At the moment it seems that my various plugins are in numerous folders. Is it possible to consolidate them into one folder (poss two if they are 32-bit) so that Cantabile finds them all in one place?
Paul
I think this should be done manually and isn’t a Cantabile job.
I work also allot in my vst garden keeping it clean 
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Well, in my experience not only is it possible, it’s generally considered optimal just for the sake of organization. If you move existing plugins to a new folder I would think that you would just have to point Cantabile at that new folder and rescan and you’d be fine but that I’m not qualified to say for sure; I’d wait for someone more knowledgeable on that to jump in before you do it.
There is, of course, something to be said for a policy of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…” 
On second thought- there could be problems with some installers creating registry entries that would no longer match the folder you installed to. So, I would proceed with caution. It may be best to leave existing things where they are, but put all new plugs in a single folder (or, as you say one for x64 and one for x86).
Edit- typo
I’d suggest for plugins that have installers, uninstall them and reinstall specifying your chosen location. For plugins that just come as DLLs, just move them to where you want them.
Your other option is to simply gather up the plugin DLLs from wherever they currently are, and copy them into your chosen central location, leaving the originals where they are. Then just point Cantabile at your new location. The only issue with this is that for any plugins that have self-upgrade systems (such as Native Instruments / Arturia stuff), only the original copy will get upgraded. So, the cleanest thing, going forwards, is to uninstall and reinstall carefully I think.
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That’s right, I even have an exclusive LIVE folder with copies from my frequently used VSTs that way the others don’t interfear loading times and other complications 
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Thanks guys, I think I’ll try the copy method and point Cantabile to the new folder. There are not so many to move as my set up is small and it will show up any problems. If all is ok I’ll install new plugins to the new folder directly.
Paul
Good idea! Something I’ll have to look at - only worry would be @Neil_Durant’s remark: having the separate folder means having to repeat the copying every time I update a plugin. Of course, that can also be automated with an intelligent script…
Cheers,
Torsten
On the other hand, that’s a good thing - it allows you to maintain a separate stable folder of plugins for live use, and only copy newly-updated ones into the live folder once you’re happy they’re stable and work as expected (not always the case, especially with some major upgrades of plugins that monkey about with patch formats…[cough…OP-X Pro II])
Neil
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Good point - great idea!
I use Syncback free copy for syncing
This is my setup:
- My desk PC (wasapi with reaper and Cantabile)
- My music laptop (my Motu)
- My NAS
I work mostly from my desk, programming sounds, cantabile setups and reaper files and use my laptop for performing.
I sync everything in between the desktop, nas and laptop, also the presets (Synth1 in my case)
This way I can work remote and always have a backup in case my laptop crashes. (I’m terrified as hell for that )
Ow and on a regular base I just dump my laptop vst plugins folder to an other usb drive 
The seperate live vsts folder was because Reaper checked them all everytime, very frustrating and slowing down things.
This conversation gets me thinking - many plugins default to being installed in a VSTPlugins folder somewhere in Program Files / Program Files(x86), which of course means you need elevated privileges to modify them, and typically can’t be Dropboxed etc.
I’m interested to know if people typically keep their plugins in Program Files like this, or whether people have them in their own user space, in Dropbox or similar etc.
Neil
Ow I never let them stay in the program files folder, I always choose my dedicated vst plugins folder for that This way I have control over it.
Here’s my structure
My PLUGINS folder
Only some folders are double now (effects), just because moving those plugins gave errors 
A shame 
Another solution is to install the VST where you want and then create the physical link. I created a folder c: \ music \ vsynth where inside I complete the plugin tree. In each folder I created a physical link to the actual plugin folder (x32 or x64). Cantabile points to c: \ music \ vsynth and everything works perfectly.
This also allows you to not make unnecessary copies of the plugin