Sonar 8.5 Producer: Problems With Fade-Ins and Fade-Outs

I've been practicing with the "Enhanced Clips Mode", where you can crop and fade clips with non-destructive editing, and I seem to be able to make smooth fade-ins for as long as I want them, with the only problem being that it takes forever to press the Numpad + and - keys to increase or decrease the fade-in by a designated number of bars, beats, ticks, or even music notes like "Quarter Notes" or "Eighth Notes". However, the biggest problem I'm having is making the same smooth change with fade-outs. I could do it with "Volume Automation", but it sounds a bit crunchy when I do that. So here's the problem I'm having in Enhanced Clips Mode. When I make a fade-out in a project with the Enhanced Clips mode, by pressing first the Numlock, then if "Nudge Mode" is enabled, pressing Numpad 0 to go into "Enhanced Clips Mode", followed by Numpad 9 to go into Edit Clips Mode, then numpad 2 to select
fade-out for editing, and then pressing the plus and minus keys, I want to find out, how many times would I press them to make a fade-out over one measure (bar) of music?
It seems as though I have to press the Numpad + and Numpad - keys forever to try to make a fade-out over a bar. More specifically, I'm trying to do a fade-out over 5 bars of music,
and it's driving me crazy! I sure wish there was a fix for Sonar 8.5 to obey "Snap To Grid" mode when it comes to both fade-ins and fade-outs, instead of just obeying the zoom level. The only easy way I know how to do a smooth fade-in or fade-out over many bars of music is with the fade envelope in the "Process Audio" menu, however, that applies the fade-in or fade-out with
destructive editing. What do I do to make a smooth fade-out without applying destructive editing? I tried "Fade Selected Clips", but it won't let me make the
fade-in or fade-out longer than 5000 milliseconds. What do I do next? Any of you fellow Sonar 8.5 members out there have any pointers for me?

bitflipper
Slip-edits. That's when you grab the edge of the clip and drag it. Depending on what part of the clip your mouse is in, you'll either get a move-pointer or a fade-pointer. After dragging your fade in, right-click to alter the fade type (linear, fast or slow). This is non-destructive.
 
You also can do this on multiple clips at once, by selecting them all first.

Is there a way to do that with a keyboard? Since I can't use a mouse, it would make sense if there were a couple keys I could press for this command.

bitflipper
Ah, sorry Annabelle, I forgot about your visual restrictions.
 
Because you cannot do slip-edits from a menu selection,  it is unfortunately also likely that you cannot do them with keyboard shortcuts. At least, I don't see any.
 
Have you considered a programmable keyboard? That would allow you to chain a whole bunch of nudge commands into a pre-programmed sequence.

Could I program a Microsoft Keyboard like the one I have? Or are you talking about a music keyboard like the Akai MPK25? Nudge commands? Are those the same as the + and - keys for increasing/decreasing fades? By the way, what's your Email address? This way, I can send you an Email with an example of what I want to do. Could you please send me a PM so I can give you my Email Address without posting it on the forum and leading to the possibility of someone thinking I'm a spammer?

bitflipper
I'm talking about a computer keyboard, not a MIDI controller. I'll PM you my email address. Tell me what model of keyboard you have and I'll check into it.

Where do I find the model number? There's a tag on the USB cord and what feels like two large rectangular stickers on the bottom of the keyboard.