http://www.sibelius.com/products/sibelius/index.html

Congrats Jim! It's good to see VDL getting distributed to the masses more and more! I'm going tonight to a Sibelius User Group in Nashville to check this out. Looks sweet! What's the timeframe for a new Sib. 5 template? (Especially for that easy instrument switching stuff!!!)

Matt

Sweet, more templates to create for me (once I get the program).  I actually enjoy creating them.  How sadistic is that?

Awesome!

I have to admit to being a little skeptical over an upgrade so soon, but it looks totally justified.

Anyone know how Sibelius having Kontakt 2 built in will affect those of us who have and use the full version already?

It's the Kontakt Player 2 that is built in if I read the information right.  You can host Kontakt 2 or any other VST program in Sibelius 5 though.

Bill,
Excuse my ignorance on the VST Hosting thing, but would there be any advantages to running through VST versus running K2 standalone?

this looks spectacular!  can't wait to try out these new features.

Big congrats Jim - Tapspace is taking over the world!

Ralph,

One of the biggest advantages of VST hosting is the fact that when you save a file, it retains all the instruments that were loaded and loads them automatically for you.

The other cool thing is that if you host the program and use the ";Save as Audio"; feature, it saves with your sounds instead of the default piano.

I will definitely give VST a try then. Thanks Bill!

Jim, do you think you guys are�� going to make a quickstart guide on how to get VST going in Sib 5? Should I contact Sibelius instead?

I haven't talked to Jim about that yet, but if nothing else, I can help you get that up and running once you get the program.  It's not that complicated.

I've messed around with the demo on my PC and while there are some differences, obviously, I really like the fact that the program itself runs similarly to Sibelius 4.  The VST hosting isn't hard to figure out at all with Sibelius 5.

Thanks Bill! Here is some karma for your troubles:)

Ralph may have touched on this, so please excuse my ignorance of VST.��

I have bought Sibelius 4, VDL2, Kontakt 2 all with in the past 6 months, and the programs are great.�� I just surveyed the press release for Sibelius 5 and am curious how the use of the VDL2 (and 2.5 when it ships) along with my stand alone of Kontakt will be useful for me if I upgrade to Sibelius 5?�� The press release seemed to insinuate that only certain virtual sounds would be available through Sib 5 version Kontakt 2 player, not their full libraries.�� Since I already own the VDL 2, Kontakt 2 Software, would the VST be what/how I need to run the full library applications of the software through Sib 5?��

Also, If I purchased the upgrade for Sib 5, and if it is beneficial to keep VDL 2, Kontakt 2 as stand alones, would I need�� to upgrade my RAM?�� If VDL 2.5 is going to run through Kontakt 2, Sib 5 runs through Kontakt 2, I own Kontakt 2, it seems like a RAM nightmare.��

Thanks

Jeremy

I'll do my best to give a little clarity to the situation. Ideally, you should download the demo of Sibelius 5 to experience first-hand how it all works.

Sibelius 5 comes with [b]Kontakt Player 2 (KP2)[/b]. This is a player that will run as a ";virtual instrument"; device in Sibelius (VST or AU).

Sibelius 5 also comes with a free library called ";Essentials"; which contains an array of various sounds from different developers (some limited sounds from VDL are included). This library is in KP2 format.

Other libraries you use that are in Kontakt Player 2 format (like VDL 2.5) will appear in Kontakt Player 2 as well (alongside Essentials, and any other KP2 libraries you have). So depending on which libraries a user has installed on their machine, Sibelius 5 will have the capability to sort out which patches to ideally load based on how they've set their playback configuration in Sibelius.

As you'll see when trying the demo they've made available, you can still route your MIDI out of Sibelius to a standalone player like KP2 (not hosted, but in standalone), or Kontakt 2 (in standalone), or the VDL2 player (in standalone). You'd do this by way of a virtual midi cable, the way you always have.

Other VST or AU instruments you may own (VDL2 included) would also be available to host as a plug-in directly in Sibelius.  The one exception to this would be if you're on an Intel Mac, and are using a non-intel compatible plugin (like the VDL2). Note, if you are a user of Kontakt 2, since it may also be used as an AU or VST (in addition to standalone), you could also use Kontakt 2 as your player. It's just another option.

If any of this comes off a bit confusing, it may be a good time to brush up on some of the various audio plug-in formats, which are listed in the glossary of your VDL manual. You can also check in with Sibelius directly on how certain features of their software will function.

And of course, Tapspace will continue to provide assistance (here in the forum, and on the tutorials page) on how to properly set up VDL 2.5 for use in the new version of Sibelius in due course. Furthermore, with Sibelius' support of VST, AU, and VDL 2.5 within Kontakt Player 2, they will be a great source of assistance for you as well.

Gave you some karma for that explanation Jim.  Thanks.  I will check out the demo and investigate with the glossary of the VDL manual. 

You bet Jeremy! I just edited my previous post to sprinkle in a few more details.