VST Scan

[steve@baselines.com]

Hi - first a thank you for past answers.  It's really great to have a forum of people who know things!

Now, for another question...I'm sure that many Cakewalk users have enough VSTs so that a scan takes a lifetime when you get a new product.

What is the proper (safe) way to get all the old versions of a product (like Ozone 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 !!) out of the picture.  Is it simply removing(moving) the ones you don't use out of the VST folder area and doing a rescan?  (in the process probably breaking old song files, but that's a price I am willing to pay).

Also, is there a fast way to scan JUST for new installations?

Steve

 

[scook]

15 minutes ago, steve@baselines.com said:

What is the proper (safe) way to get all the old versions of a product (like Ozone 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 !!) out of the picture.  Is it simply removing(moving) the ones you don't use out of the VST folder area and doing a rescan?  (in the process probably breaking old song files, but that's a price I am willing to pay).

It is possible to both remove old plug-ins from view (and possible accidental use) and still have them available when an old project needs them....the Plug-in Exclude List.

The Plug-in Exclude List is maintained by the Plug-in Manager. From the Plug-in Manager help

Quote

To exclude plug-ins

1. Open the Plug-in Manager.
2. In the Plug-in Categories list, select the desired plug-in category.
3. Under Manage Exclusion List, select Show Enabled.
4. In the Registered Plug-ins list, select all the plug-ins you wish to exclude (to make multiple selections, hold down the CTRL or SHIFT key and click each plug-in you wish to select).
5. Click the Exclude Plug-in button.

Alternately, moving plug-ins out of the scan path or uninstalling work too but as noted in the OP, the plug-ins will not be available when loading old projects. 

 

23 minutes ago, steve@baselines.com said:

Also, is there a fast way to scan JUST for new installations?

By default, the VST scanner only scans a plug-in one time. Of course, it has to walk the scan path to find unscanned plug-ins.

Plug-ins that load in a shell such as Waves must be scanned every time because this is the only way to know what is available using the shell.

[bitflipper]

When I add a new plugin, the subsequent scan takes about 3 seconds. A lot longer if I do a reset first, in which case it's more like 30-40 seconds. Either way, significantly under a lifetime. OP, how long do your scans take? Could be one plugin that's holding up the process.

 

[steve@baselines.com]

33 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

When I add a new plugin, the subsequent scan takes about 3 seconds. A lot longer if I do a reset first, in which case it's more like 30-40 seconds. Either way, significantly under a lifetime. OP, how long do your scans take? Could be one plugin that's holding up the process.

 

My scan takes upwards of 5 minutes now.  This is using edit->preferences->VST Settings -> Manual Scan ->Scan.

All of the options are checked.  So it is probably overkill.  Also, over the decades, I have added 13 folders for the thing to scan.  I know, it's a mess.

I see all of the plugins listed as they are scanned, and each one seems to go relatively quickly...but I of course walk away and do something else after the first minute or so.  Every time I look at it though, it seems to be progressing through each one about the same.

Steve

 

[steve@baselines.com]

3 hours ago, scook said:

It is possible to both remove old plug-ins from view (and possible accidental use) and still have them available when an old project needs them....the Plug-in Exclude List.

 

Thank you - I will give that a try.  Also, based on what Bitflipper said, I will try to uncheck some of the boxes in the VST Scan routine.

Steve