I'm up for it.  Actually, that's what I did back then when I opened it.  But it doesn't hurt to do it again, does it?

Request being sent as we speak.

Jose7822

Himalaya,

OK, I like you Envelope Solo idea :-)

Me too but with one major caveat: This should only be ONE of the new automation/envelop enhancements. Cakewalk should not think they can get away by ONLY implementing this. There are many times where more than one envelopes are interacting and it is important to see more than one to do proper editing. (X/Y pad stuff is an obvious example).

I think the null/reset idea should be an option, and not the default.  I say this because the oposite scenario can occur, where you don't want the envelope to reset to default after recording a take.  Otherwise, I agree with you.

I think the envelopes should remain flat at the level they were when added unless they are specifically changed. By that I mean changed by using automation (moving faders or whatever), copying/sliding/cutting clips and/or automation directly, editing the envelope by hand or through a menu with one of the functions proposed in this thread etc. And the envelope should only change in the parts it has been edited. Any untouched part should remain at the original original level. [1]

The opposite is easily taken care of with a "Write automation to selection" function. One way of implementing this is if you drag select a portion of track and hit a particular keyboard shortcut (or a button or a menu entry), the automation/envelope values at the beginning of your selection are drawn out to the end of your selection in a straight line (probably only the visible envelopes so you can do this to certain parameters without affecting others). It would need a modifier key to do it in the other direction from the end of your selection to the beginning. Other functions as "Write automation to end/start of project" would also be useful of course.

[1] The one exception is when there are no automation nodes yet. Then you could just drag the whole envelope up or down. And of course you can always drag any envelope section up down and, hopefully, change their shape with bezier tools.

Oh one thing that I don't think has been corrected in this thread: Latch mode means that the automation latches to a value. Lets say you pull the volume of a track down by 10 dB during playback with Latch automation write enabled, the volume level will stay at that new level (a straight horizontal line) as long as you don't stop playback or change the fader. The way you described latch mode at the beginning of this thread would be some kind of Offset mode.

For the rest, some good ideas are being proposed. :)

UnderTow

UnderTow

Jose7822

Himalaya,

OK, I like you Envelope Solo idea :-)

Me too but with one major caveat: This should only be ONE of the new automation/envelop enhancements. Cakewalk should not think they can get away by ONLY implementing this. There are many times where more than one envelopes are interacting and it is important to see more than one to do proper editing. (X/Y pad stuff is an obvious example).

UnderTow

The solution is simple: you solo however many envelopes you select ! 

However, yes you are right, this should be one of many new automation features. That goes without saying, since there will be people who prefer automation lanes. 'Options' is the way forward.
Part of me thinks however, that Cakewalk would be onto a winner with this 'envelope solo' since no other host that I know of has it. Yet, to me it appears such a fast, intuitive and neat solution.

Please add your voice to the feature request thingy so that we stand a chance of seeing these features in Sonar ! :-)

yorolpal


Pardon me for being a bit tangential here but one thing I'd really like to be able to do when I'm using track envelopes is this:  Say I've got my envelope just like I want it as regards track volume automation but in the mix I just want to bump it up a little.  I'd like to be able to just push the fader up a skosh on the console or track views but have all my automation moves stay the same in relation to the new level.  There's probably a way to do this now (and if there is please tell me).  I like most all of Jose's ideas here and really hope Cake take's a very serious look at automation and envelopes...very soon.

Besides using Offset mode, you can also select the whole track by clicking on the track's number (make sure nothing is currently selected before doing this) and moving the envelope by the amount you need.  Only thing is that you need to make sure to add a node after the last node of your envelope, or else it won't move correctly.  This is because the last node stays fixed, so adding another node solves this.
 
I personally don't like using offset mode, so this is my way of getting around it.
 
 
HTH

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.

Wow....wow. That's compelling. I've used R for a while for onsite recordings, but I still do all of my mixing in Sonar. I may have to re-evaluate that. This just seems so much easier and more powerful. I'd love to see this feature in Sonar. Wow...

I missed this thread when it started. Just wanted to give it a friendly bump and also some support. Automation is a big-ticket, crucial item and I'm hoping Cakewalk is listening.

For me: Automation lanes, several more modes, curves, a manager, and re-thinking the relationship between a clip, track and automation to make it more intuitive and robust when moving clips around.

+1 to the many good ideas here. And I agree, as long as it's comprehensive. If they add mute automation to the busses while they're at it I'll be chuffed.

Cheers,
Max.  

LFS

Do you know if 8.5 has incorporated yoursuggestion?

Nope, they just fixed some old automation bugs.
 
But this is a good sign and could mean they have intentions of improving automation soon.  At least we can hope :-)
 
 

MIDIMINDS


Just read through this thread looking for a "lanes"-like feature that I might have overlooked.  I guess the bakers overlooked it, too! 

Certainly a topic to keep foremost in concerns.

 
Eratu and I were just speaking about automation lanes earlier today.  It is a feature that will surely improve Sonar's workflow, and we hope Cakewalk implements it in their next version.  They really need to tackle this as automation is a basic function of any DAW, and Sonar's implementation of it is not user friendly.  There are currently many limitations, requires too many mouse clicks and it sometimes doesn't work as expected.  We haven't had anything new in the automation department (except for bug fixes) since Sonar 5!  Cakewalk needs to stop developing doo-dahs (as nice as they are, but we already have them elsewhere) and focus on improving these basic DAW functions.  Anyways, let's see how they respond :-)
 
 
Take care!
 
 

Friendly bump +1000 for the record

+ 1  !!!!!!!!!