Does Cakewalk have a "Dry Run" mode?

[El Diablo]

Reaper has this feature, why can't I find this feature in Cakewalk?

In the old days, you used to have to listen to your whole track for Melodyne to "record" your track.  If Cakewalk had a "dry run" mode, I'm sure it would have been faster.  I still have plugins that need to listen to the whole track to make it's math work correctly.

Where you can have your VST plugins run thru the entire song without you listening?

It would be a great thing to have so that if you need to have a plugin adjust itself for the entire song, you don't have to listen to it multiple times for the adjustment.

For example:

If I run the normalizer in analyze mode, in Cakewalk currently I have to listen to the whole song for it to adjust itself to the song:

https://www.hornetplugins.com/plugins/hornet-thenormalizer/

You set the db of the track you want the volume to get set, and it will either gain + / - depending on what your track needs.  It isn't A.I.

You used to have to do the same thing with Melodyne, until it added ARA feature.

In Reaper, I can run "dry run" in the Render menu, but I can't find "dry run" for Cakewalk.

Dry run let's you "render the song without outputting it to a file" this allows your plugins to work 3x faster than normal listening mode.

Other plugins I wish to run in "dry run" mode: Sonible Smart Limiter, iZotope RX modules, several different Waves Audio plugins, etc.

Mainly benefits being able to adjust your plugins faster without having to listen to the whole song over and over again.  Most of these plugins have an average or meter you can use to base your judgement on without having to "listen" to make the adjustments.

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by El Diablo
Edited to give more context

[Heath Row]

You 'bin eatin' mamma's 'special' cookies ain't ya" 😁

Edited October 17, 2023 by heath row
spellin and punchiashion

[Stephen Power]

8 hours ago, El Diablo said:

Where you can have your VST plugins run thru the entire song without you listening?

It would be a great thing to have so that if you need to have a plugin adjust itself for the entire song, you don't have to listen to it multiple times for the adjustment.

My edited reply based on your edited (and now much more detailed post)...I also struggle to used automation without keeping my mouse on the volume slider (for example) throughout the length of the clip or track. I'm sure there is (or should be an easier way).

BTW, I took the trouble (and time) to edit this reply - which could have been saved if you'd made your first post as detailed as it is now.

Edited October 17, 2023 by Stephen Power

[El Diablo]

1 hour ago, Stephen Power said:

 

Please delete this reply.  I edited my question to make it more clear.

Edited October 17, 2023 by El Diablo
Phrase delete this reply

[mettelus]

I am confused by this as well. The auto-gain feature is pretty much identical to "riding the fader," so it only needs adequate look ahead to hit the target you specify. Maybe there is confusion about it fluctuating over time (which is how it works)... it is NOT blindly applying the "same gain" to the entire track (that would be no different than Process->Apply Effect...->Normalize in CbB which is instantaneous). That plugin is constantly adjusting the incoming audio to hit the target you set.

[El Diablo]

11 minutes ago, mettelus said:

I am confused by this as well. The auto-gain feature is pretty much identical to "riding the fader," so it only needs adequate look ahead to hit the target you specify. Maybe there is confusion about it fluctuating over time (which is how it works)... it is NOT blindly applying the "same gain" to the entire track (that would be no different than Process->Apply Effect...->Normalize in CbB which is instantaneous). That plugin is constantly adjusting the incoming audio to hit the target you set.

This plugin was badly used as an example.

Let's say you want to use the old Melodyne app again where you need to let it listen to the whole track in order so it can see the whole track.

This is the reason I would need a "dry run" feature.  To speed up this step by 3-4 times faster than listening in realtime.

Edited October 17, 2023 by El Diablo

[John Vere]

I have no clue what you are getting at. Melodyne, Normalize or any process function quickly analyzed the track and then it’s up to you to make the changes. Processing time depends on your system capabilities etc. 

Possibly what you are trying to say is as example the  You Lean Loudness meter free version has to listen to the whole song in real time to give you a peak and LUFS reading. The paid version you can drag and drop the audio and it gives you results in seconds.  

[El Diablo]

58 minutes ago, John Vere said:

I have no clue what you are getting at. Melodyne, Normalize or any process function quickly analyzed the track and then it’s up to you to make the changes. Processing time depends on your system capabilities etc. 

Possibly what you are trying to say is as example the  You Lean Loudness meter free version has to listen to the whole song in real time to give you a peak and LUFS reading. The paid version you can drag and drop the audio and it gives you results in seconds.  

Ignore WHY I'm trying to find the DRY RUN feature in Cakewalk and just say if it exists or not?

Can you Render the whole project without exporting it to a file in Cakewalk?

 

Edited October 18, 2023 by El Diablo
spelling

[Starship Krupa]

1 hour ago, El Diablo said:

Ignore WHY I'm trying to find the DRY RUN feature in Cakewalk and just say if it exists or not?

Can you Render the whole project without exporting it to a file in Cakewalk?

 

It does not.

No you cannot.

[Bill Phillips]

2 hours ago, El Diablo said:

Can you Render the whole project without exporting it to a file in Cakewalk?

 

That's not possible. In the context of a DAW, to render is to export. A dry run would be playing the final mix without exporting. Most, if not all, DAWs support that.

If you're worried about bit reduction artifacts plugins like iZotope's Ozone have that capability. 

[Byron Dickens]

11 hours ago, El Diablo said:

Can you Render the whole project without exporting it to a file in Cakewalk?

Rendering the project is exporting it

[Xoo]

1 hour ago, Byron Dickens said:

Rendering the project is exporting it

It is in normal DAW parlance but remember Reaper has a language all of its own!  I think the OP just wants to render to dev/null instead of a file as writing to disk is perceived to be a bottleneck: I'm not sure I buy that assumption though, at which point the request becomes moot (do a faster than realtime bounce would surely be what is wanted).

[Bill Phillips]

If your DAW can't handle playing the full project back without clicks, pops and dropouts, you can freeze all tracks to reduce the processing load before playing back the project. Maybe that's what Reaper is calling a dry run.

[Glenn Stanton]

it sounds like one of the analytical plugin type functions to give you stats on the project. i use Expose on rendered files but plugins like YouLean, Insight, etc you can get LUF type info. as far as L-R + phase (stereo/mono compatability) balance, EQ balance per genre, etc you can use some products / plugins like Izotope RX, Ozone, Acoustica, SoundForge etc. to measure those things. 

[57Gregy]

2 hours ago, Xoo said:

do a faster than realtime bounce would surely be what is wanted

Right. Bounce to Tracks.