KVR Audio

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Mon May 26, 2008 10:28 pm

I want try and assess how many hosts currently support the ability to load VST's by scanning a shortcut (alias on Mac) to the VST. This has a number of advantages:

1) Faster scanning (as only the dll is scanned - not whatever else is in the VST folder such as presets and gui elements)
2) Potentially less complications (as non plugin dll's that are in the VST folder don't get scanned and you can pick exactly which plugins do get scanned)
3) Extreme customisability - as you can set up the folder with shortcuts to plugins exactly how you wish without having to physically move the plugins themselves (and risk them losing dependencies etc). e.g a folder of all reverbs or mastering plugins or even toolsets for different functions.
4) Improved troubleshooting - as it's easier to identify eliminate and identify troublesome plugins.

So far the only hosts I know for certain that can do this are Ableton Live and Orion though the Cantabile dev has expressed some interest in the idea. However I don't have access to all hosts to check so if you know of another host that can do this please ad it's name to this list.

Ableton Live
Orion
Temper
Bluecat Patchwork

spacefox · Post by **spacefox** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:19 pm

EnergyXT does not support that, although it doesn't really scan the plugins - just present the dll files in the browser. So you essentially get 1) and 2), but not 3) and 4).

Mighty Pea · Post by **Mighty Pea** » Tue May 27, 2008 7:43 am

xt1 does scan the plugins, I'm pretty sure. If there are large files in the directories (such as samples), it takes a long time for the rightclick-menu to display the folders. That's the main reason I had to move Wusik's samples to another disk, as it was a real obstacle in my workflow.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue May 27, 2008 9:05 am

me too - Xt1 plugin scan takes ages when you have lots of presets etc.

Not sure what XT2 does - looks almost like it circumvents it somehow.

alby75 · Post by **alby75** » Tue May 27, 2008 6:04 pm

Usine at www.sensomusic.com is probably one of the most powerful audio soft?
and you can get a Free version

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue May 27, 2008 6:06 pm

Usine can scan shortcuts?

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue May 27, 2008 6:11 pm

Just tested - no it can't. What was the point of posting that in this thread?

PaulG · Post by **PaulG** » Tue May 27, 2008 6:37 pm

Hey, MUSE,

Can you elaborate a little more as to what you mean here?

Are you looking for a fast startup? Tracktion has the option to turn off scan at startup so that there is no folder scanning delay. Of course, you can do it manually as new things are installed. I think this is how a lot of Tracktion users set things.

REAPER goes one step further and allows you to create plug-in folders and throw just the VST's you want in there. It also allows plug renaming in the GUI, but keeping the filename .dll unchanged.

I think Podium has some VST filing and renaming and disabling of startup scanning, too, but I sold that host a while ago. Someone will have to confirm or deny.

- Paul

koalaboy · Post by **koalaboy** » Tue May 27, 2008 7:24 pm

Google Windows XP/NT and Hardlinks.

They should do the job, although it's much better if the DAW allows some management on its own.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue May 27, 2008 7:59 pm

No I know all about hardlinks but prefer not to use them.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue May 27, 2008 8:01 pm

PaulG wrote:Hey, MUSE,

Can you elaborate a little more as to what you mean here?

Are you looking for a fast startup? Tracktion has the option to turn off scan at startup so that there is no folder scanning delay. Of course, you can do it manually as new things are installed. I think this is how a lot of Tracktion users set things.

REAPER goes one step further and allows you to create plug-in folders and throw just the VST's you want in there. It also allows plug renaming in the GUI, but keeping the filename .dll unchanged.

I think Podium has some VST filing and renaming and disabling of startup scanning, too, but I sold that host a while ago. Someone will have to confirm or deny.

- Paul

Just for the host to be able to scan a shortcut to a VST dll as if it's a VST (or a folder of them). Live and Orion can do it already and it's very useful.

koalaboy · Post by **koalaboy** » Tue May 27, 2008 8:18 pm

Reaper won't scan shortcuts (even though its plugin organisation is good).

Podium also won't, and neither does FLStudio8

Minihost by Tobybear seems to remember every VST it's ever seen, even after changing the VST path

You already know about live (which I didn't realise, and will have to use this with).

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue May 27, 2008 8:23 pm

Minihost won't scan shortcuts though.

Neither will Sonar, not tried Cubase.

So that still leaves Live and Orion - damn

siriusbliss · Post by **siriusbliss** » Wed May 28, 2008 6:07 am

Samplitude doesn't scan all the VST's when loading, but when loading a project, it will scan only the VST's used in that project. You can also manually rescan the VST folders.

I haven't tried having it scan a shortcut, although I presume that might work.

Greg

exh · Post by **exh** » Fri May 30, 2008 2:11 am

aMUSEd wrote:So that still leaves Live and Orion - damn

If you're looking for a comprehensive list, mine also does that -- Temper. It both scans shortcuts and, when presenting VSTs, shows them with the same structure as they are on the disc. The intention is that, if you want, you can do all your management of VSTs via the filesystem, rather then through some special UI.

Anyway, if you poke at it, I highly recommend trying one of the preview builds mentioned in the forums, there have been a lot of bug fixes and changes since the last real release.

thanks,
eric

Hosts that can load VSTs from shortcuts