Hi @alin89c,
good that you mention this.
No, that gradient option is not the same anymore in Cubase 11 and 12.
Track events currently use 2D flat design, which now - instead of 3D appearance combined with that color brightness gradient effect - allows quite some selective color customisation (plus “Colorizing Selected Events or Parts” → “Colorizing Events on the Fly”):
- either by using the tool bar color tool (“Click to Colorize Event”), or
- the inspector, or
- the per-mixer-track color setting option, or
- the Project Colors Setup Dialog, as well as
- globally via: Preferences → User Interface → Color Schemes .
Regarding this topic, there’s a lot of information in the Cubase (Pro) operation manual:
https://steinberg.help/cubase_pro/v12/en/Cubase_Pro_12_Operation_Manual_en.pdf
Short excursion (open by clicking “Summary”):
Summary
There’s still that small detail of which I think as a rather sad thing:
with Cubase 11, the former main skin color spectrum had been restricted to 4 predefined (yet reduced) color picking spectra - which used to be more or less open to “free” configuration up to Cubase 10 / 10.5.
One of the main reasons is that the GUi designers probably came to the conclusion that the additionally implemented track / event coloring system, which can be very useful to differentiate things visually, would perhaps collide too much in color contrast(s) and overall visibility if some extreme GUI colors were used in a project, at the same time.
On the other hand, overall GUI customization has become much more flexible and even at times very likeable with Cubase 11 and 12 (loooong story…), like track colors, or hiding specific stuff and zones while working on a project, etc.
In February 2023, there was another lively discussion about some Cubase GUI aspects, where at some point I made a few screenshots regarding the reduction of the implemented main skin coloring schemes / styles since Cubase 11:
Greetings @all,
Markus
P.S.: “just for the record: eye candy mode” 
