Hey guys & gals,
 
I've been using Sonar X2 since it came out; haven't made the upgrade yet as I like X2 so much and have a good work flow happening.  Anyway, a question I've been burning to ask for a while now and finally getting to it.
 
Let's say I record a single session into various project files synonymous with different songs.  I begin work on the first mix and get things sounding close to finished.  I know want to apply the mix settings to the other projects; what is the quickest way to do this?  Love to hear your opinion!  
 
regards,
 
Adam

Hi
It depends what you mean by "Mix Settings"
If you are using the Pro-Channel to apply the "Mix Settings" you can save each of these per Track \ Instrument and recall them in the other projects.
 
Gary

Assuming that "mix settings" means all the console and processor settings, you can save an entire mixer setup as a track preset. I'd suggest copying the project, deleting all the audio, saving the setup as a track preset, then starting a new project with that track preset. Next, bring the files from the other project into the new project.
 
Bringing the files over would be simplified if you bounced the various track clips into individual clips that start from the beginning of the song, then use the export function that saves out individual clips.
 
This "Track Preset" for the mixer could also be saved as your normal template so it came up every time you started Sonar.
 
BTW I think you'll find X3's workflow is pretty much identical to X2 except for the new comping feature, which is pretty awesome...

Thanks for the replies, Anderton & Gary!  Much appreciated!
 
You're right, Anderton: I do mean all the console and processor settings.  And yes, Gary: I've already gone through the painful process of saving 'pro-channel' settings individually: trying to find a quicker workaround.  
 
In the past, I've recorded entire sessions in the one project file which saves me having to do this, but it makes the work flow clunky, especially if there are 3 hours worth of 24 tracks!  Your answer, Anderton, is something I've done before, but again, a pretty clunky way of going about things, but better than nothing!  I just wish there was a way to recall the entire console and processor settings from a previous session and import them into another project.  
 
Anyway, better get back to it!  Thanks again, guys!  :)

thetruevine
In the past, I've recorded entire sessions in the one project file which saves me having to do this, but it makes the work flow clunky, especially if there are 3 hours worth of 24 tracks!  Your answer, Anderton, is something I've done before, but again, a pretty clunky way of going about things, but better than nothing!  I just wish there was a way to recall the entire console and processor settings from a previous session and import them into another project.  
 

 
Why not just mix the first song, copy the project, delete all the files you just mixed, and start mixing the next song? Proceed until everything is done. Then you can re-visit the older projects and delete all the files past where you mixed.
 
I assume the problem with applying mixer settings is I'm not sure Sonar would know what to do unless you have the same number of channels, same plug-ins, same sends, etc. So if you have a template and bring it up before you start recording, you'd be ahead of the game.

Hmm.  I am wondering if I can use the track preset technique for a different purpose.
 
Sometimes I would like to have alternate mixes of a project for comparison (or for live backing v CD).  It is easy enough to copy the project, but that burns up a lot of disk space.  On old automated consoles, you could just save the mix (fader moves, EQ, mutes, etc) to a disk and you could have various versions.
 
I have often wished I had a Sonar button that saved the mix but not all the audio, midi, and plugs.  In other words, I would like to mix a song a couple of different ways and thenh spend some time comparing them in different listening environments.  Saving the whole project kills my hard drive.  In fact, since I save interim versions for safety, one album folder can end up being 200-300 GBs or more.
 
(I'm getting way off topic, but it also annoys me that 1-you can't drag a folder of Sonar projects because the path to the audio folder doesn't upate and 2-you can't easily delete a project off your drive because you have to track down all the audio files and triple check that you aren't deleting audio that you need for the new or final versions.)

konradh
Sometimes I would like to have alternate mixes of a project for comparison (or for live backing v CD).  It is easy enough to copy the project, but that burns up a lot of disk space.  On old automated consoles, you could just save the mix (fader moves, EQ, mutes, etc) to a disk and you could have various versions.
...
(I'm getting way off topic, but it also annoys me that 1-you can't drag a folder of Sonar projects because the path to the audio folder doesn't upate and 2-you can't easily delete a project off your drive because you have to track down all the audio files and triple check that you aren't deleting audio that you need for the new or final versions.)

Per-project audio folders address of all of these issues.
 
Mutliple cwp files can point to the same Audio folder just perform the "Save As" renaming the project file and save it in the same folder as the current project. For Example a project called "My Song" could be created as
"c:\Cakewalk Projects\My Song". The My Song project folder could contain:
"c:\Cakewalk Projects\My Song\My Song.cwp" - the raw tracks
"c:\Cakewalk Projects\My Song\My Song - CD Mix.cwp" - the CD mix
"c:\Cakewalk Projects\My Song\My Song - Live Mix.cwp" - the live mix
"c:\Cakewalk Projects\My Song\Audio' - folder for audio
 
Per-project audio folders are maintained relative to the project file so they can be moved without upsetting the integrity of the project. Deleting the project folder above the audio folder only deletes the project and associated audio without affect any other projects and audio. In the "My Song" example above, "c:\Cakewalk Projects\My Song" folder may be moved anywhere and still load into SONAR. Deleting the "c:\Cakewalk Projects\My Song" folder complete removes only the data related to "My Song".

konradh
Sometimes I would like to have alternate mixes of a project for comparison (or for live backing v CD).  It is easy enough to copy the project, but that burns up a lot of disk space.  On old automated consoles, you could just save the mix (fader moves, EQ, mutes, etc) to a disk and you could have various versions.
 
I have often wished I had a Sonar button that saved the mix but not all the audio, midi, and plugs.  In other words, I would like to mix a song a couple of different ways and thenh spend some time comparing them in different listening environments. 

 
I agree that would be a great feature for Sonar. Have you put in a feature request?
 
Also, scook is 100% right about the the "save as" and "per-project folder" thing. You can do what you want to do in that respect with the existing Sonar tools.

I don't even understand why you would ever NOT want per project audio folders. Is this just a remnant of old times?

Sanderxpander
I don't even understand why you would ever NOT want per project audio folders. Is this just a remnant of old times?

Backwards compatibility probably.