Solaris Preset Renamer - Help

What this Application Does

The Solaris Preset Renamer utility is a software application that facilitates the process of editing the preset names that are stored in the program data files used by the Solaris synthesizer from John Bowen Synth Design.

Why Use this Application

The Solaris synthesizer was specifically designed to provide an unprecented degree of deep sound programming to synthesists and sound designers. The preset names that appear in the main display screen of the Solaris synthesizer are important to help visually identify and distinguish among the many different programmed sounds that are stored in the program data files on the Compact Flash (CF) card plugged into the back of the instrument. These preset names are usually edited via the controls of the Solaris synthesizer but unfortunately, the mechanics of this process can be tedious and time-consuming, involving a lot of knob twiddling to position within the preset name and dial through the alphabetical letters (both upper and lower cases), numerals and supported symbol characters.

While the Solaris synthesizer implements more display screens, knobs, button and other user controls in hardware than any other comparable commercially available synthesizer (short of a large, wall-sized modular system or the Schmidt), it does lack the direct immediacy of typing on a computer (QWERTY-style) keyboard when it comes to the unique task of editing these preset names.

The Solaris Preset Renamer utility application allows you to apply the keyboard of a computer running Mac OS X toward the task of editing the preset names of Solaris program data files. With this software utility, the time it takes to edit just a single preset name can be drastically reduced from a couple of minutes to mere seconds (depending upon typing skill).

How to Use this Application

Copy the program data files (the Presets folder) of the Solaris' Compact Flash (CF) card to your computer. It would probably be a good idea to also make another copy of this data as a safety back-up before you begin making any changes to the files.

Start the Solaris Preset Renamer application.

In the application's multi-column view of your computer storage, navigate to a folder containing a bank of Solaris program data files that you previously copied from the Compact Flash (CF) card. These Solaris program data files have a .pre file extension (e.g., p0.pre, p1.pre, p2.pre, etc.).

Select a Solaris preset file. The application now displays the Solaris preset name for the selected preset file in its text box.

Edit the Solaris preset name displayed in the text box or alternately, just select another Solaris preset file if you don't want to make any changes to the preset name of the selected preset file.

Select the Save button when you are satisfied with the changes made to the displayed Solaris preset name to save it back to the selected preset file.

To discard changes and revert back to the preset name stored in the selected preset file, select the Cancel button instead. Note that if you have already saved changes to the preset file, you cannot revert the displayed preset name back to a value previous to saving.

Continue selecting other Solaris preset files in the multi-column view to edit their preset names or navigate to another folder containing a bank of Solaris preset files.

When you have finished editing the preset names stored in Solaris preset files, exit the application.

Copy the newly edited Solaris program data files from your computer back to the Solaris Compact Flash (CF) card. You should now see the new Solaris preset names appearing in the main display screen of the Solaris synthesizer.

Where to Find Support and Updates for this Application

Refer to the Subliminal Effect Web site for any support issues with this software application or to check for any updates.

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