# VEP 8 wish list?



## ka00 (Sep 13, 2021)

What would you love to see in VEP 8?

Please forgive me if any of these are already possible, but here's what I would like:

1) Double-click channel name in mixer view (not just channel view) to rename it.
2) Alt+Drag selected channels to a bus to route them to it. OR…
3) Drag selected channels to a bus to nest them under that bus, and allow the bus to act like a folder that can collapse/expand what's inside them but also do what busses can do like adding effects to them.
4) Right-click on a folder and choose "convert to bus" to convert the folder to a bus
5) Alt-scroll over input or output fields to increment/decrement values.
6) Double-click output field to manually type in output channel number (instead of having to pick it from fly-out menus).
7) Alt-scroll over midi port and channel fields to increment/decrement value.
8) Right click on a selection of channels and choose “Add to new folder”, which would move the selected channels to a new folder that would be inserted at the same mixer location/position as the selected tracks (not at the end).
9) Native Apple Silicon support. 

Thanks

I would have posted this on the VSL forum, but it seems I can't start threads there.


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## Collywobbles (Sep 13, 2021)

I'm a relatively new VEP user but these suggestions seem great to me, especially the combined bus/folder system!


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## Hans-Peter (Sep 13, 2021)

Remote GUI, similar to AudioGridder - very handy in a slave setup.


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## EgM (Sep 13, 2021)

Auto resolve missing instances by searching the local network as an option for those who'd want that function.


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## Pablocrespo (Sep 13, 2021)

One global CC to enable disable instances, to avoid having to set the automation parameters of each one


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## Wunderhorn (Sep 13, 2021)

Stability!

When VEP crashes, can it not be sandboxed well enough so that it would NOT always make the entire DAW crash as well? (Happens all the time with both Logic and Cubase, even with all instances "disconnected").

Also better protection from Kontakt would be great. Apparently there are certain scripts in certain Kontakt libraries that cause VEP to freeze.

Another thing would be to be able to save and recall instances more reliably. Often I save an instance within a server project and next time when I open the server project, the older version of the instance (even though it was overwritten) appears back in the freshly opened server project.

That, before *ANY* new features would make my life with VEP so much easier!


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## ka00 (Sep 13, 2021)

One more wish: some sort of indicator in the list to show if a port and channel combo are already in use anywhere in your instance.


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## dgburns (Sep 13, 2021)

Pablocrespo said:


> One global CC to enable disable instances, to avoid having to set the automation parameters of each one


This !

I’d settle for ‘enable on midi activity’


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## samphony (Sep 14, 2021)

Track filtering like most DAWs offer. 
Of course this mostly useful for instance per section users.


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## jcrosby (Sep 14, 2021)

dgburns said:


> This !
> 
> I’d settle for ‘enable on midi activity’


This again!!


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## labornvain (Sep 16, 2021)

One word. Extrapolation.

Cubase has a feature where if you have a midi track set to MIDI channel 1 and then right click on it and add 15 more midi tracks it will automatically assign each of these to midi channels 2-16 consecutively.

Since vep is a template program, anything that facilitates and expediates template building is really helpful. And I can't think of anything that would speed up the template creation process more then for VEP to automatically extrapolate port assignments and output assignments and CC assignments.

Set up one track, then add 47 more, and VEP automatically fills in the rest.


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## iMovieShout (Sep 16, 2021)

ka00 said:


> What would you love to see in VEP 8?
> 
> Please forgive me if any of these are already possible, but here's what I would like:
> 
> ...


All of the above, plus:-

1) When there are multiple VEP7 servers it would be soooo useful if VEP7 would focus on the correct VEP7 Server, as well as the correct instrument (Kontakt, Synchron PLlayer etc etc)

*2) It would be really helpful if VSL could fix the bug that prevents the plugin (in the DAW) from displaying the VEP7 server and its instances. This happens approximately 40% of the time for me, without any changes to network, routers etc.


Hans-Peter said:


> Remote GUI, similar to AudioGridder - very handy in a slave setup.


I have started creating this using Liine Lemur and a touchscreen. So far I have touchscreen controls for 8DIO and Spitfire Audio instruments, spread across x12 VEP7 servers, as folows:


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## Pablocrespo (Sep 16, 2021)

I don’t know if someone asked this but a ram meter per instance would be nice


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## AlexRuger (Sep 16, 2021)

Customizable key commands. The current ones (especially those relating to saving) are nonsense.


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## Nicholas (Sep 17, 2021)

I‘d love to see advanced MIDI modifiers and/or MIDI Scripting in order to manipulate the incoming MIDI before it hits the Plug-In. Unified articulation switching isn‘t happening, so I need to code my own system, and I‘d love not having to do it in Kontakt itself (thus not having to manipulate the Kontakt patch). And no, I don‘t think Expression Maps by themselves are a solution.


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## Drjay (Sep 17, 2021)

XML/JSON export/import of controller and VST parameter assignments in order to edit them externally. It is so tedious to endlessly click through all those sub menus…


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## EgM (Sep 17, 2021)

Nicholas said:


> I‘d love to see advanced MIDI modifiers and/or MIDI Scripting in order to manipulate the incoming MIDI before it hits the Plug-In. Unified articulation switching isn‘t happening, so I need to code my own system, and I‘d love not having to do it in Kontakt itself (thus not having to manipulate the Kontakt patch). And no, I don‘t think Expression Maps by themselves are a solution.


Yeah, even something simple like CC swapping (i.e. CC1 to CC11 and CC11 to CC1, etc) would be such a workflow enhancement.


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## Heinigoldstein (Sep 17, 2021)

For the ones of us that use one instance per track/instrument: A “Hide Instance“ option, similar to „Hide Tracks“ in Logic. This way you could have large templates with a lot of disabled instances without loosing survey. 
And the chance to move, delete, disconnect…..multiple instances.


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## matthieuL (Sep 18, 2021)

Wunderhorn said:


> Stability!
> 
> When VEP crashes, can it not be sandboxed well enough so that it would NOT always make the entire DAW crash as well? (Happens all the time with both Logic and Cubase, even with all instances "disconnected").
> 
> ...


In a perfect world, we should get this on a VEP*7* update ! 
It would upset me if this, and all the other unsolved bugs, are fixed only on VEP8.


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## AlexRuger (Sep 18, 2021)

Drjay said:


> XML/JSON export/import of controller and VST parameter assignments in order to edit them externally. It is so tedious to endlessly click through all those sub menus…


Literally every single DAW -- scratch that, app in general -- should have settings store in XML or JSON. I don't get why they don't.


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## muziksculp (Sep 18, 2021)

VST3 Hosting Support.


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## AlexRuger (Sep 18, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> VST3 Hosting Support.


Honestly blows my mind it's taken this long, considering VEP itself is a VST3 plugin.


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## BRVLN (Sep 19, 2021)

1. The ability to change the midi ports!!! Ideally per instance.
2. (Probably not going to happen) when I click the “show plugin” button in Cubase, it would show me the actual plugin in the right instance in VEP and not the server connection window.
But sadly I don’t see it ever happening.


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## Garlu (Sep 19, 2021)

Video Offload, with TC sync. (think on Video Slave but included in VEP).


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## holywilly (Sep 19, 2021)

3 licenses instead of one at the current price.


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## snattack (Oct 12, 2021)

In Midi Remote: Ability to select ”Any” channel. I control all faders,
Pan and enable/disable via midi faders in Nuendo. Combined with expression maps, I’d have to create 16 different remotes per fader for it to function properly. That would result in about 10.000 remote entries throughout the template which would take effectively a month of full time work just to add remote entries.

Currently I settle with CH1 controlling the faders, but that means that if an expression map articulation routed to CH2 is active, it will be ignored by VEP.

There are also A LOT of bugs in the UI that needs fixing.


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## wcreed51 (Oct 12, 2021)

A "Global" mixer to handle all instance of a server project. Ability to route audio between instances.


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## Dewdman42 (Oct 12, 2021)

midi plugin section above instrument in each channel strip.


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## dts_marin (Oct 12, 2021)

Something not very critical but it always drives me crazy. The Set Color pop-up window shouldn't disappear from the screen when you evoke it from an instance at the very edges of the screen. If that happens you have to restart VEP to get the popup working again...


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## Shad0wLandsUK (Oct 13, 2021)

muziksculp said:


> VST3 Hosting Support.


Yes more than anything
Since everyone else is now developing VST3 versions of their plugins


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## benatural (Oct 13, 2021)

This will never happen but...

- Ability to use Dante to send/recieve audio via dedicated Dante hardware for ultimate latency performance for power users


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## storyteller (Oct 24, 2021)

A popup to appear on a project when VEP doesn’t find an instance/server configuration previously used. It would allow you to “remap” the server name and/or IP Address globally in your project so you don’t have to remap every plug-in.


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## Dewdman42 (Oct 24, 2021)

Osc control of everything, in order to setup touchpad remotes


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## heisenberg (Oct 24, 2021)

benatural said:


> This will never happen but...
> 
> - Ability to use Dante to send/recieve audio via dedicated Dante hardware for ultimate latency performance for power users


A lot of video equipment has moved to this over the past 18 months. It is not just in the realm of dedicated sound mixers anymore. Never say never.


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## Ben (Oct 24, 2021)

Dewdman42 said:


> Osc control of everything, in order to setup touchpad remotes


This is also on my personal wishlist! It would also allow for far more then just touchpad remotes.


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## Sub3OneDay (Oct 24, 2021)

labornvain said:


> One word. Extrapolation.
> 
> Cubase has a feature where if you have a midi track set to MIDI channel 1 and then right click on it and add 15 more midi tracks it will automatically assign each of these to midi channels 2-16 consecutively.
> 
> ...


You can do this - create your instances and if you select all the ones you want to number sequentially- then alt-click the first one and whist keeping alt pressed down select the first number in the sequence, say ch1, then all the other instances will be numbered following this in ascending order.


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## Sub3OneDay (Oct 24, 2021)

My wish - pass through of cubase quick controls.

Oh and activate on midi.


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## iMovieShout (Oct 25, 2021)

Ability to focus a VEP server, when there are multiple VEP servers running on the network.

We have x12 VEP7 servers running and it's time consuming to focus the display to the correct VEP7 servers and instance.


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## dts_marin (Oct 25, 2021)

I moved away from using a few instances with many ports and outputs to using lots of stereo instances for each track. 

Even if there is a potential performance hit I find this workflow a lot better. Having to do elaborate spreadsheets to calculate outputs and all sorts of planning when creating a template was a waste of time whereas now I build as I go. Also no need for hundreds of busses anymore. The instance itself is the audio track.

Maybe VEP isn't designed for this workflow but it would be great if they added a search bar both in the server UI and the plugin similar to the search filter in DP. 

Or even better add instance tabs on the server.

Also for easier nagivation showing a little color square before the instance name in the instance list inside the plugin wouldn't hurt.


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## manuhz (Oct 25, 2021)

Internal MIDI routing per channel please!


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## Knomes (Nov 30, 2021)

I would like a feature regarding integration with Synchron libraries.
Something like this:

You have a premade instance with all the instruments of a certain product, say Synchron Brass. Then, you can change from VEP the mixer presets for all instruments at once (which can also be one you created). That way you can fastly try various mixer preset combinations in the piece.

Does it make sense? Maybe it can already be done and I don't know?


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## samphony (Nov 30, 2021)

AlexRuger said:


> Customizable key commands. The current ones (especially those relating to saving) are nonsense.


On a mac i do that through system preferences but a built in feature with profile export would indeed be handy.


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## Marcus Millfield (Nov 30, 2021)

A manual update with added notes for Cockos Reaper set-up.


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## AR (Nov 30, 2021)

vst3 support would be great. many surround plugins won't work in vst2.


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## ChristianM (Nov 30, 2021)

gratis


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## lydian91 (Nov 30, 2021)

- VST3 hosting
- MIDI filtering/plugins
- Ability to hide tracks/channels

Also would LOVE a sidebar browser for drag and drop import of channel sets/presets—similar to Logic’s patch browser. You could search your preset library. You could also use this for importing channels from other server projects.

The current merge function is very clunky. You have to save individual instances for it to work and can’t just import specific channels from a server project file. Channel sets are okay but also clunky, and folders don’t sort correctly in the dropdown menu.

Overall, need a more fluid way to load channels and presets between server projects.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Nov 30, 2021)

lydian91 said:


> - VST3


It already is, no?


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## FKVStudio (Nov 30, 2021)

Jeremy Spencer said:


> It already is, no?


No. It means that VEP can host plugins in VST3 format which, strangely, it is currently unable to do so.


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## EgM (Nov 30, 2021)

I can imagine supporting VST3 instruments would be quite a monster code job seeing how it would have to route all the midi ports to the DAW


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## Jeremy Spencer (Nov 30, 2021)

FKVStudio said:


> No. It means that VEP can host plugins in VST3 format which, strangely, it is currently unable to do so.


Ah, interesting. I was not aware of that!


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## AlexRuger (Dec 3, 2021)

Just thought of this, and while this might not appeal to some, it _super _appeals to me:

The ability to have some sort of version-controllable (i.e. via github) config file for a given Server Project or Instance. Let's say an XML for this example:

`<Server Project>
<Instance 1 - Strings>
<MIDI Port 1>
<Plugin>Kontakt</Plugin>
<Output Busses>
<Number>4</Number>
<Output Bus 1></Output Bus1>
<Output>Master 1-2</Output>
<Send 1>none</Send 1>
(so on and so forth for busses)
</Output Busses>
</MIDI Port 1>
</Instance 1 - Strings>
<Instance 2 - Brass>
(will in similar details for this instance and all others)
</Instance 2 - Brass>
</Server Project>`

That sort of thing. I can type and change text faster than I can click around and load stuff up, and given that a master template is generally kind of a slow-moving, ever-evolving thing, being able to properly version control much as one version-controls code would be a game-changer. Say you pull up an old project and you have no idea exactly what Instance 1/MIDI port 13/channel 7 was. Just revert your changes to the appropriate date, and voila!

I imagine most composers wouldn't use this feature, just as most wouldn't host stuff like this in a version control system. But for geeks like me I'd be all over it.

This applies to pretty much any and all software, not just VEP.


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## KEM (Dec 3, 2021)

Hopefully 8 will actually update when I click “update”


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## cqd (Dec 3, 2021)

I'm just after upgrading to 7 thinking I'd be able to run stuff as vst3..


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## JTB (Dec 3, 2021)

UI bug fixes. 
Bug: Importing instances renames the current project.
Colourising channels is clunky. More custom colours.
Custom key commands.


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## BlackDorito (Dec 3, 2021)

Per-channel MIDI plug-ins .. in particular a plug-in that will chase controller values so you can easily see (w/GUI) the current values of common CC's sent to the channel. Spitfire and VSL show these values on their instrument GUIs, but many VIs do not.


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## Sub3OneDay (Dec 4, 2021)

AlexRuger said:


> Just thought of this, and while this might not appeal to some, it _super _appeals to me:
> 
> The ability to have some sort of version-controllable (i.e. via github) config file for a given Server Project or Instance. Let's say an XML for this example:
> 
> ...


I really like this idea - my composing hobby over the years has meant I now can use wider ‘tools’ like xml and JavaScript to create and manipulate the “back end” processes of my workflow.


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## europa_io (Jun 11, 2022)

All instruments and plugins hosted in VEPro Server visible and controllable seamlessly within the DAW like AudioGridder.


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## gsilbers (Jun 11, 2022)

I keep having issues of VEP6 and vep 7 crashing on macs. and crashing for being on for a while w/o use. or crashing while using it. I think it has to do with certain kontakt libraries but havent confirmed. Or when using large ram usage. 

so my wishlist is only that it doesnt crash anymore. And it works better (for some of us) on macs and kontakt. 

thats it.


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## holywilly (Jun 11, 2022)

I wish VEP 8 will have auto naming when route output channels to DAW, like XLN Addictive Drum; this feature will save tons of time when creating/modifying template.


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## benatural (Jun 11, 2022)

europa_io said:


> All instruments and plugins hosted in VEPro Server visible and controllable seamlessly within the DAW like AudioGridder.


This!


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## dyross (Jun 11, 2022)

This has been mentioned already in this thread, but it’s already been 6 months:

M1 native support!

(First in plug-in, then in server)


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## Loerpert (Jun 11, 2022)

Drjay said:


> XML/JSON export/import of controller and VST parameter assignments in order to edit them externally. It is so tedious to endlessly click through all those sub menus…


Unfortunately every plugin seems to have a different way to store presets. Spitfire plugin is XML but Kontakt seems to be binary.


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## gsilbers (Jun 11, 2022)

europa_io said:


> AudioGridder.


well..well well.. whats this then? (said w a with british accent)


I havent seen this before. im looking at it right now. and free!? 

finally some competition (hopefully)

My old mac pro 5,1 will appreciate this app.


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## cleverr1 (Jun 12, 2022)

Support for multi processor groups in Windows 10 which remains in support until October 2025. After all it's called VE Pro *Server*.


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## PrimeEagle (Jun 12, 2022)

jpb007.uk said:


> *2) It would be really helpful if VSL could fix the bug that prevents the plugin (in the DAW) from displaying the VEP7 server and its instances. This happens approximately 40% of the time for me, without any changes to network, routers etc


Is this a known bug? Because I'm having this problem right now and it's 100% of the time. VSL support just pointed me to the settings in the manual and then said they were out of ideas. There was no mention that it was a known bug.


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## sinkd (Jun 12, 2022)

europa_io said:


> All instruments and plugins hosted in VEPro Server visible and controllable seamlessly within the DAW like AudioGridder.


Well raise my rent. That is a spiffy little item there, isn't it?


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## Ben (Jun 12, 2022)

PrimeEagle said:


> Is this a known bug? Because I'm having this problem right now and it's 100% of the time. VSL support just pointed me to the settings in the manual and then said they were out of ideas. There was no mention that it was a known bug.


Most of the times it's related to issues with Apple Bonjour, that is used for network detection. Some AVs and firewalls block it. 
Also, make sure you have not disabled network visibility in the settings.


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## PrimeEagle (Jun 12, 2022)

Ben said:


> Most of the times it's related to issues with Apple Bonjour, that is used for network detection. Some AVs and firewalls block it.
> Also, make sure you have not disabled network visibility in the settings.


I have anti-virus and firewall turned off on both machines, verified Bonjour is running on both machines, and network discovery is turned on for both machines. Still no luck.

Also, thanks for replying @Ben. I have a separate topic for this issue so as not to derail this one.


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## BGaussling (Jun 12, 2022)

A keyboard shortcut to enable/disable Midi Activity Focus would be really helpful. And a possibility to not only raise an instance by CC but rather a specific channel within the instance


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## Ben (Jun 12, 2022)

PrimeEagle said:


> I have anti-virus and firewall turned off on both machines, verified Bonjour is running on both machines, and network discovery is turned on for both machines. Still no luck.
> 
> Also, thanks for replying @Ben. I have a separate topic for this issue so as not to derail this one.


If you are using Windows, make sure the network is also classified as private network. 
Here is an article on how to change from public to private network mode: https://www.lifewire.com/change-networks-to-private-on-windows-10-5185933


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## PrimeEagle (Jun 12, 2022)

Ben said:


> If you are using Windows, make sure the network is also classified as private network.
> Here is an article on how to change from public to private network mode: https://www.lifewire.com/change-networks-to-private-on-windows-10-5185933


Yes, it's on Windows (Windows 10 for the server, Windows 11 for the client). They're both set to private network.


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## JyTy (Jun 13, 2022)

A per channel Instrument VST plugin. You would add it to a track, it would behave as a virtual instrument (for instance in Cubase it would already have an output assigned to it). MIDI setup, audio routing and the name of the channel would be handled automatically on VEPro server once you connect the plugin to a desired instance.

So I would be able to just add as many of those as I need, name them properly. I would then go to VEPro, group already created connections within folders or reorder them for better organisation if needed. But the only thing I would really need to do is to load the required samples/plugins on those channels.

An ever better thing would be if you would be able do do that via the plugin in DAW directly and also manage the plugin as well. But I can understand why this is a bit unrealistic as it would require some kind of remote access per each plugin. But the thing above would be a huge timesaver...


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## europa_io (Jun 16, 2022)

Wish: Take VEPro instance performance optimisation out of the responsibility of the user - it's currently undocumented and based on an outdated multi-timbral instrument model.

[To be fair, multi-timbrality is still relevant for hardware and for instruments that have layered sound designing capabilities where parameters interact across more than one instrument. But a structuring approach for VEPro instruments, not so much.]

What do I mean?...

If you want to have 16 stereo instances of Kontakt in VEPro there are a number of approaches - each performs differently. Some approaches are:

1. Create 1 VEPro instance and put 16 Kontakt plugins inside it, each with an instrument loaded; in VEPro route the 16 to the respective stereo pair return channels; enable the return channels in the DAW for each of the 16 instruments; in the DAW set up MIDI tracks to work with the additional 15 instruments that aren't dealt with by the primary track containing the VEPro plugin and route these to the correct VEPro instance and MIDI channel.

2. Create 1 VEPro instance and put 2 Kontakt plugins inside it, each with 8 instruments loaded, route the outputs in Kontakt to the 8 available stereo pair channels in each of the Kontakt plugins, enable the return channels in the DAW for each of the 16 instruments, then in VEPro route the 16 to the respective stereo pair return channels, in the DAW set up MIDI tracks to work with the additional 15 instruments that aren't dealt with by the primary track containing the VEPro plugin and route these to the correct VEPro instance and MIDI channel.

3. Create 16 VEPro instances each with 1 Kontakt plugin inside it and an instrument loaded in it.

Each of these might deal with VEPro instance management differently, plugin overheads differently and thread management differently. For instance options 1 and 2 use only 1 VEPro instance whereas option 3 uses 16 VEPro instances. Option 2 will rely more on Kontakt's own thread management than options 1 and 3. Option 3 will have the largest overhead from a VEPro instance management point of view and (I think?) a greater thread count than the other options, placing greater demands on the machine it's running on.

However! Options 1 and 2, while commonly used, are a real pain and very time-consuming from a setup point of view, and based on the outdated multi-timbral instrument model. It's cumbersome and ugly working this way in DAWs and in VEPro and wastes time and disrupts creativity.

From a usability point of view Option 3 is far quicker, tidier and simpler to set up but potentially currently places higher demands on VEPro and the DAW and the machines they're running on(?) Certainly it has become apparent that the iLok version of VEPro performs poorly with this option 3 from an instantiation and connection point of view despite the same number of active MIDI channels and active audio channels. Option 3 has become more problematic with VEPro 7.1.x (iLok) than it was with VEPro 7.0.x (eLicenser).

I don't want to have to think about which approach handles threads better or which is more efficient in terms of the overhead VEPro has in connecting to 1 vs 16 instances, I just want to work in the most efficient way from a composing and production workflow point of view.

For me at least, it is not efficient to have to deal with multitimbral instrument groupings and return channels and routing configurations. One VEPro instance per instrument is extremely convenient from a workflow point of view. I know that's not how VEPro is currently optimised, but why should the user have to worry about that?


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