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  • Initial setup questions for VEP and Logic

    I have just installed VEP in a Mac-master/PC-slave setup running Logic Pro X on the master and VEP on the slave. I am doing orchestral work using mostly Play. It seems to be working fine for the most part but I do have a couple of questions.

    I am using the one instance per instrument approach I've come across others using for Logic/AU with each instrument's articulations taking up many of the 16 channels. That amounts to a lot of instances for a full orchestral project.

    The first question is about Multithreading: With this setup what setting should I use? I'm thinking either 2 or 8 but what would others advise? My slave's CPU is a quad-core i7 with hyperthreading so it has 8 virtual cores. I'll be using around 40 instances or more.

    The second question is concerning the fact that most of the time when I re-start both computers and I load up a previously saved project in Logic, I have to manually re-connect all the VEP plugins to their respective instances in VEP. This happens even though I am saving the VEP project as well as the Logic one and whether or not I load that project before loading the Logic one. I believe what should happen is that I'd start the VEP Server on the PC (without loading any project there), then start Logic and as soon as I load the project/song there, the VEP server side should automatically populate and everything should re-connect as it was. This does happen some of the time but more times than not I have to re-connect everything manually, which is obviously un-workable in the long run. 

    I wonder if this could be happening because I do not have a static IP address on either computer? The reason for this is my provider charges extra for that service(!) So before I pay for having a static IP I want to make sure that that is what's causing the lack of re-connection upon loading. I think that might be the case because it seems that sometimes the address(es) change and sometimes they seem to stay the same. Could that possibly result in everything connecting sometimes but not others?

    So can anyone confirm that this is the likely culprit?

    Thanks, Mark 


  • The static IPs are for your internal network, and have nothing to do with the IP from your ISP, so there shouldn't be any issue of extra cost.


    Dorico, Notion, Sibelius, StudioOne, Cubase, Staffpad VE Pro, Synchon, VI, Kontakt Win11 x64, 64GB RAM, Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, August Forster 190
  • Ok I have the two computers connected via a gigabit switch which also connects to the internet. I can only find one list of network settings on each computer and there doesn't seem to be any way of allocating addresses separately for the LAN and for general internet connectivity. Am I missing something here? 

    Edit: Been researching this a bit. Am I right in thinking that I need to go into my modem/router to change the relevant settings in there? Not sure where to start but I'll keep looking into it..

    I did try to enter the addresses manually in each computer. Worked fine on the PC but the Mac could no longer connect to the internet, so I switched them both back to DHCP.

    Maybe this?


      


  • I have managed to set up static IP addresses on both computers by configuring them from within my router. Now VEPro is populating automatically as it should after closing down everything and re-starting both computers, then simply starting VEPro on my slave machine and loading the project in Logic. At least it has done this successfully each time I've tried it so far - fingers crossed that continues! So that seems to be resolved. Thanks to Bill for alerting me to the fact that this should not require any extra fee to my ISP as that prompted me to look into setting it up within the router. For anyone else wondering about this, the video I linked to earlier is a very helpful how-to if you don't know much about the networking side of things. 

    The one question outstanding is which setting to use for Multithreading. The manual is not clear on how many threads to use if you have multiple instances (30-40) in a project. I have it set to 2 threads per instance but am I missing out by not using all 8?

    I wonder if some kind soul could tell me which setting is appropriate for my setup! 


  • Hi Marcusmax, 

    With so many instances, I'd start with 1 thread per instance. 

    Best, 
    Paul


    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • Hi Paul

    Many thanks for your reply. I know it's a lot of instances but I don't see a way around that given Logic will only allow one port per instance. So I need to cover all my orchestral instruments. I understand from reading around that this is preferable to using the Multiport Template option for Logic. Is that correct?

    By 'start with 1 thread' I presume you mean that I'll have to experiment a bit? Ok so, I'll see how it all runs with 1 thread. 

    Thanks again, Mark


  • Hi Mark, 

    Yes, the multi-instance approach will be more reliable than the Multiport Environment. 

    And yes, experimenting is the best way to find out what works best on your system (it does depend on quite some factors). 

    Best,
    Paul


    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • Thanks for clarifying that Paul. I'll see how I get on. 

    All the best, Mark