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Old 10-29-2017, 07:46 AM   #1
Ulrich
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Default Less painful VST plugin path handling

Hi guys,

I am working with several dozens of plug-ins that use different paths on my hard drive. Handling those paths with that tiny "1-line-window" in the preferences can be really painful, for example if you try to find a missing plug-in or have to re-build your collection of paths.

I would therefore ask you to include a way to handle plug-in-paths in a proper list with a preset that already contains the most common paths of the well-known developers of plug-ins as well as room for custom paths that can be annotated.

Thanks,

Ulrich
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Old 11-20-2017, 11:00 AM   #2
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Wow, am I really the only one who feels this way? :.(
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Old 11-20-2017, 11:15 AM   #3
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I agree, I mean it's not really that big a deal to me as I have all my plugins in one folder, however, I know many others like to keep their plugins in their original install folder such as steinberg and waves, due to the way the licensing from the same companies work.

Short of multiple text boxes, which might introduce it's own limitations or confusion to the user, maybe a text file could be loaded?

but I don't see how it's much headache (more than once per folder, anyway) to simply add the colon.

I feel like a modern program would tackle this with a new window, showing a bunch of icons each leading to a different folder and a + symbol to add another. No need for it to be in the preferences window. However, Reaper shies away from anything non-Windows GUI when it comes to anything besides the main window + MIDI editor, so I don't see this happening.
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Old 11-20-2017, 11:15 AM   #4
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I agree it can be a bit fiddly in that textbox but a couple pointers in the interim that will make your life easier...

1) It's really easy to copy those to the clipboard and paste in a text editor to make changes and paste back.

2) It's highly recommended to dedicate a VST path and during any plugin install, point the VST (not the meta data but the VST itself) to the directory you specified as your main VST directory. There may be occasional exceptions where that choice isn't available but should be generally rare for VST2.

3) If you use 32 bit and 64 bit plugins, dedicate a separate directory for each AND always place the 64 bit path last in the scan list.

4) I can't stress #2 enough for multiple reasons.
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Old 11-21-2017, 09:12 AM   #5
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I use Sonar Pro as well as Reaper and THEIR plugin manager is just as much of a PITA but in the opposite direction! I dont think there is ever going to be a one-size-fits-all way of scanning, displaying and/or organising plugins that will suit everyone.

My methodology is to highlight and cut the text in that one-line letterbox and paste it into Notepad, do any editing I need to do and then paste it back in, clear/rescan and leave it at that.
Because I save the notepad file I also have an instant backup of my current plugin folders if anything goes wrong later.
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Old 11-21-2017, 11:33 AM   #6
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I wouldn't mind a better way to manage the plugin paths. It could also incorporate a warning for users who attempt to add their hard drive root/operating system directory into the list. (It seems that happens to people fairly regularly and they then complain here at the forum that Reaper is scanning ALL their files looking for plugins and crashing etc...)
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Old 11-23-2017, 03:03 PM   #7
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Very good point!
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Old 11-23-2017, 03:12 PM   #8
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Quote:
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I use Sonar Pro...
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Old 11-23-2017, 04:49 PM   #9
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this is an excellent idea - it would be much better to allow the user to see all the information with a larger drop down menu, one path to a line
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Old 11-26-2017, 04:53 AM   #10
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Quote:
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Yeah I keep it around mostly for nostalgia. Well that and a couple of really old projects that I finally imported into Reaper!

I predict the next to die will be Studio One. I own that too but it gathers dust on a spare hard drive these days.
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Old 11-26-2017, 05:22 PM   #11
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Yeah I keep it around mostly for nostalgia. Well that and a couple of really old projects that I finally imported into Reaper!

I predict the next to die will be Studio One. I own that too but it gathers dust on a spare hard drive these days.


Actually... I think Reaper have really high risk of being next DAW since Cockos is based on one person... if something happens there would be no one left to continue =(


Studio One 3 is a solid DAW.... but not as stable and versatile as Reaper =3

tho we have so much to improve... and I mean MIDI Editor khm,,, khm,,,,
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Old 11-26-2017, 08:25 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by inarisound View Post
Actually... I think Reaper have really high risk of being next DAW since Cockos is based on one person... if something happens there would be no one left to continue =(


Studio One 3 is a solid DAW.... but not as stable and versatile as Reaper =3

tho we have so much to improve... and I mean MIDI Editor khm,,, khm,,,,
didnt the Reaper dev say once that he would opensource it if he decided to discontinue development. To be fair to the industry in general - being a sole operator or small operation doesnt seem to impact on longevity and might even help - the medium sized companies seem to be the ones that get bought out and ruined
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Old 11-27-2017, 01:32 AM   #13
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I figure I am around 30 to 40 years older than Justin, so I doubt he will be gone before me!
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Old 11-27-2017, 01:52 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by ivansc View Post
I figure I am around 30 to 40 years older than Justin, so I doubt he will be gone before me!
Hhahahahahahaha xD

That's a strange way to look at it xD



Let's hope Justin will make his "baby" immortal and will not sell it to greedy "corps", like he did with winamp }=D


_________

on the subject of open source.... even if he will make it public I doubt too many developers will create reasonable team to support/develop Reaper... so once Justin is out Reaper would be dead
=(


Anyway.... let's think positive! Justin and Schwa are incredible humans I believe in them! =)
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Old 11-28-2017, 02:33 AM   #15
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(grin) So you`re one of those "glass is half empty" kinda guys, then?

My take on this stuff is that the smaller the team the less likely it is that the team will fail. The takeover thing is always lurking in the background but I suspect that most of the corps that specialise in takeovers have looked, seen how integral the business model is to Reapers success and decided there wasnt enough money to be made.

From the outside looking in, DAW market has to be shrinking inevitably, so the "entrepreneurs" who do business mostly with big piles of money arent looking for anything where they actually have to work too hard to milk the new cash cow.
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