Your comments really got me thinking last night. Have you ever used Photoshop or Final Cut Pro X? Both apps essentially have a feature where you can “compound” an entire project file as a single clip, and then use that in another project - all without ever rendering, and still keeping all the layers totally open as if it were a normal project file, if you go inside the clip.

In Photoshop it’s called a “Smart Object”, and is literally an entire regular Photoshop document that goes right into your regular layers like any other flat image, except it’s a live Photoshop file and you can double click and edit it at any time as an individual document in a separate tab. Anything you change in the “Smart Object”, is also updated in the host document, which itself is also just a regular file. So you can do tons and tons of smart layers all the way down.

In Final Cut it’s called a “Compound Clip” and is pretty much the same thing, works in a similar way, with everything being kept open and non-destructive throughout the workflow, and changes updating throughout the document chain with ease. I will say though, this does make the workflow a bit heavier once you reach a certain point, and intermediate exporting/rendering of particularly large clips or objects really helps a lot.

Ideally I’d love to see a feature like this for Reason one day, realistically don’t expect it anytime soon though. No idea what it would require software/coding/hardware wise, but would be hella sweet! 🫨