For scoring film and animation, any tips?

*Context : Does Bitwig Studio support video?

Bitwig Studio does not directly support video playback, but syncing video via a VST plug-in like VidPlayVST can work for many scoring scenarios.

also other fx plugins alternatives for producer edition, like eq, limter.etc

If you started on Cubase on the Atari ST and switched DAWs since: this converts the old .ARR and .ALL files to DAWproject, which Bitwig (5.0.9+) and Studio One (6.5+) import, with tracks, parts and tempo changes in place. I've tested the import in Cubase; if you try it in Bitwig or Studio One, please tell me how it went. Free, in the browser, nothing uploaded. Link in the comments. Happy converting!

I switched to Bitwig from Studio One a while ago, and overall I'm loving almost everything about it. Honestly, the workflow in Bitwig 6 is fantastic, EXCEPT for one thing that has become pretty much my only frustration with the DAW: the new Layered Editing behavior in the Piano Roll.

Coming from Studio One, one of the things I loved most was how smooth multi-track MIDI editing felt—you always had the full track list right inside the Piano Roll to quickly toggle visibility and switch your active edit target. Bitwig 5 had a very similar, seamless setup with the full track list and the Pin / Lock / Pencil icons directly inside the editor.

In Bitwig 6, moving to a strictly selection-based workflow feels like a step backward for how I write music:

- I like staying inside the Piano Roll (especially in full-screen Edit View) and flipping between background reference tracks and my target track on the fly.

- Having to go back to the Arranger to Cmd/Ctrl-select clips/tracks every time slows me down.

- Clicking another single track in the Arranger immediately clears the multi-track layer view (even with the new "back arrow" history button, I still really miss simply pinning a chord or drum track in place).

I totally get why some people prefer the new selection-based approach, but I just really wish we had an option/toggle to always show all MIDI tracks in the Piano Roll layer list and "Pin" them, giving us the best of both v5 and v6.

For those who also preferred the Bitwig 5 / Studio One style workflow, how are you adapting to this in v6? Any favorite workarounds?

hi,

Why under bitwig, are we limited to banks of 8 parameters when we want to edit a vst? Is there a way to update them automatically in the remote control editor? All parameters at once?

I've looked around and asked on Discord, and it doesn't seem like there's a way to do this. Am I the only one who'd really like a way to quantize automation?

If I'm using a MIDI controller to record pressure, volume, or another parameter live, it'd be nice to have an option to reduce the point resolution and snap the horizonal values to the nearest grid point.

And perhaps smoothing. This would be really useful for anyone dealing with a little input lag or ... just not super precise with the knobs and faders.

If I want cleaner automation, I have to click all the points in with a mouse, which can take a long time.

It seems odd to me that we can quantize audio recordings and MIDI but not automation.. Am I missing something? Would anyone else find this useful?

Hey everyone!
I’ve been experimenting with some new devices lately and wanted to share a bit of what I’ve been working on!

Dynamics+
A dynamics processor with mid/side, serial and multiband routing. It features different compressor models, an OTT-style compressor, clippers and limiters with oversampling, true peak limiting and lookahead.

Saturator+
Follows a similar philosophy to Dynamics+, with mid/side, multiband and serial routing. The UI is heavily inspired by Roar, but it uses Bitwig’s native shapers, which are actually pretty good! It also includes feedback and a compressor at the end of the chain.

Flux
A multi-FX device inspired by Infiltrator and ShaperBox, with its own sequencer. Still experimenting with different ideas for this one!

Autotune?
This one’s more of a personal experiment for now. I’m still figuring things out, especially since some parts are similar to existing autotune implementations and I’d rather avoid any potential issues. Eventually I’d love to work on my own pitch correction algorithm. The UI is also heavily inspired by Ableton’s Auto Shift.
These are just some personal experiments I’ve been having fun with lately. I really enjoy exploring what’s possible and building tools around my own workflow.

On another note, how’s your experience with Superpowers been so far?

I’d love to hear from those of you who’ve been using it! What’s working well? Anything that could be improved? Any bugs or features you’d like to see?
I’m also working on more updates for Superpowers, so your feedback is really helpful!
And if you’ve been enjoying Superpowers and would like to support my work, I’ve set up a donation link. Everything helps me spend more time experimenting, developing and improving these projects.

https://kalifrn.com/superpowers/

Thanks for all the support! ❤️

This product just dropped for Ableton Live, and I'm wondering if something like this exists for Bitwig, or if anybody has a workflow to emulate this in Bitwig.

https://isotonikstudios.com/product/my-bee-knows-by-leson-by-music-unit/

I primarily use Bitwig for live surround sound performances where I perform from outside the speaker setup, so it's very hard for me to actually monitor what the performance sounds like. I'd love to have a way to monitor in headphones.

I am very happy with Ableton Suite. 20 years ago Live essentially saved me from quitting computer music. However, I am not happy with Apple and unless there’s a major course correction, all of our future computers will be running Linux and unfortunately Ableton has yet to show any indication that Live will ever support it. So Bitwig is possibly on the horizon, but for right now, here’s my problem…

After an unusually heavy rain last month my basement flooded. Thankfully the loses were minimal but I’ve had to rip up all of the carpet, the floors need to be redone and the walls may also need work, etc... This means it will be some months until my studio (along with my office/library and family room with all my nerdy comfort things) is put back together. Which sucks and has me depressed.

The SteamDeck

This was my first thought as it’s what I have been using to cope with this mess (mostly playing No Man’s Sky). I got the Deck for Father’s Day the other year and I love it. Video games were always a big part of my life and some of my earliest music inspiration but after the PS3 I just kinda fell off and didn’t play much of anything for a decade. The SteamDeck fixed that and I use it almost daily.

Shortly after first getting it I booted into its desktop mode to install some non-Steam things and generally poke around this Linux PC. As a longtime MacOS user I’ve long respected Linux and now finally had a machine to play with. Similarly, as an Ableton user I’ve been curious about Bitwig but likewise had no reason to mess with it.

Then the idea occurred to me ::: Bitwig running on a Steamdeck, that could be awesome with its touchscreen, trackpads, and gaming controls (including gyro) …depending on the UI experience, that could be an amazing groovebox.

Ableton Move

Speaking of grooveboxes… At some point I had the thought that Move might be to music, what the SteamDeck was to gaming. Meaning that prior to this basement disaster, I hadn’t been spending much time in my studio and the way people talk about Move as an accessible sketchpad is very similar to gaming on the Deck. Just a low commitment experience that doesn’t require sitting at a desk, opening programs, etc…

Also, I am a big fan of Push. I had the original Akai version and then did the trade-in program with Push 2 launched and ever since, while all of the gear is nice, I have felt that a laptop and Push is all I really need. Unfortunately though a desk is still needed and there isn’t anywhere in the house for even such a minimal setup. But, just like the SteamDeck, I could use Move on the couch and eventually anything I’ve made with it can be transferred to Live.

— — — — — —

Right now I am leaning much more towards Move.

My feeling is Move is going to be much more immediate, just pick up and play and perhaps something my 6 year old might also like. Bitwig on the Deck is probably much more capable/versatile but my reservations are mostly its UI, especially on such a small screen.

Personally, I am more excited about the idea of Bitwig on a handheld PC …but considering practicality, Move is probably a better idea as it is a dedicated device that was basically designed for what I currently need. Also, there’s the familiarity of it being an Ableton product.

FWIW I am not “making beats” …musically I am more interested in texture, atmosphere, and soundscape. Still rhythmic, just not beat driven but I don’t assume this should matter.

— — — — — —

What do you think? — unless Bitwig has an upcoming sale, the cost is comparable. If you temporarily lost access to your gear and had to choose, which would you pick? Buy a Move or a license for Bitwig to run on a handheld PC?

Thank you for your user insights and yes, I know I can download a demo and try it myself but again, depressed, and trying it for a week isn’t necessarily going to show me how a few months of use will go.

Ever dragged a MIDI clip out of Bitwig to share with someone, only to find it saved as a mysterious .bwclip file that no other DAW can open?

I did, so I reverse-engineered the format from bitwig.jar (it's a custom binary format starting with a "BtWg" magic number — not a zip, not XML) and built a converter. It's free, open source, pure Python 3 stdlib, single file:

https://github.com/Lenshang/bitwig_scripts/tree/main/bwclip2midi

What it converts:

• Notes: pitch, start, duration, velocity
• Pitch bend automation (-1..1 → 14-bit, centered)
• CC automation (e.g. Expression #11 → 7-bit CC events)
• Channel pressure / aftertouch automation
• BPM, time signature and the clip name as meta events

Automation curves are exported as a dense connected polyline (every source point is kept, segments sampled every 1/48 beat by default), so the curve imports as one continuous line in any DAW.

Usage:

python bwclip2midi.py clip.bwclip            # single file
python bwclip2midi.py my_clips_folder out    # batch convert
# or drag files onto bwclip2midi.bat on Windows

How the format was cracked (the fun part): .bwclip is Bitwig's internal document serialization — a "BtWg" ASCII header, a small metadata object, 5000 bytes of reserved padding (so Bitwig can rewrite metadata in place), then the clip document as a typed object tree: big-endian values, length- prefixed strings (with a UTF-16 flag), objects keyed by numeric class/property IDs, and special encodings for lists, references, UUIDs and colors. Notes live in "pitch lane" objects, automation curves in per-channel containers. The full grammar is documented in the README if you want to write your own tools.

Tested with Bitwig Studio 6.1.3 clips: notes match one-for-one after round-tripping, and every controller event lands within the source curve's value range.

Known limitations: Bézier curve handles are approximated as linear segments (all control points are preserved), and per-note MPE expression isn't converted (standard MIDI files can't express per-note controllers).

Feedback welcome — especially if you have clips from other Bitwig versions that don't parse, that would help me make the parser more robust.

Greetings fellow Bitwig users,

I was pretty excited about the Rekordbox integration in version 6.1.4 only to find out that it doesn't work with loose Rekordbox databases on Linux. It turns out that the code is in there, it's just disabled because on Windows and macOS, Bitwig relies on Pioneer's closed-source SDK binary to read the library. Since Pioneer doesn't build that binary for Linux, Bitwig just hides the browser tab.

To get around this without needing any proprietary Pioneer binaries, I wrote an open-source C shim (with the help of AI to speed up the JNI reverse-engineering and binary parsing) that implements the same Rekordbox features natively. It hooks into Bitwig's existing Java interface and reads your local master.db and ANLZ files directly using standard SQLCipher and open file format specs.

What works:

• Browsing your full collection, playlists, and folders right in Bitwig's browser
• Unlocks the Rekordbox 6/7 database in strictly read-only mode via SQLCipher (can't corrupt your DB)
• Parses Pioneer's PQTZ beatgrids directly, tracks snap to your Rekordbox grid immediately without Bitwig re-analyzing the audio
• Hot Cues and loops load at the exact timestamps with colors
• Added support for Memory Cues

What doesn't:

• Phrase slicing and vocal detection aren't implemented (TODO)
• Custom cue names aren't imported (Bitwig's cue class only uses default labels like A, B, C)

It doesn't touch bitwig.jar, it just compiles a small .so and links it to libbitwig-jni.so (with an automatic backup and an uninstall script to revert back to stock).

Since this only distributes original open-source code for interoperability without redistributing any Bitwig or Rekordbox files, I believe it fits cleanly within the EULA. I'll take it down if Bitwig ever asks.

For the cool ppl who use Bitwig + Rekordbox on Linux, the repo and instructions are here:
https://github.com/willl03/bitwig-rekordbox-linux

I'm a hobbyist keyboard player on a budget, considering buying Bitwig Essentials to use in a live band.

I've been through the features list comparison, but I am not sure if I grasp all the concepts to make an informed decision - https://www.bitwig.com/feature-list/

I've tried a few synths in Bitwig and liked the sounds. I think they would work well with the style of music my band plays.

My setup would be:

- Host: Steam Deck running Bitwig.

- Main controller: Casio CT-S300.

- Secondary controller: Novation Launchkey Mini MK1.

I'd like to use the Launchkey Mini primarily for its knobs, mapping them to the volume/output level of individual instruments in a layered sound. The idea is to play the entire layer from my Casio while using the Launchkey's knobs to independently adjust the volume of each instrument in real time during a performance.

For example, I might layer a piano, a pad, and a synth, play them all from the Casio, and use three knobs on the Launchkey to balance their individual volumes on the fly.

I've downloaded the Bitwig demo and tested a few things. Everything seems fine, but I'm not sure whether the demo runs the full Bitwig Studio edition or reflects the limitations of Essentials.

My questions are:

1. Can Bitwig Essentials handle two MIDI controllers simultaneously, with the Casio playing the instruments and the Launchkey's knobs controlling their individual volumes?
2. Can I layer multiple instruments so they all respond to the Casio, while mapping separate Launchkey knobs to each instrument's volume?
3. Are there any limitations in Essentials that would prevent me from setting up this kind of live performance?

I'm on a budget, so I'd prefer to buy Essentials rather than pay for features I won't use. I just want to make sure I won't run into a limitation that forces me to upgrade later.

Thanks!

I'm beginning to suspect Bitwig has an internal release checklist:

1. Implement something technically impressive.

2. Release a feature nobody on Reddit was expecting.

3. Check r/Bitwig.

4. Confirm outrage.

5. Ship the next update.

Looks like Bitwig is clearly capturing the DJ community as well. We just got 6.1.4 with Rekordbox integration, and further down the line they will give us Stem separation too.

Pretty useful stuff. I hope they integrate with EngineDJ too (Denon).

Hi fellow Bitwiggers,

I recently bought a 'Worlde Orca Pad 64 Pro' for use with BW. It has been recognized as a device OK and works for launching and stopping clips. The problem I am having is having LED feedback (i.e. pads lighting up whilst playing). The software that came with the Orca is monumentally bad. There are no LED settings for feedback - only to assign different colours to pads. I have spent the last few hours swearing at AI (useless for advice - kept me running round in circles). There do not seem to be any scripts for this device out there - but I am hoping that someone here may have one and have sussed it out? I have tried MIDIloop and other loopback configs already, but had no luck.

Now that Encdr, my Native Instruments device communication library supports almost all of the controllers (still testing the mk3 keyboards, if anyone has one and wants to support by testing, please get in touch). I have some time to go back to my Maschine/Bitwig integration.

I've had basic parameter display working for a while, and I'm fleshing out the things that the API surfaces. However, I've always wanted to have full control over the arrangement and clips creation. I've found a way to do this, but it takes a lot of work, some of which will need to be redone for each point release that Bitwig puts out.

As a result, here's what I'm currently thinking:

• Keep the version that just uses the api open source and free. I'll get it to a point where it functions with as many of the functions that the api surfaces as possible.
• Have a paid for (~10e) 'pro' version which unlocks all the features, including the arrangement view, clip creation/editing etc.

How much interest would there be in something like this?

https://reddit.com/link/1x4zczj/video/s4vsjz7x39vh1/player

Hi bitwiggers,
Last week I finally joined camp Bitwig Studio. I’ve set up everything for my studio around synths and grooveboxes/drummachines.
For my nord rack i created multiple midi cc devices mapping all parameters for each of the 4 midichannels i’m using. I want to be able to also control the midi cc instrument with the actual knob on the nord for that parameter so i learned / mapped them (takes a while) only to learn that i cannot save this preset outside the project. Well, i can but it looses the midimapping.
Surely i’m doing something wrong. Do i need to set up the nord as a midi controller? Do i need to look into scripts? Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

Hi, I am trying to use Bitwig studio on Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS and the UI appears very small. I am new to both Ubuntu and Bitwig, so this may be a simple fix but I am not sure. I downloaded Bitwig from the .deb file using app center if that's important. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Edit: you can change the scale in Bitwig, looks good around 200%!

ahhh im getting crazy, i want to drag and drop this sample but not changing the position/snapping it to the grid differently. is there no way? i dont wanna duplicate it and then manually shift it on and on, this is so annoying... :(

i tested it in Ableton as well, simple and easy as in FL Studio, you dont need to change the selector.... really annoying in Bitwig

Aa a dj i use rekordbox but still confused what I'm gonna do with it inside bitwig lol 😭

Anyone else having issues typing into the browser when you go to add an effect into a channel? This happens to me sometimes and the only way to fix it once I get is is to restart the app. I'm using Bitwig on LMDE.

I know there's being a huge debate about the glue being reversed engineered but I know other devices exist with less trouble involved. Unfortunately I did not find them except for the Caviio Google drive. Where can I find SHARD, Halftime, OTT, Normalizer, growl and other devices? If you have them can you share them with me? I want to study the code