Any way to scan newly added Waves plugins fast?

[hhuang9611]

Hi all,

I am not sure if this has been discussed before, but I am kind of annoyed by this lately.

I have to say that I have no idea how waveshell works, I suppose it is like a pointer to all the plugins. Anyway, the thing is, whenever I install a new waves plugin, I have to scan VST for several times or even restart my computer to let my DAW (Ableton Live 10) see it. Or, alternatively, I can do a deep re-scan, which takes too much time. (Yep, I own tons of plugins) Still, I can eventually make the new stuff show up, but the problem gets worse recently when I try to do a mix session in another new DAW (Mixbus 32c). Unless I do a deep re-scan, new waves plugins will not be seen. (I feel more and more that it's like a WavesHell instead of WaveShell)

I have to point out that I did not install any of my VST plugins in the default folder (I am using Windows). I have a dedicated folder in my hard drive where I can sort all of them by categories . So of course I move the waveshell there as well.(I do replace it with the one in the default folder every time a new plugin is installed, but it does not help) Could that be the cause?

Anyway, I am wondering if anybody has any suggestions about how I can do the new plugin scan quicker with waveshell? (I know there are many people who would talk me out of using waves, but there are still some plugins that I like, so I am not ready to completely quit from waves.) Thanks in advance for all who reply!

[Burillo]

i don't know how to do this in Live, but in REAPER, i usually just find the .ini file where REAPER keeps scanned plugins, and delete waveshell entry. pretty sure something like that could work for Live, if you manage to find the file where they keep all of this data.

[pottering]

That's how Waves plugins work, they install a waveshell DLL in a default folder without asking the user, then you have to manually locate it and move it to your VST folder.

[MogwaiBoy]

I'm using FL Studio and it's the same (you have to re-scan your entire plugin list from scratch). As far as I know the only true workaround is to install the waveshell to a custom folder, then configure a new plugin scan so it only searches that folder.

But then that causes other kinds of problems because Waves want to install stuff where they want to.

[cturner]

You can use any of the file “touch” utilities on any platform to update the modification date on the Waves Shell. DAW sees it as a new plug and scans accordingly.

For those on Windows, I’ve been using Directory Opus, which has touch built-in. AFAIK, Pathfinder on the Mac has a similar feature.

[jens]

i don't know how to do this in Live, but in REAPER, i usually just find the .ini file where REAPER keeps scanned plugins, and delete waveshell entry. pretty sure something like that could work for Live, if you manage to find the file where they keep all of this data.

This.

It's kind of a shame that almost all hosts still have no proper way to deal with this - the only host that I know/can think of right now which kind of has got it right is Tracktion. It shows you a database where it lists all the scanned plugins including the blacklisted (they call it deactivated) in a sortable (by various attributes such as date, name, manufacturer, etc.) and taggable database and you can delete any of them from the list or make Tracktion show the actually file to you in the file-browser. Would you believe that wading through an .ini-file seems to be the next best solution a host offers in 2018?

And just to think that there's a recent thread here in the hosts forum that asks "has DAW development stopped" when they haven't even got the plugin-databasing sorted out yet.

But of course it's all Waves' fault.

[an-electric-heart]

You can use any of the file “touch” utilities on any platform to update the modification date on the Waves Shell. DAW sees it as a new plug and scans accordingly.

For those on Windows, I’ve been using Directory Opus, which has touch built-in. AFAIK, Pathfinder on the Mac has a similar feature.

Do you have Scheps Omni Channel? I bought it (I know, I know, I should have demo'ed) and haven't been able to get it to show in FL, no late version 9 plus show, I've got to install old off-line versions to make Waves plugs work.

[cturner]

no late version 9 plus show

Sorry to be so dense, but I can’t figure out what this means. Shouldn’t it still be under WUP? It hasn’t been out a full year AFAIK. I’d call Waves tech support if so, they’re extremely helpful. I have it and it’s always worked fine for me with Reaper. I have a split install with some plugs at 10 and some at 9, with Omnichannel now at 10.

[MogwaiBoy]

Given Waves' apparent "industry standard" status and popularity, it would be nice for DAWs to have a "Scan only for new Waves plugins" option.

[an-electric-heart]

no late version 9 plus show

Sorry to be so dense, but I can’t figure out what this means. Shouldn’t it still be under WUP? It hasn’t been out a full year AFAIK. I’d call Waves tech support if so, they’re extremely helpful. I have it and it’s always worked fine for me with Reaper. I have a split install with some plugs at 10 and some at 9, with Omnichannel now at 10.

Yeah, you're right. I should just contact support. I just mean early version 9 plugs were picked up with a plugin scan, but when they started releasing 9 point something versions they stopped being found in scans. And I haven't seen evidence of anyone using FL getting them to work.

[jens]

Given Waves' apparent "industry standard" status and popularity, it would be nice for DAWs to have a "Scan only for new Waves plugins" option.

Or rather a re-scan shells option.

For some hosts the shell* does not seem to change - that's the problem here - I think these hosts want to be extra clever and look at the version number or something, so they assume nothing has changed and do not re-scan it. E.g. Tracktion (or Waveform as they now call it - what a stupid idea) looks at when the file has been last modified and therefor does not have such problems. It's really the host that is to blame here.

Some hosts (Studio One) want to be extra safe and re-scan the shells every time you start them (which is why Studio One always takes ages to boot if you have a few shells installed).

(*the shell is the only actual plugin in the plugins folder - when it gets scanned, it reports to the host any number of plugins (all the ones you own or currently demo))

[mystran]

Given Waves' apparent "industry standard" status and popularity, it would be nice for DAWs to have a "Scan only for new Waves plugins" option.

Or rather a re-scan shells option.

Isn't that basically the same thing?

[cturner]

I just mean early version 9 plugs were picked up with a plugin scan, but when they started releasing 9 point something versions they stopped being found in scans. And I haven't seen evidence of anyone using FL getting them to work.

Not too familiar with FL, but I’m assuming you’re on Windows. Right after the release (and my purchase) of the SSL stuff as separate plugins, I had two Waves shells on my system. That is, the Waves installer had packaged my plugins spread across “WaveShell1” and “WaveShell2”. So I spent some time with certain plugs not showing up until I figured it out.

If you don’t have it, I’d highly recommend JAM Software’s UltraScan as a way of doping out these issues. It’s a very fast and well-designed file search utility,

[cturner]

Given Waves' apparent "industry standard" status and popularity, it would be nice for DAWs to have a "Scan only for new Waves plugins" option.

Black Rooster packages their plugs this way, and at least one other vendor whose plugs I don’t use.

[Mathematics]

I have Live, Performer, and Pro Tools. I use a custom VST folder.

Waves places the following 2 files:

WaveShell-VST 9.7_x64.dll
WaveShell1-VST 9.92_x64.dll

and for V10, this one file...so far,

WaveShell1-VST 10.0_x64.dll

in this directoy for V9 - C:\Program Files (x86)\Waves\WaveShells V9
and this one for V10 - C:\Program Files (x86)\Waves\WaveShells V10

respectively.

Mac is the same situation in terms of *.dll files: System HD > Applications > Waves > Plug-Ins V10
or V9...you get it.

For some of you that have a mixture of Waves plugins that have a variety of expired dates:
..like I do...I can almost guarantee you have both of these files or more, similarly with their respective version numbers. For me, it 9.7 and 9.92.

To speed up VST scans, this may work:
The idea is that you only want to deep scan once, then you don't have to again. I read that some of you have to deep scan every time and I don't know if this will work but you can try. But first, for those who have missing plugins, you need to copy those two or more files. For the speedy scan, try this:

Make a Symbolic Link that you drop in your custom VST/Waves folder that points to the WaveShell*.dll files. I'm linking a video about Symbolic Links specifically for this type of task at the bottom:

Needless to say, if you don't copy or SymLink all Waves *.dll files to your custom directory, some or all your plugins won't show up...this was a head-scratcher for me once.

If you have a mixture of V9 and V10 Waves plugins:
In Live you should have two subfolders for your custom Waves folder which reference the version number of the WaveShell *.dll files. For Pro Tools and Digital Performer, they ALL show up.

* Note: For Vienna Ensemble Pro, V10 show up but not V9. I just ran in to that problem today. I don't use Waves plugins externally anymore, so it's not sweat off my back.

Now the Symlinks video is just a tutorial that you can apply to the Waves *.dll files by creating a Symbolic Link in your custom VST folder that points to the WaveShell files. That way, when you install or re-install Waves plugins, you don't have to re-copy the updated version of the WaveShell file anymore because the SymLink points to the updated file. This may be a solution to achieve a faster plugin scan. The only thing you have to watch out for, is if the WavesShell Version number changes...if it does, just right click on the SymLink and go to Properties and update the location. It's that simple.

Symlink Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Wq1gG0uXQ&t=146s
Good Luck!