Plug-in manager!

I have issues regarding adding my 3rd party instruments plugins to show along with the native Logic's instrument plugins (ES2, EXS24, etc...). Everythings works just fine for the audio fx, but things gets somewhat mixed up when dealing with instruments plugins

See the attached picture showing a couple of those issues.

For instance:

-Why are'nt the added folders on the same top level among the above Logic's native plugins? Why are they separated from them in the selector?

Is there a way to sort them in a way that, i.e. the AAS folder shows at the top of the list followed by the Drum Kit Designer, etc...?

-Is this normal that the Drum Machine Designer plugin is way down the list like that, away from the other native Logic's instruments plugins?

-Why does that Multi FX folder (containing only audio fx plugins) shows up here in the instruments plugins selector?

Same question for the AU MIDI-controlled Effects folder below?

The instruments you see in the Software instrument plugin drop down menu are at the top level.

The same drop down menu for Audio FX plug-ins has no top level plug-ins in its default state.

And it's normal to have Drum Machine Designer in a separated area.

Thanx Eric for your feedback!

Any thoughts regarding the Multi FX folder and AU MIDI-controlled Effects folder showing in the same instrument selector? Those contains only audio fx...

Those plug-ins are probably available as MIDI controlled FX.

Try inserting them.

Those plug-ins are probably available as MIDI controlled FX.

Try inserting them.

Indeed they are all MIDI controlled FX plugins. I am able to instantiate each of them in the instrument slot, although they don't produce any sound (understandably).

I don't understand why they are showing as available on the instrument slot, while they are also (and more approprately) pertaining to the Audio-FX slot.

Hi all and thanks for this thread, it has taught me how to use Plug-In Manager and sorted out all my issues.

Here's a quick summary of what I've learned so far. Please correct if I got something wrong, or add on if I've missed something.

Note that I have only used FX plug-ins, no SW instruments.

cheers /Tommy

PLUG-IN MANAGER

- Don’t use any special characters in folder names

- When creating a new folder, you MUST hit Enter, otherwise it will be named ”Untitled”

- If you leave a folder empty (without any plug-ins), it won’t show up in Logic

- You can create sub-folders by putting colon between the folder level names, e.g AAA:BBB

- You can put a plug-in inside as many different folders as you like

- You can put a plug-in at the root level by dragging it to ”Top Level” in Plug-In Manager

I don't understand why they are showing as available on the instrument slot, while they are also (and more approprately) pertaining to the Audio-FX slot.

Because they are MIDI-controlled effects. These plug-ins have a MIDI input and because of that they can be loaded also from the instrument slot. When loaded this way, their audio input is accessed via the Side Chain input (upper right corner of the plug-in window).

After organizing this type of plug-ins, I wish we could choose whether they appear in the part of the menu where third-party instruments are found. In other words, have them available only under "AU MIDI-Controlled Effects", at the bottom of the menu.

J.

Because they are MIDI-controlled effects. These plug-ins have a MIDI input and because of that they can be loaded also from the instrument slot. When loaded this way, their audio input is accessed via the Side Chain input (upper right corner of the plug-in window).

Ah!? Thanx for the tip! That notion is completely new for me, and I start to envision the possibilities...

What if some of the plugins dont have a side chain? Is there another way to get sound out of them?

After organizing this type of plug-ins, I wish we could choose whether they appear in the part of the menu where third-party instruments are found. In other words, have them available only under "AU MIDI-Controlled Effects", at the bottom of the menu.

 

J.

Let's hope Apple will develop further that feature...

Have you posted a feature request on their feedback page?

Ah!? Thanx for the tip! That notion is completely new for me, and I start to envision the possibilities...

What if some of the plugins dont have a side chain? Is there another way to get sound out of them?

The side chain input is just the way Logic implements accessing the plug-ins' audio input when they're loaded as MIDI-Controlled Effects. This is the same audio input used when the plug-ins are loaded as regular audio effects. In other words, the side chain input will always be there for all of them.

Let's hope Apple will develop further that feature...

Have you posted a feature request on their feedback page?

Not yet, I will at some point.

J.

I am running Logic on a desktop and on a laptop.

I have organized my plugins last night on one of the computers. Is it possible to "copy" the same customized structure of plugins to another computer without recreating it manually?

Hi,

I am running Logic on a desktop and on a laptop.

I have organized my plugins last night on one of the computers. Is it possible to "copy" the same customized structure of plugins to another computer without recreating it manually?

Yes. You can move the Macintosh HD/Users/your username/Music/Audio Music Apps/Databases" folder (and all its contents of course) from one computer to the next. The plug-in organization you made in one computer will be transferred to the other. Depending on how you move/copy the folder, you may need to make sure the correct file/folder permissions are use (just check the Get Info window). I did it here and it worked beautifully.

J.

Thank you JordI

Does it affect other aspects of Logic, or only the plugin manager thingy?

so ? is there's a way to hide "Midi-Controlled Effects" appearing in the Instruments folder?

does anyone knows?

Thanks.

It's not a stupid question and has actually been asked before. As far as I know there's no way. Please send feedback to Apple:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/logic-pro.html

The reason they show up there is not because they are effects too, it's because they have a MIDI input.

J.

Hi guys,

Am I right in thinking they've now got rid of the "plug in manager" and replaced it with the "au manager". I can't seem to organise my 3rd party plug ins into folders.

My version is 10.0.7.

Cheers

Hi guys,

 

Am I right in thinking they've now got rid of the "plug in manager" and replaced it with the "au manager". I can't seem to organise my 3rd party plug ins into folders.

 

My version is 10.0.7.

 

Cheers

Plug-in Manager was introduced in version 10.1. You need to update Logic.

J.

dude, i've just done this and logic pro x will no longer open - just quits before it opens - please help

What did you do exactly?

@laughingboy9000,

Please let us know what you did and please add your exact Logic version and system info to your signature:

Click this link to your signature and add your system information:

• Logic version and sub-version (e.g. Logic 10.2.0)

• OS X version and sub-version (e.g. OS X 10.10.5)

• Computer (e.g. MacBook, Mac Pro, iMac)

• Processor (e.g. 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

• Memory (e.g. 8GB)

• Audio interface manufacturer and model (e.g. Presonus AudioBox USB)

• MIDI Controller manufacturer and model (e.g. M-Audio Axiom Pro 49)

(most of that information can be found by choosing Logic Pro X > About Logic Pro X, and  > About This Mac)

Thanks!

J.

I was running latest legal versions logic/osx

i have just copied this post from another thread i started

Fixed - praise the mystic spaghetti monster and happy 2017

So, after hours of googling and trial and error here's what I did:

First off, I'm lucky that I have a backup cloud service - I suppose Time Machine would have worked as well which I didn't have but will be getting after this f*ckery.

replaced both 'Databases' folders in the following locations:

User-->Music-->Audio Music Apps

Finder--Go (hold down 'Option' key) -->Library-->Application Support-->Logic

Then I trashed all my apple.logic preferences

Then I restarted and everything was back to normal

I highly recommend that you do not alter the  'Databases' or 'Tags' folder or MusicApps.tagpool file in anyway lest you want your day ruined

 

After organizing this type of plug-ins, I wish we could choose whether they appear in the part of the menu where third-party instruments are found. In other words, have them available only under "AU MIDI-Controlled Effects", at the bottom of the menu.

 

J.

hey, has this wish come true yet?

So, if for some reason you can't delete the folder directly from Plug-in Manager, you could do it manually from the MusicApps.tagpool file using TextEdit:

Jordi, first, thanks for your original post regarding removing unwanted user (custom) folders in the Logic Plug-In Manager. I realize my response is coming a couple of years late. However, I just used your recommended steps, and I felt it was important to share my experience with this. I am now using Logic Pro X 10.5 (on OSX Mojave). I had a couple of my custom folders in the Plug-In Manager that I could not delete. I used your advice, and used Text Edit to remove the folder references in the Music/Audio Music Apps/Documents/Tags/MusicApps.tagpool file. When I reopened Logic, those unwanted folders were still there. So, I then followed your advice to find and remove the .tagset file that included those folder names. There were many .tagset files, however, no such file existed with the folder names in question. Therefore, I tried one more thing. I used Text Edit to open the MusicApps.properties file. That file also contains a list of the custom folders. So, again, I deleted those references. When I opened Logic again, those folders were now GONE. So that worked. So, if anyone tries to do this, you may need to edit both the MusicApps.tagpool AND the MusicApps.properties files.

Fusion Head,

Glad to hear you found a way to get it to work. I really don't remember this MusicApps.properties file being there. Could be this is something new? The original discussion is quite old now so that's definitely a possibility.

J.

Fusion Head,

Could be this is something new? The original discussion is quite old now so that's definitely a possibility.

J.

Yes, that could very well be true. Seems strange there is what seems a direct copy of the folders list inside both of those configuration files. Maybe one will eventually replace the other. But for now, seems you must edit both for the unwanted folder(s) to be removed. Not sure why Apple doesn't just fix the problem with custom plug in folders. This has been going on for many years now. Thanks again!

Just wanting to document this a little more as I'm seeing something similar with rename/delete behavior. My symptoms are:

• There are 3 folders that I just can't rename/delete: "Imaging", "Specialized" and "Utility". Every other one I was able to update through the UI.
  
• If I rename a folder (yes, clicking return after entering the name), it just creates a copy of the folder itself and moves the plugins to it - but the original one persists.

Short version of the fix:

• Rename folder in plug-in manager. This creates the copy.
  
• Go in both the MusicApps files and delete references to the original folder name.
  
• Restart logic.

Some of the steps may be superfluous but it's easy enough and it's working so I don't really want to spend time to figure out the most pristine way of doing it to shave a second or two.

Longer version, documenting as I'm going through it in case its helpful for someone:

In Plug-In Manager dialog:

• Clicked on "Restore Default Settings" to start fresh.
  
• Double click on "Imaging" to rename (I'm renaming it to all lowercase, "imaging"). Hit Return.

A new folder is created called "imaging" but the original is still there. The plug-ins are moved from the "Imaging" folder to the new one "imaging".

• I exit the Plug-In Manager, and re-open it to see if it's some cache issue. Nope, everything persists.

In terminal:

• Navigate to ~/Music/Audio Music Apps/Databases/Tags
  
• Run:

   ls -al Music*

I have 2 files, MusicApps.properties and MusicApps.tagpool

• Look into the *.tagpool file, and I have both a "Imaging" and "imaging" key, with different integer values. I remove the "Imaging" one.
  
• Re-open the plugin manager. Folder is still there.
  
• Re-check the MusicApps.tagpool file, and the "Imaging" key is still not there (just to make sure it wasn't re-added by Logic at this time)
  
• Edit the MusicApps.properties file to delete the "Imaging" string in the array.

Checked in Plug-In manager, and the "Imaging" folder is still there.

• Quit Logic, re-started app and checked again. "Imaging" folder is no longer there.