Hi all
 
As said in this  tread I'm new to X3 so I'm still trying to find my way around and could use some of your expertise, please.
I have three questions for you:
 
1) I write a lot of orchestral stuff so I need to jump around between midi tracks (for example when I'm writing string parts). Many times I forget another track is still armed and I record over it while writing another instrument's part. Does it happen to you as well? How did you solve the problem?
 
2) I am getting used to the new tools (loving the fact you can use the T key to bring up the options right where you are). When I'm editing a MIDI track and for example I need to lasso select and move a bunch of notes together I found I need to use one tool to select them and then switch to another one to actually move them. Is there an hotkey combination for the smart tool that allows me to do it with less mouse clicks?
 
3) Something unexpected happens when I edit audio in the main window. Example: I have a 4 bar guitar phrase and want to replace bar 3 with a duplicate of bar 1. I lasso select bar 1 and move a copy (left mouseclick + ALT I think, there is a small + sign next to the pointer) it to its new position. I can sometimes hear the old sound clip under it or, when that doesn't happen I don't seem to be able to crossfade the clip boundaries etc because the old clip is still present underneath. NOTE: I already selected replace old with new in the prefs. Am I missing something?
 
4) Last one, I promise. What's the best way to archive a project? I'm a bit of a freak that way, I can't stand having a four minute stem 48/32 just for two cymbal hits. I already cut the silence away then I use the apply trimming option. Now. When it's time to archive the project I just use that option that allows me to erase the unused files, but I don't know if I can use it with confidence and anyway it doesn't really erase all of them (I checked). What is your favourite way of preparing your sessions for storage, please?

Sorry for the long post.
 
Thanks for your time and I hope this thread will help all those who have the same questions.
Have a great one!

1. For me, when I record 'over' it just adds a new lane on-top-of and I can double back to that track and delete the new lane.
 
2. In Piano Roll View (PRV), you can right click and drag to select a group of notes.
 
3. to move a bar and replace it with a different bar...
- Move to the start of your bar you want to remove and hit s for split (where the selected item for edit is the clip)
- move to the end of the bar and hit s for split again
- drag the clip to a new place or delete it
- drag highlight the section of clip you want to move to the new spot and hit ctrl+alt+c (copy special) to control what you copy -- this isn't strictly necessary but you should know it's a choice over ctrl+c
- move now time to the beginning of the measure where you want the clip pasted
- paste in the new clip
- you might choose to fade clip ends by dragging in the right and left clip handles if you want
 
** note that this is totally not the only way to do #3. I'm trying to make positive sure you don't hear the original clip. From why you wrote, it should have been sufficient to paste over. Also consider that you could add a new audio track and paste the clip there then drag that clip into a take lane on the original track. That would give you more control as you could see both the original and the new.
 
Since you are heavy into Midi tracks, you might seriously consider buying one of Scott's Sonar Power books. They're really helpful. There are all kinds of great midi tricks and computer shortcuts that I can't always remember. Midi tricks is one of the main things I open up Sonar power for these days.
 
Welcome to the forum.

4. If you "Save As" in a different location it will copy over the used audio files and ignore the unused ones.
 

Also...
1. I use Edit > Preferences > MIDI > Playback and Recording > Allow MIDI Recording without an Armed Track.
2. I press the mouse wheel instead of hitting T.

trtzbass
4) Last one, I promise. What's the best way to archive a project? I'm a bit of a freak that way, I can't stand having a four minute stem 48/32 just for two cymbal hits. I already cut the silence away then I use the apply trimming option. Now. When it's time to archive the project I just use that option that allows me to erase the unused files, but I don't know if I can use it with confidence and anyway it doesn't really erase all of them (I checked). What is your favourite way of preparing your sessions for storage, please?

As mentioned by another poster, using Save As to a new location with Copy All Audio checked will copy only audio file that are being used by the project.
 
The latter part of your question is a little trickier. Remove Silence and Apply Trimming are non-destructive; they just slip-edit the clips, leaving the full audio file intact. To "trim" the actual audio file, you have to Bounce to Clips, and do it once for each individual clip. This creates a new file for each hit, and the original file will be dumped when you Save As to another location or use Clean Audio folder or (my preference) Cakewalk Audio Finder (CWAF) tool to clear out unused files from the original  project folder.
 
The compromise solution might be to trim the clip to just include the first and last hit and everything in between, and bounce that to a single, shorter clip.
 
I have frequently wished that it was possible to select multiple clips and bounce to clips individually instead of having them recombined into a single clip.
 

Thanks very much.
Your help has been invaluable. I am now well on my way to becoming black belt in X3! :D
 

Welcome!
 
Hot key/shortcut list:  http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation/default.aspx?Doc=SONAR%20X3&Lang=EN&Req=Menus1.181.html
 
worth printing, cutting up and laminating...
 
and, u need a better brain than mine to remember all but a few of these! 

The Sonar X? series has seen some changes in keyboard shortcuts so for many of us we've been in a constant state of relearning with each new version. Having a flip chart of the keyboard shortcuts is a mandatory requirement for me. As they are organised in the reference manual by the various views available in Sonar it makes it easy to organise them that way to have each chart available when I'm working in a particular view.

As others have stated, print, laminate in your desired format and have them by your computer keyboard for ready use. It's the best advice I can give anyone of any experience level.

1) You can click Record, Solo, or Mute in the control bar to disable all instances of same. I often click record just before recording to clear everything.

A workflow suggestion : start creating track and song templates... it speeds up every future creation and I can't begin to count the zillions of hours I lost recreating track layouts in New projects that I can do in seconds now... the "duh!" Moment of the year for me!