Export Macros to local drive + sharing macros between users
Hi Christian,
Is there a way to export macros to my local drive for backup purposes? Not that I don't trust the cloud, but it's always nice to have a local backup too.
Also, if I wanted to share macros with collegues or collegues wanted to share macros with me, how to you go about doing that?
Lastly, with all the macros available in the app store, is there a way for people to tell us what PT version the macro was written and tested on? And if there is an update, is the update for a newer version of protools? This is critical information that can make or break the workflows.
Thanks,
John
Christian Scheuer @chrscheuer2020-07-22 21:21:58.304ZHi John.
Sharing macros privately is only possible on the SoundFlow Cloud Enterprise solutions. For this, users get a private section of the Store that you can use for sharing.
For all other sharing, currently, it's only possible to do by publishing a package on the Store. We encourage this sharing model so that most people get access to the stuff that we're building, as a way to maximize the community around SoundFlow. Hope this makes sense.We currently don't have an offline backup solution for the SoundFlow Cloud Indie/Pro editions, but the cloud backs up your data every 24 hours and we keep those backups for a very long time (I don't think there's a time limit right now, to be honest).
For facilities running offline SoundFlow Facility they can implement their own offline backup schedules as they wish.
Christian Scheuer @chrscheuer2020-07-22 21:23:38.104ZOops missed your last question.
We don't enforce any rules on packages in the Store right now, but yes package publishers can provide their own documentation, and I agree with you it would be a good idea to have information about where they tested it and with which combinations of external software it should work on (including, but not limited to Pro Tools).We will be looking at how to add more validation/filtering logic to packages on the Store pretty soon, so I think your idea for this is probably something we should integrate into that workflow - reminding package owners to add this kind of information if they haven't already.
- Christian Scheuer @chrscheuer2020-07-22 21:24:50.591Z
This would kind of be equivalent of how the Android and iOS app stores work by showing compatibility information right where you purchase/download apps on those platforms. A really good idea - I've put it on our list :)
- JJohn Traunwieser @John_Traunwieser
Thanks, that would be really great!
If I switched to the enterprise solution, how much extra would it be per login for a single user?
Also, is there any documentation explaining what "remote control network computers" is?- Christian Scheuer @chrscheuer2020-07-23 14:55:38.179Z
Hi John.
It doesn't really make sense to be on the Enterprise edition just for a single user, since you wouldn't be able to share with anybody else. Remote controlling networked computers is a feature in which you can control SoundFlow scripts running on several other machines, allowing you to run distributed scripts, controlling other computers from one computer, etc.
The current pricing is available here:
https://soundflow.org/purchase
- JIn reply toJohn_Traunwieser⬆:Joseph Trapanese @Joseph_Trapanese
Hey @chrscheuer, are there offline backup options available for the Entreprise model? Thank you!
- Christian Scheuer @chrscheuer2020-11-17 11:32:28.189Z
Hi Joe,
No, we currently don't have offline backup options available. As mentioned above in this thread, your data are backed up every 24 hours and you can create manual cloud backups of your data by saving versions of your scripts & packages.
- MIn reply toJohn_Traunwieser⬆:Matt Yocum @Matt_Yocum
I actually came here to make this exact same feature request.
The way I see it, beyond the enterprise solution which makes sense, is that it would be great to be able to share a macro with friends/co-workers by exporting as a .SF file or something along those lines. Then the other user could drag and drop that .sf file onto the soundflow interface and have it ingest for use.
Currently you can already do this, just with a more cumbersome workaround, by converting a macro into a script and then copy and pasting that. It works, its just not as elegant as exporting a macro to a contained file which you could then name something to make sense for anyone else looking at it.
Would be a lovely addition!
- DIn reply toJohn_Traunwieser⬆:Dave Weingarten @Dave_Weingarten
@chrscheuer The option to collect all applicable macros/scripts/commands and save a deck as a file or folder would be sick. Highly useful and would promote new usage of soundflow through word of mouth marketing. I am currently attempting to get my friends on soundflow but can't share my macros. This would be especially helpful considering there's a not insignificant learning curve to getting into sounflow to start. This would help to encourage less savvy friends of mine to hop on and try it out.
- Christian Scheuer @chrscheuer2024-10-28 00:28:04.889Z
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the request. Just to be clear - it's definitely possible to share macros, but if you choose not to, that's up to you. We intentionally make it very easy to share macros publicly on our Store (just click the package, choose Publish), so as to ensure that the community stays active and collaborative and that almost all scripts that are shared are available to all users. We don't want to create lots of gated communities where people share in private, because that limits the greater good of the community as a whole.
For users on SoundFlow Cloud Business plans, there are options to share in private.
- DDave Weingarten @Dave_Weingarten
Thank you for the clarification. Where I'm having trouble is figuring out how to share a deck that contains my user presets from installed packages. For example, move to existing folder from Raphael Sepulveda, but with my specific folder names. Etc Etc. If I post my deck to the store, will these commands be usable by the person installing my package without them having to install Raphael Sepulveda's package and creating the user presets themself?
- Christian Scheuer @chrscheuer2025-02-16 11:29:54.886Z
Hi Dave,
Ah, I see. Currently, there's a limitation in the ability to refer to other packages in packages you share. A package needs to be self-contained (not referring to other packages) to work well when published.
The reason for this has to do with the complexity of package version management, so we opted for a "simple approach" for now. I definitely want to improve this situation going forward though.- DDave Weingarten @Dave_Weingarten
Maybe a way to save that package with your saved presets within the new package? Not trying to gatekeep or be secretive at all, but you see how this can put a limit on how workflows can be shared between users...
- Christian Scheuer @chrscheuer2025-02-19 22:48:04.202Z
Yes, absolutely. The challenge becomes that transient package dependency. Due to the ability scripts in packages have (to use other content from the same package), having any dependency on content from a package (such as a preset) means there's a dependency on the entirety of the package. This can cause conflicts in the case where different packages end up with dependencies on different versions of the same underlying package, so they can end up existing in many different versions. This quickly becomes complex to handle in an intuitive way for end users.
The solution right now is to copy the scripts you depend on into your own package. This makes sharing deterministic and predictable, vs. the "automatic inclusion of dependent packages" which could otherwise complicate things, and make all sorts of things happen in the background that wouldn't be transparent to users.
Not a perfect solution, but at least it's relatively simple.
- DDave Weingarten @Dave_Weingarten
Ohh can I convert my user presets into scripts that will run without having to install the packages? Everything I know about coding I learned from Myspace over 20 years ago :). Thanks for all of this info!!
- Christian Scheuer @chrscheuer2025-02-20 10:31:18.295Z
Let me cc @Chad to give some more details. You would likely need to make a copy of the template manually, but I might be missing something.
Is there a specific package we could start by looking into, that you're making presets of? - In reply toDave_Weingarten⬆:
Chad Wahlbrink @Chad2025-02-20 17:38:12.427ZHi, @Dave_Weingarten,
Open-source Command Templates can be copied to other packages by selecting the Command Template in the Commands list and clicking "Make Editable Copy."
This will copy all factory and user presets to a user package allowing for further customization or sharing.
You can check out this short video for more clarification:
Some packages are " closed-source," typically premium packages or packages created by our SoundFlow Developers. In this instance, it's important to note that Raphael's command "RS_Move to Existing Folder," which you mentioned, is also closed-source, as Raphael is part of the developer team.
- DDave Weingarten @Dave_Weingarten
Thank you so much for the info and for taking the time to explain this!
- Progress