Reference Guide

370 Arranging and editing
Markers and the snap grid
Defining and using the Snap Grid
SONAR lets you define a snap grid that makes it easier to arrange clips, select time ranges, and
control envelope shape drawing. To use the snap grid, enable the Snap to Grid button in the
Control Bar’s Snap module (or press N) and set the grid resolution to an interval of musical time,
such as a whole note, half note, or quarter note; a unit of absolute time: a number of frames,
seconds or samples; an event; the start or end of a clip; a marker; or audio transients. The grid can
use multiple resolutions at the same time, such as a whole note, and audio transients. When the
Snap to Grid button is enabled, if you move or paste clips or markers, items will be snapped to the
nearest point on the snap grid.
You can also use the snap grid to move clips by a certain interval, rather than snap them to the
interval. Moving by an interval can be useful during drag-and-drop operations, if your data are not
exactly aligned with measure or note boundaries. To set advanced Snap to Grid settings, go to
Edit > Preferences > Customization - Snap to Grid.
Magnetic snap. Cakewalk’s snap grid has an option called magnetic snap. This means that when
you’re dragging the boundary of an object, you can move the boundary freely until the boundary gets
within a certain number of ticks from the snap target. The closer the object gets to the snap target,
the more strongly the object is pulled to the target. You can set the strength of magnetic snap to low,
medium, high, or off. Note that if you are zoomed out a certain amount, the time boundary around
the snap target will appear to be quite small, and you might think that the snap grid is not functioning.
If this is the case, zoom in closer to enhance your editing experience. If you’re dragging a whole clip,
magnetic snap is not in effect.
To enable or disable the Snap Grid
Do one of the following:
• Click the Snap to Grid button in the Control Bar’s Snap module.
• Press N.
To change the snap options
1. In the Control Bar’s Snap module, select one or more of the following resolution options:
• Time resolution. Snap to the selected musical or absolute time resolution. Click and hold
the mouse button pressed to select a different duration from the pop-up menu. For absolute
time resolutions (samples, frames, seconds), type the desired number of units. When Smart
Grid is selected, the snap resolution is dynamically determined by the horizontal zoom level,
and the M:B:T time rulers in the Clips pane and Piano Roll view are optimized to show
relevant snap locations.
• Triplet . Reduces the duration of the selected Musical time resolution by 2/3 of its original
Note: To exit Smart Grid mode, clear the Smart Grid check mark. If you manually select a new
resolution while Smart Grid is enabled, the new settings only apply until the focused view's
zoom level changes.