I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all solution as our minds work differently when categorizing and classifying things. Still, I'm interested in best practices and how the Sonar community is using the new options for organizing plug-ins.

If you're not up on the latest changes to the Plug-in Browser, read this.

Thanks to scook for posting this:

scook
The Uncategorized folder is new. It appears when the Sort By Category layout is selected. Only VST3 plug-ins have a catagory tag built into the plug-in which may be populated by the manufacturer. All other plug-ins require manual assignment to a category. Cakewalk does include category assignment for some 3rd party plug-ins, the rest are up to you.

These are the categories Sonar gave me by default:

 
These look good for the most part. It was odd to me that "Dynamics - Multiband" and "Mastering" were empty, but I digress. The only changes I've made so far is adding a "Saturation" category and renaming "Samplers" to "Samplers + Sound Banks".

I presently have too many options in "Dynamics" and "Synth". I'm thinking of breaking down the Dynamics category into Compressors, Limiters, Gate/Expanders, etc. and the Synth category by synth type.

Any advice? What is everyone else doing?

I actually don't use a lot of plug-ins; because certain favorites have proven themselves over time, a "favorites" folder is the key to my categorization. Also, FX Chains do a lot of the "heavy lifting" in my projects. I can usually get more of what I want from an FX Chain than from individual effects, e.g., the "Lifter" I wrote about that pairs two compressors with very gentle slopes, or the CA-X guitar amps.
 

Thanks for the reply, Craig. Believe it or not, a blog post of yours where you shared a few your FX chains is what prompted me to sign up for this forum. Do you mainly use your own FX chains? Are there any other "factory" FX chains in Sonar you favor? I'm also curious to know if this practice is common amongst the music pros you work with (using mostly FX chains with just a few favorite plug-ins).

As someone who mainly uses Sonar for virtual instruments, the updated Plug-in Browser is a welcome change -- though it still needs some work.

telecharge
Thanks for the reply, Craig. Believe it or not, a blog post of yours where you shared a few your FX chains is what prompted me to sign up for this forum. Do you mainly use your own FX chains? Are there any other "factory" FX chains in Sonar you favor?

 
I use only my own FX Chains. There are probably factory ones that do what I need, but I can create my own really quickly, so I just do that and get exactly what I want.
 

I'm also curious to know if this practice is common amongst the music pros you work with (using mostly FX chains with just a few favorite plug-ins).

 
Sorry, but I really don't know. All I can say is that it does seem every person uses SONAR very differently! 

As someone who mainly uses Sonar for virtual instruments, the updated Plug-in Browser is a welcome change -- though it still needs some work.

 
Can you be more specific? The Browser re-do is an ongoing process, so now would be a good time to mention potential improvements. However I do believe that some things are immutable - for example, you can create new categories only if the plug-ins are organized by category.
 

Sure. I would like better recognition/labeling of plug-ins. Kontakt is a good example. I have 3 listings for Kontakt in Sonar -- all named Kontakt 5. Other DAWs show me Kontakt 5, Kontakt 5 8out, and Kontakt 5 16out). To get this information in Sonar, I have to select one and read the small, faint text at the bottom. (Would a theme change make this more readable?) Also, those text details are sometimes obscured by the Windows taskbar when the Browser is maximized.

There's also a problem of duplicate categories. If I select the 3 Kontakts and assign them multiple categories, it seems to work. If I then assign them to a newly created category, I get a bunch of duplicates. I also think the "SET PROPERTIES" interface could be improved. It looks like a simple drop-down menu, but doesn't behave like one. Maybe just having [+]ADD as a menu selection would work better.

Since we're taking requests... :-)
 
If I'm in a category, and right click on a VST to change it's category - once it's done, I'm now in the NEW category. This makes it cumbersome to, for example go through a category and re-categorize each plugin it contains.
 
I think it would make more sense if the interface STAYED with the original category open so I could click the next one in the list.

PilotGav
Since we're taking requests... :-)
 
If I'm in a category, and right click on a VST to change it's category - once it's done, I'm now in the NEW category. This makes it cumbersome to, for example go through a category and re-categorize each plugin it contains.
 
I think it would make more sense if the interface STAYED with the original category open so I could click the next one in the list.

Yes! I meant to mention this. It also behaves differently depending on whether the plug-in had a default category or was uncategorized.

On the media side of the browser, I would LOVE to have the option to automatically advance to the next file when previewing both AUDIO and MIDI files.

Yeah, I would definitely break out your dynamics processors, etc. - especially when a category gets too full.
 
A variation on what Craig suggested, I keep my go-to plugins at the top of each category list, above a separator.  Any surround-specific plugins are grouped at the bottom, below a second separator.  As with FX chains, I've come to rely on track templates quite a bit.
 
Here's my plugin categories at the moment.  I sorta don't like the "Simulators" category anymore because so many plugins now emulate something or another, but I couldn't think of a better place for console emulation plugins (e.g., Waves API Collection, Slate VCC).  I'd appreciate any suggestions.
 

• Bass
• Channel Strip
• Delay
• Distortion
  • Bitcrushing
  • Overdrive
  • Saturation
• Drums
• Dynamics
  • Compression
  • Expansion
  • Gating
  • De-esser
  • Limiting
  • Multiband
  • Transient Shaping
• Filters
• Enhancers
  • HF Exciters
  • LF Exciters
  • LF Synthesizers
• EQ
  • Parametric
  • Linear Phase
  • Baxandall
  • Dynamic
  • Graphic
• Guitar
• Mastering
• Meters
• Modulation
• Multi-Effects
• Only Offline Process
• Other
• Pitch Shift
• Restoration
• Reverb
• Simulators
  • Amp
  • Compression
  • Console/Summing
  • Microphones
  • Mix Rack
  • Tape
• Spatial
• Synths as FX
• Time Stretch
• Tools
  • I/O
  • Monitoring
  • Phase
  • Tuners
• Vocals
• FX Chain

And here's my instrument plugin categories so far.  But again, I increasingly rely on track templates anymore.  For example, loading "Roland TR-808 - Stereo" from folder Track Templates > Drums > Electronic is much easier than loading the Kontakt instrument from scratch.
 

• Drum Machines
• Groove Samplers
• Samplers
• Sound Modules
  • Emulators
  • General MIDI Players
  • SoundFont Players
• Synthesizers
  • FM
  • Hybrid
  • Modular
  • Subtractive
  • Waveshaping
  • Wavetable

 
I hope this is helpful.

This is the kind of response I was hoping for. Thank you, David.