I am getting a lot of use out of Retrologue 2 and am overall enjoying the results. I am trying to create my own soundbanks and would like to categorize my custom patches with similar librarian tags to how the factory presets are organized. I am having difficulty achieving this.
My first attempt was to alter the metadata of the patch via ‘notepad’ (a .vstpreset file type). This accomplished nothing.
My second attempt was to create my own folder hierarchy. This seemed to work, but some of my patches (whether from altered factory presets or from scratch) do not consistently load. I have only created a handful of patches so far, but some of them will not load ever since I made these changes; even if I restart the program. Those patches USED to load before I tried to find a method to organize them and they were all randomly stacked up in one folder
UPDATE #1:
With more time spent self-diagnosing, I discovered that somehow there were exactly four of my patches that somehow got corrupted when I edited them in notepad. Since these files were corrupted after I saved them in notepad, Retrologue 2 would stop cycling through any presets once it got to the corrupted patch (the arrow could cycle back to the previous good patch but not go the direction of the corrupted patch at all).
Since I used the bass patches in a project already, I was able to recover them. The third of the four I was able to recreate quickly due to it being a modified patch. Therefore, one of my problems has been solved already now that I realize that I do not know what I’m doing when I try to edit metadata. Perhaps I accidentally did not have the metadata of the instrument category match the folder name-- that’s my only guess.
That leaves me with using the file browser to make/edit new folders in order to categorize my patches. That is perfectly serviceable. If not, I also have the VST wrapper in my DAW that can store any vst presets in a brute force method (I suspect .fxb files).
I tried the “Steinberg Library Manager” and it seems to only work for loading purchased/premade preset packs, and not for individual file shepherding. Correct me if I’m wrong, I do not see the option to create your own library, there must be another piece of software I’m not privy to in order to load or edit your own patch banks.
UPDATE #2:
I did not want to double post, but I seem to have had my [edit] function removed.
Today, I created another patch, but this time I highly modified one of my own bass patches into a synth lead. I created a folder in my file browser for synth leads. What’s interesting is that it saved the file with some bogus metadata that forces is to be in a sub-sub folder of synth-keys. The preset that I modified had none of this bogus metadata.
I like this VST, but it really is getting janky how presets store themselves and penalize you for attempting to do otherwise. I did not want this preset saved in a sub-sub folder entitled “synth keys”.
[update #3]
It turns out that the bogus metadata was grandfathered in. If I modify an existing patch from the default soundbank (no matter how unrecognizable the end result) this metadata will continually be saved to any modified patches, even second or third generation. The only way to avoid this conundrum is to always work from an initialized patch (unless the modified patch is to end up in the same classification). That is understandable even if unnecessarily inconvenient and unusual.
A. Categorize Retrologue presets
Editing a VSTPreset directly with a text editor is somewhat critical, as you have already experienced, as those are not simply text-files with a different extension and can easily lead to corrupted files (been there, done that…).
I would suggest the following workflow:
When saving a preset inside Cubase, better use the SAVE PRESET… function above in the plugin window:
This will open this window:
Clicking on the symbol above on the right (on the previous image) opens the Attribute Inspector, where you can categorize your presets:
Most options here are somewhat preconfigured, but the option FAMILY NAME allows you to enter any text, there you can insert tags, which do not appear in the other options. MediaBay searches all those tags too, when introducing a search term.
As a more advanced and precise way, you can select your recently saved patch inside the MediaBay and continue to add tags and characteristics in MediaBay´s Attribute Inspector itself. There you can even add and define your own attributes. I called them VARIOUS on my system.
These new options can also be searched with the MediaBay.
B. Creating a soundbank
The easiest way would be to offer a ZIP file. It can be unpacked anywhere on the new computer, and the MediaBay will find it, as long as the location is selected as active in MediaBay´s File Browser. In THIS COMPUTER (see image below) you can select individual folders to be searched:
The Steinberg way would be offering a VST container. As far as I am aware, these can only be created from inside Halion 6 or 7.
I hope this information is of help.
Aall the best.
