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Steinberg Nuendo 4 Operation Manual

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    Control Room 
    						
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    Control Room
    Background
    Large console Monitoring sections
    In traditional analog studios, the audio console maintained 
    control over every audio signal in the studio, including the 
    control room monitors, headphone systems, external 2-
    track tape machines and communications such as the talk-
    back system.
    The console itself provided a means of creating multiple 
    cue mixes for performers in the studio. Using available aux 
    sends, the engineer could create multiple cue mixes for 
    the various performers, each one having a unique mix tai-
    lored for that person or group of performers.
    With the advent of the DAW, many of the functions of the 
    console started being performed inside the audio soft-
    ware, allowing for more flexibility and instant recall of any 
    setting. In many studios, the console sat idle except for 
    adjusting the playback level of the speakers, switching to 
    monitor external devices and routing signals to head-
    phones and other cue mix playback systems.
    Smaller hardware units have been made to replace the 
    monitoring section using a simple volume knob with 
    speaker and input switches. Some even include a talkback 
    system and headphone amplifiers.
    Surround sound
    With more and more surround recording and mixing being 
    performed in the DAW environment, the needs of the mon-
    itoring section have become magnified. Surround speaker 
    setups must be able to work with smaller, stereo speakers 
    and even mono speaker systems. Switching back and forth 
    between them can become quite complicated. Also, the 
    ability to perform downmixes of multi-channel audio is now 
    needed on a regular basis for many audio professionals. 
    Virtual Control Room solution
    Nuendo has now added the functionality of the control 
    room monitoring section of large format analog consoles to 
    the virtual audio environment of VST with the creation of the 
    Control Room Mixer and Control Room Overview windows.
    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. 
    Nuendo now provides all the functionality of the analog 
    console’s monitoring section, along with many more fea-
    tures, in the virtual world where flexibility and instant recall 
    are expected.
    Control Room features
    The following features are available for the Control Room 
    Mixer:
     Support for up to four sets of monitors with various speaker 
    configurations from mono up to 10.2 cinema speaker systems.
     Dedicated Headphone output.
     Support for up to four discrete cue mix outputs called “Studios”.
     Dedicated Talkback channel with flexible routing and automatic 
    record defeat.
     Support for up to six external inputs with configurations up to 
    10.2 surround.
     Click track routing and level control to all Control Room out-
    puts.
     Flexible Listen Bus options with the Listen Dim setting that 
    allows Listen-enabled tracks to be heard in context with the 
    whole mix.
     Listen Bus Enabling on both Control Room and Headphone 
    outputs.
     User-definable downmix settings using the MixConvert plug-in 
    for all speaker configurations.
     Individual speaker soloing for all speaker configurations.
     Multiple inserts on each Control Room channel for metering 
    and surround de-coding among other possibilities.
     Monitor Dim function with adjustable level.
     User-defined Calibrated Monitor level for post-production 
    mixing in a calibrated environment.
    !Please note that when we speak of “the Mixer” in this 
    chapter we refer to the Control Room Mixer window. 
    The normal Nuendo Mixer is referred to as the 
    “Project Mixer”. For information about the Project 
    mixer, see the chapter “The mixer” on page 122. 
    						
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    Control Room
     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.
    Configuring the Control Room
    The Control Room features are configured in several loca-
    tions within Nuendo. 
     The VST Connections window has a tab labelled “Studio” in 
    which the hardware inputs and output are defined for the 
    Control Room channels.
     In the Devices menu you will find the Control Room Overview 
    that displays a visual overview of the Control Room channels 
    and signal flow.
     In the Devices menu you will find the Control Room Mixer 
    which allows operation of the Control Room features.
     In the Preferences (VST–Control Room page) you will find 
    some settings for altering the Control Room preferences.
    VST Connections Studio tab
    The Studio tab of the VST Connections window is where 
    you configure the inputs and outputs for the Control Room 
    Mixer. For more information, see the chapter “VST Connec-
    tions: Setting up input and output busses” on page 10.
    Control Room channels
    There are five types of channels that you can create, each 
    defining either an input or output of the Control Room 
    Mixer. As more channels are created, the Control Room 
    Mixer expands to display controls for each channel.
     Monitors
    Each Monitor channel is a set of outputs that are connected to monitor 
    speakers in the Control Room. Each Monitor can be configured for a 
    mono, stereo or up to a 10.2 surround speaker configuration. Up to four 
    Monitors can be created, each with a different speaker configuration.
     Phones
    The Phones channel is used by the engineer in the control room for 
    checking cue mixes and as another option for listening to the mix or ex-
    ternal inputs on a pair of headphones. It is not intended for cue mixes that 
    performers use while recording. Only one stereo Headphone channel is 
    available.
    
    Studio channels are intended for sending cue mixes to performers in the 
    studio during recording. They have talkback and click functions and can 
    monitor the main mix, external inputs or a dedicated cue mix. Up to four 
    Studios can be created allowing four discrete cue mixes for performers.
     External inputs
    External inputs are for monitoring external devices such as CD players, 
    multi-channel recorders or any other audio source. Up to six external in-
    puts can be created with various configurations from mono up to 10.2 
    surround.
     Talkback
    The Talkback is a mono input used for a communications system be-
    tween the control room and performers in the studio. Only one mono 
    Talkback channel is available.
    Control Room channels cannot share hardware inputs or 
    outputs with external FX or external instruments, as de-
    fined in the VST Connections window (see “Connecting 
    the external effect/instrument” on page 18). As you create 
    connections for each channel, only those device ports that 
    have not been used for external FX or instruments will be 
    available. However, Control Room channels and inputs 
    and outputs can share the same device ports. 
    A great deal of confusion can result if outputs and Control 
    Room Monitor channels share the same device ports. As a 
    starting point, set all the outputs to “Not Assigned” while 
    the Control Room is set up. By default, one stereo Monitor 
    channel is created after installing Nuendo.
    !The Control Room Mixer is designed to display infor-
    mation and controls only for the channels you have 
    defined in the VST Connections dialog. For example, 
    if you have not defined any Studio channels, they will 
    not appear in the Control Room Mixer. The Control 
    Room Overview displays all the possible channels 
    but only highlights the ones that have been defined. 
    To see all the available controls in the Control Room 
    Mixer, start by creating the maximum amount of 
    channels in the VST Connections Studio tab. 
    						
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    Control Room
    Creating a Control Room channel
    To create a new channel, click on the Add Channel button 
    in the Studio tab of the VST Connections window. A pop-
    up 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.). 
    The Studio tab of the VST Connections window with several Control 
    Room Channels created
    After clicking OK, the new channel will appear in the VST 
    Connections window. You can now connect it to any 
    available device port using the “+” buttons and the con-
    text menu in the Device Port column. An audio device 
    must be selected and then a device port must be chosen 
    for each audio path. You assign device ports to channels 
    in the same fashion as assigning any VST connection.
    Monitors
    Create a Monitor channel for every set of speakers in your 
    studio. A typical post-production studio could have one 
    set of 5.1 surround speakers, another stereo set of speak-
    ers and even a single, mono speaker for checking bal-
    ances for mono broadcast. The Control Room Mixer will 
    allow you to switch speakers easily. Each set of Monitors 
    can have its own custom downmix settings, input gain and 
    input phase adjustments.
    Phones
    Create a Phones channel if you intend to listen to head-
    phones in the control room. The Phones channel is not in-
    tended for use by performers in the studio. It is designed 
    for the engineer to quickly listen to any source in the stu-
    dio, including the four cue mixes, as a reference.
    Studios
    Create a Studio channel for each cue mix you wish to cre-
    ate for performers in the studio. For example, if you have 
    two available headphone amplifiers for performers to use, 
    create two Studio channels, one for each headphone mix. 
    There are four available Studio channels. 
    External inputs
    Create external input channels for every playback device 
    you wish to be able to monitor in the Control Room. There 
    are six available external inputs with channel configura-
    tions from mono up to 10.2 surround. Use external inputs 
    to quickly listen to CD players, master recorders, or other 
    workstations. 
    Talkback
    Create a Talkback channel if you have a microphone in the 
    control room available for communication with performers in 
    the studio. The Talkback channel can be routed to each 
    Studio channel with variable levels in order to optimize 
    communications between the control room and performers.
    Additionally, the Talkback is available as a possible input 
    source for audio tracks. You can record from the Talkback 
    just like any other input.
    !If you are adding the Talkback or Phones channels, 
    there are no channel configuration choices since Talk-
    back is mono only and Phones are stereo only. Also, 
    Studio channels can either be mono or stereo only.
    !Control Room channels can share device ports with 
    each other. This can be helpful if you use the same 
    speakers as a stereo pair and also as the left and 
    right channels of a surround speaker configuration. 
    Switching between monitors that share device ports 
    will be seamless, providing any downmix of multi-
    channel audio to stereo if needed. Only one monitor 
    set can be active at a time.
    !The Phones channel is stereo only.
    !Studio channels can either be mono or stereo.
    !If you select external inputs as input source of an au-
    dio channel, you can record them. In this case, you 
    will not need to assign the device ports to the input 
    channel (see “Routing” on page 14).
    !Inserts are available on the Talkback and all other 
    Control Room channels. A compressor/limiter can 
    be inserted on the Talkback channel to ensure that 
    erratic levels do not bother performers and clear 
    communication with everyone is possible. 
    						
    							155
    Control Room
    Disabling the Control Room
    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.
    You can also create presets for the Control Room config-
    uration in the same manner as for inputs and outputs, see 
    “Other bus operations” on page 14. 
    Outputs – Main Mix
    For the Control Room to function correctly, the Main Mix in 
    the Outputs tab must be assigned to the set of outputs that 
    actually contains your final mix signal. If you only have one 
    output bus, it will be the Main Mix by default.
    If you have more than one output bus defined, you can 
    change which one is the Main Mix by right-clicking on the 
    name of the output and selecting “Set “Out” as Main Mix”. 
    The Main Mix is marked by a small speaker icon to the left 
    of its name.
    The VST Connections Output tab showing one bus as the Main Mix 
    marked by the small speaker icon.
    outputs other than the Main Mix are not routed through the 
    Control Room Mixer. They can, however, share the device 
    ports of Studio and Monitor channels in the Control Room. 
    Output click enabling
    There may be a situation when you want the click to be 
    routed always to a specific output bus, regardless of the 
    actual Control Room settings, or indeed when the Control 
    Room is disabled. In these cases, enable the click on spe-
    cific outputs using the Click column on the Outputs tab in 
    the VST Connections window.
    The Output tab showing two stereo outputs, the Main Mix and a second 
    output that is click enabled.   
    !If you disable the Control Room, make sure that 
    there are device ports assigned to the default output 
    bus “Main Mix” on the outputs tab. Otherwise, you 
    will not hear any sound from the Main Mix. 
    !The click will only be heard in outputs that are as-
    signed to device ports. Be aware that the click can 
    also be routed to device ports using the Control 
    Room features. 
    !Sharing audio device ports between outputs and 
    Control Room channels can cause confusing behav-
    ior and possible overload of those ports without any 
    indication from Nuendo. It is advisable to disconnect 
    all outputs from all device ports when first configur-
    ing the Control Room. 
    !Be aware that some audio interfaces allow very flexi-
    ble routing within the hardware itself. Certain routing 
    configurations could cause overloads and possible 
    damage to speaker equipment. Consult the hard-
    ware documentation for further information. 
    						
    							156
    Control Room
    The Control Room Overview
    You can access the Control Room Overview from the De-
    vices 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 Con-
    nections window. Channels that are grayed out have not 
    been defined in the VST Connections window.
    The Control Room Overview allows you to see the signal 
    flow through the Control Room Mixer. All the routing func-
    tions of the Control Room Mixer are duplicated in the 
    Overview.
    The Control Room Overview
    Open the Control Room Mixer and the Control Room Over-
    view windows side by side. As you operate the controls in 
    the Mixer you will see the various pale green squares light 
    up in the Overview, indicating changes in signal flow. You 
    can also click the squares in the Overview and watch the 
    controls in the Mixer reflect the changes in signal flow.
    The Control Room Mixer
    The Control Room Mixer is where you access all the fea-
    tures of the Control Room. The Control Room Mixer can 
    be resized to accommodate more channels and to display 
    more controls. When you open the window for the first 
    time, it will show none of the extendable panels.
    The Control Room Mixer
    Configuring the Control Room Mixer
    In order to display more controls in the Control Room 
    Mixer, the small arrows at the lower left and right corners 
    can be clicked to open or close the extended speaker 
    controls on the right (“Right Strip”) and the External Input 
    and Talkback controls on the left (“Left Strip”).
    The arrow at the upper right corner of the Control Room 
    Mixer extends the Mixer vertically to display meters and in-
    serts (“Extended view”). A second arrow appears above 
    the inserts and meter display. Extending the Mixer using 
    this arrow exposes the Input Gain and Input Phase switch, 
    channel configuration and name for each channel (“Rout-
    ing view”).  
    						
    							157
    Control Room
    The different Control Room Mixer panels are handled in 
    the same way as the Project Mixer panels, see “Configu-
    ring the mixer” on page 126.
    Control Room inserts and meters
    When the Control Room Mixer displays the Extended 
    View, the meters become visible. These meters look and 
    function the same way as the ones in the Project Mixer.
    Pressing the small meter icon at the center right side of 
    the mixer will change the view to display inserts. Alterna-
    tively, these can also be displayed by deactivating the 
    Show Meters option on the Window submenu of the Con-
    trol Room Mixer context menu.Each Control Room channel has a set of inserts config-
    ured as six pre-fader and two post-fader inserts. External 
    inputs and Monitor channels only have the six pre-fader in-
    serts.
    The Control Room Mixer’s Extended View displaying channel inserts
    If you do not wish to see full sized meters but still want 
    some indication of signal activity, activate the option “Sig-
    nal Presence Indicators” in the Preferences (VST–Control 
    Room page). They will be displayed next to the input se-
    lection buttons and will indicate signal presence for all in-
    puts.
    The Control Room Mixer with all Signal Presence indicators lit up.
    Inserts for external inputs
    Each external input has its own set of six inserts. Selecting 
    each external input by clicking the button next to its name 
    at the left of the Mixer window will display the inserts as-
    sociated with that channel in the extended view.
    !You can also use the Window submenu on the Con-
    trol Room Mixer context menu to show/hide the dif-
    ferent panels, just as in the Project Mixer. 
    						
    							158
    Control Room
    Inserts for the Talkback channel
    The Talkback channel has a separate set of eight inserts. 
    In order to view and adjust them, the Talkback must be en-
    abled 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.
    Monitor Inserts
    Each Monitor channel has a set of six inserts. These in-
    serts are all post Control Room fader level and are most 
    useful for surround decoding or brickwall limiting to pro-
    tect sensitive monitor speakers.
    Each set of monitors has its own Input Phase and Input 
    Gain settings available in the top section of the extended 
    Control Room Mixer. In addition, there are speaker solo 
    icons along with various soloing modes and speaker rout-
    ing options in the Speaker Solo panel.
    The Speaker Solo panel
    ÖUse the speaker solos to test your multichannel speaker 
    system and ensure that the proper channels are routed to 
    each speaker.
    Just below the configuration display, all settings for auto-
    matic downmixing of multichannel sources are shown. 
    There are four down-mix presets. Some will automatically 
    configure themselves for the sets of monitors you have 
    defined. Each preset is adjustable by accessing the Mix-
    Convert plug-in by clicking the small arrow icon above the 
    downmix presets section.
    The Down-Mix Presets section.
    Control Room operations
    In traditional analog studios, the control room section of 
    the console contained the most used set of controls in the 
    whole studio. Often, the studio monitor level had all the 
    markings rubbed off from so much use.
    The need to constantly be able to switch monitoring 
    sources, adjust the volume of monitors and route various 
    cue mixes and other sources to headphone systems is the 
    norm in most sessions. Meeting the needs of several per-
    formers in the studio plus a producer and the engineer be-
    comes a constant task that requires flexibility and ease of 
    operation. Communication between everyone must be 
    flawlessly clear without intruding on the creativity of per-
    formers.
    With all this in mind, the Nuendo Control Room Mixer is 
    designed to fill those needs with a simple yet highly flexi-
    ble solution. The virtual mixing environment of VST is the 
    ideal solution to the varied needs of a control room matrix. 
    With a virtual mixer, a high degree of customization and 
    precise settings are possible with the ability to completely 
    recall these settings at any time.
    !You can easily identify the inserts for the Talkback 
    since they have six pre-fader and two post-fader in-
    serts while the external inputs only have six pre-fader 
    inserts. If the Control Room Mixer is fully expanded, 
    the name displayed at the very top of the Mixer will re-
    flect which channel is currently in the Extended View.
    !Automatic configuration of the downmix settings fol-
    lows a logical path. For example, if you have defined 
    one set of 5.1 monitors and another set of stereo 
    monitors, Nuendo will create a 5.1 to stereo down-
    mix preset and another downmix to mono. You can 
    modify all the settings for each downmix preset using 
    the MixConvert plug-in.
    Click here to open the 
    MixConvert control panel. 
    						
    							159
    Control Room
    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 dia-
    grams show every control, followed by a brief description 
    of what each control does.
    1.
    2.3.4. 5. 6.
    7.
    8.
    9.
    6.
    11.
    10.
    12.
    13.
    14.
    15.
    6.
    16. 17.18.19.20.21. 22.6.
    23. 24. 25.
    26.
    27.
    28.
    29. 
    						
    							160
    Control Room
    1.Input Phase
    Each external input and Monitor speaker output has an Input Phase re-
    versal switch. When lit, all audio paths within the channel will have their 
    phase reversed.
    2.Input Gain
    Each external input, Monitor speaker output and the Talkback input has 
    an Input Gain control. When an external input or Monitor becomes ac-
    tive, the Gain settings will be recalled.
    3.Channel Inserts
    Each channel in the Control Room Mixer has inserts available. While most 
    channels have six pre-fader and two post-fader inserts, the external inputs 
    and Monitors only have six pre-fader inserts.
    4.Channel Configuration
    This displays the current configuration of audio paths in the channel, e. g. 
    Stereo, 5.1, etc.
    5.Channel Labels
    This displays the name of the channel as defined in the VST Connec-
    tions.
    6.Expansion controls
    There are several arrow buttons that open and close various panels of 
    the Control Room Mixer. By default, all expandable panels are hidden.
    7.Use Reference Level
    When you click this button, the Control Room Level is set to the refer-
    ence level set in the Preferences, e. g. a level for calibrated mixing envi-
    ronments such as film dubbing stages. Press [Alt]/[Option] and click on 
    this button to set the Preferences reference level setting to the current 
    Control Room level.
    8.Control Room and Headphone Input Selectors
    These buttons allow the selection of various input sources for the Con-
    trol Room and Headphone channels. The choices are for External Input, 
    Main Mix, or any one of the four Studio channels.
    9.Show Meters/Inserts button
    This allows you to switch between the display of Meters and Inserts for 
    the extended Mixer view.
    10.Listen Bus AFL/PFL
    This button determines whether the source signals sent to the Listen bus 
    are pre-fader (PFL) or post-fader (AFL).
    11.Global Listen Defeat
    When lit, this indicates that one or more channels in the Project Mixer are 
    Listen enabled. Clicking on this button defeats Listen mode for all chan-
    nels.
    12.Listen DIM
    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 chan-
    nels in context with the Main Mix. If the Listen DIM is set to minus infinity, 
    Listen enabled channels will be heard by themselves. Any other setting 
    leaves the Main Mix on at a lower level.
    13.DIM Enable
    This turns the Control Room Level down by a preset amount (the default 
    setting is -30 dB). This allows a quick reduction in monitor volume with-
    out disturbing the current monitor level. Clicking on the DIM button again 
    returns the monitor level to the previous setting.
    14.Talkback Enable
    Click the Talk button to turn on the Talkback system, allowing communi-
    cation between the control room and performers in the studio. There are 
    two modes of operation: momentary mode used by clicking and holding 
    the Talk button, and latch mode where clicking once turns the Talkback 
    on until you click it again to turn it off.
    15.Talkback DIM Level
    When the Talkback is enabled, this control allows you to determine how 
    much the output of all the channels in the Control Room Mixer is re-
    duced. This prevents unwanted feedback. If the Talkback DIM level is set 
    to 0dB, no change will occur in the Control Room channels.
    16.Cycle Down-Mix Preset Selection
    The Control Room allows four different Speaker down-mix settings for 
    auditioning with various speaker configurations. Clicking this button cy-
    cles through the four down-mix presets. Various icons appear to show 
    which preset is active.
    17.Cycle Monitor Selection
    Pressing this button changes the Monitor selection to the next available 
    set. As Monitors are changed, so are the down-mix presets, Monitor in-
    serts, Input Gain and Input Phase controls associated with that Monitor 
    set.
    18.Listen Bus Enable
    This turns on Listen bus functions for either the Control Room or Head-
    phone outputs. If this is not enabled, the Listen bus will not be routed to 
    that channel.
    19.Listen Bus Gain
    This level adjustment determines how loud Listen bus signals are when 
    routed to the Control Room or Headphone outputs. Clicking on the num-
    ber pops up a fader control for adjustment.
    20.Studio Input Selectors
    For Studio Channels, the input choices are External Input, Aux (from Studio 
    Sends) or Main Mix.
    21.Activate Channel Buttons
    These buttons turn each channel’s output on or off. When lit, the channel 
    is on. 
    						
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