• SONAR
  • Exporting CbB files to Studio One
2018/10/26 12:52:14
jlhawk
I am working with a Demo of Studio One 4 and would like to be able to take a song done in CbB and wrestle it into Studio 1. I've exported wave files and imported them, which is fine for simple songs, but I have some complex tunes I'd like to do this with. CbB exports into OMF format, but I do not see that it's a viable option in S1. Has anyone done this, and what was the process you used? Not looking to Replace CbB completely, but think S1 would make a nice accompaniment for my studio. Thoughts or recommendation on other DAW's more compatible?
2018/10/26 13:53:32
mettelus
Unfortunately, exporting tracks as broadcast wave files is the only method that causes least grief, but this loses VST settings, etc.

If DAWs supported a universal format, life would be great, but that is not on the horizon. Alexey (AZSlow3) would be a better hope if only we can get him to fall in love with SO
2018/10/26 14:12:37
Wayfarer
As far as I know, mettelus is right. Exporting wave files is the only way to do it. Not only is there not a universal wrapper for DAW's, but even wrappers made by the same company won't necessarily transfer to other products within that company line. Look at CW bun files for example. Bun files I made in CW Guitar Tracks Pro can't be opened by Bandlab even though they also use bun files. Industry standards can be a great thing. Wish we had more of them.
 
Bill
2018/10/26 14:46:26
bitflipper
Yup, the only standards we have for this are the WAV and BWF formats.
 
If a track in your CbB project consists of many clips, you'll want to bounce them to a single clip before exporting. Rather than using BWF, I'd suggest simply starting every track at 00:00, even if they contain no data until minutes into the song. That way, when you import them into Studio One (or any other DAW) all you have to do is make sure they're all shoved up to 00:00 and you can be certain they'll all sync up properly.
 
Automation and effects cannot be transferred, but if you tell CbB to print fx on the bounce that won't be a problem. That also avoids issues with plugins that might not be available in the target DAW (e.g. ProChannel modules).
2018/10/26 15:48:59
jude77
And, for what it's worth my attempts to export in OMF were all total disasters.  I think it prefers midi only, but I'm not sure.  Try a few and see how it works for you.
 
Good luck with your project.
2018/10/26 19:24:20
fireberd
I've got Studio One 4.1 Pro and exporting wav files is the only way I've found, too.
2018/10/26 19:26:22
azslow3
mettelus
Alexey (AZSlow3) would be a better hope if only we can get him to fall in love with SO

That is not going to happened, at least not in predictable future and as long as things go as they do now.
 
Just to know what it is all about, I have installed free version of SO on a virtual machine... In the first minutes I have understood what can attract sonaries in it: heavy installation, immediate problems with audio ("the interface request rest every 3-5 seconds... ???" btw Sonar X2, Sonar X3, CbB and REAPER was always happy in that environment), "simple" interface. LOL.
But that is not my point. I have checked "song" format. And it is possible someone write a converter for more then just an audio (that part AATranslator has mastered for almost all DAWs and other programs). It looks more like XML form of also bloated to death CWP binary, I mean miles away from strait simple REAPER projects, but "doable". Good luck
 
2018/10/26 19:26:22
Cactus Music
Last year when we were all kicking the tires on alternate DAW's I fired up my copy of Cubase 5. I also later bought Mixbus for $20 and tried that.
 
So what I found worked for me. 
First thing is save my CWP as a MIDI file.
You simply open the Midi file in the other DAW. I found it harder than I expected to replace the default GM sounds with things like AD2 etc. I didn't like that I had to drag midi tracks to the new instrument tracks, but whatever. I soon sorted this out.
Then the audio was no big deal either for me as I almost always record from front to back. I can see there would be extra steps for those who chop stuff up a lot and have a 100 takes of guitar solos. Really a matter of drag and drop using a media browser directly from the CWP audio folder to a new audio track in the other DAW.
Any how the songs all sounded pretty much the same to me once I got all in place. But yes I was immediately missing Pro Channel. I found everything took longer but then I would assume that goes away as you figure out things.   
 
2018/10/26 20:12:31
jlhawk
Thank you for the input everyone. I will sometimes start tracks at different times depending onthe song, so that will be challenging, but I should be able to line them back up on the other side... I had read somewhere Studio one uses a format called AAF, but I've not seen it used anywhere else... Standards would be a great thing...
2018/10/26 21:23:48
Anderton
I've always used multiple DAWs, so here's my perspective.
 
You need to pick ONE program as the "home" DAW. For example if SO4's Harmonic Editing is the reason why you want to use it, start the project in SO4. Take it as far as you can. Then export what you have as WAV files, bring them into CbB, and do the Cakewalk-specific stuff like mix with the Pro Channel's modules (e.g., Tape Emulation, Console Emulation), apply Vocal Sync, take advantage of Mix Recall, use plug-ins or instruments that are keyed to CbB, etc.
 
Another scenario is that with projects I start and finish in CbB, I'll export all the tracks as WAV files (including automation, rendered instruments, processing - the whole ball o' wax). I then bring these into SO4's Song page for the purpose of eventually doing renders to the Project page for mastering and album assembly. However, because all the tracks are in the Song page, if while mastering I think the kick or vocal should have come up more, or the bass needs just a tiny bit more EQ, or whatever, I can do those tweaks and "re-compile" the mix in the Project page.
 
Sometimes I get pretty detailed. For example, Digital Performer has some really cool guitar processors (one is sort of like a Boss SY300). I'll export just the guitar track from CbB or SO4, do the processing, render, and send it back to its program of origin. This may sound complicated, but the more you do it, the more you end up with a smooth, functional workflow. You also become very familiar with the export menu options!
 
For more details, check out "Transferring Files to Other Hosts" in The Huge Book of Cakewalk by BandLab Tips. I'd summarize the relevant section, but it's over 2,100 words so this post would go on forever...
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