Scaler 3 - Plugin scanning takes extremely long (macOS)

Scaler 3 Feature Requests
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1

Hi all,

scanning plugins takes extraordinarily long, even though I have only AU selected.
And I have absolutely no idea what the display during the scan is trying to tell me, because it shows cryptic infos instead of the plugin names.

I would really appreciate if this could be sped up.

Thanks
Tom

2

I am having exactly the same issue.

3

I think this is really just A Thing. Every time I do a mass Softube update, Logic takes as long to reindex everything as Scaler does to do this. I kinda just leave it going while I have a cup of tea.

4

I seem to be adding new plugins almost daily, some of which I’d like to use in Scaler 3.

The current scan is a full refresh scan, which is great, but it can take several minutes when you have lots of plugins.

A possible solution: present two options: Quick Scan, Full Scan

Both options require the following to be recorded somewhere in the Scaler 3 settings:

        **date_and_time_of_last_scan**.

Full Scan

Operates as it currently does, then sets the date_and_time_of_last_scan to current system date and time.

Quick Scan

Will notify the user that this quick scan only adds those plugins that are new or modified since the last scan date and time. Any plugins copied into plugin folders since that date and time may be missed, and any plugins removed from plugin folders since that date and time will still be considered as active. To assure that Scaler 3 has an accurate plugins list, perform a Full Scan.

Quick Scan would work by …

  1. progressively navigating each standard or assigned plugin location folder hierarchy doing two separate sorts: by date_created, by date_modifed in each subfolder in the hierarchy.
  2. for each sort, those folders and plugins whose sorted date occurs since the date_and_time_of_last_scan would be added to the list of available plugins. Scanning stops within a subfolder when the date_and_time_of_last_scan has been reached or regressed before it.
  3. after all folders and files within range have been processed, set the date_and_time_of_last_scan to current system date and time.

Having Quick Scan and Full Scan options will make adding that one new plugin much less time-consuming and create a better user experience.

1 Like
5

Agree with this request and would add another option; to add any single plugin by navigating to & selecting it via its folder location. I find this option invaluable in Unify (Plugin Guru), I don’t need or want “ALL” plugins available so the ability to add one (or a handful) without scanning a folder is slick.

1 Like
6

Yes. Thanks. It was on my mind to mention the add-single function. It’s a much appreciated function in Modalics’ Plugin Buddy also, though, they, too, do not currently have a “Quick Scan” function. Reaper DAW does some kind of time-based most-recently added/modified scanning, and I expect many other DAWs and plugin host do as well.

1 Like
7

I should add that Reaper does an automatic quick scan at startup to catch any new or modified plugins. This behavior is “on” by default but can be toggled in its VST management settings. Naturally, this would be nice to have in Scaler 3 as well - as much maintenance as can be automated, the better.

8

Mine was resolved by a computer shutdown and then restart. After that, my plugins scanned much faster.

9

I didn’t see your topic, so I created another topic regarding the same issue with a possible solution. You might be interested in reading it here.