The manual actually has these things described pretty well. If you haven’t read those sections you should read them.
DOP is not about editing, it is about processing, as the name implies. The manual reads “Direct Offline Processing allows you to instantly add plug-in effects and audio processes to the selected audio events, clips, or ranges, without destroying the original audio”, and that “All applied offline processing is saved with the project and can still be modified after reopening the project. Direct Offline Processing operations on the selected audio are persistent in track archives and project backups, and when using network collaboration or copying processes between projects.”
DOP is an alternative to using plugins in inserts. Instead of using an EQ in a track’s insert you can apply the EQ to events instead. The DOP operation will create new audio files and Cubase will read those files instead of calculating the plugin in real time. So using DOP lowers the demand on the CPU.
Another advantage is that you can save a chain of processes that you have applied as a preset, and you can then apply that on other events by clicking once on that preset. This can be a great time saver compared to recalling and punching automation.
And yes, there is the ability to undo and redo specific processes in that chain.
Bouncing consolidates events into new audio clips (files) on disk, and when you bounce you lose the DOP history for the affected events if you choose to “replace” the events on the timeline.
I work in post, not music, but my way of working indeed involves making a copy before bouncing. I just copy/drag the relevant events to an adjacent track before I bounce. You could of course also use track versions to achieve the same.
In addition to using track versions or copies on other tracks I typically save my projects with a version number that I increment as I go. So it might be “TVshow mix 1.3” and then “1.4” etc., and that way I can always go back to an earlier version if something went wrong.
The good thing is that DOP, Render-In-Place and Bounce are all non-destructive in the sense that no files are deleted from disk. So as long as you have a backup on a different track version, a different track, or in a different project you should be ok.
