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Reader SurveyEdit Integrate Review — Steinberg Cubase SX3
Mar 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Frank McMahon
Robust update makes for more flexible soundtrack creation.
New in Cubase SX3, Play Order Track and Play Order List allow you to slice up your composition and play elements in any order.
Steinberg continues to refine and develop its flagship audio soundtrack creation program, Cubase SX3. This meaty 3.0 update tips the scales with more than 70 new features. The cross-platform (PC and Mac) program has been a staple with high-end studios and musical producers for years, but now Cubase is becoming more widespread with media people as it improves in score creation and Acid WAV support. (Of course, support for VST effects and VST instrument plug-ins has never been a problem for Steinberg, the company that invented the industry-standard format.)
Video production studios should take note, because Cubase SX3 is a full suite of soundtrack creation tools, handling both loops and MIDI with aplomb. For first-time users, the Cubase interface is clean, well-organized, and very cool-looking. In music score creation, nothing is worse than struggling with a non-standard interface where things are not where you expect them.
One of the really cool new features of version 3 is called audio warp. It allows realtime stretching and pitch-shifting on a per-project basis, meaning that the warp settings are saved along with a project, without altering the actual audio files. A loop file now can step to the beat of a project's rhythm, and audio files can change tempo when the project changes tempo. The Acid file support is here to add some icing; when you import an Acid WAV, the slice markers of the file are converted to hit points in Cubase.
Extended freeze is new too. Not only does it allow you to freeze a virtual instrument track into a sound file, but you can also add effects to a VST and freeze that. Taking a virtual instrument and solidifying a copy as an audio clip saves CPU cycles from constantly having to replay the same virtual tool. Freezing also frees up valuable RAM.
New part-based volume envelopes allow control of audio dynamics. These can be changed on the fly easily. With earlier versions of Cubase you previously had to construct a separate automation track. Now you can adjust on the audio track directly, and you can move a piece of audio and with the volume levels attached and moving with it.
Play Order Track is a new paradigm that introduces many new creative choices to the scoring process. This track, separate from your other tracks, lets you section off areas that are labeled A, B, C, etc. One you set the sections, you move to the Play Order List and rearrange them: slide in B, then C, then two B's, then A, and so on. Turn on Play Order, and then play your score. You will see the playback head skip around to the different parts of your music, gracefully playing just the sections of your score you selected, in the order you designated. Possibilities are endless. Create a virtual instrument track, freeze it, and slice it up into Play Order elements. Mix up the segments and play it back. Very cool stuff.
Another new feature to note is you can now do in-place editing of MIDI tracks. Previously in SX2 you had to move to a different screen to change or add MIDI notes. Now you can just flip open the track in the project window and alter what is needed. Very handy, especially if you are scoring video and setting MIDI notes to cue with scenes in your video track. With SX3 you can now create your own editing panels to control MIDI events and settings. You can then add these new panels directly to your workspace.
User-definable workspaces are now supported in this new version. Once you set up your project window and arrange it the way you like, you can save it for later recall. Workspaces can then be swapped on the fly with one click.
Lots of new features in Cubase SX3 help production flow, including user-definable color-coding for tracks and VST channels. There's support for Total Recall parameters of Studio Connections. This is a new technology developed by Steinberg and Yamaha that allows you to save complete virtual studio settings, for both hardware and software, within a project. Now when you open a project, it's like opening up a complete studio. Everything in your interface is exactly where you want it, and hardware parameters are set and ready to go.
Cubase SX3 is a robust update with lots of nips and tucks, as well as larger features that will change the way you work. I think the biggest advances in this new version are the amazing audio warp tools and the Play Order Track. As in most music programs, the timeline, loop, and virtual instrument layout is pretty familiar.
The list price ($799) is up there because Cubase is truly a professional scoring tool, and its toolset ensures a long-term relationship with any video production studio. It's not a one-trick pony; rather, it expands to do amazing things with loops, MIDI, and VST plug-ins. So if you are looking for a well-rounded audio suite that will let you tackle any job, from small commercials all the way up to full-length HD productions, Steinberg's Cubase SX3 is a reliable workhorse.
BOTTOM LINE
Company: Steinberg
Hamburg, Germany
www.steinberg.net
Product: Cubase SX3
Assets: Cross-platform support, new extended freeze to save CPU cycles and free up RAM, Play Order Track for shuffling of audio sections, audio warp for stretching and pitch-shifting of projects without altering files.
Caveats: Serious scoring tool might not be for beginners.
Demographic: Production studios with full-fledged soundtrack creation needs.
Price: $799
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