Problem with using Bus's for this is that when you bus everything and turn the busdown, any aux sends (reverb, delay etc) will still be at the same volume while your main signal is softer, thus affecting you balance of FX. (Reverb will be louder than you want) Another good reason to use Offset mode! 😉

If you do choose offset mode for this don't forget that you set it in that mode. There have plenty of posts over the years here that someone has accidentally put it in offset mode and then can't figure out why nothing works as expected.

Indeed Offset mode is one of the really cool features in Cakewalk that is under appreciated. It is perfect for the scenario where you have the mix close to what you want with automation envelopes, but then want to relatively bring up the levels. The advantage with offset mode is that it is can be applied at the track volume (post efffects) level or at the input gain level. In the former case it will not affect the levels sent to effects on the track which can be useful if you want to preserve the dynamics.
 

I'll be perfectly honest and admit I was totally afraid of Offset Mode after reading several posts describing the untoward effects of using it.
 
This was up until about 6/7 years ago.
 
Now I know HOW to use it (i.e. switch back to envelope mode when finished!!) I find it one of the most useful tools in the box.

promidi

Personally, I would use the track outputs.  The "selecting all relevant tracks and holding down CTRL" trick should work here as well.

But it's volume automation we're talking about. Wouldn't the track output follow the automation anyway? Track would start with the changed output level, but jump back to the original at the first automation node, wouldn't it?

Yes that's exactly what would happen Kalle.

Offset is SORT OF like what a VCA (or a DCA on a digital board) would be like.  Sorta.  That is one feature of Cakewalk that would be nice to have.  The option to have VCAs along with Busses and Aux channels. 

A VCA is similar to a bus, however, it physically controls the faders on the tracks mapped to it.  So if a track is in the red, it can actually lower it, along with the other channels mapped to it...an advantage of that is to put drums mapped to a VCA so you can lower the overall level of each drum track with one slider before feeding it into a Limiter. (The VCA would have to then be mapped to a bus, since you can't put FX on VCAs).