So tired of the double images of track/lane

I don't know if this bothers anyone else but I'm constantly being frustrated by this...

What I'm referring to is how clips appear in both their lane and the promoted clip in the track... Totally messes with my eye and I can't count how often my selections are wrong because of this...

I hope this "feature" helps many people so I won't feel so bad that it's a pain for me...

Though I have little need (if any) of seeing this while lanes are visible, I wish there was a toggle so we could disable the track/promoted image while lanes are displayed...

I know I mentioned it in the past but with other issues a priority (zoom, zoom, zoom) I've let it go... But it's driving me crazy.

So I'm gonna write this up as a feature request in the correct forum, but I thought I'd raise the topic here and maybe alert others to support the feature request...

Please excuse if I copy paste some of this there as it's also a pain typing on an iPad! <sigh>...

Thanks...

How about a simple switch to enable/disable displaying the promoted image?

I can easily tell which are promoted by the muted/unmute do color differences...

FreeFlyBertl

Keni
How about a simple switch to enable/disable displaying the promoted image?

I can easily tell which are promoted by the muted/unmute do color differences...

Why not make it a feature request? I'm sure some might agree and vote for it ... I might as long as it is a customizable option i.e. I can turn on or off in preference as I got used to it ...
 
Maybe the long requested update to coloring options would help. In this case I could picture a different (e.g. 50% darker background color) assigned to open take lanes ... would make it really easy for the eye to distinguish track (lighter) and all takes (darker) lanes while still seeing the impact of your comping in the track lane wave preview.
 
 

Yes... A feature request... I have already pisted in the feature forum and I will see if there is still a feature request location as in days of old... I seem to remember it being gone...

Color difference would help, but still be confusing to my eye... I really want those mages gone.

X was supposedly trying to get rid of clutter... Now between the larger widget sizes, the too large minim lane size, and the redundant images, I'm having a far more cluttered experience than I ever did pre-X.....

I agree. Obviously it is not a deal-breaker by any means... but it would be nice if, when the lanes are expanded/visible, the composite "track" lane becomes more obviously ghosted, or something. Heck, it could use the "Waveform Preview" color scheme, seeing as that is effectively what it is.

stickman393
I agree. Obviously it is not a deal-breaker by any means... but it would be nice if, when the lanes are expanded/visible, the composite "track" lane becomes more obviously ghosted, or something. Heck, it could use the "Waveform Preview" color scheme, seeing as that is effectively what it is.

Color change would help, but not nearly as well as just making it go away! It's too hard keeping track of which track I'm looking at and which lane is which...

Thanks Beepster...

...but for me, even a color change will leave my eye confused.

It would be better than now, but still difficult. I have zero need of seeing the promoted image when lanes are visible. The mute status color instantly lets me know which are promoted...

I too have done the constant painstaking resizing and it helps a little.

The bottom line for me is laughing about the new uncluttered X... Now that it's uncluttered, I have more trouble seeing than ever before. I can't get enough lanes/tracks visible and what is visible is confused...

Personally, I need the lanes able to be smaller/larger than currently allowed and I need this promoted image gone when lanes are visible... Then I'll finally feel good about the X generation. These have been obstacles to me since the introduction...

Thanks for the idea Craig...

...but very often I'm dealing with editing pairs of tracks. And even more often, I need to see my other tracks for location references.

...and hen there's he many times I have more lanes than fit onscreen. Then the extra image continues to plague me.

This particular issue of number of tracks/lanes onscreen is far less of an issue on the large screen of my DAW, but on my 17" laptop it's very much a major issue...

FWIW, us new(Plat) guys don't have any re-adaptaion issues from old versions. I have no reason to vote, one way or the other.

williamcopper
but surely there's a better way. 

Given that you have to perform an action to unfold the Take Lanes, I assume it would be possible to tie a graphic change in the Parent Track to the folding and unfolding of Take Lanes. The question then becomes what graphic action everyone would find acceptable. I often need to see what the lanes would look like if collapsed, so I wouldn't want it eliminated entirely. 

charlyg
FWIW, us new(Plat) guys don't have any re-adaptaion issues from old versions. I have no reason to vote, one way or the other.

This is an issue whether you're a new or old user... The comparisons to old are simply my feelings on some issues that I don't feel are completely satisfactory in the current version.

In the days before lanes, we had layers to handle the same situation. The layers could be displayed much smaller and larger than lanes allow... And specific to this thread, there was no "promoted" clip image in the track lane as that was where the layers themselves were displayed. A far more economical usage of the screen space for me. I find no value in duplicating the selected image into the "wasted" space. More I find it creates extra difficulties for me.

I have often posted of these issues since lanes were introduced and here now years later I am still frustrated with the many incurred issues lanes have created... I do my best to be patient and I've toned down my attitude in an attempt to be polite, but these issues continue to plague my work. Then seeing a new feature such as the start screen irritates me even more as it in no way helps my work and the issues that are a constant difficulty for me continue to be in my face throughout every session...

Please excuse me if my attitude is getting a bit overboard, but I get tired of the internalizing my rage at these issues. I don't want to go back to 8.5.3 as the new version has so many wonderful things... But this topic of lanes has been a constant nuisance to me... And I find myself again listing my continued frustration...

I apologize to all if my attitude is offensive. I love Sonar and I've been with Cakewalk since Cakewalk For Windows 1.0 with no intention of leaving... Only my desire to see it become all it can be to everyone who chooses to use it...

I agree with Keni.  I have frequently made mistakes by confusing lanes with tracks. On complex projects it is far to easy to make a mistake.  I'd like to see a method, or methods, to better distinguish lanes from tracks.  Both hiding the view of the promoted track and different colors are good ideas. Perhaps we could have both.

Anderton

Keni
In the days before lanes, we had layers to handle the same situation. The layers could be displayed much smaller and larger than lanes allow... And specific to this thread, there was no "promoted" clip image in the track lane as that was where the layers themselves were displayed. A far more economical usage of the screen space for me. I find no value in duplicating the selected image into the "wasted" space. More I find it creates extra difficulties for me.

Well as I've said before, I feel that what I've given up with layers is compensated for by what's gained with lanes. I was reminded of this last night when applying "speed comping" to vocals. It was just so smooth and simple. But part of the reason for that is the way clip isolation occurs, which although it was more flexible pre-X3, was also more complicated. However, the composite track brings back the flexibility by allowing for easy crossfades for conventional edits. So the composite track isn't just about visuals, it's a different functionality. That's why I use the Expand/Collapse command so much...expand to comp, collapse to crossfade, move, etc.
 
Not saying you're wrong not to like the way it works, but I comp more than I layer, so of course I'd like a feature that prioritizes comping over layering. I generally used separate tracks and a folder for layers anyway, so that's what I still do.

I totally understand. I too enjoy some (not all) of the speed comping tools. As I mentioned there are too many good points to the new system for me to be willing to go per-x...

But let's face it, visuals are a big part of the way we work in computer land... And with a few adjustments, I could quickly forget this issue and move on. But currently these issues are a constant discomfort.

If I was mainly doing live band recording I believe this would not be quite as difficult, but when using Sonar for writing/composition I find it annoying...

I wish I knew why the Bakers seem so reluctant to removing the lane zoom limitations. I'm sure they must have good reasons, but...

As to the promoted images? I don't use auto crossfades so I do my crossfades in the lanes... But even if I did use them, I don't need the promoted image whike editing clips/lanes. I feel as though they simply added this to use the "wasted" space that lanes incurred. I know they have found good use as such, but still at the cost of these other issues which are far more common to my needs.

There are typically work a rounds, but they all cost workflow time and the frequent redundancy of re-sizing, hiding, re-imaging, and re-doing my work.

With layers, zoom did zoom and one track cost one track of screen real estate...

Not a good tradeoff for me. I rarely use the lane notes space nor the solo/mute for lanes and prefer clip based muting...

Do you really find seeing the promoted images in the track space helpful while editing clips? For me it is extremely misleading and disorienting...

It would be nice if takelanes were a different colour or made to look different.

I'd also like to see different methods of getting them into view (perhaps an optional setting in preferences) away from expand and collapse method. How about a flyout window much like with quadcurve? Or perhaps if you expand them they go into a seperate tab in the multidock? (Or a splitscreen tab that can be expanded).

Ultimately I'd like to see everything to behave and look more like the Melodyne UI but that's another thing...

N

Doktor Avalanche
It would be nice if takelanes were a different colour or made to look different.

I'd also like to see different methods of getting them into view (perhaps an optional setting in preferences) away from expand and collapse method. How about a flyout window much like with quadcurve? Or perhaps if you expand them they go into a seperate tab in the multidock? (Or a splitscreen tab that can be expanded).

Ultimately I'd like to see everything to behave and look more like the Melodyne UI but that's another thing...

Hi Dok...

I don't think color differences will help me that much though it would be a little better...

What I'd really like to see is a user setting to place lanes within the track instead of below it... And of course remove the min/max lane zoom limitations... This with displaying the promoted clips when lanes are not visible.

That would be the best scenario for me...

Btw I still don't use takelanes but I would like to one day. They are a great concept but Cakewalk really need to improve on them big time. Until they turn their attention to making the UI excellent and have all the bugs fixed, I will stick with track templates.