Drag and Drop from the Browser - Quick Tips

SONAR has always had powerful drag and drop capabilities but now SONAR X1 has taken this a step further. You can drag and drop just about anything in SONAR X1 including Track Templates and projects.

When you are ready to record a vocal track you can simply drag and drop a template from the Browser to an empty area of the track view. The template will automatically load and create the proper number of tracks, busses and patch all the effects for you. This is a real time saver.



You can create your own Track Templates for future use. All you have to do is select the tracks you want and then right click on them and select “Save as Track Template”. Now all the selected tracks, effects and busses will be saved as one single preset.

Don’t forget that Track Templates can also include soft synths, audio tracks and MIDI tracks. SONAR X1 comes with many Track Templates to get you up and running quickly. If you are upgrading to SONAR X1 all of your existing track templates will migrate to SONAR X1 and you can drag and drop them into new and existing projects!

As an added bonus you can drag existing projects into other projects. This is extremely useful if you are arranging an album, working on audio for video or comping projects together for remixes and mash ups.

Robin

Jose7822


Another tip is the ability to double-click an instrument instead of drag & drop.  Much faster :-)

Nice on Jose!!!

Yep, the Folders not dragging in with Templates issue is being looked at and should be addressed in a future update.

cornieleous

Seth Perlstein [Cakewalk
]

Yep, the Folders not dragging in with Templates issue is being looked at and should be addressed in a future update.

Awesome! Any word on nested folders?

Please, pretty please :-)

Thanks Robin!
Please add more Tips in this threads, thank you!
 
 
*** Did you know! Helpful thread about SONAR & SONAR X1***
Can Moderate move "*** Did you know! Helpful thread about SONAR & SONAR X1***" to this X1 Section or make it Sticky?
Thanks in advance!

I have added your tips here-------->  http://forum.cakewalk.com/fb.ashx?m=2159160
 
 
Best Regards
Freddie

Because you are double clicking in the synth rack not the plugin browser. To insert a NEW synth double click its name in the plugin browser tab.
 
BTW there is an exhaustive shortcuts list for the browser listed in the new fine print which is linked at the top of the forum. There is even a gesture to drag and replace the contents of an existing effects bin by holding down the ALT key when dragging. Not exactly replacing a single plugin but its a step in the right direction. Full synth replace is something we definitely have planned. Its easy we just don't have enough hours in the day to get to all these details. Now when is somone going to write a real time expansion plugin? :)

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk
]

Because you are double clicking in the synth rack not the plugin browser. To insert a NEW synth double click its name in the plugin browser tab.
 
BTW there is an exhaustive shortcuts list for the browser listed in the new fine print which is linked at the top of the forum. There is even a gesture to drag and replace the contents of an existing effects bin by holding down the ALT key when dragging. Not exactly replacing a single plugin but its a step in the right direction. Full synth replace is something we definitely have planned. Its easy we just don't have enough hours in the day to get to all these details. Now when is somone going to write a real time expansion plugin? :)

Love the Fine Print Mind Map. 

Nice tip with Alt for FX replacing. Slick.

Individual FX and Synth replacing would still be great though. I think Project 5 had both and I have missed both since.

mpop


When I drag a synth into a Audio Track from the Browser and then try to select that synth in a Midi Track it does not show up and I can't select it.  But if I right click and insert as I have done before It's there and I can select and use it. Am I doing something wroung or is this a BUG?
 
Thanks
mpop

Mpop, you don't drag a synth into an audio track, you just drag it into an empty space in your work area and the tracks for it are automatically inserted as per your insert dialogue choice.  Or you double click it and all that happens.

RB

mpop


Thanks, but I can't select it in my output drop down in any midi track

Hmmm, well you're doing something wrong.  Take a step back and make it easy for yourself - When you first insert a synth, make sure in the "Insert Soft Synth Options" dialogue, you have it checked that you want a MIDI track and an Audio track to be inserted along with the synth.  Those tracks will be automatically connected to the synth for you.

RB

cmusicmaker

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk
]

Because you are double clicking in the synth rack not the plugin browser. To insert a NEW synth double click its name in the plugin browser tab.

BTW there is an exhaustive shortcuts list for the browser listed in the new fine print which is linked at the top of the forum. There is even a gesture to drag and replace the contents of an existing effects bin by holding down the ALT key when dragging. Not exactly replacing a single plugin but its a step in the right direction. Full synth replace is something we definitely have planned. Its easy we just don't have enough hours in the day to get to all these details. Now when is somone going to write a real time expansion plugin? :)

Love the Fine Print Mind Map. 

Nice tip with Alt for FX replacing. Slick.

Individual FX and Synth replacing would still be great though. I think Project 5 had both and I have missed both since.

Me too - P5 had the neat feature where you could just rightclick on a plugin and bring up a replace menu. It also had proper instrument tracks, not the current compromise version

rbowser

MUSE
...It also had proper instrument tracks, not the current compromise version

Hi, Muse - I don't know what that part of your post means.  --?

RB

He means that all the parameters of an actual Instrument Track do not show up with the current implementation, since it is a compromise of the old and the new way.  To see all the parameters available to a synth, one needs to split the Instrument Track into it's Audio and MIDI counterparts.  Apparently, Project 5 did have a proper Instrument Track implementation, which would be nice to have.

candlesayshi

Jose7822

To see all the parameters available to a synth, one needs to split the Instrument Track into it's Audio and MIDI counterparts.

In the new Inspector the audio and MIDI track options of an Instrument Track are available at the same time... or are you taking about something else?

 
OK! I knew I was missing something (clicking on the MIDI tab). 
 
I see that Cakewalk added all the missing parameters from previous versions this time, cool!

Additional info:

You can drag and drop...

Effects to tracks and clips
FXChains to Tracks and clips
Audio to tracks and the Matrix
MIDI to tracks and the Matrix
Step Sequencer Patterns to the Step Sequencer
Video files to the track view (I like to drop to the video thumbnail track)
Track templates
Soft Synths to blank areas of the track view (tip turn off ask me every time on Insert Soft Synth options and things will really speed up)
MIDI FX to MIDI Tracks and clips

I think I got everything.

Robin

First thing I tried was (I crossed my fingers and hoped) dragging a midi clip into the browser to see if I could get around doing an groove clip export.  No luck.

That would be sweet if it had worked.

Hey Robin,

Is there any chance of enhancing the drag and drop functionality to include all audio file types importable through the File|Import|Audio... dialog (flac, wma, aiff, etc.)?

For instance, I import a lot of flac files through that dialog, but can't drag them from Windows Explorer into an audio track in X1. The cursor changes in the track to indicate that it is a drop site, but no conversion or importing occurs. And the browser won't display any of these files. I guess the browser's file type filter is set for just mp3 and wav files as far as I can tell.

Regards,
Don