Auto-crossfade does do some odd stuff at times. It doesn't handle tracks with layers at all well.
 

jpetersen
Yesterday I had to delete all the blank bars between the beginning and where
the song actually starts, but I needed to keep the marker flag positions relative to the song.
Cannot be done.

 
Yes it can, and there are at least two ways to do it. Here are "step by step" descriptions.
 
1. Select the blank area in the timeline you want to cut. Note that because we're going to use Cut Special and Delete Hole, there has to be something in the blank area to cut - a dummy clip, automation node, marker, anything.
 

 
2. Choose Cut Special and make sure that both Markers and Delete Hole are checked. Click OK. 
 

 
3. The Markers move with the clips.
 

 
Here's another option.
 
1. Select all, then drag in the timeline over what you want to move.
 

 
2. Choose File > Cut Special and make sure markers is checked. Click OK.
 

 
3. Delete all the tracks, otherwise SONAR will paste into new tracks (it does this as safety measure so you don't accidentally overwrite material you didn't want to lose). Then position the Now time where you want the material to start (e.g., the beginning to get rid of blank space), and choose Paste.
 

 
Furthermore, you can also cut and paste markers separately from the rest of the material. For example suppose you insert a measure at the beginning to extend the length, but forgot to check the Markers box so everything moved except the markers. Drag across the area in time line that contains the markers, choose Cut Special and check only Markers, then position the now time where you want to position the markers and choose Paste Special with only Markers selected. 
 

vanceen
Moving around take lanes, especially moving take lanes from one track to another. They proliferate so fast that you run out of vertical screen space quickly and have to move groups of takes in jumps, i.e. drag, sroll, drag, scroll...

I'm trying to understand.  Why would you move take lanes?  That defeats their very purpose.  Leave the take lanes and use comping to create the final track. 

JonD

jpetersen
 Am I the first person ever to do something as basic as this?
 ...
Sometimes I shake my head in dismay and wonder whether I am the only
person really using Sonar.

Well, how about posting the steps here, and seeing if these "bugs" are reproducible?  That's what we try to encourage here.  Personally, if I were running into these issues all the time I would want to know if these were reproducible bugs, or IF IT WAS JUST ME (IE. USER-ERROR). 

Based on a lot of the forum posts here, I'd say the hardest thing about SONAR is reading the documentation . That's not being snarky, SONAR is really deep and you have to invest time into learning the program, just like any musical instrument. A lot of people simply don't have the time or desire to put that much work into learning the program.
 
This isn't to say there isn't functionality that couldn't be improved (indeed like multitrack drum editing), but many times when people say something can't be done, it can be. Also, sometimes lack of familiarity with the program means people think something is hard to do because they've figured out some convoluted way to accomplish a function without realizing there's a simpler option, if only they knew about it.
 
 

Meh... audiosnap can actually do what you seem to want when used at an "advanced" level. The problem is any "quantize" function can only do so much. There are too many variables and without advanced AI the software can't anticipate exactly how up or I envision our parts to sound like. The closest you can get is "snapping" to a "groove". So aside from relatively simple material played reasonably in time there is only so much that a computer can do "automatically" before it goes in a completely different direction than the artist wants.
 
Whatever...
 
My personal beef with Sonar in this "hardest thing to do" category is automation. I always took for granted automation would be robust and logical like the rest of the program but it's not. Managing envelopes is a total nightmare and as soon as I started really digging into automation I ran into non stop roadblocks.
 
I think it is time for "Automation Tracks" or at least linkable envelopes so a single envelope can control multiple parameters (or editing one envelope will adjust another "linked" envelope in unison). Also there are lots of surprising bugs and limitations (such as certain parameters completely disobeying envelopes and even worse obeying them erratically tricking the user into thinking it's gonna work when it actually won't).
 
Seriously now that the rest of the program has had a lot of the more obvious/major bugs/feature dealt with the next major overhaul, IMO, should be how automation works.
 
1) Linking envelopes across lanes/tracks
 
2) Control groups writing envelopes for ALL parameters in the group... not just the current one in focus
 
3) Making sure ALL parameters that expose themselves to automation envelopes actually WORK (eg: the on/off button for PC FX Chain modules only works if the module is in focus during playback... WTF? There are other wacky irregularities as well)
 
There's other stuff too but those are the big ones.
 
The other thing would be to make external control mapping easier, more flexible and consistent. Seems we have multiple procedures/windows that need to be futzed with in different areas of the program when it could all be consolidated in one bulk procedure. Particularly the ACT/Transport stuff is kind of silly and limited but there's lots of other stuff too. The way Reaper handles external control is ideal. Kind of one stop shopping/programming for EVERYTHING (and let's you set keyboard bindings at the same time too).
 
So yeah... those be me beefs. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with Sonar as far as creative workflow.

Hardest for me is using staff view, so I don't.

I heavily use automation and I'd hardly call it a nightmare but id like to be able to record CC messages directly to automation lanes. Instead I have to record to clips and move them to automation lanes. Time waster for me.

gbowling
In an effort to help the bakers understand what to work on, I thought it might be prudent to ask what things are the most difficult to do in sonar?
 
What is your most time consuming and difficult task on most of your songs?
 
For me, it's multitrack drum editing. I have become pretty expert in audiosnap, drum replacer, track groupings, and many other techniques for tightening up multitrack drums. But it still is a very time consuming and difficult process.
 
In today's world where your smart phone can do voice recognition, it seems like there should be a better way. Actually it seems like there should be an automatic way. Even a novice can tell what the drum part is "suppose" to sound like, but attempts to have audiosnap or other tools automatically process an entire part frequently result in a part that is completely out of whack.
 
This means you have to do a lot of manual editing, moving markers, and doing it beat by beat. Seems like there should be some sort of artificial intelligence or "drum recognition" that could take 12+ drum tracks and auto-correct them. 
 
gabo

I couldn't agree more. I've also been asking for the ability to time stretch multiple clips at once for a number of years now. 
 
That has to be the most time consuming thing for me in SONAR. 
Oh well.... maybe one day.

Evrything beepster just said. Automation and control mapping.

1. Automation
Copying automation between soft synth and MIDI tracks. E.g., I automated one soft synth and need to copy this envelope to another track with a different synth. Data is pasted onto a destination track, but I can't find a way to assign it to a desired parameter.
2. Comping
After recording and comping is done I bounce comp to clip. But when this clip is trimmed, Sonar lets underlying takes to produce sound. When I trim a clip on a track, I want the trimmed space to remain silent, and the sound of underlying takes is not desired.
Yeah, there's a bunch of workarounds, but using workaround makes it hard and difficult, doesn't it?

Anderton said:
>> Yes it can, and there are at least two ways to do it. Here are "step by step" descriptions.
Craig, thank you, that works.
Please don't think me ungrateful, but this is so typically Cakewalk. A simple task, a
non-intuitive solution. My instinctive approach was the same as John T's, but if you do that, the
Delete, Delete Special, Cut and Cut Special menus are:
1) Disabled (grey) if one or more of the tracks selected have audio somewhere (but outside the selected range)
2) Enabled if the selected tracks have NOTHING IN THEM AT ALL but if you click Delete, nothing happens.
But there is almost certainly a reason why it must be so, as with the Clean Audio Folder and CWAF tools.
 
Anderton said:
>> Based on a lot of the forum posts here, I'd say the hardest thing about SONAR is
>> reading the documentation
Well, in my defense, not even scook knew this.
 
He did, however, suggest turning off "Always Import Broadcast Waves At Their Timestamp"
in Preferences>File>Audio Data and that cured the source of the initial problem.
But how a mere mortal is supposed to know such a thing exists, what it is, that 
it is on by default and what the consequences of that setting are is beyond me.
 
---
JonD said:
>> Well, how about posting the steps here, and seeing if these "bugs" are reproducible?
I do. I post my problem here on the forums.
Other members (notably scook) then work through the bug with me and
I test out their suggestions. Once we think we have it nailed, I work out a series of steps
that reliably and as simply as possible, reproduce the bug. They try the steps on their
systems and let me know if they all get the same result. I then write up a bug report.
Typically this takes 2 or 3 iterations (days of discussion here on the forum) and on average
one full working day all told.
 
Some bugs I have not been able to reproduce, such as the Auto crossfade bug and the
Copy>Paste Special/Link to original clips bug, and until I do, no point in reporting them.
Some are reproducible but many things interact such as the automation lanes bugs.
And some are totally, reliably reproducible such as the ctrl+slip-edit bug.
 
---
 
bapu said:
>> So all of these posts in this entire forum are just you talking to yourself?
Sort of. I think it has to do with expectations. Some users report enthusiastically
about completing a session with only a few crashes, others are annoyed because
their particular hardware controller is not working properly in Sonar.
 
But when I discover many people's daily routine is similar to mine,
namely comping (in various guises), and I seem to be the only one encountering
bugs, then I do wonder if I am using the same product.