Cakewalk ! The Way Forward ?

I like the updates each month and fixes and new plug ins etc etc by Cakewalk, i appreciate them and no matter what they are its always a nice addition moving forward.
 
Maybe there is another thread already however it has to be the future and time for Cakewalk to introduce a new Application Language for Sonar Platinum that opens Platinum up and allows user/programmers to also shape Sonar Platinum's future.
 
We are dealing with some stiff competition at the moment "Apples immense fortune and its unlimited DAW $ supply" or "Ableton with Cycling 74 which allows there users to make apps that have opened Ableton UP and it is growing daily ", or other DAWs with feature based Directions/Updates which again users from other DAWs take notice of and should be able to have in there DAW if possible , or the fact that most these other DAWs having different platforms to run on also has some impact on the competition.
Now i will say this is not a "competition" but the fact that the more Cakewalk customers there are the more money that can be spent on Cakewalk users, be it updates tutorials, customer service etc etc.
 
I am thinking if they do this then most of those ideas at the bakery may come through by users monthly/weekly/daily etc etc and it will be super inviting to potential customers.
I am not saying that Cakewalk should become a "full transparent" open source code application but what about semi transparent or introducing a new Current language where users help shape the future of platinum.
My idea is a bit like this and i would encourage any users to help me as i am not a specialist with the different coding or languages available however i know they are powerful and unlimited, and we need to work together to help cakewalk see this as the way forward.
 
My thought is this in the simplest explanation, imagine if i could write language and cakewalk introduced a "New" "Current" "Superior" "Application Language" that allowed me to add any idea at the bakery into platinum myself.
 
The Future: Imagine if cakewalk added a New " CAKESON " application.
That Cakeson application always has the latest updated Sonar Platinum code and when you start the Cakeson application and entered each step of your idea into that Cakeson application it would make the necessary code for your idea step by step ( being that each users step entered into the application is possible , which would automatically write the code and make available the next step, similar to a choose your own adventure < if you remember those books ).
I saw a Docu about a machine "Watson" that answered double jeopardy questions, the way forward was to let Watson learn itself and i cant see why a Cakeson application with this principle of knowing all of platinum's code and teaching itself to learn how to write and join code itself as each Sonar Platinum update is fed into Cakeson by cakewalk Bakers each month cant work also. Yes the machine would be at cakewalk headquarters but would connect via application and internet to the users and allow the users "successful "ideas to be an available option for everyone.
This would keep Sonar Platinum code "Private" for Cakewalk but allow users to add any ideas and those ideas cant be hidden from other users either so a win win situation for cakewalks and the users .
I can see this as a self growing DAW that would make every competitor envious and everyone would want to be apart of that.
Yes this can be done overnight and will cost some money but looking into it by cakewalk will be the ultimate way forward i believe.
 
One last thing the documentary is called :NOVA - Official Website | Smartest Machine on Earth
Towards the end of the documentary there is a real time language converting app that also used the same principle of learning itself to be a super powerful travel companion and who wants to travel without it. My point is made.
 
Please watch the documentary if you have some time.
 
 

taccess
I like the updates each month and fixes and new plug ins etc etc by Cakewalk, i appreciate them and no matter what they are its always a nice addition moving forward.
 
Maybe there is another thread already however it has to be the future and time for Cakewalk to introduce a new Application Language for Sonar Platinum that opens Platinum up and allows user/programmers to also shape Sonar Platinum's future.
 
We are dealing with some stiff competition at the moment "Apples immense fortune and its unlimited DAW $ supply" or "Ableton with Cycling 74 which allows there users to make apps that have opened Ableton UP and it is growing daily ", or other DAWs with feature based Directions/Updates which again users from other DAWs take notice of and should be able to have in there DAW if possible , or the fact that most these other DAWs having different platforms to run on also has some impact on the competition.
Now i will say this is not a "competition" but the fact that the more Cakewalk customers there are the more money that can be spent on Cakewalk users, be it updates tutorials, customer service etc etc.
 
I am thinking if they do this then most of those ideas at the bakery may come through by users monthly/weekly/daily etc etc and it will be super inviting to potential customers.
I am not saying that Cakewalk should become a "full transparent" open source code application but what about semi transparent or introducing a new Current language where users help shape the future of platinum.
My idea is a bit like this and i would encourage any users to help me as i am not a specialist with the different coding or languages available however i know they are powerful and unlimited, and we need to work together to help cakewalk see this as the way forward.
 
My thought is this in the simplest explanation, imagine if i could write language and cakewalk introduced a "New" "Current" "Superior" "Application Language" that allowed me to add any idea at the bakery into platinum myself.
 
The Future: Imagine if cakewalk added a New " CAKESON " application.
That Cakeson application always has the latest updated Sonar Platinum code and when you start the Cakeson application and entered each step of your idea into that Cakeson application it would make the necessary code for your idea step by step ( being that each users step entered into the application is possible , which would automatically write the code and make available the next step, similar to a choose your own adventure < if you remember those books ).
I saw a Docu about a machine "Watson" that answered double jeopardy questions, the way forward was to let Watson learn itself and i cant see why a Cakeson application with this principle of knowing all of platinum's code and teaching itself to learn how to write and join code itself as each Sonar Platinum update is fed into Cakeson by cakewalk Bakers each month cant work also. Yes the machine would be at cakewalk headquarters but would connect via application and internet to the users and allow the users "successful "ideas to be an available option for everyone.
This would keep Sonar Platinum code "Private" for Cakewalk but allow users to add any ideas and those ideas cant be hidden from other users either so a win win situation for cakewalks and the users .
I can see this as a self growing DAW that would make every competitor envious and everyone would want to be apart of that.
Yes this can be done overnight and will cost some money but looking into it by cakewalk will be the ultimate way forward i believe.
 
One last thing the documentary is called :NOVA - Official Website | Smartest Machine on Earth
Towards the end of the documentary there is a real time language converting app that also used the same principle of learning itself to be a super powerful travel companion and who wants to travel without it. My point is made.
 
Please watch the documentary if you have some time.
 
 

Ahhh... WHAT?!!!

Tim Flannagin
I may have to start drinking more (or less). I'm not really sure after reading this post.

There goes your music career.

mettelus
Unfortunately, everyone wants to contribute and there is no good reference to what does what (exactly). CAL scripts is one example of this. There are a LOT that have been made, but finding and choosing them is awkward. Samples, loops, and presets fall into a similar category... trying to find the handful of useful things in a pile of thousands (literally in many cases) often amounts to a waste of time.

 
+1  
 

I'd be happy if the Bakers just took a moment to clarify the CAL API specification.
 

...wicked
I like that this original msg could've read "We could use a full-featured scripting layer in SONAR."
 
But I appreciate the passion!

.....wicked: a full featured scripting Layer in Sonar ! Nice !

Is this an updated version of CAL “ which I would be happy with “ because I would also like to see a real time processing language Layer in Sonar “ say for users to built Sonar specific apps or add features and I guess the main thing here is if Sonar adds a language Layer for users that’s its the latest greatest language so it resonates with current times.
I bet there are a bunch of users who would like a certain Language added, and I bet adding a new languages opens windows for users to change Sonar for the better.

Sonar adding features that allows users to add features is the way forward, not doing that right now is a big mistake in my eyes.

Does CAL scripts function in current Sonar products or is CAL functionality obsolete?  If it's available, why not return the CAL forum?  Why not put together a knowledge guide and tutorials about the feature?

So far:
* there was and is CAL. That is offline only processor but it has features possible in offline only (I mean some functionality is impossible in real-time one track oriented MFX/ MIDI VST frameworks): there was more developers, there is less now.
* there was and is MFX. The API is open source, with examples. Not all (I mean not even all essential...) tricks are explained, but for some use cases everything is rather clean. Unlike CAL, that can be used "on the fly". Unlike CAL, some offline, especially multi-track, processing is not possible. There was some developers, there is no one now.
Some users have claimed, the problem is in C++... and requested some binding. One user has requested Lua binding. I have written it... so far no one tried it, not even the person who has requested it!
* VST and MFX was established as a DAW independent possibility to extend MIDI/Audio processing functionality, available for everyone. How many VSTs from Cakewalk community was developed? I can remember one...
* Control Surface API is open source since very long time. It does not allow to control the content of the project (at least not directly), but it allows to control Sonar. There was just several people which have tried to use that, there are still just several people.
* Sonar customization was developed long before it become official.
* every interfere with (close to) real-time DAW processing (even MIDI, even Surface), made by not experienced programmers, is an easy way to make Sonar unstable, up to crashes and freezes. It is not an easy job to make a bullet prove protection against misbehavior of user scripts in general (in some cases simpler then in other... I  have implemented such protection in the Lua MFX).
 
And so there are just several people which really want to develop something, only subset of them which really can. Who was serious, has achieved some results (CAL scripts, MFXes, Control Surfaces, customization).
 
So IMHO: an idea to invest huge effort just to attract a bunch of noobs by the fact they cat mess a bit with Sonar internals is pointless.

lfm
But what would benefit Sonar for sure - make VST midi plugins load in MFX slots - just like DX and VST audio plugins load in audio track plugin slots.

Yes. But...
 
Following IMHO (at the level of speculations) comes from:
* DX and VST use quite different approaches with MIDI. VST "quantize" MIDI at audio buffer borders and work with "raw" MIDI messages. DX has artificial quantization which unavoidable introduce logical bugs (original design problem) and works with "aggregated" MIDI events ( so "Note On + Note Off -> Note + duration"). (DX also use raw messages for live processing since "duration" is obviously not known)
* internally Sonar works with MIDI in DX framework and just "export" into VST like domain at the very end. Indirect proves: MFX is DX only, some bugs (Yamaha sustain, playback buffer influence on skipped notes, etc.) can only exists in DX way, Lyrics/Text directly accessible in MFX "as is"
 
So a major change in sonar engine is required, in the part which was not really touched since many many years (developers? licenses?). An attempt to make "aux" like dirty hack can break much more then related Audio functionality, for which Sends exist from the beginning (so corresponding machinery was foreseen).
 
I hope CW will do this one lucky day. I mean rewrite MIDI engine. I guess everything appear "at once" then: MIDI VST, audio like routing flexibility, absolute time MIDI events locks, updated staff and lyrics views, etc. That can also lead to "negative" changes: discarded DX/MFXes (no more TTS-1 ??), broken CAL scripts ...
 

whitejs
The rest makes you look shallow