How do I record a 4 bars clip?

Its done very easily indeed but all you would really need to do is just read the manual on Punch Recording.
 
Hope this helps

Your punch in starts and ends exactly where you indicated....BUT.... if the clip contains MIDI it will officially begin at the point where the first note was hit and ends where the last note was hit and ended. 

If you want the clip to fit exactly into the 4 bar parameter, simply insert an audio track, arm it to record, and then hit record and let it roll. You do not have to record anything into it. However, it will attempt to record the inputs which have no signal so you should get a flat line. This audio track will now allow the clip to be exactly what you are seeking..... exactly 4 bars in length. 

  That does not work too. I created a audio and a midi track. I set Loop and Punch to 1 to 5, like writen above. I armed both tracks audio and Midi, then I hit record. It play some few notes into the midi track. when finished, I got one audio clip. It has the desired lenght of exactly 16:000, which seem to be exactly 4 bars - perfekt!
But the midi clip, as always, has a much shorter lenght. He does not start at 1.0.0. He starts at about 2.0.0. Its realy frustrating. Beside that, the clip is to short, he ends long befor the curser reaches 5.0.0. Any other suggestions?

obori


  That does not work too. I created a audio and a midi track. I set Loop and Punch to 1 to 5, like writen above. I armed both tracks audio and Midi, then I hit record. It play some few notes into the midi track. when finished, I got one audio clip. It has the desired lenght of exactly 16:000, which seem to be exactly 4 bars - perfekt!
But the midi clip, as always, has a much shorter lenght. He does not start at 1.0.0. He starts at about 2.0.0. Its realy frustrating. Beside that, the clip is to short, he ends long befor the curser reaches 5.0.0. Any other suggestions?

Yes... this is what I explained to you. Midi gets recorded when and only when you hit the key. So if you start the punch in at measure 3:01:000 but do not hit a note until 3:02:354... all the space before that note is pressed does not show anything in it.... the clip as it were, begins when that first note gets hit AFTER the recording starts. 

SO.... the thing I said about putting in an audio track is what is going to give you the perfect 4 measure bar....AFTER you export the clip to audio. 

Now.... if you are not exporting it to audio..... this will not work the same way.

If I wanted a totally midi clip... 4 bars long....exactly..... I would record the midi like you need.... then, I would use the staff or PRV to edit the clip. Add a 1/32nd note manually on the first beat (3:01:000) and on the last tick of the last bar (6:04:950 or whatever that last tick is) Be sure the last note ENDS on that last tick and does not go into the next measure. 

Now.... very important. edit the volume of that note to be ZERO so it doesn't make any sound. 

That should allow you to do a 100% midi 4 bar clip.

I understand the OPs pain. It should be doable, but it seems it isn't. I haven't tried it  myself yet, but I wonder if slip edit would do it?? Or - if you Groove Clip  or drag copy a slip edited MIDI-clip, is the resulted copy the same size as the original "un-slipped" one??

Of course it's relatively easy to paste the clip to any position in the time line, but still..

I mostly do orchestral mock-ups in Sonar and have never had a problem with this.  I agree with above posts - I would just record the material (even if it goes over), then grab the smart tool (F5), ensure I'm in clip mode (MMB - choose clips as opposed to volume, etc), and grab the end of the clip and drag it back to exactly 4 bars.  You can even turn on snap (quantize) to ensure a perfect fit.

I'm a keyboardist and do 95% of my recordings by playing live.  I have count-in set for one bar, so I never miss the entrance.  Even if I do, the piano-roll editing window with its various drawing tools is a good friend.

Not sure I understand the strict requirement for a 4-bar recording.  The context may change the answers you get.  If you're making loop materiel to export for a DJ program or something, again, the editing tools are more than adequate and there are a dozen ways to solve the problem after you stop recording at the keyboard.

I hope I haven't misunderstood your post and that this helps a little.  If not, please explain further what the problem is and why you aren't getting the results you want.  Maybe a video tutorial would help?

+1 with Kalle