Resort Records

Frank-US
We would like to understand completely the purpose behind this feature request.
It is not about playing back different audio files on one track simultaneously (because that would end up easily in a mess) but having a defiend transition between different audio files?
Or are you asking for something like cyle recording like with MIDI just for Audio?

 
For myself, it is about playing back different audio files on one track simultaneously without crossovers.
 
Here's my typical workflow for guitars and vocals:
 

1. Setup loop-recording of eight bars (sometimes, with an extra 1/2 bar before and after).
2. Loop-record the first verse until there's a good take (usually 2-dozen takes, thanks to my crappy guitar skills ).
3. Delete unwanted takes
4. Clean up the "keeper" take, removing silence from tip and tail, and applying fade ins/outs to eliminate clicks.  The final clip is usually longer than eight bars.
5. Duplicate the clip and move it to verse #2.  The duplicates will overlap a bit around bar 9.  This is where we want to hear both clips simultaneously, and because the clips are cleaned up, they require no crossfades. 
6. Done.  And because they're the same instrument, it makes sense to have both clips on the same track.  It's as if we punched in, but actually sounds better (usually) and with less effort.  This also has the advantage of using just one set of insert effects on the one Audio Track, whereas, if the duplicate must be copied to another track, the insert effects must also be duplicated, wasting computer resources.  On the other hand, if those insert effects are moved to a Group or FX track, the option to Freeze those tracks and recover computer resources is lost, again wasting resources.

Does this help?

It's getting clearer now. Point 1-4 is a no brainer.
In Cubase you would see all the recorded takes in the lanes of the audio track for further editing as you have described it. We call this comping.
With point 5 it's getting a bit fuzzy to me. What does "a bit" mean? 500ms, one second, two seconds?
With a relativ small value, it would be a kind of auto crossfade - with a higer value such as a second of overlap, you would hear theoretically the beginning and the end of your recording simultaneously. That could be two different chords or different words of a sung chorus at the same time. I still struggling with that scenario.
 
Best,
Frank
 
 
 

Frank-US
With point 5 it's getting a bit fuzzy to me. What does "a bit" mean? 500ms, one second, two seconds?
With a relativ small value, it would be a kind of auto crossfade - with a higer value such as a second of overlap, you would hear theoretically the beginning and the end of your recording simultaneously. That could be two different chords or different words of a sung chorus at the same time. I still struggling with that scenario.

 
Here's a brief demonstration video.  I hope it's helpful.
 
Thank you for taking the time to check it out and to consider my points.

Resort Records

Frank-US
With point 5 it's getting a bit fuzzy to me. What does "a bit" mean? 500ms, one second, two seconds?
With a relativ small value, it would be a kind of auto crossfade - with a higer value such as a second of overlap, you would hear theoretically the beginning and the end of your recording simultaneously. That could be two different chords or different words of a sung chorus at the same time. I still struggling with that scenario.

 
Here's a brief demonstration video.  I hope it's helpful.
 
Thank you for taking the time to check it out and to consider my points.

OK, got it.
While I'm with you that a blind flight like you have shown in your video at 5:02 is not a good solution, your workflow in regards to overlapping parts would be not a standard procedere to me. To me it would be rather an option but that is not an problem I guess.
I can't promise that we can come up with a solution for this request just like that, but I can promise that I will have a word with the team.
Best,
Frank

Frank-US
While I'm with you that a blind flight like you have shown in your video at 5:02 is not a good solution, your workflow in regards to overlapping parts would be not a standard procedere to me. To me it would be rather an option but that is not an problem I guess.

 
Yes, an option would be ideal.  I certainly wouldn't want to break functionality for those who prefer the current implementation.  And, to be clear, it doesn't mean I don't use crossfades at all.  When punch-recording, for example, it's unavoidable.  So, ideally, it would be an option, but not a mutually exclusive option.
 

Frank-US
I can't promise that we can come up with a solution for this request just like that, but I can promise that I will have a word with the team.

That's very much appreciated.  It says a lot that Steinberg is following what Sonar users are saying (on a remote forum, no less) and considering the features that are important to them.
 
Thanks a million!

For those with a Groove 3 all access pass, check out the brand new set of videos on Cubase 9.5.  I've only watched the first two of five (the whole thing is under one hour in length), but it's been most interesting.  The new metronome capabilities are superb.  Steinberg hit it out of the ballpark with this enhancement.

cparmerlee
They don't do cross-fades automatically.  In every DAW I have used, if clips overlap, the DAW automatically sets up a cross-fade -- because that's what a person would want to do 99% of the time.
 
With Cubase, the first clip overlays and silences the second clip!?  I guess there are some non-default settings where you can get an automatic cross-fade, but only for a very short fade duration, not for the general case.  If you want to do a normal crossfade, you must select all the clips involved, then type "X".  That adds crossfades at all the overlay points.
 
Not the end of the world, but it really makes you wonder how they could be so insular and oblivious to something so obvious.

Not So Obvious here!
 
I prefer nothing to happen unless I want it to. To me it's most aggravating when overlapping clips auto crossfade. Both clips should be audible as anyone would expect overlapping clips to do. Let me decide what should happen, but by default, nothing should happen. IMO. Under certain circumstances Sonar would actually trim the overlapping area of 2 clips which was even more frustrating.

Edit..
 
Cannot post link.

Resort Records

Frank-US
With point 5 it's getting a bit fuzzy to me. What does "a bit" mean? 500ms, one second, two seconds?
With a relativ small value, it would be a kind of auto crossfade - with a higer value such as a second of overlap, you would hear theoretically the beginning and the end of your recording simultaneously. That could be two different chords or different words of a sung chorus at the same time. I still struggling with that scenario.

 
Here's a brief demonstration video.  I hope it's helpful.
 
Thank you for taking the time to check it out and to consider my points.

Ok, so after a discussion I had yesterday, I had a further look into what's possible in Cubase. What you have shown in your Video or better, what you have requested is ( to a certain extend) already possible.
A) Choose the track which should allow overlaps
B) Click in the Inspector of that track on the little auto fade button (or right click on the track - menu entry AUTO FADE)
C) In the appearing AUTO FADES WINDOW choose CROSSFADES
D) Choose EQUAL POWER with the max length of 500ms and mark the AUTO CROSSFADE box

After done this, you can make this a DEFAULT behavior.
Maybe we have to consider to have more than 500 ms possible. But for most cases I believe that this is doing the trick. At least I can say that in a project I'm currently working it does work as you might have expected.

Best,
Frank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J2LhpHde84

Resort Records
 

Thank you, but we've covered this already, and it was demonstrated in my first video.  If I understand him correctly, Frank is suggesting that this workaround can be forced on overlapping clips through the use of automatic fades.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to make it work, as demonstrated in my second video.  Furthermore, if we modify Frank's suggestion to use the null curve shapes described in your linked video (and mine), Cubase ignores them and uses the original fades instead.  Bug?  User error?  Not sure.

Just tested and those null curves seems to works fine here.
Still struggling to understand why some of you wanna do overlapping takes on a single track instead of 2 separate tracks. I mean, the total volume on that track would be boosted when the 2 overlapping parts are playing at the same time and make any channel compressor go nuts.

Resort Records

KHS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J2LhpHde84

  Furthermore, if we modify Frank's suggestion to use the null curve shapes described in your linked video (and mine), Cubase ignores them and uses the original fades instead.  Bug?  User error?  Not sure.

There is a relationship between the ms value and the length of the overlapping parts. If the value is too high, a part could still mute the overlapping one. So it is a trial and error scenario. Not as convinient as it should be for this kind of workflow but at least it shows, that this already possible to a certain extend.
As most of us have already vacation, I can't have further discussion with our developers.
But I will put it again on the agenda beginning of next year.
Merry christmas and a happy new year to all of you ;-)
 
Frank

soens
I only do it when blending 2 clips to make one, wherein I want full control of any crossfades.

That is my situation.  I often need to take live recordings and cut out verses, sometimes even patch in good parts of other verses is there was a bad spot.  I ALWAYS want it to blend.  Every audio and video program I have ever used automatically cross-fades overlapping clips.  SONAR is great about this.  With SONAR, it is very easy to adjust the cross-fades if the default behavior isn't just right.  With Cubase, you can't even grab anything from the "underneath" clip.  It is really not convenient at all.
 
To do this "surgery" on live recordings, one may have to slip the rightmost clip left and right a little to get the timing just right.  Then I adjust the fades to make it sound seamless.  With Cubase, I can't even access the handles from the underneath clip, so I don't know how I could even do this operation in any productive way.
 
Like David above, I haven't been able to get ANY automatic cross-fades to work, not even those less than 500 ms.  But even if it did work, I don't understand the logic of limiting it to 500 ms or requiring the user to actually specify the maximum automatic cross-fade.

KHS
Automatic crossfades do work in Cubase once you have enabled it from the auto fades menu. However, they do not show as visible crossfades like when you do a manual crossfade, but the crossfades are still there even you can't see them.

Thanks.  I'll give it another listen.  You are correct in surmising that my comment was based on the visual appearance.
 
So let me summarize.  With SONAR (and every other program I have worked with) if I slip one clip over another, the fade extends over the entire overlap area.  If I don't want so much overlap, I shorten the clip.  In SONAR, I can easily shorten any clip because if I select the clip, its handles are accessible, even if it is "underneath."
 
With CUBASE, I pre-determine what I think the "correct" length of cross-fade will be.  Then when I slip one clip over another, only that specified length does a fade (with no visual indication).  And the rest of the overlapped part of the underneath clip is silenced.  As an example, If you set the cross-fade length for 100 ms, and have an overlap length of 1000 ms, the first 900 ms of the underneath clip will be silenced automatically.
 
I guess I can see a certain logic to that, but it seems backwards to me.  If I chose the "right" autofade length, then I can drag the underneath clip left and right until the timing is right.  I will still have to edit the length of the "on top" clip, and I may have to go completely out of my way to change the fade length if I don't like the result using my specified normal autofade length.
 
Now that I understand it better, I'll give it a try to see if it is as awkward as it sounds.
 

I am trying to consolidate some of the extra midi and audio loops that are bundled with some various DAW's.  Sonar's and Samplitude's are fairly easy to find, but other than in Cubase's specific media Browser, I can't find any of the loops or midi files that one can open up while in Cubase.  I have done a couple of windows search of 'my PC' with a few of Cubase wave files such as '01 bass 02.wav,' but Windows can't find it.  
 
anyone know where these files are located and how to access them outside of Cubase?
 
Thanks.  Happy Holidays!

Would you let a doctor operate on you blind? "I can't see what I'm cutting but don't worry. I know I'm cutting something..."
 
If I can't see it visually, it aint happening.