Time reading from Left Locator Marker ?

Cubase
#1

Hi ,

Using Cubase 7.5 here , very happy with it .

Sometimes in my productions I will have a song, or multiple songs ,set up at arbitrary positions in the arrange or project windows and I will send daily work mixes to clients based on mixdowns set between L + R locator positions .
For example a song could be at 13min 23 sec as it’s “start” point in Cubase …from where its L locator is set .

The client will then come back with , say , " Can you increase the vocal level at 1min 40 seconds …? " etc

I then have to work out where that is .

Is there a way to have a Timer run from the Left Locator position ?.. rather than Project window time ?
( with or without time offset ? which is globsal across the whole project window )

Does this feature exist in Cubase ? I can’t seem to find it … It sure would be very useful !

Thanks , Michael

#2

I will be interested to hear from others if this can be done too. :wink:

Since I don’t think it can be done, I always end up cutting all tracks in a manner where I then can move them closer to the left start position. Then I set the left locator to be at bar 0 for sharing purposes. Subsequently I tell my clients to load the track(s) at bar 0 too. Then all of our projects are in time sync. We have to deal with a short silence at the beginning of the song but, at this point the project is still a work in progress.

Regards :sunglasses:

#3

Use the range tool to select the area whose duration you need, and set the ruler to seconds. The duration of the selection is in the info line.

#4

Thanks for your replies chaps .

I’m amazed that Cubase hasn’t got this feature …ie a Sub Clock that runs in seconds ( or bars via tempo map ) from
the Left Locator .
Sometimes there can be multiple songs at precise locations in my project window and moving these back to “0” is
simply not an option .

Surely it’s not that hard for Cubase to have a sub-clock display ? it would be most useful .

Regards , Michael

#5

Hi Steve , sorry that’s not what I meant .

Yes if you use the range tool,sure it shows the duration no probs , but that’s only static start and end points.
( in cubase 7.5 it is )

What I need is a separate time counter which has 0 set from the Left locator and starts when you hit Play.

So , for example … Left locator is set at 3:30 in the cubase project window …the song is now playing and up
to 3:50 in the project window … therefore the new clock is showing 20 seconds and counting … and so on …

Can Cubase do this ? It would be so useful for me . I hardly ever have songs starting a 0 in the project window .

Regards , Michael

#6

in other words a separate “offset clock” without having to change the entire project offset .
I would be using both clocks

etc :slight_smile:

#7

But if your selection with the Range Tool starts at the Left Locator, the Range Length field tells you that, precisely.

Are you trying to make Cubase conform to a preconceived notion about how this might work, rather than following any of the various workflows which were designed for this use-case?

For example, using markers and the transport commands that move the project cursor around. These functions are designed quite precisely for this kind of thing.

#8

Yes, I am in need for this simple feature too

#9

Hi Steve , not quite sure what you mean about making Cubase conform to some pre-conceived idea …

AlI need is for a second , independent , time clock ( regardless of tempo ) for which Zero is the Left Locator.
( wherever that may be )

Seems to me that this simple yet very useful feature has been overlooked .
No need to mess around with markers , range tools , whatever .

Do you see what I mean ?

Sometimes I will have a Cubase project that will contain 2 or 3 … or 6 etc songs , one after the other …when I
then get mix suggestions back from clients they are talking absolute time within a song, which has no correlation
with my Cubase project time . So a second time clock running from the Left locator ( which ,yes , can a marker )
would make my mixing work much easier .

I’m actually surprised Steinberg hasn’t thought of this … I’ve been using Steinberg sequencers since 1985 and still
haven’t seen it in their products . Happy to be corrected if I’m wrong or have missed it somewhere :slight_smile:

Cheers , Michael

#10

I do see what you mean, and it would be a time saver. (I presume the “Set Timecode at Cursor” doesn’t really fit the bill)

#11

I asked about this “missing feature” a while back and no one could find a good solution.

Another workflow where it’s needed besides the one in the OP: take the mix to the car, and make notes based on the displayed time after song start. Then, coming back to the DAW, the times are off if the project doesn’t start at 0.0.00.

#12

But in this case, where you have one track you’re working on, you should use “Set Timecode at Cursor”

#13

OH, if that does what I’m looking for you have made me ecstatic!

I’ll check it out this weekend, thanks for the suggestion.

#14

I was looking for this feature too. Steve’s advice works.

  • Move the cursor to left locator position.


  • Click: Project > Set Timecode At Cursor…


  • Zero the values


  • Dialog opens ‘Do you want to keep the project contents at its timecode positions?’ -Click: No.


  • Change ruler to ‘Seconds’


  • Time on ruler now starts at left locator position.

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