I have no idea what I'm doing...

It's true - I have no idea what I'm doing and it's pissing me off. I need help and the help directory is vague and clouded. Background - I'm doing sound design for a film we just shot and I'm being forced to use producer x1 so far, I hate it with every fiber of my being. Premiere was working just fine and I know it well. Problem 1 - Every time I hit the space bar to stop playback, the "thing" ( i don't even know what it's called) goes back to the marker it started. Well, that's a problem because I need to edit at THAT spot. is there anyway to disable this? I can't search for an answer because I have no idea what I'm searching for. I know there are plenty of people who love this program, but I have no idea what I'm doing and was told "figure it out. Oh, and be done with the whole thing by sept 1." Thanks for letting me vent.

You can find this option at the top of the track view (the window you're working in)

options -> on stop, rewind to now marker


Premiere's nice. But it's really more for clipping film and not for soundediting.
Once you've gotten to know Sonar I'm sure you'll find that it's much better for sound design than Premiere.. :) But it's always frustrating being forced to work in a software you've never used, especially when there's a deadline on the horizon..

Just come back to this forum whenever you get stuck and we'll try and help you out.

Thanks all. 1 down 99 to go. Oh, and a **** ain't one.

Oh, and while I'm here. I've been combing the help directory but I swear something is up with mine, like it's not all installed or something, but is there a way to scrub by frame? Being as I'm matching audio to video the 23.97 option would be great. I just ordered a MC Transport Controller from Euphonics so when that gets here it will make life easier, but in the next week I can't just not work. In premiere i would use the left and right arrows. Anything like that? Thanks again

Hi dinosquirrel,

Welcome to the Sonar forum.

First of all, I would like to point you towards the PDF file that comes with Sonar X1 when you "purchase" it. It is called "Sonar X1 Reference Guide." Now don't worry, I am not expecting you to trawl through its 1850 pages. But there is en excellent chapter which covers "Controlling Playback," and starts on page 171.

I'll cover some of the points here, that I think you need to control how the "Now Time Cursor" (that's the vertical line that indicates the part of the project is paying) and the "Now Time Marker" (which is the green triangle at the top of the Clips Pane, and sits in the Ruler section).

Here is a snippet from the guide:-

To change the Now time marker behavior

On the Track view Options menu, clear the On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker option to have the
Now time marker move to follow the current Now time when you stop playback.

Or

On the Track view Options menu, select the On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker option to have the
Now time snap back to the Now time marker when you stop playback.

Note, you should see the Track Options Menu just at the top and to the left of the Track View window.

Also, it is worth pointing out that, you can leave the "On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker" selected, and instead of just pressing the space bar to start/stop playback, you can do the following:-

As you already know, pressing Space Bar simply starts and stops playback, and with "On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker" selected, the Now Time Cursor will return to the Now Time Marker position. If you have only just opened your project, or have rewound to the beginning of the project then the Now Time Marker will be at the start of the project.

You can, by left clicking in the Clips Pane, re-position the Now Time Marker.

If you wish the Now Time Marker to be positioned at the Now Time Cursor position, when playback is stopped, hold down CTRL while pressing Space Bar. The Now Time Marker will be at the position it was at when CTRL + Space Bar was pressed. You can now just press Space Bar to start playback from that point, and each time you then stop playback by pressing Space Bar, it is to that point it will return.


It is worth mentioning that you can change the Ruler settings at the top of the Clips Pane to any combination of Measures, Beats and Ticks (M:B:T), Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Frames (H:M:S:F—also called SMPTE), Samples and Milliseconds. This is done by clicking on the little + sign at the far right corner of the Ruler.


I think that should get you going again. Any more questions, please do nor hesitate to ask.

cheers

andy



By the way... I took so much time researching and typing this that I am going to post it anyway, even though seven posts have just jumped in before me lol

Repeating the others... You simply can not properly grasp a software as huge as SONAR with "jump in and learn as you do"-approach, especially if you have a certain task under work.  You have to study, really study.
My recommendation always is: Read the whole Reference guide, all that 1850 pages (of course you can skip parts that are obviously unnecessary to you). After that you have some kind of dim picture of what can/can not be done, and where to look. And you know the names of the different parts.

Another approach is to click every single window and dropdown option and check in the Help files what it's there for.

That means work, yes, but it also means results.

Thanks, Pragi! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the book.

Dinosquirrel... if you're interested, my SONAR X1 Power! book is available in Cakewalk's online store... 
http://www.store.cakewalk...ductid=30-CTSP1.00-20C

Best,
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview

Hi Pragi,

My pleasure. I'm happy to be a part of the Cakewalk community.

Wow! You read the entire book in 3 days?? I think that's a world record. 


Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview

In regards to the now time marker - everything you read here is accurate (Spacebar, Cntrl Spacebar, Menu Options)

The "W" key will also toggle Now Time behavior between stopping at a certain location or rewinding back to the start of the project.

As much as it seems you don't want to, we all had to read and study to learn Sonar. That is true with any daw from my perspective. Learning Sonar out of the box and in production would be a challange for anyone to successfully accomplish what you're trying to do. It's not the software's fault. It can't learn us, shame really. :)

So, is Scott deeply into writing his next tome?

Bristol_Jonesey

So, is Scott deeply into writing his next tome?

Hey Colin,


Yep...  Check out this topic here on the forum...
http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2631434


Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview