Audio Processing Events and Pool Organization

Cubase
1

Hi,
I recently been working on a project where I’ve been using the offline processing from the audio menu and I noticed that it’s really confusing to keep track of what is happening to the files. In pro tools when you apply offline processing, it automatically makes a new file and then puts a suffix on the end relating to the processing plugin (e.g. Guitar-PiSH for pitch shift). In Cubase when you import an audio file and then apply a process such as pitch shift to it, there is no change in the title that indicates what you’ve done, and in the pool the original file has disappeared! I can see that original is still in the audio files folder but it’s no longer in the pool, so to bring it back I have to drag from the OS’s browser back into the project. This all just seems a bit convoluted to me and when using a lot of offline processing it could be a real mess. I’m hoping I’m just missing something…Is there a way that when you apply processing to an event that the original stays in the pool and a new file is created? I looked into the “processing shared clips” in the preferences but that only seems to apply if you have multiple events referencing the same audio file. I’m just wondering if you import one audio file into the cubase and apply processing to the file is there a way for it to automatically make a new file so that in the pool you will have the original and then the processed one?
thanks!
Matt

2

Clone the clip to another track or lane under a new name and then process the new one.

3

thanks Patanjali. this looks to be the only way, since it doesn’t do it automatically unless you have multiple events.

4

I am not big fan of ‘automatic’ when it comes to versions of files.

I have my own file naming convention for each clip (being kept that is) and it includes:

  • the code for the song to which it belongs, as in SOK-MUS-DK-SW for DevaKnight’s Still Waters (SOK-MUS is short for our label Sokaris Music)
  • the trackname, as in Martin (guitar), Mandolin or Vocal (with take number suffix as t01 if more than one being kept for evaluation, though the take used ongoing will drop this)
  • the date of creation of the original clip (as yyyy-mm-dd)
  • the date the current version of the clip was modified (as yyyy-mm-dd),
    all separated by '.

For example: SOK-MUS-DK-SW.Mandolin.2013-09-15.2013-10-03.wav

I then delete the old clip from the visual project lane, remove (not delete) the filename from the pool, and put the actual clip file in an ARCHIVE folder off the Audio folder.

This way I have a complete historical record with access to all for ‘drop-ins’ if needed.


I know, I’m a pedant when it comes to keeping track of versions of files. I use full file names and don’t rely on folder names for context or unique identity. I got this as a result of 20 years of trying to keep on top of versions of documents as a tech writer, where files can end up anywhere, and if the names are not unique and don’t contain all that is needed to make a decision as to its ownership and purpose, it is very hard to find particular files or clean up disks without opening files up, which takes 10 times longer!

I do not rely on file dates as stored by the OS, because they can be changed by some OS or transfer operations.