Reference Guide

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Arranging and editing
Markers and the snap grid
Defining and using the Snap Grid
SONAR lets you define a snap grid that makes it easier to arrange clips, select time ranges, and
control envelope shape drawing. To use the snap grid, enable the Snap to Grid button in the
Control Bar’s Snap module (or press F12) and set the grid resolution to an interval of musical time,
such as a whole note, half note, or quarter note; a unit of absolute time: a number of frames,
seconds or samples; an event; the start or end of a clip; a marker; or audio transients. The grid can
use multiple resolutions at the same time, such as a whole note, and audio transients. When the
Snap to Grid button is enabled, if you move or paste clips or markers, items will be snapped to the
nearest point on the snap grid.
You can also use the snap grid to move clips by a certain interval, rather than snap them to the
interval. Moving by an interval can be useful during drag-and-drop operations, if your data are not
exactly aligned with measure or note boundaries. To set advanced Snap to Grid settings, go to
Edit > Preferences > Customization - Snap and Nudge.
Magnetic snap. Cakewalk’s snap grid has an option (on by default) called magnetic snap. This
means that when you’re dragging the boundary of an object, you can move the boundary freely until
the boundary gets within a certain number of ticks from the snap target. The closer the object gets to
the snap target, the more strongly the object is pulled to the target. You can set the strength of
magnetic snap to low, medium, high, or off. Note that if you are zoomed out a certain amount, the
time boundary around the snap target will appear to be quite small, and you might think that the
snap grid is not functioning. If this is the case, zoom in closer to enhance your editing experience. If
you’re dragging a whole clip, magnetic snap is not in effect.
To enable or disable the Snap Grid
Do one of the following:
• Click the Snap to Grid button in the Control Bar’s Snap module.
• Press F12.
To change the snap options
1. In the Control Bar’s Snap module, select one or more of the following resolution options:
• Musical Time. Note intervals (whole, half, etc.)
• Absolute Time. A number of samples, frames, or seconds set by you (choose the units in
the drop-down menu on the right)
• Events. Any data in a clip
• Clips. The start or end of any clip
• Markers. Any marker in a project
• Audio transients. These are represented by vertical grid lines, which you can display by
using the AudioSnap Palette.
2. Go to Edit > Preferences > Customization - Snap and Nudge.
3. Select Move To to align data to the grid, or Move By to move data by the grid resolution.