NO VCA'S YET ?

What part of this functionality is so critical to your workstream?

Agreed. VCA's have a place and can be very useful in a complex mix.
 
Regards,
Dan

Pardon my even greater ignorance, but:
VCA = Voltage Controlled Amplifier?

Alex von Elzer
Sorry  for my ignorance, but why not use group manager?

Please do some research on VCA's or DCA's (same thing different tech) if it is still not apparent I will explain. Quickly though for one example groups as they exist currently in Sonar will not allow you to automate individual tracks inside the group without deselecting that track from the group(and no easy way to do that even )amongst other things groups are not the same as VCA/DCA's  in that a VCA is really a way to remotely control the level of a channel or group of channels from a single fader Whereas a group is a place to send channels post-fader. Groups are useful for applying the same processing to a group of inputs VCA's are useful for mixing similar types of instruments 
 
It's not uncommon for people to confuse VCAs and Groups or not fully understand their uses/functions Which is why I strongly suggest some due diligence in the research department before jumping into the conversation 
 
Cheers, D

perhaps you could explain the scenarios where the current track automation grouping falls short of your needs? it might help your fellow forum contributors understand what you think is missing in the current functionality. The manual information is here;
https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR&language=3&help=Mixing.43.html

Frequency Studios
 
 
Quickly though for one example groups as they exist currently in Sonar will not allow you to automate individual tracks inside the group without deselecting that track from the group...

If you hold the control key while moving a fader (or any control), it's grouping is temporarily suspended, allowing you to automate just that track. Once control key is released, it'll resume moving proportionally to the others, assuming you've set them up for relative movement. Does that achieve your goal?

mudgel
With DCAs you could have a particular fader/track/channel present in several groups.

Ahhhhhh, right! Good reminder.

Perhaps I have this wrong, but if you have a pre fade send from the main track to an aux track and group the two tracks would this not resolve the scenario above where moving one fader moves the other?
 
I guess different people have different preferred ways of working. I must admit I usually sum to busses and automate from there.

In answer to the question posed in the post above.
From the page 1070 of the manual.
Using control groups
SONAR lets you link faders, knobs, or buttons in the Track view, Track Inspector and Console view into groups.
Groups are collections of controls whose movements are linked together. For example:
Two Volume faders or controls can be grouped so that when you increase or decrease the volume of one track,
the volume of the other track changes in exactly the same way.
Four Mute buttons can be grouped so that when you click on the Mute button to mute track 1, tracks 1 and 2
are muted and tracks 3 and 4 are un-muted.
The Console view and Track view identify controls, knobs and faders that are grouped using a colored group
indicator that is displayed on the controls in each group. The controls in group A are displayed with a red indicator,
the controls in group B with a green indicator, and so on. Controls, faders and knobs can be grouped together.
When you group buttons together, the way they work is based on their position when you create the group:
Buttons that are in the same position when grouped will turn on and off together at all times.
Buttons that are in opposite positions when grouped will always remain in opposite positions.
When you group buttons with knobs or faders, the button turns on/off when the knob or fader reaches its halfway
point.
You have several additional options. There are three general types of groups: absolute, relative, and custom.
Here’s how they work.
Absolute
The range of motion in all controls in the group is identical. When you move one control in the group, all other
controls in the group move the same amount in the same direction. The controls do not necessarily need to start at
the same level.
Relative
The range of motion for controls in the group is not the same. All controls in the group have the same value at one
point—the lowest level for send, return, and volume levels, and zero for pan controls.
Custom
Sometimes you want to define a more complex relationship between the controls in a group. For example:
You want two controls to operate in reverse—when one fader drops, the other increases (cross fade).
You want two volume faders grouped so that they are locked together at maximum level, but drop at different
rates.
You want two faders to be locked together with the same range of motion, but a third fader grouped with them
to have a different rang

John
I do not dispute the added functionally VCAs may give but I do dispute how often they are really needed especially considering what is already available. 

I watched S1 3.2 video the other day - and those folks were just blabbing about grouping stuff, and did not quite get it as I heard their explanations. Just ran the VCA fader and you could see the other fader go with it - but no explanation how it differs from ordinary grouping, so their demo was not the best.
 
But really good tools provide headroom with things there if you need them.
There is a reason if aiming for professional mixers that ProTools, Samplitude, Cubase, Reaper and now also StudioOne implemented it - four of them in the last year or so - was removed from standard ProTools for a while but now moved from ProTools HD again just six months ago, so Avid probably felt they would loose out to other daws not needing hardware acceleration so they moved it back to standard ProTools.
 
The more professionals that use a tool the more spinoff in consumer homestudio market too.
It does rank a tool depending on having VCA's or not.
Gibson Pro Audio - but no VCA's - don't think so.