Reference Guide

1108 Automation
Quick automation guide
Automation Read and Automation Write buttons
SONAR has buttons to enable/disable automation playback (the Automation Read buttons ) and
automation writing (the Automation Write buttons ) on the following modules:
• Tracks
• Buses
• Plug-in property pages
• Clip effects property pages (Automation Read button only)
In addition, SONAR has right-click commands to enable/disable automation playback and writing for
individual parameters. The Automation Read/Write buttons enable or disable automation playback
and recording respectively on all the parameters on an individual track, bus, or plug-in at once. The
Automation Read/Write commands enable or disable automation playback and writing respectively
on individual parameters of tracks, buses, or plug-ins.
The Automation Read button enables playback of automation envelopes for all automatable
parameters in the track, bus, or plug-in that the button is on, and is a handy way to temporarily turn
off envelopes for a particular track or bus while mixing.
The Automation Write button enables all automatable parameters on a specific audio track,
bus, or plug-in to be recorded.
The Automation Read and the Automation Write buttons are located by default next to the Mute/
Solo/Arm buttons on track and bus strips in the Track View, on the console strip in the Console
View, and below the Mute and Solo buttons in the Synth Rack. They are also available in Cakewalk
Soft Synth and Cakewalk effects plug-ins. Automation Read and Automation Write buttons have
three states; enabled, disabled, and dim. Enabled buttons indicate that all associated parameters
are read/write enabled. A dim button indicates that some parameters in the track strip or plug-in are
read or write enabled, while others are not. During automation writing, you will see the automation
preview envelope being drawn in real time alongside the normal waveform or MIDI preview.
A. Automation Read button B. Automation Write button
Enabling individual parameters
You can read-enable or write-enable individual parameters on tracks and buses by right-clicking
them and choosing Automation Read Enable or Automation Write Enable from the pop-up menu.
If you right-click an effect in an effect bin, the Read Enable Parameter and Write Enable
Parameter menu choices open dialogs that allow you to select which parameters you want to
enable.
A B