User manual

669
Synchronization
Activating VST System Link
Even with a slow computer you should be able to stack a whole bunch of extra VST
instruments this way, expanding your sound palette considerably. Do not forget that
VST System Link MIDI is also sample-accurate, and thus has much tighter timing than
any hardware MIDI interface ever invented!
Creating a virtual effect rack
The effect sends for an audio channel in Cubase can either be routed to an FX
channel track or to any activated group or output bus. This allows you to use a
separate computer as a “virtual effect rack”, by setting the system up as follows:
1. On computer 2 (the machine you will use as effect rack), add a new stereo audio
track.
You cannot use an FX channel track in this case, since the track must have an
audio input.
2. Add the desired effect as an insert effect for the track.
Let’s say you add a high-quality reverb plug-in.
3. In the Inspector, select one of the VST System Link busses as input for the audio
track.
You want to use a separate VST System Link bus, which will only be used for this
purpose.
4. Route the channel to the desired output bus.
If you are using computer 1 as your main mixing computer, this would be one of the
VST System Link output busses, connected to computer 1.
5. Activate monitoring for the track.
6. Go back to computer 1 and select a track to which you want to add some reverb.
7. Bring up the effect sends for the track in the Inspector or the MixConsole.
8. Open the Send Routing pop-up menu for one of the sends and select the VST
System Link bus assigned to the reverb in step 3.
9. Use the Send slider to adjust the amount of effect as usual.
The signal will be sent to the track on computer 2 and processed through its insert
effect, without using any processor power on computer 1.
You can repeat the steps above to add more effects to the “virtual effect rack”. The
number of effects available this way is only limited by the number of ports used in the
VST System Link connection (and of course by the performance of computer 2, but
given that it will not have to handle any recording or playback, you should be able to
use quite a lot of effects).
Getting extra audio tracks
All computers on a VST System Link network are locked with sample-accuracy.
Therefore, if you find that the hard drive on one computer is not fast enough to run as
many audio tracks as you need, you can record new tracks on one of the other
computers instead. This would create a “virtual RAID system”, with several disks all
operating together. All tracks will remain locked together just as tightly as if they were
all running on the same machine. This means that you effectively have an unlimited
track count! Need another 100 tracks? Just add another computer.
Dedicated Video Playback
Playback of high-resolution video can be taxing on a system’s CPU. By dedicating
one computer for video playback via System Link, you can free up resources on your
main CPU for audio and MIDI processing. Since all transport commands will respond
on the VST System Link computers, scrubbing video is possible even when it is
coming from another computer.