Steinberg Nuendo 4.0 Getting Started

Getting Started

Einführung

Prise en Main

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Tutorials by Steve Kostrey

Working with Video and Audio Editing to Picture by Ashley Shepherd

Revision and Quality Control:

Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer

Thanks to: Georg Bruns, Mert Ergün

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part

of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement

and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publica-

tion may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission

by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Windows XP is a trademark of

Microsoft Corporation. Windows Vista is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the

United States and/or other countries. The Mac logo is a trademark used under license. Macintosh and Power Macintosh

are registered trademarks.

Release Date: April 02, 2008

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Table of Contents

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4

Table of Contents

6 Introduction

7 About the manuals and the help

7 About the program versions

7 Key command conventions

8 How you can reach us

9 System requirements and installation

10 About this chapter

10 Minimum requirements

11 Hardware installation

12 Installing Nuendo

13 Defragmenting the hard disk (Windows only)

13 Register your software

14 Setting up your system

15 Setting up audio

19 Setting up MIDI

21 Connecting a synchronizer

21 Setting up video

22 Optimizing audio performance

24 Tutorial 1: Recording audio

25 Creating a new project

26 Setting up the VST Connections

27 Level settings and recording

30 Playback

31 Recording modes with cycle off

31 Cycle recording

32 Stacked recording

34 Tutorial 2: Editing audio

35 Event operations

41 Event envelopes

41 Processing audio

43 Tutorial 3: Recording and editing MIDI

44 Introduction

44 Creating an Instrument Track

45 Browsing sounds

46 MIDI recording

47 MIDI playback

47 Recording modes with cycle off

48 Cycle recording

49 The Key Editor

51 The Controller lane

52 Tutorial 4: Working with loops

53 Loop Browser

53 Adding loops

54 Making copies

54 Insert into Project

55 Tutorial 5: External MIDI instruments

56 Introduction

56 Setting up MIDI devices

56 Setting up VST connections for external

instruments

57 Monitoring external MIDI instruments

58 Recording MIDI and external instruments

59 Tutorial 6: Mixing and effects

60 Introduction

60 Setting levels

61 Setting pan

61 Mute and solo

62 Adding EQ

64 Audio effects

65 About automation

66 Exporting

69 Tutorial 7: Surround production

70 Surround busses

72 Setting up a surround mix

74 Recording in surround

74 Exporting a surround file

77 Tutorial 8: Editing audio II - tempo and

groove

78 Background

78 Example 1: Drum loop, tempo known

79 Example 2: Drum loop, Auto Adjust

80 Example 3: Drum loop, Manual Adjust

82 Example 4: Working with selections

83 Tutorial 9: Media management

84 Background

84 MediaBay, Loop Browser and Sound Browser

86 Scanning with the browser

88 Searching for media

89 Auditioning media with the Scope

90 Tagging

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Table of Contents

91 Working with video

92 Introduction

92 Virtual video playback

92 Video playback engines

92 Video file compatibility

93 Adding a video file to a project

94 Video output devices

94 Video playback speed

94 Editing video

95 Rendering audio into video files

95 Video tape recorders

95 Synchronization and Machine Control

96 Layback to tape

98 Tips

99 Audio editing to picture

100 Introduction

100 Video timeline and the grid

101 Inserting audio into the project

102 Event handles

102 Event envelopes

103 Range selection

104 Range editing

105 Edit Mode

105 Text editing

106 Operations

114 Index

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1

Introduction

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7

Introduction

About the manuals and the help

The Nuendo documentation is divided into several sec-

tions, as listed below. Some of the documents are in

Adobe Acrobat format (extension “.pdf”) – these can be

accessed in the following ways:

• You can open the pdf documents from the Documentation

submenu on the Help menu in the program.

• Under Windows you can also open these documents from the

Nuendo Documentation subfolder on the Windows Start menu.

• Under Mac OS X the pdf documents are located in the folder

“/Library/Documentation/Steinberg/Nuendo 4”.

Ö To read the pdf documents, you need to have a suit-

able pdf reader application installed on your computer.

An installer for Adobe Reader is provided on the program DVD.

The Getting Started book

This is the book you are reading now. The Getting Started

book covers the following areas:

• Computer requirements.

• Installation issues.

• Setting up your system for audio, MIDI and/or video work.

• Tutorials describing the most common procedures for record-

ing, playing back, mixing and editing in Nuendo.

In other words, this book does not go into detail on any

Nuendo windows, functions or procedures.

The Operation Manual

The Operation Manual is the main Nuendo reference doc-

umentation, with detailed descriptions of Nuendo opera-

tions, parameters, functions and techniques. You should

be familiar with the concepts and methods described in

the Getting Started book before moving on to the Opera-

tion Manual.

MIDI Devices

This pdf document contains descriptions of how to man-

age MIDI Devices and device panels.

Plug-in Reference

This manual describes the features and parameters of the

included VST plug-ins, real-time audio effects and the

MIDI effects.

Networking

This pdf document describes how you can use Nuendo’s

project sharing and networking features to collaborate

with other users of Nuendo (version 2.0 or later) in a

TCP/IP based peer-to-peer network.

Remote Control Devices

This pdf document lists the supported MIDI remote control

devices and describes how to set them up and use them

with Nuendo.

Mackie Control

This pdf document describes the supported features for

the Mackie Control remote device.

Menu Reference

This pdf document provides a list of all menus and their

options with a brief description, for quick reference.

The dialog help

To get information about the active dialog, click its Help

button.

About the program versions

The documentation covers two different operating sys-

tems or “platforms”; Windows and Mac OS X.

Some features and settings are specific to one of the plat-

forms, Windows or Mac OS X. This is clearly stated in the

applicable cases. In other words:

Ö If nothing else is said, all descriptions and procedures

in the documentation are valid for both Windows and Mac

OS X.

The screenshots are taken from the Windows version.

Key command conventions

Many of the default key commands in Nuendo use modi-

fier keys, some of which are different depending on the

operating system. For example, the default key command

for Undo is [Ctrl]+[Z] under Windows and [Com-

mand]+[Z] under Mac OS X.

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8

Introduction

When key commands with modifier keys are described in

this manual, they are shown with the Windows modifier

key first, in the following way:

[Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]+[key]

For example, [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Z] means “press [Ctrl] un-

der Windows or [Command] under Mac OS X, then press

[Z]”. Similarly, [Alt]/[Option]+[X] means “press [Alt] under

Windows or [Option] under Mac OS X, then press [X]”.

Ö Please note that this manual often refers to “right-

clicking”, e.g. to open context menus, etc. If you are using

a Macintosh computer with a single-button mouse, hold

down [Ctrl] and click.

How you can reach us

On the Help menu in Nuendo you will find items for getting

additional information and help:

• On the “Steinberg on the Web” submenu, you can find

links to various Steinberg web sites. Selecting one will au-

tomatically launch your browser application and open the

page.

You can find support and compatibility information, answers to frequently

asked questions, links for downloading new drivers, etc. This requires

that you have a web browser application installed on your computer, and

a working Internet connection.

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2

System requirements and installation

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System requirements and installation

About this chapter

This chapter describes the requirements and installation

procedures for the Windows version and the Mac version

of Nuendo.

Minimum requirements

To use Nuendo, your computer must meet the following

minimum requirements:

Windows

• Windows XP (Home/Professional with SP 2),

or Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit – see below)

• Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon 2 GHz processor

•1 GB RAM

• Windows DirectX compatible audio hardware;

ASIO compatible audio hardware recommended for low

latency performance.

• Display resolution of 1024x768 pixels

• Steinberg Key and USB component connector

• DVD ROM drive required for installation

• Internet connection required for license activation

Macintosh

• Mac OS X 10.4

• Power Mac G4 1 GHz or Core Solo 1.5 GHz

•1 GB RAM

• Display resolution of 1024x768 pixels

• CoreAudio compatible audio hardware

• Steinberg Key and USB component connector

• DVD ROM drive required for installation

• Internet connection required for license activation

Ö If you want to install the 64-bit version of Nuendo,

make sure you read the ReadMe document on this topic

before proceeding.

You will find this document, called “Windows_Vista_64bit_[lan-

guage].rtf”, on the installation DVD, in the ReadMe Files folder.

General notes on how to set up your system

• RAM – There is a direct relation between the amount of

available RAM and the number of audio channels that you

can have running.

The amount of RAM specified above is the minimum requirement, but as

a general rule “the more the better” applies.

• Hard disk size – The size of the hard disk determines

how many minutes of audio you will be able to record.

Recording one minute of stereo CD quality audio requires 10 MB of hard

disk space. That is, eight stereo tracks in Nuendo use up at least 80 MB

of disk space per recording minute.

• Hard disk speed – The speed of the hard drive also de-

termines the number of audio tracks you can run.

That is the quantity of information that the disk can read, usually expressed

as “sustained transfer rate”. Again, “the more the better” applies.

• Wheel mouse – Although a regular mouse will work fine

with Nuendo, we recommend that you use a wheel mouse.

This will speed up value editing and scrolling considerably.

MIDI requirements

If you intend to use the MIDI features of Nuendo, you need

the following:

• A MIDI interface to connect external MIDI equipment to your

computer.

•A MIDI instrument.

• Any audio equipment required to listen to the sound from your

MIDI devices.

Audio hardware

Nuendo will run with audio hardware that meets the fol-

lowing specifications:

•Stereo.

•16 bit.

• Support of at least the 44.1kHz sampling rate.

• Windows – The audio hardware must be supplied with a spe-

cial ASIO driver, or a DirectX compatible driver, see below.

• Mac – The audio hardware must be supplied with Mac OS X-

compatible drivers (CoreAudio or ASIO).

!

On the Steinberg web site, under “Support–DAW

Components”, you can find detailed information on

what to consider when setting up a computer system

dedicated to audio work.

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System requirements and installation

Using the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh

(Mac only)

Although Nuendo is designed with multi-channel input

and output in mind, it’s of course possible to use the pro-

gram with “basic” stereo inputs and outputs. As of this

writing, all current Macintosh models provide at least built-

in 16 bit stereo audio hardware. For detailed information,

refer to the documentation describing your computer.

Depending on your preferences and requirements, using

the built-in audio hardware may be sufficient for use with

Nuendo. It is always available for selection in Nuendo –

you don’t need to install any additional drivers.

About drivers

A driver is a piece of software that allows a program to

communicate with a certain piece of hardware. In this

case, the driver allows Nuendo to use the audio hardware.

For audio hardware, there are two different cases, requir-

ing different driver configurations:

If the audio hardware has a specific ASIO driver

Professional audio cards often come with an ASIO driver

written especially for the card. This allows for communica-

tion directly between Nuendo and the audio card. As a re-

sult, audio cards with specific ASIO drivers can provide

lower latency (input-output delay), which is crucial when

monitoring audio via Nuendo or using VST Instruments.

The ASIO driver may also provide special support for mul-

tiple inputs and outputs, routing, synchronization, etc.

Audio card-specific ASIO drivers are provided by the card

manufacturers. Make sure to check the manufacturer’s

web site for the latest driver versions.

If the audio card communicates via DirectX (Windows

only)

DirectX is a Microsoft “package” for handling various

types of multimedia data under Windows. Nuendo sup-

ports DirectX, or to be more precise, DirectSound, which

is a part of DirectX used for playing back and recording

audio. This requires two types of drivers:

• A DirectX driver for the audio card, allowing it to communicate

with DirectX. If the audio card supports DirectX, this driver

should be supplied by the audio card manufacturer. If it isn’t

installed with the audio card, please check the manufacturer’s

web site for more information.

• The ASIO DirectX Full Duplex driver, allowing Nuendo to com-

municate with DirectX. This driver is included with Nuendo,

and does not require any special installation.

Hardware installation

The Steinberg Key

Included with the Nuendo package, you will find the Stein-

berg Key (also referred to as a “dongle” or “eLicenser”), a

hardware copy protection device that is part of the Nu-

endo copy protection scheme. Nuendo will not run if there

is no Steinberg Key.

The Steinberg Key

The Steinberg Key is, in fact, a little computer on which

your Steinberg software licenses are stored. All hardware-

protected Steinberg products use the same type of key,

and you can store more than one license on one key. Also,

licenses can (within certain limits) be transferred between

keys – which is helpful, e.g. if you want to sell a piece of

software.

!

Some Macintosh models have audio outputs but no

inputs. This means that you can only play back audio

– recording is not possible without additional audio

hardware.

!

If your audio hardware comes with a specific ASIO

driver we strongly recommend that you use this.

!

Please read the following section before installing

the Nuendo software.

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System requirements and installation

The Syncrosoft License Control Center (which can be

found in the Start/Programs menu under Windows or the

Applications folder on a Mac) is the place where you can

check the licenses installed on your Steinberg Key.

• If you are using other copy-protected Steinberg prod-

ucts, you may want to transfer all licenses for your applica-

tions to only one Steinberg Key, thus using only one USB

port of your computer. To transfer licenses between keys,

launch the License Transfer wizard of the Syncrosoft Li-

cense Control Center and follow the instructions.

• Steinberg software products always come with a license

activation code, but not always with a Steinberg Key – if

you want to activate a license for such a Steinberg software

(e.g. a VSTi) on the Steinberg Key you received with Nu-

endo, launch the License Download wizard of the Syn-

crosoft License Control Center and follow the instructions.

More information on the transfer or activation of licenses

can be found in the help for the Syncrosoft License Con-

trol Center.

Installing the audio hardware and its driver

1. Install the audio card and related equipment in the

computer, as described in the card’s documentation.

2. Install the driver for the card.

Depending on the operating system of your computer, there are different

types of drivers that could apply: card-specific ASIO drivers, DirectX

drivers (Windows) or Mac OS X (Mac) drivers:

Specific ASIO driver

If your audio card has a specific ASIO driver, it may be in-

cluded with the audio card, but you should always make

sure to check the audio card manufacturer’s web site for

the most recent drivers. For details on how to install the

driver, refer to the manufacturer’s instructions.

DirectX driver (Windows only)

If your audio card is DirectX compatible, its DirectX drivers

will most likely be installed when you install the card. If you

have downloaded special DirectX drivers for the audio

card, you should follow the manufacturer’s installation in-

structions.

Mac OS X drivers (Mac only)

If you are using a Macintosh computer, make sure you are

using the latest Mac OS X drivers for your audio hard-

ware. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to install the

driver.

Testing the card

To make sure the audio card will work as expected, perform

the following two tests:

• Use any software included with the audio card to make

sure you can record and play back audio without problems.

• If the card is accessed via a standard operating system

driver, try playing back audio using the computer’s standard

audio application (e.g. Windows Media Player or Apple

iTunes).

Installing a MIDI interface/synthesizer card

Installation instructions for a MIDI interface should be in-

cluded with the product. However, here’s an outline of the

necessary steps:

1. Install the interface (or MIDI synthesizer card) inside

your computer or connect it to a “port” (connector) on the

computer.

Which is right for you depends on which type of interface you have.

2. If the interface has a power supply and/or a power

switch, turn it on.

3. Install the driver for the interface, as described in the

documentation that comes with the interface.

You should also make sure to check the manufacturer’s web site for the

latest driver updates.

Installing Nuendo

The installation procedure puts all files in the right places,

automatically.

Windows

1. Double-click the file called “Nuendo4.msi”.

2. Follow the instructions on screen.

Macintosh

1. Double-click the file called “Nuendo4.mpkg”.

2. Follow the instructions on screen.

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System requirements and installation

About the tutorials

The program DVD also contains several tutorial project

files and videos. These are not installed during the installa-

tion, but can be added manually from the DVD.

The tutorial chapters in this manual all refer to these tuto-

rial projects. So, to be able to follow the instructions in this

manual, you have to drag the files to your computer.

You find the Tutorial Projects in the folder “Additional

Content”.

About the Nuendo Expansion Kit

The Nuendo Expansion Kit adds a number of music com-

position functions from Steinberg’s Cubase (the “Cubase

Music Tools”) to the standard Nuendo application. The

Nuendo Expansion Kit (NEK) is a separate product and

can be purchased through your Steinberg dealer.

Whenever procedures in this manual use functions avail-

able only when the NEK is installed, this is indicated in the

text by “Nuendo Expansion Kit only”.

Defragmenting the hard disk

(Windows only)

If you plan to record audio on a hard disk where you have

already stored other files, now is the time to defragment it.

Defragmentation reorganizes the physical allocation of

space on the hard disk in order to optimize its perfor-

mance. It is done with a special defragmentation program.

Register your software

We encourage you to register your software! By doing so

you are entitled to technical support and kept aware of up-

dates and other news regarding Nuendo.

There are two ways to register:

• In Nuendo, open the Help menu and select the Regis-

tration option.

This option is an Internet link that will open the Registration page of the

Steinberg web site. To register, simply follow the instructions on screen.

When you launch Nuendo, you will also be prompted to launch the reg-

istration process.

• Included on the Nuendo installation DVD, you can find a

registration form in pdf format. To register, print out the

form, enter all required information and send it to Steinberg.

!

It is crucial to the audio recording performance that

your hard disk is optimized (defragmented). You

should make sure to defragment regularly.

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3

Setting up your system

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15

Setting up your system

Setting up audio

Connecting audio

Exactly how to set up your system depends on many dif-

ferent factors, e.g. the kind of project you wish to create,

the external equipment you want to use, the computer

hardware available to you, etc. Therefore, the following

sections can only serve as examples.

How you connect your equipment, i.e. whether you use

digital or analog connections, also depends on your indi-

vidual setup.

Stereo input and output – the simplest connection

If you only use a stereo input and output from Nuendo, you

can connect your audio hardware, e.g. the inputs of your

audio card or your audio interface, directly to the input

source and the outputs to a power amplifier and speaker.

A simple stereo audio setup.

This is probably the simplest of all setups – once you have

set up the internal input and output busses, you can con-

nect your audio source, e.g. a microphone, to your audio

interface and start recording.

Multi-channel input and output

Most likely however, you will have other audio equipment

that you want to integrate with Nuendo, using several in-

put and output channels. Depending on the equipment

available to you, there are two ways to go: either mixing

using an external mixing desk, or mixing using the mixer in-

side Nuendo.

• External mixing means having a hardware mixing device

with a group or bus system that can be used for feeding

inputs on your audio hardware.

In the example below, four busses are used for feeding signals to the au-

dio hardware’s inputs. The four outputs are connected back to the mixer

for monitoring and playback. Remaining mixer inputs can be used for

connecting audio sources like microphones, instruments, etc.

A multi-channel audio setup using an external mixer.

Ö When connecting an input source (like a mixer) to the

audio hardware, you should use output busses, sends or

similar that are separate from the mixer’s master output to

avoid recording what you are playing back. You may also

have mixing hardware that can be connected via FireWire.

• When using the Mixer inside Nuendo, you can use the

inputs on your audio hardware to connect microphones

and/or external devices. Use the outputs to connect your

monitoring equipment.

Nuendo only: You can create very complex setups using external instru-

ments and external effects, and integrate Nuendo seamlessly with all

your external equipment using the Control Room feature (see the chap-

ters “VST Connections: setting up input and output busses” and “The

Control Room” in the Operation Manual for details).

Mixing inside Nuendo

!

Make sure that all equipment is turned off before

making any connections!

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16

Setting up your system

Connecting for surround sound

If you plan to mix for surround sound, you can connect the

audio outputs to a multi-channel power amplifier, driving a

set of surround channels.

A surround sound playback configuration.

Nuendo supports a number of surround formats. The ex-

ample connection above will work for mixing both LRCS

(ProLogic for example) and 5.1, in which case the two sur-

round speakers will be playing the same material (from the

single surround channel). The difference between the two

formats is the LFE channel, which is not used with LRCS.

Recording from a CD player

Most computers come with a CD-ROM drive that can also

be used as a regular CD player. In some cases the CD

player is internally connected to the audio hardware so

that you can record the output of the CD player directly

into Nuendo (consult the audio hardware documentation if

you are uncertain).

• All routing and level adjustments for recording from a CD (if

available) are done in the audio hardware setup application

(see “Making settings for the audio hardware” on page 16).

• You can also grab audio tracks directly from a CD in Nuendo

(see the chapter “File Handling” in the Operation Manual).

Word Clock connections

If you are using a digital audio connection, you may also

need a word clock connection between the audio hard-

ware and external devices. Please refer to the documenta-

tion that came with the audio hardware for details.

About recording levels and inputs

When you connect your equipment, you should make sure

that the impedance and levels of the audio sources and in-

puts are matched. Typically, different inputs may be de-

signed for use with microphones, consumer line level

(-10dBV) or professional line level (+4dBV), or you may be

able to adjust input characteristics on the audio interface or

in its control panel. Please check the audio hardware docu-

mentation for details.

Using the correct types of input is important to avoid dis-

tortion or noisy recordings.

Making settings for the audio hardware

Most audio cards come with one or more small applica-

tions that allow you to configure the inputs of the hard-

ware to your liking.

This includes:

• Selecting which inputs/outputs are active.

• Setting up word clock synchronization (if available).

• Turning monitoring via the hardware on/off (see “About moni-

toring” on page 19).

• Setting levels for each input. This is very important!

• Setting levels for the outputs, so that they match the equip-

ment you use for monitoring.

• Selecting digital input and output formats.

• Making settings for the audio buffers.

!

It is very important that word clock synchronization is

done correctly or there might be clicks and crackles

in recordings that you make!

!

Nuendo does not provide any input level adjustments

for the signals coming in to your audio hardware,

since these are handled differently for each card. Ad-

justing input levels is either done in a special applica-

tion included with the hardware or from its control

panel (see below).

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Setting up your system

In many cases all available settings for the audio hardware

are gathered in a control panel, which can be opened from

within Nuendo as described below (or opened separately,

when Nuendo isn’t running). In some cases, there may be

several different applications and panels – please refer to

the audio hardware documentation for details.

Selecting a driver and making audio settings

in Nuendo

The first thing you need to do is select the correct driver in

Nuendo to make sure that the program can communicate

with the audio hardware:

1. Launch Nuendo, select Device Setup from the Devices

menu and click on VST Audio System in the Devices list to

the left.

The VST Audio System page in the Device Setup dialog.

2. Select your audio hardware driver from the ASIO

Driver menu.

There may be several options here that all refer to the same audio hard-

ware. When you have selected a driver, it is added to the Devices list.

3. Select the driver in the Devices list to open the Driver

settings for your audio hardware.

4. Bring up the control panel for the audio hardware and

adjust the settings as recommended by the audio hard-

ware manufacturer.

• Under Windows, you open the control panel by clicking

the Control Panel button.

The control panel that appears when you click this button is provided by

the audio hardware manufacturer and not Nuendo (unless you use Di-

rectX, see below). Hence it will be different for each audio card brand

and model.

The Control panel for the ASIO DirectX driver is an exception, as it is

provided by Steinberg, and is described in the dialog help, opened by

clicking the Help button in the dialog. See also the notes below.

• Under Mac OS X, you will find the control panel for your

audio hardware in the System Preferences (“Other” sec-

tion), opened from the Apple menu or from the Dock.

If you are using the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh, you use the

“Sound” control panel in the System Preferences to set levels, balance, etc.

If you are using ASIO audio hardware, you can click the Control Panel but-

ton to bring up its panel.

5. If you plan to use several audio applications simulta-

neously, you may want to activate the option “Release

Driver when Application is in Background” on the VST

Audio System page. This will allow another application to

play back via your audio hardware even though Nuendo is

running.

The application that is currently active (i.e. the “top window” on the desk-

top) will get access to the audio hardware. Make sure that any other au-

dio application accessing the audio hardware is also set to release the

ASIO (or Mac OS X) driver so Nuendo can use it when it becomes the

active application again.

6. If your audio hardware and its driver support ASIO Di-

rect Monitoring, you may want to activate the Direct Moni-

toring checkbox on the page for the driver.

Read more about monitoring later in this chapter and in the chapter “Re-

cording” in the Operation Manual.

7. Click Apply and then OK to close the dialog.

!

Under Windows, we strongly recommend that you

access your hardware via an ASIO driver written

specifically for the hardware, if available. If no ASIO

driver is installed, we recommend that you check

with your audio hardware manufacturer if they have

an ASIO driver available, for example for download

via the Internet.

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18

Setting up your system

If you are using audio hardware with a DirectX driver

(Windows only)

Nuendo comes with a driver called ASIO DirectX Full Du-

plex, available for selection on the ASIO Driver pop-up

menu (VST Audio System page).

Ö To be able to take full advantage of DirectX Full Du-

plex, the audio hardware must support WDM (Windows

Driver Model) in combination with DirectX version 8.1 or

higher.

In all other cases, the audio inputs will be emulated by DirectX (see the

dialog help for the ASIO DirectX Full Duplex Setup dialog for details

about how this is reported).

Ö During the installation of Nuendo, the latest DirectX

will be installed on your computer.

When the ASIO DirectX Full Duplex driver is selected in

the Device Setup dialog, you can open the ASIO Control

Panel and adjust the following settings (for more details,

click the Help button in the control panel):

• Direct Sound Output and Input Ports

In the list to the left in the window, all available Direct Sound output and

input ports are listed. In many cases, there will be only one port in each

list. To activate or deactivate a port in the list, click the checkbox in the

left column. If the checkbox is ticked, the port is activated.

• You can edit the Buffer Size and Offset settings in this

list if necessary, by double-clicking on the value and typ-

ing in a new value.

In most cases, the default settings will work fine. Audio buffers are used

when audio data is transferred between Nuendo and the audio card.

While larger buffers ensure that playback will occur without glitches, the

latency (the time between the moment Nuendo sends out the data and

when it actually reaches the output) will be higher.

• Offset

If a constant offset is audible during playback of Audio and MIDI record-

ings, you can adjust the output or input latency time using this value.

Setting up the input and output ports

Once you have selected the driver and made the settings

as described above, you need to specify which inputs and

outputs should be used and name these:

1. In the Device Setup dialog, select your driver in the De-

vices list on the left to display the Driver settings for your

audio hardware.

All input and output ports on the audio hardware are listed.

2. To hide a port, click in the “Visible” column for the port

(deselecting the checkbox).

Ports that aren’t visible cannot be selected in the VST Connections win-

dow where you set up your input and output busses – see “Setting up

the VST Connections” on page 26 and the chapter “VST Connections:

setting up input and output busses” in the Operation Manual.

3. To rename a port, click on its name in the “Show as”

column and type in a new name.

Ö It is a good idea to give your ports names that are re-

lated to the channel configuration (rather than to the ac-

tual hardware model)!

For example, if you are using a 5.1 surround audio setup, you could name

the six ports Left, Right, Center, Lfe, Left Surround and Right Surround.

This makes it easier to transfer your projects between different comput-

ers, e.g. in different studios – if the same port names are used on both

computers, Nuendo will automatically handle the bus connections prop-

erly when you open the project on the other computer.

4. Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog and apply

your changes.

!

If your Windows audio hardware does not have a

specific ASIO driver, a DirectX driver is the next best

option.

!

If you attempt to hide a port that is already used by a

bus you will be asked whether this is really what you

want – note that this will disable the port!

GS_Nuendo_GBDF.book Seite 18 Montag, 17. März 2008 2:50 14

19

Setting up your system

About monitoring

In Nuendo, monitoring means listening to the input signal

while preparing to record or while recording. There are

three ways to monitor:

External monitoring

External monitoring (listening to the input signal before it

goes into Nuendo) requires an external mixer for mixing the

audio playback with the input signal. This can be a classic

mixing desk or a mixer application for your audio hardware,

if this has a mode in which the input audio is sent back out

again (usually called “Thru”, “Direct Thru” or similar).

Via Nuendo

In this case, the audio passes from the input into Nuendo,

possibly through Nuendo effects and EQ and then back to

the output. You control monitoring via settings in Nuendo.

This allows you to control the monitoring level from Nu-

endo and add effects to the monitored signal only.

ASIO Direct Monitoring

If your audio hardware is ASIO 2.0 compatible, it may sup-

port ASIO Direct Monitoring (this feature may also be avail-

able for audio hardware with Mac OS X drivers). In this

mode, the actual monitoring is done in the audio hardware,

by sending the input signal back out again. However, moni-

toring is controlled from Nuendo. This means that the audio

hardware’s direct monitoring feature can be turned on or off

automatically by Nuendo.

Monitoring is described in detail in the chapter “Record-

ing” in the Operation Manual. However, when setting up,

there’s one thing to note:

• If you want to use the external monitoring via your audio

hardware, make sure the corresponding functions are ac-

tivated in the card’s mixer application.

Ö If you are using RME Audio Hammerfall DSP audio

hardware, make sure that the pan law is set to -3dB in the

card’s preferences.

Setting up MIDI

This section describes how to connect and set up MIDI

equipment. If you have no MIDI equipment, you can skip

this section. Note that this is only an example – you might

need or want to hook things up differently!

Connecting the MIDI equipment

In this example we assume that you have a MIDI keyboard

and an external MIDI sound module. The keyboard is used

both for feeding the computer with MIDI messages for re-

cording and for playing back MIDI tracks. The sound mod-

ule is used for playback only. Using Nuendo’s MIDI Thru

feature (described later) you will be able to hear the cor-

rect sound from the sound module while playing the key-

board or recording.

A typical MIDI Setup.

!

Make sure that all equipment is turned off before

making any connections!

GS_Nuendo_GBDF.book Seite 19 Montag, 17. März 2008 2:50 14

20

Setting up your system

You might want to use even more instruments for playback.

If you do, simply connect MIDI Thru on the sound module to

MIDI In on the next instrument, and so on. In this hook-up,

you will always play the first keyboard when recording. But

you can still use all your devices for providing sounds on

playback.

Setting MIDI Thru and Local On/Off

In the “MIDI” section in the Preferences dialog (located on

the File menu under Windows and on the Nuendo menu

under Mac OS X), you will find a setting called “MIDI Thru

Active”. This is related to a setting in your instrument

called “Local On/Off” or “Local Control On/Off”.

• If you use a MIDI keyboard instrument, as described earlier in

this chapter, MIDI Thru should be activated and that instru-

ment should be set to Local Off (sometimes called Local Con-

trol Off – see the instrument’s operation manual for details).

The MIDI signal from the keyboard will be recorded in Nuendo

and at the same time be re-routed back to the instrument so

that you hear what you are playing, without the keyboard “trig-

gering” its own sounds.

• If you use a separate MIDI keyboard – one that does not pro-

duce any sounds itself – MIDI Thru in Nuendo should also be

activated, but you don’t need to look for any Local On/Off set-

ting in your instruments.

• The only case where MIDI Thru should be deactivated is if you

use Nuendo with only one keyboard instrument and that in-

strument cannot be set to Local Off mode.

• Note that MIDI Thru will be active only for those MIDI tracks

that are record enabled and/or have the Monitor button acti-

vated. See the chapter “Recording” in the Operation Manual

for more information.

!

If you plan to use more than three sound sources, we

recommend that you either use an interface with

more than one output, or a separate MIDI Thru box

instead of the Thru jacks on each unit.

When “MIDI Thru” is active

in Nuendo, MIDI data re-

ceived is immediately

“echoed” back out.

When you press a key, it is sent

out via MIDI to Nuendo.

MIDI data coming in to

the instrument is played

by the “Synth” inside it.

When Local Control is turned on in the instrument, the keys

you press will be played by the “Synth” inside the Instrument.

When Local Control is turned off, this connection is cut off.

MIDI data coming in to

the instrument is played

by the “Synth” inside it.

“Synth”

GS_Nuendo_GBDF.book Seite 20 Montag, 17. März 2008 2:50 14

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Steinberg Nuendo 4.0 Getting Started

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