VST improvements
Posted: 17 Sep 2018
I see these all as pretty basic, but would make a significant difference for workflow.
Filter by plugin type
This is very important with the number of plugins users have now and with the upcoming VST3 support. Other DAWs have the option to sort by plugin type. And this would be multi-selection and not an either or search. So you can browse RE+VST+VST3 or RE+VST3 or just VST, etc.
Open Upon Creation (option)
Every time I create a VST, I then have to open it. I have no control over parameters from the Rack and I also don't have immediate access to the plugin's interface upon creating an instance of it. How often do people create a VST and then not have a need to access the plugin's interface? I would assume most people create a VST and then hit the open button. Seems like an unnecessary step. So why not an option: "VST window opens upon creation"? This is how VST's behave in other DAWs, such as Bitwig and Logic. Logic presents it as an option as seen here (this is the default setting):
Keep Open by Default (option)
Why not have an option to have VSTs 'keep open', unless closed, by default? I find that I much prefer having control over opening and closing windows. There's nowhere else within the operating system where this behavior exists. I'm used to closing windows when I actually want them out of the way. This option would simply mean that this button is selected by default:
Collapsable option bar / smaller buttons
These take up space. In other DAWs like Logic, you can hide the top section. So maybe either allow the option to collapse this section and/or make the buttons smaller? For some plugins I use, this large header pushes the the bottom of the plugin's GUI out of view (when it's at an optimal viewing size), whereas if these buttons could be collapsed or smaller, it would fit on my screen without having to make the GUI smaller.
Collapsable:
Smaller icons and moving text to the right:
More channels available without opening programmer
Of course not all channels can fit here, but certainly an additional pair for inputs and outputs can fit. For all the plugins that have additional outputs available or all the plugins that have sidechain available on inputs 3&4, it seems unnecessary to have to expand the VST device to access them when there is so much space available. Could also be an opportunity to label a little better—since the expanded view is currently only called "CV Programmer" and mentions nothing about additional I/O.
Receive MIDI CC
Currently VSTs only receive performance controls, but not CC. So even if a controller's knob is set to send CC74 and a VST parameter is set to receive CC74, turning that knob will do nothing. You can try to make assignments with Remote, and aside from that being unnecessary work to setup something already assigned, I still am not able to get things to work most of the time.
Assignable Knobs and buttons (with default assignments)
Like 'smart controls' in other DAWs, they could perhaps be assigned by default to popular parameters such as cutoff, resonance, etc. It would be a simple solution to have some control from Reason's interface. They could be available via a dropdown without having to dive into an editor or place it into a Combinator. It's all about workflow and bringing something to the front of the VST device.
Auto Screenshot each time window is closed (option)
In lieu of having the VST device in the Rack display the plugin in realtime, why not have an option that automatically takes a new screenshot each time the window is closed? That way what is displayed in the Rack is most accurate to what is going on with that instance of the plugin at that time. Ideally this would be independent of what the screenshot button does, instead creating temp files only attached to the project, so that each individual instance of a particular plugin can look different if need be, per VST device in the Rack.
Filter by plugin type
This is very important with the number of plugins users have now and with the upcoming VST3 support. Other DAWs have the option to sort by plugin type. And this would be multi-selection and not an either or search. So you can browse RE+VST+VST3 or RE+VST3 or just VST, etc.
- filter_by_plugin_type.png (121.24 KiB) Viewed 3462 times
Open Upon Creation (option)
Every time I create a VST, I then have to open it. I have no control over parameters from the Rack and I also don't have immediate access to the plugin's interface upon creating an instance of it. How often do people create a VST and then not have a need to access the plugin's interface? I would assume most people create a VST and then hit the open button. Seems like an unnecessary step. So why not an option: "VST window opens upon creation"? This is how VST's behave in other DAWs, such as Bitwig and Logic. Logic presents it as an option as seen here (this is the default setting):
- Logic-open_on_insertion.png (25.17 KiB) Viewed 3462 times
Keep Open by Default (option)
Why not have an option to have VSTs 'keep open', unless closed, by default? I find that I much prefer having control over opening and closing windows. There's nowhere else within the operating system where this behavior exists. I'm used to closing windows when I actually want them out of the way. This option would simply mean that this button is selected by default:
- Keep_open.png (9.16 KiB) Viewed 3461 times
Collapsable option bar / smaller buttons
These take up space. In other DAWs like Logic, you can hide the top section. So maybe either allow the option to collapse this section and/or make the buttons smaller? For some plugins I use, this large header pushes the the bottom of the plugin's GUI out of view (when it's at an optimal viewing size), whereas if these buttons could be collapsed or smaller, it would fit on my screen without having to make the GUI smaller.
Collapsable:
- VST-collapse_options.gif (139.15 KiB) Viewed 3459 times
Smaller icons and moving text to the right:
- VST-smaller-icons.png (199.44 KiB) Viewed 3458 times
More channels available without opening programmer
Of course not all channels can fit here, but certainly an additional pair for inputs and outputs can fit. For all the plugins that have additional outputs available or all the plugins that have sidechain available on inputs 3&4, it seems unnecessary to have to expand the VST device to access them when there is so much space available. Could also be an opportunity to label a little better—since the expanded view is currently only called "CV Programmer" and mentions nothing about additional I/O.
- Additional_channels.png (121.66 KiB) Viewed 3403 times
Receive MIDI CC
Currently VSTs only receive performance controls, but not CC. So even if a controller's knob is set to send CC74 and a VST parameter is set to receive CC74, turning that knob will do nothing. You can try to make assignments with Remote, and aside from that being unnecessary work to setup something already assigned, I still am not able to get things to work most of the time.
Assignable Knobs and buttons (with default assignments)
Like 'smart controls' in other DAWs, they could perhaps be assigned by default to popular parameters such as cutoff, resonance, etc. It would be a simple solution to have some control from Reason's interface. They could be available via a dropdown without having to dive into an editor or place it into a Combinator. It's all about workflow and bringing something to the front of the VST device.
Auto Screenshot each time window is closed (option)
In lieu of having the VST device in the Rack display the plugin in realtime, why not have an option that automatically takes a new screenshot each time the window is closed? That way what is displayed in the Rack is most accurate to what is going on with that instance of the plugin at that time. Ideally this would be independent of what the screenshot button does, instead creating temp files only attached to the project, so that each individual instance of a particular plugin can look different if need be, per VST device in the Rack.
...not many were before. So figured I'd just ask people to not focus on that when linking the image I shared before lol. Not sure what is possible in regards to doing this, but yeah, I do still like the embedded view option. And you'd still have the ability to open the VST in a separate window, so no harm done IMO if it doesn't work for someone's workflow.