Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual

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Markers
Markers are used to locate certain positions quickly. There are two types of markers: 
position markers and cycle markers.
If you often find yourself jumping to a specific position within a project, you should 
insert a marker at this position. You can also use markers to make range selections 
or for zooming.
Markers are located on the marker track.
Position Markers
Position markers allow you to save a specific position.
Position markers on the marker track are shown as marker events: vertical lines with 
the marker description (if assigned) and number beside it. If you select a marker 
track, all its markers are shown in the Inspector.
Cycle Markers
By creating cycle markers you can save any number of left and right locator 
positions as start and end positions of a range and recall them by double-clicking 
on the corresponding marker.
Cycle markers are shown on marker tracks as two markers bridged by a horizontal 
line. Cycle markers are ideal for storing sections of a project.
By defining cycle markers for sections of a song, e. g. “Intro”, “Verse”, and “Chorus”, 
you can quickly navigate to the song sections and repeat the section by activating 
the Cycle button on the Transport panel. 
						

							Markers
Cycle Markers
282
Setting the Locators Using Cycle Markers
Cycle markers represent ranges in your project. You can use them for moving the 
left and right locators.
PROCEDURE
• To set the left locator to the cycle marker start and the right locator to the 
cycle marker end, perform one of the following actions:
• Double-click on a cycle marker.
• From the Cycle pop-up menu in the track list, select a cycle marker.
RESULT 
The left and right locators are moved to encompass the cycle marker.
AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK 
Now you can move the project cursor position to the start or the end of the cycle 
marker by moving it to the corresponding locator or use cycle markers to export 
specific ranges of your project with the Export Audio Mixdown dialog.
Editing Cycle Markers
When editing cycle markers on the marker track, snap is taken into account.
• To add a cycle marker, press [Ctrl]/[Command] click and drag on the marker 
track.
• To change the start/end position of a cycle marker, drag the start/end handle.
• To move a cycle marker to another position, drag the upper border.
• To delete a cycle marker, click with the Erase tool. 
If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] when you click, all consecutive markers are 
deleted.
• To trim a cycle marker, select a range in the cycle marker and press 
[Ctrl]/[Command]-[X].
• To set the marker start/end of the selected cycle marker to the cursor position, 
select Project > Markers to open the Markers window, and select 
Functions > Set marker start/end to cursor.
• To create a selection range spanning all tracks in the project, double-click a 
cycle marker.
• To set the left and right locators, double-click a cycle marker.
• To zoom in on a cycle marker, press [Alt]/[Option] and double-click the cycle 
marker. 
						

							Markers
Markers Window
283
Markers Window
In the Markers window you can view and edit markers. The markers on the marker 
track are displayed in the marker list in the order in which they occur in the project.
To open the Markers window, you have the following possibilities:
•Select Project > Markers.
• On the Transport panel in the marker section, click Show.
• Use a key command (by default [Ctrl]/[Command]-[M]).
1)Locate arrow
Indicates which marker is at the project cursor position.
2)Functions menu
Lists all functions available in the Marker window.
3)Marker type
Allows you to specify which marker type is shown in the marker list.
4)Auto-Scroll with Project Cursor
Allows you to keep track of the locate arrow, even if your project contains a 
large number of markers. When this option is activated, the Marker window 
is automatically scrolled to keep the locate arrow visible.
5)Markers list
Shows the markers in the order in which they occur in the project.
6)Marker Preferences
 Shows the marker preferences. 
						

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Markers Window
284
Editing in the Markers Window
In the Markers window you can select, edit, add, move, and remove markers.
• To select a marker, click on it.
• To edit a selected marker, click on it.
Select multiple markers by [Shift] or [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking them.
• To add a position marker at the cursor position, select Functions > Insert 
Marker.
A position marker is added at the current project cursor position on the marker 
track.
• To add a cycle marker at the cursor position, select Functions > Insert Cycle 
Marker.
This adds a cycle marker between the left and right locators on the marker 
track.
• To move a marker to the cursor position, select the marker and select 
Functions > Move Markers to Cursor.
You can also enter the new position numerically in the Position column. If a 
cycle marker is selected, the move operation affects the cycle marker start 
position.
• To remove a marker, select it and select Functions > Remove Marker.
Navigating in the Marker List
You can navigate in the marker list using your computer keyboard and select entries 
by pressing [Enter]. This is a quick and eas y  w a y  t o  j u m p  t o  m arkers during playback 
or recording.
• To move to the previous/next marker in the list, press [Up Arrow]/[Down 
Arrow].
• To jump to the first/last marker, press [Page Up]/[Page Down].
Sorting and Reordering the Marker List
You can customize the display of the marker attributes in the marker list by sorting 
or reordering the columns.
• To sort the marker list by a specific attribute, click on the corresponding 
column header.
• To reorder the marker attributes, drag and drop the corresponding column 
headers. 
						

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Markers Window
285
• To adjust the width of a column, place the mouse pointer between two column 
headers and drag left or right.
NOTE
No matter by which attribute you sort, the second sort criterion will always be the 
position attribute.
Marker Preferences
You can access the marker preferences by clicking the corresponding button in the 
bottom left corner of the Markers window.
Cycle follows when locating to Markers
This sets the left and right locators automatically to a position or cycle marker, 
when locating to this marker. This is useful if you need to set the locators on 
the fly, e.
 g. during recording for Punch In/Punch Out.
Show marker IDs on marker track
When this option is activated, the marker IDs are shown on the marker track.
Sync Selection
When this option is activated, the Markers window selection is linked to the 
selection in the Project window.
Marker Attributes
The following marker attributes are shown in the marker list of the Marker window:
Locate
An arrow indicates which marker is at the project cursor position (or closest 
to the project cursor). If you click in this column, the project cursor is moved 
to the corresponding marker position. This column cannot be hidden.
ID
This column shows the marker ID numbers.
Position
In this column you can view and edit the markers’ time positions (or start 
positions for cycle markers). This column cannot be hidden.
End
In this column you can view and edit the end positions of cycle markers. 
						

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Markers Window
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Length
In this column you can view and edit the length of cycle markers.
Description
Here you can enter names or descriptions for markers.
RELATED LINKS
Marker IDs on page 287
Cycle Markers on page 281
Editing Attributes
• To edit a marker attribute, select the corresponding marker, click in the 
desired attribute column, and make your settings.
• To change the attributes of several markers, select the markers and click the 
checkbox for the desired attribute.
All selected markers will change their attributes accordingly. Note that this 
does not work when clicking on a timecode value or a text field.
NOTE
To navigate in the list of marker attributes, you can also use the [Tab] key and the 
arrow keys.
Sorting and Reordering Columns
You can customize the display of the marker attributes in the marker list by sorting 
or reordering the columns.
• To sort the marker list by a specific attribute, click on the corresponding 
column header.
NOTE
No matter by which attribute you sort, the second sort criterion will always be 
the position attribute.
• To reorder the marker attributes, drag and drop the corresponding column 
headers.
• To adjust the width of a column, place the mouse pointer between two column 
headers and drag left or right. 
						

							Markers
Marker Track
287
Marker IDs
Each time you add a marker, it is automatically and sequentially assigned an ID 
number, starting from 1.
IDs for cycle markers are shown in brackets and start from [1]. ID numbers can be 
changed at any time – this allows you to assign specific markers to key commands.
NOTE
I f  y o u  m o v e  a m a r k e r  fr o m  o n e  m ar k e r  t r ac k  to  a n o t h e r  b y  d r ag  &  d r o p  i n  th e  Project 
window and the marker ID is already used on this track, the inserted marker 
automatically gets a new ID.
Reassigning Marker IDs
Sometimes, especially when setting markers on the fly, you may forget or miss to set a 
marker. When added later, this marker’s ID will not correspond to its position on the 
marker track. Therefore, it is possible to reassign the IDs for all markers on a track.
PROCEDURE
1. Open the Markers window.
2. Open the Functions pop-up menu and select either Reassign Position 
Marker IDs or Reassign Cycle Marker IDs.
RESULT 
The marker IDs of the selected type are reassigned to match the order of markers 
on the marker track.
Marker Track
The marker track is used for adding and editing markers.
1)Add Marker
Adds a position marker at the cursor position.
2)Add Cycle Marker
Adds a cycle marker at the cursor position.
3)Locate pop-up menu
If you select a position or a cycle marker in this pop-up menu, the corresponding 
marker in the event display or in the Markers window is selected. 
						

							Markers
Marker Track288
4)Cycle pop-up menu
If you select a cycle marker in this pop-up menu, the left and right locators are 
se
 t to the corresponding cycle marker.
5) Zoom p
 op-up menu
If you select a cycle marker in this pop-up menu, the view zooms to the 
corr
 esponding cycle marker.
6) Lock
Locks the marker track. When a marker track is locked, you cannot edit the 
tra
 ck and its markers. 
7) T
oggle Time Base
Sets the track time base.
8) Marke
 r event (inactive)
Shows an inactive marker event.
9) Marke
 r event (active)
Shows an active marker event.
10) Cycle marker event 
 (inactive)
Shows an inactive cycle marker event.
11) Cycle marker event 
 (active)
Shows an active cycle marker event.
Adding, Moving, and Removing the Marker Track
• To add the marker track to the project, select  Project > Add Track > Marker.
• To move the marker track to another position in the track list, click and drag it  up or dow
 n.
• To remove the marker track, right-click it in the track list and select  Remo
 ve 
Selected Tracks .
• To remove an empty ma rker trac
 k, select Project > Remove Empty Tracks .
This also removes any other tracks that are empty.
Editing Markers on the Marker Track
• To add a position marker, click  Add Marker  or use the Draw tool.
• To add a cycle marker, click  Add Cy
 cle Marker  or use the Draw tool.
• To select a marker, use the standard techniques.
• To resize a cycle marker, select it and drag the handles. You can also do this  n
 umerically on the info line. 
						

							Markers
Importing and Exporting Markers
289
• To move a marker, select it and drag it. You can also edit marker positions on 
the info line.
• To remove a marker, select it and press [Delete] or use the Erase tool.
Using Markers to Select Ranges
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.
PROCEDURE
1. Set markers at the start and end of the section that you want to move or copy.
2. Select the Range Selection tool and double-click on the marker track 
between the markers.
Everything in the project within the marker boundaries is selected. Any functions or 
processing you perform now affect the selection only.
3. Click on the marker track in the selected range and drag the range to a new 
position.
If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] while you drag the range, the selection in the Project 
window is copied instead.
Importing and Exporting Markers
Markers and marker tracks can be imported and exported.
The following files can contain markers:
• MIDI files
• Track archives (Cubase Pro only)
Importing Markers via MIDI
You can import position markers by importing MIDI files containing markers. This is 
useful if you want to use your marker tracks in other projects or if you want to share 
them with other Cubase users. Any markers you have added are included in the 
MIDI file as standard MIDI file marker events.
•Select File > Preferences > MIDI > MIDI File and make sure Import 
Markers is activated.
The following settings are imported:
• The start position of position markers and cycle markers
RELATED LINKS
Importing MIDI files on page 1023 
						

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Importing and Exporting Markers
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Exporting Markers via MIDI
You can export your markers as part of a MIDI file.
• To include any markers in the MIDI file, activate Export Markers in the Export 
Options dialog.
The following settings are exported:
• The start position of position markers and cycle markers.
NOTE
To be able to export markers via MIDI export, your project must contain a marker 
track.
RELATED LINKS
Exporting MIDI files on page 1021
Importing Markers as Part of a Track Archive (Cubase Pro only)
You can import position markers and cycle markers by importing track archives 
containing a marker track.
The following settings are imported:
• The start and end positions of cycle markers
• The marker IDs
RELATED LINKS
Importing tracks from a track archive on page 1026
Exporting Markers as Part of a Track Archive (Cubase Pro only)
If you want to use your marker track in other projects, for example to share it with 
other users, you can export it as part of a track archive. To do so, select the marker 
track that you want to export. Then select File > Export > Selected Tracks.
The following settings are exported:
• The start and end positions of cycle markers
• The marker IDs
RELATED LINKS
Exporting tracks as track archives on page 1026