Steinberg Cubase 6 Manual
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312 The MediaBay Introduction One of the biggest challenges in typical computer-based music production environments is how to manage the ever- growing number of plug-ins, instruments, presets, etc. from multiple sources. Cubase features an efficient database for media file management that allows you to handle all your media files from within your sequencer program. The MediaBay is divided into several sections: • Define Locations – Here, you can create “presets” for locations on your system that you want to scan for media files, see “Defin- ing Locations” on page 315. • Locations – Here, you can switch between the previously de- fined Locations. • Filters – Here, you can filter the Results list using a logical or an attribute filter, see “The Filters section” on page 321. • Results – Here, all found media files are displayed. You can also filter the list and perform text searches, see “The Results list” on page 316. • Previewer – This section allows you to preview the files shown in the Results list, see “Previewing files” on page 318. • Attribute Inspector – In this section, you can view, edit and add media file attributes (or tags), see “The Attribute Inspector” on page 323. Accessing the MediaBay To open the MediaBay, select the MediaBay command on the Media menu. You can also use the corresponding key command (by default F5). ÖBy default, the Define Locations section, the Locations section, the Filters section, the Results list and the Pre - viewer section are shown. Setting up the MediaBay window You can show and hide the different sections of the MediaBay (except for the Results list). This is handy, as it allows you to save screen space and enables you to dis - play only the information you need for your work. The Previewer sectionThe Attribute Inspector (Cubase only) The Define Locations sectionThe Locations section The Filters section The Results list
313 The MediaBay Proceed as follows: 1.Click the “Set up Window Layout” button in the lower left corner of the MediaBay window. A transparent pane appears, covering the window. In the center of it is a gray area containing checkboxes for the different sections. 2.Deactivate the checkboxes for the sections you want to hide from view. Any changes you make here are directly reflected in the MediaBay window. Note that the Results list cannot be hidden. ÖYou can also use key commands for this: use the up/ down and left/right arrow keys to step through the check - boxes and press [Space] to activate/deactivate the de- sired checkbox. 3.When you are done, click outside the gray area to exit the Setup mode. Alternatively, you can wait a few seconds for the pane to disappear auto-matically. •You can change the size of the individual MediaBay sec- tions by dragging the divider line between two sections. Working with the MediaBay When working with many music files, the most important thing is to find the content you need quickly and easily. The MediaBay helps you find and organize your content in an effective and efficient way. After the first scan of the folders you have activated for scanning (which will take a certain time), all the files that were found are there for you to browse, tag or modify. At the beginning, all media files of the supported formats are listed in the Results section: far too many to get a good overview. However, by using the search and filter techniques, you get the desired results very quickly. The first thing to do is to set up “Locations”, that is folders or directories on your system that contain media files. Usually, files are organized in a specific way on your com - puter. For example, you might have folders reserved for audio content, folders for special effects, folders for com - binations of sounds making up the ambience noise you need for a certain film take, etc. These can all be set as different Locations in the MediaBay, allowing you to limit the files available in the Results list according to context. Whenever you expand your computer system (for exam- ple, by adding new hard disks or an external volume con- taining media files you want to work with), you should make it a habit to save the new volumes as Locations or add them to your existing Locations. Afterwards, you can hide the Define Locations section from view. That way, the MediaBay occupies less screen space and you can con - centrate on the important thing: the Results list. For this list, you can specify which file types are displayed, see “Filtering according to media type” on page 316. If there are still too many files to choose from, you can nar- row down the results using a text search function, see “Performing a text search” on page 317. This is often all it needs to display what you want, allowing you to proceed by previewing the files before inserting them into your project (see “Previewing files” on page 318). However, if you need very complex and detailed filtering, this is also possible using either attribute or logical filtering, see “The Filters section” on page 321. For filtering or searches, the use of attributes is recommended: By specifying specific attribute values for your files (categorizing them as pro - duction sound, foley, special effects, etc.), you can con- siderably speed up the browsing process, see “The Attribute Inspector” on page 323. Finally, the files can be easily inserted into the project, by using drag & drop, by double-clicking or using the context menu options, see “Inserting the files into the project” on page 318.
314 The MediaBay The Define Locations section When you open the MediaBay for the first time, a scan for media files is performed on your system. You specify which folders or directories you want to be included in the scan by activating/deactivating the checkboxes for the folders in the Define Locations section. Depending on the amount of me - dia files on your computer, the scan may take a while. All files that are found in the specified folders are shown in the Results list. •To include a folder in the scan, activate its checkbox. •To exclude a folder from the scan, deactivate its check- box. •To restrict the search to individual subfolders, activate/ deactivate their checkboxes. The color of the checkmark helps you to identify which folders and subfolders are scanned: • A white checkmark indicates that all subfolders are scanned. • An orange checkmark indicates that at least one subfolder is excluded from the scan. •To revert to scanning a complete folder (including all subfolders), click on an orange checkmark. The checkmark becomes white, to indicate that all folders are scanned. The scanning status for the individual folders themselves is indicated by the color of the folder icons: • A red icon means that the folder is currently being scanned. • A light blue icon means the folder has been scanned. • A dark blue icon is displayed for folders which are excluded from the scan. • An orange icon is displayed when the scanning process for the folder was interrupted. • A yellow icon is displayed for folders that have not yet been scanned. The scan result is saved in a database file. When you de- activate the checkbox for a folder that has already been scanned, a message appears, allowing you to keep the gathered scan data in this database file or to completely remove the data for this folder from the database file. Se - lect Keep if you want to keep the database entries, but want to exclude the folder from being scanned (when you trigger a re-scan for example). Select Remove if you do not want to use the contents of this folder in your projects. •When you activate the “Please, don’t ask again” option, no further warning messages will be shown when you de - activate other checkboxes, for as long as the program is running. When you quit and re-launch Cubase, these warning messages will be displayed again. The VST Sound node The Define Locations section provides a shortcut to user content and factory content files, including the preset folders: the VST Sound node. •The folders below the VST Sound node represent the directories in which content files and track presets, VST presets, etc. are stored by default. To find out the “true” location of a file, right-click on it in the Results list and select “Open in Explorer” (Win)/“Reveal in Finder” (Mac). This will open an Explorer/Finder window in which the corresponding file is high - lighted. Please note that this function is not available for files which are part of a VST Sound archive. Some subfolders of this folder are excluded from the scan. All subfolders of this folder are included in the scan.
315 The MediaBay Updating the display You can update the display in two ways: by rescanning or by refreshing. Rescanning When you click the Rescan button, the selected folder is rescanned. If a folder contains a large number of media files, the scanning process may take some time. Use this function if you have made changes to the content of spe - cific media folders and want to scan these folders again. ÖYou can also rescan the selected folder by right-click- ing on it and selecting Rescan Disk from the context menu. Refreshing In addition to the Rescan Disk option, the context menu for the selected node or folder in the Define Locations section also contains a Refresh Views option. This re - freshes the display for this location without rescanning the corresponding media files. This is useful in the following situations: •When you have modified attribute values (see “Editing attributes (tagging)” on page 324) and want to update the Results list so that these values are displayed for the cor- responding files. •When you have mapped a new network drive, for exam- ple, and want this to appear as a node in the Define Loca- tions section. Simply select the Refresh Views option for the parent node and the new drive will appear in the Define Locations section (ready to be scanned for media files). Defining Locations When you have set up the Define Locations section ac- cording to your preferences, and the content is scanned, it is time to make it available in a meaningful way. For this, you can define locations, i. e. shortcuts to the folders you want to work with, that will be available from the Locations section for convenient access. To define a location, proceed as follows: 1.In the list to the left, select the desired folder. 2.Click the Add button. A naming dialog for the new location is displayed. 3.Accept the default name or enter a new name. 4.Click OK. The new location is added to the Locations pop-up menu in the Loca- tions section (see below). 5.Repeat these steps to add as many locations as you need. Once you have set up your locations, you can hide the Define Locations section from view (see “Setting up the MediaBay window” on page 312), to save screen space. ÖSome Location presets are available by default. These are: “All Media” (the topmost node in the Define Locations section), “Local Harddisks” (the local harddisks in your computer system) and “VST Sound” (the folder in which Steinberg sound files, loops and presets are stored by default). The Locations section When you open the Locations pop-up menu and select a location, the media files found in that location are shown in the Results list. By switching between the locations you defined, you can quickly browse to the files you are look - ing for. •To change the browse location, simply select another location from the pop-up menu. If the available Locations don’t yield the desired results or if the folder you want to scan for files is not part of any of the locations, define a new Location in the Define Locations section. •To select the previous or next folder in a sequence of selected folders, use the “Previous/Next Browse Location” buttons. These paths will be deleted when you close the MediaBay. Previous/Next Browse LocationBrowse Containing FolderClick here to open the pop-up menu and select the desired Location. Remove Browse Location Definition Deep Re- sults
316 The MediaBay •To select the parent folder of the selected folder, click the “Browse Containing Folder” button. •To remove a location from the pop-up menu, select it and click the “Remove Browse Location Definition” button. •To show the files contained in the selected folder and any subfolders (without showing these subfolders), acti - vate the Deep Results button. When this button is deactivated, only the folders and files contained in the selected folder are shown. The Results list The Results list is at the heart of the MediaBay. Here, you will find all the files found in the selected location. As the number of files displayed can be huge (the info field in the top right corner of the Results section shows the number of files found with the current filter settings), you might want to use any of the filter and search options in the MediaBay to narrow down the list. The available op - tions are described below. ÖThe maximum number of files that are displayed in the Results list can be set by specifying a new value for “Max - imum Items in Results list” in the Preferences (see “Prefer- ences” on page 327). Filtering according to media type The Results list can be set to display only a particular me- dia type or a combination of media types. •Click in the field where the currently displayed media types are shown (by default “All Media Types”) to open the Show Media Types dialog. Here, you can activate the media types you want to be displayed in the Results list. When you have filtered the list to show a particular media type, this is indicated by the corresponding icon to the left of media type field. When you have selected several media types, the Mixed Media Type icon is used. The media types In the “Show Media Types” dialog, you can activate the media types you want to be displayed in the Results list. The following types are available: OptionDescription Audio FilesWhen this is activated, the list shows all audio files. The supported formats are .wav, .w64, .aiff, .aifc, .rex, .rx2, .mp3, .mp2, .ogg, .sd2, .wma (Windows only). MIDI FilesWhen this is activated, the list shows all MIDI files (file name extension .mid). MIDI LoopsWhen this is activated, the list shows all MIDI loops (file name extension .midiloop). Select this option to display all types. Here, the last four me- dia type selections you made are listed. The media types you ac- tivate here are shown in the Results list.
317 The MediaBay Setting up the Results list columns For each media type, or for combinations of media types, you can specify the attribute columns that are displayed in the Results list. In most cases, you will probably only want to display a few main attributes in the Results list and use the Attribute Inspector to view the complete list of attribute values for the files. Proceed as follows: 1.Select the media type (or combination of media types) that you want to make settings for. 2.Click the “Set up Result Columns” button and activate or deactivate the options on the submenus. Activate the attributes that you want to be displayed in the Results list. ÖIf you want to see none of the attributes of a certain category, choose the “Select None” option on the corre - sponding submenu. ÖWhen the “Allow Editing in Results List” option is acti- vated in the Preferences dialog, you can also edit attributes in the Results list. Otherwise this is only possible in the At - tribute Inspector. Performing a text search You can limit the number of results in the Results list using the text search function. When you enter text in the Text Search field, only media files whose attributes match the entered text will be displayed. For example, if you are looking for all audio loops relating to drum sounds, simply enter “drum” in the search field. The search results will contain loops with names such as “Drums 01”, “Drumloop”, “Snare Drum”, etc. Also, all me - dia files with the Category attribute Drum&Percussion, or any other attribute that contains “drum” will be found. When you enter text in the field, its background becomes red, to indicate that a text filter is active for the list. To re - set the text filter, delete the text. Pattern Banks When this is activated, the list shows all pattern banks (file name extension .patternbank). Pattern banks are generated by the MIDI plug-in Beat De -signer. For more information, see “Previewing pat-tern banks” on page 320 and the separate PDF document “Plug-in Reference”. Track PresetsWhen this is activated, the list shows all track pre-sets for audio, MIDI, and instrument tracks (file name extension .trackpreset). Track presets are a combination of track settings, effects and mixer settings that can be applied to new tracks of vari -ous types. For more information, see the chapter “Working with track presets” on page 331. Plug-in PresetsWhen this is activated, the list shows all VST pre-sets for instrument and effect plug-ins. These pre-sets contain all parameter settings for a particular plug-in. They can be used to apply sounds to in-strument tracks and effects to audio tracks. For more information, see the chapter “Working with track presets” on page 331. Video FilesWhen this is activated, the list shows all video files. For information about the supported video formats, see “Video file compatibility” on page 510. ProjectsWhen this is activated, the list shows all project files (from Cubase, Nuendo, Sequel): .cpr, .npr, .steinberg-project. Option DescriptionClick here to open the pop-up menu.
318 The MediaBay The rating slider Using the rating slider above the Results list, you can specify rating settings for your files, ranging from 1 to 5. This makes it possible to exclude certain files from the search according to their quality. When you move the rating slider, the active rating filter is indicated in red. All files of this rating are displayed in the list. The search in progress indicator At the top right in the Results list you will find an indicator which shows whether the MediaBay is currently searching for files. Resetting the list When you have set up filters for the Results list, you can set everything back to default by clicking the Reset Re - sults Filter button to the right of the Rating slider. This will delete any text in the text search field, set the rat- ing slider to display all files and deactivate all the media type filters. Inserting the files into the project You can insert files into the project by right-clicking on them and selecting one of the “Insert into project” options from the context menu, or you can double-click them. What happens next depends on the track type: Audio files, MIDI loops, and MIDI files can be inserted into the project by double-clicking them in the Results list. They will be inserted on the active track, if this matches the file type or onto a new track if no corresponding track is active. The files will be inserted at the current project cursor position. Similarly, if you double-click on a track preset, it will be ap- plied to the active track, if the track type matches the track preset. Otherwise, a new track will be inserted, containing the settings of the track preset. If you double-click a VST preset, an instrument track is added to the project, containing an instance of the corre - sponding instrument. For some VST presets, this will load the entire instrument settings, programs, etc. For others, only one program will be loaded, see “Applying instrument presets” on page 329. When you double-click on a pattern bank, a new MIDI track is created in the Project window, with an instance of the Beat Designer plug-in as insert effect which is using this pattern. Managing files in the Results list •You can move/copy a file from the Results list to an- other location by clicking on it and dragging it to another folder in the Define Locations section. You will be asked whether you want to copy or move the file to the new location. •You can change the display order in the Results list by clicking on a column heading, and dragging that heading to another position in the display. •To delete a file, right-click it in the list and select Delete from the context menu. A warning message is displayed, asking you to confirm that you really want to move this file to the operating system’s trash folder. The data you delete here will be permanently deleted from your computer, therefore be sure to delete only the files you do not want to use any more. Previewing files When you have sufficiently narrowed down the list of files, you will want to preview individual files to find out which one to use in your project. This is done in the Previewer section. Note that some MediaBay-specific Preferences affect the playback of media files, see “Preferences” on page 327. With this setting, only files with a rating of at least 2 are displayed. When this indicator is shown, a media search is in progress. !When a file was deleted in the Explorer/Finder, it will still be displayed in the Results list, although it is no longer available to the program. To remedy this, you have to re-scan the corresponding folder.
319 The MediaBay The elements visible in this section and their functions depend on the type of media file. Previewing audio files To preview an audio file, click the Play button. What hap- pens next depends on the following settings: •When “Auto Play New Results Selection” is activated, any file you select in the Results list is automatically played back. •When “Align Beats to Project” is activated, the file you selected for preview in the Results list is played back in sync with the project, starting at the project cursor posi - tion. Note that this may apply realtime time stretching to your audio file. When you import an audio file into your project for which “Align Beats to Project” is activated in the Previewer, Musical Mode is automatically ac - tivated for the corresponding track. •When “Wait for Project Play” is activated, the Play and Stop functions from the Transport panel are synchronized with the Play and Stop buttons in the Previewer section. This option is very useful for previewing audio loops. To use it to its full extent, set the left locator at the beginning of a bar, then start playing back the project using the Transport panel. The loops that you now se - lect in the Results list will start together with the project in perfect sync. Play and Stop of the Previewer transport can still be used if needed. Previewing audio track presets Track presets for audio tracks can only be previewed in the Presets browser (see “Loading track or VST presets in the Inspector or the context menu of the track” on page 334). Previewing MIDI files To preview a MIDI file (.mid), you first have to select an output device from the Output pop-up menu. •“Auto Play New Results Selection” and “Align Beats to Project” work as for audio files, see above. Previewing MIDI loops To preview a MIDI loop file, click the Play button. •“Auto Play New Results Selection” works as for audio files, see above. MIDI loops are always played back in sync to the project. Previewing VST presets and track presets for MIDI and instrument tracks Track presets for MIDI or instrument tracks and VST pre- sets require MIDI notes for previewing. These notes can be sent to the track preset in the following way: • Via MIDI Input • Using a MIDI file • Using the Memo Recorder • Via the computer keyboard These methods will be described in the following sections. Previewing presets via MIDI input MIDI input is always active, i. e. when a MIDI keyboard is connected to your computer (and set up properly), you can directly start playing the notes to preview the selected preset. !The Previewer section is not available for video files, project files, and audio track presets. Preview level Transport controlsAuto Play New Results SelectionAlign Beats to Project Wait for Project Play OutputTransport controls Computer key- board inputSequence Mode pop-up menuTransport controlsPreview Level fader
320 The MediaBay Previewing presets using a MIDI file Proceed as follows: 1.On the Sequence Mode pop-up menu, select “Load MIDI File”. 2.In the file dialog that opens, navigate to the desired MIDI file, and click Open. The name of the MIDI file is displayed on the pop-up menu. 3.Click the Play button to the left of the pop-up menu. The notes received from the MIDI file are now played back with the settings of the track preset applied. ÖThe recently used MIDI files are kept on the menu, for quick access. To remove an entry from this list, select it on the menu and then select “Remove MIDI File”. Previewing presets using the Memo Recorder The Memo Recorder function continually repeats a given sequence of notes as a loop. To use the Memo Recorder, proceed as follows: 1.On the Sequence Mode pop-up menu, select Memo Recorder. 2.Enter the notes via the MIDI or computer keyboard. The Play button is automatically activated and you will instantly hear the notes you play with the preset settings applied. •When you stop playing notes and wait for 2 seconds, the note sequence you played until this moment will be played back in a continuous loop. To use another sequence, simply start entering notes again. ÖYou cannot use the Memo Recorder when previewing presets using a MIDI file. Previewing presets via the computer keyboard Proceed as follows: 1.Activate the “Computer Keyboard Input” button. The keyboard display in the Previewer section works in the same way as the Virtual Keyboard, see “The Virtual Key- board” on page 88. 2.Enter the notes via the corresponding keys on the computer keyboard. Previewing pattern banks Pattern banks containing drum patterns can be created with the MIDI plug-in Beat Designer. Detailed information on the Beat Designer and its functions can be found in the chapter “MIDI effects” in the separate PDF document “Plug-in Reference”. One pattern bank contains 4 sub - banks which in turn contain 12 patterns each. In the Pre- viewer section for a pattern bank file, a keyboard-style display allows you to select a subbank (click on a number at the top) and a pattern (click on a key). •To preview a pattern, select the pattern bank in the Re- sults list. In the Previewer section, choose a subbank and pattern. Then click the Play button. Note that subbanks can contain empty patterns. Selecting an empty pat- tern in the Previewer section will have no effect. Patterns containing data are indicated by a circle in the upper part of the key in the display. !When you activate the “Computer Keyboard Input” button, the computer keyboard is used exclusively for the Previewer sections, i. e. the usual key commands are blocked. The only exceptions are: [Ctrl]/[Command]-[S] (Save), Num [*] (Start/Stop Record), [Space] (Start/Stop Playback), Num [1] (Jump to left locator), [Delete] or [Backspace] (Delete), Num [/] (Cycle on/off), and [F2] (Show/ Hide Transport panel). Transport controlsPreview levelAuto Play New Results Selection