Changing between views in Cakewalk with one monitor?

[Waldemar Pawlik]

I have been using two monitors with Cakewalk for years, but have now been forced to use one larger monitor. In the past I would

have Track View open on one monitor, and Console View open on the other, but now due to ageing eye sight I have changed to a new larger single monitor.

My problem is that I would like to switch between the two views, but cannot find a simple way to do it.

In Cakewalk is there a toggle that I have somehow missed, that enables toggling between screens, i.e similar to Luna, instead of setting up a new screen

every time I want to switch? Ideally, with one keystroke or mouse click.

[Base 57]

Screensets

[John Vere]

Learn the basic shortcuts for all the views. 
Example D is the multi dock. B is browser I is Inspector 
Set up the sizes of the various views the way you want and save that as a new workspace.
I call mine “One Monitor “  

Then use the shortcuts to open and close the multi dock or the browser etc. 

I then have a workspace for 2 monitors with the multi dock on second monitor. 
 

You can update your workspace anytime if you need to. 

 

[sjoens]

This is what Screensets are for.  Once they're set up how you want them, just hit the Screenset number (or top row number key) to flip back-n-forth.

Screensets are project specific.  Workspaces are global affecting all projects until changed.

[John Vere]

19 hours ago, sjoens said:

Screensets are project specific.  Workspaces are global affecting all projects until changed.

Exactly. So with Workspace you only have to customize your settings once. With screen sets you have to manually re do them for each project. 

And you can use both if you wish. I think you have to set the workspace to None to use screen sets? Never tried that. 

[sjoens]

Although Screensets are per-project, the default sets are loaded and used in every project until you change one before saving a project.

FWIW, using Screensets, Workspaces, and Templates together can create confusion and a lot of users have been tripped up due to not understanding exactly what's going on with them.

Edited Friday at 09:56 PM by sjoens

[User 905133]

44 minutes ago, sjoens said:

When creating a Workspace, whatever Screensets you have in place will be saved with it.  This means you can use Workspaces to create a global set of custom Screensets that will follow every new project you make.  No more reconfiguring them or using custom project templates.

Thanks for this "Tip-you-can-use!" As you may recall, I don't intentionally use screensets, though a few weeks ago I enabled the Screensets Module in the Control Bar in case I wanted to try to integrate them into my workflows.  This tip (above) is giving me an idea--to see if I can use screensets saved in a Workspace per your tip to overcome a couple of very specific issues I have been having with Workspaces. 

[sjoens]

It's not foolproof so let me know how it goes.  Screensets are included in the Manager only to display or not the module.  I've noticed when loading a project with a custom Workspace/Screenset combo, the main custom screenset loads with no numbers lit in the module.  Great if you never change to another screenset.  The moment you do the default screensets take over.  Only way to return to the custom screenset is to reload the Workspace, and then only #1 will load.  Ugh.

Nice thing about Screensets is that they can be renamed differently in each project.

Edited Friday at 11:10 PM by sjoens

[sjoens]

Even tho documentation says: "Window Layout. Load the saved window layout, including size and position. This option functions as a global screenset, I'm not so sure.  Workspaces will ultimately reset custom Screensets, even when returning to None.  Another reason I avoid them.

They also seem to do weird things with track icons.  I use large icons but when switching Workspaces it tries to load large icons in small icon spacing misaligning the strip height in Inspector.

Edited Friday at 11:10 PM by sjoens

[User 905133]

Thanks for the additional details. Not an issue for me because it isn't critical for me; it was more like, "Hey, maybe I can use this for something." So, even if it doesn't pan out, it was worth considering.

[John Vere]

I only use 2 workspaces, One screen, Two screens. And I use the view shortcuts a lot. I dabbled in screensets a few times and got mixed up. The only one I'm not sure anyone sorted out was per project console view strip sizes. Example small project, big strips, large project small strips. Or a mixture. I am positive this can be done per project with screensets but never got it going. 

[sjoens]

Works here.  Screensets will maintain track and bus CV strip widths but have trouble maintaining hardware output strip widths.  Projects saved with narrow hardware strips will occasionally open with wide strips.  A bug inherited by CbB from earlier versions but never fixed.

A similar bug is with PRV track pane width and settings.  They have to be reset each time project is opened even if screenset is locked.

More tips:
Screensets can be renamed for quicker recall.

Each Screenset has it's own Multidock which can have different views than the other screensets.

D can be used to toggle between a screenset and it's Multidock - unless it's empty.

Best way to keep a favorite Screenset group is by creating a project template.

 

Edited Saturday at 01:14 AM by sjoens

[Waldemar Pawlik]

Well I tried playing around with Screenset, but it is just too difficult to keep track of and haveing to reset them all the time.

I have reverted to the using Alt+1 for Track View and Alt +2 for Console View as shown in the Views menu. Once you set up your

screen, it will always return to how you have set it.

I would still prefer a single key stroke that allows toggling back and forth between screens.

Edited Sunday at 07:09 AM by Waldemar Pawlik

[Bristol_Jonesey]

1 hour ago, Waldemar Pawlik said:

I would still prefer a single key stroke that allows toggling back and forth between screens.

There is, as noted above. It's 'D'

Open your console view and dock it in the Multidock

Hitting D repeatedly will toggle between the Multidock & Track View

[User 905133]

4 hours ago, Bristol_Jonesey said:

There is, as noted above. It's 'D'

Open your console view and dock it in the Multidock

Hitting D repeatedly will toggle between the Multidock & Track View

This method has served me well for some of my workflows that primarily use a single monitor with a second monitor as a spillover space for various UI Windows as needed.  

In addition, I have created some Workspaces I sometimes use when I want a full-sized Console on Mon. 2.

For my needs, I like the flexibility to have multiple workflows I can switch among, though I understand the stability of having a single visual layout which works for the bulk of what they do.    

On 6/19/2025 at 4:54 AM, Waldemar Pawlik said:

. . . now due to ageing eye sight I have changed to a new larger single monitor.

My problem is that I would like to switch between the two views, but cannot find a simple way to do it.

In Cakewalk is there a toggle that I have somehow missed, that enables toggling between screens . . . .

BTW, I understand issues with aging eyesight.  A few years ago, I moved a general purpose 40" TV to my PC (Mon. 1) with a smaller/older computer monitor to the right side with Windows' Display Scaling at 125-175% mostly as a spillover space for UI windows but occasionally for a full-size view (Mon. 2).  Not sure something like this would meet your needs, but thought I'd mention it as a possibility.

Edited Sunday at 01:21 PM by User 905133
added a quotation so people will know the BTW was responding to the vision change issue

[sjoens]

On 6/21/2025 at 11:08 PM, Waldemar Pawlik said:

I would still prefer a single key stroke that allows toggling back and forth between screens.

Once you setup each Screenset the way you want it, simply hit the top row number keys to toggle between them.  Keep in mind that Track View is the main view while Console View, PRV, Staff View, and all others are Multidock views.  While in them, hitting D key will toggle the Track View.

For Screenset 1 you can have Console View in the Multidock and use D to toggle between it and Track View.  Or you can have Console View in it's own Screenset, but the D key behavior will be the same.

Inspector and Browser, as well as the other views, can be added to or removed from any view or float independently.  Browser can also be docked in Multidock.

Naming each Screenset will help avoid confusion.

To save the Screensets for future projects, save the current project as a Project Template (eg. myfavoritescreensets.cwt) in the Project Templates folder and it will show up in the Start Screen under New Project.

Sonar X2 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvcZ9O4TeOw

 

[John Vere]

On 6/22/2025 at 12:08 AM, Waldemar Pawlik said:

I would still prefer a single key stroke that allows toggling back and forth between screens.

I'm not sure I understand , Once I set up a one monitor layout all I do is press "D" and the multi dock opens full screen because that's the way I saved the Workspace  . Press D again I'm back to track view. 

You set up your track view the way you want it. Now open the multi dock and set it up they way you want it. Now either keep the multi doc open with the view you most use, like console or return to the track view and now save this as a new workspace. Every project will open in the state that you saved the workspace in. 

I normally save it with the track view with no Browser,  Inspector, Tempo track or arranger open. It was saved with the Console view full screen. So I just press D and I get the console. The PVR will be there if I double click a midi track. Melodyne opens as well. Super fast, one key. 

Edited yesterday at 04:09 AM by John Vere

[Waldemar Pawlik]

On 6/22/2025 at 7:08 PM, Bristol_Jonesey said:

There is, as noted above. It's 'D'

Open your console view and dock it in the Multidock

Hitting D repeatedly will toggle between the Multidock & Track View

Thank you. Exactly what I was looking for. 

As I usually used two monitors, I had the views set up on diffent monitors, so I had never

explored shortcut keystrokes.

[Starship Krupa]

1 hour ago, Waldemar Pawlik said:

Thank you. Exactly what I was looking for.

Jonesy beat me to it. The D key is all you need. Console or Piano Roll in the multidock and flip back and forth as needed.

I use Sonar on a laptop with a 15.6" screen, which is tiny compared to the humongous (3 of them) set of monitors I use on my main workstation.

For extra fun, try Shift+D.

Workspaces and Screensets are powerful, but they're advanced and require first understanding them and then configuring them.

Somewhere on this forum I wrote a guide to understanding Workspaces, I'll see if I can find it....

[Starship Krupa]

Found my earlier notes/cheat sheet on Workspaces. Here it is with some editing:

Quote

Workspaces is a feature that I found conceptually baffling at first. Is it a way of saving the arrangement of the Skylight panels, Control Bar module order, availability of entire features, or what? And how does it relate to Screensets?

Here is my primer after forcing myself to figure it out via much trial-and-error experimentation.

Once understood, workspaces can be as useful as project and track templates. A custom workspace can allow you to save and load all of those things I mentioned.

One of the big confusion points for me was Workspaces' relationship to the Screensets feature. There is overlap there in that workspaces can do the same job that screensets do, which is store and recall window layouts.

Screensets are for per-project save and recall of window layouts. Docked, floating, position, zoomed, etc. You have 10 slots to save window and panel layouts. It is possible, though, to import layouts from one project to another. You have to have both projects open at the same time to copy them across.

Workspaces can save window layouts, and they can do more things. Workspaces, unlike screensets, are meant to apply to the program as a whole rather than a specific project.

So I think of screensets as snapshots of the window layouts that I find useful while I'm working on a specific project, having the Step Sequencer open or whatever. I think of workspaces as a way to apply customized settings to Sonar's UI, which includes applying a window layout. Back in the Theming days with Cakewalk By Bandlab, I used workspaces to fast switch among my half dozen custom themes, very handy when in the process of theme creation itself. Each workspace was set to load only the theme and leave everything else alone. Of course, with Sonar, we no longer have themes, only color schemes, so that option has been removed.

The Workspaces dialog is a bit confusing, because it really covers 2 different features, each with their own boxes in the dialog, but those features work pretty independently from one another. What they have in common is that their settings take effect when you load the workspace you're saving. What they do is different though.

The left box shows which program features you can elect to subtract from the UI. The description usually given is "hide," but I don't think of it as "hiding," because you can hide things from view without going to the trouble of unchecking them in a workspace. My mind tripped up on this at first, because I thought if I checked all the boxes, then when I applied the theme, a whole bunch of Control Bar modules and skylight panels that I usually keep hidden would pop back into view. But that's not what that means. If you have all of the Control Bar modules checked in the the left box, it doesn't mean that they will all always be visible, it just means that they can be shown if you want them to be. But if you for instance, never wanted to see the Sync module, even as an available choice, you'd uncheck it in the left box. And there would be no way to see it until you applied a theme that had that module enabled.

So the left column can be left untouched by most users. Experienced users know how to keep our stuff arranged so that it's not in the way, we have custom templates that only display what we want displayed and so forth. We don't care about the left box, at least not for this exercise.

The right box shows which layout choices you can apply when you load a custom workspace. How you have your Control Bar set up, the order of your track controls in Track View, which controls you're showing in Track Control Manager and so on. Once you get Sonar set up "just so," it's a good idea to save a workspace that has at least the first 4 checked. I save mine as "Erik's Standard" and I use it to tidy up when I load a template or project that has a bunch of stuff I don't want open. That is, in my opinion, the most basic and handiest use: just tidying up. The factory templates have a bunch of panels open that I usually leave closed, so I apply Erik's Standard and get my real estate back.

I've learned from experimentation that Console's layout and choice of strip modules is included in as part of "Window Layout." The documentation says that Window Layout "functions as a global screenset." This is where Workspaces overlaps with Screensets, and it's the only place where it does. Workspaces save and load layouts globally whereas Screensets does it per project.

In order to get started with Workspaces, first arrange Sonar the way you usually want to have things, Track Header controls, window layout, Control Bar arrangement, everything. Then select New Workspace, and name it "Waldemar's Standard" or whatever. After it's saved, go into Manage Workspaces and make sure that Waldemar's Standard is set to load all the things you care about. This is insurance against accidentally loading one of the canned workspaces (or a test workspace) and having them rearrange your stuff. You'll always be able to get back to your preferred layout by applying this workspace. If all you want is the kind of tidying up that I described above, you can actually stop here.

(I also suggest that before you go spelunking in the Workspace Caverns, export your custom key bindings in case you get befuddled and do something in the wrong order. A workspace can be set up to load custom keyboard shortcuts, and if you happen to select one that is set to load them and then switch back to "None" you will be unhappy, because the "None" workspace doesn't restore custom keystroke settings and you'll wipe out any custom key bindings)

Then go back to the program and open Console View just the way you want it, I presume maximized. Save a new workspace named "Waldemar's Console View" or whatever. Look in Manage Workspaces and uncheck all of the stuff that you don't want to be affected when you load it. We only want to load the window layout, nothing else. The rest of the time we'll be happy with Waldemar's Standard. If you prefer, you can switch back to "None," but I typically keep it on Erik's Standard. "None" is still a workspace, but behaves differently from the named ones.

The D key is better for quickly flipping back and forth between Track View and whatever you have in the Multidock, but you may find Workspaces useful for other situations. I have one that puts Sonar windows on separate monitors.

Now, about "None."

Sonar keeps track of how you adjust all of those workspace-y things as you go along. This is true no matter what workspace you started with or have it set to. I can load "Erik's Standard" and then start changing stuff that is included in that workspace's settings. Then once I save the project, next time I load the project, everything will be as I left it.

If I again select a specific workspace, settings will revert to the last time I saved the workspace.

The exception to this is "None." Think of "None" as a workspace that's saved automatically when you switch to another workspace. It behaves just like any other workspace except that you don't have to explicitly save it. The filename it uses is "Default.LNS"

So if you start with None, then switch to Waldemar's, then change a bunch of stuff and then go back to None, you'll revert to however things were before you switched to Waldemar's. It's good to know about in case you mess something up, get your skylight panels out of whack or whatever.

The "Apply Workspaces on Project Load" setting applies whatever the currently set workspace is whenever you open a project. I usually leave this unchecked, as I prefer to apply my workspace on demand and let the projects keep their own settings.

Hope this clears the waters rather than muddying them further....