Just started to go through and revaluate my plugins.. spent so much time collecting them and then updating them its wasted hours of my time.

I've used the opportunity to divide fx into different functions and seems to be an effective way of getting control and understand my now more limited toolset.

So .. I was just wondering what categories / class some people sort their plugins.. ie compressors, eq, utilites, metering, surround etc.

my compressors are sorted like this but some fit in more than 1 category..
Analogue style
Track
Bus

How do you guys sort your tools?

Over the years I've whittled my collection down to the point where it no longer makes sense to organize them by category, since nowadays I'll only have 1 or 2 of each type. Instead, I organize them by vendor, e.g. Waves, FabFilter, Meldaproduction, Voxengo, and a large miscellaneous category called Rarely Used.
 
That latter group holds all the stuff I don't use anymore but hang onto for compatibility with old projects. That's divided into:

• Amp Sims and Distortion 
• Dynamics (gates, comps, limiters)
• Delays
• Filters
• Instruments
• Measurement (various meters)
• Modulators (autopan, chorus, flanger, phaser, pitch shifter)

 

BTW, I have a little tool that I wrote for my own use that gathers information about all my VSTs and puts it into an Excel spreadsheet. It just occurred to me that others might find it useful, too. Especially while culling. Send me a PM with your email address if you'd like to try it out.

Culling...
 
Wisdom here...  Our next generation will probably hit the zenith of GAS and revert back to a very few tried and true basics. Hope this is the scenerio. Can see some forum up the road shaking their heads about the excesses of the old 2014 dudes.. Many of us here (or sorry, maybe just me...) chasing the latest and greatest, wasting time chasing the sound without actually producing the sound.
 
Was listening to a couple Yardbirds clips from the last so ancient 1960's. Page and Beck.
 
These guys had an amp and a spring reverb. Macho incredible stuff based on raw talent, inspiration and creative juice.
 
Got about every hi dollar plug the Yen can buy, but can't do what they did.
 
Less is more I'm beginning to understand.
 
John
 
 

Truth be told, about 80% of the time I use less than 10% of VSTs I have. Closer to 2% probably.
 
I'll keep them around for past and future compatibility.
 
It's the real reason I purchased to excess, to be ahead of what anyone might bring me in a collab or (good gracious) a mixing project.

The sad part is, I could probably get really creative if I started using many of them just because I may have to approach the same problem a slightly different way.
 

About 20-40% (hee hee) of my update time many be saved when I am finally all 64bit.
 
And that good sirs is actually led by Harrison Mixbus. Once they are 64bit I can finally delete all my 32bit version of plugs that I have 64bit versions of.

When I upgraded to X3 this spring with a new computer, I left all my old 3rd party plugins behind...which I had folders full of...and kept all the installs, etc. Now,  I only use what came with Cakewalk...and the Sony stuff I got with CD arch/Sound Forge/vegas/Acid.  The Sony stuff I basically only use in the Sony programs..if I use them at all.  My machine is so unclutter now in that dept, it is actually great.  I don't need *legacy* plugins, because all my old stuff is already mixed and the few sessions I've revisited, my preference was the newer 64 bit plugs anyway.

It's like the old days in the studio when I had one Eventide, one LA3A, natural reverb chamber and a handful of good mics.  You made decisions and moved on.

Not to mention, I LOVE reading about the new stuff, but the GAS is now gone.  I'd rather have something more useful than another virtual reverb or compressor.  That *something* might be..... another guitar!! ;-D

I also used to have my plug-ins organized by type, but these days I try to stick with 64-bit plug-ins, so now I have fewer plug-ins and have minimized organizing my plug-ins by type. I am using more folders by manufacturers, although I still have an EQ folder a few single plug-ins. I'm trying to keep the number of 64-bit plug-ins small - back in the day I went a bit crazy with 32-bit plug-ins and had over 200 installed at one point. And the problem with that is that I ended trying out dozens of plug-ins on every project which ended up not being very efficient. I'm liking my smaller plug-in list these days.

bitflipper
BTW, I have a little tool that I wrote for my own use that gathers information about all my VSTs and puts it into an Excel spreadsheet. It just occurred to me that others might find it useful, too. Especially while culling. Send me a PM with your email address if you'd like to try it out.

 
yes please!
 
musicroom98 At yahoo