I miss layers as well.  The zoom is what bothers me most about the take lanes.  If they fixed it so that you could zoom in better on the take lanes I think I could get used to it, but that is really bothering me at this point. 

As a matter of fact, I think the way zoom is implemented on take lanes is kind of ridiculous compared to how it was with layers.  If you zoom in directly on two take lanes it should just zoom the lanes in height as well as length, but it leaves the height of the lanes small and zooms in on the blank track that has nothing to edit.  That makes no sense at all to me.  With layers it was so much easier to zoom in on two overlapping layers and edit the start and stop of the clips the way I wanted to.  And even if you manually adjust the height to the maximum height for the lanes they aren't as big as I'd like to see them for making quick and accurate edits.

I haven't dug in very deeply on the automation lanes yet, but it looks to be limited in the zoom height as well and that bothers me for fine editing of envelopes. 

I think they may have a good idea with the take lanes and automation lanes, but they really need to put some effort into cleaning up the implementation.  I like working with X2 so far, but the lanes need imtprovement.

Roger that cake. Zoom needs to be repaired on take and automation lanes. +1 for this feature.

I like the track lanes but agree they need some work.  For one I'd like a new take first option and I do hate seeing that big empty wasted space above the lanes, but I don't what you would/could put there. :)

Dan 

I use both automation and take lanes. Automation lanes, I find, are a bit easier to work with then having to move the move back and forth between where I'm in the track and the edit filter. I wish take lanes would work better though. Especially with midi, I like having the ability to work with multiple variations of a phrase, without having to duplicate my track's set up. Though take lanes are quite buggy.

Razorwit


Hi Keni,
FWIW, take lanes are a bit clunky for me too. I keep ending up with an empty lane 0 that always has it's solo button lit up even though it's not solo'd. Also, the zooming is problematic for me. If I have a vocal track with 10 lanes on it, it would be really nice if at the lowest zoom level the lanes would be completely retracted...or at least retract when I minimize the track. As is, my "vox" folder is huge, even when all tracks are minimized. Oh, and one more thing, it would be great if Sonar were smart enough to put un-muted tracks in front when collapsing lanes. If lanes are collapsed I really would like to see the clips that are sounding.

Ooh...or here's an interesting idea. Include an option to display track layers when lanes are collapsed.

Anywho...yeah, it's a bit awkward currently.

Dean

Hi Dean...

Good idea... Much as the automation envelopes/lanes.... That would work for me! This would satisfy both work models...

Keni

Beepster


Hiya, Keni. Hope you've been well. 

The main thing I like about the lanes is they aren't a jumbled mess like layers were and they more or less stay where they are supposed to and that they don't get smaller and smaller as the takes stack up. With layers once there were too many the tools stopped working because the waveforms got too tiny and you'd have to double click to explode them and that completely defeated the purpose of having layers at that point IMO. For someone like me who is doing a million takes as I work out solos that made layers unusable after a certain point. Also I like the defined Mute button because the old layers mute/solo buttons were far too tiny especially with many takes on the screen (the record button is glitchy like I said and needs to be fixed but if it worked properly I'd use it but it's not a huge deal).

When I started typing this I remembered another major improvement I'd like to see but I forgot because I'm a scatterbrain right now but if I remember I'll post it. We should get a list together for the Bakers so maybe they can tweak it for the patches or the next version. It's be better if they did it with the patches though because I'm pretty happy with X2 in general and don't want to pay again... especially considering I technically paid $200 extra for it compared to some... but I won't gripe about that again. Cheers.

Hi Beepster...

I agree about the issues you mention regarding Layers... those were definitely a pain... I too record many things in large numbers of loops and experienced these issues too...

But they were easier to deal with than the current ones... I used layers all the time even with it's problems, but here it is the second week with Lanes and I've already given up using them (for the most part)...

I do have faith that The Bakers will address these issues in some form... at some time, but I don't think I can hack waiting for a major release... I may be forced back to X1 for the time being... and honestly, outside of a few fixes and the PC plugins, I was far happier with 8.5.3..... I only had bug complaints then as opposed to major feature issues...

I hope that Cakewalk isn't following the PT path as it too has suffered since the sale to Avid.... this is not a good scenario where two of the major players in the DAW market have been subverted by need and desire into the Big Corp world...

I hold the Cakewalk team in the highest regard.... But I don't appreciate some of these recent (X Gen) decisions. I'm all for new features and options but not at the cost of the old features I like and use so regularly... For me this issue (Lanes) should have been handled differently... It's almost a completely different feature and should have been added as such instead of trying to replace such a major tool...

As to paying for it? I've paid for many releases and honestly don't mind as it keeps the programmers working... I'll gladly pay again for the next release if they can (as before) adjust enuf things "now" so that I can work with it until the paid release is ready... I'm far closer to impoverished than I am to well off (not even close to rich), but money comes and goes and I've often paid for my tools instead of my bills.... I've got a bad case of Peter Panitis and refuse to grow up! ;-)

Thanks - I hope you've got PC2A running now... You're gonna love it!

Keni

Genghis


I miss layers as well.  The zoom is what bothers me most about the take lanes.  If they fixed it so that you could zoom in better on the take lanes I think I could get used to it, but that is really bothering me at this point. 

As a matter of fact, I think the way zoom is implemented on take lanes is kind of ridiculous compared to how it was with layers.  If you zoom in directly on two take lanes it should just zoom the lanes in height as well as length, but it leaves the height of the lanes small and zooms in on the blank track that has nothing to edit.  That makes no sense at all to me.  With layers it was so much easier to zoom in on two overlapping layers and edit the start and stop of the clips the way I wanted to.  And even if you manually adjust the height to the maximum height for the lanes they aren't as big as I'd like to see them for making quick and accurate edits.

I haven't dug in very deeply on the automation lanes yet, but it looks to be limited in the zoom height as well and that bothers me for fine editing of envelopes. 

I think they may have a good idea with the take lanes and automation lanes, but they really need to put some effort into cleaning up the implementation.  I like working with X2 so far, but the lanes need imtprovement.

Hi Genghis...

I agree with you 100%.... I don't like the waste of screen real estate that the lanes create, but far worse is the zoom scenario... and it's the same with automation lanes... But at least there I can simply use the (disliked) Edit Filter to avoid their' use...

There are a few minor redeeming qualities (that I see) to the Lanes, but the cons far out weigh the pros (for me)... They are useless in their' current condition for me...

I'm keeping 8.5. alive on my machines as I somehow feel I might eventually give up on the X generation and get back to where work was easier... I can simply buy new plugins to replace the PC that I like...

Keni

dke


I like the track lanes but agree they need some work.  For one I'd like a new take first option and I do hate seeing that big empty wasted space above the lanes, but I don't what you would/could put there. :)

Dan 

Hi Dan...

Yeah, the wasted space! they should be the layers as an option! ;-)

Keni

js516


I use both automation and take lanes. Automation lanes, I find, are a bit easier to work with then having to move the move back and forth between where I'm in the track and the edit filter. I wish take lanes would work better though. Especially with midi, I like having the ability to work with multiple variations of a phrase, without having to duplicate my track's set up. Though take lanes are quite buggy.

So now instead of moving back and forth you have to open and close them... They waste far too much screen real estate to leave open as I could with layers...

...and I was always able to have muted variations within a track...In recent versions this was even hidden when musted so that I could see the working data clearly...

Now with Lanes I must create separate tracks instead with all the plugin duplication and constantly exposing/revealing tracks one at a time as there are far more tracks than I ever like to deal with for a simple song....

Yes, The lanes have some good ideas in them but they are costing more than they are saving (for me)...

Keni

I agree with Beepster's suggestions in this thread. The concept of lanes is great, but they do seem a little buggy at times. I would like to be able to adjust the volume of a lane. Another thing that happened to me recently was splitting and moving parts or clips of lanes did not always work correctly. A couple of saves and restarts had it working again. But for a while, I felt stuck without a solution.