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! :-)

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... :-)

Bug: convolution reverb volume changes when sample rate is changed.

Say I have a sampler that has 2 channels, and it's nested in a container that has 8 channels. I want to have the output of the sampler split to all 8 channels of the container, while adding some per-voice modulation (like an envelope) on each of the split channels. So:

• channels 1-2 get a simple gain with Envelope one
• channels 3-4 get a simple gain with Envelope two
• ... and so on

Or in other words - I want my 2-channel sampler to behave as though it had some multi-channel / multi-mic samples loaded, but without using multi-mic samples. I just need to have a single channel pair split to more channels before it gets to the container for furhter processing.

I could mult the 2 channels from the sampler on the container level, but then I can't apply per-voice modulations to each channel.

Is there a way to achieve this?

@Christoph-Hart ? :-)

Is there a way to programatically close the standalone app built with HISE?

Thanks so much, that's very helpful, I appreciate it!

I'm sure it's something simple, but I'm just figuring out the Server calls and stuff. I'd like to write a function that works like this:

1) Create a file name based on a var I defined in the script - let's say it's HISE_IS_AWESOME.txt
2) Make a call to the server to see if a file with such a filename exists - the path is mydomain.com/files/HISE_IS_AWESOME.txt
3) If the file exists, do something

How should I approach this?

Thank you!

Dear @Christoph-Hart would it also be possible to add the cursor type property to sliders as well?

Hence the feature request :-) fadeComponent has been working very well for me so far, it would just be great to have a quick and easy way to achieve fades to semi-transparent states like this.

@d-healey seems like CSS and LAF can't live together, can they?

@bendurso yeah, I know. fadeComponent is just much faster, doesn't require timers, and works with stuff other than paint routines like images etc.

It would be fantastic if the fadeComponent would allow values other than 0 and 1, this way we could easily animate objects into semi-transparent states. Would it be very complicated to extend the functionality of this, @Christoph-Hart ? I'm thinking about being able to set the value to 0.5, 0.75 and so on.