Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual
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261 Automation Hints and further options 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. How to assign key commands is described in detail in the chapter “Key commands” on page 580. About linking and automation •Nuendo allows you to link, in the Mixer window, various parameters between different channels (see “Link/Unlink channels” on page 175). When automating the settings of a channel that is linked to another channel in the Mixer, the parameters of the linked channel will NOT be automated. •Also, in the Channel Settings window, you can make the send’s panorama settings follow the panorama settings displayed in the channel strip (by enabling the “Send Routing Panners follow Channel Panner” option in the Control Strip section, see “Setting pan for the sends” on page 206). For linked panners of sends and channels, automating the channel pan-ner will automate the send routing panner as well. MIDI controller automation Merging automation data When working with Nuendo, it is possible to record auto- mation data for MIDI controllers in two places: as MIDI part data and as data on an automation track. If you have such “conflicting” automation data, you can specify separately for every parameter how these will be combined during playback. This is done by selecting an Automation Merge Mode in the track list for the automa - tion track. The following options are available: ÖThis pop-up menu is only available for controllers that can be recorded both for a part and a track. When the pop-up menu is not available in the track list, the current parameter will not cause any playback conflicts. For a full list of all the parameters with potential automa- tion data conflicts, open the MIDI Controller Automation Setup dialog, see below. The settings you make for a controller are applied to all MIDI tracks that use this controller. Max Punch LogsThis specifies how many log entries are displayed. You can set values from 5 to 100, see also “The Punch Log section” on page 259. Freeze TrimIn this pop-up menu you can specify how to freeze your trim curve. Select “Manually” if you want to freeze your trim curve manually. Select “On Pass End” if you want a freeze to be performed whenever a write operation is finished. Select “On Leaving Trim Mode” if you want the trim data to freeze automatically when the trim mode is switched off (globally or individually for a track). Option Description OptionDescription Use Global SettingsWhen this is selected, the automation track uses the “global” Automation Merge Mode specified in the MIDI Controller Automation Setup dialog, see below. Replace 1 - Part RangeWhen this is selected, the part data has playback prior-ity over the automation track data, i. e. at the left and right part borders, the automation mode switches abruptly from part to track automation, and vice versa. Replace 2 - Last Value ContinuesSimilar to the above, but part automation only begins when the first controller event within the part is reached. At the end of the part, the last controller value will be kept until an automation event is reached on the auto -mation track. AverageWhen this is selected, the average values between part and track automation will be used. ModulationIn this mode, the automation track curve modulates the existing part automation, with higher curve points em-phasizing the automation values and lower curve points reducing the automation values even further.
262 Automation MIDI Controller Automation Setup settings In the MIDI Controller Automation Setup dialog, you can specify how existing MIDI automation is handled on play - back and where new automation data is recorded, in a MIDI part or as track automation. Proceed as follows: 1.On the MIDI menu, select “CC Automation Setup…”. A dialog opens. 2.On the “Record Destination on conflict (global)” pop- up menu, specify the record destination for MIDI controller data. This determines which destination will be used if there is a “conflict”, i. e if MIDI controller data is received by Nuendo and both the Record and the Automation Write buttons are enabled. The following options are available: 3.On the “Automation Merge Mode (global)” pop-up menu, specify the global Automation Merge Mode, i. e. the mode that will be used for all automation tracks with the “Use Global Settings” setting, see above. •In the table in the lower section of the dialog, you can specify the record destination and the Automation Merge Mode separately for all the available MIDI controllers. This gives you full control over the MIDI automation (destina - tion as well as merge mode) in your project. 4.Click in the Record Destination column for a MIDI controller to open the pop-up menu where you can choose where you want recorded data of this particular MIDI Controller to end up. 5.Click in the Automation Merge Mode column for a MIDI controller to specify what will happen with data for this specific controller on playback. All settings you make in this dialog are saved with the project. •When you create a new project, the default settings will be used. To save the current settings as default settings, click the “Save as Default” button. To return to the default settings, click the Load Default button. OptionDescription MIDI PartSelect this to record MIDI part automation. Automation TrackSelect this to record the controller data on an automation track in the Project window.
264 Audio processing and functions Background Audio processing in Nuendo can be called “non-destruc- tive”, 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. This new file contains the processed audio, while the original file is unaf- fected. 2.The processed section of the audio clip (the section corresponding to the event or selection range) then refers to the new, processed audio file. The other sections of the clip will still refer to the original file. •Since all edits are available as separate files, it is possi- ble to undo any processing, at any point and in any order! This is done in the Offline Process History dialog, see “The Offline Pro- cess History dialog” on page 275. •Furthermore, the original, unprocessed audio file can still be used by other clips in the project, by other projects or by other applications. Audio processing Basically, you apply processing by making a selection and selecting a function from the Process submenu of the Au - dio menu. Processing is applied according to the follow- ing rules: •When events are selected in the Project window or the Audio Part Editor, the processing will be applied to these events only. Processing will only affect the clip sections that are referenced by the events. •When an audio clip is selected in the Pool, the process- ing will be applied to the whole clip. •When you have made a selection range, the processing will be applied to this range only. Other sections of the clip are not affected. If you attempt to process an event that is a shared copy (i. e. the event refers to a clip that is used by other events in the project), you are asked whether you want to create a new version of the clip or not. Select “New Version” if you want the processing to affect the selected event only. Select “Continue” if you want the processing to affect all shared copies. ÖIf you activate “Please, don’t ask again”, any further pro- cessing you do will conform to the selected method (“Con- tinue” or “New Version”). You can change this setting at any time by using the “On Processing Shared Clips” pop- up menu in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio page). Also, “Create New Version” will now be displayed as an option in the dialog for the processing function. Common settings and features 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 spe - cific 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 opens. To reveal these, click the “More…” button. To hide the settings, click the button again (now labeled “Less…”).
265 Audio processing and functions The Preview, Process, and Cancel buttons These buttons have the following functionality: Pre/Post-Crossfade Some processing functions allow you to gradually mix the effect in or out. This is done with the Pre/Post-Crossfade parameters. For example, if you activate Pre-Crossfade and specify a value of 1000 ms, the processing is applied grad- ually from the start of selection, reaching full effect 1000 ms after the start. Similarly, if you activate Post-Crossfade, the processing is gradually removed, starting at the specified interval before the end of the selection. Acoustic Stamp The Acoustic Stamp function is a convolution tool, which allows you to apply room characteristics (reverb) to the audio. This is done by processing the audio signal accord - ing to an impulse response – generally a stereo or mono recording of a very short signal (the impulse) in a room or other location. As a result, the processed audio will sound as if it were played in the same location. The dialog contains the following settings: Impulse and Envelope display This display shows the loaded impulse response (in white) and the Envelope (in red). You can zoom in vertically on the impulse response using the slider to the right of the display (this can be useful since impulse responses typi - cally are very weak). Zooming does not affect the pro- cessing in any way. Load Impulse button Clicking the “Load Impulse” button allows you to load an impulse response file from disk. These are ordinary WAV or AIFF audio files, with a maximum duration of 12 sec - onds. The name of the currently loaded impulse response file is shown above the display. •A number of demonstration impulse response files are included in the Nuendo program folder. For proper use of the Acoustic Stamp function, we recommend that you acquire files from a professional impulse response library. Play Impulse button Plays back the currently loaded impulse response. Channel selector If the currently loaded impulse response is a stereo file, this pop-up menu allows you to select whether the left channel, right channel or both (stereo) are used for the convolution process. ButtonDescription PreviewAllows you to listen to the result of the processing with the current settings. Playback will continue repeatedly until you click the button again (the button is labeled “Stop” during Preview playback). You can make adjustments during Pre -view playback, but the changes are not applied until the start of the next “lap”. Some changes may automatically restart the Preview playback from the beginning. ProcessPerforms the processing and closes the dialog. CancelCloses the dialog without processing. !The sum of the Pre-Crossfade and Post-Crossfade times cannot be larger than the length of the selection. !This function requires a lot of processing power, es- pecially when using the Preview function. If you are working with long impulse response files or stereo files, you may find that Preview playback stutters or stops. In that case, it is better to process the mate - rial, listen to the result and modify it in the Offline Process History (see “The Offline Process History dialog” on page 275) if necessary.
266 Audio processing and functions Envelope controls The five sliders below the display are used for setting up the “reverb envelope”, that is, a gain curve modifying how the impulse response is applied over time, and thereby the reverb character. These settings are reflected in the red Envelope display above. The sliders have the following functionality: Filter controls The three sliders to the right allow you to tailor the tonal character of the processed sound. In essence, this is a graphic equalizer with three broad bands: the LPF slider governs the low frequency content, the BPF governs the midrange and the HPF governs the high frequency con - tent. •Setting a slider to 100 % means that the corresponding filter is “fully open”. When all three sliders are set to 100 %, the processed audio is not fil-tered at all. Reset button Sets all parameters in the upper section of the dialog to their default values. Wet/Dry Mix These two sliders allow you to specify the balance between wet (processed) and dry (original) signal in the resulting clip. Normally the two sliders are “reverse-ganged”, so that raising the Wet mix slider lowers the Dry mix slider by the same amount. However, if you press [Alt]/[Option] and drag a slider, you can move it independently. This allows you to set 80 % dry and 80 % wet signal, for example. Be careful to avoid distortion. Tail This parameter allows you to “add space” after the original audio section, to avoid that the reverb tail is cut off. When the checkbox is activated, you can specify a tail length us - ing the slider. The tail time is included when playing back with the Preview function, allowing you to find the appropri - ate tail length. A good value would be the Reverb Length value, displayed in ms to the right of the Reverb Length parameter. Pre and Post-Crossfade See “Pre/Post-Crossfade” on page 265. Envelope The Envelope function allows you to apply a volume enve- lope to the selected audio. The dialog contains the follow- ing settings: Curve Kind buttons These determine whether the envelope curve consists of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline seg - ments (middle button) or linear segments (right button). ParameterDescription First Reflec-tionsA level control for the first section of the reverb (the length of which is set with the next parameter, see below). Usu-ally, this governs the volume of the first reflection(s) of the reverb. First Ref. LengthThis determines the length of the First Reflections section (the level of which is controlled by the previous parame-ter). Set this so that it includes the first reflection in the impulse response (normally about 5 % of the total length). Reverb Att.A level control for the end section of the reverb (the sec-tion after the First Reflections, see above). Reverb LengthGoverns the reverb time, in milliseconds. GainAllows you to adjust the gain of the impulse response. This may be necessary for optimal results, since different im-pulse response files may be recorded at different levels.
267 Audio processing and functions Envelope display Shows the shape of the envelope curve. The resulting waveform shape is shown in dark gray, with the current waveform shape in light gray. You can click on the curve to add points, and click and drag existing points to change the shape. To remove a point from the curve, drag it out - side the display. Presets If you have set up an envelope curve that you may want to apply to other events or clips, you can store it as a preset by clicking the Store button. •To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu. •To rename the selected preset, double-click on the name and enter a new one in the dialog that opens. •To remove a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu and click Remove. Fade In and Fade Out For a description of these functions, see the chapter “Fades, crossfades and envelopes” on page 112. Gain Allows you to change the gain (level) of the selected au- dio. The dialog contains the following settings: Gain This is where you set the desired gain, between -50 and +20 dB. The setting is also indicated below the Gain dis- play as a percentage. Clipping detection text If you use the Preview function before applying the pro- cessing, the text below the slider indicates whether the current settings result in clipping (audio levels above 0 dB). If that is the case, lower the Gain value and use the Preview function again. •If you want to increase the level of the audio as much as possible without causing clipping, use the Normalize func - tion instead (see “Normalize” on page 268). Pre-Crossfade and Post-Crossfade See “Pre/Post-Crossfade” on page 265. Merge Clipboard This function mixes the audio from the clipboard into the audio selected for processing, starting at the beginning of the selection. 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). Pre-Crossfade and Post-Crossfade See “Pre/Post-Crossfade” on page 265. !For this function to be available, you need to have cut or copied a range of audio in the Sample Editor first.
268 Audio processing and functions Noise Gate Scans the audio for sections weaker than a specified threshold level and replaces them with silence. The dialog contains the following settings: Threshold The level below which you want audio to be silenced. Levels below this value will close the gate. Attack Time The time it takes for the gate to open fully after the audio level has exceeded the threshold level. Min. Opening Time This is the shortest time the gate will remain open. If you find that the gate opens and closes too often when pro - cessing material that varies rapidly in level, try raising this value. Release Time The time it takes for the gate to close fully after the audio level has dropped below the threshold level. Linked Channels This is available for stereo audio only. When it is activated, the Noise Gate is opened for both channels as soon as one or both channels exceed the Threshold level. When Linked Channels is deactivated, the Noise Gate works in - dependently for the left and right channel. Dry/Wet mix Allows you to specify a mix ratio between “dry” and pro- cessed sound. Pre-Crossfade and Post-Crossfade See “Pre/Post-Crossfade” on page 265. 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 sub - tracts 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 max - imum, 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. The dialog contains the following settings: Maximum The desired maximum level for the audio, between -50 and 0 dB. The setting is also indicated below the Gain display as a percentage. Pre-Crossfade and Post-Crossfade See “Pre/Post-Crossfade” on page 265. Phase Reverse Reverses the phase of the selected audio, turning the waveform “upside down”. The dialog contains the following settings: Phase Reverse on When processing stereo audio, this pop-up menu allows you to specify which channel(s) are phase-reversed. Pre-Crossfade and Post-Crossfade See “Pre/Post-Crossfade” on page 265.
269 Audio processing and functions Pitch Shift This function allows you to change the pitch of the audio with or without affecting its length. You can also create “harmonies” by specifying several pitches or apply pitch shift based on a user specified envelope curve. When the Transpose tab is selected, the dialog contains the following parameters: Keyboard display This is a graphic overview of the transposition setting. Here, you can specify the transpose interval in semitones. •The root note is indicated in red. This has nothing to do with the actual key or pitch of the original audio, it just provides a way to display transpose intervals. You can change the root note by using the settings in the Pitch Shift Base section, or by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking in the keyboard display. •To specify a transpose interval, click on one of the keys. The key is indicated in blue, and the program plays test tones in the base pitch and transpose pitch to give you an audible confirmation. •If “Multi Shift” is activated (see below), you can click on several keys to create “chords”. Clicking on a blue (activated) key removes it. Pitch Shift settings The “Semitones” and “Fine tune” settings allow you to specify the amount of pitch shift. You can transpose the audio ±16 semitones, and fine tune it by ±200 cents (hundredths of semitones). Volume/Amplitude Allows you to lower the volume of the pitch-shifted sound. Multi Shift When this is activated, you can add several transpose val- ues, creating multi-part harmonies. This is done by adding intervals in the keyboard display (see above). Note that you cannot use the Preview function in Multi Shift mode. •If the intervals you add make up a standard chord, this chord is displayed to the right. Note, however, that to include the base pitch (the original, untransposed sound) in the processed result, you need to click the base key in the key - board display as well, so that it is displayed in blue. Listen Key/Chord button Clicking this button plays a test tone pitched according to the activated interval key on the keyboard display. If “Multi Shift” is activated, this button is called “Listen Chord” and plays all activated intervals as a chord. Pitch Shift Base This allows you to set the root note (the red key in the key- board display). It has nothing to do with the actual pitch, but is an aid for setting up intervals and chords. Pitch Shift Mode This is where you can make settings for the MPEX 4 algorithm. You can choose between 7 quality settings : OptionDescription PreviewThis mode should only be used for preview. Mix FastThis mode is a very fast mode for preview. This works best with composite music signals mono or stereo mate-rial. Solo FastUse this mode for single instruments (monophonic mate-rial) and voice. Solo MusicalSame as above but higher quality. Poly FastUse this for processing monophonic and polyphonic ma-terial. This is the fastest setting that gives still very good results. You can use this for drum loops, mixes, chords. Poly MusicalUse this for processing monophonic and polyphonic ma-terial. This is the recommended MPEX default quality set-ting. You can use this for drum loops, mixes, chords. Poly ComplexThis high quality setting is quite CPU-intensive and should be used only when processing difficult material or for stretch factors above 1.3.
270 Audio processing and functions Formant Mode If you are processing vocal material, activate this option in order to preserve the vocal characteristics of the pitch- shifted audio and to avoid a a “chipmunk voice” effect. Time Correction When this is activated, the pitch shift process will not affect the length of the audio. When this is deactivated, raising the pitch will shorten the audio section and vice versa, much like changing the playback speed on a tape recorder. Using envelope based Pitch Shift When the “Envelope” tab is selected, you can specify an envelope curve on which the pitch shift will be based. This allows you to create pitchbend effects, pitch-shift different sections of the audio by different amounts, etc. Envelope display Shows the shape of the envelope curve over the wave- form 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. •You can click on the curve to add points, and click and drag existing points to change the shape. To remove a point from the curve, drag it outside the display. Curve Kind These buttons determine whether the envelope curve con- sists of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button). Spline curve segment envelope The same envelope with damped spline segments selected The same envelope with linear segments selected Range This parameter determines the vertical pitch range of the envelope. If set to “4”, moving a curve point to the top of the display corresponds to pitch shifting by +4 semitones. The maximum range is +/-16 semitones. Transpose and Fine Tune These parameters allow you to adjust the value of a curve point numerically: 1.Click on a curve point to select it. The selected point is shown in red. 2.Adjust the Transpose and Fine Tune parameters to change the pitch of the curve point in semitones and cents, respectively.