Patchwork will load VSTs from Symlinks, may be an easier way to manage your plugs

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I used to be a Patchwork owner and remember the process of searching for dll`s to load.

I had a thought recently to try the demo again using Symbolic links for the VST dll`s in Windows to see if it would load them. It does!


Symlinks explained (they are like windows shortcuts):

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http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/co ... -or-linux/

`Link Shell Extension` to add ability to Windows right-click menus can be found here:
http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshel ... l#download
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So basically you can create a folder with all your dll`s pooled together (as symlink shortcuts), or multiple folders, organised as you like. Note, it doesn`t seem to work with hardlinks only the symlinks.

It`s not as good as a native solution in the plugin but may help as a step towards faster searching. Not sure if there are any pitfalls to this either (maybe Bluecat can comment), but thought I`d pass the info on in case of use.

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Most hosts will support proper symlinks (although only a few, including Patchwork also support shortcuts/aliases)

The only shortcomings I have found is a few plugins don't like it as it activates false copy protection errors (mainly Exponential Audio plugins) and it doesn't work with plugins that are in themselves symlinks or hardlinks (eg all the Reaktor plugins apart from the main one work that way) - but these can just be moved or copied anywhere anyway.

But the advantages far outweigh these as it means you can organise plugins as you see fit.

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aMUSEd wrote:Most hosts will support proper symlinks (although only a few, including Patchwork also support shortcuts/aliases)
I did try standard windows shortcuts in patchwork but got an error here.
aMUSEd wrote: The only shortcomings I have found is a few plugins don't like it as it activates false copy protection errors (mainly Exponential Audio plugins) and it doesn't work with plugins that are in themselves symlinks or hardlinks (eg all the Reaktor plugins apart from the main one work that way) - but these can just be moved or copied anywhere anyway.

But the advantages far outweigh these as it means you can organise plugins as you see fit.
Interesting about the other plugs as I`m thinking about making an organised Symlink VST folder or two at some point now. I don`t own any Exponential plugs anymore but do have Reaktor so worth noting.

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I have different folders for different hosts so each has its own toolkit

BlueCat announced that it supports shortcuts - not tried it myself though - the main app that supports them is Ableton Live

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