If you multitrack editing with Folder Sync enabled lets talk

Folder sync has been consistently broken for me since its inception but there is nothing being done about it as per C9. When editing multimiked drum tracks, acoustic tracks, multimiked electrics etc folder sync inevitably breaks leaving the multitrack wavs not the same length or stack order in a lane situation.

I’m interested to gather some folks here who use it a lot and see whether they have the same experience. If they don’t then what is their OS, do they create new templates from scratch on new Cubase releases, what are they work methods that do or dont recreate a folder sync break…

I use folder sync alot but in general only when recording in stereo, so less complicated than a 10 or 12 track drum recording.

I don’t ever have a problem with audio going out of sync unless it’s my fault somehow.


I dont use the move forward commands and dont use the snap to zero

Generally I’m using it with a minimum of 3 Audio tracks when it breaks. For example and acoustic guitar with 2 mics and a DI. I can’t recall seeing it break with 2 mono tracks for stereo editing.

Also I see your on Mac. If enough users contribute I wonder is there a pattern of Windows only?

Learn to reproduce exactly when this happens and post it over at the Issues forum.

I’ve been through this on another thread with other users in Cubase 8,5

Its very difficult to accurately reproduce with exact steps. But it happens me in most projects. Its not rare for me. But I still can’t figure why its happening. I’m hoping if enough people speak here we might figure out whether its a windows only issue and if anyone has found a pattern.

I’ve never found the folder sync to be reliable, so I gave up on it and simply make sure I deal with keeping the editing in sync myself.

The simple trick is to cut the stuff in the folder to the same length. Definately without snap-to-zero. The logic behind it is ‘same length = groupable’ - which is obviously ‘by design’. I wouldn’t mind if it understood ‘same start’ as well but it doesn’t as it’s simply not programmed to work that way.

Anyway I use it all the time for drums and anything else multi mic’d, also with lanes & comping and it works rock solid. In a takes/lanes situation the files are the same length from the first place but if you have different material that’s not recorded alltogether, then make it same length before.

On comping, be sure to use the comping/hand tool and alt-click to cut (not scissors or arrow + alt). This cuts through all lanes <> again the cut up events are same length automatically if snap-to-zero is off.

win 10 and win 7. never been able to make multitrack editing work. cut tracks to length and tried most things. cubase user since 3 i think, amiga and MED before that.8.5.20 is stable for me on ten year old computer with four gig of ram.

RHM

… sometimes you have to try all things :laughing:

Try bouncing problematic tracks.
I have had some strange things going on, but come to think of it I may have had some shared parts after replacing some drum hits. I somehow always manage to get it to work, next time I better write down what I’m doing. But Bouncing was a key element for me to get it to sync.

This piece of information I have not come across before. By using the Comp hand tool and Alt Clicking to make cuts. I’ve been using the regular scissors.
Are you saying if I use the regular scissors tools theres a designed folder break that could happen? I also regularly use Delete Overlaps when selecting over parts of lanes to clean things up. Is there a problem with that?

My tracks are uniform length to begin with always as I record within the folder. When I’m editing inside the folder though sync gets lost at some stage almost all of the time.

I use the scissors too - shouldn’t make a difference. The point of the folder group editing is that you ARE able to use the scissors and it cuts all takes jointly/equally.

Delete overlaps should be fine too.

It’s my impression that it’s something to do with the ‘bring to the front’ option.

The problem happens without me selecting move to front or move to back. I only very occasionally use that option

About scissors: using them to cut through all takes/lanes is possible if you cut on the folder track on top - not quite the place where you see much of the transients. Scissor tool used on an event within the folder cuts just that event and yes, here the grouping breaks. Comp tool/alt click cuts through all the takes, voila, grouping isn’t broken.

That’s not a bug or bad behaviour, just not as intuitive as it maybe could be. Not even sure how clear the manual is about that function (haven’t read in it for quite a while) but I guess it’s all described there. The behaviour has been the same since 6.5 I think.

There are several videos on youtube about it, i.e. Problems with Group Editing in Cubase (How to fix it) - YouTube

The scissors does ‘generally’ cut all of the tracks in a folder when you cut one. But is the tool has not been designed to hold folder sync then this may be the issue. I’ll do my next editing with the comp tool and alt click for cutting and see how it goes.

Still though… the scissors tool should cut all tracks in a sync’d folder surely… if thats not in the design of Cubase I think it needs to be.

I have had all kinds of issues with multitrack editing for drums especially tracking with 11 or more mic sources. Sometimes I have snap on or off depending upon what I am trying to accomplish so I will try it with snap off.

Below are scenarios where I have lost track sync and multi track editing has failed…

I have lost sync when using track versions
When I change the lane order within track that is folder sync’d I have lost sync
When using the duplicate track function I have lost sync and I have also had issues where editing on the duplicate will do the same edits on the original ( is this by design?)
When I have brought an event to the front I have lost sync

I find it to be entirely unreliable but ever so close to being useful.

I am looking forward to reading this thread. Hopefully for those of us with issues we won’t be shouted down by those for whom it works. I want to hear from those people too if they can inform us on their techniques which don’t fail.

Just in case, snap to grid is not the problem. Snap to zero crossing should be off.

scotty 123 I agree. I tried MOST of things i could think of but of course not all. I come on the forum to glean a few tricks. Gonna try mrQs Idea now, hope it works.

RHM

Thanks marQs… understood, snap to zero crossings should be off.

IMO once I switch on the ‘=’ button, and Cubase is happy to take care of the sync, then there should be NOTHING that I can do to break the feature - absolutely nothing. Until that is truly the case then it is pretty much a redundant feature.