Re: Vsts On External Hard Drives

[TedPiano]

Hi All,

Q: Is it possible to put Plugins e.g. iZotope Iris2 (which seems to have approx. 11Gbs) on to an external HD and add the relevant file to the CBB File Plugin Manager?

Thanks best Ed 

[Canopus]

I think you would normally keep the plug-ins on the C:\ drive, and only move the sample libraries elsewhere. After all, a plug-in normally has a very small footprint compared to its samples. It usually works to move the sample folders, but there is no one single answer. On those rare occasions when it’s not possible to change the location from within the plug-in, you might have to use symbolic links to do it. Search for "symbolic link" in this forum if you need advice on that topic.

But regarding iZotope Iris 2 it’s easy: after manually moving your preset and sample folders, just click on the wrench in the upper left corner of Iris 2 and click the Set… button in the LIBRARY pane. After browsing to and selecting the new folder location you’re good to go.

But having said that, if you really want to minimizer disk usage on your internal drive, installing the plug-in to an external drive and adapting your plug-in scan path in Cakewalk will most likely work. Just be aware that many plug-ins normally would place your samples in the %AppData% or %ProgramData% folder (or, for very misbehaved installers, in the Programs folder), and if so you would have to find and move the samples manually to another disk anyway.

 

Edited August 4, 2019 by Canopus

[bitflipper]

Short answer: yes, you can.

Minor downsides:

- your projects will take a little longer to load

- they won't load properly at all unless that external drive is connected

- file organization will be a little less tidy

- existing projects that reference Iris will have to be edited to reflect the new location

[CJ Jacobson]

For me, everything is on the C drive., except audio. I keep that on another Internal hard drive (not external) Today's drives are very powerful and can store large amounts of data.

Hey but that is me!! If your drives are suffering, Do what ever works for you and makes your workflow easier, but if it isn't broke, no need to fix it. 

[TedPiano]

Hi Canopus, Bitflipper and CJ - Thanks for the observations and advice - I'll try working through, very slowly - esp Re: Iris2 (Thanks for the Screenshots Canopus - really excellent)

Thanks again

Best

Ed