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Auto assign channels to a VSTi instance with multiple instruments.

+4 votes
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asked Jun 16, 2020 in Instruments and Plug-Ins by cedricmialaret (1,610 points)

Adding an instance of a VSTi (e.g. Kontakt) with n (16) instruments/articulations/outputs is way slower than it should be in SO 4.6:

Assuming Kontakt has already been configured with 16 stereo outputs as default confguration (st. 1, st.2, ... st. 16, with channels 1/2, 3/4, ..., 31/32)

1.  In SO, click Add Tracks: type: Instrument, count :16, Output: New instrument, select kontakt instrument, Ascending
2. Open the Instriment Editor
3. Add the 16 instruments/articulations/whatever to the Kontakt Instance
4. By default, each instrument's output is assigned the first Kontakt output. Assign correct output for all instruments. Ex: inst 2, st.2, inst 3, st3, ... It's easy, number should correspond to the Midi Ch nr: st.2 for [A] 2, st3 for [A] 3, ...
5. Optional: open Kontakt's output pane, choose Presets / Batch Configuration - Batch Functions - Rename output section channels according to assigned instruments.
6.In the Instrument Editor, click the first icon next to "default" and select n (16 in this example) outputs Kt. st. 1 -> Kt. st 1, Kt st2 -> Kt. st 2, ...
7.In SO's main view, rename the tracks correctly (Violin I Pizzicato, Oboe Legato, whatever
8. Close Instrument Editor. In SO, Open console view and inspector view
9. We should really go to step 11 now, but it is simpler to describe what happens if we postpone, so that channel names are not changed yet
Select first track. In the inspector view, you'll see that it is assigned channel Kt. st.1. As expected.
Select 2nd track. In the inspector view, you'll see that it is assigned channel Kt. st.1. Same for all other tracks.
In other words, by default, SO attributes the same channel to each output of a VSTi.This isn't as it should be. This is why you only see one channel in the console view, although you expected 16.
This is also why, if you put the 16 tracks in a folder and folded it, only 1 track would disappear in console view.

Feature Request: SO should auto assign outputs of a single instance of a vsti to the correct channel (created if need be) of the instrument track. This could work as follow:
- select all tracks lionked to the VSTi instance, in this example 16.
- Right click / Attribute channels to tracks or menu Track / Attribute channels to tracks.

10. Since this isn't the case, select track 2 to 16, and for each, assign correct channel (Kt. st2, Kt, st3, ...)
You should now see 16 channels for the VSTi in the console view.
11.Select all 16 tracks in standard view
12 Right-click / Apply track names to channels, or menu Track /  Apply track names to channels
Now all tracks are renamed correctly! Unfortunately, this isn't the case for the color: if you applied the same color to the tracks, the color appears only on the first channel in console vew.
13. Select all 16 channels in console view. click on the color of the first one. The color palette appears. Click on the color and now all channels are colored correctly.

Feature Request: function Apply track names to channels should also apply the color.

At this point, all 16 tracks are assigned to the kirst channel (kt. 1 st. 1) by default.

-> This is a pain in the a..
Is there a way to auto assign the channels to the tracks, so that one doesn't incur 16 additional steps of
A. select a track
B. select correct channel in the inspector window?

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