So, I've never used the auto-punch recording in Sonar very much, and I can't recall whether I've made this work in the past.
 
The Sonar help says:
 
"When punch recording, SONAR saves the entire recording while the transport is rolling, but the recorded clip is cropped to only expose the punch region. By also recording the pre-roll and post-roll, you have more flexibility later when it comes to slip-editing and cross-fading the clip because you have access to audio data before and after the punch region instead of only silence."
 
However. I can't get it to do this. If I record with an auto punch region set, I only get the exact punch region recorded. If I roll out the clip, there's no pre- or post-roll material there.
 
What am I doing wrong?
 

I use autopunch all the time but I didn't know this. Not in the studio right now but I'll bet this has something to do with the record mode you are in. My guess would be that you have to be punching/recording in comp mode. Then the previously recorded stuff would be in a take lane.

Yes, that's the result I'm getting. Stuff from a previous take is in another lane, and the stuff from the new take is in the most recent lane. That's as I expected.

The bit that isn't working, or I'm not understanding, is this: "When punch recording, SONAR saves the entire recording while the transport is rolling, but the recorded clip is cropped to only expose the punch region"

That's not happening. The only data getting recorded is precisely between the auto punch points.

That's pretty interesting. If it ever worked that way, I'm not aware of it. I was thinking that statement must be a holdover from a much older version of SONAR, but the earliest reference I find to it is in the X3 Ref. Guide and Help files. I just tried it in all three recording modes in Platinum, and did not find any audio data beyond the punch region. So either some other preference also needs to be set correctly, or possibly this was a feature that was in the works at some point in X3 that never actually got released.
 

Yeah, I was wondering if that was the case.

It would be a handy feature, but the same can be accomplished by comping, which might be one reason it was never implemented. You can just just comp-record a longer second take than needed, with or without punching, and then comp in as much or as little of the new take as needed and/or wherever the cross-fades are least noticeable.

brundlefly
You can just just comp-record a longer second take than needed, with or without punching, and then comp in as much or as little of the new take as needed and/or wherever the cross-fades are least noticeable.

Excellent workaround. Almost a solution, in fact. I mostly work alone, and it never occurred to me to do this, despite having to do many, many autopunches. I keep trying to get a short segment perfect, with undetectable transitions. DOH!

There is a difference though, which is being able to hear the previous take until you hit the punch region and then having it drop out during the region. The comp method wouldn't do that.

John T
There is a difference though, which is being able to hear the previous take until you hit the punch region and then having it drop out during the region. The comp method wouldn't do that.

Good point. Somebody must have figured out a way to do this. Although if Sonar is trying to act analogously to the way it worked in the tape-based world, the way it works now is accurate.

Larry Jones

John T
There is a difference though, which is being able to hear the previous take until you hit the punch region and then having it drop out during the region. The comp method wouldn't do that.

Good point. Somebody must have figured out a way to do this. Although if Sonar is trying to act analogously to the way it worked in the tape-based world, the way it works now is accurate.

Yeah, I thought about that after I posted. There are ways to skin that cat, like pre-muting the section of the previous take going to replace, but it's not as transparent as just having punch recording work as the documentation suggests it will.