I support your idea, but the whole idea of ‘Templates’ needs re-thinking. I’d like them expanded to be like what ‘templates’ are in MS Word or Adobe Creative Suite… basically ‘master pages’ which can be used to update ALL your songs as you develop a workflow.
Please see my reply here: http://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=228&t=88283
Eg. in Adobe InDesign, there is the concept of ‘Master Pages’ where changing anything on the master page syncs/updates all component pages. Templates should be able to work like that. As I develop better ways of working, I should be able to apply the benefits AUTOMATICALLY to all CPRs that use that template without having to (painfully) try to edit each CPR individually so they all conform to the new standard. In MS Word, you have .DOT files. Update the DOT file and presto-changeo, all docs that use that DOT are magically updated.
Eg. I do orchestral scoring. I might have 10 ‘songs’ that all use the same template. If I decide to change the ordering of tracks or the colours or a particular master track chain or -whatever- to all 10 I have to edit each song to conform to the new standard. WHAT A PAIN! There should be a more automatic way to ensure that all CPRs which are part of a mega-project are in sync. OR… if I decide to stop using NI B4 because I like VB3 better, I should be able to update my template and: Eh Viola… all 10 songs now use the new plug… and since they use basically the same automation, similar automation parameters should carry over as well.
Now -that- would be a Template Manager.
Of course, C9 is probably already in the can… and even if it wasn’t I still feel silly for ever suggesting -anything- anymore. But WTF.