A quick warning to users...

[Dave K.]

I stumbled upon a really weird situation in Cakewalk that I don't think is a "bug", per se, but did sort of break the usability of the program.

Quick notes:  using updated version, but also have a Mackie MCU (original grey series) to control the DAW via a MOTU Microlite.

I was doing a stereo-file cleanup/transfer project (I'm actually making a CD out of an Internet broadcast), but the important part is that I was working on a new project.  I have a habit of hitting the "Save" button on the MCU before adding certain older/freeware plugins just in case they case a problem.  However, this time I hadn't yet saved the file under its own name yet.

Cakewalk did the proper thing in response to that, and opened up a "Save As..." dialog for me to save the file with a name of my choosing.

However, because I hit the button while I had the FX menu open in the Console View, it seems like Cakewalk got confused about where my attention should be with respect to keyboard/mouse input.  I couldn't force the mouse to operate either the FX menu or the Save As dialog.  Clicking around seemed to adjust the zoom in the Track view, and I couldn't really interact with any of the Cakewalk windows (including the Windows-level interface, so I couldn't hit the "Close X" on the upper right of the Save As dialog, either).   Nothing about Cakewalk seemed to actually be having real problems:  the audio kept running as per normal, and Windows reported nothing strange in the task manager:  I just couldn't interact with Cakewalk in a meaningful manner at that moment.

I ultimately had to force-close Cakewalk via the Task Manager and start from scratch.  Cakewalk loaded normally without issue.

Not sure what that mean, and it seems like it'd be a pretty rare situation, but I think the lesson here is to always Save your projects with their own name before you do anything else.

Just thought I'd throw that one out there to let people know I found something bizarre.

[John Vere]

26 minutes ago, Moseph said:

, but I think the lesson here is to always Save your projects with their own name before you do anything else.

Absolutely.  It's the very first thing one should do before any changes or editing.  The worst situation is to record audio to a template! The audio will initially be stored in the Global folder until you "save as" and name. If you forget to check the copy audio box your first recording might be orphaned.  

[lapasoa]

After recording  your first idea of a project it's a good rule of thumbt to save as with an appropriate name. Every time you make a significant change

it is wise to save as with the same name adding xxx a, b, c, d etc or xxx 1, 2, 3, 4 etc or whatever you like.

[John Vere]

2 hours ago, lapasoa said:

After recording  your first idea of a project it's a good rule of thumbt to save as with an appropriate name. Every time you make a significant change

it is wise to save as with the same name adding xxx a, b, c, d etc or xxx 1, 2, 3, 4 etc or whatever you like.

 BEFORE you record. Otherwise the recording is stored in the global audio folder. It will get COPIED to the project folder when you use save as and check the copy audio box, but your using unnecessary storage if your do that. 

And there's no real reason to use "save as" again unless your moving to a new location. If you uncheck the save audio box it will save space. But you can use the Versioning feature or better yet MIX RECALL. 

Mix Recall is a powerful feature that I don't think many people understood or use.  Doesn't work for major changes to a song but you can certainly experiment with ideas. 

Edited January 18, 2021 by John Vere