Blackmagic Forum

I am getting into doing sound editing and sound design work for video (shorts, features, etc.) in stereo, 5,1 and even 7.1 surround. What are some of the essential plugins that are recommended for Fairlight for that type of work? And what are some of the additional really good (but not necessarily essential) plugins to have? I am using a Mac.

Simon Brown recommended Toneboosters on another thread.

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=63379&p=366915#p366915

For 20 Euros that's pretty crazy cheap:

https://www.toneboosters.com/tb_trackessentials_v3.html

The Waves plug-ins packages are pretty widely used:

https://www.waves.com

They have sales every often on the bundles -- in fact, I picked up the Diamond package for about $500, which was a bargain given that it normally goes for well over $2000.

iZotope is also a phenomenal set of tools, many of which help enormously in taming problematic dialogue and keeping levels optimized:

https://www.izotope.com/en/products.html

Wow, Waves is running a crazy 25th Anniversary sale right now. I know Waves is found in almost every mixing room, but the sales IDNK about. Thanks Marc!

Marc Wielage wrote:The Waves plug-ins packages are pretty widely used:

https://www.waves.com

They have sales every often on the bundles -- in fact, I picked up the Diamond package for about $500, which was a bargain given that it normally goes for well over $2000.

iZotope is also a phenomenal set of tools, many of which help enormously in taming problematic dialogue and keeping levels optimized:

https://www.izotope.com/en/products.html

Resolve is not an approved host for Waves. Shame too because right now the Diamond package is only 259.00 bucks (from 2,999.00) which is just bonkers..

I don't know if I'd call this 'recommended', but I can say that I find it very useful, and it works just fine in Resolve 14.

https://www.tcelectronic.com/lmn/

Robert James wrote:

Marc Wielage wrote:The Waves plug-ins packages are pretty widely used:

https://www.waves.com

They have sales every often on the bundles -- in fact, I picked up the Diamond package for about $500, which was a bargain given that it normally goes for well over $2000.

iZotope is also a phenomenal set of tools, many of which help enormously in taming problematic dialogue and keeping levels optimized:

https://www.izotope.com/en/products.html

Resolve is not an approved host for Waves. Shame too because right now the Diamond package is only 259.00 bucks (from 2,999.00) which is just bonkers..

Robert, I believe Waves and "all" VST 2 plugins work in 14. (I don't think VST 3 versions work.)

Here's a YouTube video of someone using Waves in 14:

Thanks for posting this. I just picked up the diamond bundle for $259 which is truly insane. Works with Media Composer as well.

Cheers

Did you try them in Resolve? Somebody reported a few days ago that the Wave plugins wouldn't load properly, they kept scanning.

I *think* you just need to be sure you know where the plugins have been installed. I believe the default location for VST2 plugins in Windows is:

C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VstPlugins

But I have to think that the Waves installer puts them in the correct location. Also in Resolve you can specify additional locations to scan.

That's not the issue. As reported, the system got into a loop scanning the plugin folders.

John, okay I found the post you must be referring to:

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=64739&p=365297&hilit=waves+scan#p365297

Well I look forward to hearing back from Steve. I hope they work for him.

I can report that most of the Diamond series do not appear in Resolve 14 and some that do actually crash Resolve. I think most support AAX, so they work very well in Media Composer (which is why I took the chance - MC is my main NLE still). Not sure why most don't show in Resolve...

A bit disappointing on the Resolve front. Maybe someone else will have different results.

One thing to note is that Waves plugins do not sit in the Program FIles\Steinberg\VSTPlugins folder, just in the Program FIles\VSTPlugins so you have to tell Resolve to look there as well.

Also - Waves uses an interesting approach where only a couple of DLLs sit in the VSTPlugins folder and these somehow link to the actual plugins installed elsewhere.

Anyway - for $259 yesterday ($999 today) that was a pretty good set of plugins for Media Composer. I wish I had better news for Resolve users.

If anyone with Waves plugins has a different experience, please post.

On Mac all waves (VST2/AU) plugins work without issues.

Glenn - are you referring to all plugins that came with the Diamond bundle?

Also - did you have to tell Resolve where to look for those plugins and if so, were did you point to?

Thanks

Steve Alexander wrote:Glenn - are you referring to all plugins that came with the Diamond bundle?

Also - did you have to tell Resolve where to look for those plugins and if so, were did you point to?

Thanks

Hi Steve,

For sure but have used even more on my or other Resolve rig, ( i have a much wider range of plugins. Got it al a long time ago from a good college who quit his mixing job for close to nothing.)
So far the only plugins that sometimes need a bit of massage are the multichannel (5.1) plugins (are a bit order sensitive ), but even those work fine. Have yet to find one that does not work. Multichannel compression/limiting/reverb/image shaping , all good. And none that crash resolve
Not all load as AU + VST, but the few i dont see as AU i see as VST and visa versa.

Regarding location , as besides waves i have lots of other plugins , and not al liked in the past or still Resolve (mainly old 32 bits dont work) , i put them (a copy) in a separate directory , just for Resolve.
In settings you can specify a (or multiple) custom directory(s), so i drop a copy of the vst/au in there and if it does not work/crash resolve i can easily take it out. Nothing in there will affect my general VST/AU setup for my other DAW's (Reaper/Ableton/and now defunct protools which i ditched for Reaper).

As you are on windows , things will likely look different so can not comment on that. Also the trick with the extra vst dir may or may not work as subtle although i did see in earlier discussion that something like that is also possible for windows, but due to the registry your mileage may vary.

Thanks Glenn -

Looks like Waves does not place VST plugins in a common folder any longer - they have some other mechanism that re-directs from a shell DLL to the actual plugin stored elsewhere. This is why I was asking you about where your Waves VST plugins are located.

Maybe this is a Windows thing or maybe Waves has changed the way it deploys its plugins.

Very odd.

Update: I removed the VST paths in the Resolve preferences, restarted Resolve, then re-entered the paths to the VST (C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins) and restarted Resolve once more. Now I see all the plugins from the Diamond collection.

Yippee - of course, not all work but this is much better than in my previous report...

Cool !
Baby steps , but you will get there

p.s. Mac also has an indirect cal mechanisme like you described, but it actually makes it easy. There is a waveshell.vst and .component (au) file as a placeholder for all VST's / AU's, which i drop in to the target dir.
It is an all or nothing approach of course but as said i have little to no problems.

Steve Alexander wrote:...

Yippee - of course, not all work but this is much better than in my previous report...

Steve, thanks so much for the updates.

I would recommend contacting Waves as well about this, if you haven't. As even though the price was a total deal, all of the VST versions of the plugins should work. And because are an experienced NLE user, your input would be especially helpful. Just a humble suggestion.

And good luck with all of this. And thanks *again* for updating us.

I'm just going through the process of dropping these Diamond bundle plugins on to tracks on the edit page...

Most seem to 'work' (no idea if delivery would work) - the only crash so far was EMO-Q4-Mono when I dropped it on a stereo track (most mono effects don't crash if you accidentally drop it on a stereo track but this one does).

Others that crashed:

REQ n Stereo/Mono (there are several of these)

But most seemed to work in as much as they would show their interfaces and have some effect on the audio played back trough my speakers. Sometimes a VST effect would apply and appear to work but then if you clicked on the track header later to show the properties (to bring up the VST UI again) Resolve would crash. But mostly not.

This is really as much testing as I care to do for now. That was a pretty well spent $259. Thanks to Glenn for pushing the issue (had you not stated emphatically that all was good with the Diamond bundle and more I probably wouldn't have pursued this - at least not today)...

Cheers

Tnx. Going to collect my commission at Waves now

Take you time to play with these VST's . It's really good stuff in there. You got a great deal as is so much more expensive this stuff normally. Even if 50% would not have worked, you still have a great deal
I tent to only use them via the Fairlight page btw, much more user friendly to drop on the right track / monitoring etc without to much fiddling, not sure if makes a difference technicaly but guess it should be the same stability wise.
As Fairlight evolves so will the support for more advanced function in some of the plugins , like side-chaining, which is not active yet in Resolve (in both the internal fx and vst). But was presently surpriced that multchannel stuff mostly works , which is sort of essential for post work.
Anyway , have fun man !

Robert James wrote:Resolve is not an approved host for Waves. Shame too because right now the Diamond package is only 259.00 bucks (from 2,999.00) which is just bonkers..

Yes, I bought the Diamond package when it went on sale. (I literally paid about $2K for this same package 10 years ago in another life as a Pro Tools mixer/editor.)

All the Plug-Ins come up for me just fine in Resolve 12.5 and 14. I just double-checked Resolve 12.5 and yes, you can drop any Waves Plug-in on top of a clip and it will apply. It takes a few seconds to go out and load the control panel, but it does work. This is for the Diamond 9.2.6 package.

I also have most of the Nugen plug-ins, and those appear to work as well:

https://www.nugenaudio.com/

I have not tried them in Fairlight yet, but hope to once I wrap a couple of projects.

Marc Wielage wrote:Yes, I bought the Diamond package when it went on sale. (I literally paid about $2K for this same package 10 years ago in another life as a Pro Tools mixer/editor.)

Did you pay the WUP update fee?

Updating a Platinum v5 bundle to v9.5, for example, is a third of the sale price.

I also have most of the Nugen plug-ins, and those appear to work as well:

I have not tried them in Fairlight yet, but hope to once I wrap a couple of projects.

Only had issues with Stereoizer in Fairlight. All their other plugins are functional and seem to behave.

Apparently many plugin developers are having issues with OS X High Sierra though, but no official notice from Nugen yet. So I wouldn’t be in a rush to deploy a system with the latest greatest.

Mike Halper wrote:I am getting into doing sound editing and sound design work for video (shorts, features, etc.) in stereo, 5,1 and even 7.1 surround. What are some of the essential plugins that are recommended for Fairlight for that type of work?

The following are my go to options for 7.1 Fixed channel configurations.
(all provide 8 channel processing but the Flux options allow per channel control).
Flux:: Epure
Flux:: BitterSweet Pro
Flux:: Syrah
Flux:: Pure DExpander
Flux:: Solera
Flux:: Pure Limiter
Flux:: Elixir
Sonic Studio NoNOISE 3 VST
Exponential Audio R2 Surround (8 channel bed + 8 channel height via 3D Link)
Exponential Audio PhoenixVerb Surround (8 channel bed + 8 channel height via 3D Link)
SoundField SurroundZone
RTW Loudness Tools Metering

6 channel fixed channel configurations:
RTW Continuous Loudness Control
Flux:: Jünger LevelMagic
Grimm / Beatrig LevelView Metering

There are many plugin developers and thousands of plugins available for many tasks, so which ones are good to have really depends on what you personally need.

The plugins I have are from Waves (no problems so far using these in Resolve, and they have sales more often than not), iZotope (RX6, although I prefer to use the standalone editor, and Neutron), ToneBoosters (I only use the De-Esser) and Valhalla DSP (reverbs). You can get trial versions for most plugins, so just download those and see if they suit you.

Tokyo Dawn Labs (http://www.tokyodawn.net/tokyo-dawn-labs/) also has some nice ones, like a dynamic equalizer for example, which comes in a free and commercial version.

Marcus Goller wrote:Tokyo Dawn Labs (http://www.tokyodawn.net/tokyo-dawn-labs/) also has some nice ones, like a dynamic equalizer for example, which comes in a free and commercial version.

Yes I quite like Proximity, for controlling the perceived distance of a sound. It's free too.

If I read Diamond bundle plugins work fine, what about SoundShifter?
I see only SoundShifter Pitch Mono/Stereo in the list of Audio FX. No Parametric SoundShifter, no Graphic SoundShifter.

Oh I see. Waves presets only ProTools can use Parametric and Graphic SoundShifter

Wouter Verwijlen wrote:There are many plugin developers and thousands of plugins available for many tasks, so which ones are good to have really depends on what you personally need.

The plugins I have are from Waves (no problems so far using these in Resolve, and they have sales more often than not), iZotope (RX6, although I prefer to use the standalone editor, and Neutron), ToneBoosters (I only use the De-Esser) and Valhalla DSP (reverbs). You can get trial versions for most plugins, so just download those and see if they suit you.

I can't get Resolve 14 to even see my VST plugins, the same ones I'm using in Sound Forge. I have Waves and Izotope plugins installed - checked the folders and, yup, the plugins are there. When I direct Resolve to the folders, it doesn't see the plugins, so no option to enable them.

Can anyone help?

What OS, and what file location are your plugins stored in?

PeterMoretti wrote:What OS, and what file location are your plugins stored in?

Hi, I'm using Windows 10 Pro w a GTX 1070. Plugins are in C:\Program Files (x86)\Vstplugins.

I installed Waves h-reverb (AU and VST versions) in Resolve 14. Resolve doesn't recognise the VSTs. The AUs appear in the list, though, and in the compressed view, they work perfectly. When I switch to the expanded view, the view sits on top of the compressed view instead of below it and the controls do not work. Reverting to the compressed version calls up a document in Preview and the plug-in crashes.
I got on to Waves support and they told me they don't support installations on DaVinci.
Anyone any ideas, please?

I believe the "best" location for VST plugins is:

64-bit plug-ins: C:\Program Files\Steinberg\Vstplugins\
32-bit plug-ins (on 64 bit systems): C:\Program Files (x86)\Steinberg\Vstplugins\

I would check to see if Resolve is look at those locations, and where your plugins are stored if you don't have either of those directories.

Thanks for that Peter. But I'm afraid I omitted to mention I'm on an iMac (32/latest Sierra)
Plugins are in Library/Audio/Plugins/VST or Component.
Resolve won't pick up H-reverb VSTs. H-reverb AUs work, sort of. When I go into expand mode to use the advanced features the expanded screen loads over the original one and jams the whole thing up. Actually that's not quite true - I have one clip, just one, where it works perfectly. I've examined all the settings but can't for the life of me see any difference.
Maddening.
Waves won't help as they don't support DaVinci.

I'm sorry Ernie, and I did not know that Davinci is not supported by Waves. Pretty essential for any audio solution, as Waves are the most prevalent pug-in's in post.

But indeed, you are correct:

https://www.waves.com/support/tech-spec ... rsion-9-91

Reynaud Venter wrote:

Mike Halper wrote:I am getting into doing sound editing and sound design work for video (shorts, features, etc.) in stereo, 5,1 and even 7.1 surround. What are some of the essential plugins that are recommended for Fairlight for that type of work?

The following are my go to options for 7.1 Fixed channel configurations.
(all provide 8 channel processing but the Flux options allow per channel control).
Flux:: Epure
Flux:: BitterSweet Pro
Flux:: Syrah
Flux:: Pure DExpander
Flux:: Solera
Flux:: Pure Limiter
Flux:: Elixir
Sonic Studio NoNOISE 3 VST
Exponential Audio R2 Surround (8 channel bed + 8 channel height via 3D Link)
Exponential Audio PhoenixVerb Surround (8 channel bed + 8 channel height via 3D Link)
SoundField SurroundZone
RTW Loudness Tools Metering

6 channel fixed channel configurations:
RTW Continuous Loudness Control
Flux:: Jünger LevelMagic
Grimm / Beatrig LevelView Metering

Hey Gang!
Reynauld has (and others perhaps have) provided a list of plugins found to be stable in Davinci Resolve's Fairlight tab [I'll assume that's for Resolve 14.x.x...

It would be very helpful if we could continue, collectively, to build a list of working VST or VST3 plugins favorites for the PC side, that indeed work in version 14.x.x and later of Resolve's Fairlight audio page.

I'm particularly hoping to discover some usable VST or VST3 plugins for audio sweetening, in the realm of "tape saturation", "maximizer", and "vintage warmth" effects, etc. etc.

Any additional suggestions along those lines are welcome.
Thanks (I'm new here).

Yup, that works for me. I'm using the RX 6 plugins, mainly to clean up mic noise and actors' sloppy technique/dialogue. They seem to work flawlessly. Very useful, very powerful in some instances.

RX 6 De-click
RX 6 De-clip
RX 6 De-crackle
RX 6 De-ess
RX 6 De-hum
RX 6 De-plosive
RX 6 De-reverb
RX 6 Monitor
RX 6 Mouth De-click
RX 6 Spectral De-noise
RX 6 Voice De-noise

Happy New Hear to all !

Peter Benson wrote:It would be very helpful if we could continue, collectively, to build a list of working VST or VST3 plugins

Be aware that, currently, VST 3 plugins are not supported within Resolve 14.x nor are 32bit plugins.

The only supported plugins are 64bit VST 2.4 (OS X and Windows) and 64bit AU (OS X).

RowanGrey wrote:I'm using the RX 6 plugins, mainly to clean up mic noise and actors' sloppy technique/dialogue. They seem to work flawlessly.

"Seem"? How extensively have you tested? No odd artifacts? No loss of sync? Be warned. Resolve is not a supported host for rx6 plugins.

These are the ones I've been playing with.

Loudness Meter
https://www.klangfreund.com/lufsmeter/

De-noise & De-reverb
https://accusonus.com/products/era-d

De-esser
https://www.waves.com/plugins/renaissance-deesser

De-breath
https://www.waves.com/plugins/debreath# ... h-debreath

eq & comressor
http://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-nova/


I really like Nova, it's super flexible yet powerful at the same time.


Hopefully we get the ability to off-line audio stuff soon, as it would save an incredible amount of time.

[quote="John Paines"]

Yes, "seem." Been working with them for about a month, now. No issues... yet.

John Paines wrote:

RowanGrey wrote:I'm using the RX 6 plugins, mainly to clean up mic noise and actors' sloppy technique/dialogue. They seem to work flawlessly.

"Seem"? How extensively have you tested? No odd artifacts? No loss of sync? Be warned. Resolve is not a supported host for rx6 plugins.

Wow, that is true: https://www.izotope.com/en/products/rep ... specs.html

This is not good at all. Both Waves and Izotope do not officially support Resolve. That's a big issue, as they are ubiquitous in post.

I bought during the Black Friday Isotope RX6 and I did some tests on an old clip (1990) whose sound was not very clean (RX6 Denoise).

In plugin, the RX6 work well. It remains to test also Neutron and Ozone 8 .... They start well but I must learn to master them.

I've used RX 6 as well. And it seemed to work, but there were some odd sounds that I just wasn't sure about.

Resolve really needs to be an officially supported host of Waves and Izotope plugins. Any serious audio program needs to be.

This is a question I do not have a complete answer to: who needs to do the certification: to BMD or VST editors? As long as BMD correctly implemented the VST Application Program Interface (API)? (It's the same as for the OFX ...)

This is only my opinion: it is up to the publishers to do the tests because it will be them who will reap the benefits.

PeterMoretti wrote:This is not good at all. Both Waves and Izotope do not officially Resolve. That's a big issue, as they are ubiquitous in post.

Not so sure that is altogether true.

Waves and iZotope are often mentioned on forums due to these options being some of the cheapest paid options, but both still remain very much entry level options.

Majority of my audio specialist colleagues (involved with film, television programming, music releases, and audio restoration) aren't Waves or Izotope plugin users, and therefore do not have these options installed, as they are always better served by more specialised and refined options. I haven’t required a Waves plugin on a session in well over a decade.

Update 22/09/2018:
iZotope's RX7 Advanced plugins, are much less resource intensive than the previous versions of the same plugins, and are now actually usable on a Resolve Timeline with little penalty. Much improved performance and stability within Resolve 15 as both Track and Clip-based effects - and if RX plugins misbehave, there is always the Cache or Bounce Audio Effects options.

RX7 Advanced plugins are still not nearly as resource efficient as Sonic's NoNoise and Cedar Studio plugins, and these options still provide much more transparent results than RX 7 in day to day workflows.

iZotope RX's real (often overlooked) strength is still the standalone audio editor, the processing modules and plugins are really additional fluff on top of that core functionality.

Resolve really needs to be an officially supported host of Waves and Izotope plugins. Any serious audio program needs to be.

Not sure that it matters quite as much as you think.

None of the plugins I use on a daily basis are specifically stated to be officially supported within Resolve by their developers, yet are fully functional without issue (generally plugins are simply untested due to Resolve's comparatively small user base).

I have tested well over 300 plugins within Resolve in both VST and AU formats from a variety of developers, and there are less than a handful with issues (usually internal multichannel routing issues, or minor issues usually fixed by the plugin developers).

Not a single plugin developer listed above certifies Resolve as being a supported host, and yet these play a crucial role in my daily workflow.

There have a few reports, including mine, that RX6 plugins are not reliable, at least on Windows. One or two may work, or at least work well enough that you won't notice any defects. More than, including more than one application of NR, will likely cause pre-echos, loss of sync, etc. These artifacts will be retained in any renders.

It's easy enough to test. Try NR, de-crackle, de-hum, de-clip. That's usually enough to do it.

John Paines wrote:There have a few reports, including mine, that RX6 plugins are not reliable, at least on Windows. One or two may work, or at least work well enough that you won't notice any defects. More than, including more than one application of NR, will likely cause pre-echos, loss of sync, etc. These artifacts will be retained in any renders.

These are issues related to latency and delay compensation, and have been the case since Izotope released RX version 2 in 2007 with certain modules as plugins.

Try NR

Which settings are active within the Spectral DeNoise module?

The Adaptive mode in Spectral De-noise uses a significant amount of memory and computational power. For a more efficient form of adaptive noise reduction, try the Adaptive mode in Voice De-noise, which is designed to be highly efficient and zero-latency.

Voice De-noise has been specifically designed to provide high efficiency, zero latency adaptive noise removal when inserted on a track in your DAW or NLE. The Spectral De-noise plug-in is far more resource intensive and uses higher latency.

A: is the least CPU intensive process and is suitable for real-time operation.
B: is more CPU intensive and has more latency, but can still run in real-time on most machines.
C: is a very CPU intensive algorithm and can only run in real-time on faster multicore machines.
D: The speed of algorithm D is similar to algorithm C.

de-hum

Disabling Linear Phase Filters will reduce the latency used by De-hum when it is being used as a real-time plug-in.

DeClick
LOW LATENCY: Works well on mouth clicks and other clicks that cannot be handled by other algorithms. This mode has very low latency and is suitable for real-time work in RX De-click plug-in.

It's easy enough to test. Try NR, de-crackle, de-hum, de-clip. That's usually enough to do it.

Izotope's Notes on Latency:
iZotope plug-ins use complex DSP, which can create audible latency. During playback, this can result in a delay or offset to a single track's output, which can put a track out of sync with the rest of a mix.

[*] Make sure the "Enable delay compensation"* feature is enabled in the Options/Preferences window. This option is available in the General section under "Latency" or "Delay Compensation."
[*] Note that this feature reports the exact offset in samples to the host application. The host itself will need to compensate for the offset.
Make your host's delay compensation feature is enabled. This will usually be available in the preferences window or an options/settings menu.
[*] If your host application does not support Delay Compensation, you can still manually adjust your track to compensate for the offset. The current offset is available in the "Latency" or "Delay Compensation" section of the Options/Preferences panel.

I do not think that Resolve 14.x provides the required full latency compensation in its native implementation, and it certainly doesn’t provide any options within the application Preferences related to Delay Compensation, so manual compensation is required.

My suspicion is that the Fairlight Accelerator card is required for full latency compensation, as hinted at on the Resolve marketing pages:

Add Fairlight Audio Accelerator zero latency realtime performance!

For the absolute best performance, add a Fairlight Audio Accelerator to your system! You’ll get blazing performance with amazing sub‑millisecond latency, up to 1,000 tracks, and with full real time processing of EQ, expander/gate, compressor and limiter dynamics, and up to 6 real time VST plug‑ins per channel!