Hello,
I apologize if this has been posted already - it didn't come up in my searches.
I've several times now had an issue where Zebra (or Dark Zebra - either one) forget their MIDI learn assignments when I open a project on a different computer than it was originally created on, using VE Pro. I must do this often, as I work in a studio where we have multiple machines and multiple people working on things. Here's what happens:
User A completes a piece of music on computer A, including some automation of zebra parameters. Zebra is sitting inside an unpreserved instance of VE Pro. Then, user B (that's me) has to open up that piece later on computer B to edit or stem it. But when I instantiate the Vienna Pro instance on computer B, Zebra no longer responds to the automation that was learned (not MIDI volume, or any other parameter). I've only encountered this issue with Zebra, not any other synths handled in the same way. It also only happens when I move from one computer to another - if I open it on the same machine everything is fine.
All the computers are running Digital Performer 8.07, VE Pro 5.3, and Zebra Rev 2157.
Any idea what's up?
Zebra forgets MIDI learn in VE Pro
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- KVRian
- 574 posts since 20 Aug, 2013
Hi,
Digital Performer 8 supports both AU and VST2... so why "wrap" it into Vienna Ensemble first instead of hosting Zebra2 directly in DP8?
We occasionally suggest sub-hosting as a last solution for people who wish to use our plugins on outdated platforms that support only certain discontinued proprietary formats, but in any modern DAW that can host VST2/AU/AAX plugins, it's always preferable to host the plugin(s) directly - because who knows what kind of nasties any sandboxing-like sub-hosting can bring with it.
MIDI-learned parameter assignments aren't stored inside the project file, as they are plugin-specific and have nothing to do with the project. They are also not saved in preset files, as people may want to automate the same parameters in several different patches, for example during live performances.
Instead, the information about MIDI-learned parameters is stored in a local file on each computer. This file has no connection with preset or project files, it's just a file somewhere on your hard drive. Every (!) Zebra2 instance on that computer will read from this file at startup and write to it when MIDI assignments are changed. When you MIDI-assign MIDI CC#65 to VCF1 Cutoff Freq in Zebra2 instance #1 of project #1, then Zebra2 instance #2 of project #1 as well as Zebra2 instance #1 of project #2 will respond to that assignment until changed in any of the instances.
Depending on your operating system and, on Windows, the path of your plugin folder, you'll find the file with the MIDI assignments here:
OSX: Mac HD/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Library/Application Support/u-he/com.u-he.Zebra2.midiassign.txt
Win: PLUGIN_FOLDER\u-he\Zebra2.data\Support\com.u-he.Zebra2.midiassign.txt
So to get MIDI assignments from Computer A to Computer B, you'd have to copy Computer A's midiassign.txt and overwrite Computer B's midiassign.txt. But that just means more things to think about when transferring between computers, more potential causes for issues, etc.
So why not just use host automation?
All parameters of Zebra2 (where sensible) are accessible to the host, so MIDI-controlling the host and letting the host deal with the parameter addressing should be the safest way to go. Host automation info is saved in the project file, so if you send a project from Computer A to Computer B, all necessary automation info will be available inside the project on Computer B.
However, I'm pretty sure (not 100% certain tho) that a DP8 project won't save VEPro host automation data, which would be one more argument on the "pro" side to host Zebra2 in DP8 directly and skip the unnecessary VEPro "wrapper".
If your workflow relies on VEPro and you really can't host Zebra2 directly in DP8 for whatever reason, then I suggest you try to host-automate inside VEPro and save the VEPro project files together with the DP8 project files (if necessary or possible). The only other way (afaik) is copying the midiassign.txt file.
Digital Performer 8 supports both AU and VST2... so why "wrap" it into Vienna Ensemble first instead of hosting Zebra2 directly in DP8?
We occasionally suggest sub-hosting as a last solution for people who wish to use our plugins on outdated platforms that support only certain discontinued proprietary formats, but in any modern DAW that can host VST2/AU/AAX plugins, it's always preferable to host the plugin(s) directly - because who knows what kind of nasties any sandboxing-like sub-hosting can bring with it.
MIDI-learned parameter assignments aren't stored inside the project file, as they are plugin-specific and have nothing to do with the project. They are also not saved in preset files, as people may want to automate the same parameters in several different patches, for example during live performances.
Instead, the information about MIDI-learned parameters is stored in a local file on each computer. This file has no connection with preset or project files, it's just a file somewhere on your hard drive. Every (!) Zebra2 instance on that computer will read from this file at startup and write to it when MIDI assignments are changed. When you MIDI-assign MIDI CC#65 to VCF1 Cutoff Freq in Zebra2 instance #1 of project #1, then Zebra2 instance #2 of project #1 as well as Zebra2 instance #1 of project #2 will respond to that assignment until changed in any of the instances.
Depending on your operating system and, on Windows, the path of your plugin folder, you'll find the file with the MIDI assignments here:
OSX: Mac HD/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Library/Application Support/u-he/com.u-he.Zebra2.midiassign.txt
Win: PLUGIN_FOLDER\u-he\Zebra2.data\Support\com.u-he.Zebra2.midiassign.txt
So to get MIDI assignments from Computer A to Computer B, you'd have to copy Computer A's midiassign.txt and overwrite Computer B's midiassign.txt. But that just means more things to think about when transferring between computers, more potential causes for issues, etc.
So why not just use host automation?
All parameters of Zebra2 (where sensible) are accessible to the host, so MIDI-controlling the host and letting the host deal with the parameter addressing should be the safest way to go. Host automation info is saved in the project file, so if you send a project from Computer A to Computer B, all necessary automation info will be available inside the project on Computer B.
However, I'm pretty sure (not 100% certain tho) that a DP8 project won't save VEPro host automation data, which would be one more argument on the "pro" side to host Zebra2 in DP8 directly and skip the unnecessary VEPro "wrapper".
If your workflow relies on VEPro and you really can't host Zebra2 directly in DP8 for whatever reason, then I suggest you try to host-automate inside VEPro and save the VEPro project files together with the DP8 project files (if necessary or possible). The only other way (afaik) is copying the midiassign.txt file.