Good Day,
 
Obviously its going to take a lot of time, effort, skill and patience (all of which I dont have) to transfer over Sonar project files to another DAW, and retain as much of the settings/FX/VI integrity as may be possible, especially if you have a lot of big and detailed projects. 
 
Im wondering if anyone knows any consultants who may specialize in doing this, or software developers who could create a utility program? (or may be a good opportunity for someone to make some cash). This is a service or if possible a utility program I'd be willing to pay for.
 
Please let me know
 
Cheers 
 
 

I think this a good idea along with removing the reliance on the authorisation process on the Cakewalk servers. 

Try exporting as OMF file.
There is no public whitepaper of the Cakewalk project file format available. I examined project files with hex editor few years ago but in addition to basic header information I was not able to determine how track data is stored in the file. If that is solved then you'd need to examine the target file format (probably no public info available) as well. My lifetime is too short for that. Not because available time is too short but because there's so much more to do in the life...
 
My method to export project from SONAR to another DAW:
 
* Select all audio tracks from start to end and File | Export. Use "Tracks" and "Follow source" options and use other options as you need.
* MIDI tracks are easy to drag & drop.
* Save time signature changes and tempo map manually to notepad or take a screen capture.
* Save individual effect parameters as VST presets.
* Set pan-law of the new project to match the original in SONAR.
* Add routings.

The .CWP file format is proprietary and it is illegal to reverse engineer it.
Unless someone who owns the program today decides to publish the file format, you'll never see an export/import. The only thing about a cwp file that you can port are the individual .wav files.
 
You'll have to remix the material from scratch.

bitman
The .CWP file format is proprietary and it is illegal to reverse engineer it.
Unless someone who owns the program today decides to publish the file format, you'll never see an export/import. The only thing about a cwp file that you can port are the individual .wav files. 
You'll have to remix the material from scratch.

Yea, I kinda figured something like that, and understand processes as panup and others describe in other posts. 
So my alternatives would be doing myself or hiring some student or someone to take the time to do this, while also coaching them with all my little anomalies. While Ive gained skills in more recent projects of how I structure, document and save projects and FX and VI presets etc., with specific references to each project, and/or Ive standardized things like my channel strip plugins they wont be as much work transferring, its some of the earlier projects during the learning process I dread going back and redoing.
I guess in any case its a lot of unexpected work, time and costs involved to transfer over to a new DAW, and really feel for those who may have solely relied on Sonar as business/career thing. 
On the other hands for me I guess there's not I big rush to do this as everything will continue to function in current state as long my computer doesn't crash irrecoverably, and Ive backed up all on external drives. I think for now Ill just leave all intact on this machine, Ill concentrate on investing in a new Win10 PC (Im still on Win7) or possibly even a Mac, and look at the long term sustainability of the DAW provider as my main criteria, and compatibility with my main existing plugins, then look at transferring over as priority and time permits. 
 
Anyway cheers and thanks all for tips.
 

I made a little guide for those interested:
Exporting SONAR Projects to another DAW
 
Will be updated...

panup
I made a little guide for those interested:
Exporting SONAR Projects to another DAW
 Will be updated...

Cool and thanks, Ive been saving tips from forum in a document, this is excellent and much appreciated.
Cheers

I updated the guide. Save again or believe that the link will work for years (it will!). :)

Thanks, and wasn't aware of the Cakewalk Community Forums site, looks like a good place to register and follow, Im not a Facebook person, but wife is Ill check that out later, and maybe succumb to Facebook. LOL
 
cheers.

Good topic John. This will be the hardest thing for me to adapt to.
For now im going to close up any projects I have started in Sonar and do typical house cleaning
(bouncing down everything to full clips, Exporting Midi, EXC). Then I will probably keep using sonar for a bit longer and work my way in to a new DAW. Probably Audacity .
 
Im just kidding. Studio one or Cubase are my first choices. Though I have used Digital performer in the past.