ORIGINAL: UnderTow

ORIGINAL: Jose7822

Very nice guys! These look great, except I don't like how Logic displays automation parameters all over the envelopes. I like 'em plain and simple :-)

It should be an option. :)

Cakewalk Cakewalk if you upgrade automation (which is extremely needed for many reasons) please oh please do an utterly complete and thorough job of it. Take your time to plan it out properly and make sure it at least equals but preferably beats the automation now (and since a long time) available in Logic, ProTools, Cubase, Reaper and the rest.
Thank you. :)

UnderTow

Agree 10,000,000%

Please Cakewalk, get something really amazing going with automation before you release it to the world. Don't half-bake it, please!

+1 one on all of the automation posts....I went from sonar studio 4 to 8 but would gladly update quicker to be able to use automation easier..I had Samplitude 10SE recently and man you just grab a line anywhere and pull it anywhere...might not be as complex as some of the things you guys need but it'll do me..I almost thought about reteaching myself another DAW because it would make my recording life that much more pleasant


My apartment.... 2am...small office lamp...squinting eyes...add node....add node....add node....aaarrrrggghhhhh < insane laughter >

ORIGINAL: Marah

Since we're doing show n tell, here's how brand R handles automation lanes.

ORIGINAL: John

Where are the lanes???

Pretty much where you'd expect them to be, easy to identify, easy to edit and manage.

I really like some of the ideas shown in that animated image you posted:

Let's hope we see some of this added to Sonar 9!

"Bump"

To keep these envelope threads where they can be spotted.




"Power to the people"

Mike

ORIGINAL: Jose7822

Sup everyone!

The following are a few automation ideas that could improve Sonar's workflow:


1- The ability to automate a plugins' ON/OFF button.

This is most useful when using VSTi effects since there are no audio tracks (unless you bounce it) to insert clip effects into. But even when you have audio clips in your project, they might be chopped off into several pieces and inserting clip FX on each clip is not very convenient either. Sure you could bounce the clip, but I try to avoid doing that as much as possible. Using sends and automating its volume works in some cases but not in others (i.e. if you want that telephone effect on a certain part of the song). Plus this would enable us to use track effects in a different way (i.e. you can have two EQ plugins with contrasting curves on the same track and switch between them almost at will without having to automate a bunch of parameters, just their ON/OFF state). I'm sure there are other great uses for this.

2- Making automation easier with auto-animation.

The idea is to tell Sonar what the starting/ending points are and it will automatically draw the correct automation based on the settings you choose. For example, I want to automate track 1's panning to go 50% left and right at half-note intervals. All I do is go to an automation dialog, set the I/O points, select the choices I want (i.e. type of curve, amount of panning, interval, etc) and click OK (automation is automatically, and perfectly drawn). It could also start with an area on the time ruler selected, or a clip selected so that the I/O points are already set before going into the automation dialog. It could also include the ability to automate several parameters of a certain plugin (i.e. Sonitus EQ's frequency, gain, and Q settings) at once. The current implementation of automation drawing it's not precise so you spend more time fixing it later which is no good.

3- More automation modes.

Sonar only has one automation mode. I'd like to see other automation modes like those found on other DAWs (i.e. Touch, Latch, Overwrite, Jump).

4- Better Hide/Show Automation Option.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to hide/show multiple automations without having to enter/exit the same window over and over again? Cakewalk could implement an Automation Manager similar to the Track Manager. This would be a time/click saver :-)

5- Adding Anchors to the Envelope Nodes.

Think Premier Pro CS4 where you can shape the curves of your envelopes with the anchors that are attached to the envelope nodes. This way you can cutomize automation envelopes any way you want. You could even start with one of the 3 choices we already have in Sonar (Linear, Fast or Slow) and go from there.


Well, that's all I have for now. Let me know what you think or if I'm missing something that can already be done in Sonar.


Take care!

+1.

+1

Hey Paul,

You're right about the first one.  I personally don't use many 3rd party plugins and stick to the ones in Sonar for compatibility reasons (since I'm on an all 64 bit system).  I use the Sonitus suite plugins alot and didn't see a way to do this in them.  However, the newer Cakewalk plugins do have an ON/OFF button that is exposed for automation.  I guess my issue would be solved if Cakewalk could update the Sonitus plugs to expose the Bypass button.  Automating the Mix button sometimes means working with 2 envelopes instead of 1 (as is the case with stereo plugins).

And yes, I know about the Envelope Draw Tool.  Problem with it is that it's not accurate at all, which is what I want when I draw an envelope.  I'm kind of a neat freak and I don't like it when there's a million nodes where 3 can do the job.  That's why I proposed that, as an alternative, we could have some kind of dialog box where we could insert different parameters to create a perfect envelope.  That way, people like me, don't have to go back to clean up the mess deleting nodes and correcting parameters.


Take care!

Fair enough. Carry on suggesting, it's all good. :)

I don't use the Sonitus EQs anyway. They don't very nice to me.

Paul Russell


I don't use the Sonitus EQs anyway. They don't very nice to me.

That's cause it doesn't have a sound, which is what I like about it.  
 
I want to be able to add my own coloration as needed.

That's cause it doesn't have a sound, which is what I like about it.  
 

They have a sound. It's a cold digital one.

That's why I don't like it.

My go to EQ is PSP Neon HR, which can run either Linear Phase or Parametric, with Mid/Side Process and separate L/R EQ if I want to use it.

2nd is the Flux Epure II, which is warmer than the Sonitus and much more subtle to use.

3rd is Voxengo Gliss, which also has a spectrum analyzer and works in dynamic mode too.

4th is the TC Electronics Dynamic EQ

And then finally there's the Sonitus EQ for when I'm handing back a cwp file to someone who wants to hear how I did it. I do use 'em, but like I say I don't like them.

Jose7822

  .......So you would select a track, press the Automation Manager shortcut key, and uncheck/check those automations you want to hide/show on this track. It's probably the most elegant way to go about this (and I know Cakewalk likes elegant ;-)

Please Cakewalk, give us an Automation Manager

No it's not the most elegant way of doing this !  See my post above.

Why check or uncheck individual envelopes? Do the reverse, solo the one you want to edit ! Much quicker.

All we need is a way to SOLO the selected envelope. No need for automation lanes even. Why add so much: automation lanes that will clutter the whole screen, automation manager which would require more clicks to get to or manage, etc. A simple ENVELOPE SOLO is all that's needed . IMHO, of course :-)

Anyway,
My automation feature requests would be as follows:

- ENVELOPE SOLO ( yes we know that by now   )

- NODE THINNING - nobody has suggested it in this thread ??? or have I missed  it.

- BETTER NODE SELECTION - at the moment, there is a bug: I select the envelope, then try to grab a node on this selected envelope, but instead, a node that's underneath on another overlapped envelope pops up. Even zooming in won't always help, and I need to move one of the envelopes up/down a bit to make sure nothing is overlapping. But what if there are three or four envelopes overlapping ? A nightmare situation.

- that funky curve manipulation as seen in LOGIC 5 vid in this thread.

Himalaya, it seems to me you're batting 1000. I like every idea you have proposed. The solo, the null and the others are not simply great but brilliant. I could use the null idea right now. I have often wanted to start over with automation without having to delete the automation I have setup. To have a function to bring those back to a "null" point would be just what I have wished for. All of your ides would find a happy home with me.