RapidComposer v5 beta feedback and discussion

[musicdevelopments]

Attila, hello. I think that Scaler is not to blame, in any case, for the crash of the DP. RС crashes in DP and independently as a plugin. Rendering is set to software. I am attaching the report.

Believe me, Scaler has a serious issue with OpenGL as it does not use the main thread for OpenGL rendering. If there is another plug-in which uses OpenGL, that will be a problem.

This particular crash was not because of RapidComposer. All RC threads were waiting, only the custom phrase loader was working. This was an Objective-C exception, while RapidComposer was written in C++. But I gladly check any crash reports that you upload for me, they are very useful.

Thanks!
Attila

[musicdevelopments]

RapidComposer v5.0b11 is available!

Improvements:

• Blacklisting implemented for crashed plug-ins during scanning. It won't prohibit loading the faulty plug-in manually, but for the next scanning the crashed plug-in is skipped. A menu was added in the settings.
• All previously scanned plug-ins are available when restarted next time after crashing during scanning
• Restored Phrase Container
• Rhythm editing adds note to the current grid (not to the nearest one)
• Fixed length of smaller-than-bar phrases
• A bug in the Percussion Generator fixed

[BluGenes]

scan works great now! Found my FX no problem, well, ya know. It failed on Guitar Rig 6, but, meh, so what..

I suggest moving that blacklist from settings, maybe to the plugin page just to make it easier for manual adding anything black listed. You would have to be switching back and forth other wise. Adding the black list to a clickable drop down list would be nice too. Just fire the manual add stuff with the path in the drop down..

I would also explain the process for a new user, because, an app just going away with out warning not really cool to do to someone.. lol

[musicdevelopments]

Thanks! Good idea, BluGenes

[lulukom]

Hello Attila. Let's do everything in order.. User Fonts don't work for me. Pictures as proof (of course I did, I rebooted after changing fonts ))

[sj1]

Food for thought.

https://www.kvraudio.com/news/bitwig-an ... rmat-58830

[sj1]

Hi. Is b11 supposed to remain up when it hits a bad one while scanning plugins? My observation is that hitting a bad one kills RC. In this case, I'm attempting to scan VST plugins.

After 5 or 6 such observations, I'm at least expecting to see 5 or 6 items in the blacklist next time I start RC. Instead, I see only the single latest bad plug in the blacklist.

[lovemusic15]

[lovemusic15]

Here you go BluGenes made a very simple one minute video just for you to see my suggestion.

[sj1]

I think a helpful addition to plugin scanning would be to be able to pause or quit a scan in progress.

Ideally, whatever was scanned successfully in such a partial pass would be added to the known plugins list (rather than being discarded).

Also helpful would be the ability to do single re-scans of plugs already on the list.

[sj1]

BTW, if we want to send in a crash log, where is that found? (for Win 10, RC Standalone, in this case)

[BluGenes]

Here you go BluGenes made a very simple one minute video just for you to see my suggestion.

thanks!

I'll have to get back to you on this. I did watch the video, but, I need more time to look into this one..

Right now, the biggest issue that needs to be fixed at the moment is the scanning problems..

[BluGenes]

Think I'll have to get in touch with the developer of this plug in and complain that it won't load into RC.. lol it was black listed.



What I have been doing is deleting what I have loaded and rescanning to see what results I get each time. So far, I have did this a few times just see the results..

What I am seeing is, it isn't crashing on the same ones every time.

When you re-start from a crash, the scan starts from the beginning too. So, with out knowing how you are calling the scan to begin with, I can't offer a suggestion.

Just curious, why is possible to add a plug in that was black listed manually and not during the scan? What is so different about the process?

[sj1]

What I am seeing is, it isn't crashing on the same ones every time.

When you re-start from a crash, the scan starts from the beginning too.

I observe likewise.

May I ask a conceptual question - what exactly is the purpose of the scan?

Is the purpose to create a pick-list of plugins for the user, while making sure that the plugins that make the list are not crashers?

If that's it, then it seems that "passing once" should put the plugin on the list and after that there is no need (in general) to have it be scanned again.

Of course, an option to 'Rescan All' (in effect, starting over) should be available, but otherwise it seems to me that once on the list, a plugin should be considered 'good' and therefore bypassed in the normal course of subsequent scans. This is especially so when detecting a bad plugin aborts the scan and downs RC - meaning we have to scan again (and again, ...) in order to get through our entire collection of plugins to create the comprehensive list of "good ones".

A major point of building that list is to save having to do the entire, very long process every time, no?

[BluGenes]

I observe likewise.

May I ask a conceptual question - what exactly is the purpose of the scan?

Is the purpose to create a pick-list of plugins for the user, while making sure that the plugins that make the list are not crashers?

That's pretty much the goal, a way of identifying the various plugs that now can be used in RC.
This is now most important with the introduction of FX plugins that can now be used on tracks.

If that's it, then it seems that "passing once" should put the plugin on the list and after that there is no need (in general) to have it be scanned again.

I don't know exactly how the scan is performed, so, all I can offer is suggestions based on how I would do it.

But, it seems to me, based on where VST are placed, the whole directory path is scanned. Think of it in the terms as a wild card search using *.* type of search. That would always scan everything every time, of course. Which explains why it always restarts at the beginning.

I can post a reference image of VST locations that manufactures use, if anyone wants that information.

So, it _might_ be a limitation of how the API is being used. I don't know what API is being used for OS level stuff. Never asked, and generally don't ask because, not really any of my business for the sake of his proprietary code. I like a professional code of ethics with stuff like this..

But, yea, the proper way, to me, would be to build a list of "possible" plugins to load, then test each one, keeping track of the results and state of the APP. Wrapping that code into a "try..catch" loop for crashes and logging..

It's obvious to me that there are two methods being used when it comes to plugin's, but, without documentation, not much we can do.