Sharing and sending of a project

[OndrejLukasek]

Hello,
I'm a newbie to Cakewalk, so I don't really know how to do things properly.
Currently I'm working on a project with my friend and he did part of it and the rest we're planning to do at my place together. I'm trying to figure out, how can he send that project to me. No way seems to work or I just don't know how to do it. Or is there any easy way to send projects?
Could anyone help?
Thanks, I appreciate all the help I can get.

[msmcleod]

If you're both using Cakewalk, the easiest way is to zip up your project directory and either use a cloud drive for sharing the file, or just email it.

If you're both using separate DAWs, there are various ways:

• Export as OMF (assuming the other DAW supports this)
• Export the tracks as Audio
• Upload the project to BandLab

[John Vere]

Cakewalk stores each project in a folder. If you friend is coming over to your house then just save that folder to a thumb drive and copy to your computer

If you open the project and then use “save as”  with copy audio checked, browse to a portable drive and save this is quick method to make backup files  

 

 

Edited April 6, 2021 by John Vere

[Glenn Stanton]

if you're planning on sharing - some preparations are needed to do this smoothly:

 

make sure your audio clips are bounced to clip and extended (not dragged!) to 1:0:0 mark so the person receiving them can align them to the zero mark. yes, you can export them individually as broadcast wav which have the time markers embedded, but what if the recipient cannot use that? so zero mark is best.

if you know the person on the receiving end will not have the plugins needed, print a separate track with the effects and then remove them from the project once you have documented their settings.  make sure any plugins which are yours exclusively and not likely to be available (easily) for the other person (and which you determined are critical to the mix) are documented. Word is a good choice with screenshots.

make sure all the clips and associated file names are understandable. it makes it much harder for someone to sort through clip#99 clip#A mix_clip#5 etc

create a copy of the project with it's own audio file directory. this (check the copy audio files box) makes copies of the audio clips and only the ones you're actually planning to share and not a variety of clips which will be confusing to someone needing to patch them together. this is where you can export OMF file as well - open the newly saved-as project and export.

ensure the person you're sharing with can read your files at the sample rate and bit depth of your project. it won't be helpful if the person getting your files can only support 44.1K @ 24 bit to send files which are 96K @ 32 bit... if not, convert the audio files to the required sample rate and bit depth.

export a "draft" mix (or demo/reference etc mix) so the person receiving the package have a rough idea of what you're doing at the time you sent it...

then zip the new project directory. this captures the project file, OMF, Word doc, rough mix, and audio clips into a single blob which is universally accessible. the recipient of the package can use the project file or just import the audio clips into the DAW of their choice.

now share the blob via USB drive, or via cloud services.

of course, if the person you're exchanging with use the same version of CbB, then you can skip the OMF and leave any shared plugins in place.

feel free to have people sending you their projects take the same efforts to package up their work before sending it. ? 

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by Glenn Stanton
tweaked on OMF

[OndrejLukasek]

4 hours ago, Glenn Stanton said:

if you're planning on sharing - some preparations are needed to do this smoothly:

 

make sure your audio clips are bounced to clip and extended (not dragged!) to 1:0:0 mark so the person receiving them can align them to the zero mark. yes, you can export them individually as broadcast wav which have the time markers embedded, but what if the recipient cannot use that? so zero mark is best.

if you know the person on the receiving end will not have the plugins needed, print a separate track with the effects and then remove them from the project once you have documented their settings.  make sure any plugins which are yours exclusively and not likely to be available (easily) for the other person (and which you determined are critical to the mix) are documented. Word is a good choice with screenshots.

make sure all the clips and associated file names are understandable. it makes it much harder for someone to sort through clip#99 clip#A mix_clip#5 etc

create a copy of the project with it's own audio file directory. this makes copies of the audio clips and only the ones you're actually planning to share and not a variety of clips which will be confusing to someone needing to patch them together. this is where you can export OMF file as well.

ensure the person you're sharing with can read your files at the sample rate and bit depth of your project. it won't be helpful if the person getting your files can only support 44.1K @ 24 bit to send files which are 96K @ 32 bit... if not, convert the audio files to the required sample rate and bit depth.

export a "draft" mix (or demo/reference etc mix) so the person receiving the package have a rough idea of what you're doing at the time you sent it...

then zip the new project directory. this captures the project file, OMF, Word doc, rough mix, and audio clips into a single blob which is universally accessible. the recipient of the package can use the project file or just import the audio clips into the DAW of their choice.

now share the blob via USB drive, or via cloud services.

of course, if the person you're exchanging with use the same version of CbB, then you can skip the OMF and leave any shared plugins in place.

feel free to have people sending you their projects take the same efforts to package up their work before sending it. ? 

 

Never thought it could be that complicated. But it makes sense to me. Thank you for taking so much time for your explanation!
Shame there is no automated option for sharing like GitHub. That would be awesome!

Edited April 6, 2021 by OndrejLukasek

[OndrejLukasek]

5 hours ago, John Vere said:

If you open the project and then use “save as”  with copy audio checked, browse to a portable drive and save this is quick method to make backup files

Simple, but it works, thank you!

[Glenn Stanton]

it's not so much complicated as it is preparation work so your projects are in the best condition possible when sharing them, otherwise the recipient has to do all the work, and they could get it wrong resulting in a lot of wasted time. plus, you're likely to do a bunch of these steps when it comes time to archive a project. knowing if you rehydrate it, you'll mostly have things organized in a way that helps you get back to mixing instead of patching up a mess...

[tim grivas]

On 4/6/2021 at 3:59 AM, OndrejLukasek said:

Hello,
I'm a newbie to Cakewalk, so I don't really know how to do things properly.
Currently I'm working on a project with my friend and he did part of it and the rest we're planning to do at my place together. I'm trying to figure out, how can he send that project to me. No way seems to work or I just don't know how to do it. Or is there any easy way to send projects?
Could anyone help?
Thanks, I appreciate all the help I can get.

What is a Cakewalk bundle File?

Cakewalk Bundle. This format is typically used when transferring projects to other people or other computers. Cakewalk Bundle files use the . cwb file extension and are similar to Cakewalk Project files. The main difference is that Cakewalk Bundle files actually contain all of a project's audio data.

[Glenn Stanton]

and if the bundle is somehow corrupted, the project is a goner... best best - esp after lots of editing - prep for transfer - bounce to clips from zero. save the project as a new version to create a new folder so only the audio files it needs are included, and then zip that project and file folder. worst case, the zero point WAV files are able to be dragged into a new project and stay sync'd, otherwise the clean files and project will be more reliably transferred because it has only the files needed. of course verify any plugins needed are also available in each machine ?

with practice, this process is only a few minutes to package up, much safer than using a bundle file, and with cloud transfers pretty easy to do.

[tim grivas]

27 minutes ago, Glenn Stanton said:

and if the bundle is somehow corrupted, the project is a goner... best best - esp after lots of editing - prep for transfer - bounce to clips from zero. save the project as a new version to create a new folder so only the audio files it needs are included, and then zip that project and file folder. worst case, the zero point WAV files are able to be dragged into a new project and stay sync'd, otherwise the clean files and project will be more reliably transferred because it has only the files needed. of course verify any plugins needed are also available in each machine ?

with practice, this process is only a few minutes to package up, much safer than using a bundle file, and with cloud transfers pretty easy to do.

I hear ya, I recommend doing the bundle so they have everything/edits for the project. if it does not work,,,  then, they will know. and can change plans. Assuming there will be a problem, although safe, No biggy. no harm done if they try it. The main project will not get corrupted from exporting a bundle. Only the bundle will be broken.

 

I find doing a bundle is very quick and no prep necessary. works for me all the time when training engineers.

Just some simple thought, not over thinking it....

[mark skinner]

The only problem I've run into using bundle files has been loading one up from a collaborator who used 2 monitors. Seems "it" or "I" messed up my settings trying to get the console view re docked. Turned out to be a Big headache for a while.       ms

[HOOK]

Mark...wouldn't you be able to fix that by applying your own workspace?

[Glenn Stanton]

On 11/28/2023 at 3:46 PM, tim grivas said:

I hear ya, I recommend doing the bundle so they have everything/edits for the project. if it does not work,,,  then, they will know. and can change plans. Assuming there will be a problem, although safe, No biggy. no harm done if they try it. The main project will not get corrupted from exporting a bundle. Only the bundle will be broken.

yes - if you're only saving it as a bundle to transfer, then so a save-as to a normal project on the far end (does it work like that?) - there is still some potential for overwriting the good version on the far end - so definitely recommend (in all cases - bundled or not - really) to create versions of the projects so they get their own folders when you "unpack them" and then maybe get in the habit of only keeping the last two versions (space savings and clutter).

 

[mark skinner]

22 hours ago, HOOK said:

Mark...wouldn't you be able to fix that by applying your own workspace?

Yes , I changed and saved my workspace several times. It seems the workspace settings were not being applied globally. Apply workspace settings during project load got unchecked somehow after loading the bundle file. Took me a while to notice the changed setting.   ms