Questions & Answers

Add a "locate missing files" function whenever S1 can't find something like a plugin or audio file

+2 votes
1,185 views
asked Jul 7, 2022 in Documentation by wcookjr (2,130 points)
Very simple: Add a "locate missing files" or "search for missing files" function when S1 can't find an audio file or plugin instead of just telling us the program can't find something

The problem isn't that S1 can't magically find a file after it's been moved as I completely understand that aspect, it's that we're not given a method to rectify the situation that's the problem. I know for a fact Cockos Reaper is able to do this. iTunes had this capability even 15 years ago. I see no reason why S1 does not now

I like to keep my plugins folder organized and sometimes that means something like renaming a folder or creating a new sub-folder. However, I never move anything out of where I've told S1 to search for plugins. It's happened a few times before, but recently I moved a plugin and S1 was unable to load that plugin when opening a project. This wouldn't be a problem if we were given the option to locate the missing file by having S1 open up the file explorer (windows explorer, mac finder, etc) to the last known file location and allow us to locate it manually.

The same could go for audio files. I only had this issue back when I first started with S1 as I didn't know it would be one and so I haven't touched the audio files since, but say you want to organize the audio files for a project and you move an audio file to a sub-folder within the folder that S1 knows to look for that project. Why would you do this? Idk, perfectionism? Obsessive compulsion? Whatever your reasoning, if S1 hits you back with "cannot locate missing files", you should be able to locate them yourself if need be

To those saying I shouldn't move files once S1 has found them, I ask why should we be unable to organize our own files? S1 has been pretty terrible at finding plugins in my experience anyway and I find it a bit ridiculous. For example, I have S1 to search for VST3 at C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugins, which is supposedly the only place you can have VST3 files on Windows if S1 is to be able to find them. If I move a plugin into something like C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugins\Developer, then S1 is no longer able to find that plugin even though it's still under the C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugins umbrella that it's been told to search. Maybe this is an issue with Windows and S1 interplay, but other DAWs don't seem to have this problem. I've used Harrison Mixbus, Mixcraft, and Reaper, all of which are a fraction of the price of S1 and seem to have this functionality figured out

I've experienced similar with VST2 files which seem to have more versatility when it comes to location. I have S1 search in D:\DAW\VST for them and they're often in the location format D:\DAW\VST\Developer\Plugin type. So, with my recent issue as an example, I had a plugin located in D:\DAW\VST\Developer\Plugin.dll. I had gotten a few more plugins from that same developer, so I decided to organize a bit so that it got moved to D:\DAW\VST\Developer\Saturation\Plugin.dll. Upon opening a project which used that plugin, I was basically told to go pound sand because S1 couldn't be bothered to put in some extra effort finding the file or allow me to find it myself. If I had just been given the option to locate the missing file, it wouldn't have been an issue.

1 Answer

0 votes
answered Jul 9, 2022 by tothrec (32,280 points)
You may want to split these into two separate Feature Requests as they are completely different issues.

1. Unable to find a plug-in.  This means that you need to go into your settings and add or change a folder name to the list then re-open Studio One.
Granted, I do like the fact that Cakewalk lets you rescan whenever you want without having to close and re-open the app.

2. Missing files are listed when the Song is opened and you are provided the opportunity to browse to the new/changed location.  Not sure what new feature you need for this one
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