If you're using VSL Pro or First, then I would say - definitely. It's a great program and will speed up the loading of large samples into EXS greatly.

...I think, here you'll find all the answers...
http://www.redmatica.com/Site/Pages/EM.php

Anyway... EM is a standalone software... You can run it once (unless you add others libraries) and forget it (unless you want to do some "cleanup" using the other EM's features)...

In a very few and "simplest" words... the "first" thing EM does is to rewrite into an EXS instrument the list of the samples used and the path to reach them (there it is... the reason 'cause your EXS take so long to load... it has to search the samples)...

I'm sure, Andrea/Agoz (the "EM's father"), soon will jump in... and he'll give to you more good advices...

...but this was a... good start (I hope)!
R

...maybe... It's a little bit abstract... but it works! []

so do i scan one time as a standalone and then when i'm in Logic it just finds samples faster? or do i get a whole new list of sounds to choose from that the EXS manager made?

OR does it just use the old list of instruments but because the EXSmanager is running in the background Logic just finds things faster????

The difference in loading time is only significant the very first time an exs Instrument is opened in Logic.

What *will* load quickly -almost instantaneously in fact- is an exs Instrument whose file contains the correct references it needs.

The very first time you open an exs Instrument, this reference information for that instrument may be incorrect. This is because either a)the Instruments were created on someone else's sysstem , or b) you have possibly moved the samples when organising your data storage.

When the references are incorrect, Logic has to search all the drives until it finds the samples, and this can take several minutes. When Logic has found the samples, it rewrites the references in the Instrument file, and next time no searching will be needed.

However, Logic can only set these references one Instrument at a time, when the Instrument is first opened. The Project manager can do the job for all Instruments together,but it takes an age compared to ExsManager. Exs Manager does all the searching for you very fast in one go, and after it has done it's work, *all* your instruments will load fast without any searching neccesary.

Nigel

I see. Logic relinks a loading EXS instrument on its own, individually, and only when necessary. But I don't want homebilly to be disappointed. He likely has updated EXS programs by now, due to repeated loading. Assuming that those instruments have been correctly linked, a relinking won't make them any faster. As I was reading this thread, I thought that misperception might be drawn by a newbie.

Also, one note of caution against the idea of instantaneous loading. All of my instruments are corrently linked, but the larger ones -- like layered perf-legs -- still take about ten seconds to load per instrument, because I have a very slow computer. (If I sample merged them, they'd take perhaps two or three seconds.)

Nigel, am I correct that Logic relinks only according to the name of the wave file? I believe EM also examines the actual wave, irrespective of the file's name. It's another point in EM's favor.

We have an emoticon from rino: this thread is now official!

"i guess what i still don't get is how does Logic know to look at the EXSmanager's database and not its own?"

For EXS, Logic will always look at only one place -- the Sampler Instruments folder. It never looks anywhere else. You can put an alias pointing elsewhere into that folder, but from Logic's POV, it's all still in Sampler Instruments. (And aliases are not a good idea for this purpose, but that's another thread.)

EXS Manager is rewriting the actual EXS instruments -- it has no separate EXS database that stays resident on the disk. And Logic doesn't know or care what EM is doing -- it just keeps looking at Sampler Instruments.

"i am trying to avoid another 'YOU HAVE TO HAVE IT.' "

I understand. I thought the performance DVD was very well done, but by the time it got into my hands, I had less to learn than I thought.

You might not want to buy EM until the need presents itself to you plainly and unavoidably. A hundred dollars is a lot of money to me too.

I think you're getting closer....

You might be confusing relinking with sample merging. These are two different, separate processes within EM. You could relink your whole library and not sample merge anything at all.

Sample merging creates a new EXS instrument and a new mega-WAV. The new instrument points to the new mega-WAV (not to the original samples). The chief benefit of a sample-merged instrument is a very fast load time.

If you sample-merge an instrument named "X.exs," a new instrument will be created called "X-MRG.exs." (The original instrument and samples will be unchanged.)

Relinking, on the other hand, creates no new WAV's and no new EXS file names -- it simply updates the instruments that were already there. In most cases, a relinked instrument does not load faster.

If you have an EXS instrument named "X.exs" and you relink it, it's still called "X.exs" and no duplicate of it is made.

Andrea,
Do you have a distributor for EXS here in Russia? Buying something online is not considered wise, and i've yet to find it in the music shops here. If not i'll have to wait until i travel back to the EU in September. (I'm British)

I've downloaded the demo, and tried it. My compliments to you on a clever piece of design and function.

Regards,

Alex.

Dear Homebilly,
In case you're still interested, I'll break it down step by step here. Andrea put it very nice and simply (who better), but if you want anymore insight, here you go.

In case you hadn't heard, ExsManager is really great!

The immediate and easiest function of EM is called "relink". You can use this simply by indicating which folder your EXS instruments are in and which folder your samples are in, then clicking [Re-link]. EM will then read each instrument, scan your samples folder to find all samples associated with each one, then write the location of those samples to the EXS instrument itself. This way, when you load the instrument in Logic, it has written into it the locations of all samples referenced by it, and it loads without having to search for the samples.

Without this data written to the EXS instrument, Logic searches all hard drives connected to your system to find the samples, a process which takes WAY too long. If you've opened an instrument once in Logic, however, it does preserve this information, and you won't experience these wait times. You will experience these wait times a) the first time you load an instrument, b) if you've moved your samples, c) if you've re-loaded your instruments (replacing them with copies which do not have the info on locations of samples written into them).

Additionally, EM is great for organizing/reorganizing your library, and can be used to locate redundant samples on your drives, etc. One KEY function is called Sample Merge. This function reads an instrument, then makes a new file that merges together a copy of all samples associated with that instrument. It then makes a new EXS instrument as well, which references locations in the merged audio file, rather than dozens of individual samples. This is very helpful because Logic has a limit to the number of samples that it can reference at one time (somewhere around 11,000), and the VSL performance instruments have around 2000 samples each!!! THis means when you've got 6 performance instruments loaded, you've loaded more samples than Logic can keep track of. With sample-merged instruments, you're much less likely to run into this situation.

So, if that doesn't clear it up, perhaps another of the many patient and helpful users on this forum will give it another go. Stick in there mate, you'll get it.


Best,


P.S. It's far and away worth the money. For me it made the VSL usable, becuase it was just too heavy for my computer (G4). On a G5 now, but I'd still die without EM.