Preset Organization Method/Idea

JoKeR III

JoKeR III

Fractal Fanatic
Had a wild hair to organize my presets...again...and discovered a way to categorize them in the Preset list. It does require using <EMPTY> presets, but it has helped me create a sense of order with the different types of presets I have and should help find necessary presets faster.

In Axe Edit III, using the 'Manage Presets' tool, I organized the presets according to amp, style, 3rd party, artist or song specific. At the top of each group, I left an empty preset and renamed each <EMPTY> with a category - ******(amp)******, ******(vendor)******, ******(artist)******, etc.... You can use up to 31 characters to name each category and I found the asterisk was the most visible for separating categories.

Now all of my presets are gathered into named groups that are easy to find depending upon what is needed. After all presets were categorized, only 8 presets had to be 'sacrificed' to organize them this way. The most time spent was putting the presets in alphabetical order...someone had way too much time on their hands today.
 
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JoKer, have you went as far as reducing AB Live Gold presets to half the number by using Multiplex? Have you taken the time to merge presets together that had only a few scenes (always remember to mute bypassed amp...) so you can reclaimed more space? Have you taken a pack...say Yek's presets...and made a template where all you have to do is insert his amp of your choice from your block library? Have you taken the time to go through all your presets and put 16 different cab blocks into the channels just to see what combinations sound good?
Insomnia, pot of coffee, quiet house, no work related calls or texts....it's my new NYT Crossword puzzle...Is there a 12 step program to ween you off preset and cab packs?? Is it my fault they sell these things cheaper than a dozen golf balls! o_O
 
this is a great idea. wish there was an easy way to duplicate the organization without spending the incredible amt of time im guessing went into your effort!
 
I used to do it this way as well. Visually, it works quite well if your preset list is fairly static but can become unwieldy if you add or move presets around. I changed the text labels to colours so I can filter them in Axe-Edit during the periods of time when things aren't so neatly aligned :)
 
Small tip regarding colors in AE Windows version. Save 2 files after you close AE and definitely BEFORE an AE update. One AE update a while back borked my color file but I was able to recover with 'file history'. These files update when you close AE.

color-assignments_iii.dat
Axe-Edit III.settings

located in(you will need 'hidden files' turned on)
\AppData\Roaming\Fractal Audio\Axe-Edit III

I do this when doing my occasional backup routine.

I exist in organized chaos... my wife will swear to it! ;)
 
It's the 'duplicate' issue that has always bothered me with this kind of system, i.e. a particular preset might contain (1) one of my favourite clean sounds, (2) a favourite lead sound, (3) be an artist preset AND (4) use a particular favourite amp.

Therefore, it would need to go under 4 different column headings, or be duplicated to 4 instances, which is obviously innefficient space-wise.

I'm surprised there's no per-preset user-definable 'keyword' function, where any preset could be tagged (for example) #clean #lead #Artist'X' #AC30, so that you need only have one version of a preset, yet could find it easily under a drop-down search menu from any of the 4 categories it is in.

We already have a 'filter by color' drop-down menu in Axe Edit, so why not one for #lead #AC30 #2290 #live, etc.?
 
Gadget said:
It's the 'duplicate' issue that has always bothered me with this kind of system, i.e. a particular preset might contain (1) one of my favourite clean sounds, (2) a favourite lead sound, (3) be an artist preset AND (4) use a particular favourite amp.

Therefore, it would need to go under 4 different column headings, or be duplicated to 4 instances, which is obviously innefficient space-wise.

I'm surprised there's no per-preset user-definable 'keyword' function, where any preset could be tagged (for example) #clean #lead #Artist'X' #AC30, so that you need only have one version of a preset, yet could find it easily under a drop-down search menu from any of the 4 categories it is in.

We already have a 'filter by color' drop-down menu in Axe Edit, so why not one for #lead #AC30 #2290 #live, etc.?
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All this has been requested years ago.

I know it's not particularly exciting work but it would be great for Fractal to put more focus on usability after the Dynacab update is complete.
 
phil92 said:
I've done a similar thing, reserving some space for temp presets and duplicates. I almost always work from a laptop so it's centered around the preset manager

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I use a very similar approach to organise my sounds into the categories of "Clean", "Rhythm" and "Lead". And while I agree with user Gadgets take on inefficiency, this works well when you:
  1. Can set up a preset-per-amp with all the different modes an amplifier have (e.g Mark IV Lead, Lead Mid Gain, Recto 2 CH Modern, vintage, etc) set to different scenes. Or dial in the amp differently on the same mode (drier high gain, really gained out, scooped etc etc).
  2. Need to quickly and conveniently toggle through different sounds (Clean, Rhythm and Lead) and find that specific one that sounds good and fits the song.
While this works good when you, like me, use the Axe statically in the studio only, I'd also would like to have more focus on preset management in the Axe Edit.
 
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