# Converting an orchestral Cubase project from PLAY to OPUS



## jamieboo (Apr 30, 2022)

Hello folks

Just got my Hollywood Orchestra all nicely updated from PLAY to OPUS.
Now there's a project in Cubase 9 I need to convert from one to the other.
What's the best way to do this?
Is my first step to go into 'VST Instruments' and change each Instrument from PLAY to OPUS?
It's kind of annoying because it makes that instrument completely disappear and then a new OPUS instrument appears at the bottom - it kind of ruins the order I want my instruments listed in 'VST Instruments', but I can live with that if it's the best way to do it.
Also, should I be considering whether I want VST 2 or 3? How do I know if the OPUS listed in the 'VST Instruments' dropdown is one or the other?
I just need some general guidance with what I know is going to be a bit of a headache to sort out!

Thanks


----------



## EgM (Apr 30, 2022)

jamieboo said:


> Also, should I be considering whether I want VST 2 or 3? How do I know if the OPUS listed in the 'VST Instruments' dropdown is one or the other?
> I just need some general guidance with what I know is going to be a bit of a headache to sort out!
> 
> Thanks



I'd stick to VST3 since Cubase will most likely phase out VST2 soon. VST3 plugins have "///" next to their name


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Apr 30, 2022)

It's a very tedious process, particularly when it's for the Hollywood orchestra libraries, as the patch list is not entirely the same, nor do they always respond in the same way, so there's MIDI data that needs editing too.

A small tip: go into your plugin manager, and hide the VST2 version.
As @EgM mentioned, the VST3 version will have three strokes/slashes next to the name so you can identify the different versions. Select the VST2 version and show the plugin info pane at the bottom. There'll be a checkbox to hide the plugin from your lists when working in projects.


----------



## jamieboo (May 1, 2022)

Thanks for the suggestions folks!

But I'm still unsure as to the best basic process of conversion. Is it going into 'VST Instruments' and swapping each PLAY for OPUS? I could just delete all the PLAY ones and create new OPUS instruments but I think that will force me to create a new track each time, so I guess just swapping is best.

I'm sure many others have gone through this process. Any further tips welcome!


----------



## Jdiggity1 (May 1, 2022)

jamieboo said:


> Thanks for the suggestions folks!
> 
> But I'm still unsure as to the best basic process of conversion. Is it going into 'VST Instruments' and swapping each PLAY for OPUS? I could just delete all the PLAY ones and create new OPUS instruments but I think that will force me to create a new track each time, so I guess just swapping is best.
> 
> I'm sure many others have gone through this process. Any further tips welcome!



I duplicate my PLAY tracks first, so I have a backup that I can refer to if needed (for a specific mic mix or keyswitch setup, for example). Then I go through each duplicated track, swapping out the PLAY instance for OPUS in the track inspector, as shown in the image below. (yours will say "Play", not "Scaler")


----------



## jamieboo (May 1, 2022)

Jdiggity1 said:


> I duplicate my PLAY tracks first, so I have a backup that I can refer to if needed (for a specific mic mix or keyswitch setup, for example). Then I go through each duplicated track, swapping out the PLAY instance for OPUS in the track inspector, as shown in the image below. (yours will say "Play", not "Scaler")


Thanks Jdiggity

But in order for OPUS to even show up in track inspector I need to first set it up in VST Instruments, right?


----------



## Jdiggity1 (May 1, 2022)

Oh, my apologies!
My method was for if you are using Instrument Tracks.
It sounds like you use the VST Instruments rack and then assign MIDI tracks to the rack VSTs?
In that case, yes you'll need to replace PLAY in the VST Instruments. You can either create new VSTs for OPUS below your PLAY VSTs, then go back and delete the play instances once you no longer need them. Or you can simply replace PLAY with OPUS from the existing rack VSTs.


----------



## SomeGuy (May 1, 2022)

I haven’t been following what’s going on in EW land, but I do still own and use Hollywood Brass and Hollywood Strings with play. I’m assuming OPUS is the successor to play and there was some sort of crossgrade deal recently or something? Is OPUS the same samples just with a new engine? I I’m in no rush to change anything as they are working fine for me on my old PC but obviously will have to upgrade at some point, so any advice would be appreciated. Hopefully this isn’t considered thread hijacking as its related to the OP post, but if so I’ll remove this and start a new thread.


----------



## jamieboo (May 1, 2022)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Oh, my apologies!
> My method was for if you are using Instrument Tracks.
> It sounds like you use the VST2 Instruments rack and then assign MIDI tracks to the rack VSTs?
> In that case, yes you'll need to replace PLAY in the VST2 Instruments. You can either create new VSTs for OPUS below your PLAY VSTs, then go back and delete the play instances once you no longer need them. Or you can simply replace PLAY with OPUS from the existing rack VSTs.


Thanks Jdiggity.
The template is years old! I can't remember if I set up tracks or racks. I think I did whatever is the oldest method, so probably racks. I've never been clear on the difference between the two. I'm sure it's a huge topic, but in the narrower context of of a HOOPUS project specifically, what's the difference? Should I take this opportunity now to reset things up as track instruments rather than rack instruments? Is it even possible to convert a project to track instruments if it was set up using rack?

SomeGuy - I've been following development of OPUS since it was announced, but only bought it late last year. And I'm only upgrading and setting it up now. And I don't really know what I'm doing - so I can't offer any advice! But there's plenty of useful information on these forums.


----------



## jamieboo (May 3, 2022)

Hello again folks

I've decided that I will indeed go for VST3 rather than 2 - I think that makes sense.

My only uncertainty now is that timeless conundrum - rack or track.
Jdiggity - from what you say it sounds as if rack instruments can only be VST2, but surely they can be VST3 as well?
I've always used Rack up to now without issue. I build my template using multitimbral instances (basically an instance of PLAY/OPUS for each orchestral instrument, loaded with all the articulations I need for that instrument routed out to different channels and Expression Maps) and the Rack method has always worked fine. I understand that Track instruments can now do multitimbral just as well, but 'just as well' is not really reason enough to change. Unless I'd see actual benefits over the Rack method then I'll probably stick with Rack.
What do you think?
Thanks


----------



## Jdiggity1 (May 3, 2022)

jamieboo said:


> Hello again folks
> 
> I've decided that I will indeed go for VST3 rather than 2 - I think that makes sense.
> 
> ...


Sorry again, you absolutely can use VST3 instruments in the racks, i didn't realise my previous post said VST2. I think that was my phone auto-correcting.

The main benefit to using instrument tracks, is that you can easily disable/enable the tracks to suit whatever you need at the time. This allows you to have a large template of many tracks in your project, but in a disabled state so that they don't use any RAM or resources until you enable them.
Instrument tracks can make things easier when it comes to the mixconsole, too. For every instrument track you have, there's a mixer channel, making it quicker to make mix adjustments or insert plugins on an individual instrument.
You can add MIDI tracks and assign them to the instrument track in exactly the same way you'd normally assign MIDI tracks to a rack instrument.
Adding an instrument track will _also_ add to the VSTi pane, in the same way that rack VSTs are added.
Ultimately, it just comes down to user preference.

For what it's worth, my Hollywood Orchestra template is based on instrument tracks, and they are multi-timbral. I generally have 4 Instrument tracks for each instrument, like so:
- Flute 1 Legato
- Flute 1 KS
- Flute 1 Shorts MW
- Flute 1 Runs & FX
"KS" stands for Keyswitch, and it's like the master patch with almost every articulation available.
I keep the Legato and the Runs/FX on separate tracks, as I can keep those disabled and save on resources until i actually need them.
While I do have the short articulations available in the KS tracks, I also like to have a separate shorts track for layering, or in situations where I want to play them in dynamically using the "modwheel = note length" system.
If you only wanted a single track for each instrument, you can achieve that easily with Instrument Tracks.


----------



## jamieboo (May 3, 2022)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Sorry again, you absolutely can use VST3 instruments in the racks, i didn't realise my previous post said VST2. I think that was my phone auto-correcting.
> 
> The main benefit to using instrument tracks, is that you can easily disable/enable the tracks to suit whatever you need at the time. This allows you to have a large template of many tracks in your project, but in a disabled state so that they don't use any RAM or resources until you enable them.
> Instrument tracks can make things easier when it comes to the mixconsole, too. For every instrument track you have, there's a mixer channel, making it quicker to make mix adjustments or insert plugins on an individual instrument.
> ...


Thanks again Jdiggity1
Hmmm..
The advantages you list are not things that I've ever found myself desperately wishing for - I think!
The disabled track template thing is not essential to me because I always write full orchestral stuff and within a very short time after starting composing I will have had pretty much every instrument playing. I don't mind if a project/template takes a little while to load. As long as everything can load ok and not exhaust my RAM, I'm happy. And I could just about fit everything in my template on my old machine which only had 32GB, now I have 128GB so hopefully I'll be ok for the time being.
And I've never been bothered by mixer antics while using rack instruments - yes I have to hide some stuff, but it's ok.
So given this, I _think_ I'm edging towards the conclusion that the benefits are not worth the extra step of converting everything from rack to track, when rack has been working fine for me up to now.
I think.
Am I being silly? Am I missing something very obvious?

Thanks


----------



## BasariStudios (May 4, 2022)

jamieboo said:


> Thanks for the suggestions folks!
> 
> But I'm still unsure as to the best basic process of conversion. Is it going into 'VST Instruments' and swapping each PLAY for OPUS? I could just delete all the PLAY ones and create new OPUS instruments but I think that will force me to create a new track each time, so I guess just swapping is best.
> 
> I'm sure many others have gone through this process. Any further tips welcome!


Did the same, its very easy, you SWAP play for Opus and reload the same Instrument on the same track. That is for a Template now, as far as done Projects go things get more Complicated since the Patches between the 2 Engines are different.


----------

