This is one of the most time-based workflow-destroying issues for me with Cubase (along with the super long save times with big scoring projects): When you move a track/instrument/group/etc. up and down in the project window and you have, say, hundreds of tracks (extremely common with scoring), it takes an incredibly long time to move it a long distance up or down. In PT, Reaper, and Studio One (if I remember correctly) I noticed that this design flaw does not exist – in these DAWs when you drag a track up or down you go into super-fast dragging mode when you move past or close to the edges of the window. Cubase’s fastest enabling-scrolling-by-dragging speed is still slow.
This issue also exists when you’re moving an object/data left or right in the project window – if you need to move it a very far distance you have to wait unnecessarily while you drag because Cubase doesn’t go into super fast scroll mode at the edges like these other DAWs smartly do. Sometimes dragging something in this case is preferable to copy and pasting.
For those of you who have larger projects with tons of tracks, what are your workarounds for this issue?
I’m not a composer, but have you read about Metagrid?
If you are working with hundreds of tracks this can be a solution much more elegant than the DAWs that provide super-fast dragging mode. http://www.metasystem.io/video/video.html
Also look here for Luke Johnsons set up.
There are a lot of film/media composers using it and can be found at VI control.
I don’t use Metagrid for organizing tracks, but for Key Commands, I have found nothing else as fast, simple, or logical than Metagrid.
For moving parts, I simply zoom out (or use zoom presets) as much as necessary copy/paste then zoom in. Dragging near the edges regardless of vertical or horizontal can be a waste of time.
Select the tracks you want to move, and also the track below which you want the selection to end up, and, the next one below that. (call them the placeholders.)
Do Show only selected tracks
Deselect the placeholder tracks (only) and move the others so they’re sandwiched between the two of them.
Thanks for the suggestion! I do use Metagrid, yes, and it’s a lifesaver for many things. For this in particular, though, my Metagrid organizing doesn’t always apply, especially in non-scoring projects that don’t conform to a template but have tons of tracks. Zoom in/out then copy and paste will have to do for now as far as actual events. I’m used to how fast it is in Pro Tools…will just need to accept that I need to work around that in Cubase, until they make it gfaster.
That’s a great idea - didn’t think of that. Thanks! In many cases I would prefer being able to drag fast, but this is a pretty decent workaround until that happens in Cubase.
I hope they make their scroll speeds faster like the other DAWs I’ve used, for other reasons as well, but yours is a really great method for this in particular.