Bitwig 3.0 Questions??? Can't find basic stuff...

[Airspeed]

Downloaded the demo based on the positive hype for version 3. I'm scratching my head wondering why I can't do or find very basic stuff found in other DAW's.

1. What is the key command or mouse modifier for "vertical zoom" in the arrange window? I'm able to resize vertically by dragging the bottom line of the track control panel but this is a slow clunky way to zoom. If horizontal zoom is keys E and W how do I assign vertical zoom to Shift+E and Shift+W?

2. How do I turn on clip gain handles? I see the fade handles but can't find the clip gain handles. I see the clip gain box at the far bottom left but again that's a super clunky workflow way to change clip gain when your mouse is hovering over the clip ready to drag a clip gain handle up or down. Am I just not seeing this or is there an option to turn this on somewhere?

3. The mixer fader section is tiny and squished looking on my screen. How do I resize the height of the mixer fader section to make it taller? Why would anyone want to mix with a short squashed mixer like this? This is such a basic GUI function that I must be missing a GUI setting somewhere.

4. Does Bitwig have a way to turn the pan knob into a dual/stereo panner without using a plugin? Also is there a basic width control knob on the mixer like other DAW's have? I can't find a way to activate these basic mixer features.

5. Where is the freeze track option or key command? I like to freeze my tracks along with my FX chains so I can reduce the CPU load and still have the option to unfreeze later to tweak any FX settings. This is really basic stuff, please tell me Bitwig has this.

6. Individual Clip FX or Event FX option??? I can't find a way to do this.

I could keep the list going but I'll start with these questions. I'm glad they have a demo but honestly I've never felt this frustrated demoing a DAW before. Also, another annoying issue I've noticed running Bitwig 3 on my iMac is the fan noise. I have most of the mainstream DAW's like Ableton, Cubase, Logic and Reaper and all of them are super quiet in relation to fan noise from my mac. Loading an empty project in Bitwig makes my iMac fan instantly ramp up to a very noisy speed. Anyone else notice this?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[JHernandez]

It's all in the documentation. There is no freeze, we bounce around here. Also, this isn't Live, Cubase, Logic or Reaper so erase that idea right away, It'll get you nowhere, seriously. It's another beast and a lot of things are done differently or just plain not available, yet.

If you're not the reading type you can check out some videos on youtube. Check out Polarity Music for interesting and sometimes complex stuff + newb stuff. Mattias Holmgren for the basics and more. Baphometrix for at length videos on different topics and ideas plus a "Detailed comparison of Bitwig 2.4 vs Ableton Live 10". And of course Bitwig's Official channel.

[JHernandez]

Oh, and I forgot. The iMac issue. I think it's because Bitwig uses the CPU to draw everything at the moment and you likely have a high display resolution which makes the CPU work extra hard thus spinning the fans. This is being worked on, no I don't have a date, sorry.

[Tj Shredder]

Oh, I know. Switching tools always lets you experience some brick walls. You definitely should send your list also to support, I think one of the most interesting feedbacks for enhancing workflows is the impression of the first moment. But also workflows you learned in one tool might be not the best and the new approach could be way faster...
From which DAW are you coming? I am not aware of any DAW that is able to do your point 6. But of course you can attach whatever automation to your clip and either send it to a separate fx or activate/bypass whatever fx in your chain...

Try to do a project from start to finish and try not to insist on your known workflow. I finally recorded a classical session I would usually do in ProTools. It was not (yet) as smooth I wished, but I could achieve the same result in almost the same time. The most missing feature was vertical zoom for audio editing of very soft signals btw... I had the same problem in Ardour, it does not have a vertical zoom, but had something way better, an exponential waveform view. I requested that for Bitwig as well, it would eliminate the need for a vertical zoom feature...

[mholloway]

Also, another annoying issue I've noticed running Bitwig 3 on my iMac is the fan noise. I have most of the mainstream DAW's like Ableton, Cubase, Logic and Reaper and all of them are super quiet in relation to fan noise from my mac. Loading an empty project in Bitwig makes my iMac fan instantly ramp up to a very noisy speed. Anyone else notice this?

I gave up on Bitwig because of the fan noise issue on my iMac. It's ridiculous. I complained about it for a solid two years straight, for all the good it did me...which is none at all. It must not be on their to-do list. Some folks have said it has to do with how graphics are being rendered on a mac (GPU stuff). It's not my domain. All I know is it really, really sucks, and it never stops.

So your choice is basically to decide you can live with it, or bail.

re, point 6. in your post -- as with Live, no such things exists in Bitwig. Too bad, they both could really use it. Though, it's hardly a 'standard feature' among DAWs. In fact the only DAW I can think of that actually has this feature is Studio One.

[mholloway]

Oh, and I forgot. The iMac issue. I think it's because Bitwig uses the CPU to draw everything at the moment and you likely have a high display resolution which makes the CPU work extra hard thus spinning the fans. This is being worked on, no I don't have a date, sorry.

It has been "being worked on" for over two years now. I'm not convinced it's a high priority or that we'll see a fix anytime soon, but I also have no idea. I just know it's been over two years with this issue.

[SLiC]

I wouldn't say a lot of things on that list are ‘basic’ things (no comping I would say is a basic missing feature!) but as has been said, you need to look at what BWS can do, not what it can’t. If you are looking for one DAW that does everything, it hast happened yet! Bitwig is best in class for for production with loops/clips/modulation and modular creation, also for me best for cv (a big issue for me) and for use with hardware. It is certainly not the best for mixing/remixing and audio work (personally I use Cubase and Studio One for that). All it has completely replaced for me is Live....but a few more linear sequencer updates and if they add ARA then who knows what the future holds.... it I doubt it will ever be the DAW you will go to for live recording of an orchestra!

I also have most DAWs and could post a long list for any of the saying what they don’t do or don’t do well, they all have pros and cons. Ultimately Bitwig is not a standard DAW, it is a really interesting and quite unique Dawstrument!

PS - faders can go full screen don’t expect to master a DAW overnight...I am still looking for the in clip editing button in a Live

[jonljacobi]

If you like to twiddle knobs and experiment, you’ll love it. If you have more traditional needs, check back in a year or two.

[kdogg]

Bitwig is really a sound designers DAW, it’s got so many things right that other DAW’s really far behind in. It’s all about modulation and building your own instruments / FX. Ableton didn’t even have vertical zoom until version 10, still doesn’t have comping or clip fx or gain handles, but it’s the most popular DAW next to Logic. Bitwig is developing fast and they will add all of that soon I’m sure. I find it so hard to use Logic and Cubase now after getting used to the Bitwig browser, it’s so damn fast to get sounds moving and takes so many less click and menu searching than Logic / Cubase.

[stamp]

Downloaded the demo based on the positive hype for version 3. I'm scratching my head wondering why I can't do or find very basic stuff found in other DAW's.

1. What is the key command or mouse modifier for "vertical zoom" in the arrange window? I'm able to resize vertically by dragging the bottom line of the track control panel but this is a slow clunky way to zoom. If horizontal zoom is keys E and W how do I assign vertical zoom to Shift+E and Shift+W?

2. How do I turn on clip gain handles? I see the fade handles but can't find the clip gain handles. I see the clip gain box at the far bottom left but again that's a super clunky workflow way to change clip gain when your mouse is hovering over the clip ready to drag a clip gain handle up or down. Am I just not seeing this or is there an option to turn this on somewhere?

3. The mixer fader section is tiny and squished looking on my screen. How do I resize the height of the mixer fader section to make it taller? Why would anyone want to mix with a short squashed mixer like this? This is such a basic GUI function that I must be missing a GUI setting somewhere.

4. Does Bitwig have a way to turn the pan knob into a dual/stereo panner without using a plugin? Also is there a basic width control knob on the mixer like other DAW's have? I can't find a way to activate these basic mixer features.

5. Where is the freeze track option or key command? I like to freeze my tracks along with my FX chains so I can reduce the CPU load and still have the option to unfreeze later to tweak any FX settings. This is really basic stuff, please tell me Bitwig has this.

6. Individual Clip FX or Event FX option??? I can't find a way to do this.

I could keep the list going but I'll start with these questions. I'm glad they have a demo but honestly I've never felt this frustrated demoing a DAW before. Also, another annoying issue I've noticed running Bitwig 3 on my iMac is the fan noise. I have most of the mainstream DAW's like Ableton, Cubase, Logic and Reaper and all of them are super quiet in relation to fan noise from my mac. Loading an empty project in Bitwig makes my iMac fan instantly ramp up to a very noisy speed. Anyone else notice this?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

1. Afaik there isn't

2. Select clip and then look in the inspector for gain

3. Faders can't be resized at the moment

4. There's the dual pan device

5. No freeze there.But there's bounce and bounce in place. RTM.

6. That would be a nice feature to have

[Taika-Kim]

IIRC the Mac issue had to do with drivers from Apple, that BW can't fix alone. Or something like that was mentioned once.

[JHernandez]

Also, another annoying issue I've noticed running Bitwig 3 on my iMac is the fan noise. I have most of the mainstream DAW's like Ableton, Cubase, Logic and Reaper and all of them are super quiet in relation to fan noise from my mac. Loading an empty project in Bitwig makes my iMac fan instantly ramp up to a very noisy speed. Anyone else notice this?

I gave up on Bitwig because of the fan noise issue on my iMac. It's ridiculous. I complained about it for a solid two years straight, for all the good it did me...which is none at all. It must not be on their to-do list. Some folks have said it has to do with how graphics are being rendered on a mac (GPU stuff). It's not my domain. All I know is it really, really sucks, and it never stops.

So your choice is basically to decide you can live with it, or bail.

It really is ridicules, I agree. I would have bailed too. Pretty much immediately, if not for the noise, for fear of wearing down my computer quickly. This should be a top priority imo.

[apoclypse]

IIRC the Mac issue had to do with drivers from Apple, that BW can't fix alone. Or something like that was mentioned once.

The issue is that Bitwig is using an ancient library called Cairo for their UI drawing. It needs to be accelerated via OpenGL to get good performance. On the Mac OpenGL is getting pushed out by Apple in favor of Metal. Personally I have no idea why Bitwig went with Cairo in the first place as it's pretty old but now they are in a conundrum on the Mac platform where they are stuck with this old lib and Apple has no desire to support OpenGL on their platform anymore. Cairo has a software backend that uses the CPU to render, that's what Bitwig is using on the Mac.

So either Bitwig is working on their own lib (likely), working on a metal backend to Cairo (doubtful) or they will never fix the issue.

[SLiC]

Apple dropping OpenGL is causing a lot of issues with a lot of programs.there are even VSTs struggling with this. Bitwig would have had no way of knowing Apple would do this when they started out and there are no issues I am aware of in Windows or Linux.

[apoclypse]

Apple dropping OpenGL is causing a lot of issues with a lot of programs.there are even VSTs struggling with this. Bitwig would have had no way of knowing Apple would do this when they started out and there are no issues I am aware of in Windows or Linux.

Metal has been in the works and the primary graphics api for iOS for quite some time. On top of that OpenGL on macOS was always way behind everyone else. The writing was on the wall there. But even if that weren't the case Cairo is a pretty old lib and does stuff that Apple's own apis already do and have done for quite some time.

For a supposedly modern piece of software that shows a lack of forward thinking or more likely they chose expediency to try to get to market quicker. Which is fine but that leaves Mac users in a bit of a bind, and unfortunately for Bitwig, Mac users are a huge part of the music/beatmaking professional community and there is a lot of choice on where to spend your dollars on the platform. They need to address the issue imo regardless of what Apple did or did not do.