Camel Audio FAQs

The following document contains answers to the questions we feel are most likely to come up after the 7th July 2015, when we will no longer be providing downloads / support for our products, including answers to the questions we have received the most over the past few years. Once again, we’d like to thank you for all your support. Installation: I backed up my plugins using the CamelAudioInstaller application – how do I install them or update my existing installation?

After July 7th 2015, the CamelAudioInstaller application will not be able to connect to our server and, in the same way it always has if your computer has not been connected to the internet, will give you the option for an Offline Install.

1) Select Offline Install

2) The installer will now check the Download Path (defined in the ‘Preferences’ tab), for your .CamelSounds files and then check the contents of these against your current installation. - The installer also checks the desktop for .CamelSounds files.

3) You can set a custom location for the ‘Alchemy’ data folder in the ‘Preferences’ tab, as well as any custom VST locations (Windows only). Note: The default location for the ‘Alchemy’ data folder is: Win: C:\ProgramData\Camel Audio\ Mac: /Library/Application Support/Camel Audio/ Note: The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Windows plugin .dll need to be installed to separate locations in subfolders of the following: C:\Program Files (x86)\... for the 32-bit version C:\Program Files\... for the 64-bit version If your host is not using a custom location for VSTs, we recommend using the VSTPlugins folder, which is set as the default by the installer.

4) Click ‘Update All’ or ‘Install All’ to install all the files currently in your Download Path location, or alternative you can Update / Install the individual installations.

I have the old plugin installer (AlchemyWin-1-55-0.exe or AlchemyMac-1-55-0.pkg) and the .CamelSounds files. How can I install?

1) To install using the old installer, place both the .exe / .pkg plugin installer and your .CamelSounds files in the same location. We’ve always specified the desktop, but placing them all in their own folder will work too. If the plugin installer is in the same directory as the .CamelSounds files, it should give the option to extract those too.

2) If you’re using Windows, make sure you set the plugin paths to the path your host uses for VSTs.

Note: The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Windows plugin .dll need to be installed to separate locations in subfolders of the following: C:\Program Files (x86)\... for the 32-bit version C:\Program Files\... for the 64-bit version

3) Make sure all the Sound Libraries are highlighted in the Sound Library Select screen, as shown in the screenshot below.

Problems running Alchemy: Alchemy crashes my host upon loading… The most common cause of this problem is that the presets database has somehow become corrupted. This is rare but does sometimes happen, occasionally during fresh installations / updates. You can force Alchemy to rebuild a fresh database by doing the following:

1) Quit your host 2) Open the Alchemy configuration folder: Win: Start Menu -> All Programs -> Camel Audio -> Alchemy -> Alchemy Configuration Mac: /Library/Application Support/Camel Audio/Alchemy 3) Delete or move the following files to the desktop (these contain any preset ratings and tags you have made, so it could be worth keeping them so that if this isn't the problem you can just put them back). Alchemy_Preset_Ratings_And_Tags Alchemy_Preset_Ratings_And_Tags.bak

Note: Only one of these files may exist - move / delete any you find. 4) Restart your host and an instance of Alchemy, which should automatically scan your presets, creating a new database file.

Presets browser information seems unusual…

Occasionally users have reported that the preset selected doesn’t match the display preset at the top of the GUI. Or that some presets are duplicated in the browser but the .acp preset files themselves aren’t. These issues can usually be solved using the above steps to rebuild the presets database too.

-I can’t edit my presets’ tags -I can’t see new presets after I’ve saved them

These issues are very often related to the permissions set for the Alchemy data folder. Windows:

1) Right-click your host and select ‘Run As Administrator’. You’ll only need to do this once, after which your host will have the required permissions to access the data folder.

Mac:

1) Open this folder:

/Mac HD/Library/Application Support Note: this is a sub-folder of the Library folder of your system disk, which is typically labelled "Macintosh HD" unless you renamed it.

2) Right-click the "Camel Audio" folder - select "Get Info"

3) In the Finder Info panel click the padlock icon in the lower right corner

- enter your system password to authorise

4) Click your user name "Privilege" and select "Read & Write"

5) Do the same for users "admin" and "everyone"

6) Click the gear icon below this and select "Apply to enclosed items ..."

- click OK to confirm the change I get a message repeatedly asking to locate the Alchemy data folder… On Windows systems, this is often caused by a DAW or host software not having the required permissions to access the Alchemy data folder automatically. This can be solved by doing the following:

1) Right-click your host

2) Select ‘Run As Administrator’. You’ll only have to do this once after which your host will have the required permissions to access the data folder.

This can also happen when a user has manually moved the data folder by dragging and dropping after installation rather than installing it directly to the desired location, resulting in the shortcuts not being set up properly. To solve this, do the following:

1) Search for and delete all copies of Alchemy.dll

2) Also, delete any Alchemy-related shortcuts from the same locations as the .dlls.

3) Next, run the installer again and click ‘Update’ next to Alchemy.

Note: If you are using a custom location for the ‘Alchemy’ data folder or for VSTs, select these in the ‘Preferences’ tab of the installer.

The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the Windows plugin .dll need to be installed to separate locations in subfolders of the following: C:\Program Files (x86)\... for the 32-bit version C:\Program Files\... for the 64-bit version

If you are receiving this message on either a Mac or Windows system and you have the Alchemy data folder stored on an external drive, then delete the sym link (Mac) or shortcut (Win) in the Camel Audio folder and then run the installer. Either the old installer or the new installer will update the shortcuts accordingly, provided you locate the new data folder (either in Preferences in the new installer, or during setup in the old installer). How do I move the ‘Alchemy’ data folder to a new location after installation? This can be done very easily using the new installer, which will move the folder for you, as well as rebuilding the shortcuts:

1) Run the installer in Offline Install mode

2) Go to the ‘Preferences’ tab.

3) The ‘Alchemy data path’ listing should list the current location of the ‘Alchemy’ data folder.

4) Browse to the new location or type the new location of the Alchemy

data folder into the box.

5) Click Apply. You should now see a progress bar along the bottom of the installer window, indicating the data folder is being moved to its new location and the shortcuts being built accordingly.

The plugin isn’t showing up in my host… - On Windows, by far the most common reason for this is that Alchemy is installed to a location other than the location your host uses for plugins.

- Direct your host / DAW to the location you installed Alchemy to. - Alternatively, you can search for and delete all copies of Alchemy.dll

and any Alchemy-related shortcuts and reinstall the plugin to the location your host uses.

- Another possible reason on Windows is that you only have either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the plugin installed. The different versions of the plugin need to be installed separately to subfolders of the following locations:

C:\Program Files (x86)\... for the 32-bit version C:\Program Files\... for the 64-bit version

- It’s also worth rescanning all the plugins on your system if the above two methods don’t help. Otherwise, you could contact your host manufacturer for information about rebuilding the plugin cache if you are certain that the correct version of the Alchemy plugin is installed in the correct location. - Certain hosts may also blacklist certain plugins which have caused trouble before, so it’s worth checking with your host’s manufacturer how to reset the blacklist or to see if Alchemy has been blacklisted if there’s been previous issues with it.

I can’t see the Alchemy / CamelPhat / CamelSpace plugin in Logic Pro X…

1) Quit Logic Pro X 2) Open the following folder: /Library/Audio/Plugins/Components/ 3) Move the following file from this folder to your desktop: Alchemy.component / CamelPhat.component / CamelSpace.Component (Note: make sure the file has been moved, not copied) 4) Move the file from the desktop back to the Components folder: /Library/Audio/Plugins/Components/ 5) Start Logic Pro X

If this doesn’t work, the problem may be happening because Logic Pro X failed to scan the plugin properly. Forcing Logic Pro X to validate the plugin might help. To do this:

1) Start Logic Pro X

2) Open Logic Pro X -> Preferences -> Audio Units Manager 3) Type "Camel" in the search field (top right of window) 4) Highlight Alchemy and click "Reset & Rescan Selection"

I can’t see the Alchemy / CamelPhat / CamelSpace plugin in Ableton Live

You may need to rescan the plugins installed on your system, as the plugin cache may be corrupted. Try the following:

1) Open Live’s Preferences page

2) Click the Files/Folders tab

3) Hold down Alt/Option (Mac) or Alt (Win) and click the Rescan button - All plugins installed on your system will be rescanned.

I’m receiving a message in Alchemy asking me to ‘select a location for supporting data files’.

This dialog box appears when your host is saving a song that contains more than 1MB of additive or spectral analysis data. You should click ‘OK’. In the following File Save dialog you should navigate to the folder in which your song is saved and enter a suitable name for the Alchemy preset file that will be saved there. This file will be referred to by the song, so it is a good idea to keep it in the same folder.

The reason it is necessary to save this data outside the song is because some sequencers do not allow more than 1MB of data to be stored inside a song by a plugin. To find out if your sequencer has this limitation, please contact the sequencer manufacturer. If your sequencer does allow you to save more than 1MB of plugin data within a song, then you can increase this threshold by adding a ‘0’ to the value of the MaxChunkSize parameter within the AlchemyConfig.txt file that is located in the Alchemy data folder. The MaxChunkSize parameter specifies the threshold in bytes. Increasing this value when your sequencer does not support it will lead to a crash when saving songs.

Can I remove the ‘Hide / Show Presets Available To Buy’ option at the foot of the presets list? Yes, this is possible. To do this, try the following steps:

1) Quit your host

2) Go to your Alchemy data folder: Mac: /Library/Application Support/Camel Audio/Alchemy Win: Start Menu -> All Programs -> Camel Audio -> Alchemy -> Alchemy Data

3) Go to Libraries/SoundLibraries and delete the contents of that folder.

4) Next, in the data folder, open AlchemyConfig.txt

5) Change the line

HidePresetsToBuyAndBox= 0 to HidePresetsToBuyAndBox= 1

6) Save the file and exit

7) Open your host and Alchemy which should now not show the option

Backing Up Alchemy Mobile + Sound Libraries:

The following instructions will cover backing up Alchemy Mobile and its Sound Libraries to a desktop computer (as well as restoring them from backup in the future), using your choice of 2 desktop applications – iFunbox is a free app, iMazing contains a free 15 day trial at time of writing.

Backing up using iFunbox (http://www.i-funbox.com):

1) Connect your device to your computer

2) In iFunbox, expand 'User Applications' using the disclosure arrow (circled below)

3) Go to Alchemy / Library and drag and drop the 'Private Documents' folder to the backup location on your computer (in our example above, we've created a folder called 'iFunbox Backup'. This could take a few minutes depending on how many libraries you have saved on your device.

4) Next, highlight 'User Applications', to see a grid of your installed application icons.

5) Right click Alchemy and select 'Backup to .ipa package' -> 'Without Personal Data'

6) It makes sense to save it to the same place as the Private Documents folder.

Restoring Alchemy Mobile + Libraries From Backup Using iFunbox:

1) Connect your device to your computer

2) In iFunbox, select 'Install App' from the menu bar at the top of the window

3) Locate the .ipa file that iFunbox created when backing up the app

4) Double-click the .ipa file to install Alchemy to your device

5) Next, expand User Applications as above, and go to Alchemy/Library

6) Drag and drop the 'Private Documents' file across. If given the option to Replace or Merge, select 'Merge'.

Backing Up Mobile App + Libraries using iMazing (http://www.imazing.com):

1) Connect your device to your computer

2) In iMazing, select 'Apps'

3) Right click Alchemy and select 'Copy to Mac'

4) Select a destination folder to backup the app on your computer.

5) When prompted to choose between copying 'App' or 'App and Data', choose 'App and Data'

- The app and your sound libraries will be copied to a .ipa file for back up.

Restoring Alchemy Mobile + Libraries using iMazing:

1) Connect your device to your computer

2) In iMazing, select 'Apps' to view the apps installed on your device

3) Select 'Copy To Device' at the foot of the iMazing window

4) Locate the AlchemySynth.ipa file created by the backup

5) Double-click this file

6) When asked what to install, select 'App and Data', to reinstall Alchemy + your Sound Libraries to your device.

Backing Up Mobile Songs Using iCloud:

1) Go to Settings / iCloud / Documents and Data - (or Settings / iCloud / iCloud Drive) if you're running iCloud Drive

2) Make sure Alchemy is switched On

3) In Alchemy Mobile, go to Menu / Settings

4) Switch iCloud On

- Your songs will now be stored to iCloud and shared between devices using the same iCloud account.

Backing Up Songs Using Dropbox:

1) Go to Menu/Song/Export/Dropbox

2) Your track will be exported to Dropbox

Importing Songs From Dropbox

1) Go to Menu/Song/Import Dropbox