Plugin Menu Editor Thread

[gnjlee]

Originally Posted by James Steele

Be careful what you wish for! I'm a Digital Performer user for decades now and DP probably has one of the most flexible plugin manager capabilities of any DAW, allowing you to completely customize the pop-up plug-ins list withe folders and categories, etc.

Now here's the downside. I use my S3 with Digital Performer and it's virtually impossible to add a plugin via the control surface. When you select a track and then choose "Inserts" and hit the Config button, the user is dumped into a root level "bucket" of EVERY PLUGIN INSTALLED ON YOUR SYSTEM. There's no hierarchy at all. Imagine paging through over 1,000 plugins, 16 at a time!

Now I can't prove it, but I suspect that one of the reasons it's like this is that because DP is so flexible with plugin lists, it's made it much harder to get that to reflect them EUCON. I've suggested to MOTU that at the very least they just hardwire that function to at least show Manufacturer first, which would at least be an improvement.

Anyway... just mentioning this. I could be wrong.

I think the behavior you are describing is avoidable, but unintended consequences are a real risk with any code change.

To the subject at hand: Even adding an additional menu tree with user definable links to plugins would be super helpful. This is a stretch, but having hover capability where it shows a plugin image would be even better as some plugin names can be very esoteric.

[Electronic1982]

Originally Posted by James Steele

I'm a Digital Performer user for decades now and DP probably has one of the most flexible plugin manager capabilities of any DAW, allowing you to completely customize the pop-up plug-ins list withe folders and categories, etc...

...I use my S3 with Digital Performer and it's virtually impossible to add a plugin via the control surface. When you select a track and then choose "Inserts" and hit the Config button, the user is dumped into a root level "bucket" of EVERY PLUGIN INSTALLED ON YOUR SYSTEM. There's no hierarchy at all. Imagine paging through over 1,000 plugins, 16 at a time!

...I suspect that one of the reasons it's like this is that because DP is so flexible with plugin lists, it's made it much harder to get that to reflect them EUCON. I've suggested to MOTU that at the very least they just hardwire that function to at least show Manufacturer first, which would at least be an improvement.

Interesting point and this can be addressed.
The method below would work out to be a selling point for Avid's own Control Surfaces, let me explain:

Just like one of the benefits of using an Avid Audio Interface is the fact latency is automatically worked out, this is not true for 3rd party Interfaces as far as I know regarding Pro Tools,
one of the reasons why I like to buy Avid's Interfaces, because of the excellent compatibility with Pro Tools.

So for Avid Control Surfaces,
Pro Tools would auto-detect that an Avid Control Surfaces is present,
as a result, you would be able to edit an Exclusive Plugin Menu for just Avid's own Control Surfaces that would appear in the perfect style personalised to the owner.

This would only be possible if you use an Avid Control Surface with Pro Tools, the 3rd party DAWs would not be able to do it.
So if you use an Avid Control Surface, it would make more sense to use Pro Tools a bit more now,
And if you use Pro Tools as a DAW, it would make more sense to buy an Avid Control Surface a bit more now.
Because I would get exclusive, perfect plugin menu layout on my Control Surface which other DAW/ Control Surface combinations would not give me.

It would be a nice selling point to add to the list.

[James Steele]

Originally Posted by Electronic1982

ISo for Avid Control Surfaces,
Pro Tools would auto-detect that an Avid Control Surfaces is present,
as a result, you would be able to edit an Exclusive Plugin Menu for just Avid's own Control Surfaces that would appear in the perfect style personalised to the owner.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this capability doesn't exist in Pro Tools yet, does it?

Honestly, My S3 works pretty well with Digital Performer 11.34. I would like hierarchy when adding plug ins. Until that happens I can add them quickly with mouse/keyboard.

[Electronic1982]

Originally Posted by James Steele

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this capability doesn't exist in Pro Tools yet, does it?

Despite the repeated requests, Pro Tools has never managed to offer a Plugin Menu Editor to the userbase.
This really needs to change.

[merlin.audio]

Just so I get this right, you're talking about the menu that comes up when you click on an empty Insert slot and then hover e.g. "multichannel plugin" right?

Why do you need to customize that menu vs. searching for the relevant plugin?

As in: click on empty insert slot, start typing for the plugin you're searching

For example: click on insert slot B, type "om", press enter, it inserts the "Omnisphere" plugin

[Electronic1982]

Originally Posted by merlin.audio

Just so I get this right, you're talking about the menu that comes up when you click on an empty Insert slot and then hover e.g. "multichannel plugin" right?

Why do you need to customize that menu vs. searching for the relevant plugin?

As in: click on empty insert slot, start typing for the plugin you're searching

For example: click on insert slot B, type "om", press enter, it inserts the "Omnisphere" plugin

Navigation, Browsing and Sectioning of the Plugin Menu is important for inspiration and logging of the system as a whole.
Some people Mix and some people Write in Pro Tools, this requires a personalised plug-in menu.
The search feature works mostly for when looking for 1 plugin or smaller group of plugins, but the search feature can also be imporved if we could assign Tags to each plugin, where the search feature would look through.

[huzzam]

Just last week I took the opposite approach to this problem: I cleaned out my plugins. Anything I haven't used in a year i moved into "Plugins (Unused)", and now my plugin list has ~160 entries total.


Yes, if I revisit old sessions I'll have to bring some things back in, but basically I realized a) I don't do that very often and b) I just don't need all that crap. I use Pro-Q 98% of the time for track EQ, and McDSP's 6030 for 80% of my track compression. I have four go-tos for saturation, five for reverb. And really I almost always just use two delays, EchoBoy & Valhalla Delay...


Kept a few more things around for variety, but ditched a lot of redundant stuff... I had six different 1176es, but only use two (UAD & the one in the 6030)! Four Pultecs, five LA-2As. Got rid of all the AIR & Eleven effects I haven't used in years, since Soundtoys, Helix Native, Valhalla, & Kilohearts cover me for fun stuff. Also took out all the Avid stuff that requires an active support plan / subscription, since it's all basically covered by other plugins I own.


It's easier for me to focus on my creative flow this way, not ever having to choose between redundant tools.


Anyway, I don't mean to hijack the thread, and I know that this approach isn't for everyone, but just wanted to chime in, because it's really been helpful.

[Electronic1982]

Originally Posted by huzzam

I don't mean to hijack the thread, and I know that this approach isn't for everyone, but just wanted to chime in, because it's really been helpful.


...and now my plugin list has ~160 entries total.

It's all cool, it's a good suggestion, but you still have 160 plugins to organize.
160 is still a lot of plugins and the perfect menu, personalised to how you work would assist it nicely.

What happens if you change your workflow or upgrade the studio?
It'll be nice to update the Plugin Menu to match.

[smurfyou]

Originally Posted by huzzam

Just last week I took the opposite approach to this problem: I cleaned out my plugins. Anything I haven't used in a year i moved into "Plugins (Unused)", and now my plugin list has ~160 entries total.

I do the same but it would be a whole lot better with my plugin manager idea. You would simply disable them from the manager and they would no longer load or appear in the menu. If you load a session with one of those plugins PT would ask if you'd like to enable it. Since we now have a real time plugin scanner and its possible to load a plug while PT is already running. All very easy and no manually moving files in and out of folders. The manager should be able to sort of course - by manufacturer, category, date installed and date last instanced(!).

[massivekerry]

Originally Posted by smurfyou

I do the same but it would be a whole lot better with my plugin manager idea. You would simply disable them from the manager and they would no longer load or appear in the menu. If you load a session with one of those plugins PT would ask if you'd like to enable it. Since we now have a real time plugin scanner and its possible to load a plug while PT is already running. All very easy and no manually moving files in and out of folders. The manager should be able to sort of course - by manufacturer, category, date installed and date last instanced(!).

Heck. In that case would also be GREAT to be able to save "Active Plugin Sets" to Templates (and in sessions). When I'm writing, I need all of my Instruments, and not as many of the mix/repair-focused plugs. Conversely, when I'm doing more Post-y sessions (which may just be loading 10 music tracks and mixing them against VO for a presentation) I don't need to see all of the "Music-making" plugins I own.

I still strongly support and prioritize the ability to make our own user-created lists of plugins and categories, but I think this is a good idea as well. The idea of being able to choose to dynamically re-enable plugins in-session that might not be in the Plug-Ins folder (instead of the current/legacy "Go to Store/Avid Link" workflow) would be a boon for when I get those old sessions that used, say Ozone 7-10, and so on.