Hmm, I’m using Opus right now on my Win 10 system/Doric Pro 3.5 with no probs. Specifically EW Gypsy and Voices Of Passion. The choirs work too, but I haven’t tried Wordbuilder ( I use Cubase for that, but so far the results are nowhere near as good as the demos above.)
I assume that most people who would be interested in using the EastWest Choirs with Dorico would want to use WordBuilder; otherwise, there are lots of vocal libraries that provide oohs and ahs. So when I am asked whether an EW Choir will work with Dorico, my answer also assumes that the questioner will want to use WordBuilder.
The wordbuilder part for Symphonic and Hollywood choirs is what was not working with Dorico for me.
Those hang up and do not cycle properly. My solution is to bridge Opus or Play6 through Bidule and then it works. For someone that doesn’t have Bidule, keep a copy of Play5 on the system and that works in Dorico for the choir wordbuilder. Play5 isn’t showing on the main website anymore, but the links are still good from the wayback engine and such. I’ve links to it here.
So, would VEP do the job too?
It might. I don’t know. It’s worth a try if you have VEP.
I have read that some are using Play5 in VEP.
The good news about rolling back to Play5 is this. It keeps its files in a different location from Play6 and Opus. Using the installers to quickly roll back and forth, it won’t over-write your Play6 stuff, and using the ‘uninstall’ options don’t delete your user files.
I think Play5 and Play6 do use the same plugin ID, so don’t keep both plugins in the plugin directory at the same time. Swap them out…
If one wanted, could just make a simple batch script or something to swap between play 5 and 6 with a click (exchange the plugins in whatever directory you keep it in before launching your host(s)).
PS, the main difference I can see in play 5 and 6…is play 6 is more integrated into XCloud. You can preview and download instruments one at a time from inside Play itself. Otherwise, I see very little if any difference between the two.
I am using Wordbuilder/Play 5.0.6 in VEP which works fine with the general reservations such as accented notes, some consonants (most commonly “s” for some reason) dropping etc which have been discussed here and elsewhere. Like @johnkprice to me the raison d’etre of SC is the Wordbuilder feature and I do hope they update the library with Opus support before too long. The hope of this is the main reason I don’t want to invest too much more time working on the results with the current system
Opus and WordBuilder work correctly in Finale, Sibelius, Notion and Overture. I hope the Dorico team will look into this at some point.
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with what? I wasn’t aware there was a version of Symphonic Choirs available to run under Opus? If there is and it works OK with other notation software, I’d like to get the details of exactly what you have been testing.
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I have not tested it extensively, but Symphonic Choirs and word builder ‘seem’ to work in Opus in my brief ‘check’. The button to enter word builder isn’t in the place we’re used to seeing it in Play, but it can be found if you load it into Opus tab around.
dko, all the old libraries work in Opus.
Brian, Wordbuilder shows up in the Perform tab. As stated above, the syllables don’t progress with the notes.
In Dorico, true. Otherwise it seems to work for me in stand alone, or in other hosts (or if bridged via Bidule in Dorico).
Sorry, I’d picked up on the comments about it working in other hosts…
in which case the information on the EWQL FAQ is very misleading. In addition, there is no way you can download Opus to my knowledge on its own unless you are a subscriber? How did you (and Brian) get hold of it ? I’m of course very curious to test it for myself if possible!
I had a go, and from their FAQ, they’re only offering Opus to people with Hollywood Strings Gold and/or the subscription. They plan to introduce Opus to other users later, but it will have a cost.
that’s exactly what I read months ago. So I assume that @wcreed and @Brian_Roland are probably subscribers then which won’t help me.
Yes, I was curious about the choirs with word-builder and some other things. Decided to take advantage of a discount offer they had back in the summer and give XCloud a try for a year and see how I like those, and other instruments from EW. Out of the gate, they sent installers for Play6 and Opus.
My main beef with EW is that a licence only covers a single seat.
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and I have no interest in other EWQL software at present so my only option is to wait for Opus to be made available to non-subscribers.
Same for me; I sure hope they will continue to upgrade Wordbuilder!
Thank you, John! I see that more people have the same issues.
PS…
I need to add something about my comment on word builder working in Opus with Bidule. I think I covered it in the thread linked above somewhere, but just so people know.
I said it seems to work. It plays back in real time. I was NOT successful in it working with the render to audio file option that Dorico offers. To get an audio rendering, I had to resort to hacks and tricks (record the output of Dorico somehow in real time as it ‘plays’ a score.
It’s also important to add the disclaimer that I just ran a quickly tossed together SATB hymn through it. I didn’t spend much time going for a really good performance, or pushing the limits of the Host to EW Symphonic Choirs relationship.
I plan to take a closer look at some point, but as of now, I’ve not done much more than load it up and make some general observations.
Dorico > Bidule > Opus VST2, and the word-builder seemed to work in ‘real time/play mode’. No instant/silent render to audio. Seems like I had similar experiences with Play 6.
Play 5.01 VST2, I had no issues running directly in Dorico. I think Play 5.06 is really close in terms of features (not sure if there are ‘bug fixes’ and such too), but including a VST3 variant, which I have NOT tried at this point.
By the time I can revisit this combination…it may be that EW and/or Steinberg have new releases that address whatever the hang up is now.