Envelopes seem to be broken

In each track, you will see an Edit Filter control labeled Clips. Click that control and choose Automation to add/edit envelopes in the track. Then set it back to clips to go back to editing clips.

You can also Shift+click on different envelopes and clips with the Smart tool to automatically change the Edit Filter control.

Scott

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tbh the whole thing also seems very unreliable - half the time when I have automation write enabled it doesn't record anything at all and I have to undo the recording and do another take.

Is this fixed yet?

This is hopeless - I just lost a whole track with complex automation non of which got recorded. It seems to completely ignore automation the first time I record any plugin. I had to undo it and record it again and this time the automation is playing back but the envelopes are completely invisible still - useless!

Since having to upgrade from P5 Sonar has been a big disappointment - it's still after 2 versions nowhere near as good. And to make matters worse I can't even sell the damn thing! You'd think there would be some way to get your money back

Hi - -yes display ghosted data is checked - although is that on by default as I don''t remember having to check that in previous versions? I have each track set up to display the automation envelopes in the audio track - I don't like it on top of the midi (you'd think Sonar would have lanes by now like other hosts but this is better than nothing). Yes my expectation would be that an envelope would appear when I move a control but it isn't and in fact it seems there are two problems here, maybe related:

1) Everytime I record automation, the first time I try nothing gets recorded - no matter what plugin I use

2) Even when automation data is recorded (as evidenced by it playing back when I enable read) the envelopes are invisible.

I wondered if it was a colour problem but I have tried all three included themes and still nothing shows up - I mainly use X1 dark) - I have noticed the smart cursor changes to an edit envelope tool when I hover over the audio track after recording automation so it looks like something is there but not visible and it should be visible by default if ghosted data is enabled shouldn't it?

Sorry not sure how to record a video

Mysterious.  I'm afraid I can't help, but I'm suffering from one or two serious bugs which others can't seem to replicate and I've noticed a lot of similar posts over the last few weeks.  I'm wondering if some of the underlying new/changed code in Sonar X1 is fragile (polite word for broken) and can result in intermittent bugs depending on the order and combination of events as the user works with the program.      

Hey Stephen, I see what you are talking about now. Sorry. I had never tried to record write automation at the same time I was recording the first take before. I can confirm that no automation is visible or recorded in this circumstance.

I don't know if there is a reason for this behavior or not, but SONAR 8.5 does the same thing.

I found a couple of workarounds, but it would be great if some of the SONAR gurus could confirm them or provide a better solution.

Workaround 1:

Use a throwaway first take.

Arm your track for recording, enable write automation on your synth plugin, hit Record and move every synth control you want automated.

Stop the transport, rewind and record your second take. All controls touched during the first take should record automation now.

Workaround 2:

Define assignable controls for the synth controls you want to automate using this procedure:

1. Undock the Browser or dock it in the MultiDock. (Assignable controls can not be shown when the
Browser is docked at the left or right side.)

2. In the synth’s strip of controls in the Synth Rack, click the Assign Controls button to enable it.

3. While the Assign Controls button is enabled, click on each control in the synth’s property page
that you want to create a knob for.

4. When you’re finished clicking on controls, click the Assign Controls button to disable it.


Every control you assign to the Synth Rack should record automation during the first take.



It doesn't make sense to me that write automation can't be recorded in the first take, but can be recorded in subsequent takes even if the first take is undone. Apparently, it is not the recording that matters, but simply the touching of the controls.

Like I said, it would be really groovy if an Enlightened One could shed some more light on this mystery. I did a (non-exhaustive) search, but didn't find anything. 

~Don

MUSE


Thanks for confirming  - I don't remember experiencing this in 8.5 myself but I am using workaround 1 at the moment - workaround 2 is more fiddly. Both however kill any spontaneity as much of my creativity is based on just being able to jam till something feels right then hit record. There is no logical reason for this behaviour and no other DAW works this way so it must be bug but it surprises me that so few people have picked it up before now.

I agree that the second workaround is more fiddly, but it only needs to be done once for each soft synth you want to jam with. SONAR remembers the assigned controls so when you insert one of your "preassigned" synths into a future project, all you have to do is enable write automation and start recording. So it is sort of a more permanent solution. (This does not work for soft synths inserted into a track's FX bin.)

Interesting - inserting a softsynth via the bin also works fine. That would make a good workaround - not as easy as just dragging from the browser or using insert but clearly that method is what's broken.

btw it seems you can assign controls to softsynths in the fx bin now - and freeze them (that didn't used to work before either)