BFD3 - BFD2 expansions are always missing kit pieces

[Gonga]

I really like BFD3, and I purchased a few expansions during the current 50% sale. But I'm finding that all the BFD2 expansions don't work correctly. 8 Bit Kit, Heavy, Kabuki, Billy Cobham - all have a bunch of exclamation marks over missing pieces.

I've read all the instructions, re-scanned stuff, etc. Don't know what to say when the installation asks where BFD2 is installed, since it's not. When I tell it to scan a particular folder, instead it scans the whole freakin drive...

Anybody with a lot of experience who might have some advice?

I have a sickening feeling I won't be able to get them to work right, and I'll have to pay $50 for the right to sell each $35 expansion

[electro]

I'll check out heavy in BFD3. Are the content filepaths set right?

[SKoT_FX]

Are you certain you have installed all parts of the expansion pack to the same location? Have you missed 1 of 3 installers, or nested the install folders (BFD3 is smarter than previous versions and looks out specifically for this case based on this exact situation, BFD2 still expects everything to be exactly in place at the same level). Might be worth sending a screen shot of your BFD data folders to our support guys so we can see how stuff is laid out.

[Burillo]

i have Heavy, works perfectly. although i admit i destroyed all the factory presets and kits and made my own.

[Gonga]

I want to put them all in the same folder. Then specify that as the content path. When I do this, it uses the root path instead then scans the whole drive. So the root path I specify never appears in the list.

BFD3 works great. Now I'm trying to install the expansions and that's where I run into the missing pieces. I don't have BFD2 installed, though I do own it. When I install the older expansions above, it asks where BFD2 is installed. Since it's not installed, this is confusing. I've tried letting it assume the normal location (which doesn't exist yet) and I think I alsi tried using the BFD3 location here.

After purchasing the expansions, I've since noticed that some of the expansions don't mention compatibility with BFD3, only BFD2, including Heavy, Kabuki, and Billy Cobham. This information is buried in the FAQ for each library, but otherwise everywhere else on the site the impression is that any of the expansions work with BFD3. Weirdly, I'm also having the same problem with 8 Bit Kit which says it's compatible with BFD3.

Thanks for your help guys. It's reassuring to hear that Heavy at least should work. I have contacted FXpansion so I'll go through a support ticket. I'll let you know how that goes. It's the weekend so I'll try to be patient (not my strong suit ).

i have Heavy, works perfectly. although i admit i destroyed all the factory presets and kits and made my own.

Very cool. I'm just an amateur, but I love playing.

[bludreamsounds]

So I recall running into this issue when I had it (I'm trying to build personal drum collections with purchased drum wavs and bitwig drum machine). Its been a while but I think it boiled down to needing to run multiple installers and/or uncompressing all the content in various folders. The format that the kits are in are not readable by bfd as is, they are compressed. Good luck.

[Gonga]

Thanks. I'll keep that in the back of me mind.

If it were any library other than BFD, I'd have said to heck with it because of the installation being such a freakin PITA. But BFD3 and the libraries are both exceptional, if you can get them to work.

For now, I might just install the BFD3 expansions and hold off on the older ones until I get a clear answer as to how to install them without all this confusion. Fortunately, It appears I can just delete the libraries and a few folders in the Program Files and start over. I guess.

The forum has a nice guy who wants to help, and I think he knows a lot, but he hasn't been helpful in this case. He also seems to think it's OK to have stuff half-working. Me, I'm much too anal for that. Frankly, I'm surprised the installers aren't a lot more sophisticated for the 3rd release, or that there aren't more specific instructions for the expansions. The user shouldn't have to take so many steps, especially not when to do so results in expansions that don't work correctly since you then have no clue what to do (the problem is more likely something I'm doing or not doing rather than a corrupt file that is easily remedied by re-downloading and just clicking "setup."). The questions I've asked you guys are nowhere to be found in the FAQs, such as how to install BFD2-era expansions under BFD3 ("where is your BFD2 installed?"). Or what the folder structure should look like (audio folders, whatever)...it's clear as mud imo.

Check this out: I've discovered that when you click "remove selected path" it removes the light-blue heighted path, NOT the one that's checked! Apparently, the check boxes are only for the purpose of activating (whatever that is - is it activating the license online, or is it turning it on for use in BFD?).

[jancivil]

I have BFD3, and with BFD2 installed as per the way BFD2 sees and uses everything, no issues, all of it is A-OK in BFD3. So there is no special way to install these things.
I would be pretty much certain that all of it 'works'. I have 4 expansion packs from that era: BFD Percussion, Deluxe, Jazz 'n Funk, and Evil Joe Barresi.

If I were you in this moment, though, I would just install BFD2 and get that part of the dialog out of your way and install these exansion kits anew. I remember being frustrated by the exactness of the installation, but that's the way it is.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Not sure what the issue could be, all BFF content should load without issue in BFD3.

Hit up fxpansion support if it's not working.

[Gonga]

Thank you all for your assistance. Being who I am, I can't wait for tech support to get back to me with another basic question and wait some more, so I tried everything...

I already tried installing BFD2 first, and had the same results, so I decided to uninstall it and start over with just BFD3, which I prefer.

When installing older expansions, when asked where BFD2 was installed (it's not) I pointed it to BFD3. This seems to work the best, rather than accepting the default location.

Different expansions have different folder structures, and depending on which you have installed, they don't always get along. I got all of them working by moving the Audio files into the main \BFD3 Core Library\audio folder, and the Grooves into the main \BFD3 Core Library\Grooves folder, after installing. That did away with the conflicts that prevented BFD3 from seeing some of the libraries. Some of the libraries can be installed in the audio folder within another main exp-pack folder, some cannot (8 bit kit, perc cannot). This inconsistency is at least part of the problem with the way the library installers work.

The grooves that come with 8 Bit Kit, unlike all the others, cannot be read by BFD3. They're in a different format (wtf?) - midi format - and I had to import them after spending some time RTFM. Now they look like a mess of a hundred one-shot phrases. The inconsistencies among the expansions are ridiculously frustrating, or perhaps frustratingly ridiculous?

So it's working well enough that I can use the expansions. But it's a mess with some stuff not working as it should (grooves, drums, etc.) and lots of "unknowns." Now that they're on my music drive I can just leave the libraries there for my next Windows installation. But a lot of the stuff that went on the C drive (grooves, etc.) that IS working won't work in the future unless I go through the whole install again. So that's not good. I find the older installers in need of some love. I hope BFD3 does well enough that they can update the installers.

There are a lot of Unknowns: Kabuki produces Unknown Presets, Kits and Drums. Percussion and Decatoms also produce Unknown Drums. I'd really like to learn how to fix that so they appear within the expansion packs they belong in the browser. This is a common problem on the forum, but does anybody know how to fix it? Not that I've seen so far.

So to summarize, I'm having trouble with 8 Bit Kits, Percussion, Kabuki and Decatoms, mostly with unknowns. Also, there are no grooves for 8 Bit Kits, Decatoms, Heavy, Orchestral or JM Essentials 1 or 2. Some are supposed to have grooves and some aren't I suppose, as usual - inconsistent - and confusing when the installers don't function correctly.

[Gonga]

They got back to me with no answers to my specific questions, just a generic boilerplate "watch the video" I've seen many times. I wrote them back with a longer, more detailed response.

I'm just not a patient man

[Amberience]

Heya,

Those packs were all released way before BFD3, and the kits and presets were created with BFD2 content. Thus if you don't have BFD2's audio content installed, that is the source of your missing kitpieces. Solution is to install BFD2 and not use the software component.

[jancivil]

tried installing BFD2 first, and had the same results,

Different expansions have different folder structures, and depending on which you have installed, they don't always get along. I got all of them working by moving the Audio files into the main \BFD3 Core Library\audio folder, and the Grooves into the main \BFD3 Core Library\Grooves folder, after installing. That did away with the conflicts that prevented BFD3 from seeing some of the libraries. Some of the libraries can be installed in the audio folder within another main exp-pack folder, some cannot (8 bit kit, perc cannot). This inconsistency is at least part of the problem with the way the library installers work.

That's strange, to me. I have never experienced anything like it. But it appears you have the solution. "Audio" folder is the top level for content, anyway. Period.
I'm not sure of what I'm reading, completely, however.

Here are three 'different' looks which all conform, are installed correctly. The only difference is, one of them has only a type of cymbal; one - BFD3 - uses all descriptive names; one does mostly generic names to kit pieces, the descriptive name a later addition to the library. It's all the same, simple directory structure - "Audio" - with folders below by kit piece that which contain the audio content. This must be true for the thing to work. With the caveat of BFD3 able to see more nesting, which I'm not interested in.







This is how BFD2 and BFD3 installers have done it. I'm disinterested in how the directories are, so I don't know how this gets screwed up. It begins to look like you're being 'original' with installation ("I'd really like to learn how to fix that"). Let the thing work, the installers will provide. Do not 'fix' things.

[Gonga]

Heya,

Those packs were all released way before BFD3, and the kits and presets were created with BFD2 content. Thus if you don't have BFD2's audio content installed, that is the source of your missing kitpieces. Solution is to install BFD2 and not use the software component.

Well, as I said I've tried that approach twice now, and it has never helped. But thanks.

[Gonga]

tried installing BFD2 first, and had the same results,

Different expansions have different folder structures, and depending on which you have installed, they don't always get along. I got all of them working by moving the Audio files into the main \BFD3 Core Library\audio folder, and the Grooves into the main \BFD3 Core Library\Grooves folder, after installing. That did away with the conflicts that prevented BFD3 from seeing some of the libraries. Some of the libraries can be installed in the audio folder within another main exp-pack folder, some cannot (8 bit kit, perc cannot). This inconsistency is at least part of the problem with the way the library installers work.

That's strange, to me. I have never experienced anything like it. But it appears you have the solution. "Audio" folder is the top level for content, anyway. Period.
I'm not sure of what I'm reading, completely, however.

Here are three 'different' looks which all conform, are installed correctly. The only difference is, one of them has only a type of cymbal; one - BFD3 - uses all descriptive names; one does mostly generic names to kit pieces, the descriptive name a later addition to the library. It's all the same, simple directory structure - "Audio" - with folders below by kit piece that which contain the audio content. This must be true for the thing to work. With the caveat of BFD3 able to see more nesting, which I'm not interested in.







This is how BFD2 and BFD3 installers have done it. I'm disinterested in how the directories are, so I don't know how this gets screwed up. It begins to look like you're being 'original' with installation ("I'd really like to learn how to fix that"). Let the thing work, the installers will provide. Do not 'fix' things.

Thanks. It appears to me that it's always the same expansion packs over and over with exactly the same problems every time I install them. I don't think you have the ones that are giving me troubles - 8 Bit Kits, Percussion, Kabuki, Decatoms, Heavy, Orchestral, JM Essentials 1 and 2. Installing them according to the directions has never worked. So I had to try something different, which at least makes the packs usable, even though they are far from perfect. Your examples may help me in the future.