INSTALLING SOUNDSHAPER AND CDP

Before starting, please note:

• CDP and Soundshaper do not use the Windows Program Files folder or the Windows Registry.
• Avoid folder paths with spaces. This is because CDP programs run in a command-line environment, where such spaces may produce errors.

 INSTALL CDP

• Download and install CDP sound-processing software first, then Soundshaper.
• The CDP PC version is currently Release 7.1.
• Create a base folder for CDP (such as C:\CDPR7 or E:\CDPR7, etc.) and unzip the downloaded zip file SoundLoom1704_PC.zip within this folder.
• Take a note of the base CDP-folder, as you will need this to configure Soundshaper.
• Within the base CDP-Folder, CDP creates various sub-folders. CDP is currently distributed along with the Soundloom GUI and the sub-folders are the correct ones for Soundloom.
• The CDP programs are in the folder _cdp\_cdprogs. The _cdprogs folder is the only item that is needed for Soundshaper; the other folders and files are for use with Soundloom only. If you do not intend to run Soundloom, these other folders and files can be deleted.

 INSTALL SOUNDSHAPER

• For a full installation, unzip the downloaded zip file SoundshaperFULL.zip into any folder.


• SOUNDSHAPER INSTALLER: click on the self-extracting installation file InstallSoundshaper5_09.exe.
  At the prompt, choose a folder (or a drive such as C:\) within which to extract Soundshaper.
  The default shown is the recommended CDP base-folder C:\cdpr7:
  
  
  You can browse to a different folder and place Soundshaper elsewhere if you like, e.g. in E:\ or E:\Soundshaper. However, choose your CDP base-folder if you are installing Soundshaper within the CDP folder stucture.


• The installation file will extract files to a (sub)folder called Soundshaper5.


• Please ensure that the full path to Soundshaper has no spaces.

 CONFIGURE SOUNDSHAPER

Soundshaper uses a configuration file rather than the Windows Registry.
When starting Soundshaper for the first time, you need to select various essential folders, so that the program can operate correctly.

• Double-click on Soundshaper.exe within your Soundshaper5 folder. You are asked to confirm that you have already installed CDP. Then this dialog appears:
  
  
  


• 1. CDP FOLDER: At the first prompt, select your CDP base folder (e.g. C:\CDPR7).
  
  
  
  This is a folder selector, which starts in the level above \Soundshaper5. If the folder shown is NOT the one in which you have installed CDP, then browse to the correct folder and select it.
  For Soundshaper to work correctly, it must know the location of the CDP folder. If you are not sure, close the program and re-start when you can select it successfully.
  
  
• 2. CDP PROGRAMS: Soundshaper looks for the CDP programs folder and if it finds it, it will ask you to confirm.
  
  
  
  If it cannot find CDP programs, this is probably because you have not selected the correct CDP base folder.
  Soundshaper will ask you to close the program and try again.


• 3. OUTPUT FILES: Soundshaper asks you to select or create a TEMPORARY OUTFILES folder for output (sound)files.
  
  
  
  
  The default for this is [CDP folder]\TEMP, but it can be a folder on any drive, e.g. E:\TEMP, E:\SOUNDS\TEMP etc. In fact, it is generally a good idea to put sounds on a different drive from Windows, if possible.
  This folder path is stored in Soundshaper's Settings and can be edited there, as necessary.
  Any name is acceptable, provided the path to the folder has no spaces. Otherwise the CDP programs will not run.
  TIP: If you have an SSD drive, use this for maximum speed.


• 4. USER DATA: This folder has already been created and populated as \TXT, in parallel with the folder Soundshaper5.0, that is, either within the CDP folder or the alternative you chose for extracting Soundshaper.
  The prompt asks you to confirm its location and suggests [CDP folder]\TXT:
  
  
  
  
  Browse as necessary to the correct folder and confirm. You can rename and relocate this folder later in Settings.
  However, updates to datafiles and presets will be set up to install automatically into [CDP-Folder]\TXT.


• 5. HELP DOCS: This folder is principally for the CDP documentation, which CDP normally installs in [CDP folder]\docs. The prompt should reflect this:
  
  
  
  
  When you click on a CDP program name within Soundshaper, it links to the online CDP documentation, if you have ticked Option 12 "Online CDP Help", otherwise it uses the stored docs, so it needs to know where these are located.
  This folder can be set later in Settings, if necessary.
  The Soundshaper manual should also be stored in this folder to be accessible from within the program (otherwise it can be kept in \Soundshaper\Docs or elsewhere).
  

When you have finished, Soundshaper creates a default config. file Soundshaper.cfg in your Soundshaper5 folder:

All of these settings and other options can be viewed and edited on the Soundshaper's Settings Page - see Options | Settings (F5).

Project Folder
Among the Settings stored in the config. file is an optional Project Folder. This can be changed at any time and used for saving or loading files.

Personal Config. File
If you wish, you can edit Soundshaper's default settings and save these to an alternative config. file.
This facility was really designed for multiple users within an institutional setting, but it also can be used to load different options on startup. To do this, set the option Alternative Settings in the Settings | Options tab, and save your settings to a config. file with any name. Please note that Soundshaper always reads the default file Soundshaper.cfg first and expects its essential folders to exist. Then, if the Alternative Settings option has been set, it will prompt you to browse to and open an alternative file. The Personal Config. File is a possible alternative to using a Project Folder. Which suits you best will depend on your working methods.

 WARNING! FOLDER NAMES IN SOUNDSHAPER

It has been found that source files will not load if "special characters" are used in folder names. Users should stick to Roman-alphabet characters (as used in English) when naming folders (and possibly also files), namely:
    a-z (lower or upper case) and numbers 0-9.

   USING SOUNDSHAPER WITH AN EXTERNAL AUDIO EDITOR

Soundshaper now has its own sound player/viewer, but it also integrates easily with most external audio editors. For example, programs such as Audacity support VST plugins, which unfortunately Soundshaper does not. You can either:

• send the contents of any cell to an external audio program
  or
• work from the external editor and send some or all of the sound to Soundshaper for processing.

 FROM SOUNDSHAPER TO EDITOR AND BACK

• Set a link to your favourite editor in Settings | Settings-tab | Soundfile Viewer.
• Create a dummy cell, following the one you've just processed (Menu: PATCH | Add Null Cell)
• Send the contents of the dummy cell (soundfile only) to the editor by clicking the View Soundfile icon in the toolbar, or hit F2.
  Alternatively, you can set up any audio program as a "Favourite" (File | Favorites | Select Favorite Program) and send the current cell's soundfile (only) to the program via Tools | FAVORITES > plus select the external program in the menu.
• Process the imported sound in the external editor.
• Export it from the editor (see below), normally to the SAME soundfile name – the NULL cell.
• Continue on to the next process in Soundshaper.

 FROM EDITOR TO SOUNDSHAPER AND BACK

IN THE EDITOR:

• Highlight the portion you want to process.
• Export the selection to a file (see below). Leave the selected portion highlighted.

Exporting the selection:

Audacity	File > Export Selection
Wavosaur	File > Export Selection
Nero	Edit > Copy to File
Wavelab	File > Save special > Export Selection
Wavepad	Edit > Save selected region
Waveflow	File > Export Selection

IN SOUNDSHAPER:

• Open the file, e.g. by drag and drop.
• Run the process then save the final cell (should be a soundfile) to a file (click on Save icon).

BACK IN THE EDITOR:

• Open the processed file, select the whole contents (usually CTRL+A) and copy to clipboard (CTRL+C).
• Click on the original file's window (not on the sound-display) and delete the originally selected portion (usually DELETE key or CTRL+DELETE).
• Paste in the processed contents from the clipboard (CTRL+V).

If you don't like the result:

• CTRL+Z: undo the paste operation.
• CTRL+Z: undo the deletion (restore the original).