Key commands

Most of the main menus in Nuendo have key command shortcuts for certain items on the menus. In addition, there are numerous other Nuendo functions that can be performed via key commands. These are all default settings. If you want, you can customize existing key commands to your liking, and also add commands for menu items and functions currently not assigned any.

You can also assign tool modifier keys, i.e. keys that change the behavior of various tools when pressed. This is done in the Preferences dialog – see “Setting up tool modifier keys” on page 524.

How are key commands settings saved?

Every time you edit or add any key command assignment, this is stored as a global Nuendo preference – not as part of a project. Hence, if you edit or add a key command assignment, any subsequent projects that you create or open will use these modified settings. However, the default settings can be restored at any time by clicking the button “Reset All” in the Key Commands dialog.

In addition, you can save complete or partial key commands settings as a “key commands file”, which is stored separately and can be imported into any project. This way you can quickly and easily recall customized settings, when moving projects between different computers, for example. The settings are saved in a file on disk with the windows extension “.xml”.

How to save key commands settings is described in the section “Saving complete key commands settings as presets” on page 521.

Setting up key commands

The following is a description of how you set up key commands and save them as presets for easy access.

Key commands settings are accessed and edited mainly in the Key Commands dialog. You can find some key command settings in the Preferences dialog as well, also addressed in this chapter.

In the Key Commands dialog you will find all main menu items and a large number of other functions, arranged in a hierarchical way similar to the Windows Explorer and Mac OS Finder. The function categories are represented by a number of folders, each containing various menu items and functions. When you open a category folder by clicking the plus-sign beside it, the items and functions it contains are displayed with the currently assigned key commands.

To add a key command, proceed as follows:

1.Pull down the File menu and select “Key Commands…”.

The Key Commands dialog appears.

2.Use the list in the Commands column to navigate to the desired category.

3.Click the plus-sign to open the category folder and display the items it contains.

Note that you can also click the “global” plus and minus-signs in the top left corner to open and close all category folders at once.

4. In the list, select the item to which you wish to assign a key command.

Already assigned key commands are shown in the Keys column as well as in the Keys section in the top right corner.

Note that you can have several different key commands for the same function. So adding a key command to a function that already has another key command will not replace the key command previously defined for the function. If you wish to remove an assigned key command, see “Removing a key command” on page 520.

9. Click OK to exit the dialog.

Turning Key Commands off

Nuendo also gives you the option of turning key commands off, meaning that even if a function has a key command assigned to it, you can disable the key command.

This is done in the Preferences dialog, in the following way:

1. Open the Preferences dialog from the File menu (under Mac OS X it is located on the Nuendo menu) and select the Configuration page.

5.Alternatively, you can use the search function in the dialog to find the desired item.

For a description of how to use the search function, see “Searching for key commands” on page 520.

6.When you have found and selected the desired item, click in the “Type in Key” field and enter a new key command.

You can choose between any single key or a combination of one or several keys ([Alt]/[Option], [Ctrl]/[Command], [Shift]) plus any key. Just press the keys you want to use.

7.If the key command you entered is already assigned to another item or function, this is displayed below the “Type in Key” field.

If a key command already is assigned to another function, you can either ignore this and proceed to assign the key command to the new function instead, or you can select another key command.

8. Click the Assign button above the field.

The new key command appears in the Keys List.

If the key command you enter is already assigned to another function, you will get a warning message asking if you want to reassign the command to the new function instead, or cancel the operation.

As you can see, the Configuration page contains two main folders; “Main Menu” and “Command Categories”.

•The “Main Menu” folder contains a number of subfolders, which in turn each contains items found on the main menus in Nuendo.

•The “Command Categories” folder also contains a number of subfolders, each of which contains a number of program functions not available on any of the main menus.

All the items and functions in the subfolders can have key commands assigned to them. The column to the right, labeled “Command”, allows you to set the On/Off status for the corresponding items. This indicates whether it should be possible to use assigned key commands for the items or not.

2.Click on the plus sign beside one of the main folders to open it and list the subfolders it contains.

3.Open the desired subfolder by clicking its plus sign, navigate to the item for which you want to disable the assigned key command, and select it.

4.Click in the “Command” column beside the item to set the status to “Off”.

Now it will not be possible to use any key command assigned to that menu item or function.

5.Repeat this for all items or functions for which you want to disable key commands.

Ö Note that if you set an entire subfolder to “Off” in this way, all the items or functions it contains will automatically be set to “Off” as well.

If this is not what you want, you can reset separate items in the subfolder to “On”.

6. When you’re done, click OK to close the Preferences dialog and apply the changes.

Searching for key commands

If you want to know which key command is assigned to a certain function in the program, you can use the Search function in the Key Commands dialog:

1.Click in the search text field at the top left of the dialog and type in the function for which you want to know the key command.

This is a standard word search function, so you should type the command as it is spelled in the program. Partial words can be used; e.g., to search for all quantize related commands, type “Quantize”, “Quant”, etc.

2.Click the Search button (the magnifying glass icon).

The search is conducted and the first matching command is selected and displayed in the commands list below. The keys column and the keys list show the assigned key commands, if any.

3.To search for more commands containing the word(s) you entered, click the Search button again.

4.When you’re done, click OK to close the dialog.

Removing a key command

To remove a key command, proceed as follows:

1.If the key commands dialog isn’t already open, pull down the File menu and select “Key Commands…”.

2.Use the list of categories and commands to select the item or function for which you wish to remove a key command.

The key command for the item is shown in the Keys list and the Keys column.

3.Select the key command in the Keys list and click the Remove button (the trash icon).

You will get a prompt asking if you want to remove the key command or cancel the operation.

4.Click Remove to remove the selected key command.

5.Click OK to close the dialog.

Setting up macros

A macro is a combination of several functions or commands, to be performed in one go. For example, you could select all events on the selected audio track, remove DC offset, normalize the events and duplicate them, all with a single command.

Macros are set up in the Key Commands dialog as follows:

1. Click the Show Macros button.

The macro settings are shown in the lower part of the dialog. To hide these from view, click the button (now renamed to Hide Macros) again.

2. Click New Macro.

A new, unnamed macro appears in the Macros list. Name it by typing the desired name. You can rename a macro at any time by selecting it in the list and typing in a new name.

3.Make sure the macro is selected, and use the Categories and Commands in the upper half of the dialog to select the first command you want to include in the macro.

4.Click Add Command.

The selected command appears in the list of Commands in the Macros section.

5. Repeat the procedure to add more commands to the macro.

Note that commands are added after the currently selected command in the list. This allows you to insert commands “in the middle” of an existing macro.

A macro with three commands.

•To remove a command from the macro, select it in the Macros list and click Delete.

•Similarly, to remove an entire macro, select it in the Macros list and click Delete.

After you have closed the Key Commands dialog, all macros you have created appear at the bottom of the Edit menu in the Macros submenu, available for instant selection.

You can also assign key commands to macros. All macros you have created appear in the upper section of the Key Commands dialog under the Macros category – just select a macro and assign a key command as with any other function.

Saving complete key commands settings as presets

As mentioned above, any changes made to the key commands (and macros) are automatically stored as a Nuendo preference. However, it is also possible to store key commands settings separately. This way, you can store any number of different key command settings, complete or partial, as presets for instant recall.

Proceed as follows:

1.Set up the key commands and macros to your liking.

When setting up key commands, remember to click “Assign” to make the changes.

2.Make sure that “Store Selected Items Only” is not activated.

This option is for saving partial key commands settings only (see below).

3.Click the Save button next to the Presets pop-up menu.

A dialog appears, allowing you to type in a name for the preset.

4.Click OK to save the preset.

Your saved key commands settings will now be available in the Preset pop-up menu for your future projects.

Saving partial key commands settings

It is also possible to save partial key commands settings. This is useful for example if you have made settings that only relate to a specific project or settings that you wish to apply only in certain situations. When you apply a saved partial preset you only change the specific saved settings, while all other key commands settings will be left unchanged.

When you have set up the key commands and macros, proceed as follows to save the partial settings as a preset:

1. Activate the “Store Selected Items Only” option.

When this is activated, a new “Store” column appears in the Commands list.

2.Click in the Store column for the key commands items you wish to save.

Note that if you check an entire category folder (as opposed to separate commands) all commands it contains will automatically also be selected. If this is not what you want, deselect the commands you don’t want to include.

3.Click the Save button (the disk icon) next to the Presets pop-up menu.

A dialog appears, allowing you to type in a name for the Preset.

4.Click OK to save.

Your saved key commands settings will now be available from the Preset pop-up menu for your future projects.

Loading saved key command settings

To load a key command preset, simply select it from the Presets pop-up menu.

Ö Note that this operation may replace existing key commands!

The key command settings you load will replace the current key command settings for the same functions (if any). If you have macros of the same name as those stored in the preset you load, these will be replaced too. If you want to be able to revert to your current settings again, make sure to save them first, as described above!

Loading saved key commands settings from earlier versions of Nuendo

If you have saved key commands settings with a previous version of Nuendo, it is possible to use them in Nuendo 4, by using the “Import Key Command File” function, which lets you load and apply saved key commands or macros:

1.Open the Key Commands dialog.

2.Click the “Import Key Command File” button to the right of the Presets pop-up menu.

A standard file dialog opens.

3.In the file dialog, use the “Files of type:” pop-up to specify if you want to import a key commands file (Windows file extension “.key”) or a macro commands file (extension “.mac”).

Key commands files included any macro settings and were saved with the file extension “.xml”. When you have imported an older file, you might want to save it as a preset (see “Saving complete key commands settings as presets” on page 521) to be able to access it from the Presets pop-up menu in the future.

4.Navigate to the file you want to import and click “Open”.

The file is imported.

5.Click OK to exit the Key Commands dialog and apply the imported settings.

The settings in the loaded key commands or macros file now replace the current settings.

About the “Reset” and “Reset All” functions

These two buttons in the Key Commands dialog will both restore the default settings. The following rules apply:

•“Reset” restores the default key command setting for the function selected in the Commands list.

•“Reset All” will restore the default key commands for all commands.

Note that the “Reset All” operation will cause any changes made to the default key commands to be lost! If you want to be able to revert to these settings again, make sure to save them first!

About the default key commands

As mentioned before, there are numerous default key commands. These are listed in the section “The default key commands” on page 524.

Using Alternative Key Sets

As an alternative to saving and loading key commands settings as previously described, you can set up and save “alternative key sets”. This allows you to switch between different key commands settings “on the fly” while you are working in the program, instead of having to go into the Key Commands dialog to change them.

About the preset Alternative Key Sets

By default, Nuendo contains two different key sets:

•“Markers” is actually not an alternative key set, but rather the default key set that you can switch back to at any time (see below).

•“Shuttle” is a specialized, alternative key set containing key commands settings for all of the Transport panel’s Shuttle controls.

You could edit and save these under the same names to replace them with your own settings should you so wish, but it is advised that you instead create additional key sets for your specific needs.

Saving an Alternative Key Set

Here’s how to create and save an Alternative Key Set:

1.Open the Key Commands dialog from the File menu.

2.Set up the key commands and macros the way you want them.

3.Decide whether you want to save complete or partial settings by activating/deactivating “Store Selected Items Only”.

4.Click the Store Alternative Set button (the disk icon) in the Alternative Key Sets section.

A dialog appears, allowing you to type in a name for the Preset.

5. Type in a name for the key set and click OK to save it.

The saved key set appears in the list of alternative key sets.

Editing an Alternative Key Set

To edit a saved key set, proceed as follows:

1.Select the key set in the list and click the “Open” button (the folder icon) in the Alternative Key Sets section.

The key set is now activated, and the key commands settings are changed accordingly.

2.Make the desired changes.

3.Click the Store Alternative Set button (the disk icon) in the Alternative Key Sets section.

The key set is saved with the updated settings.

Removing a saved Alternative Key Set

• To remove a saved key set, select it in the list and click the “Remove” button (the trash icon) in the Alternative Key Sets section.

A dialog appears asking if you want to remove the key set or cancel the operation.