Modify Effects in Plug-in Manager

Cubase
1

I am certain there are sharper minds who can help me with this issue. I am a bit lost.

When I originally installed Cubase 8.5 Pro, the Plug-In Manager effects categories were Delay, Distortion, Dynamics, EQ… and so forth, which worked great in showing all of my VST effects (including Waves and IK Multimedia effects). My HD crashed, so I did a re-install and I generally got the same setup, but now Waves (and my other manufacturer’s effects) are not included in these categories, but as a separate effects options and Waves is categorized into Mono, Stereo, and Surround.

How can I modify the Plug-in Manager to make sure all of my plugins are only sorted in the basic Plug-in Manager categories (Delay, Distortion, Dynamics, EQ, etc…)?

Many, many thanks in advance - Z

2

There is a checkbox in preferences called something like sort plugins by vendor that should return it to how you had it.

3

If you are using the default collection (with VST3) plugins, they are sorted according to what the manufacturer has coded into them (most often by vendor). i.e. it works like before we had the plug-in manager. To really get the most use of this, you should set up your own collection! It may, initially, take some work, but it’s definitely worth in it the long run.

I have set up a Collection (sorted by effect type, as that is what I prefer) with folders according to type (delay, Compressors, Reverb, etc.). At the end of the list I have a folder named Archive, witch in turn contains folders sorted by the same types.

I store the plug-ins I use on a daily base in the top set of type folders. I also store all my plug-ins in that I rarely use in the sub-folders of the Archive folder.

That way, the plug-ins I rarely use doesn’t clutter up my list in the Insert/Sends tabs. Nevertheless, they are readily accessible, should I need them.

Furthermore, you can have duplicate instances of the plug-ins, in your personal collection(s). Take, for example, a plug-in that includes an EQ and a Compressor. This means that the plug-in can be “filed” under both EQs and Compressors! This is very useful. I also “file” the plug-in I use routinely both in the top folders and the Archive subfolders.

I have set up a similar collection for VST’s. I have found that organizing the plug-ins like this, greatly speeds up my workflow.

To my mind, giving us the ability to organize the plug-in in a way that suits us, and not the vendors, is one of the most important features Steinberg has implemented in a long, long time. Now, if they only let us rename them aswell.

One more important tip. Make a textfile with your set-up. This will make it much easier to rebuild your collection(s), if required. (As it was, when I replaced my system HD with an SSD.)

4

Thanks, Svenne - great suggestions - especially keeping a textfile of the setup.

5

I spent yesterday creating and reorganizing a new plug-in collection, which worked well, thank you! Afterward, I re-loaded Waves (using the newest version of Waves Central). Upon opening Cubase 8.5, the default collection incorporated everything - that is, the plug-in manager no longer segregated Waves. Okay, I appreciate that - regardless, I verified that the new collection is also indeed intact. Again, thank you all for you patience and suggestions. - Z

6

I’ve created three different collections: 1) function, 2) vendor, and 3) favorites.

The categories in the ‘function’ collection are close to those assigned by vendors. I’ve also added a few categories of my own like ‘multi’ and ‘arpeggiator.’

The ‘vendor’ collection is useful when I know I want a specific plugin. It allows me to select the one I want without having to search through dozens of effects in the ‘function’ collection. One category that I have in this collection is called ‘new’ and placed at the top of the list. After installing free plugins, or those that I am just demo-ing, they get placed in this folder so that if they misbehave I can remove them easily without searching for them. I mirror the placement of the corresponding .dll-files on my hard drive for the same reason.

The ‘favorites’ collection contains a few plugins that just seem to find their way into most projects. It’s a short list without categories.

Having all three collections really facilitates finding a plugin quickly.

Of course, one could also define other collections such as ‘genre’ where the plugins would be sorted by their likely use in a particular type of music.