Happy holidays, guys!

Hey guys! You helped me a lot as I had questions on my HISE journey and there's something I'd like to share with you:

THE PROBLEM
One of the most confusing (read: support-email-generating) things about HISE is the sample folder location. Unlike Kontakt, it doesn't look into subfolders. Plus, since HISE exports the plugins as standard formats, chances are, some people who'd get the instruments might not have had any previous experience with samples or Kontakt and would be surprised that after they've installed the plugin, things don't work right away.

SO...
I wrote a script (ok, two in fact - one is for Mac, the other for Windows) that solves this by auto-generating the link file and placing in the correct folder. When the user runs the installer, there's an option to locate the samples automatically. There's only one requirement for this to work - the samples need to be distributed along with the installer. I'm using Pulse to simplify the download process and it's perfect for that. The most recent versions added update functionality so if a new version of the plugin is out, it will be downloaded into the samples folder and auto-run. I'm sure there are other solutions out there but it's just something that I'm using.

HOW TO: MAC
Create a text file with .sh extension (so for example, yourinstrument_locatesamples.sh) and set it as a post-install script in Whitebox Packages. I'm using it as a separate component named locate samples so that the user has an option to have it selected or not.

Here's the script:

#!/bin/sh

instrumentname="Blisko Cello"
devname="Felt Instruments"

FILE="$HOME/Library/Application Support/${devname}/${instrumentname}/LinkOSX"
if test -n "$FILE"; then
		rm -R "$HOME/Library/Application Support/${devname}/${instrumentname}/LinkOSX"

fi

installer="${instrumentname}".pkg
mystring=$1
echo basename: $(basename "${mystring}")
echo basename + remove "${installer}": $(basename "${mystring}" "${installer}")
sudo echo -n $(dirname "${mystring}") > "$HOME/Library/Application Support/${devname}/${instrumentname}/LinkOSX"


exit 0

You only have to adapt the first two lines - instrumentname and devname. Export the installer as instrumentname.pkg and you should be fine.

HOW TO: WINDOWS
I'm using innosetup on Windows. Here's the whole script:

[Setup]

#define AppName "Blisko Cello"
#define AppVersion "1.1.2"
#define DevDir "Felt Instruments"
PrivilegesRequired=admin
AppName={#AppName}
AppVersion={#AppVersion}
SignTool=signtool
SignedUninstaller=yes

DefaultDirName={pf}\{#DevDir}\{#AppName}
DefaultGroupName={#AppName}
Compression=lzma2
SolidCompression=yes
OutputDir=.\installerbuild
ArchitecturesInstallIn64BitMode=x64
OutputBaseFilename={#AppName}
LicenseFile=".\installerAssets\EULA.rtf"
WizardSmallImageFile=".\installerAssets\install_logo.bmp"



; BANNER
WizardImageFile=".\installerAssets\banner_blisko_cello.bmp"
SetupIconFile=".\installerAssets\windows_icon.ico"
DisableWelcomePage=no
DisableDirPage=yes
DisableProgramGroupPage=yes


SetupLogging=yes
ChangesAssociations=no

[Types]
Name: "full"; Description: "Full installation"
Name: "custom"; Description: "Custom installation"; Flags: iscustom

[Dirs]
Name: "{app}\"; Permissions: users-modify powerusers-modify admins-modify system-modify

[Components]
Name: "vst2_32"; Description: "{#AppName} {#AppVersion} 32-bit VST Plugin"; Types: full custom;
Name: "vst2_64"; Description: "{#AppName} {#AppVersion} 64-bit VST Plugin"; Types: full custom; Check: Is64BitInstallMode; 
Name: "aax"; Description: "{#AppName} {#AppVersion} AAX Plugin"; Types: full custom; Check: Is64BitInstallMode;
Name: "locatesamples"; Description: "Locate samples (recommended!)"; Types: full custom;





[Files]

; VST
Source: "{#AppName} x86.dll"; DestDir: "{code:GetVST2Dir_32}"; Flags: ignoreversion; Components: vst2_32; Check: not Is64BitInstallMode

Source: "{#AppName} x86.dll"; DestDir: "{code:GetVST2Dir_32}\{#DevDir}"; Flags: ignoreversion; Components: vst2_32; Check: Is64BitInstallMode
Source: "{#AppName} x64.dll"; DestDir: "{code:GetVST2Dir_64}\{#DevDir}"; Flags: ignoreversion; Components: vst2_64; Check: Is64BitInstallMode

;BEGIN_AAX
Source: "{#AppName}.aaxplugin\*"; DestDir: "{commonpf}\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins\{#AppName}.aaxplugin"; Flags:ignoreversion createallsubdirs recursesubdirs overwritereadonly; Components: aax
;END_AAX

; PRESETS
Source: "{#AppName} UserPresets\*"; DestDir: "{userappdata}\{#DevDir}\{#AppName}\User Presets"; Flags: ignoreversion recursesubdirs;


; NOTE: Don't use "Flags: ignoreversion" on any shared system files










[Icons]
Name: "{group}\Uninstall {#AppName}"; Filename: "{app}\Uninstall{#AppName}.exe"    

[Code]
var
  OkToCopyLog : Boolean;
  VST2DirPage_32: TInputDirWizardPage;
  VST2DirPage_64: TInputDirWizardPage;
  SamplesDirPage: TInputDirWizardPage;
  SampleLocation: String;
  AppDataFolder: String;


function SampleFolderLocated(): boolean;
begin
  result := FileExists(ExpandConstant('{userappdata}\{#DevDir}\{#AppName}\LinkWindows')) and (not IsComponentSelected('locatesamples'));
end;


procedure InitializeWizard;

begin

  if IsWin64 then begin
    VST2DirPage_64 := CreateInputDirPage(wpSelectDir,
    'Confirm 64-Bit VST2 Plugin Directory', '',
    'Select the folder in which setup should install the 64-bit VST2 Plugin(you can choose not to install this version later),  then click Next.',
    False, '');
    VST2DirPage_64.Add('');
    VST2DirPage_64.Values[0] := ExpandConstant('{reg:HKLM\SOFTWARE\VST,VSTPluginsPath|{pf}\Steinberg\VSTPlugins}\');

    VST2DirPage_32 := CreateInputDirPage(wpSelectDir,
      'Confirm 32-Bit VST2 Plugin Directory', '',
      'Select the folder in which setup should install the 32-bit VST2 Plugin(you can choose not to install this version later), then click Next.',
      False, '');
    VST2DirPage_32.Add('');
    VST2DirPage_32.Values[0] := ExpandConstant('{reg:HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432NODE\VST,VSTPluginsPath|{pf32}\Steinberg\VSTPlugins}\');

  end else begin
    VST2DirPage_32 := CreateInputDirPage(wpSelectDir,
      'Confirm 32-Bit VST2 Plugin Directory', '',
      'Select the folder in which setup should install the 32-bit VST2 Plugin,  then click Next.',
      False, '');
    VST2DirPage_32.Add('');
    VST2DirPage_32.Values[0] := ExpandConstant('{reg:HKLM\SOFTWARE\VST,VSTPluginsPath|{pf}\Steinberg\VSTPlugins}\');
  end;
end;

function GetVST2Dir_32(Param: String): String;
begin
  Result := VST2DirPage_32.Values[0]
end;

function GetVST2Dir_64(Param: String): String;
begin
  Result := VST2DirPage_64.Values[0]
end;

function GetSamplesDir(Param: String): String;
begin
  Result := SamplesDirPage.Values[0]
end;

procedure CurStepChanged(CurStep: TSetupStep);



begin
  if CurStep = ssDone then
    OkToCopyLog := True;

    if not SampleFolderLocated() then begin
    SampleLocation := ExpandConstant('{src}');
    AppDataFolder := ExpandConstant('{userappdata}\{#DevDir}\{#AppName}\LinkWindows');
    SaveStringToFile(AppDataFolder, SampleLocation, False);
    end else
end;

procedure DeinitializeSetup();

begin
  if OkToCopyLog then
    FileCopy (ExpandConstant ('{log}'), ExpandConstant ('{app}\InstallationLogFile.log'), FALSE);
  RestartReplace (ExpandConstant ('{log}'), '');
end;

[UninstallDelete]
Type: files; Name: "{app}\InstallationLogFile.log"

What you need to edit is the first block and the banner .bmp file if you're using that.

That's all folks. Hopefully it will be useful to some of you!

Ok, to hide the popup, you need to comment out line 130 in FrontentBar.cpp file (PresetHandler::showMessageWindow("Sample Folder changed).

The "The sample directory does not exist" text can be changed by editing line 197 in ModulatorSamplerData.cpp (the one below "sampler->getMainController()->sendOverlayMessage(DeactiveOverlay::State::CustomErrorMessage,").

Hope this helps somebody! :-)

I've been using Pulse since 2019, and I'm the guy who worked with them on native HISE support. Recently the ownership changed, and even though we - people who were using Pulse - were told that the terms of operation are going to stay unchanged, they informed me that they'll actually change the terms for me anyway. It was 10th of March or so, and they said something like "hey, we're changing the terms for you, and they'll affect your pricing from March 1st". Not a very respectful way to do business, in my opinion.

Also, keep in mind that all Pulse does is it gets the multi-zip archives from the server and unpacks them. There's no license management or anything like that.

Anyway - I'm using a custom installer now I built with HISE. You can pretty much replicate all Pulse does with this @d-healey (thank you!) tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqGsqJoBxiQ

Feature request: global modulators on FX plugins!

Done: https://github.com/christophhart/HISE/commit/7028aa13c3c5612bf152620a3d1a8ca94702bc8b

Bug report: interruptions in audio when using convolution fx plugins and Cubase’s Direct Offline Processing: https://forum.hise.audio/topic/4247/cubase-direct-offline-processing-audio-dropouts-on-fx-plugins/9

@ustk I’d add to that that the experience of playing an MPE keyboard is way different than your standard keys + mod wheel, so I’d recommend getting at least the Seaboard Block to get it right for the users

@Casey-Kolb I think it's because AAX doesn't support M1 yet

I figured it out and thought I'd post the solution here, maybe you'll find it useful. Create a file called YourInstrument.sh (I used SublimeText to do that but I guess you can create it in whatever really). Load it into Packages as a pre-install script. The file should contain the following code:

#!/bin/sh

FILE=$HOME/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/YourFile.component
if test -n "$FILE"; then
		rm -R $HOME/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components/YourFile.component

fi

exit 0

If you have separate packages for AU and VST files, each can have its own .sh script with a path to the file.

What the script does is it removes the specified file before the install progresses. Done!

I found out that if I put NUM_MAX_CHANNELS also in the project settings, everything works just fine... :-)

@Christoph-Hart fantastic, thank you!

@Christoph-Hart thanks, that's great info!

What’s the proper way to do this? There is a Documents wildcard, which is great. How do I go to Music from there on each OS? It’s one folder back from the Documents.

Also - what’s the best non system-locked location for samples on the internal drive? I would assume the Documents folder to be fine but for some people, it’s permanently synced to the cloud, which isn’t optimal.

Also 2 - what if the username of the person using the samples contains dots or other bad characters?

Thank you!

@Christoph-Hart is ONNX more CPU-friendly than the older tensor flow method?

I definitely second that @Christoph-Hart !

I've been using Pulse since 2019, and I'm the guy who worked with them on native HISE support. Recently the ownership changed, and even though we - people who were using Pulse - were told that the terms of operation are going to stay unchanged, they informed me that they'll actually change the terms for me anyway. It was 10th of March or so, and they said something like "hey, we're changing the terms for you, and they'll affect your pricing from March 1st". Not a very respectful way to do business, in my opinion.

Also, keep in mind that all Pulse does is it gets the multi-zip archives from the server and unpacks them. There's no license management or anything like that.

Anyway - I'm using a custom installer now I built with HISE. You can pretty much replicate all Pulse does with this @d-healey (thank you!) tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqGsqJoBxiQ

@aaronventure Perfect, thanks so much!

@aaronventure I already have a working shell script from the pkg installer I had earlier, so I could definitely reuse that. I'm totally new to background tasks, though. Could you please help me out to understand what I should pass into the docs example? Thank you!

@aaronventure @ustk @d-healey thank you!

@ustk could you please give me an example of the background task running a shell script so I can test this?

I'm getting some serious inconsistency with the File.move command when moving files to the user library folder on macOS. Whenever I test it - whether in HISE or in a built standalone app - the command works properly. I'm getting some reports from users about the files not being copied over. My script looks like this:

// Check if file exists and remove it if it does
if (componentFileMac.isFile() || componentFileMac.isDirectory())
{
    componentFileMac.deleteFileOrDirectory();
}

workingFolder.getChildFile(pluginname + ".component").move(componentFileMac);

All vars used are defined properly and again, it works on macOS 12.4 and above. I guess the issues is with some older macOS version, but I'm yet to confirm that. Anyway - is there something about using the .move command to get the files to the user library I should know about? Clearly, it's a permissions issue. Is the .copy method safer? What's the smart way about it?

As a walkaround I could start a .pkg from the main script just to get the files in place, but it's a custom installer and I think it would be great to keep the experience consistent without running yet another app from the main app.