Steinberg Cubase Le 8 Manual
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VST Instruments Import and Export Options 381 Exporting Instrument Tracks as MIDI File You can export instrument tracks as standard MIDI files. NOTE As there is no MIDI patch information in an instrument track, this information is missing in the resulting MIDI file. NOTE If you activate Export Inspector Volume/Pan, volume and pan information of the VST instrument are converted and written into the MIDI file as controller data. RELATED LINKS Exporting MIDI files on page 622
382 Installing and Managing Plug-ins Installing VST plug-ins Cubase supports the VST 2 and VST 3 plug-in standards. You can install effects and instruments that comply with these formats. A plug-in is a piece of software that adds a specific functionality to Cubase. The audio effects and instruments that are used in Cubase are VST plug-ins. NOTE If an effect or instrument plug-in has its own installation application, you should use this. Dragging an already installed plug-in to a different location may lead to problems. As a general rule, always read the documentation or readme files before installing new plug-ins. Cubase comes with a number of effect plug-ins included. These effects and their parameters are described in the separate PDF document Plug-in Reference. Installing VST 3 Plug-ins on Mac OS X Systems To install a VST 3.x plug-in on a Mac OS X system, quit Cubase and drag the plug-in file into one of the following folders: • /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ This is only possible if you are the system administrator. Plug-ins that are installed in this folder are available to all users, for all programs that support VST 3. • /Users//Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ is the name you use to log on to the computer. The easiest way to open this folder is to open your Home folder and use the path /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ from there. Plug-ins that are installed in this folder are only available to you. When you scan for newly installed plug-ins, or relaunch Cubase, the new effects appear on the effect selectors. In the VST 3 protocol, the effect category, subfolder structure, etc. are built-in and cannot be changed. Therefore, you find the effects in the corresponding category folders.
Installing and Managing Plug-ins Plug-in Manager 383 Installing VST 2 Plug-ins on Mac OS X Systems To install a VST 2.x plug-in on Mac OS X systems, quit Cubase and drag the plug-in file to one of the following folders: • Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ This is only possible if you are the system administrator. Plug-ins that are installed in this folder are available to all users, for all programs that support VST 2.x. • user name>/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ is the name you use to log on to the computer. The easiest way to open this folder is to go to your Home folder and use the path /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/ from there. Plug-ins that are installed in this folder are only available to you. When you scan for newly installed plug-ins, or relaunch Cubase, the new effects appear on the effect selectors. Installing VST 3 Plug-ins on Windows Systems On Windows systems, VST 3 plug-ins are installed by dragging the files with the extension .vst3 into the VST3 folder in the Cubase application folder. When you scan for newly installed plug-ins, or relaunch Cubase, the new effects appear on the effect selectors. In the VST 3 protocol, the effect category, subfolder structure, etc. are built-in and cannot be changed. Therefore, you find the new effects in the corresponding category folders. Installing VST 2 Plug-ins on Windows Systems On Windows systems, VST 2.x plug-ins are installed by dragging the files with the extension .dll into the Vstplugins folder in the Cubase application folder, or into the Shared VST Plug-ins folder (Windows 32 bit only). When you scan for newly installed plug-ins, or relaunch Cubase, the new effects appear on the effect selectors. Plug-in Manager The Plug-in Manager provides lists of the effects and VST instruments that are installed on your computer. These lists are used in the selectors for VST instruments and effects. The Plug-in Manager allows you to do the following: • You can view lists of all effects and VST instruments that are loaded by Cubase when you launch the program.
Installing and Managing Plug-ins Plug-in Manager 384 The lists of all effects or VST instruments are created automatically every time you start Cubase. You can also initiate a rescan at any time. This ensures that these lists are always up-to-date. • You can create your own lists of effects or instruments for use in the selectors for effects or instruments. User-defined lists are called collections. Collections allow you to create sub-sets of the available effects or instruments, for example, to give you a better overview of the effects used in a project. NOTE If an installed effect or instrument cannot be loaded by Cubase, it does not appear in the list of all effects or instruments. Also, the effect or instrument is grayed out in any collections in which it is included. For example, this can happen if a copy-protection dongle required to run the effect or instrument is missing, or after deinstallation of a plug-in. Plug-in Manager Window You can manage your effects and VST instruments in the Plug-in Manager window. • To open the Plug-in Manager window, select Devices > Plug-in Manager.
Installing and Managing Plug-ins Plug-in Manager385 The Plug-in Manager window shows the following: VST Effects/VST Instruments Open these tabs to see lists of all VS T effects and VST instruments that were loaded by Cubase when you launched the program. Collection list By default, the window section to the right shows the Defa ult collection, which contains all effects or VST instru ments currently loaded by the program. The Default collection cannot be changed. You can compile your own collections of effects or VST instruments by clic king New Collection and dragging and dropping items from the list of all effects or VST instruments to the collection list. Collections are shown in the selectors for effects/VST instruments, and all c hanges made to collections in the Plug-in Manager are immediately reflected in the selectors. Enter the name of a plug-in in the search field. The list of all effects or VST instruments is filtered to show only those plug-ins whose names contain the text that you entered. The Toggle list to show all/show only FX/VSTi not in current collection button allows you to filter the lists of all effects or VST instruments to show either all loaded plug-ins, or only those that are not part of the current collection. The New Folder button allows you to create a new folder in the current collection. The Delete button allows you to delete the selected item in the current collection. The New Collection button allows you to create a new collection. To create a new, empty list, select Em pty. To create a new collection based on the list of all effect, select Add All Plug-ins. To create a new collection based on the current collection, select Add Current Collection. The User Collections drop-down menu allows you to select a different collection, and to rename or delete the current collection. To remove unavailable plug-ins from all collections, select Remove U navailable Plug-ins from All Collections .
Installing and Managing Plug-ins Compiling a New Effects Collection386 The Show Plug-in Information button opens a section at the bottom of the window in which more information about the selected item is shown. If you select several plug-ins, the information for the plug-in that you have selected first is shown. In this section, you can also deactivate selected plug-ins. Deactivated plug-ins are no longer available in collections. This is useful if you have plug-ins installed that you do not want to use in Cubase. The Plug-in Manager Settings button opens a section at the bottom of the window in which all current paths to VST 2 plug-ins are listed. You can add or remove folder locations by usin g the corresponding buttons. Click Rescan All to rescan your computer for plug-ins. R ELATED LINKS Plug-in Manager on page 383 Compiling a New Effects Collection You can create a new collection of effects or VST instruments for use in the plug-in selectors. P REREQUISITE A number of effect plug-ins is correctl y installed on your computer, and these plug-ins are listed on the VST Effects tab of the Plug-in Manager window. PROCEDURE 1. In the Plug-in Manager window, click the New Collection button and do one of the following: • To create a new collection based on the list of all effects, select Add All Plug-ins . • To create a new collection based on the current collection, select Copy Curren t Collection. 2. Enter a name for the new collection and click OK. 3. Drag items from the list of all effects and drop them to the new collection. A blue line indicates the drop position. • Click the New Folder button to create folders and place items directly in them. • You can drag items to new positions within the collection. • Drag items from the collection list to the list of all plug-ins to delete them, or select items and click Delete. RESULT The new collection is saved automatically.
Installing and Managing Plug-ins Compiling a New Effects Collection 387 The procedure is the same for compiling collections of VST instruments. In the plug-in selectors, found, for example, in the Project window > track inspector > Inserts tab, collections are available as tabs at the top of the selector.
388 Remote controlling Cubase It is possible to control Cubase via MIDI. A large number of MIDI control devices is supported. This chapter describes how to set up Cubase for remote control. The supported devices are described in the separate PDF document “Remote Control Devices”. There is also a Generic Remote Device option, allowing you to use any MIDI controller to remote control Cubase. RELATED LINKS The Generic Remote device on page 392 Setting Up Connecting the remote device Connect the MIDI output on the remote unit to a MIDI input on your MIDI interface. Depending on the remote unit model, you may also need to connect a MIDI Out on the interface to a MIDI In on the remote unit (this is necessary if the remote unit features “feedback devices” such as indicators, motorized faders, etc.). If you are recording MIDI tracks, you do not want any MIDI data from the remote unit to be accidentally recorded as well. To avoid this, you should make the following setting: PROCEDURE 1. Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu. 2. Select “MIDI Port Setup” in the list on the left. 3. Check the table on the right and locate the MIDI input to which you have connected the MIDI remote unit. 4. Deactivate the checkbox in the “In ‘All MIDI Inputs’” column for that input, so that the State column reads “Inactive”. 5. Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog.
Remote controlling Cubase Setting Up 389 RESULT Now you have removed the remote unit input from the “All MIDI Inputs” group. This means that you can record MIDI tracks with the “All MIDI Inputs” port selected without risking to record the data from the remote unit at the same time. Selecting a remote device PROCEDURE 1. Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu. 2. If you cannot find the remote device you are looking for, click on the plus sign in the top left corner and select the device from the pop-up menu. The selected device is added to the Devices list. NOTE Note that it is possible to select more than one remote device of the same type. If you have more than one remote device of the same type, these will be numbered in the Devices list. For example, to be able to use a Mackie Control Extender, you must install a second Mackie control device. 3. Select your MIDI control device model from the Devices list. Depending on the selected device, either a list of programmable function commands or a blank panel is shown in the right half of the dialog window. 4. Select the correct MIDI input from the pop-up menu. If necessary, select the correct MIDI output from the pop-up menu. 5. Click OK to close the dialog.
Remote controlling Cubase Operations 390 RESULT You can now use the MIDI control device to move faders and knobs, activate Mute and Solo, etc. The exact parameter configuration depends on which external MIDI control device you are using. A white stripe in the Project window and in the MixConsole indicates which channels are currently linked to the remote control device. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT Sometimes communication between Cubase and a remote device is interrupted or the handshaking protocol fails to create a connection. To re-establish communication with any device in the Devices list, select it and click the Reset button in the lower part of the Device Setup dialog. The