Helpful ReplyBest method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper?

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tubeydude
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2018/01/25 00:13:08 (permalink)

Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper?

I have been setting up reaper over the last few days and it is coming along.  I can get it set up pretty similarly to the workflow I had in sonar.  However, I have lots of old sonar projects that I would like to be able to bring into reaper and continue to develop.  I still have sonar up, running, and updated, but I don't want to get stuck and have to figure it out in a hurry when the time comes that sonar is not running or breaks.
 
OMF formats are not supported by reaper.  I have heard that you can simply drag and drop the waveforms from the gui of sonar into the correct track lane in reaper.  I did try that and had mixed success.  It was fiddly at best.  I have not tried exporting stems from sonar and importing them into reaper, but I might try that. 
 
In any case, it looks like there is no good way to transfer over envelopes, fx bins, pan settings, etc. 
 
How are others here dealing with this issue?
 
Thanks!
 
#1
azslow3
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 00:22:22 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby jude77 2018/01/25 17:13:53
At the moment, my advise is: wait.
There is far from zero probability you will be able simply open your projects in Reaper...
 

Sonar 8LE -> Platinum infinity, REAPER, Windows 10 pro
GA-EP35-DS3L, E7500, 4GB, GTX 1050 Ti, 2x500GB
RME Babyface Pro (M-Audio Audiophile Firewire/410, VS-20), Kawai CN43, TD-11, Roland A500S, Akai MPK Mini, Keystation Pro, etc.
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#2
tubeydude
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 00:29:51 (permalink)
I am waiting with fingers crossed, but I am also doing a bit of prep in case we are truly screwed. 
Better safe-ish than sorry.
 
#3
JohnKenn
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 01:00:57 (permalink)
As Azslow advised, you are currently dead meat directly importing a Sonar session into Reaper. Will not happen. With the death of Sonar, likely never will be an option since the Sonar project files are a discarded format receding into antiquity. Nobody has any incentive to support or convert..
 
There is possibly a painful alternative to render the Sonar files to individual wav's which can be easily imported into Reaper track by track. Organize and save to the *.rpp format that will be supported and improved upon for a long time to come.
 
Hope your experience is good with Reaper. I done them side to side for over 10 years. Took a lot of flack over time from you guys suggesting Reaper was a better operating environment, superior DAW, just missing a ton of third party bloat.
 
Big problem however. Reaper has bloen up to 11 Mg installer. Takes almost 30 seconds to install. Universe is going to hell in a handbasket.
 
John
#4
tubeydude
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 01:12:19 (permalink)
Yeah, I have been keeping reaper on my machine too and updating and checking it out for several years as well.
I have always been impressed with how lean and mean it is.  It has come a long way.
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azslow3
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 07:29:43 (permalink)
JohnKenn
As Azslow advised, you are currently dead meat directly importing a Sonar session into Reaper. Will not happen. With the death of Sonar, likely never will be an option since the Sonar project files are a discarded format receding into antiquity. Nobody has any incentive to support or convert..

English is not my native language, probably that is why I can not understand what you mean... Is that written with humor in mind?
It seems like tubeydude could understand me, but here is more strait reason for my advise:
I am writing the converter. If nothing interrupt the process, the first working prototype should be ready within days.
As I have mentioned in my "Do we own our projects?" in Sonar board, CWP parser is already written (with strips routing, audio/MIDI clips, automations, sends, FXes and Synth). So the whole required for conversion information is extracted from CWP and I am at "printing into RPP" phase (RPP are text files).

Sonar 8LE -> Platinum infinity, REAPER, Windows 10 pro
GA-EP35-DS3L, E7500, 4GB, GTX 1050 Ti, 2x500GB
RME Babyface Pro (M-Audio Audiophile Firewire/410, VS-20), Kawai CN43, TD-11, Roland A500S, Akai MPK Mini, Keystation Pro, etc.
www.azslow.com - Control Surface Integration Platform for SONAR, ReaCWP, AOSC and other accessibility tools
#6
AntManB
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 12:58:15 (permalink)
I presume he misread your "far from zero" as "close to zero" or something.  Great to hear that you're working on this.  Although I'm sticking with Sonar for the time being, Reaper is the place I'll most likely go if/when the time comes.
 
AMB
 
#7
azslow3
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 14:21:46 (permalink)
AntManB
I presume he misread your "far from zero" as "close to zero" or something.  Great to hear that you're working on this.  Although I'm sticking with Sonar for the time being, Reaper is the place I'll most likely go if/when the time comes.

BTW that is the FIRST reason I write the converted. When something is declared "out of life", the first reaction is "OMG! I have to switch fast, before i am confronted with the fact it no longer works and no-one there to fix it..."
 
And with such converter: "Well, I like Sonar, it works fine now. And in case I am forced to switch, I can convert my old and current projects in no time".
 
So I disagree with Noel. When such tool exists, more people will just continue with Sonar instead of rushing for another DAW.
 
(well... in case they ever switch, there will be one and only one DAW without project transporting pain. Here are many people I would like to meet again on Reaper forum )   

Sonar 8LE -> Platinum infinity, REAPER, Windows 10 pro
GA-EP35-DS3L, E7500, 4GB, GTX 1050 Ti, 2x500GB
RME Babyface Pro (M-Audio Audiophile Firewire/410, VS-20), Kawai CN43, TD-11, Roland A500S, Akai MPK Mini, Keystation Pro, etc.
www.azslow.com - Control Surface Integration Platform for SONAR, ReaCWP, AOSC and other accessibility tools
#8
abacab
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 17:05:41 (permalink)
Hey @azslow3, I do admire your determination to put together a Reaper converter for CWP! I really hope you can pull this off!!!
 
It will make a nice parachute, or plan B, for those that have projects in the CWP format.  Having a 2nd DAW that can open the files will be a reassurance to those who choose to keep running Sonar, which will continue to run for the forseeable future, as far as we know at this time.  Having continued access to one's creative content is essential, to say the least!
 
I have been dabbling with Reaper for the past couple of years, and it is a very impressive, capable DAW package. 
 
But with all that depth it can get rather complex, and the manual is your friend, LOL!
 
I have not chosen to make Reaper my 1st DAW, but have found it useful as a 2nd DAW when trying to understand plugin routing, or testing and comparing plugin functions in Sonar.  There are a few things that I have been able to get working in Reaper, that Sonar wouldn't let me do.
 
The Reaper track paradigm makes more sense that Sonar's for sure.  Flexible track routing is a prime example!  A track is a track! 

DAW: CbB; Sonar Platinum, and others ... 
#9
JohnKenn
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 17:25:36 (permalink)
Azslow,
 
Yeah, English phrase and my interpretating no chance of a converter being created.
If you can pull off writing a converter, you will be a hero to many.
Very best of luck with this effort.
 
John
#10
the_user_formally_known_as_glennbo
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 17:36:48 (permalink)
I recently (well back on Dec 31, 2017) took an older project from Sonar and one by one rendered the audio tracks to wave. Then one by one I dragged and dropped the waves into Reaper. Lastly I exported all the midi from Sonar with a "Save As", and upon importing that into Reaper, got a dialog where I was able to say expand to individual tracks, so my midi parts each got their own tracks in Reaper. The end result turned out pretty well. It's the first song that plays from the link in my Sig.
 
The original Sonar project was setup to play drums and Hammond B3 to external rack mounted hardware synths that I no longer own. Once I had the tracks in Reaper, I used all new FX and for the drums I used Superior Drummer 2 and Native Instruments B4 organ for the Hammond B3. The new version of this project is light years from what the original Sonar version sounded like.

Glennbo
---------------------------------------------------------
http://soundclick.com/glennbo
 
#11
tubeydude
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 18:14:45 (permalink)
Azslow,  i will keep an eye out for the converter.  That would be amazing! 
 
 
#12
azslow3
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/25 18:28:04 (permalink)
abacab
Hey @azslow3, I do admire your determination to put together a Reaper converter for CWP! I really hope you can pull this off!!!

The first RPP is already printed
Just with named tracks...
 
At the moment that is command line native Linux executable (60kB in size). So the next step is cross-compiling into Windows Reaper project importer plug-in.
 
Planned features for the first alpha are:
* tempo map
* tracks with clips (only), without care about take lanes, overlapping behavior, etc.
* midi clips
* not looped audio clips
* (may be volume/pan for tracks and corresponding automations)
* (may be simple routing throw buses, to allow at least some audition out of the box, but no sends)
* (may be instantiation of corresponding synths for MIDI tracks, one per track, without preset)
But primary target for the first alpha is making it quick (within days). It will display valuable for me single number: the number of problems within the parser (the parser is complete, it collects almost all information we need, I mean much more than I have just mentioned).
 

Sonar 8LE -> Platinum infinity, REAPER, Windows 10 pro
GA-EP35-DS3L, E7500, 4GB, GTX 1050 Ti, 2x500GB
RME Babyface Pro (M-Audio Audiophile Firewire/410, VS-20), Kawai CN43, TD-11, Roland A500S, Akai MPK Mini, Keystation Pro, etc.
www.azslow.com - Control Surface Integration Platform for SONAR, ReaCWP, AOSC and other accessibility tools
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mcdoma2000
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/27 17:08:04 (permalink)
This is awesome, azlow3! Thank you for this effort! Any chance you could share the things you learned from this effort later?

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subtlearts
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/01/27 18:12:24 (permalink)
I believe his intention is to share the result, though I can't speak for him. But that has certainly been indicated.

tobias tinker 
music is easy: just start with complete silence, and take away the parts you don't like!
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gadeuvall2000
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Re: Best method for porting over old sonar projects to reaper? 2018/03/15 05:51:54 (permalink)
This project has come a long way.  I have uploaded a video showing this  project working with the  current version.
 
https://www.youtube.com/w..?v=VgYoFaRH114&t=5s

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