Workaround To Label VSTs In The FX Windows

[Todd R]

I know I have said this before here regarding metaplugin;

Using the ini method,
I have found that if I create .ini files with custom names to call vst .dll, that:
it is possible to modify the vst name in the FX Choices, Pre, Post windows for easier identification

so, instead of having 5 or 6 instances of say "FabFilter Pro-Q 3" for which I may not be sure which one I have on or off on a channel/ track

it is possible to name the .ini file as the syntax you want to see in your FX List;
i.e.: "Q3 Karen LAV_midTamer"

or whatever syntax you might want your Presets to be labelled

I'll report back if I have any stability issues; so far, so good

[Dave Labrecque]

How do you get your preset settings to stick and show up each time one of these is instantiated?

[mr_es335]

Todd,

You can name the .ini file anything you want.

There are ABSOLUTELY NO STABILITY ISSUES WHATSOEVER...at least NOT that I aware of...as I have been employing this methodology "for-ever-er!" [Click_Me]

You can also name the .ini "specifically"...for example, "My favourite Clean Plug-in", or "My favourite Blues Plug-in" - with the name of the .ini file reflecting the particular preset that would be deployed in that particular "instance" of the plug-in.

Again, I have been methodology this methodology "for-ever-er!" Because of the manner in which Bob has designed his software, SAC|SAW are the only applications that I know of, that permit such incredible "flexibility!"

Man, is it ever "fun" employing Bob's software!!

Hope this helps!

[Todd R]

Thanks for that Dell!

[Todd R]

How do you get your preset settings to stick and show up each time one of these is instantiated?

Dave, you don't; presets are saved in an edl as we all know
so user has to backwards engineer this
nevertheless, it does work

it's just a time saver
rather than stabbing in the dark at what preset might be saved into multiple same name vsts;
you have a roadmap
it also helps organize your job

it has been bailing me out big time

how about using something like metaplugin?
just name the ini to what is loaded in metaplugin

[Todd R]

Again, just to further confirm, I've been using this strategy with impunity and working great!

a massive time saver

[Dave Labrecque]

Sorry, I misunderstood your initial post. I thought you were saying you could save individual presets to open by default with each custom INI plugin name.

So it sounds like you're actually naming the individual instances of a plugin with names customized for your individual session? And then when you go to the next project, you have all these INI names from the prior session showing up in your FX Choices?

1) seems like a bit of background work to do this for the first session, but it seems to be worth it, so good on ya

2) if it hasn't occurred to you, you can use the FX Choices Group functions to split off each custom, per-session naming scheme into its own group so that they don't annoy you as you move on to other projects. Of course, over time that's going to be a lot of groups accumulating, and SAW only has room for thirty. I guess a fix to that would be to archive these custom INIs with each project, preferably with each applicable EDL (separate subfolders) so as not to potentially get things mixed up. But that would mean moving the INIs back to the VST_Plugins folder if/when you need to revisit a session in the future.

RE: Metaplugin as a way to define default plugin presets... yeah, I guess that would work. Bulky, with extra clicks and windows to deal with, but it should work.

[Todd R]

Sorry, I misunderstood your initial post. I thought you were saying you could save individual presets to open by default with each custom INI plugin name.

So it sounds like you're actually naming the individual instances of a plugin with names customized for your individual session? And then when you go to the next project, you have all these INI names from the prior session showing up in your FX Choices?

1) seems like a bit of background work to do this for the first session, but it seems to be worth it, so good on ya

2) if it hasn't occurred to you, you can use the FX Choices Group functions to split off each custom, per-session naming scheme into its own group so that they don't annoy you as you move on to other projects. Of course, over time that's going to be a lot of groups accumulating, and SAW only has room for thirty. I guess a fix to that would be to archive these custom INIs with each project, preferably with each applicable EDL (separate subfolders) so as not to potentially get things mixed up. But that would mean moving the INIs back to the VST_Plugins folder if/when you need to revisit a session in the future.

RE: Metaplugin as a way to define default plugin presets... yeah, I guess that would work. Bulky, with extra clicks and windows to deal with, but it should work.

yes, Dave, penny has dropped your end :-P
That is exactly what I'm doing

well. it is actually it is very easy because I save VST presets named to reasonably match the ini pointer

I don't see issues going forward and makes life so much easier

Metaplugin adds a layer of complexity, I'm afraid

for example, I used a reverb extension in Reason running as a VST3 in Metaplugin called by SAW ini pointer file
But I do not want Reason launching every time open the SAW job!
So I bounced to reverb effect

[Dave Labrecque]

So I bounced to reverb effect

Old school, baby!