Importing Cubase maps

Bring existing .expressionmap files into DawForge — one at a time or in bulk — with a faithful round-trip and automatic tagging.

If you already have a collection of .expressionmap files, you don't have to rebuild them. The importer reads any Cubase expression map (the supported Cubase version is listed in Tools you need; older formats are best-effort) and yields a fully-populated editor view.

Steps

Open the importer

Go to /map-editor/import. The page accepts:

A single .expressionmap file.
A single .plist (Logic Pro Articulation Set). See Logic articulation sets.
A .zip containing any number of .expressionmap and/or .plist files.

Drop onto the upload area or pick with the file picker.

Review the parse preview

DawForge reads each file and shows a preview: the number of articulations, the original groups, whether remote keys are present, and any warnings (duplicate remote keys, malformed articulation definitions, and so on). For a zip, you'll see one row per file with the same preview alongside.

Confirm and save

Click Import. Each map is saved to your library. You're redirected to the editor for the first one (or to the list view if you imported a batch).

What's preserved

Articulation names and order.
Groups (0–3).
Slot type (Attribute / Direction).
Color indices.
Remote keys.
All outputs (keyswitch, CC, program change) with channel.
Pre-delay and separation timings.

What's inferred

Tags. The importer attempts to classify each articulation against the canonical tag families based on its name. Recognised terms ("staccato", "trem", "con sord", "pizz", etc.) map to the right tags; unknown terms are left untagged. Sweep the editor afterward to fill blanks if you want cross-library search to work for these articulations.
Short display name. Derived from the name and tags when the source file doesn't include one.
Row identity. DawForge gives each row a hidden identifier on first import (Cubase's own files don't have one). After you re-export from DawForge, that identifier travels with the file from then on.

Round-trip stability

Once you import, save, and download a map, re-importing the file you downloaded brings back exactly the same rows, so any links you've made elsewhere stay intact. Only the very first import adds the hidden identifiers; after that, the file carries them itself.

Common warnings

Duplicate remote key. Two articulations on the same trigger note. Cubase's behaviour is "first wins" — the editor flags it so you can re-assign.
Articulation has no output. It does nothing when fired. Often a glitch in the source file; sometimes intentional (a "name only" entry for the score editor). The editor leaves it alone but warns.
Group above 3. Cubase ignores the row in the score editor. The editor warns and clamps to 0 only if you ask it to.

→ Logic articulation sets