scook

3 minutes ago, IgoRr said:

For the future, you have one more option: go upstairs to "Utilities" - the last line is "Cakewalk Plug-in Manager". In the left window, select the line VST3. Scroll in the right window all the plugins to the letter "S", if there is no Shadow Hills, at the bottom left select the option "Show excluded(plugins)", it may turn out that for some reason Cakewalk sent it to this section. If it's there, click on it, and on the bottom left, the "Enable Plug-in" button. This happened to me a couple of times, although I have not found out the reason.

Yeah, another old school approach.

These days, I avoid the Plug-In Manager for most things plug-in related except for layout maintenance. Exclude list maintenance is one of the few other functions unique to the Plug-in Manager and as noted can be used to force a rescan. It has also been the source of threads on the forum when user get to aggressive enabling plug-ins.

4 hours ago, Paul Young said:

To get to the full MXXX you buy Melda one piece at a time.  I like their loyalty.

1 hour ago, Brian Walton said:

MXXX as a full product just throw it in with the bundles that include all the plugins.

It is part of the MTotalFXBundle and MCompleteBundle. No additional purchase necessary.

Both VST2 and VST3 scan and run OK here. The plug-in installer only puts the "Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor.dll" in the designated VST2 path and "Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor.vst3" in the designated VST3 path. All the other support files go elsewhere.

The problem is not plug-in name length related.

The VST plug-in names used depend on the VSTPlugInNameFormat settng in Cakewalk.ini.

By default, CbB uses a label found in the plug-in dll. For some reason, the last "r" is missing on the label in the Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor VST2 dll.

If might be a good idea to post the full fully qualified names for the "Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor" VST2 and VST3 plug-is and the scan path as shown in preferences.

If the VST3 is scanned as not a plug-in, then something happened when the scanner tried to load the vst3 file that causing the scanner to fail the plug-in.. It could be a bad vst3 file, an activation problem, band/missing support dll or some system failure.

There are several ways to try and correct the problem.

A VST reset from Preferences > File > VST Settings with the two log file options mentioned above enabled is the easiest although it can be very time consuming if one has a lot of plug-ins.

In this case, a more targeted approach might be a good idea. To force a scan of the VST3 only:

• move "Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor.vst3" out of the scan path,
•  run a VST scan from Preference > File > VST Settings with both log options enabled,
•  after the scan search the scan log for "Shadow Hills". The only references should be the VST2 and possibly removing the VST3,
•  put "Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor.vst3" back into the VST3 folder,
•  run another VST scan from Preference > File > VST Settings with both log options enabled.

This should pick up the "Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor.vst3", If not there should be a log entry explaining the exclusion.

If this fails, uninstall the "Shadow Hills Mastering Compressor" confirming the VST3 is gone, re-install and re-run the scan with the log options enabled.

I am surprised notes outside the documented range work at all.

IIRC, the kit is mostly GM with some notes below 35 controlling the MIDI loop transport.

The note mapping is in the Session Drummer 3 help installed with the plug-in. Hit the F1 key to bring up the help when the plug-in UI has focus.

1 hour ago, Tim Elmore said:

3. When finished editing, press ctrl+s to save the changes (I usually leave RX8 open).

4. About two seconds later, CbB asks if I want to reload the modified clip. Click OK.

If RX is closed instead of being left open in step 3, CbB should ask immediately if the clip should be reloaded. I guess it depends on the PC which method is faster.

RX9 definitely works in CbB (cf. the config supplied above).   I don't have RX10 to test but there is every reason to suspect it does too.

13 minutes ago, Eric S. said:

45 minutes ago, scook said:

Directly editing project wave files with an external editor is not advisable and can result in a corrupted project.

Thanks Skook!  I think I've done this before (with Cakewalk closed) and it's worked, but I guess I've just been lucky.

You are not alone. I am sure there are quite a few that have editing project clips like this before, and it works most of the time. However, some metadata about audio clips are stored in the project. When using an external editor this data is preserved using the tool copy process. Direct editing clips does not update the project and can result in the clip data getting out of sync with the project. 

If you are going to continue direct editing, keep a copy of the original clip(s) just in case.

1 hour ago, Eric S. said:

I think it's still possible to add an external audio editor like Audacity to Cakewalk.  But it seems to involve messing with the Windows Registry.  Here's a link to an old forum topic on how to do this.

Caveat:  I haven't done this myself yet with CbB, although I do remember doing this "back in the day" with Cakewalk and CoolEdit (anyone remember that?) and it worked as expected.  These days if I want to use Audacity for some audio in a CbB project, I just edit the audio file in Audacity outside of Cakewalk.

Practically any file may be added to the Tools section of the CbB Utilities menu. One can either edit the registry by hand or use the free Tools Editor from this post 

For a tool to act as a wave editor in CbB, the tool must accept a wave file on the command line. In In the past, this was a problem for Audacity.  There are quite a few free and paid audio editors that do work though.

1 hour ago, Eric S. said:

It would be really nice if CbB had an easy way in the UI to add an external audio editor, so that audio clips could be right clicked and edited without leaving Cakewalk.  But I guess there isn't much call for this functionality.

In this case, an external audio editor is no different than the plug-in manager, VST scanner or any other freestanding executable launched by the DAW. Recently editors started to appear such as ARA plug-ins such SpectraLayers. Because plug-ins are actually loaded by CbB, unlike external programs, plug-ins appear much more integrated into the program. I am not aware of a regular wave editor implemented as an ARA plug-in. 

Directly editing project wave files with an external editor is not advisable and can result in a corrupted project. When using an external editor, calling the editor from the CbB utilities menus is the better approach as the clip is copied out and back into the project, adjusting info in the project as needed.

WRT noise reduction:

REAFIR is a free FFT tool which is similar to a lot of the tools that use noise capture to clean up audio.

For fee, iZotope RX Elements is an inexpensive way to get into the RX series which provides a plug-in which may be used in CbB for noise reduction. It's standalone editor also works in CbB like any other audio editor.

49 minutes ago, Jonathan Sasor said:

@scook @FJ Lamela @IgoRr please note the build link in the original post has been updated to version 008 which should resolve the delete issue. Thanks!

Looks OK Now

Running screen caps for delete, it appears the automation is no longer being orphaned.

Here is a screen cap deleting Sonitus Wah in 2022.06

and the same in 2022.11. Notice, the plug-in label remains after delete

1 hour ago, Noel Borthwick said:

Is the label persisting a new issue? Automation being orphaned is as intended but the plugin placeholder should be removed. I’ve never seen this…

When a plugin is deleted any related envelopes are orphaned and can be reused for something else or deleted. They are also kept in case you undo the delete, in which case they are reassigned to their parameters.

Yes, it works as expected in 2022.06 build 34. Delete the FX and all traces of the plug-in are removed including the label in the FX rack and automation.

Delete the plug-in in 2022.11 build 6 and an inaccessible label is left in the FX rack and the automation is orphaned. Restart the project and the label is gone but the orphaned automation is still threre.

Deleting a plug-in from an audio FX rack is incomplete if the plug-in has automation driven by remote control.

Immediately after delete, the plug-in label is retained in FX rack but is inaccessible. The plug-in is actually deleted and is gone when the project is re-opened, however; the automation is orphaned.

On 11/2/2022 at 12:40 PM, Morten Saether said:

You can now replace audio effects from track effect bins. To do so, right-click an effect and select Replace Audio FX, then select the desired effect.

Replacing a plug-in that uses MIDI I/O does not preserve the MIDI setup.

IOW, plug-in properties of the new plug-in has "Enable MIDI Input" and "Enable MIDI Output" deselected regardless of the plug-in's capabilities and the settings of the plug-in being replaced. Moreover, any routings to and from the plug-in to instrument/MIDI tracks are also lost.

On 11/2/2022 at 12:40 PM, Morten Saether said:

Undo delete effect doesn't restore MIDI Input enabled state

Not sure why this only addresses MIDI input.

Undo does restore "Enable MIDI Input" property and MIDI track output routing, if any

BUT

Undo does not restore "Enable MIDI Output" if previously enabled and any associated Instrument/MIDI track input settings.

works with all MIDI editor views (track, PRV, staff, etc).

All project templates bundled with have a master bus setup.

Put the plug-in in the Master bus FX rack and automate Dry/Wet or in the case of the VST3 plug-in, host bypass.

If the project does not have a master bus defined:

• create a new bus,
• right-click the new bus and enable "Set as Default Bus"
• select all audio and instrument tracks, set their output to the new bus,

Any new audio/instrument tracks will automatically point their output to the new bus.

If you are losing 'Do Nothing' shortcut assignments remember:

when a feature, such as persistent shortcuts across sessions, is missing or not working, check your workspace setting.

Bear in mind MIDI data is written directly into the project file which the DAW has open. There is very little setup time needed to create MIDI clips.

Audio clips, on the other hand, are written as separate files.  Their setup time is much more system dependent than MIDI.

20 minutes ago, 57Gregy said:

Not all of those products are/were downloadable.

But CCC should still work for those that are.

Correct

CCC, rolled out in Jan 2015, was developed to install and activate SONAR Platinum/Profession and Artist.

All Cakewalk products released after Dec 2014 have CCC compatible installers.

A few older plug-ins not bundled with the DAW subsequently had CCC compatible installers created, however; most products released before Jan 2015 never had their installers rewritten to support CCC.

13 minutes ago, Russell Alexander said:

z3ta+_fx.dll

The default install location for this dll is

C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Vstplugins\z3ta+

but may be located in any part of the VST2 scan path.

Since all the plug-ins scanned properly in SONAR and the scan paths are identical in SONAR and CbB, the location information for any plug-in should be in the VST properties for the plug-in in SONAR.

Is there a chance the scan path contains paths that do not contain plug-in dlls or duplicate paths? Repeated scans and scanning dlls that are not VST plug-ins can cause problems for the scanner. 

This may help clarify what is permissible

From http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=0x22B07

Quote

Generate Scan Log. Log the VST scanning progress to %APPDATA%\Cakewalk\Logs\VstScan.log. This can be useful to troubleshoot problems when plug-ins fail to scan properly.

Also make sure "Scan in Sandbox" is enabled and scans are run either automatically or from Preferences. 

I don't have any Waves plug-ins but it seems Waves support is the best source for fixing scan issues with their products,

35 minutes ago, Russell Alexander said:

Installing now.  Thank you - I thought it looked suspicious that it said 2018, but the Bandlab Assistant only said it was up to date.  I will update when it's done.  

Forget about BandLab assistant unless you need it to access the web based BandLab DAW, BandLab Loops or remote CbB installation and activation.

For some time now, CbB installed on machines with an internet connection use the DAW itself for updates and activation. Of course, the machine will need to be brought current for this feature and this is where the Cakewalk Installer come into play.

Regardless, older versions of CbB had no problem maintaining the scan path.

Scan path maintenance should be performed in Preferences > File > VST Settings and not the Plug-in Manager.

SONAR and CbB on the same machine use the same Plug-in Manager and VST scanner. This is one reason it is critical when both programs are on the same machine that CbB be installed last. This way all the shared components such as the Plug-in Manager and VST scanner are insured to be the most recent versions.

30 minutes ago, Jeremy Oakes said:

Does anyone know if the iteration of Z3ta bundled with Sonar 1 Producer will work in CbB ?

I've done a personalised install of Sonar 1 and can see it in the VST Manager of CbB,  and its enabled.

Any plug-ins normally installed with 64bit SONAR X1 should work OK in CbB.

I am pretty sure the z3ta+ installed on my machine came from SONAR Platinum but predates Platinum release by some time.

According to its Details tab in Properties, z3ta+.dll is file version 1.5.4.0 last modified on 30 Dec 2011.

30 minutes ago, Jeremy Oakes said:

Was it ever available in stand alone mode ?

No, VST2 synth and fx plug-ins only.

Oldest first is the safest approach if one plans on running full installs of SONAR but there is no reason to install the DAW portion of any version of SONAR except for X2 (for V-Vocal) and Platinum (some installers check the registry for the DAW).

X3 and older have an advanced install option which can install plug-ins without adding the DAW and its supporting files. Its the supporting files in the "Shared" folders than force the install order. Again, V-Vocal is the exception as it is part of the core DAW install and was modified in the X2a update.

Here is a reply to a similar post that goes into more detail

I have posted several times over the upload quota limit and have yet to delete a file. 

Between GoogleDrive and imgur, I have no reason to upload files directly to BandLab's servers and it does not cost me or BandLab. anything.