SONAR 2017.12 Update - sneak peak - Xmas edition

Yes, I know :) Yes, you know :-) But you know :)
 
new
General workflow:
- ripple edit button changing its look when option is active/not active
- arranger bar in tracks area with text and custom colors for sections (shortcut A)
- convert bitrates (like 44.1 -> 48), no more 'improper audio message' and forcing user to manually fight hours what program can do in seconds.
- context menu for plugins automation parameters with very long list of element (20+) displayed now as divided into section manner instead of very long linear list beyond scree size
- smart autorename tracks in relation to imported file names (with wildcards and rules)
- insert soft synth additional option to set custom name for tracks
- smart labels (intelligent creation shorter names with rules)
- ability to copy any automation curve into different curve (for instance volume riders/meters automation curve into volume or gain curve etc)
- option to choice if in plugin menu should be last 5 used or favorite 5 or both
- now one can import/export tempo map as text file from inside tempo window or even edit manually outside of Sonar!
- option to store backup of preferences in user's profile on web (up to 10 variants)
- selection toolbar now shows also selection length (clickable measure type like posistion display)
- sort tracks according to assigned colors (in preferences option to set required order of colors )
- option to change order of channels/buses by drag and drop in console view (drag spot))
- track manager improved, now it is module not taking over focus as dialog
- option to migrate plugins to different location on disk
- option to assign default names for track created with adding VST synth
- global solo option to let use exclusive solo on group of track and keep some tracks always soloed
- option to keep changes history for selected clips
- quantize with many additional option like adjust only n-st note in bar, adjust excluding every n-th note, adjust only note X in selection, adjust with removing overlapping of notes...
- quantize with smarter humanization and manually defined rules
- different volume settings for metronome for play and record.
- better transient recognition with AI helper to improving it for used type of data.
- macros to assign sequence of functions (keystrokes) to one shorcut
- option to restrict automation to clip range to allow free volume slider for some clips while applied on the others
Special groups
- FX bypass group to let turn on/off members of it for instance only selected type of plugin on selected tracks at once to compare
- FX automation group to let at the same time control many plugins common feature
Help:
- text in tips displayed when hover mouse now contain also shortcut is assigned and turned on option in preferences
- improved shortcut help, now every command in tables is link to proper help part with its description
Visuals:
- option to smart assigning little instrument icons according to substrings in names (like toms, kick, guitar etc)
- when track showed in minimal view - assigning custom small icon or char/image from special graph library.
- custom minimal view to show available controls for track as MSR and volume and keep it short
- option to auto-adjust wave form to fill height of track
- option to highlight area where peak is over 0 value (related to type of metering) to fast visually identify
- possibility to define colors in pallette to pick up instead of defaults
- option to change color for whole strip not only narrow color label
- option to display bus strips differently than channels in the mean of color or appearance fo canvas or controls,
- option to show wave form in track after processing to let have fast look for real output form not source one, or both
- option for nicer rendering graphs for wave form (cpu penalty).
- option to adjust wave form after changing clip gain
Start screen:
- list projects have now in icon view description showed while hover mouse without need clicking at every projects (...) icon
Browser improvement:
- option to keep separate category lists for VST and VSTi plugins in plugin browser to avoid very long category list with many categories not related for proper plugin type.
- possibility to manage plugins at browser level like disabling/hidding/removing from browser
- pposability to select for every plugin which type should be showed (DX/VST2/VST3 etc).
- possibility to create marks at plugin name to differ types between category (f.e. compressors and compressors with side-chain)
- possibility to save layouts and orders from browser to user profile on web (up to 10)
- possibility to save category membership and order to web profile not to be forced on every machine manually perform ordering
- when right click on plugin in plugin browser under its name there is shown its exact location on disk
Tracks:
- when selecting 2 mono audio tracks and drag them into stereo track they will be combined there to stereo/ if drag on free space below tracks new stereo will be created. Also on right click menu when 2 monos selected available option combine 2 monos into new 1 stereo track
- when selecting stereo track there is at right click button option available to split stereo into 2 monos (working also on many tracks)
- option to scan/learn and auto-adjust gain level for selected tracks according to defined level
- special reference tracks with possibility to set many loops and scanning/adjusting volume option
- option to display both input and output meter when recording is armed
- button duplicate tracks now acts differently when used with modifiers keys (ctrl,alt,shift) creating duplicates without properties, effect, send (and combinations)
- added possibilities to adjust clip gain (and match waveform after it) by simple dragging line below clip title
- added also possibilities to do it on selected area of clip
- when clicking on folder icon now instead of editing its properties it is expanded/collapsing view of included tracks
- when create aux track it is possible to choose if mono
- possibility to create many loop not just 1 on project and switching between them
Plugin containers rebuilt:
- option to let VST plugin container organize all plugins from FX bin in the same window with tabs
- built-in channel tool into plugin container window
- option to turn on VA meters for input and output in plugin container and to automatic adjust gain to match them
- option to show gain points between plugins in chain to avoid missing clipping between plugins without meters
- multitrack aware control for plugins to let perform action on many track at once like on one +3dB for some range on other selected -3dB
- option to remember gain stage between plugins and autotrim
Loops:
- improved loop construction view to let easily manipulate/edit slice inside loops to reorganize loops
- smarter detection tempo of loops when playing in their original tempo (also option to learn from name of loop)
- when preview at host tempo not set and playing loop in media tab displaying at status bar tempo of playing

 

fixed.
- better self-defence of sonar against case when plugin container is hang not hanging sonar anymore
- better tempo recognition in REX2 (and macro which can take part name as tempo value)
- cloned audio track converter to mono stayed stereo
- editing track/bus name can insert special char as sum sign but after applying it is changed to '?'
- virtual controller caps lock works again, also fixed problem with displaying proper size of controller window and/or its controls
- problems with acurate displaying in browser if there are many plugins
- fixed when selecting track and by arrow up move focus on other select don't follow and alt-s command don't work (needed arrow up and , to move selection)
- disk overrun error appears in situation related to memory management not really disk related and sometime also fonts are replaced in preferences dialog
- adding more and more plugins during play often leads to hanging of Sonar
- often in history there was showed not proper name of actual operation to be undo/redo

You've thought long and hard over there.
You sure you wouldn't take a pony for Christmas?
I'm exhausted after reading that.
Good stuff Piotr

arlen2133
You've thought long and hard over there.
You sure you wouldn't take a pony for Christmas?
I'm exhausted after reading that.
Good stuff Piotr

This reminds of a Shel Silverstein poem:
 

‘Little Abigail And The Beautiful Pony’ by Shel Silverstein

There was a girl named Abigail
Who was taking a drive
Through the country
With her parents
When she spied a beautiful sad-eyed
Grey and white pony.
And next to it was a sign
That said,
FOR SALE–CHEAP.
“Oh,” said Abigail,
“May I have that pony?
May I please?”
And her parents said,
“No you may not.”
And Abigail said,
“But I MUST have that pony.”
And her parents said,
“Well, you can have a nice butter pecan
Ice cream cone when we get home.”
And Abigail said,
“I don’t want a butter pecan
Ice cream cone,
I WANT THAT PONY–
I MUST HAVE THAT PONY.”
And her parents said,
“Be quiet and stop nagging–
You’re not getting that pony.”
And Abigail began to cry and said,
“If I don’t get that pony I’ll die.”
And her parents said, “You won’t die.
No child ever died yet from not getting a pony.”
And Abigail felt so bad
That when she got home she went to bed,
And she couldn’t eat,
And she couldn’t sleep,
And her heart was broken,
And she DID die–
All because of a pony
That her parents wouldn’t buy.
 
(This is a good story
To read to your folks
When they won’t buy
You something you want.)
 

 
 

It is indeed a great list!
Better that sugar plums!
 

Piotr
Dan, I hope I (we) deserved even for part of it ;)
Sorry, Arlen, for sure, my poor English has to do something with your exhausting ;)
About pony, I am not sure if it could help with music much :)

Piotr, your english is just fine (I usually worry about my own).
No.. The pony won't help the music at all..
But your list sure can!
 

Start with a long list of unreasonable demands, then after negotiations, may end up with a few nice additions/fixes, while leaving the majority of users extremely dissatisfied.
The ART of the BAKERY !!  
 

Thanks Arlen for your kindness :)
 
Roger, I am really sad to hear you consider all wishes (not demands - and I am aware about work-hours needed to implement) as unreasonable... In fact some of them require really very small afford to implement as they are using functions already present in Sonar like bitrate conversion or ripple button etc... Anyway what is wrong in hoping Sonar would be improving workflow even more than before? :) We all would like it to be the best DAW ever, right? ;)

great list!  don;t forget to add each item as an "idea" in the bakery, that'll keep them busy for next few years

TheSteven
It is indeed a great list!
Better that sugar plums!
 

 
It's even better than jingtinglers, floofloovers, tartookas,
 
whohoopers, gardookas, trumtookas,
 
slooslunkas, blumbloopas, whowonkas,
 
ribbons, or tags
 
or even,
 
packages, boxes or bags!
 

 

For a moment I thought this was the official release list. I almost had a heart-attack.

TheSteven

Piotr
 
About pony, I am not sure if it could help with music much :)

In my last band after a show our singer was sometimes a little horse.
The girls liked him, don't recall any being named Abigail...

 a little horse lol!