Hi all.
I've been using X3 Studio for a few months now and have found the interface simple and intuitive.  Any issues I've been able to overcome in either help or the tutorials, but this simple problem has got me stumped.
I have a few pieces all ready to go but before I export them I want to remove the blank/empty measures at the start of the work.
Simple I thought. Just group select the measures and tracks and right click "cut". Nup can't do it. I've had a look through help and the tutorials and can't find anything.  BTW:There is a mixture of midi and audio tracks.
Sorry if its a simple thing but its got me stumped. Any help appreciated.

Gertsy...I have a few pieces all ready to go but before I export them I want to remove the blank/empty measures at the start of the work...

You need to select the portion of your project you want to export.  You can't delete measures that are empty, so that's why your method hasn't worked.  There are several ways to select in the timeline the portion you want, one being to sweep through the timeline with your cursor, until you've highlighted only the appropriate section.  You can also select the whole thing, place your cursor at the start of the first actual measure you want, and click CTRL to de-select the empty measures ahead of that measure.
 
Be sure that all the tracks are selected, but only the portion highlighted in the timeline will be what you'll have in the export.
 
One other way to work is to export the whole thing as it is, and delete the blank sections in a dedicated sound editor like Sound Forge or Audacity.
 
Randy

Or, you could insert something into the blank measures e.g. a MIDI note.  Select the area and then use Delete Special menu option, check the Delete hole box, and they will be deleted.
 
Having said that, I do time select an area when exporting.  I type ctrl+A to select everything, drag my mouse along the time ruler to select area to export, and then export audio, entire mix (or whatever it's called), and Bob's your uncle.
 

jb101...I type ctrl+A to select everything, drag my mouse along the time ruler to select area to export, and then export audio, entire mix (or whatever it's called), and Bob's your uncle...

Good, it's always good to have confirmation of info already posted.  You should be good to go, Gertsy.
 
Randy B.

Thanks for the help guys.  I was considering doing the delete the empty space from the master in another editor thing as that's what I used to do with Cakewalk 8 and Studio5 through Soundforge 14 years ago. I figured that must have changed by now.
I've still got Soundforge on a CD somewhere but there must be better utilities than that now. Or a new version.
I actually tried the select region to export but must have stuffed it up as it came back with an error "no audio selected" or something like that.
 
BTW I tried the insert midi events and then Delete Special / Hole for all tracks but that seemed to delete the empty measures for some Midi and Audio tracks but not others, stuffing up the track sync.  Ctrl Z.
 
If that's the way to do it that's the way to do it. No deleting of empty measures for me.
 
Thanks again for the help.

Gertsy...I actually tried the select region to export but must have stuffed it up as it came back with an error "no audio selected" or something like that...

That's the message you get when you don't have the audio track associated with a MIDI track also selected.  I recommend the old school method of having both audio and MIDI tracks, not "simple instrument tracks" which confuse the MIDI process for a lot of people.  With the old way, you see what you get, and when bouncing or exporting, you just select the two different tracks for each MIDI instrument.  Track Manager easily hides tracks you don't need to see on screen, so there's no danger of over-populating your monitor.
 
Randy

This is an area of Sonar that is the source of frequent confusion and frustration and needs to be fixed IMO. Deleting empty measures from a project is a common enough task that it should be easy and intuitive without having to rely on workarounds like inserting dummy MIDI events. And if you do a search on the forums there are loads of posts from people who couldn't get delete hole to work properly, myself included.

When I am exporting - usually audio, I select ALL (CTRL+A), then I set the Now Time to wherever the beginning of the desired section is, then click on Edit>Select>Set From Time to Now.  Then I set the Now Time marker to wherever the end of the sections to be copied is, and click Edit>Select>Set Thru Time to Now.
 
At this point everything is selected that I intend to export.  For you, that would be to select from just past the beginning measures through presumably the end of the project.
 
Hope that helps, 
 
Oh and @job101 - I am Bob, but I am NOT his Uncle...... :)
 
Bob Bone
 

My +1, select everything on the section you want, cut and past to the blank measure your want it to start.  i.e music begin at measure 10:01:xxx so blank from measure 1 to 9, you want to copy everything from measure 10 through the end to measure 2.  Do Ctrl+A to select all, press G and enter 10 to the dialog box then click OK to goto measure 10.  'Edit>Select>From=Now' to select from measure 10, then Ctrl+X to cut, press G and enter 2 to the dialog box then click OK togo measure 2.  Select the very first track (i.e track 1) and Ctrl+V, voila you are done.  If you just Ctrl+V, it pastes to the next new track at measure 2 and delete all blank tracks above.

txoovtuamMy +1, select everything on the section you want, cut and past to the blank measure your want it to start etc.

!  Why do all that?  Just select the portion of the timeline you want.  Without exaggeration, that's a 3 second operation.
 
RB