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Version: Beta

Develop Preset Banks

Floe's preset management is open; it's just based on the files and folders on your computer.

Presets are saved as individual files using the save button at the top of Floe's UI. These files can be freely renamed and put into subfolders; this is how categories and hierarchies are created in the preset browser.

Preset Banks​

A preset bank is small, optional, extension to this concept. By creating a floe-preset-bank.ini inside a folder of presets, it becomes a preset bank, where the entire tree of presets in the folder and all its subfolders become more easily identifiable and can feature metadata such as a subtitle and ID.

The preset bank file is a simple INI text file with the following fields - all are optional:

; A short and descriptive name for the preset bank.
subtitle = My Preset Bank Name

; Any kind of unique identifier. Typically you might use a reverse 
; domain style string. Used so Floe can identify the bank uniquely.
id = com.myname.mypresetbank

; A version number - just a single integer. When installing a 
; package, Floe can use this alongside the ID to determine if a bank 
; can be updated rather than installed to a new location. Versioning
; is only designed for simple additions/fixes. If you make major
; changes, it's probably better to create a new preset bank, 
; "My Bank 2", with a new ID.
minor_version = 1

You can create this INI file with any text editor such as Notepad or TextEdit. You just need to type in the various field = value with new lines between them.

A side note for the particularly discerning user: Floe automatically identifies some well-known factory preset folders as preset banks even without the metadata file present. This is because some banks were created before the preset bank feature was added. We chose to enrich them with metadata retroactively.

Packaging​

Once you've created your folder of presets and added a floe-preset-bank.ini file (optional but recommended), you can ZIP it up for distribution.

Read about packaging on the packaging page.

Use the packager command-line tool, or alternatively package it manually. To manually package your bank first rename your bank folder to something like My Preset Bank. Next, put that into a folder called Presets. Next, put Presets into another folder My Preset Bank - Floe Package, then right-click and ZIP that folder. You should now have a ZIP called My Preset Bank - Floe Package.zip with a subfolder Presets and your bank folder inside that. The resulting ZIP file will contain the structure that Floe packages require (Presets subfolder at the top level). Test your package by trying to install it using Floe's Install package button. Refer to the packaging page for more details if needed.

Best Practices​

  • Make presets all feel the same volume: the master peak meter on Floe's GUI should just be the yellow zone when the preset is played at its fullest.
  • Give each preset a unique, descriptive name suggesting its tone or usage. Don't use all capital letters. Don't include a 'type' prefix such as "PAD - " or "LD - ".
  • Add as many tags as is relevant to the preset. Read more about tags on the tags and folders page.
  • Keep the description short and ending with a period.
  • Organise presets into folders using your file browser. You can rename presets and folders as you like. See the best practises for folders on the tags and folders page.