Steinberg have released a free upgrade to Nuendo, their high-end music production powerhouse. The upgrade takes you to Nuendo 3.1 from from version 3. This upgrade follows on from their recent Cubase 3.1 upgrade. In fact, the title of the Nuendo web page is “Steinberg – Cubase SL/SX 3.1” so it looks as if they’ve been busy copying and pasting over at Steinberg webquarters. The new feature sets overlap a little bit — for example, both Cubase 3.1 and Nuendo 3.1 have the new “equal-power” panner. Other than that, the Nuendo updates are mostly to do with video-related work and Euphonix hardware integration, as well as a number of nice tweaks.

According to the website: The free Nuendo 3.1 update offers a variety of new features which are mainly targeted at post production for film and television. Additionally, this version of Nuendo provides significantly optimized workflow and performance features; it is also the first which is capable of interfacing with Euphonix hardware control by means of the Euphonix EuCon protocol.

Audio Pull Up/Down Function
The new Audio Pull up/down functionality allows the project to adapt to slowed-down or sped-up audio playback by 4% and 0.1%, plus combinations of these. This makes Nuendo the ultimate tool for audio post production whenever a Telecine process to adapt the speed of the audio recordings or a transfer from NTSC to PAL is involved during the film or television production.

HDTV Frame Rates
With HDTV becoming more and more important it is good to know that Nuendo is prepared to handle these formats by supporting the additional HDTV Frame Rates requires.

Extended Network Features
The unique Network Collaboration feature set in Nuendo is taken even further with Nuendo 3.1. Support for Marker Tracks has been included as well as a new Transfer Status window and the new Online Merge function, which enables users to quickly merge selected tracks between local projects and network projects.

Protection against data loss
Nuendo 3.1 reduces the risk of data getting lost due to system crashes during recording. The audio files are provided with file headers at regular intervals during the recordings so that if the system crashes Nuendo can restore the already recorded parts. The Autosave function has also been improved and now allows the user to define the number of files that are to be saved.

Optimized OSX Performance
The full support of Mac OSX Quartz 2D ensures that Nuendo benefits from all current and future Apple developments aimed at improving the graphic performance.

Video Thumbnail Pre-Cache
With this new option the thumbnail images of a video track are calculated and stored on the hard drive, so that they can be presented quicker during later work processes.

Workflow Enhancements
A faster workflow is ensured through several improved details in Nuendo 3.1. These enhancements include the synchronization of the track view between the Mixer window the Project window as well as the new Enlarge Selected Track mode, wich alllows a currently selected track to be automatically enlarged in the Project window.

“Equal Power” pan law
The new pan law “Equal Power” automatically adjusts level differences which occur due to panning changes. At the same time it creates smoother panning movements in a stereo or surround field.

Auto Edit for 9-Pin Devices
This new 3.1 version offers a Auto Edit function for the Nuendo Time Base Synchronizer. Pre-Roll and Post-Roll values for all 9-Pin Devices have also been added to the Auto Edit function.

Support of the Euphonix EuCon Protocol
Nuendo 3.1 is the first Nuendo version that can be directly integrated in studios using the Euphonix MC or the 5-MC system through the new EuCon module. Developed by experienced Steinberg programmers and exclusively distributed worldwide by Euphonix, the EuCon module offers a perfect integration of hardware with software.