Prophet X .zip Renumbering Utility

Prophet X .zip Renumbering Utility
« on: February 01, 2019, 10:44:51 AM »
I’ve mentioned this project in the past and have been using the macOS version for a while myself.  Thanks to @REwire’s and another volunteer from another forum for their testing on Windows, it’s time to go public with a more formal release which can be downloaded here.

Release Notes

The Sequential Prophet X allows users to create and distribute their own installable collections of samples. This powerful capability is somewhat hampered by the fact that only eight user sample groups can be installed, despite having 50GB of space available for samples. It is therefore extremely desirable to be able to combine two or more sample groups into one group prior to installation.

Unfortunately, within each sound category (eg: #15  Synths) the individual loadable sound sets must have sequential numbering starting with "02.", and the numbering is determined at the time the sound set is created from a collection of raw samples. The numbering isn't just captured in the resulting .zip file name but is actually embedded in the form of file names within the encrypted .zip archive.

This utility provides a convenient way to address this problem by not just renaming the archive, but also all of the relevant content within. It can do so without requiring the encryption password due to the relatively weak encryption used in the original .zip format, where the central directory and local filenames are not encrypted, only the contents of individual files.

From either the Windows or macOS command-line type a command following this pattern to invoke the utility:

px-renumber "filename" new-index

The filename must be a valid path to the .zip archive to be renumbered, and the new index should be a number between 2 and 99. For example, on macOS and Windows respectively this might look like either:

px-renumber "/Users/account/Desktop/02. Drums|Dry Kit.zip" 10

or

px-renumber "c:\Users\account\Desktop\02. Drums_Dry Kit.zip" 10

Version History:

v1.2
- Initial public release for macOS and Windows

LoboLives

Re: Prophet X .zip Renumbering Utility
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2019, 06:49:46 PM »
So just to confirm. If I record something or a sample in Studio One and save it I need to rename it something like...

px-renumber "c:\Users\account\Desktop\02. Drums_Dry Kit.zip" 10?

Re: Prophet X .zip Renumbering Utility
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2019, 07:15:56 PM »
So just to confirm. If I record something or a sample in Studio One and save it I need to rename it something like...

px-renumber "c:\Users\account\Desktop\02. Drums_Dry Kit.zip" 10?

No, individual samples for the Prophet X are just simple 48kHz WAV files.

Background

The 8Dio Mapping Utility takes these individual samples and maps them to keys, and then exports the result as a .zip file.  You get to pick a user bank from a list (such as "u00"), as well as a category (let's say you picked "15 Synth"), type in an Instrument name ("Drums"), type in a Sound Set name ("Dry Kit"), and a directory ("C:\ProphetSamples") which informs the resulting filename like this on Windows:

c:\ProphetSamples\u00\15 Synth\02. Drums_Dry Kit.zip

On macOS it's similar but | is used instead of _ in picking the name.  Notice anything?  The "02." prefix isn't something you picked, it's what the tool picked for you.  It's one part you don't have direct control over though it can be influenced.  The tool will try to use the next number in sequence after any files that are already there.

The Problems

#1 Sometimes you go through the trouble of doing all the key mapping, export a sound set, and then realize you were planning to add it to an existing collection of sounds and you now have two .zip files with the same number which will overwrite one another on install.  Just renaming the file won't solve the problem because the number is actually embedded in the file, it's just there in the filename as a reminder.  You could go through the whole mapping and export process again, or you could renumber it with px-renumber.

#2 Someone else prepares a Prophet X sample pack and makes it available, like our VCO Pack.  You want to install it but the absolute limit of eight user banks for samples means you run out sooner or later.  Wouldn't it be nice to combine the sounds from two sample packs?  If they contain the same # in the same category, you can't.  They'll overwrite one another.  You can't rebuild the .zip file using the Mapping Utility because you don't have the raw WAV files, so you use px-renumber to change one set of sounds to ensure that there's no overlap in the numbering scheme.

Make sense?

LoboLives

Re: Prophet X .zip Renumbering Utility
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2019, 09:23:17 PM »
So just to confirm. If I record something or a sample in Studio One and save it I need to rename it something like...

px-renumber "c:\Users\account\Desktop\02. Drums_Dry Kit.zip" 10?

No, individual samples for the Prophet X are just simple 48kHz WAV files.

Background

The 8Dio Mapping Utility takes these individual samples and maps them to keys, and then exports the result as a .zip file.  You get to pick a user bank from a list (such as "u00"), as well as a category (let's say you picked "15 Synth"), type in an Instrument name ("Drums"), type in a Sound Set name ("Dry Kit"), and a directory ("C:\ProphetSamples") which informs the resulting filename like this on Windows:

c:\ProphetSamples\u00\15 Synth\02. Drums_Dry Kit.zip

On macOS it's similar but | is used instead of _ in picking the name.  Notice anything?  The "02." prefix isn't something you picked, it's what the tool picked for you.  It's one part you don't have direct control over though it can be influenced.  The tool will try to use the next number in sequence after any files that are already there.

The Problems

#1 Sometimes you go through the trouble of doing all the key mapping, export a sound set, and then realize you were planning to add it to an existing collection of sounds and you now have two .zip files with the same number which will overwrite one another on install.  Just renaming the file won't solve the problem because the number is actually embedded in the file, it's just there in the filename as a reminder.  You could go through the whole mapping and export process again, or you could renumber it with px-renumber.

#2 Someone else prepares a Prophet X sample pack and makes it available, like our VCO Pack.  You want to install it but the absolute limit of eight user banks for samples means you run out sooner or later.  Wouldn't it be nice to combine the sounds from two sample packs?  If they contain the same # in the same category, you can't.  They'll overwrite one another.  You can't rebuild the .zip file using the Mapping Utility because you don't have the raw WAV files, so you use px-renumber to change one set of sounds to ensure that there's no overlap in the numbering scheme.

Make sense?

Thanks! I’ll have to give it a try in person. I’m still a tad confuzzled. Lol

Re: Prophet X .zip Renumbering Utility
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2019, 09:43:21 PM »
Thanks! I’ll have to give it a try in person. I’m still a tad confuzzled. Lol

Totally fair.  If you haven’t produced and installed, or downloaded, any user samples for the Prophet X it might not make much sense.  If you’re not experiencing either of the problems above yet you can safely ignore the existence of the utility and carry on making music!

Re: Prophet X .zip Renumbering Utility
« Reply #5 on: November 24, 2023, 10:21:13 PM »
Hi! Maybe a stupid question, forgive me...but I want to be sure before to do it.
Renumber the folder, example from u02 to u03 is just matter to change the number, right?
Thanks...
Cheers!
Maurizio

Re: Prophet X .zip Renumbering Utility
« Reply #6 on: November 25, 2023, 04:05:59 PM »
Hi! Maybe a stupid question, forgive me...but I want to be sure before to do it.
Renumber the folder, example from u02 to u03 is just matter to change the number, right?

You can just rename the folder to change the bank it will install in, that's correct.  This utility is only necessary when changing the numbered slot (2-99) within a category that an instrument occupies.

Of course if you have presets that refer to an instrument they'll need to be edited whether you change the bank or the instrument number.  Presets record the unique combination of bank + category + instrument number, which is why some libraries come with multiple presets banks and instructions indicating which one to install depending on the user bank you install the required instruments in.