[MDrummer] Archive option explained

[MeldaProduction]

Hehe yeah, you never know when you need a gain! Actually many times I need it, and it's not there! And that makes me think "maybe we need one more gain here" .

[elassi]

Da man: Muslimpunk!

[goldglob]

OK, downloaded your stuff. (Sounds great BTW but I'll have a good listen later).

For now, a few thoughts about the archiving thing.

SM Drums. I see they landed in the source browser inside the 'imported' folder , which is within MD's factory samples folder. I actually already had an 'imported' folder (created when I first imported stuff) but even if I hadn't, I believe 'load archive' would have created the 'imported' folder to reflect your path.
But what if you had done all this on Mac and me on Windows? Would there be a problem? I still think that the load archive process might be referencing the full path (on your computer) to both MD's installation and the samples (which would not be the same on Mac and Windows ?).

My 'imported' folder was first created using MD's Drumset toolbar/Advanced/Import (Imports a drumset from supported soundfonts, NI kits....). Then in the browser inside the 'imported' folder I could see just one folder with the name of the soundfont, and on the right all the wavs extracted from that soundfont.
When I see your path: Imported\1516845545\C-\Music Studio\Samples\Samples\DRUMS\Tod's SMD\SMD Samples (then sub folders with samples)..I wonder how this happened? Did you use the Velocity Layers/Menu/ Import multiple samples as mulitilayers, and is this how they landed? I can't test this at present because have just confirmed with Vojtech that this function is not working in 5.03..to be fixed).
In any case, I think that as a recipient of your (wonderful) kit, I don't actually need all those path steps.

Anyway, I'm assuming you're Windows..can someone Mac see if your archive works?

[Burzukh_Studios]

Aaaaaaaah, me idiot ... I was using 5.02... Sorry, everything is fine! Sorry for "end of the world hysteria"

That is great news and means that the sharing of custom user drumkits can commence.

Whenever MD's turn comes around, you have to look at the archive function. The size is un-usually large especially for the single velocity drumkit like I made using the stock melda sounds. The archive is obviously adding some other un-needed data or samples to the archive.

[MeldaProduction]

I'll check about that folks. Anyway goldglob the created paths are caused by the original paths muslimpunk was using. Basically if you have your stuff inside MDrummer factory data, it will be transfered the same way. But if you have your data outside, MDrummer cannot know which part is "unique", so it needs to transform all elements of that path to ensure it is unique.

[Tjivory]

Offtopic, but is it possible to load master effect presets (already chained) like in AD2

[elassi]

Offtopic, but is it possible to load master effect presets (already chained) like in AD2

On the Quick Edit page click the tab "Master effects" and select from a couple of presets there.

Of course you can always define your own on the Effects page.

More than that: you can MDrummer make generate these FX randomly (hit Generate on Quick edit page or Randomize on the Effects page).

[goldglob]

......
I have tested this myself by creating a drumset using a couple of my own samples put in a folder on my desktop, saving an archive, then deleting the folder on desktop, then loading the archive.....the folder with samples re-appears on desktop.

Just tested this again, I was wrong, the folder with samples does not re-appear. Sorry for confusion.

I can see what happens now (I hope).

But consider this: if you create a drumset using a non factory sample path, then 'saving archive' not only creates an archive file (which includes all the samples), but will also (without any 'loading archive') immediately copy the samples into your factory/imported folder (with the original pathway outlined skeletally, which is what Vojtech was getting at I guess when he said "But if you have your data outside, MDrummer cannot know which part is "unique", so it needs to transform all elements of that path to ensure it is unique").
Then when I import your archive, the samples land in my 'imported' folder and are laid out as you see them. OK, all good, except that as well as the 500MB of samples in my factory folder I also have the 500MB archive taking up space...but I can now 'save as' your drumset which will refer to the samples in my factory/imported folder, and won't need the archive again so can delete it.
Now consider this at your end; after you save the archive, you'll have the original samples (500MB) plus the copies in your factory/imported folder (500MB) plus the archive (500MB). To save space I guess you could 'save as' before archiving, then after publishing, delete the archive and the copies in your imported folder..your saved drumset will of course refer to your original non factory sample location.

So now I have a saved drumset file and a bunch of samples in my imported folder.
But seeing that long skeletal file path still worries me; it's ungainly, and I feel that your personal file structure is not really any of my business.
I'm trying to think of a way around this?

Your drums sound amazing BTW.

[elassi]

As I've said before:

There is the inevitable point where you need a drawing.

[Burzukh_Studios]

Yup more so with MD !

Btw, i will check out the multiple locations saving of samples in archiving and get back to you all.

[Burzukh_Studios]

Ok I am lost. In the source directory I see the same path under imported that goldglob mentioned. It is the real path to the actual samples that I made the archive from.

Should'nt it show a new path since I loaded the archive ? If it is there, where is it (physically and in the MDrummer tree structure) ?

Now I'm doing a simple test :

- Make a test folder on my desk top with some of my own samples
- use these samples to make a drum kit in MD but not save it.
- export as archive
- delete the desk top folder with the sampels
- import the archive
- see what shows up ( in the hard drive and the mdrummer browser)

------------------------------------------

Ok test results are in.

If I delete the folder with the original wav samples and then import the archive it works fine, but the browser in MD's Drumset Edtor still shows that path.

Even if I save it as a drumkit, it still shows the original path in Drumset Edtor for each layer, while also showing up as complete and seperate kit in the Quick Setup browser.

-------------------------------------------

My questions :

- Where did MD unzip / extract the archive on my hard drive ?

- Can I somehow update the present incorrect and convoluted layer path for the samples ?

- Can I delete an imported kit and the layers, because all this testing has made a mess of the imported section , both in the quick setip and the drumset editor ?

[Burzukh_Studios]

Ok my first question is answered through some research :

MD extracts the archive in :
C: > ProgramData > MeldaProduction > MDrummer Large > Samples > Imported > 1516845545 > (here it re-creates the whole path the original samples were present at !!)

So as goldglob stated above, the only way to avoid this is if we outthink MD (haha) by placing the samples in the imported path with a more convenient structure and then use it to build our drumkit.

So anyone time you want to make a new drumset using your own samples, you have to copy the samples to MD's imported folder (as per the path above) manually and then proceed to make your kit.

But I have to test this hypothesis too.

- Can I somehow update the present incorrect and convoluted layer path for the samples ?

- Can I delete an imported kit and the layers, because all this testing has made a mess of the imported section , both in the quick setip and the drumset editor ?

And I still need answers for my last two questions :

[Burzukh_Studios]

Ok... I answered my own third question about deleting imported stuff in a roundabout manner.

You go to C: > ProgramData > MeldaProduction > MDrummer Large > Samples > Imported >
and delete the imported samples.

Then you go to C: > ProgramData > MeldaProduction > MDrummer Large > Drumsets > Imported > and delete the imported drumsets.

Aaaaaaaaaaand voila ! Its all clean and good as new.

However a better in-house option in MD to 'purge' the imports or delete spcific imported drumkits would be a much better option.

[MeldaProduction]

Ok, so are there questions for me ?

[goldglob]

.....

So as goldglob stated above, the only way to avoid this is if we outthink MD (haha) by placing the samples in the imported path with a more convenient structure and then use it to build our drumkit.

So anyone time you want to make a new drumset using your own samples, you have to copy the samples to MD's imported folder (as per the path above) manually and then proceed to make your kit.

But I have to test this hypothesis too.

Yes, I was thinking along these lines, trouble is when you load your saved drumset in the future it will be looking for the samples where they were when you saved it, so you'll have to leave your copies in the imported folder, which means 500MBx2 on your hard drive.
But if you create your drumset just pointing to the original samples using global rather than factory file path (as I assume you have done), then loading your saved drumset will point there. Think of the 'save archive' thing (which copies the originals into your 'imported') as temporary...after publishing, you don't need those copies in there. Trouble is, when I load your archive, they go into 'imported', great, but I have to leave them there with their messy reference to your original path. It's a dilemma.

Re purging: you can do this within MD for drumsets (or components) in the load or save drumset windows using delete.
BTW, how did you end up with stuff in Drumsets/Imported... Did you save to there? This is the folder that MD uses when creating drumsets in main menu/ Analyse and import sample library..is that what you did? I would just save my own drumsets (if creating manually) to Drumsets/Goldglob.