Library feature, usefulness??

Hello folks.

What do you use the library feature for? I mean, what benefits does it bring to your workflow? Does it make your life easier in any way?

I´ve been using Cubase for the better part of a decade (music production). I´ve noted “File > New Library” has always been there, but I´ve never found a use for it.

I tried it today and it just seems like a media container… in which case it’d be more comfortable to just use the mediabay…

… right?

Prove me wrong! :unamused: :unamused:
I want to learn something cool!

I don’t use Libraries either. But my understanding is that they are like a Media Pool that is independent of a specific project. So, for example, if you were doing sound for a TV series you might have several sets of sounds that are reused over & over. Saving these as libraries lets you access them in one go and also helps make sure that you really are using the same sounds (and not similarly named but different ones) in different projects.

Cubase has all sorts of features that are only useful for specific types of projects

Thanks Rodger, thats exactly what I thought. It has more to do with using sets of samples or sounds and be able to move them from computer to computer. It does make more sense for video than for music though.

Not necessarily between computers, can just be different projects all on same DAW. Also not just video, radio and podcast folks would also find libraries useful. But overall it is oriented to production work.

Say you have 3 libraries for a movie called XYZ.

  1. XYZ’s basic sounds
  2. XYZ’s scary sounds
  3. XYZ’s happy sounds

Then for Project A you might use libraries 1 & 2, and for Project B libraries 1 & 3, etc.

Ok, so how about the difference between a library and using templates?

Lars, a template is a starting point. A library does not even look like a project. It looks like a Pool window. It allows you to store different types of audio and video files, and in different formats. So, for instance, you could have drum samples at different qualities: 48/24 , 44/16, without having to convert them to a single sample rate /resolution spec, which is necessary within a project for proper playback.

I’ve never used libraries… I don’t really understand the advantage over just keeping the files in a sample folder.

For most folks there is no reason to use libraries. They are only useful when doing specific types of work. If you don’t do that type of work then they aren’t useful to you. But for others they can be very useful.

It’s similar to the Score Editor. I bet most Cubase users never touch it. But for those who need it the Score Editor is quite useful.

This is very true. So much, in fact, that the Score Editor should be a paid expansion IMHO. I´d rather Steinberg eliminating the score editor from the standard installation, and including other stuff to make up for the pricetag, such as more instruments, plugins, soundbanks, etc.

It would appear that Steinberg has not spent much on the Score Editor for years so I don’t expect its inclusion effects the price much one way or the other.

You´re probably right. Im no composer, but I remember testing it and feeling it being kinda stiff.