EASTWEST LIBRARIES OPUS Software User Guide
- June 3, 2024
- EASTWEST LIBRARIES
Table of Contents
LIBRARIES OPUS Software
User Guide
OPUS Software
WELCOME TO EASTWEST LIBRARIES
EastWest is home to the largest, most detailed virtual instrument libraries on
the planet, opening the gates to thousands upon thousands of professional-
quality instruments.
Our Revolutionary New Opus Software Engine
Our brand new Opus software engine replaces Play and has been years in
development. “Many improvements were made to the Play software engine over the
last decade but we suddenly had a unique opportunity,” says producer Doug
Rogers, “we were able to bring Wolfgang Kundrus in as head of software
development. He was the mastermind behind the creation of Cubase, Nuendo, and
Studio One. Then we were able to bring in Wolfgang Schneider, the creator of
Kontakt. With these two titans of music software development now on our team,
we decided it was time to develop a brand new software engine from the ground
up.
The Opus software engine is the realization of this effort. Not only is it
faster, more powerful, more flexible, and better looking than Play, it comes
with some incredible new
features such as individual instrument downloads, customized key-switches, new
effects for the mixer page, scalable retina GUI upgrades for legacy products,
a powerful new
script language, and many more features that allow you to completely customize
the sound of each instrument. It’s one of the most exciting developments in
the history of
our company and will be the launching pad for many exciting new products in
the future.
GETTING STARTED
EASTWEST LIBRARIES
Please visit the EastWest Sounds YouTube channel for software and product walkthroughs, including those linked to directly below.
- EastWest Opus Engine Walkthrough
- EastWest Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition
- EastWest Hollywood Orchestrator
Important Note for Existing Play Users
Opus and Play are two separate software products, anything you have saved in
your projects will still load up inside the saved Play version of the plugins.
You can update
your current/existing projects to Opus if you so choose, or leave them saved
within Play. After purchasing or upgrading to Opus you do not need to use
Play, however, it may
be more convenient to make small adjustments to an older composition in your
DAW loading the saved Play instruments instead of replacing them with Opus
instruments. For any new composition just use Opus.
Important Note for Existing Play Users
Opus and Play are two separate software products, anything you have saved in
your projects will still load up inside the saved Play version of the plugins.
You can update
your current/existing projects to Opus if you so choose, or leave them saved
within Play.
After purchasing or upgrading to Opus you do not need to use Play, however, it
may
be more convenient to make small adjustments to an older composition in your
DAW loading the saved Play instruments instead of replacing them with Opus
instruments. For any new composition just use Opus.
The Powerful New Hollywood Orchestrator
Create full-scale orchestral music with complex arrangements by playing a few
simple chords with one hand and shaping expression with the other. Developed
in collaboration with Sonuscore, Hollywood Orchestrator used all the
instruments in Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition to create real-time
arrangements based on your
MIDI input with our innovative Scoring Engine.
With over 500 presets the can be customized, you can instantly create music in
the style of Hollywood’s greatest composers. Select from Ensemble presets to
quickly create rich orchestral arrangements. With Ostinato presets, you can
build rhythmic tension in different meters or create moving melodic lines by
only changing a few notes. With Score, classic Hollywood orchestrations become
an endless source of inspiration. Create your own User presets by modifying
existing presets or build your own ensembles from scratch!
At the heart of Hollywood Orchestrator is our innovative Scoring Engine, which
can produce results ranging from a basic string arrangement, to very complex
orchestrations played by the full orchestra. It achieves this in a two-step
process by first mod- ifying the MIDI input with a Note Selection process,
then sending those note selec- tions to a powerful Step Sequencer where chords
are played with the programmed rhythms. If you want to take things a step
further, you can optionally activate our step sequencers. Each slot has one of
them. They take whatever the note selection process outputs, and manipulates
that. If you program a rhythmic pattern into the sequencers and play a C-Major
chord, the sequencers will take the notes from the note selection and play the
chord with that rhythm.
In the Mixer section, refine the final output of each instrument by adjusting
the volume, pan, equalization, reverb preset, reverb send amounts, and other
reverb controls like pre-delay, length, and filters.
HOW TO INSTALL EASTWEST LIBRARIES
To begin, download the EastWest Installation Center, through which you will be
able to download the Software, Libraries, and activate your License.
Step 1: Download and Install the Installation Center
The Installation Center can be downloaded from the ‘Software & Product
Updates’ section of the East West Support Center. After downloading and
installing the package,
the Installation Center will open automatically. It is found here:
- MacOS: Mach/Applications/East West/ EW Installation Center
- Windows: C:\Program Files\East West\ EW Installation Center
When the Installation Center opens, enter the EastWest account name and
password created during registration and allow a moment while it gathers data
from your
account.
If the Installation Center is already installed, log in and download the
latest version by clicking the ‘Download’ button on the update panel located
near the top the Installation Center. The installer will launch
automatically, allowing you to proceed through the prompts to update your
software.
Step 2: Download and Install Opus Software and Product Support
Click the ‘Download’ buttons in the Opus Software and Product Support panels
that appear near the top of the Installation Center. Once the downloads are
complete, the
installer will launch automatically, allowing you to proceed through the
prompts to install Opus, EastWest’s new sample engine that powers EastWest
Libraries.
PLEASE NOTE! The Product Support installer must be run! If it does not
launch automatically after downloading, go to the location on your computer
where the file
downloaded, and double-click to launch the installer from there, proceeding
through the prompts to complete the installation.
Once the Opus and Product Support software is installed, proceed with the next
steps to ensure EastWest Libraries are activated, installed, and ready for use
within Opus.
PLAY USERS: If you wish to download the legacy Play software, please do
so from the ‘Soft- ware & Product Updates’ page of the Support Center (link
above).
Step 3: Activate the License for the EastWest Library
Click the “Activate” button near the top of the Installation Center to open
the Activation Assistant window, which will lead you through the activation
process. Click ‘Next’ to proceed past the Introduction tab, then select the
Product license in the License tab and click ‘Next’.
The Location window will give you the option to activate your license on your
computer (called a machine-based license) or to a registered iLok security
key. Make sure your iLok security key is plugged in if that’s your preferred
option.
iLOK USERS: If you have an iLok account
but you have not connected it to your EastWest account, an Activation
Assistant will help link the two accounts. This only needs to be done once.
Step 4: Setup the Installation Path
Create a folder on your computer using the Finder (MacOS) or File Explorer
(Windows) called ‘EastWest Libraries’ (or something similar) that will serve
as the Library Directory where libraries are downloaded to.
In the EW Installation Center, click the Main Menu and choose ‘Library
Directories…’, Next, click the ‘Add’ button and add in the location of the
folder you just created. Then make the location the default location to
download libraries to by clicking the ‘Default’ check-box at the bottom of the
options window (it will show a ‘< – Default’ next to it).
PLEASE NOTE! Umlauts (ä, ö, ü), diacritics (◌, ◌, ◌, ◌, ◌, ◌ etc.) and
any non-roman characters can result in the file path not being properly read.
This can result in an error after the installation, when the library is in
use. Please remove these umlauts and diacritics from your file path!
WINDOWS USERS: If you are on Windows, we recommend putting that folder
close to your drive name to avoid errors related to file path length being too
long. For example, we recommend something like this: F:\EastWest Libraries.
Step 5: Download the EastWest Library
Now return to the main EW Installation Center window, where you can click the
download arrow next the library for which you have activated the license for.
PLEASE NOTE! The amount of drive space required to install an EastWest
Library from the Installation Center is just over double the actual size of
the library. If you are working with a limited amount of drive space, start
with the largest libraries as they will require the most free space to
install. If you want to change the installation path to a drive that has
adequate space, add a new ‘Default’ location by following the instructions in
Step 4 above.
The Download Process
The download process will now begin, with a blue bar displaying its progress.
Click the “X” button to pause the download process, and click “Resume” to
continue the download where it was left off.
The Installation Center will cycle through 100% twice. Once for the initial
download of the files, and a second time for the unpacking and installation of
the library.
Activated and Ready For Use
When a product is installed and ready to use, a check-mark is displayed.
Step 6: Update the EastWest Library
If an instrument and/or sample update becomes available for an EastWest
Library, it will appear in the Installation Center with the downward arrow
icon above the word ‘Update’. Simply click the ‘Update’ icon to download and
install the latest update.
INSTALLATION CENTER OVERVIEW
The application for activating, downloading, updating, and managing EastWest products and libraries.
Software Downloads and Updates
New software updates that become available for the Opus Software and
Installation Cen- ter will automatically populate near the top of the
Installation Center. It’s important to install the latest version of each to
ensure compatibility with the latest product releases.
New Licenses Available
If there are products that require activation, the ‘New Licenses Available’
panel with an ‘Activate’ button will appear near the top of the Installation
Center. When a library is
installed and a license for that product is in your iLok account, but it has
not been activated to either an iLok key or a machine (computer).
Product Categories
The Installation Center automatically categorizes products depending on their
current download, installation and activation state. Each category can be
opened by clicking the
(+) sign to reveal the products within, or closed by clicking the (-) sign.
PLEASE NOTE! To update the current state of all products, use the
‘Refresh Product List’ in the Main Menu (a button with 3 horizontal lines
located in the top-right corner of the Installation Center).
Updates
This section appears at the top of the Installation Center, and populates with
products that have new software or library updates available. Simply click on
the ‘Update’ icon on the right to begin the download process, which will
install automatically.
New Downloads
This section populates with products that you have a license for. If the
license for a product has not been activated, click the ‘Activate’ button,
select the product license from the list, and choose the Location you’d like
to deposit the license to (either an iLok key or a machine-based license).
Once a product has been activated, it is ready to be downloaded. The
approximate download size of an EastWest Library is listed just below the
icon.
PLEASE NOTE! The Installation Center checks to ensure there is enough
drive space before allowing you to download a library. If you receive a
warning message, please free up drive space and try again.
The download process will begin, with a blue bar displaying its progress. Keep
in mind that the Installation Center will cycle through 100% twice. Once for
the initial download of the files, and a second time for the unpacking and
installation of the library.
An EastWest Library in the process of being downloaded can be stopped at
anytime by pressing the ‘x’ button (highlighted above).
A ‘Resume’ button will appear when a download is paused. Click the button to
resume the download process.
Installed Libraries
This section populates with products that have been successfully activated,
downloaded, installed, and are ready for use. The installation directory is
displayed in gray just below the product title.
An ‘iLok Missing’ icon indicates that the product has been activated, but the
iLok containing the license is not plugged in. Simply plug the iLok key
containing the license for
the product into your computer to make it ready for use.
A ’Locate’ button will appear when a drive containing an installed EastWest Libraries is disconnected or an individual library has been moved from its original location. To recon- nect a single library, click the ‘Locate’ button and navigate to that product’s library folder, then click “choose”.
Older Libraries
This section populates with products that are no longer supported.
Main Menu Options
Below are the options available in the Main Menu, which is located in the top- right corner of the Installation Center.
About displays current versions of Installation Center, Play and Opus
Software, and iLok Drivers.
Library Directories shows the location(s) where EastWest Libraries are
installed. Use the ‘add’ and ‘remove’ buttons to update these locations if
EastWest Libraries have been moved.
Reconnect Libraries is an option that scans the locations(s) set in the
Library Directories window above, re-establishing the directory path for each
EastWest Library.
Reinstall Play Software will reinstall the latest version of the Play
Software, the EastWest’s legacy sample engine that is no longer being
supported.
Reinstall Opus Software will reinstall the latest version of the Opus
Software, the powerful, new sample engine that powers EastWest’s virtual
instrument collection.
Refresh Product List is an option that will refresh the current installation
status of the product catalog.
Register Authorization Code is an option that allows you to register the
20-digit authorization codes that were originally issued with DVDs and some
hard drive products.
Submit System Information is a way to provides our support team with a system
report to troubleshoot issues.
Help opens a help guide for the Installation Center.
Minimize hides the Installation Center window.
Sign Out / Quit allows you to sign out and close the Installation Center.
Product Menu Options
To view the Product Menu options for a product, hover your mouse over the
product panel in the Installation Center to reveal the Product Menu button
highlighted below.
PLEASE NOTE! Not all the options described below will appear in every
product. Only options available to a given product based on it’s current
installation state will appear.
Show Directory shows the library location of a product. k
Dectivate License removes the product license from its current location.
Download and Reinstall allows you to re-download a library. Before selecting
this option, manually delete the product’s existing library content from the
hard drive. Once removed, click the ‘Download and Reinstall’ from the Tool
menu options to download and reinstall a product.
Locate Directory (and Reinstall) prompts you to locate the product’s main
library folder, creating a directory path allowing you to open instruments
within the Browse / Library in either Opus or Play. The ‘Locate Directory and
Reinstall’ option additionally installs a product’s software components.
Restart Download is an option that allows those experiencing trouble
downloading a product to begin the process again from scratch by automatically
deleting the installer
log and partially downloaded files, and start the download process from the
beginning. Update Instruments is an option that allows you to updated a
libraries’ instruments
addition to being able to update products when they appear in the ‘Updates’
product category, the option to ‘Update Instruments’ is always available in
the Tool Menu.
Uninstall is an option that allows you to uninstall a product, which will
delete the [.ewl] file, remove the product from the ‘Installed Libraries’
section of the Installation Center
and remove it from the Browse / Library area of Opus and Play. Please note, it
does not remove the library content (which must be deleted manually).
DRIVE SPACE REQUIREMENTS
The amount of drive space required to install an EastWest Library from the
Installation Center is just over double the actual size of the library. The
installation process includes downloading compressed files, unpacking them
into a main library folder, and finally deleting the left-over compressed
files.
If a drive does not have sufficient space, an installation directory with
enough space to download and unpack the library can be added in the Main Menu
/ Library Directories area of the Installation Center. Check the ‘Default’ box
if you wish to download libraries here in the future.
Once installed, an EastWest Library can be moved or copied to another drive,
and in the same way described in the above paragraph, can be added to the
Library Directories.
Please see the OPUS SOFTWARE MANUAL [ Section: 2.3.2 Audio Drives ] for tips
on how to achieve optimal streaming performance based on the type of drive the
library is installed to.
EastWest Library Sizes
The table below provides a list of EastWest Libraries, and the amount of drive
space required to store them rounded to the nearest gigabyte. They can be
purchased separately, or accessed with a Composer Cloud subscription plan.
Some EastWest Libraries are released as a single edition, while others are
released in multiple editions
differentiated with Gold, Gold X, Platinum and Diamond
denotations. These multiple edition libraries differ in terms of bit depth,
number of microphone positions, and in some cases, the instrument selection.
PLEASE NOTE! MacOS and Windows operating systems calculate file size
based on their respective drive formatting. As a result, these numbers
represent an approximation.
COMPOSER CLOUD PLAN| COMPOSER CLOUD| COMPOSER CLOUD X|
COMPOSER CLOUD +
---|---|---|---
LIBRARY EDITION (WHERE APPLICABLE)| GOLD| GOLD X| PLATINUM / DIAMOND
BIT DEPTH| 16-BIT| 16-BIT| 24-BIT
MICROPHONES| 1| | | 2| 3 – 6
DRIVE (OPTIONAL)| available here|
available here| available
here
LIBRARY SIZE (GB)| MAC| WIN| MAC| WIN| MAC| WIN
TOTAL (GB)| 844| 828| 1,067| 1,033| 2,139| 1,955
EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition| 130| 124| 242| 226| 944| 874
EW Hollywood Orchestra Strings| [55]| [51]| [92]| [86]| [377]| [350]
EW Hollywood Orchestra Brass| [26]| [25]| [52]| [48]| [201]| [187]
EW Hollywood Orchestra Woodwinds| [25]| [23]| [49]| [46]| [195]| [177]
continued…]
EW Hollywood Orchestra Percussion| [10]| [10]| [20]| [19]| [75]| [70]
---|---|---|---|---|---|---
EW Hollywood Orchestra Harp| [3]| [2]| [4]| [4]| [16]| [15]
EW Hollywood Orchestra Solo Cello| [6]| [8]| [14]| [13]| [41]| [38]
EW Hollywood Orchestra Solo Violin| [5]| [5]| [11]| [10]| [39]| [37]
EW Pianos| 59| 56| 119| 111| 283| 263
EW Pianos Bechstein| [13]| [12]| [27]| [25]| [79]| [73]
EW Pianos Bosendorfer| [21]| [20]| [42]| [39]| [93]| [86]
EW Pianos Steinway| [14]| [13]| [28]| [26]| [62]| [58]
EW Pianos Yamaha| [11]| [11]| [22]| [21]| [49]| [46]
EW Symphonic Orchestra| 33| 33| 65| 65| 124| 124
EW Symphonic Orchestra Strings| [14]| [14]| [28]| [28]| [51]| [51]
EW Symphonic Orchestra Brass| [11]| [11]| [22]| [22]| [37]| [37]
EW Symphonic Orchestra Woodwinds| [7]| [7]| [14]| [14]| [25]| [25]
EW Symphonic Orchestra Percussion| [5]| [5]| [10]| [10]| [12]| [12]
EW Hollywood Choirs| 8| 8| 16| 15| 59| 56
EW Symphonic Choirs (+Expansion)| 10| 9| 19| 18| 41| 40
EW Hollywood Backup Singers| 9| 8| 9| 8| 9| 8
EW Hollywood Pop Brass| 23| 21| 23| 21| 23| 21
EW Stormdrum 2 (+Pro Expansion)| 18| 18| 18| 18| 18| 18
EW Stormdrum 3| 84| 84| 84| 84| 84| 84
EW Silk| 25| 25| 25| 25| 25| 25
EW Ra| 14| 14| 14| 14| 14| 14
EW Gypsy| 12| 12| 12| 12| 12| 12
EW Voices of Passion| 8| 8| 8| 8| 8| 8
EW Voices of the Empire| 14| 13| 14| 13| 14| 13
EW Voices of Soul| 13| 12| 13| 12| 13| 12
EW Voices of Opera| 41| 38| 41| 38| 41| 38
EW Solo Violin| 5| 5| 5| 5| 5| 5
EW Ghostwriter| 56| 56| 56| 56| 56| 56
EW Goliath| 41| 41| 41| 41| 41| 41
EW Ministry of Rock 1| 20| 20| 20| 20| 20| 20
EW Ministry of Rock 2| 58| 58| 58| 58| 58| 58
EW The Dark Side| 38| 38| 38| 38| 38| 38
EW Fab Four| 13| 13| 13| 13| 13| 13
EW ProDrummer – Spike Stent| 55| 55| 55| 55| 55| 55
EW ProDrummer – Joe Chiccarelli| 33| 33| 33| 33| 33| 33
EW 25TH Anniversary Collection| 26| 26| 26| 26| 26| 26
continued…]
EW ‘56 Strat| [2.2]| [2.2]| [2.2]| [2.2]| [2.2]| [2.2]
---|---|---|---|---|---|---
EW Adrenaline| [1.4]| [1.4]| [1.4]| [1.4]| [1.4]| [1.4]
EW BT Breakz| [0.7]| [0.7]| [0.7]| [0.7]| [0.7]| [0.7]
EW BT Twisted Textures| [1.3]| [1.3]| [1.3]| [1.3]| [1.3]| [1.3]
EW Drum n Bass| [0.8]| [0.8]| [0.8]| [0.8]| [0.8]| [0.8]
EW Electronica| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]
EW Funky Ass Loops| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]
EW Guitar and Bass| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]
EW Hypnotica| [0.6]| [0.6]| [0.6]| [0.6]| [0.6]| [0.6]
EW Ill Jointz| [1.0]| [1.0]| [1.0]| [1.0]| [1.0]| [1.0]
EW Joey Kramer Drums| [2.9]| [2.9]| [2.9]| [2.9]| [2.9]| [2.9]
EW Percussive Adventures 1| [1.4]| [1.4]| [1.4]| [1.4]| [1.4]| [1.4]
EW Percussive Adventures 2| [3.0]| [3.0]| [3.0]| [3.0]| [3.0]| [3.0]
EW Phat n Phunky| [0.8]| [0.8]| [0.8]| [0.8]| [0.8]| [0.8]
EW Public Enemy| [1.1]| [1.1]| [1.1]| [1.1]| [1.1]| [1.1]
EW Scoring Tools| [0.4]| [0.4]| [0.4]| [0.4]| [0.4]| [0.4]
EW Smoov Grooves| [0.7]| [0.7]| [0.7]| [0.7]| [0.7]| [0.7]
EW Steve Stevens Guitar| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]| [0.5]
EW Stormdrum 1 Loops| [3.5]| [3.5]| [3.5]| [3.5]| [3.5]| [3.5]
EW Stormdrum 1 MultiSamples| [2.6]| [2.6]| [2.6]| [2.6]| [2.6]| [2.6]
EW Symphonic Adventures| [0.6]| [0.6]| [0.6]| [0.6]| [0.6]| [0.6]
SUPPORT AND DOCUMENTATION
Visit EastWest’s Support Center for
Software and Product Updates, FAQs, Library and Software Manuals, and Getting
Started guides.
Live Chat
EastWest’s Support Center offers Live Chat, the fastest way to reach a Support
Team Member to help resolve any technical issues you may be having.
Click on the red “Chat Now” box that appears in the lower-right corner. Fill
in your name and email address, then click “Start the Chat”, or if an agent is
not available click
“Leave a Message” by explaining your issue, and a Support Agent will respond
as soon as they’re available.
Online Resources
Visit us online for newsletters, trailers, walkthroughs, and more.
- YouTube: check out our tutorials, walkthroughs, and trailers. https://www.youtube.com/user/EWQLTutorials
- Facebook: get the latest EW announcements, and join the community discussion. https://www.facebook.com/eastwestsound
Library and Software Manuals
EASTWEST LIBRARY MANUALS can be accessed in the Browse page of Opus, by
clicking on the LIBRARY MANUAL BUTTON found near the top-right corner of the
Description Box.
The OPUS SOFTWARE MANUAL can be accessed by clicking on the SETTINGS MENU BUTTON and selecting the HELP OPTION found near the bottom of the menu.