whether you want to “Create part using regions”. 3. Click “Regions”. The regions are converted to an audio part.
20 The Pool
Background Opening the Pool You open the Pool in any of the following ways: What is the Pool? • By clicking the Pool icon in the Project window. Every time you record on an audio track, a file is created on your hard disk. A reference to this file – a clip – is also added to the Pool. Two general rules apply to the Pool: • All audio and video clips that belong to a project are listed in the Pool. • By selecting “Pool” on the Project menu or “Open Pool Window” on the Media menu.
Toolbar overview The Pool window columns Open/Close all Hide/show Project Folder Path info line View / Attributes Folders Pop-up Import Button Various information about the clips and regions can be viewed in the Pool window columns. The columns contain the following information: Play and Loop buttons, audition volume control Search Button Pool Record Folder Path The info line Click the “Show Info” button on the toolbar to show or hide the info line at the bottom of the Pool window.
About the Status column symbols The Status column can display various symbols that relate to the clips status. The following symbols can be shown: Symbol Description This indicates the current Pool Record folder (see “Changing the Pool Record folder” on page 308). This symbol is shown if a clip has been processed. The question mark indicates that a clip is referenced to the project but is missing from the Pool (see “About missing files” on page 305). This indicates that the clip file is external, i.e.
Operations Customizing the view Ö Most of the Pool-related main menu functions are also available on the Pool context menu (opened by right-clicking in the Pool window). Renaming clips or regions in the Pool To rename a clip or a region in the Pool, select it and click on the existing name, type in a new name and press [Return].
Setting parameters of the Rename Object dialog Option The Rename Object dialog provides a great deal of flexibility and options when renaming multiple objects in Nuendo. In addition to simple prefix, suffix, and incremental numeric additions to names, you can remove certain characters, include timestamp information and more. Samplerate The samplerate of the audio file. Audio Tempo The audio tempo for that clip if it has been assigned.
By using drag and drop 2. Click Remove. A new prompt asks whether you want to move the clip to the Trash or remove it from the Pool. You can use drag and drop to insert clips into the Project window. You can also use drag and drop from the Sample Editor for a clip by making a selection range and pressing [Ctrl]/[Command] while dragging. Note: 3. Select “Remove from Pool”. The clip is no longer associated with the project, but still exists on the hard disk and can be used in other projects etc.
Locating events and clips • If you want to limit the search to certain folders, choose “Select Search Path” and select the desired folder in the dialog that appears. Locating events via clips in the Pool 1. Select one or more clips in the Pool. The search will include the selected folder and all subfolders. Note also that folders you have recently selected using the “Select Search Path” function will appear on the pop-up menu, allowing you to quickly select any of them. 2.
Extended search functionality 5. Select one of the topmost 6 options in the pop-up menu to change the search option above the Location pop-up menu. Apart from the search criterion Name, additional search filters and user attributes are available. To use them, proceed as follows: This way, you can choose e.g. to display the Size or Sample Rate parameter instead of the Name field. 1. Set up a couple of user attributes using the “View/ Attributes” pop-up menu. 6.
About missing files • If you select Folder, a dialog opens to let you specify the directory in which the missing file can be found. When you open a project, the Resolve Missing Files dialog (see below) may open, warning you that one or more files are “missing”. If you click Close, the project will open anyway, without the missing files. In the Pool, you can check which files are considered missing. This is indicated by a question mark in the Status column.
Auditioning clips in the Pool • If you click in the waveform image to audition, the section from the point you clicked to the end of the clip will repeat indefinitely until you stop playback. There are three methods you can use to audition clips in the Pool: • By using key commands. Opening clips in the Sample Editor If you activate the “Playback Toggle triggers Local Preview” option in the Preferences (Transport page), you can use the [Space] bar to audition.
When you select a file in the Import Medium dialog and click Open, the Import Options dialog opens: This is a standard file dialog, where you can navigate to other folders, audition files etc.
Importing audio CD tracks 1. Select the Audio folder or any audio clip. You cannot designate the Video folder (or a subfolder in it) as the Pool Record folder. You can import tracks (or sections of tracks) from an audio CD directly into the Pool by using the “Import Audio CD” function on the Media menu. This opens a dialog in which you can specify which tracks should be copied from the CD, converted to audio files and added to the Pool. 2. Select “Create Folder” on the Media or context menu.
Undoing processing Prepare Archive If you have applied processing to a clip, in the Project window, the Sample Editor, or in the Pool, this is indicated by the red and gray waveform symbol in the Status column. This processing can always be undone using the Offline Process History, see “The Offline Process History dialog” on page 251. The option “Prepare Archive” on the Media menu is useful if you want to archive a project.
Convert Files Conform Files By using this command, you will change all selected files that have different file attributes than what is specified for the project, to conform to this standard. Proceed as follows: 1. Select the clips in the Pool. 2. Select “Conform Files” on the Media menu. A dialog opens allowing you to choose between keeping or replacing the original unconverted files in the Pool. The following applies: • Clip/event references in the pool are always redirected to the conformed files.
21 VST Sound
Introduction One of the biggest challenges in typical project studio environments is how to manage the ever-growing number of plug-ins, instruments, presets, etc. Nuendo provides a truly universal, fully integrated solution to this problem: VST Sound.
• In the Inspector for instrument tracks as a button for extracting sounds. • In the Inspector or the Channel settings window as buttons for extracting Inserts or EQ settings from track presets. What can VST Sound do for you? • VST Sound allows you to manage any sound from any software or hardware synthesizer under a single, unified user interface.
22 The MediaBay
Introduction Accessing the Media Management System Nuendo provides the following options to access the Media Management System: Modern media production involves having to deal with a multitude of media files, e.g. audio, MIDI, video, etc. • Pull down the Media menu and select “Open MediaBay”, “Open Loop Browser” or “Open Sound Browser” (or use the respective key commands).
Window overview The Filter section, see “Finding files in the Viewer section” on page 319. The Tag Editor, see “The Tag Editor” on page 323. The Browser section, see “Browsing for media files” on page 316. The Scope section, see “Previewing files in the Scope section” on page 322. The Viewer section, see “Finding files in the Viewer section” on page 319. Browsing for media files The info line The info line is located at the bottom of the window.
Scanning operations • When the scan is complete, the scanning indicator will not be shown. When you open the MediaBay, the Loop Browser or the Sound Browser for the first time, a scan for the media files needs to be performed. Specify which folders or directories should be included in the scan by activating the check boxes to the left of their name. Depending on the amount of media files on your computer, the scan may take a while. The scan result is saved in the MediaBay database.
Folder operations • You can create a new folder inside the folder selected in the Browser section by clicking the “Create New Folder” button (the folder icon). The Browser section shows the folder structure of your computer’s file system in a way very similar to the Windows Explorer or the Mac OS Finder: A dialog is opened in which you can enter a name for the new folder. The “Create new folder” button • Click on the folder icons in the Browser display to select the corresponding folder.
4. Click OK. Depending on your settings, the number of files displayed in the Viewer can be huge (the info line at the bottom of the window shows the number of files found with the current filter settings). Therefore, the MediaBay provides a number of ways to display only specific files and to perform very refined file searches. The new preset is added to the Select Browse Location Presets pop-up menu (which can be opened by clicking on the down arrow icon).
• Once a search operation has been completed, the very first entry in the Viewer list is selected. When you now press [Tab] once, this selected entry will receive the focus and you can use the Up and Down arrow keys to browse the list of files. The Reset button in the Filter section • The condition pop-up menu contains the following options: Performing a Details search Option Description The following section briefly describes how to perform a search for a particular file name in the file system.
When you select the Category search mode, the Filter section will show the tag columns, each with its own list of tag values. • Selected tag values in the same tag column form an OR condition. This means that files must be tagged according to either one or the other value to be displayed in the Viewer section. These tag values were found in the currently selected folder. For the “Style” tag, the files found will show either the “Blues” OR the “Jazz” tag value.
Previewing files in the Scope section Further options for Category searches • The text field at the top serves as an additional name filter: you can enter a file name or part of a file name here. Below the Viewer you will find the Scope section. It allows you to play back files selected in the Viewer section. This corresponds to a “Name: contains” Details search, which means that the name of the searched file must contain the text you enter here. See also “Performing a Details search” on page 320.
Previewing track and instrument presets The Media Management System provides further tags, such as “Category” or “Character”. MIDI In activity You have access not only to the standard tags and the preconfigured tags provided by Nuendo, but you can also define your own tags and add these to your files. The Scope section for a MIDI track preset. The following sections describe how to set up the various tag lists, how to edit tags in the Tag Editor, and how to define user tags.
• Click and drag in the tag display to select several tags (click somewhere outside the selected area to deselect). • Most tag values can be edited by double-clicking in the Value column of the Tag Editor. This way, you can activate/deactivate all selected check boxes in one go. Tag values can be text, numbers or yes/no switches. Simply enter/change the text, number or Yes/No setting in the field displayed for a value.
4. Click OK. Viewer operations The new tag is added to the list of available tags and can be displayed in the Tag Editor and the Viewer. • You can move/copy a file from the Viewer section to a different location by clicking and dragging it to a different folder in the Browser section. • To remove a user tag, select it in the Tags list and click the Remove Tag button. You will be asked if you wish to copy or move the file to the new location.
5. Assign tags that reflect the information indicated by the folder structure. In the above example, you would put “Metal” as a value for the Style tag, and “Drums” for the Instrument tag. The Tag Editor also allows you to display a “Tempo” tag, for which you could specify a value of “120”. You can now use the Category search mode to find quickly all Metal style drum loops at 120bpm, without the need to navigate through a large number of folders and subfolders.
23 Track Presets
Introduction Audio track presets Track presets are templates that you can create from audio, MIDI or instrument tracks – or several of these tracks. With these track presets, you can then create new tracks or apply them to existing tracks of the same type. Track presets for audio tracks include all inserts and effects that “define” the sound.
Ö The choice is exclusive – you can either save the channel or the patch, but not both. Data saved in instrument track presets • • • • • • • • Audio Insert FX Audio EQ Audio Volume + Pan Audio Input Gain + Phase MIDI Insert FX MIDI Track Parameters Input Transformer VST Instrument Example 1: Multi-timbral external instrument Assume you have a multi-timbral external instrument (for example, a MIDI Expander), with all sounds available on all channels, but the sounds (patches) might change.
VST presets Data saved in MIDI track presets • • • • • MIDI Modifiers (Transpose etc.) MIDI Inserts (FX) Output + Channel or Program Change Input Transformer Volume + Pan As of VST3, VST presets make it easy for you to work with VST plug-ins and instruments, substituting the .fxp and .fxb files of the VST2 standard.
The programs of VST2 plug-ins also can be converted to VST3 presets. For more information about plug-ins, please refer to the separate manual “Nuendo Expansion Kit – Cubase Music Tools for Nuendo 4”. Browse Presets section When you create a new track, the Add Track dialog opens: Browsing for presets Using the Sound Browser When browsing track presets, the quickest way is to use the Sound Browser, as it is set up specifically to display track and VST presets. The “Add MIDI Track” dialog.
Browser section The Presets browser In addition to the Browse Presets section, you can click “Show Location” to open the Browser section. It is similar to the one in the MediaBay (see “Browsing for media files” on page 316), but only necessary if you want to take an explicit look at the contents of Presets subfolders, as you can’t move up to other folders. When you apply a track or VST preset to an existing track or when you extract a sound, the Presets browser opens, allowing you e.g.
Creating a track preset Track presets are saved in the “Track Presets” folder in default subfolders named according to their track type (audio, MIDI, instrument and multi). For further information, see “Where are the settings stored?” on page 514. A track preset is created from an existing audio, MIDI or instrument track – or several of these tracks. Proceed as follows: ! 1. Select one or more tracks in the Project window.
Applying track presets Creating one or more audio, MIDI or instrument tracks with the Add Track function Track presets can be applied to tracks of their own type only, i.e. audio track presets to audio tracks, etc. 1. To create one or more new tracks from a track preset, proceed as if adding a new track by selecting the corresponding option on the context menu (or by using the key command). When you apply a track preset, all saved settings are applied, see “Types of track presets” on page 328.
Ö Once the track preset is applied, you cannot undo the changes! 3. Select a track or VST preset from the list to the right. Reloading track or VST presets To revert to the default settings of the applied preset, click the “Reload Track Preset” button. Applying another track or VST preset To apply another track or VST preset, open the Presets browser as described above and select another preset.
3. Select an instrument track preset or VST preset and click OK. The VST instrument and its settings (but no inserts, EQs and modifiers) of the existing track are overwritten with the data of the track preset. The previous VST instrument for this instrument track is removed and the new VST instrument with its settings is set up for the instrument track.
Inserts and EQ settings from track presets Instead of handling complete track presets, it is also possible to apply settings for Inserts or Equalizers from track presets. This can be done via the Inspector or via the Channel settings window. • In the Inspector, select e.g. an Instrument track and click the VST Sound button on the Inserts or Equalizers tab to open the presets pop-up menu. There, select the option “From Track Preset…”.
24 Track Quick Controls
Introduction Assigning parameters to quick controls The opened Quick Controls tab shows eight slots, one for each quick control. To start with, these slots are empty. Proceed as follows to assign track parameters to the quick control slots: Nuendo can give you instant access to up to eight parameters of each audio track, MIDI track or instrument track. This is done with the aid of the so-called quick controls, set up on the Quick Controls Inspector tab for these tracks. 1.
Replacing a quick control assignment 2. Hold down the [Ctrl]/[Command] key and click on the slot for quick control 1. • To replace a parameter assignment with a different parameter, click on the corresponding quick control slot and double-click on a different parameter in the browser popup menu list. The parameter selection context menu is opened, but it lists not the parameters of the current track, but all automatable parameters. The parameter assignment in this slot is changed.
Setting up quick controls on an external remote controller 7. In the Device Setup dialog, click the Learn button. Quick controls become really powerful when used in combination with a remote controller. Setting up the connection between the slots on the Quick Controls Inspector tab and a remote control device is easy. Proceed as follows: 8. Repeat the last 3 steps for the other quick controls.
25 MIDI realtime parameters and effects
Introduction For each MIDI track, you can set up a number of track parameters, or modifiers, and MIDI effects. These affect how the MIDI data is played back, “transforming” MIDI events in real time before they are sent to the MIDI outputs. On the following pages, the available parameters and effects are described. Keep in mind: • The actual MIDI events will not be affected – the changes happen “on the fly”.
Basic track settings The topmost Inspector section contains the basic settings for the selected MIDI track. These are settings that either affect the basic functionality for the track (mute, solo, enable record, etc.) or send out additional MIDI data to the connected devices (program change, volume, etc.).
Other Inspector sections New sub-panels will also be added in the following cases: Apart from the basic track settings (see above), the MIDI Modifiers (see “MIDI Modifiers” on page 346) and the effect sections (see “MIDI effects” on page 348), the Inspector for a MIDI track also contains the following sections: • When a MIDI track is routed to an external instrument or effect that has an associated MIDI Device. In this case, the new subpanel will get the name of the device.
MIDI Modifiers Velocity Shift This setting lets you change the dynamics of all notes on the track. The value in this field is added to the velocity of each note message that is sent out (use negative values to lower the velocities). The range is -127 to +127 with 0 representing no change in velocity. Note that the effect of changing the velocity depends on the sound and instrument. Ö You can also adjust the velocity of events in individual MIDI parts using the Velocity field in the info line.
Random Range The Random settings let you introduce random variations to various properties of MIDI notes. Anything from very subtle variations to dramatic changes can be applied. There are two separate “random generators”, set up in the following way: The Range function lets you specify a note (pitch) or velocity range and either force all notes to fit within this range, or exclude all notes outside this range from playback. As with the Random function, there are two separate Range settings.
MIDI effects MIDI Inserts section Nuendo comes with a number of MIDI effect plug-ins, capable of transforming the MIDI output from a track in various ways. Just like the MIDI modifiers, MIDI effects are applied in real time to the MIDI data played back from the track (or to MIDI you play live “thru” the track).
About presets MIDI Sends section Several of the MIDI plug-ins come with a number of presets for instant use. The controls for handling presets consist of a Presets pop-up menu along with Store (+) and Remove (-) buttons. Store button Remove button This allows you to add up to four MIDI send effects. Unlike audio send effects, you can select and activate send effects individually for each track.
Managing plug-ins Applying a MIDI insert effect – an example Here is a step-by-step example of how to add a MIDI insert effect to a MIDI track: Selecting Plug-in Information from the Devices menu opens a window in which all loaded plug-ins, audio and MIDI, are listed. 1. Select the MIDI track and open the Inspector. 2. Open the MIDI Inserts tab in the Inspector. • To view the MIDI effect plug-ins, click the MIDI Plug-ins tab.
26 MIDI processing and quantizing
Introduction • In the Project window, the MIDI functions apply to all selected parts, affecting all events (of the relevant types) in them. This chapter describes the various MIDI processing functions available on the MIDI menu. They offer various ways to edit MIDI notes and other events, either in the Project window or from within a MIDI editor. • In the MIDI editors, the MIDI functions apply to all selected events. If no events are selected, all events in the edited part(s) will be affected.
Setting up quantize on the toolbar Setting up quantize in the Quantize Setup dialog At its most basic, setting up quantizing consists of selecting a note value from the Quantize pop-up menu on the toolbar (in the Project window or a MIDI editor). If you want more options than those available on the popup menu, select “Quantize Setup…” from the MIDI menu (or “Setup…” from the Quantize pop-up menu) to open the Quantize Setup dialog.
The Quantize Setup dialog contains the following settings: Magnetic Area This allows you to specify that only notes within a certain distance from the grid lines should be affected by quantizing. The Grid and Type pop-ups These are used to determine the basic note value for the quantizing grid. In other words, these have the same functionality as the Quantize pop-up menu on the toolbar. • When the slider is set to 0%, the Magnetic Area function is deactivated, i.e. all notes are affected by quantizing.
Apply and Auto Applying quantize These functions allow you to apply quantizing directly from the dialog, see below. There are several ways to apply the quantize: ! • The standard method is to select “Over Quantize” from the MIDI menu (or using a key command, by default [Q]). If you don’t want to apply the quantizing you have set up in the dialog, close the window by clicking its standard close box. This quantizes the selected MIDI parts or notes according to the current Quantize pop-up menu setting.
Advanced Quantize functions Quantize Ends Quantize Lengths The Quantize Ends function on the Advanced Quantize submenu will only affect the end positions of notes. Apart from that, it works just like regular quantizing, taking the Quantize pop-up menu setting into account. ! This function is only available from within the MIDI editors. This function (on the Advanced Quantize submenu on the MIDI menu) will quantize the length of the notes, without changing their start positions.
Transpose Keep Notes in Range The Transpose item on the MIDI menu opens a dialog with settings for transposing the selected notes: When this is activated, transposed notes will remain within the Upper and Lower Limit values. • If a note ends up outside the limits after transposition, it will be shifted to another octave, keeping the correct transposed pitch if possible.
Freeze MIDI Modifiers 4. Select “Merge MIDI in Loop” from the MIDI menu. A dialog appears with the following options: The “Freeze MIDI Modifiers” function affects the following settings for MIDI tracks: • Several settings on the main tab of the Inspector (program and bank selection and the Delay parameter). • The settings on the MIDI Modifiers tab (i.e. Transpose, Velocity Shift, Velocity Compression and Length Compression). • The settings on the MIDI Inserts tab (if, e.g.
Dissolve Part Now, for each MIDI channel used in the selected part(s), a new MIDI track is created and set to the corresponding MIDI channel. Each event is then copied into the part on the track with the corresponding MIDI channel. Finally, the original part(s) are muted. The Dissolve Part function on the MIDI menu has two separate uses: • When you work with MIDI parts (on MIDI channel “Any”) containing events on different MIDI channels.
Repeat Loop Fixed Lengths ! With this function, the events inside the independent track loops will be repeated until the end of the part, i.e. the notes that were previously only played repeatedly are now actual notes on the MIDI track. Events to the right of the independant track loop (within the same part) will be replaced by this function. For more information about independent track loops, see “The independent track loop” on page 369. This function is only available from within the MIDI editors.
The parameters have the following functionality: Pedals to Note Length Minimum Length This function scans for Sustain pedal on/off events, lengthens the affected notes to match the Sustain pedal off position, and then removes the Sustain Controller on/off events. When the Minimum Length checkbox is activated, the note length is taken into account, allowing you to remove short notes.
Compress/Expand Extract MIDI Automation Compresses or expands the “dynamic range” of MIDI notes by scaling the velocity values according to the Ratio setting (0 – 300%). The principle behind this is that multiplying different velocity values with a factor higher than 1 (over 100%) will also make the differences between velocity values greater, while using a factor lower than 1 (under 100%) will make the differences smaller.
27 The MIDI editors
About editing MIDI Opening a MIDI editor There are several ways to edit MIDI in Nuendo. You can use the tools and functions in the Project window for large-scale editing, or use the functions on the MIDI menu to process MIDI parts in various ways (see “What is affected by the MIDI functions?” on page 352).
Handling several parts • The button “Show Part Borders” can be used if you want to see clearly defined borders for the active part. When you open a MIDI editor with several parts (or a MIDI track containing several parts) selected, you might find it somewhat hard to get an overview of the different parts when editing. When this is activated, all parts except the active one are grayed out, making the borders easily discernible.
The Key Editor – Overview Info line Toolbar Ruler Note display Controller display The toolbar Quantize settings As in other windows, the toolbar contains tools and various settings. You can specify which toolbar items should be shown and store/recall different toolbar configurations – see “The Setup dialogs” on page 506.
The ruler The note display The ruler shows the time line, by default in the display format selected on the Transport panel. You can select a separate format for a MIDI editor ruler on the Ruler pop-up menu, opened by clicking the arrow button to the right of it. For a list of the available formats, see “The ruler” on page 31. At the bottom of the pop-up menu, there are two additional items: The note display is the main area in the Key Editor. It contains a grid in which MIDI notes are shown as boxes.
The controller display The area at the bottom of the Key Editor window is the controller display. This consists of one or several controller lanes, each showing one of the following properties or event types: • • • • • • If you zoom in on the upper “curve”, you will find that it consists of separate events. Velocity values of the notes. Pitch Bend events. Aftertouch events. Poly Pressure events. Program Change events. Any type of continuous controller event.
Using the Trim tool Playing back The Trim tool allows you to change the length of note events by cutting off the end or the beginning of notes. It is available in the Key Editor and in the List Editor. You can play back your music as usual when working in a MIDI editor. There are several features designed to make editing easier during playback: Using the Trim tool means moving the note-on or the noteoff event for one or several notes to a position defined with the mouse.
When the loop is activated, the cycle isn’t shown in the ruler. • When the “Bars+Beats” display format is selected in the ruler, the snap grid is set by the quantize value on the toolbar. 2. Now you need to specify the length of the loop. You have the following possibilities: This makes it possible to snap not only to straight note values but also to swing grids set up in the Quantize Setup dialog (see “The Quantizing functions” on page 352).
Creating and editing notes The tool icon will change appearance according to the selected mode. To draw in new notes in the Key Editor, you use the Pencil tool or the Line tool. Drawing notes with the Pencil tool Mode Description Line This is the default mode for the Line tool. When this mode is selected, you click and drag to create a straight line, in any angle. When you release the mouse button a series of notes will be created, aligned with the line.
• Manually entering the desired velocity value by clicking in the insert velocity field and typing in the desired value. • To select all notes of a certain pitch, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on the desired key in the keyboard display to the left. • Using a key command. You can assign a key command to each of the five available velocity values in the Key Commands dialog (MIDI category – the items Insert Velocity 1-5).
Moving and transposing notes • Selecting Duplicate from the Edit menu creates a copy of the selected note and places it directly after the original. To move notes in the editor, use any of the following methods: If several notes are selected, all of these are copied “as one unit”, maintaining the relative distance between the notes. • Click and drag to a new position. • Selecting Repeat from the Edit menu opens a dialog, allowing you to create a number of copies of the selected note(s).
• “Paste Time” inserts at the project cursor position, but moves (and if necessary, splits) existing notes to make room for the pasted notes. Splitting notes There are three ways to split notes: • Clicking on a note with the Scissors tool splits the note at the position you pointed (taking the Snap setting into account if activated). Selecting “Paste Time” with this data on the clipboard and the project cursor here… If several notes are selected, they are all split at the same position.
How the Key Editor handles drum maps (Nuendo Expansion Kit only) Deleting notes To delete notes, either click on them with the Eraser tool or select them and press [Backspace]. When a drum map is assigned to a MIDI track, the Key Editor will display the drum sound names as defined by the drum map. Editing on the info line The info line shows the values and properties of the selected event(s). If a single event is selected, its values are displayed on the info line.
3. Use the note buttons on the toolbar to decide which properties should be changed by the MIDI input. 3. Click anywhere in the note display to set the start position (the desired position of the first note or chord). You can enable editing of pitch, note-on and/or note-off velocity. The step input position is shown as a blue line in the note display, and in the lower mouse pointer display in the toolbar.
Editing in the controller display • Selecting “Setup…” opens a dialog in which you can specify which continuous controller event types should be available on the pop-up menu. About controller lanes By default, the controller display has a single lane, showing one event type at a time. However, you can add lanes by right-clicking in the display and selecting “Create new controller lane” from the Quick menu. This allows you to view and edit different controllers at the same time.
Editing velocity values • Use the Line tool in Line mode for creating linear velocity ramps. When “Velocity” is selected for viewing, the lane shows the velocity of each note as a vertical bar. Click where you want the ramp to start and drag the cursor to where you want the ramp to end. When you release the mouse button, the velocity values are aligned with the line between the two points. Velocity values are edited with the Pencil or the Line tool.
Adding and editing events in the controller display • Clicking and dragging with the Line tool in Line mode shows a line in the controller lane, and creates events with values aligned to this line. When any option other than “Velocity” is selected for a controller lane, you can create new events or edit the values of existing events using the Pencil tool or the Line tool in its various modes: This is the best way to draw linear controller ramps.
Ö In Line and Parabola modes, the length quantize value determines the “density” of created controller curves (if Snap is activated). Moving and copying events You can move or duplicate events in a controller lane, much like you can with notes: For very smooth curves, you should use a small length quantize value or turn off Snap. To avoid over-dense controller curves (which may cause MIDI playback to “stutter”), use a medium-low density. 1.
2. Click on the arrow button next to the note number field to the left of the controller lane. Deleting events in the controller display You delete events by clicking on them with the Eraser tool or by selecting them and pressing [Backspace]. Please note: A pop-up menu appears, listing all note numbers for which there already are Poly Pressure events. 3. Select a note number from the pop-up menu. • Deleting a controller event makes the last event before this valid up until the next event.
• To close the In-Place Editor for one track, you can click the Edit In-Place button in the Track list or double-click below the controller display in the In-Place Editor. Working with Parts If you work with parts in the In-Place Editor, some editing functions are available. You can: • change the length of the parts by clicking on the lower part edges (so that the mouse pointer changes to a double arrow) and dragging it to the left or right. • drag and drop notes from one part to the other.
The List Editor – Overview Toolbar Filter view Ruler Value display Event list Event display The toolbar The list The toolbar contains several items that are the same as in the Key Editor (edit solo, snap, quantize settings, etc.). These are described earlier in this chapter. The following toolbar items are unique to the List Editor: This lists all events in the selected MIDI part(s), in the order (from top to bottom) in which they are played back.
List Editor operations • Notes will get the insert velocity value set in the insert velocity field on the toolbar. See “Setting velocity values” on page 371. Customizing the view You can click and drag the divider between the list and the event display to make one area wider and the other narrower. Furthermore, the list can be customized in the following ways: Editing in the list The list allows you to perform detailed numerical editing of the events properties.
Ö For SysEx (system exclusive) events, you can only edit the position (Start) in the list. • To see one event type only (hide all other event types), press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click its checkbox. If you [Ctrl]/[Command]-click again, all checkboxes are cleared (all events will be visible). However, when you click the Comment column, the MIDI SysEx Editor opens, in which you can perform detailed editing of system exclusive events (see “Working with System Exclusive messages” on page 410).
In addition to the above options, the menu also gives you access to the presets available in the Logical Editor (see “The Logical Editor, Transformer and Input Transformer” on page 387). Furthermore, the “Setup…” item on the Mask pop-up menu gives you direct access to the Logical Editor. In that editor you can create very complex masking settings. Exactly which value is shown for an event depends on the event type.
28 The Logical Editor, Transformer and Input Transformer
Introduction About the Input Transformer Again, this is very similar to the Logical Editor. Just like the Transformer effect, the Input Transformer works in real time. However, the Input Transformer filters out and transforms MIDI data as it is recorded. In other words, the settings you make in the Input Transformer will affect the actual MIDI events you record. Most of the time you will perform your MIDI editing graphically in one of the main graphic editors.
Window overview This is the filter condition list, specifying which events to look for. Setting up filter conditions This is where you select a function (Transform, Delete, etc.). The field to the right shows an additional explanation of the selected function. General procedure The upper list is where you set up the filter conditions, determining which events to find. The list contains one or several conditions, each on a separate line.
Column Description Condition Events will be found if their Filter Target property… Bar Range This column is only used if the Filter Target is “Position” and one of the “Bar Range” options is selected in the Condition column. In these cases, you use the Bar Range column to specify “zones” within each bar (allowing you to find e.g. all events on or around the first beat of every bar). See “Searching for events at certain positions” on page 390.
• If you select one of the Bar Range options in the Condition column, the Bar Range column will show a graphic bar display. You specify the range within the bar by clicking and dragging in the bar display (the specified Bar Range is indicated in blue). Since value 1 and 2 have different meanings for different events, searching for e.g. value 2 = 64 would both find notes with the velocity 64 and controllers with the amount 64, etc.
Searching for controllers Searching for properties There is similar extended functionality when searching for controllers: If you’ve added an additional “Type = Controller” condition line, the Logical Editor will “know” you are searching for controllers. The Parameter 1 column will then show the names of the MIDI controllers (Modulation, Volume, etc.) when Value 1 is selected as Filter Target. On the Filter Target pop-up menu you will find an option called Property.
Ö If two condition lines are separated by a boolean Or, one of the conditions (or both) must be fulfilled for an event to be found.
Ö Expressions within brackets are evaluated first. Below, the available options are listed. Note that some options are available in the Logical Editor only – not in the Transformer effect. If there are several layers of brackets, these are evaluated “from the inside out”, starting with the innermost brackets. You add brackets by clicking in the bracket columns and selecting an option. Up to triple brackets can be selected.
Specifying actions Operation This setting determines what to do with the Action Target. The options on this pop-up menu are different depending on the selected Action Target. Below, all available operations are listed: Add The lower list in the Logical Editor window is the action list. This is where you specify any changes that should be made to the found events (relevant for all function types except Delete and Select). Adds the value specified in the Parameter 1 column to the Action Target.
Set Relative Random Values between Use Value 1 This will add a random value to the current Action Target value. The added random value will be within the range specified with Parameter 1 and 2. Note that these can be set to negative values. This is only available when Action Target is set to Value 2. If this option is selected, the Value 1 setting in each event will be copied to the Value 2 setting.
Applying the defined actions This also makes it easy to share presets with other Nuendo users, by transferring the individual preset files. Once you have set up filter conditions, selected a function and set the required actions (or loaded a preset), you apply the actions defined with the Logical Editor by clicking the Do It button. Ö The list of presets is read each time the Logical Editor is opened. The Input Transformer Logical Editor operations can be undone just like any other editing.
In both cases, the button lights up and the Input Transformer opens. Setting up filtering and actions This is done just like in the Logical Editor. Here is a brief rundown: • Click the Add Line buttons to add lines to the filter condition list or action list. To remove a line, click it to select it and click the Delete Line button to the right. • Clicking the columns in the filter condition list opens pop-up menus allowing you to specify the conditions to match.
29 The Project Logical Editor
Introduction By combining filter conditions, functions and the specific actions, you can perform very powerful processing. On the Edit menu you will find the function “Project Logical Editor…” that opens a Project Logical Editor for the entire project. It works similar as the Logical Editor on the MIDI menu, see “The Logical Editor, Transformer and Input Transformer” on page 387.
Selecting a preset You set up a filter condition line by clicking in the columns and selecting options from the pop-up menus that appear. Here is a brief description of the columns: To understand the Project Logical Editor, it might be a good idea to start by exploring the included presets. These are found on the Presets pop-up menu at the bottom of the window, to the right.
Searching for Media types Searching for Container types 1. Select Media Type in the Filter Target pop-up menu. 1. Select Container Type in the Filter Target pop-up menu. This allows you to find elements of certain types of media only. This allows you to find parts, events or tracks. 2. Open the pop-up menu in the Parameter 1 column and select the desired option. 2. Open the pop-up menu in the Parameter 1 column and select the desired option.
Combining Media type and Container type Searching for Names The combination of the Filter Targets Media type and Container represents a vesatile tool for logical operations: 1. Select Name on the Filter Target pop-up menu. 2. Enter the desired name, or a part of a name in the Parameter 1 column. 3. Open the pop-up menu in the Condition column and select the desired condition.
Searching for elements at certain positions • If you select any condition other than the Range, Bar Range, Cursor, Loop or Cycle options, you set up a specific position (in bars, beats, sixteenth notes and ticks) in the Parameter 1 column. Note that the position for Bar Range is measured in ticks related to the start of the bar. 1. Select Position in the Filter Target pop-up menu.
Searching for elements of certain lengths Searching for properties 1. Select Length in the Filter Target pop-up menu. 1. Select Property on the Filter Target pop-up menu. This allows you to find elements of a certain length only. The Length parameter is interpreted via the time base setting of the tracks, i.e. in ticks (musical) or ms (time), except for audio parts or events: these are always measured in samples. 2. Open the pop-up menu in the Condition column and select the desired condition.
Combining multiple condition lines Using brackets As described above, you can add condition lines by clicking the Add Line button to the right of the list. The result of combining condition lines depends on the boolean And/ Or operators and the brackets. The bracket (parenthesis) columns let you enclose two or more condition lines, dividing the conditional expression into smaller units. This is only relevant when you have three or more condition lines and want to use the boolean Or operator.
Selecting a function Specifying actions The lower list in the Project Logical Editor window is the action list. This is where you specify any changes that should be made to the found elements, relevant for the function type Transform. The pop-up menu in the top left corner of the Project Logical Editor is where you select the function – the basic type of editing to be performed.
Operation Description Track Operation Set Relative Random Values between This will add a random value to the current Position value. The added random value will be within the range specified with Parameter 1 and 2. Note that these can be set to negative values. For example, if you set Parameter 1 to -20 and Parameter 2 to +20, the original Position value will get a random variation, never exceeding ±20. This lets you change the track status.
Working with presets Setting up key commands for your presets If you have stored Project Logical Editor presets, you can set up key commands for them: The Presets section in the bottom right section of the window allows you to load, store and manage Project Logical Editor presets. A preset contains all settings in the window, which means you can simply load a preset and click Do It. 1. Pull down the File menu and select “Key Commands…”. The Key Commands dialog appears. 2.
30 Working with System Exclusive messages
Introduction 2. Make sure that recording of Sysex data is not filtered, by unchecking the Sysex checkbox in the Record section. The Sysex checkbox in the Thru section can be left as it is (by default activated). SysEx (System Exclusive) messages are model-specific messages for setting various parameters of a MIDI device. This makes it possible to address device parameters that would not be available via normal MIDI syntax. Every major MIDI manufacturer has its own SysEx identity code.
Recording System Exclusive parameter changes Transmitting a bulk dump back to a device 1. Make sure the MIDI track with the System Exclusive data is routed to the device. Often you can use SysEx to remotely change individual settings in a device, e.g. open a filter, select a waveform, change the decay of the reverb etc. Many devices are also capable of transmitting changes made on the front panel as SysEx messages. These can be recorded in Nuendo, and thus incorporated into a regular MIDI recording.
Editing System Exclusive messages Editing a value The selected value can be edited directly in the main display or in the decimal and binary displays. Just click on it and type in the desired value as usual. While SysEx events are shown in the List Editor/Project Browser, their entire content is not (only the beginning of the message is displayed in the Comment column for the event). Also, you cannot edit the event (other than moving it) as you can with other event types in the List Editor.
31 Working with the Tempo track
Ö To adapt the tempo track to time-based material, you can use the Time Warp tool, see “The Time Warp tool” on page 422. Background For each track in Nuendo that can make use of this function, you can specify whether it should be time-based or tempo-based (see “Switching between musical and linear time base” on page 40).
The toolbar The two additional items at the bottom of the menu have the following functionality: The toolbar contains various tools and settings. The tempo and time signature displays to the right allow you to view and edit the value of the selected tempo curve point or time signature event, much like the info line in other editors.
The tempo curve display 3. Click at the desired time position in the tempo curve display, and keep the mouse button pressed. If Snap is activated on the toolbar, this determines at which time positions you can insert tempo curve points, see “Snap” on page 421. The main display shows the tempo curve (or, if Fixed tempo mode is selected, the Fixed tempo – see “Setting the Fixed tempo” on page 419). To the left of the display is a tempo scale to help you quickly locate the desired tempo.
• Instead of using the Pencil tool, you can press [Alt]/[Option] and use the Arrow tool. • By adjusting the tempo value in the tempo display on the toolbar. This will only insert a single point (i.e. you cannot draw a curve with the Arrow tool). For this to work, a single tempo curve point must be selected. ! ! You can also have tempo values automatically inserted by the Beat Calculator, see “The Beat Calculator” on page 421.
Removing tempo curve points Adding and editing time signature events To remove a curve point, either click on it with the Eraser tool or select it and press [Backspace]. The first tempo curve point cannot be removed. • To add a time signature event, click in the time signature area with the Pencil tool. This adds a default 4/4 time signature event at the closest bar position. You can also do this by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking with the Arrow tool.
Process Tempo The Process Bars dialog Process Tempo allows you to define a specific length or end time for a set range, and the Tempo track will automatically set a tempo that will fit the range in the specified time. The Process Bars dialog, which can be opened from the Tempo Track Editor, uses the global “Insert Silence” and “Delete Time” functions from the Edit menu – Range submenu, but uses a musical “bars+beats-based” environment for calculating the necessary ranges (or parameters).
Option The Beat Calculator Description Action – Delete When you select this action, clicking the Process button Bars will delete the specified number of bars beginning at the set start position. Action – Reinterpret Bars When you select this action, clicking the Process button will reinterpret the bar range to fit the specified time signature.
Using Tap Tempo 4. Select “Merge Tempo From Tapping” from the Functions submenu on the MIDI menu. The Tap Tempo function allows you to specify a tempo by tapping: A dialog opens. 1. Open the Beat Calculator. 5. In the dialog, specify what type of note (1/2, 1/4 etc.) you tapped during the recording. 2. If you want to tap the tempo to some recorded material, activate playback.
Basic procedure Rules You use the Time Warp tool to drag a musical position (a position in bars+beats format) to a certain position in time. This can be done in the Project window or in editor windows, as described below. Here is the general procedure: • When you use the Time Warp tool, the tempo value of the last tempo event (before the click position) is adjusted. • If later tempo events exist, a new tempo event will be created at the click position.
Viewing and adjusting tempo events Matching a musical score to video When you select the Time Warp tool, the ruler of the active window is shown in brown. Existing tempo events are shown in the ruler as “flags” with the tempo values displayed. Here’s an example of how to use the Time Warp tool in “musical events follow” mode. Let’s say you are creating the music for a film. You have a video track, an audio track with a commentary and some audio and/or MIDI tracks with your music.
• Note that this affects the snapping to the ruler (tempo grid) when you click! In addition, the tool can be “magnetic” to events in the Project window when you drag – for this, you need to activate Snap and select “Events” on the Snap pop-up menu. OK, let’s say you need to match another cue to another position later on in the video.
Using the Time Warp tool in an audio editor 5. Press [Shift] and click in the event at the position of the first downbeat (the start of the bar). Using the Time Warp tool in the Sample Editor or Audio Part Editor is different from using it in the Project window, in the following ways: When you press [Shift], the pointer turns into a pencil. Clicking adds a tempo event at the first downbeat – when you later adjust the tempo with the Time Warp tool, the first downbeat will stay in place.
9. Locate the last beat that is in sync. Using the Time Warp tool in a MIDI editor This would be the beat just before the position where the audio and tempo drift apart. This is very similar to using the tool in an audio editor: Matching to hitpoints • When you use the Time Warp tool, a tempo event is automatically inserted at the beginning of the edited part – this tempo event will be adjusted when you warp the tempo grid with the tool. Material before the edited part won’t be affected.
32 The Project Browser
Window Overview The Time Format (display format) pop-up menu. The Add pop-up menu and Add button for creating new parts, events and regions. The Filter pop-up menu, used when editing MIDI. The event display. This is where you view and edit parts, events and Regions. The Project Structure list. This is where you navigate through the project. While the Project window and the editors display events and other data graphically, the Project Browser window provides a list based representation of the project.
• The actual editing is done in the event display, using regular value editing techniques. Editing tracks There is one exception: You can rename items in the Project Structure list by clicking on their names and typing. Editing audio tracks Audio tracks can have two “subitems”: Track Data and Automation. Customizing the view • The Automation item corresponds to the Automation subtrack in the Project window, and contains the track’s automation events (see “Editing Automation tracks” on page 432).
Parameter Description Editing MIDI tracks Offset This determines “where in the audio clip” the event starts. Adjusting this value is the same as sliding the contents of the event in the Project window (see “Sliding the contents of an event or part” on page 49). You can only specify positive Offset values, since the event cannot start before the start of the clip. Likewise, it cannot end after the end of the clip. If the event already plays the whole clip, the Offset cannot be adjusted at all.
The list columns for MIDI parts: Creating MIDI events Parameter Description Name The name of the part. You can use the Project Browser to create new MIDI events: Start The start position of the part. Editing this value is the same as moving the part. End The end position of the part. Changing this is the same as resizing the part (and will automatically affect the Length value as well). Length The length of the part. Changing this resizes the part and automatically changes the End value.
Editing the Video track Editing the Tempo track When the Video track is selected in the Project Structure list, the event display lists the video events on the track, with the following parameters: When the Tempo track is selected in the Project Structure list, the event display shows the events on the Tempo track, with the following parameters: Column Description Parameter Description Name The name of the video clip that the event refers to. Position Start The start position of the event.
33 The Track Sheet
Overview Viewing the pages in the Track Sheet The Track Sheet provides a text-form “flow-chart” representation of the Project. It lists all audio (and video) tracks and their contents, and can easily be printed out. If your project is large (i.e. there are many tracks and/or many events) or if you are working with a large scale factor (see below), the resulting Track Sheet may have more than one page. To open the Track Sheet window, select “Track Sheet” from the Project menu.
Adjusting the view Setting Description The two sliders at the bottom of the Track Sheet window have the following functionality: No leading zeroes By default, the time positions of events will be listed in a syntax with “leading zeroes”. E.g. if the display format is seconds, hours and minutes will be listed as “01”, “02” etc. If this is activated, the time column will not display the leading zeroes. Merge events if gap is less or equal... If events on a track are lined up end to end – i.e.
34 Export Audio Mixdown
Introduction Mixing down to an audio file The Export Audio Mixdown function in Nuendo allows you to mix down audio from the program to a file on your hard disk, in a number of formats. You can choose to mix down one of the following: 1. Set up the left and right locators to encompass the area that you want to mix down. • An output bus. This includes muting unwanted tracks or parts, making manual mixer settings and/or activating the R (Read) automation buttons for some or all mixer channels. 2.
• Activate the option “Use Project Audio Folder” to specify a path. This saves the mixdown file in the Project Audio folder. • If you have activated any of the “Import into project” options, the file will be imported back into the project. 5. Select a file format with the File Format pop-up menu. When playing back the re-imported file in Nuendo, remember to mute the original tracks so that you really hear the correct file. 6.
Option Description Option Description Insert Broadcast Wave Chunk (File Format section) This allows you to include information about the date and time of creation, a timecode position (allowing you to insert exported audio at the correct position in other projects, etc.) along with author, description and reference text strings in the exported file.
Wave64 files Option Description Wave64 is a proprietary format developed by Sonic Foundry Inc. In terms of audio quality, Wave64 files are identical to standard wave files, but in the file headers Wave64 files use 64-bit values for addressing where wave files use 32-bit values. The consequence of this is that Wave64 files can be considerably larger than standard Wave files. Wave64 is therefore a good file format choice for really long recordings (file sizes over 2GB), e.g. live surround recordings.
Ogg Vorbis files Other file formats Ogg Vorbis is an open source, patent-free audio encoding and streaming technology, offering compressed audio files (extension “.ogg”) of small size, but with comparatively high audio quality. Steinberg also offers optional Dolby Digital (AC3) and DTS encoders for export directly to AC3 or DTS format. Please go to www.steinberg.net for more information.
The following options are available: menu allows you to select from various levels of desired quality, with 10 being the lowest and 100 the highest. Generally, the higher the bitrate or quality you select, the larger the final file will be. The menu also shows the channel format (5.1 or stereo). General tab In the Input Stream section, you set the sample rate (44.1, 48 or 96 kHz) and the bit resolution (16 bit or 24 bit) of the encoded file.
• Surround Reduction Coefficients Here you can specify which amount of volume reduction, if any, should be applied to the different channels in a surround encoding. These settings affect how the audio is reproduced on a system incapable of playing back the file in surround, in which case the surround channels of the file will be combined into two channels and played back in stereo instead. The default values will normally produce satisfactory results, but you can change the values manually if you wish.
35 Synchronization
Background Synchronization signals What is synchronization? Basically there are three types of synchronization signals for audio: timecode, MIDI clock and word clock. Synchronization is said to exist when you make two pieces of equipment agree on time or tempo and position info.
Synchronizing the transport vs. synchronizing audio Format recommendations for timecode – with ASIO Positioning Protocol • LTC and VITC are the formats with the highest precision and are recommended when available. • MTC is the next best option and probably the most common choice, since few audio hardware solutions have built-in LTC or VITC readers. However, LTC and VITC offer even higher precision when available. • The choice with the least precision is Sony 9-Pin.
Making basic settings and connections Resolving to word clock The solution to this problem is to use one external clock for all components in the system. One master clock is used to derive whatever type of clock signal each component in the system needs. For example, something called a house clock can be used to generate sample rate clocks for the digital audio hardware and timecode for Nuendo. This ensures that all components in the system use the same reference source for their timing.
Proceed as follows: Synchronization settings 1. Open the Preferences dialog (accessed from the File menu under Windows or the Nuendo menu on the Mac) and select the Transport page. In the following sections, you will find a description of how to set up your system for the different timecode sources: 2. Enter the desired frame rate under “User Definable Framerate”. Internal Timecode In this mode, Nuendo is the master.
3. Activate the sync outputs by using the corresponding checkboxes. • Activate “MIDI Clock Follows Project Position” if you want the other device to follow when you loop, jump and locate during playback. You can output any combination of MIDI Timecode and MIDI Clock to any combination of outputs (however, you probably don’t want to send MTC and MIDI Clock to the same output). When this is activated, the sent MIDI Clock signals will follow the sequencer time and tempo position at all times.
MIDI Timecode and 9 Pin Sync 5. Use the Start value to set which frame on the external device (e.g. a video tape) should correspond to the beginning of the project. In these modes, Nuendo is the slave and the timecode is sent by the MIDI Timecode Source specified in the corresponding section. Most video projects have a program start time of 01:00:00:00 for convenience.
ASIO Audio Device The Sync indicator On the Transport panel, you can check the status of incoming timecode by observing the sync indicator. ! This option is only available if your hardware is compatible with the ASIO Positioning Protocol. In this mode, Nuendo is the slave and the synchronization signal can be received from another device connected to a digital interface of the audio hardware.
Hardware and software requirements for APP You can now set up the synchronization: • 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 corresponding position information from the external device. • There must be an ASIO 2.0 driver for the audio hardware.
Inhibit Restart 8. Start the tape (or video, or other master device) that contains the timecode. Nuendo starts playing when it receives timecode with a position “higher” than, or equal to, the project Start frame. Some synchronizers will still transmit MIDI Time Code for a short period after an external tape machine has been stopped. These extra frames of timecode can sometimes cause Nuendo to restart suddenly.
Sony 9-Pin 5. In the Master Machine Control section, select “MIDI Machine Control”. This is a standard protocol established by Sony, for controlling audio and video tape transports. It is implemented via regular serial port communication (RS-422). The correct cabling varies between computer platforms and models. Please refer to “Connecting a Sony 9-pin compatible device” on page 456 to find out more about the correct setup for your computer. 6.
Connecting a Sony 9-pin compatible device It is now possible to control the external tape recorder independently or together with Nuendo: On Windows computers • If you activate the Online button on the MMC Master panel you can use the transport buttons on the panel to control the transport of the device. • The “A1, A2, TC, VD” items refer to additional tracks usually found on video tape recorders.
External RS-232 to RS-422 converters are available from various manufacturers at your local dealer or can be purchased via the internet. If you are planning to cover distances exceeding a few meters please make sure that this adapter also balances the signal. 6. Set the number of audio tracks available on the 9-pin device by clicking on the arrows in the respective field or by entering a number directly. There can be up to 48 audio tracks for each 9-pin device.
11. Pull down the Devices menu and select “9-Pin Device 1” or “9-Pin Device 2”. • “Send Shuttle instead of FF/Rewind”. When the fast forward and rewind buttons are pressed on the Transport panel, Nuendo can send either fast forward and rewind commands to the 9-pin device or send shuttle commands. Each 9-pin device will react differently to these commands so some experimentation will be necessary. Tape machines will most likely respond best to fast forward and rewind commands.
1. Open the Project Synchronization Setup dialog and select the 9-Pin device (1 or 2) in the Master Machine Control Device section. • If the Auto Edit function is not supported by the 9-Pin device, you have to activate recording “manually”. Use the 9-Pin device control panel transport (or the main Transport panel) to rewind to a position before the left locator, activate automatic punch-in and punch-out and start playback.
Working with VST System Link • The audio hardware must have digital inputs and outputs. Of course, to be able to connect the computers, the digital connections must be compatible (i.e. the same digital formats and connection types must be available). VST System Link is a network system for digital audio that allows you to have several computers working together in one large system.
Synchronization • Typically, the ASIO control panel for an audio card contains some indication of whether the card receives a proper sync signal or not, and the sample rate of that signal. Before you proceed, you need to make sure that the clock signals on your ASIO cards are synchronized correctly. This is essential when cabling any kind of digital audio system, not just VST System Link. ! This is a good indication that you have connected the cards and set up clock sync properly.
Setting up your software Settings for the audio hardware Now it’s time to set up your programs. The procedures below describe how to set things up in Nuendo; if you are using another program on the other computer, please refer to its documentation. When you send VST System Link data between computers, it is important that the digital information isn’t changed in any way between the programs.
Activating VST System Link As the computers are made active, you should see the small Transmitting and Receiving indicators flashing on each active computer, and the name of each computer should appear in the list at the bottom of the pane. Each computer is assigned a random number – don't worry about this, it's just so the network knows internally which one is which.
• The Offset Samples setting allows you to adjust whether one machine will play back slightly ahead or behind the rest. 3. If you now pull down the Input or Output Routing popup menus, you will find the specified System Link ports added to the list of MIDI Inputs and Outputs. This is normally not needed, but occasionally with some hardware you may find that the lock is a few samples out. In that case you can adjust the lock with the Offset value.
Hearing the network audio If you now start playback, the audio from computer 2 will be sent “live” to the new tracks on computer 1, allowing you to hear them together with any tracks you play back on computer 1. If you are using an external mixing desk, hearing your audio really isn't an issue – just plug the outputs of each computer into the desired channels on the external mixing desk, press Play on one of the computers, and you're good to go.
Application examples Setting up a larger network This is not much more difficult than a two computer network. The main thing to remember is that VST System Link is a daisy chain system. In other words, the output of computer 1 goes to the input of computer 2, the output of computer 2 goes to the input of computer 3, and so on around the chain. The output of the last computer in the chain must always go back into the input of computer 1, to complete the ring.
Creating a virtual effect rack Getting extra audio tracks The effect sends for an audio channel in Nuendo can either be routed to an FX channel track or to any activated Group or output bus. This allows you to use a separate computer as a “virtual effect rack”, by setting things up in the following way: All computers on a VST System Link network are locked with sample-accuracy.
36 Video
Background When this information reads “0x0 pixel”, “0.000 s” and “0 Frames”, the video file is either corrupt, or the format is not supported by the codecs available to the selected video playback engine. You will either have to change the video playback engine, or install the required codec. Nuendo plays back video films in a number of formats. Under Windows, video playback can be done using the playback engines DirectShow, DirectX Video or QuickTime.
Selecting the video playback engine (Windows only) Operations When using Nuendo on a Windows system, you can select the playback engine in the Device Setup dialog (Video Player page). Importing a video file Video files are imported in the same manner as audio files. • By using the File menu (Import Video File). Which playback engine to select depends largely on which type of video system you are using, as well as on the file format and codec of the video files you want to work with.
About Thumbnail Cache files A window will be displayed, showing you the progress and the estimated time for the process. Ö To display video thumbnails in the Project window, the option “Show Video Thumbnails” has to be activated in the Preferences dialog (Event Display–Video page). When working with video in Nuendo, video files are displayed as events/clips on the video track with thumbnails representing the frames in the film. These are calculated in real time, i.e.
There are three ways to extract audio from a video file: After the file is created, the window will be closed and the thumbnail cache file is used when necessary, i.e. under high load. ! • By activating “Extract audio” in the Import Video dialog. This will add the audio to the currently active audio track. The new audio event will start at the same time as the video event, so that they are in sync with each other.
To view the video on the computer screen (as opposed to on an external monitor, see below), proceed as follows: • For DirectX and QuickTime, right-click in the Video window to open the context menu and select “Full Screen Mode”. Right-click again or press [Esc] on your computer keyboard to exit full screen mode. • Under Mac OS, first make sure that “Onscreen Window” is selected in the Video Output section in the Device Setup dialog (Video Player page).
Playing back a video file using graphics cards (Windows only) Project window and Browser editing operations Multi-head graphics cards which support overlay functionality can be used to display the video picture on an external TV or computer monitor in full screen mode. As of this writing, the manufacturers nVIDIA and Matrox have working solutions available. Check the card’s documentation for information on how it handles video output and how to set it up for multi-monitor display.
Adjusting the position of the audio event 8. Make the desired settings and click Process. The audio is stretched or compressed to fit the range. 1. If required, set the snap point in the audio event so that it identifies a significant point in the audio recording. Creating fades This would be the position in the audio that you want to match to a certain position in the video. If you don’t set the snap point, the start of the audio event will be used instead.
Working with film transfers The audio recorded along with the film must also have these speed changes applied to it in order to remain in sync with the picture once it has been transferred to video. Sometimes the speed change is applied at the same time as the film transfer and is recorded directly on the videotape. This allows the video editor to hear the audio along with the transferred video while editing.
Film frames vs. video fields Transferring film to NTSC video One of the first things that needs to be understood is how video signals are formatted in general. Each frame or single image of a video signal is composed of two video “fields”, each containing half of the image. The first field contains all the odd horizontal lines of resolution and the second field contains the even horizontal lines of the image.
4. The third film frame is transferred to the second field of video frame three and the first field of video frame four. When the audio is pulled down, it allows production audio (DAT tapes or files from a field recorder) from a film shoot to play in sync with NTSC video. Even though 29.97 fps is a faster frame rate than 24 fps (film speed), the video is running -0.1% slower than the original film due to the 2-3 transfer process and hence the need to slow the audio down a bit.
Audio pull-down -0.1% (NTSC) Using this method preserves the quality of the original audio recording made during filming and allows for a digital mixdown transfer at film speed without any generation loss or sample rate conversion. When working on a film project that has been transferred to NTSC video, most audio engineers prefer to use the original source tapes from the film shoot in order to retain the highest quality and fidelity.
• Other pull-up/pull-down options Moving events There may be other scenarios where non-standard pull-ups and pulldowns can be used to correct mistakes. Nuendo provides further pullup/pull-down options for such situations in the Project Setup dialog and the respective section in the Project Synchronization dialog (see below).
Video +0.1% pull-up for NTSC Since NTSC video is running -0.1% slower than the original film, pulling the video speed back up by +0.1%, returns it to original film speed. With the video now running at the correct film speed, audio originally recorded at 48 kHz on the film shoot will remain in sync with the video. Additionally, the final mix can be digitally transferred back to film at 48 kHz without the need for an analog copy or sample rate conversion. Video -0.
37 ReWire
Introduction Launching and quitting ReWire and ReWire2 are special protocols for streaming audio between two computer applications. Developed by Propellerhead Software and Steinberg, ReWire provides the following possibilities and features: When using ReWire, the order in which you launch and quit the two programs is very important: • Real-time streaming of up to 64 separate audio channels (256 with ReWire2), at full bandwidth, from the “synthesizer application” into the “mixer application”. 1.
Activating ReWire channels Using the transport and tempo controls ReWire supports streaming of up to 64 separate audio channels, while ReWire2 supports 256 channels. The exact number of available ReWire channels depends on the synthesizer application. Using the ReWire Device panels in Nuendo, you can specify which of the available channels you want to use: ! This is only relevant if the synthesizer application has some sort of built-in sequencer or similar.
How the ReWire channels are handled in Nuendo Routing MIDI via ReWire2 ! When you activate ReWire channels in the ReWire Device panels, they will become available as channel strips in the mixer. The ReWire channel strips have the following properties: This feature is only available with ReWire2-compatible applications. When using Nuendo with a ReWire2-compatible application, additional MIDI outputs will automatically appear on the MIDI Output pop-up menus for MIDI tracks.
38 File handling
Working with Projects • Click “Activate” to open and activate the new project. The active project is indicated by the blue Activate button in the upper left corner of the Project window. To make another project active, simply click its Activate button. New Project The New Project command on the File menu allows you to create a new project, either empty or based on a template: 1. Select New Project from the File menu. By default, this list is empty.
Save and Save As Save as Template The commands Save and Save As allow you to save the active project as a project file (file extension “.npr”). The Save command stores the project under its current name and location, while Save As allows you to rename and/or relocate the file. If a project has not been saved yet or if it hasn’t been changed since it was last saved, only Save As will be available. This function allows you to save the current project as a template.
Save Project to New Folder Startup Options This function is very useful if you want to move or archive your project. Auto Save 1. Select “Save Project to New Folder”. A file dialog opens in which you can choose an existing, empty folder or create a new folder to save the project. 2. Click OK to confirm your choice.
Working with libraries The following options are available: Option Description Do Nothing Nuendo launches without opening a project. Open Last Project The last saved project is opened on launch. Open ’Default’ Template The default template is opened, see “Setting up a default template” on page 488. Show Open Dialog The Open dialog opens on launch, allowing you to manually locate and open the desired project.
Importing audio Selecting one of the Import Audio CD menu items brings up the following dialog: Ö For exporting Audio, see the chapter “Export Audio Mixdown” on page 437. Ö For the option “Replace Audio in Video File”, see “Replacing the audio in a video file” on page 474. Importing audio files For information on audio file import preferences, please see “Audio file import options” on page 41. For information on import into the Pool and import options, see “Import Medium…” on page 306.
5. Click on Copy to generate a local copy of the audio file(s) or section(s). • If you want to copy and import a section of an audio CD track only, select the track in the list and specify the start and end of the selection to be copied by dragging the handles in the copy selection ruler. The copied files are listed at the bottom of the dialog. By default, imported audio CD tracks will be stored as Wave files (Windows) or AIFF files (Mac) in the Audio folder of the current project.
Importing Audio from Video files 4. Locate and select the file and click Open. The file is imported and automatically adjusted to the current Nuendo tempo. While you can automatically extract the audio when importing a video file (see “Extracting audio from a video file” on page 472), it is also possible to import the audio from a video file without importing the video itself: Unlike a regular audio file, the imported REX file will consist of several events, one for each “slice” in the loop.
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 coding audiovisual information (e. g. movies, video, music) in a digital compressed format. Nuendo 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.
• Select whether you want to include all audio data in the OMF file (“Export All to One File”) or use references only (“Export Media File References”). • If the OMF file contains Video Event information, you are asked whether you want to create Markers at the start position of the Video Events. If you choose “Export All to One File”, the OMF file will be totally “selfcontained”, but possibly very large.
Importing AAF files 2. You can choose which tracks will be exported from your project by clicking in the export column for each track name in the list. 1. Select “AAF…” from the Import submenu on the File menu. A check mark will appear next to each track that will be exported. You may also click the “Select All” button to select every track in the project for export. 2. Once you have selected a valid AAF file, Nuendo will ask you if you wish to create a new project.
The following will not be included in the resulting AES file: Audio file formats are volume type dependent: for FAT32 this is BWF (*.wav) and for HFS+ this is SDII. OpenTL files can only be transferred within file systems of the same format which means that it is not possible to import an OpenTL project exported from Mac (HFS+) into a Windows system (FAT32) or vice versa, unless you use a conversion utility (e.g. MM-EDL). • Any mixer settings or automation made in Nuendo. • MIDI Tracks.
The following is a basic OpenTL specification description: Proceed as follows to import XSend files: • Maximum number of mono tracks: 999 • Supported samplerates (Hz): 44056, 44100, 44144, 47952, 48000, 48048, 42294, 42336, 45938, 45983, 46034, 46080, 50000, 50050, 88200, 96000 • Bit depth: 16, 24 • Audio file types: BWF (Broadcast Wave format), WAVE (Standard Wave), SDII (Sound Designer II) • Volume formats: FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ • Automation support: clip based volume, breakpoint volume and mute • Fade supp
When you have specified a location and a name for the file, click “Save”. The Export Options dialog opens, allowing you to specify a number of options for the file – what should be included in the file, its type and its resolution (see below for descriptions of the options). The Export Options dialog. You will also find these settings in the Preferences (MIDI– MIDI File page). If you set these up once and for all in the Preferences, you only need to click OK in the Export Options dialog to proceed.
Exporting and importing MIDI loops The MIDI file is imported. The result depends on the contents of the MIDI file and the Import Options settings in the Preferences (MIDI–MIDI File page). The Import Options are as follows: Option Description Extract First Patch If this is activated, the first Program Change and Bank Select events for each track are converted to Inspector settings for the track.
Importing tracks from a track archive Sample rate conversion on track archive import The Import Track Archive function lets you import tracks exported from another Nuendo project. A track archive may contain media files with a sample rate that is different from the sample rate of your currently active project. You can see the sample rate difference in the Project Settings area. Ö Note that the sample rates of the active project and the track archive have to match.
4. When the scan is complete, you can select files by clicking in the list. Use [Ctrl]/[Command]-click to select several files, and [Shift]-click to select a range of files. You can also click the Select All button to select all files in the list.
39 Customizing
Background Workspaces The user can customize the appearance and functionality of Nuendo in various ways. A configuration of Nuendo windows is called a “workspace”. A workspace stores the size, position and content of all windows, allowing you to quickly switch between different working modes via the menu or by using key commands. E.g., you may want as large a Project window as possible when you are editing, whereas you may want the Mixer and effect windows open during mixdown.
Creating a new workspace Organizing workspaces and presets 1. Pull down the Window menu and open the Workspaces submenu. If you select “Organize…” from the Workspaces submenu, the Organize Workspaces dialog opens: 2. Select “New Workspace”. 3. In the dialog that opens, enter a name for the workspace. 4. Click OK. The list to the left shows the workspaces in the active project, while the list to the right shows the workspace presets.
• Activate the Auto Instantiate Presets checkbox to convert all global workspace presets automatically into workspaces when you create a new project or open a project. • To close the dialog, click the OK button or use [Esc]. Note that you can continue working in other windows with the Organize Workspaces dialog open. The Setup dialogs You can customize the appearance of the following elements: • • • • • The info line and Inspector setup context menus.
• Click the arrow in the top left corner of the Track list and select “Track Controls Settings”. • By selecting items in the “Visible Items” column and using the Move Up and Move Down buttons, you can reorder the selected item(s). Changes are applied directly. To undo all changes and revert back to the standard layout, select “Default” on the setup context menu. A customized Transport panel.
Grouping track controls • To change the track type, click the arrow to the right in the menu display and select a track type from the pop-up menu that opens. If you resize the Track list, the position of the controls will change dynamically to accommodate as many controls as possible in the available space (given that Wrap Controls is activated – see below). By grouping several track controls you ensure that they will always be positioned side by side in the Track list.
Resetting Track list settings You have two possibilities to reset settings: • Click Reset to restore all default track controls settings for the selected track type. • Click Reset All to restore all default track controls settings for all track types. Saving presets You can save track controls settings as presets for later recall: 1. Click on the Save icon beside the Presets name field. A dialog opens, allowing you to type in a name for the preset. 2. Click OK to save the settings as a preset.
About preference presets • Certain essential menu items on the File and Edit menus cannot be hidden, such as Save, Open, Close, Undo/ Redo etc. It is possible to save complete or partial preferences settings as presets. This lets you recall settings quickly and easily. For these items there is no entry in the Menu column. • If you set a main menu folder (as opposed to a menu item) to Off in the Menu column, the entire menu will be hidden from view.
Appearance Saving partial preferences settings It is also possible to save partial preferences settings. This is useful when you have made settings that only relate to a certain project or situation, for example. When you apply a saved partial preference preset, you only change the saved settings. All other preferences will be left unchanged. In the Preferences dialog, you will find a page called Appearance.
• You can add color handles by [Alt]/[Option]-clicking anywhere along the side of the meter scale. To remove a color handle, [Ctrl]/[Command]-click the handle. Track colors By adding more color handles to the meter scale, you can define colors for more specific signal levels. Try adding two color handles very close to one another. You can make the meter color change more rapidly at a specific signal level this way. To activate track colors, proceed as follows: Applying track colors manually 1.
Applying track colors automatically Using the color tool In the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page), you can find the option “Auto Track Color Mode”. 1. On the toolbar, select the color tool (the paint bucket icon). 2. Click the small strip below it to bring up the color palette. 3. Select the desired color. 4. Click on a part/event to assign the color. This offers you several options for automatically assigning colors to tracks that are added to the project.
The Event Colors dialog 3. In the Standard Colors section, select the standard color. You can modify the selected color in the following way: • Drag the cursor to another point in the color circle. • Movethe handle in the color meter. • Enter the values for red, green and blue and hue, saturation and luminosity manually. You can open the Event Colors dialog in two ways: • Double-click the small strip below the color tool. 4. Click the Apply button in the Standard Colors section.
• Under Windows, preference files are stored in the folder “\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Steinberg\Nuendo 4\”. Setting Stored in MIDI Inserts presets \Presets\MidiInsertsPresets as *.xml file If you run the 64 bit version of Nuendo, this folder is called “Nuendo 64bit”. On the Start menu, you will find a shortcut to this folder for easy access. Installed MIDI devices Midi Devices.bin Key commands presets \Presets\KeyCommands\.
Setting Stored in Note that the Score editor is only available for the Nuendo Expansion Kit. Snapshot file \Presets\MIDI snapshot as *.xml file Toolbar presets \Presets\RAMPresets.xml Track controls presets \Presets\RAMPresets.xml Track presets (user-defined, for all programs) Win: \Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Steinberg\Track Presets Mac: Users//Library/Application Support/Steinberg/Track Presets (with the su
40 Key commands
Introduction Adding or modifying a key command Most of the main menus in Nuendo have key command shortcuts for certain items on the menus. In addition, there are numerous other Nuendo functions that can be performed via key commands. These are all default settings. If you want, you can customize existing key commands to your liking, and also add commands for menu items and functions currently not assigned any. ! You can also assign tool modifier keys, i.e.
4. In the list, select the item to which you wish to assign a key command. Note that you can have several different key commands for the same function. So adding a key command to a function that already has another key command will not replace the key command previously defined for the function. If you wish to remove an assigned key command, see “Removing a key command” on page 520. Already assigned key commands are shown in the Keys column as well as in the Keys section in the top right corner. 9.
Removing a key command All the items and functions in the subfolders can have key commands assigned to them. The column to the right, labeled “Command”, allows you to set the On/Off status for the corresponding items. This indicates whether it should be possible to use assigned key commands for the items or not. To remove a key command, proceed as follows: 1. If the key commands dialog isn’t already open, pull down the File menu and select “Key Commands…”. 2.
Saving complete key commands settings as presets 5. Repeat the procedure to add more commands to the macro. Note that commands are added after the currently selected command in the list. This allows you to insert commands “in the middle” of an existing macro. As mentioned above, any changes made to the key commands (and macros) are automatically stored as a Nuendo preference. However, it is also possible to store key commands settings separately.
Loading saved key command settings When you have set up the key commands and macros, proceed as follows to save the partial settings as a preset: To load a key command preset, simply select it from the Presets pop-up menu. 1. Activate the “Store Selected Items Only” option. When this is activated, a new “Store” column appears in the Commands list.
About the “Reset” and “Reset All” functions Saving an Alternative Key Set Here’s how to create and save an Alternative Key Set: 1. Open the Key Commands dialog from the File menu. 2. Set up the key commands and macros the way you want them. These two buttons in the Key Commands dialog will both restore the default settings. The following rules apply: 3. Decide whether you want to save complete or partial settings by activating/deactivating “Store Selected Items Only”.
Switching between Alternative Key Sets 3. Select the action in the Action list. You switch between different key sets in the program by using the key command assigned to the function “Toggle Alternate Key Commands”, located in the “File” subfolder in the Key Commands dialog. 4. Hold down the desired modifier key(s) and click the Assign button. The current modifier key(s) for the action is replaced.
Devices category Option Key command Key command Solo [S] Mixer [F3] Split At Cursor [Alt]/[Option]+[X] Video [F8] Split Range [Shift]+[X] VST Connections [F4] Undo [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Z] VST Instruments [F11] Ungroup [Ctrl]/[Command]+[U] [F12] Unlock [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Shift]+[U] Unmute Events [Shift]+[U] Option VST Performance Edit category Editors category Option Key command Autoscroll [F] Option Key command Copy [Ctrl]/[Command]+[C] Show/Hide Infoview [Ctrl]/[Command]+
Navigate category Project category Option Key command Option Add Down: Expand/Undo selection in the Project window to the bottom/ Move selected event in the Key Editor down 1 octave [Shift]+[Down Arrow] Open Browser [Ctrl]/[Command]+[B] Open Markers [Ctrl]/[Command]+[M] Open/Close Pool [Ctrl]/[Command]+[P] Open Tempo Track [Ctrl]/[Command]+[T] Add Left: Expand/Undo selection in the Project window/ Key Editor to the left [Shift]+[Left Arrow] Add Right: Expand/Undo selection in the Project wi
Transport category Option Key command Key command To Left Locator Pad [1] AutoPunch In [I] To Marker 1 [Shift]+[1] AutoPunch Out [O] To Marker 2 [Shift]+[2] Cycle Pad [/] To Marker 3 to 9 Pad [3] to [9] or [Shift]+[3] to [9] Exchange time formats [.
Index
A AAF files 495 ACID® loops 275 Activate Next/Previous Part 365 Activate project button 487 Active ASIO Ports for Data only 464 Active Part 365 Add Bus 13 Child Bus 13 Add Track 38 Adjust Fades to Range 88 Advanced Quantize 356 AES31 files 496 Aftertouch Deleting 381 Editing 379 Recording 81 AIFF files 439 Allow machine controlled cycle 458 Alt/Option key 9 Alternative Key Sets 523 Always Send Start Message 449 Angle Mode 209 Any (MIDI channel settings) 79 Apogee UV22 HR 174 APP Introduction to 452 Setting
Automation Auto-Latch mode 220 Crossover mode 220 Delta indicator 216 Editing in Project Browser 432 Gap 218 Opening automation subtracks 231 Return Time 229 Showing and hiding 231 Touch mode 220 Touch-collecting parameters 225 Trim 224 Automation events About 235 Drawing 235 Editing 235 Editing in the Project Browser 237 Removing 237 Selecting 237 Automation follows Events (Option) 234 Automation pass 215 Automation subtracks Assigning parameters to 232 Hiding and showing 233 Muting 234 Autoscroll 57, 369
Csh files 309 Ctrl/Command key 9 Cursor, see “Project cursor” Cut Head 47 Cut Tail 47 Cut Time 54 Cycle About 61 About recording 66 Record modes 80 Recording audio 73 Recording MIDI 80 Cycle markers About 110 Adding in Marker window 110 Drawing 112 Editing 112 Making selections with 113 Navigating to 112 On Marker track 111 D DC Offset 247 Deactivate Inserts 171 Deactivate plug-in when silence is detected (VST 3) 169, 196 Deactivate Punch In on Stop 83 Default MIDI editor 364 Default Output Bus 14 Default
Export AAF 495 AES31 496 OMF 494 OpenTL file 497 Export Audio Mixdown 438 Export MIDI files 498 Export Options (MIDI files) 499 Export selected tracks 500 Export Tempo track 419 External Effects 182 External effects About 17 Favorites 20 Freezing 21 Missing plug-ins 21 Setting up 18 External Inputs (Control Room Channel) 153, 154, 157 External instruments About 17 Favorites 20 Freezing 21 Missing plug-ins 21 Setting up 19 Extract Audio from Video 472, 493 Extract MIDI Automation 362 Find Selected in Pool 3
Input busses About 11 Adding 13 Routing to channels 14 Viewing in the mixer 15 Input channels 132 Input Gain About 133 Setting record level 70 Input levels 69 Input Phase switch 133 Input Transformer 397 Input/Output routing panel (Mixer) 126 Inputs (Audio) 12 Insert effect combinations Saving 185 Insert effects (Audio) 170 Insert into Project 303 Insert pop-up menu 384 Insert Silence Project window 55 Sample Editor 268 Insert Velocity (MIDI Editors) 371 Insert velocity (MIDI Editors) 371 Inserts Bypassing
Magnetic Area 354 Magnetic Cursor (Snap mode) 56 Magnifying Glass tool 34 Main Mix Bus 14 Map Input Bus Metering to Audio Track (in Direct Monitoring) 71 Markers About 110 Adding in Marker window 110 Drawing on Marker track 112 Editing in Project Browser 433 Editing on Marker track 112 ID numbers 111 Key commands for 113 Marker track 111 Marker window 110 Moving 111 Removing 110 Snapping to 56 Mask function 385 Media files 315 MediaBay Browser 316 Category search 320 Detail search 320 Favorites 318 Filter b
Mixer Common panel 131 Extended channel strips 126 Group channels 142 Hiding channel types 128 Input and output busses 132 Input/Output settings 126 Link/Unlink channels 145 Loading settings 146 Multiple mixer windows 124 Pan 135 Saving settings 146 Solo and Mute 134 View options 126 Volume 132 Mixing down to an audio file 438 MMC Setting up 455 Modifier keys 9, 524 Monitor button Audio tracks 71 MIDI tracks 77 Monitoring modes 71 Monitors (Control Room Channel) 153, 154, 158 Move Controller (Quantize setti
Play icon Audio Part Editor 293 Pool 306 Play tool Audio Part Editor 293 Project window 42 Plug-in delay compensation 170 Plug-in Information window MIDI plug-ins 350 VST plug-ins 187 Plug-ins Applying 249 Automating 234 Getting info 187 In surround configurations 212 Installing VST 2.
Replace Record Mode Audio 73 MIDI 79 Reset 81 Reset Mixer 141 Resolution 67 Resolving 448 Restrict Polyphony 361 Retrospective Record 81 Return To Start Position on Stop 62 Reverse 247 Reverse (MIDI function) 362 Revert 490 ReWire About 483 Activating 484 Channels 485 Routing MIDI 485 REX files 493 Right locator 61 Root key 116 Routing Audio to and from busses 14 Effect sends 177 Effect sends (Panning) 178 Ruler About 31 Adding additional time scales 32 Ruler tracks 32 S S button 51 Sample Editor Audio cli
Split Events 47 Range 55 Split at Cursor MIDI editors 374 Project window 47 Split Loop MIDI editors 374 Project window 47 Split MIDI Events 47 Square mode Automation 236 MIDI editing 380 Stacked Cycle Recording Audio 75 MIDI 80 Standard Mode 209 Start Record at Left Locator 65 Startup options 489 Static Value Line (Automation) 235 Stationary cursors 57 Statistics 256 Step Bar 61 Step Input 376 Step input 376 Stereo Flip 248 Stereo Pan Law 136 Stereo pan modes 135 Stop after Automatic Punch Out 83 Straighten
Tracks Adding 38 Audio channel configuration 68 Changing height of 35 Color 39 Disabling/Enabling 62 Freezing 175 Importing and exporting 500 Locking 50 Musical/Linear time base 40 Removing 39 Renaming 38 Selecting 39 Transfer projects and settings 514 Transfer tracks between projects 500 Transformer (MIDI effect) 388 Transparent events 37 Transport menu Functions 59 Playback options 63 Transport panel Customizing 506 Display format 61 Hiding and showing 60 Key commands 60 Overview 59 Transpose Info line 31
WMA files Importing 494 WMA Pro files 442 Word Clock About 447 Selecting for sync 453 Setting up 449 Workspaces 504 Wrap Controls (Track list) 35 X XSend Installing 498 Z Zero Crossings 57 Zoom About 34 History 36 Presets 36 Sample Editor 265 Track height 35 Waveforms 34 Zoom N Tracks 35 Zoom Tool Standard Mode 34 Zoom while Locating in Time Scale 34 540 Index
