Track Archive Import must include Expression Maps!

Cubase
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So i created a nice setup with several string libraries in Kontakt, all with several outputs, routing into busses, many attached Midi Tracks and so on.
Most of these tracks have detailed and well thought out Expression Maps i built over the years.

So i exported this whole setup as a Track Archive to get some building blocks when creating new templates.

Importing seemed to work like a charm, amazingness. BUT! :astonished:
All the Expression Maps were missing! That makes the whole feature unuseable for almost all my setups.

It seems like they would work if i import the Exp Maps by hand before importing the Track Archive. That would mean i would have to import some 70-100 Expression Maps when importing Strings, Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion into one project.

This NEEDS to be included into the exporting/importing process.

And by the way Expression Maps need some work anyway, but i will come back to that later, less urgent :sunglasses:

1 Like
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+1
Cubase should save the EM data with the track information. This has got me a few times when importing tracks into a new template. A new template of 50 plus tracks. I do the import and then think how easy it was. Then it hits me that none of the EM’s are loaded. :angry:))))))) :open_mouth:

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+1

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+1

5

+1

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I haven’t delved into the world of expression maps yet, but this sounds annoying af. so +1

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A recent interview of Alan Silvestri (for Native instruments) where he explains in detail his way of working with Cubase tracks archives and VE Pro makes the inability to save Expression Maps in these archives even more frustrating (I’m building a new template right now, using Art Conductor 7.2)
Here is a link to this interview:

Come on, Steinberg, we need you to go to the bottom of theses features!

2 Likes
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Absolutely this should be possible. +1

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Hey all,

This has been driving me crazy also.

I’ve found a little workaround that some might find useful…

I noticed that if you have your expression maps loaded in your session BEFORE you import your track archives, the expression maps get assigned the way you had intended!

So, you could create a template that’s just an empty session BUT with all your expression maps already loaded into the ‘expression map setup’ page. Then, every archive you import into your session should have your expression maps properly assigned…

Hope this helps :slight_smile:

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Just lending my voice here for what it’s worth. I’m also completely surprised by the missing expression maps for track archives. (I’ve also noticed that they are missing if I import tracks from another project so it does not seem like this limitation is just for track archives.). It does not seem possible to preserve the expression maps on import in Cubase 11 Pro, no matter the method of import!

The problem persists but is apparently only an issue if your instrument tracks are inside a folder (which let’s be honest, all of ours are…). If they are not inside folders, the expression maps are preserved. This is likely the reason that some folks are reporting that they cannot reproduce the issue…

See: 10.5 Expression Maps no longer retained - #15 by lokotus

1 Like
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It would be great if anyone could assign A bug Number to this. this is really bad when importing things from xmls other projects. Expression Maps from tracks inside folders are never imported…

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Cubase 12 does not fix this issue… :nauseated_face:
Come on!!!

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as I have already answered in this thread

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Thank you for this answer and this tip, but as you state yourself, this is a workaround.
(And yes, it’s better to have a workaround than nothing)

But still, this a bug, and Cubase is (or at least claims to be) (I know this last statement is a bit harsh) a professional tool.
Professional offers solutions, not workarounds!

A bug so old (and well known as it seems) needs a fix!

15

This seems to be finally fixed in Cubase 14 (did skip 13 though, so maybe earlier).

Tried it with 2 Track Archives in two different projects (one pretty empty template and one empty one) and the expression maps were there.

Thanks Steinberg for addressing this one.

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I tried it with an iMac 2019 Intel. It seems that it really works now. If I route the VST track to a group, save the track as track archive and import it in a blank project with a group with the same name then the routing works… And the most important thing: the expression map is loaded…
If you look at the xml file there are the articulations implemented.

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Same here, no library is perfect (actually, most -especially the strings section-, quite frankly, suck), so I have to beg, steal and borrow from God knows how many libraries for a somewhat realistic result…but yeah, for those who use them, +1

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I just came across this thread in late October 2025. Here’s how you can make sure you always have access to your expression maps (EMs) in all future projects. It does take a little bit of work depending on how many maps you have, and want to include in future projects. Once you set this up, you can import these into any project, new or existing (old).

How Cubase/Nuendo handles expression maps: They arent standalone. They are part of the track archive definitions (xml) for an instrument. They appear under the PInstrumentMap xml block, or PIM. This PIM will contain all the data for the EM but it is specific to that particular instrument or midi track.

So when you load an expression map, its sitting there waiting to be assigned to something. If its not assigned to any virtual instrument or midi track, and you export your track archive, it wont be included. If you load it up again in a new project, you’ll see that your expression map is not there. Thats what people arent happy about, as far as I can gather, in this thread. And yeah that behavior kinda sucks tbh, but its the way the track archive works. Its meant to be a standalone archive and by rights it really should include EM definitions for future use but it doesnt.

UNLESS … you assign every single expression map to a track. Then, when you save it, that track includes the definition and it will be imported to a project, old or new, and be available to every other track in that project.

So how do you make sure you can import every one of the EMs into a project? You need to create a new fresh project and add as many midi tracks as you have EM templates. It doesnt matter what the tracka are called, they are simply going to act as beasts of burden, to attach your individual EMs to. One midi track → one EM. They need to be assigned with the drop down in Cubase. So its tedious (especially if you have hundred or thousands of expression maps - god forbid) but if you do this, and then select all your tracks and save as a track archive (and name it ‘all-expression-maps.xml) …

The next time yoou need to import your EMs you just need to load up this file via File > Import > Track Archive and it wil be added to your project. You can hide all the midi tracks because they are not needed and will just clutter up your workspace. The EMs are now available for selection on any of your tracks. Yes, you do need to then go through anmd assign them, but at least theres a fast bulk import method with this strategy.

Try it and see. Its a workaround but it works.

If you start from an empty Cubase project, and youve previously saved all your EMs (assigned to instrument/midi tracks or not) they will be there )good news!). Thats another way you can do it. If you want to merge two projects or start from the one that has all the EMs saved in it. But if youre using track archives the above method will do the trick.

An aside: Why use track archives instead of just saving Cubase projects?
Well to my mind, you can save different track configurations and load them into your projects piecemeal, which is good if you like to create different templates based on existing project layouts. Anyone else see a benefit in using track archives instead of merging stuff our of one project into another?