It's not true. Both that and the OP's problem are down to the people doing the exporting not knowing what they're doing.

I cannot believe the ridiculous nature of some people when it comes to transferring files sometimes, especially between platforms.
 
It needs careful consideration and planning.
 
Also, its both the OPs responsibility as well as the person he is importing from.
 
Let this thread be a lesson to people who dont understand this nightmarish situation.
 
My advice to the OP is go back to the person who transferred the files, work out a solution with them over the phone and email (so you have an email chain), then start the project when you are both happy.
 
Pro Tools and Sonar will happily sit side by side as long as you dont involve AAF's or OMFS, so if its a simple stems transfer it should be fine. 
 
Therefore the person exporting hasnt exported their stems correctly. But, the OP or the person in the middle should have arranged this transition smoothly.
 
 
 
 

I am totally with John T on this.
 
I work in film (bigger more complex files I can tell you) and I spend a big session with the Editor to make sure we have transferred the files in a suitable format that works both ends, I'll even get them to send over a small test file to make sure we dont have any gremlins and then get the full project.
 
So, poor organisation on both sides. I would NEVER just say to an editor "Yeah, just send the files over, it will work"
 

Also, to the OP, you said "I have no idea how the track is supposed to sound yet"
 
WTF?
 
Why havent you got a demo track, a simple stereo rough cut to give you a good idea?
 
Sorry to rant a bit, but meh.
 

Mod Bod
He probably sent you a project and included all the audio on the Playlists which is what Pro Tools calls track lanes.  I'd only load the basic rhythm tracks first and see if you can do a quick 2 track mix and then start bringing in the multiple takes of an instrument and comp them.  Work on getting the comps together and then add plugins and start mixing later.

How would the OP be able to open a PTX file that would be a container of the reference files when Sonar cant open a PTX?
 
He just needs stems. Its got nothing to do with PT.
 

The other thing to watch out for is timed-stamped files.  I've imported PT and the files pop up w/ all kinds of time at the beginning.  I thought they were empty.
 
@

The only thing I can think of although this is a LONG shot....Maybe they sent broadcast WAVS or something but that would just mess up your timeline rather than 600 tracks of audio.
 
 

Kev999
I once entered  remix contest in which the supplied stems were all mono WAVs, i.e. all the stereo tracks had been split to mono during the export.  The excuse given was that this was the only option in ProTools for exporting all the audio tracks.  I can't believe that this would be true.  If so it's a severe limitation.
 

No longer true.  Pro Tools 11 can handle it.

markyzno

Mod Bod
He probably sent you a project and included all the audio on the Playlists which is what Pro Tools calls track lanes.  I'd only load the basic rhythm tracks first and see if you can do a quick 2 track mix and then start bringing in the multiple takes of an instrument and comp them.  Work on getting the comps together and then add plugins and start mixing later.

How would the OP be able to open a PTX file that would be a container of the reference files when Sonar cant open a PTX?
 
He just needs stems. Its got nothing to do with PT.
 

I didn't take it as a PTX project.  I'm just thinking that tracking studio exported wave files and he included all the playlists (exported as wave files) as well.  Me, I would have asked if the tracking studio had done the edits on the playlists and if they had done that, just sent the comped versions.  As far as I know the only way to collaborate with a PT guy is with wave files (stems).  IIRC, I've moved tracks between Samplitude Pro X and Pro Tools with OMF files but I've never tried it with SONAR. 
 
The rub is that SONAR (or more than likely his hardware) can't deal with all of the tracks and someone at some point is going to have to thin it down - either the OP or his source.

Mod Bod
IIRC, I've moved tracks between Samplitude Pro X and Pro Tools with OMF files but I've never tried it with SONAR.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul04/articles/sonarnotes.htm
 
The article is from a decade ago, but I assume things haven't changed much. I was able to load projects exported from Sonar into Cubase, Pro Tools, and Digital Performer. The problem is the reverse - Sonar can't import OMF projects. At the time, it was inconceivable that someone would want to mix a PT project in Sonar, but...times have changed.