If a plugin has parameter names that can change after initialization, those changes don’t show up in Renoise in the *Instrument Automation.
Examples
I’ve ran into this while testing the closed pre-release of the VCVRack VST and due to the modular nature of Rack, the parameter names are often changing after initializing the plugin as one adds new modules and so on, yet they don’t sync up within Renoise. However, the units of parameter values come through properly, even though the names do not and automation technically works.
Another VST that is readily available and exhibits the same issue is the Surge synth where changing the names of the macro controls (or loading up another preset with differently named macros) is not reflected in the *Instrument Automation device.
Another but somewhat different example is changing the cartridge inside Dexed, where the Program selector inside the Plugin tab is not getting updated and still shows the initial list of programs.
In the case of the latter examples, the names not updating is less of an issue, but with a modular synth it is very impractical as I’m left completely clueless of what I should select to automate. I assume this issue exists with Reaktor or similar modular or more flexible VSTs as well.
Workaround
Reloading the song updates the names properly but this is quite impractical.
Proposed Solution
If continuous updating is not possible for some reason, it would be nice to be able to refresh these names with a button, or have some kind of parameter select via “learn mode” where you wiggle a knob inside the VST to pick an item from the *Instrument Automation’s menu.
I’m running Renoise 3.3.2 on Linux 5.14.10-arch1-1
I’m not really sure how much responsibility the plugins have about this, after a report on the Rack forum, I tested the same in Reaper and the names for the same Rack plugin update there, so I concluded it is an issue with Renoise in particular but maybe this isn’t the case…
With VST2, we’re only updating the parameter display properties when the plugin is sending a audioMasterUpdateDisplay event to the host. Do you know what VCVRack does to force the host to update it’s parameter cache or is it expecting that the program names are polled and updated regulariy?
I don’t know what it does as the VST version is closed source (I can try it as a pre-release since I made some modules for it in the past) but as it’s still being developed maybe this is something that is just yet to be implemented.
I can only assume that it is currently expecting polling from the host because in Reaper the names do get updated but you have to switch between the plugin’s display and the parameter list to see them. My guess is that the switching polls the data every time but I know nothing about the VST API.
What I can do is to relay your comment towards VCV bug tracking. But regarding the issue in general maybe it would be also useful to have an option in Renoise to poll the data as it seems there are other more “finalized” plugins that expect the host to do this.
Thanks for the information!
Edit:
Thanks again @taktik, sent a report with your comment attached and this is now working as expected with the latest version of the VST!