I don’t see a benefit based on the way I work…which means perhaps…I’m missing something and don’t understand the request for Cubase.
In Nuendo, I can understand a possible benefit for ripple editing when a project has 300 tracks synchronized to video…and the producer decides to shorten the video or whatever. I…guess…ripple editing becomes a precise way to knock all 300 audio cues down by 6 seconds in one go…but hey…maybe I’m not correct…
I can understand editing a two-track or mono mix on Wavelab…cut/edit/move a mix around, lengthen, shorten a mix. I don’t see ripple editing being a thing there…although maybe it is…but that’s a mix…not a multitrack.
I understand razor blade editing on quarter-inch, one-inch, two-inch tape.
What I don’t get…and would appreciate scenario explanations…for music-only…is this…
…if you have a Cubase/Nuendo music-only project going…let’s say 58 tracks of a song…
where would ripple editing make any difference?
Specifically…if you cut out a bar of bass guitar…a bass guitar on a single track…ripple editing would slide all the right clips…left. Severely screwing up the timing against the other 57 tracks. That can’t be the use…
Or…if the idea is that cutting the bass gtr measure via ripple…would simultaneously cut ALL 58 tracks and slide them appropriately to the left…that makes no sense to me as a technique either…one can already do that type of thing by cutting a section, grabbing right-side tracks and dragging them left.
What’s a multitrack scenario other than sync to video where ripple editing is/would be useful on 58 tracks at a time or whatever.
I’m all for absorbing new info in the form of actual-use.
And pa-lease don’t link to youtube Reaper Kenny a-b-c-d videos. Those were pretty useless
I don’t know how long you’ve been using DAWs, but you will encounter situations where ripple editing makes perfect sense.
It can be used as a corrective measure (taking out extra bars on a multitrack drum session) or as an arrangement tool by moving verses or choruses around while the ripple affect closes the edit gaps automatically for you.
I’m sure there are more uses, but those are some of mine in recent years.
P.S. Kenny is an award winning and expert DAW user (not just w/Reaper)
Thanks, but your descriptions leave me where I started.
Part of my issue is that in my 25+ years using daws, I’ve never even seen the term “ripple edit” until the past couple of years.
You mention moving 18 tracks of drums via ripple…but with no explanation of how a ripple command would differ from me simply highlighting 18 tracks of drums, highlight & cut the section (creating a blank hole)…then drag the right side over to join the remaining left side.
How would a ripple edit work differently command-wise?
Your other scenario of moving verses, choruses around…I can do that via cut, copy, paste etc.
What would a ripple edit command do that I can’t already do?
Does ripple editing simply eliminate two extra clicks? If so, I can live without it.
As to Reaper/Kenny…I have no doubt he’s a knowledgeable guy…but his ripple edit description video amounts to moving four blocks around…a…b…c…d. With spaces closing in…like the way I’m correcting typos now.
His video showed no actual use that goes beyond cut/move/paste…with subsequent empty space closing…I can’t fathom how a ripple edit mode would differ at all from day to day cut/move/paste/drag data.
Which I can already do with Cubendo and Wavelab, Sound Forge etc.
I’ve been using midi sequencers since 1985 (mtpro), daws since 1996 (beginning with SAW studio through Cakewalk Pro Audio 8-9…then into Steinberg). I also run synchronized 24trk etc machines to the daw farm.
It’s just a tool that you can use or not use depending on what you are doing, your workflow, and goals. Folks doing audio for video certainly use it a lot. But you’ve constructed your question in a manner to exclude the largest group that does use it.
I can make up lots of silly questions based on artificial restrictions - doesn’t mean anything
If I have a Project with 58 Audio Tracks what good does a MIDI Editor do me?
If I’m recording a punk bands when would I use the Score Editor?
I’m recording John Cage’s 4’33 why do I even need a DAW?
They get a new edit of the video that has several sections which have been removed from the previous edit. So now they need to cut out the corresponding audio and close the gaps. Ripple editing simplifies this task.
What I saw last year as I was starting to learn Cubase is that you can put ALL TRACKS into a containing folder, then cut that folder into sections and move those sections around for arranging purposes. You’d then have to use commands such as “delete time” etc., to make up for the lack of the auto ripple effect.
It works. You also have this arrange thing where you can create a list of arranger parts — which seems pretty handy.
All DAWs seem to be a few features shy of perfection. I’ve never found one that was and I’ve used them all over the years (since 1993 with earlier versions of Cubase and Motu Performer on an Atari. Woohoo.).
Personally, I can’t see any point in adding ripple editing to Cubase, unless you want to use Cubase as your primary video editor. I’ve stopped using video in Cubase entirely, and instead use Vegas Edit after I’ve done the audio in Cubase – the AAF import/export works well enough between these two, and Vegas has good DAW-like functionality as well, because it started life as a DAW.
I guess it depends on individual requirements and workflows, but for me, ripple editing in Cubase would not provide any advantage, and I can only imagine the nightmares it would cause Steinberg software developers!
I did not see the need for ripple edit until I started producing podcasts (heavy dialog editing). Now I cannot work without it. I actually edit all podcast projects in Reaper. Imagine cutting hundreds of “uhs” & “ums,” moving sections around and adjusting timing of flow. The work around of “select all after cursor” and “delete time” does not suffice.
In addition, I need to be able to turn it off & on for entire project or just per track depending on what I’m doing. e.g not use ripple edit for a music bed track but use it for all the dialog tracks. Very simple to toggle this on/off in Reaper. I’ve been burned in the past selecting all after cursor if you miss a section of audio. This is all taken care of automatically with ripple edit.
It wasn’t easy for me to learn Reaper and I only use it for this purpose. But there is just no way I could edit as fast as I do without ripple edit.
Yes they are on one track. But the podcast has 3 other people who are also speaking and interjecting. I have to remove the exact same amount of space for each track if I delete an “um” out of one track, otherwise the other 3 tracks will be out of sync with the track I just removed the “um” from.
In regards to your other question (I’ll see if I can post a screenshot later): Imagine a project with various SFX tracks, music tracks and dialog tracks. Now it becomes even more important because there are small bits of audio all over the place and it is imperative that none get out of sync.
Now say I’ve finished the podcast and need to insert a commercial in the middle, or want to remove a section. Or I decide I wanted to recut a section of dialog to fit the music cue better to avoid a weird music edit. It becomes a real mess without ripple edit.
There are ways of accomplishing these things in Cubase (done it before), but it is not elegant at all. In music you are dealing with sections and you may have to do this every once in a while so it’s not a big deal. But in podcasts/video editing it’s pretty much a necessity.
Yes. If all I were doing was deleting, I could do it with delete time. But it is the constant massaging of time and pacing that is the issue…moving things around basically. Also you dont have to mess w locators w ripple edit. Cut one second out of one track and the same second is cut out of all tracks. (Cut out an “um” on one track and same second is cut from all tracks. You are focused and dealing with just that one track while edits on other tracks are done for you.
It was not something I really understood until I had the need and then tried to do it with the tools Cubase offers. Can be done but feels most definitely like a work around.
